Blastermind!

Personal Computer News

Bob Chappell

GAME TALK Bob Chappell proves that the art of conversation has not been killed by the dreaded micro games. Since the Currah speech box arrived on the market, a number of software houses have taken the plunge and incorporated speech in their programs for the Spectrum 48K. This group could turn into an army as publishers realise the potential of the device. Here is a clutch of programs showing the pioneer spirit. VOICE CHESS II (£8.95) Artic Computing, [redacted] Artic have an excellent range of chess programs. Including one that speaks without the use of any add-ons. Its existing Voice Chess program was an obvious candidate for conversion. As chess is a game normally played between people, what could add more realism to computer chess than having your electronic opponent speak? Every time you or the computer makes a move, the voice makes an announcement. A capturing and/or checking move is spoken: 'D5 takes F6 check'. An illegal move gets the response 'Invalid move'. Castling is voiced as 'Castles' and mate as 'Checkmate'. It can be a little disconcerting to suddenly hear 'Mate in two' when you were not expecting it - fortunately, the voice has no trace of smugness. If you type in 'M' when it is your move, the computer announces 'I recommend E6 E7' if it thinks that is your best move. Having done as told, you will hear, not unreasonably, 'I expected that'. The speech is clear and certainly adds that extra something to a program that plays a very good game of chess. Excellent. BIRDS AND BEES (£6.95) Bug-Byte, [redacted] This is a super little game to be used with or without the speech facility. The game commences with the rousing 'Flight of the Bumble Bee' (what else) and a spoken 'The Birds and the Bees'. A point to note here, for all games, is that any sound effects generated by the program are output through your TV if the Currah box is connected. Playing Boris Bee, you buzz across the meadows in your hunt for nectar. The sun rolling across the sky, drifting clouds and a passing plane (towing a Bug-Byte advert!) adds to the animation. Swaying flowers beckon and when alighted on, open their petals to 'Nectar'. Boris faces many hazards, these include: nectar overload, flying ducks, blackbirds, centipedes, and many more. Spoken announcements include 'Oh dear' (when Boris gets duffed up). 'Game over', 'New high score' and, to warn Boris of approaching danger, something like 'Full alert'. An addictive game with a good scenario. LUNAR JETMAN (£5.50) Ultimate Play The Game, [redacted] The follow-up to Ultimate's successful Jet Pac, has you jetting about a planet with the assistance of a Moon Rover - not a dog but a buggy. The Rover is used to carry various strange objects, you must discover their use as part of your mission to destroy the enemy defence installations. With sideways scrolling screens and brilliant hi-res animation, this is a worthy inheritor of Jet Pac's fame. A drawback with the speech unit is that it cannot be used with a joystick. Jetman is hard enough with a joystick - use of keyboard alone makes it more so. Speech is used randomly and frequently, and is a mixture of statements, commands and threats. They include 'Oh, no!', 'I'll get you, Jetman', 'Exterminate', 'Destroy enemy missile base', 'Pull yourself together' and 'Missile fired'. Although control of Jetman is complex, this is a superb game which benefits by the extra dimension of speech - the taunts generate a psychological obstacle to add to the challenge. BLASTERMIND (£5.50) Martech Games, [redacted] This is the most talkative of all the programs and the only one that attempts to use the voice as a personality. The objective is to guess the computer's code (colours or digits) before it guesses yours. The fun part comes in the computer's comments. To start with, halfway through the loading of the program, you hear 'Keep your hands off my keyboard!' Once loaded, it declares. "My name is Howard but you may call me Sir.' It continues by referring to you in a variety of insulting terms. Not only that but, if given suspect information following one of its guesses at your code, it says, 'You cheated. I suppose I must expect that sort of thing from you humans.' When you decide to finish, the computer begs 'Please don't switch me off. I'll let you win a game if you let me live.' If you agree, it says 'Thank you', but it doesn't honour the promise. I never managed to beat it - judging by its megalomania. I suspect it cheats. I found it amusing - fellow masochists will, too. Most of the pleasure came from waiting to see what it would say next. If you want one program to show off your speech box to your friends, this could be the one. THE ISLAND (£7.50) Crystal Computing, [redacted] An interesting text adventure in the classic mould, the program makes use of speech to repeat your commands ('Inventory', 'go east', etc) and for some responses ('I don't understand'). A unique feature of this program is the ability to switch the speech on and off during the game (the commands are SPEAK and SHUT UP!). An interesting adventure in its own right - as is the case I with some graphics adventures, the speech adds little to the enjoyment but, if you've got the unit, it's an added. Optional bonus. LUNAR RESCUE (£5.95) Lyversoft, [redacted] This is a competent version of rescuing humans from the planet surface by guiding your craft down from a mothership, gathering them up and returning from whence you came. The spoken items include such phrases as 'Chocks away' and 'Rockets fired'. An old favourite, the speech here is more a question of gilding the lily than adding a real bonus.