Vol. VII, # 2 February, 1990 $2.50 Don't Go Alone: a ghostbustin' quest The details are a little sketchy, but it characters. There are four characters of graphs representing their Fear and Con­ seems that some evil being called The each profession centration. (You didn't Ancient One has driven your grandfather from which to really believe me when I berserk, imprisoned his very soul and, choose, each rated said they were fearless, even worse, taken possession of his for Strength, Stami­ did you?) These two house. To get it back, you'll have to as- na, Dexterity, Intel­ traits vary greatly semble a ligence and throughout the game. Type: Horror Role­ crack Intuition. You can't When they encounter team of alter these attrib­ monsters, characters playing paranor­ utes, but you can lose their Concentration Systems: IBM (Re­ mal pro­ change the names and become more fear­ quires 384K; Tandy fessio­ of your characters. ful, but lose Fear and 1000 series, 5I2K; sup nals Once your fearless gain Concentration as ports Ad-Lib, eMS, whose party is assembled, Yikes, I'm scared! they explore. keyboard, mouse; hard job is to you're ready to enter Beneath each charac­ search the house. ter's portrait is his currently selected for­ disk install able ) the vast As you move through the dilapidated mula. In Don't Go Alone, formulas are . Planned conver- house, mansion, a large window in the center of used in much the same way as spells are sions: none find the the screen shows a first-person view of in other games. It would have been useful Ancient the ceiling, walls and floor directly ahead to have the currently selected weapon and One and well. .. you know how it goes. of your party. To the right and left of this armor displayed as well, but for this in­ Your search party consists of a Chem­ window are portraits of your four charac­ formation you must access a separate ist, an Adventurer, a Technician and a ters, along with their names and bar screen. Psychic. At the start of the game you can either use the pre-assembled party, or Continued on page nine create your own from an existing pool of By Bob Guerra

many, I was one of the early players to seized his brother's mind in a fit of rage Demon's Tomb get completely caught up in Colossal and went looking for the universal I'm sure we are all aware of the soaring Cave. As Scott Adams (remember him?) boundaries. prices of computer games, especially just started cranking out adventures, I bought Instead, he found the foul god Darsug­ after Christmas! It seems that even many every one. Then, just as my interest in gotha of the less costly games average between this genre tapered off, Infocom translated and $30 and $40, so it's a refreshing change the might Zork to home computers, and I would Type: Illustrated Text to see someone bring out a special series was caught allover. have Adventure of low-priced games that go for under ten The bottom line is that I was thorough­ been lost System: IBM (384K dollars at some of the mail order discount ly burned out on text adventures and vari­ forever if required; joystick, hard houses. ations like graphic/text adventures a long not for disk optional, two Demon's Tomb is one of a steady time ago. Then along comes Demon's Thai's 5.25" floppies) trickle of such games imported from Eu­ Tomb. I says to myself; "Self, this is like­ quick Planned conver­ thinking. sions: unavailable rope. It is basically a text adventure with ly to be an ugly experience". However, in Regretful ....______--1 unanimated graphic pictures tacked on. spite of my lack of interest in Demon's You are probably wondering about the Tomb, its original design began to bring ly, even wisdom of bringing out an adventure of me around. though Thai was able to save them both this type now. After all, text adventures from death, his brother's mind had been had been done to death by 1983. Even the The Prologue irrevocably corrupted by the mad god, mighty Infocom, as their market waned, The story concerns twin brothers Tzen whom he worshipped from that day forward. turned to producing graphic-oriented and Thai, both high priests of an ancient games instead. civilization. Tzen was the more powerful, Having no choice in the matter, Thai I have to admit that my first response destined to become the supreme high banished his brother to the unholy isle of was a bit ambivalent. You see, like so priest. Unfortunately, during an argument Breton. This backfired when he found about the nature of the universe, Tzen Continued on page eleven By Stephen King Letters . .. Adventure Hotline .. . to the ~ ~ Editor Bard's Tale Guy Goes Galactic Big Bucks in the RPG Biz Dear QuestBusters: Chris Cranford, who designed the first Data East is planning to roll out a new How does a person become a play tester pair of Bard's Tales for Interplay, has a fantasy RPG series called Draconian for for new software? I like to try new things science fiction RPG for the Apple. The Amiga and IBM. Their press release and see what the game does. Do you have CentauriAlliance is a coalition of six rac­ quotes the Software Publisher's Associa­ to know someone, or can you just write a es, including humans, that sends you on a tion as saying over $38 million worth of letter to a software company? planet-to-planet race against time to save fantasy RPG software was sold in 1988. Brooke D. Gladstone the galaxy from unknown forces. It's got 3-D graphics in combat and lets you im­ Yet Another King's Quest Book! Like a lot of the really fun things in life, port characters from Bard's Tale, Ultima, you practically have to know someone to Might and Magic and Wizardry. Broder­ Hey! If Compute's Official Book of K,ing 's Quest was so official, what's Sili­ become a playtester. With smaller com­ bund, the publisher, has no word on con­ panies and independent designers, games versions yet. con Valley Press doing with The King's Quest Companion? Written by Peter are usually tested by friends, while larger Spear, it's more prolific and in-depth than companies employ in-house play testers, Starflight 2: Trade Routes the Compute Book, covers King's Quest often recommended by staff members. of the Cloud Nebula IV and has help for those stuck on this With 500 new worlds, 29 new alien spe­ and the fIrst three games. Dear QuestBusters: cies, and over 150K of dialogue, Star­ Who is Duffy? Is Stephen King the Ste­ flight 2 supports VGA on the IBM; the phen King, or just a Stephen King? How press release says it has twice the resolu­ Mindscape Scooped up by can a character from Tass Times in Tone­ tion of the first game, but doesn't say Software Toolworks town be your News Editor? How many which graphics mode they're talking Software Toolworks, who bought out Da­ ziirgz to the dollar? What went wrong about. EA says they'll provide black and tasoft last year, announced a merger in with my renewal-I sent in my $$ but white trademaps, which contain the copy December that calls for the acquisition of missed an issue somehow. protection, for visually-impaired or color­ Mindscape. A month earlier, Mindscape Disoriented Subscriber blind customers (who probably had 20/20 had reported third quarter profits for 1989 vision till they played too many EA as well as that year's fIrst nine months­ Duffy's the behind-the-scenes owner of games with those "black ink on dark pur­ attributing the profits to Nintendo game QB, which he set up as afrontfor laun­ ple or brown paper" sheets of passwords). sales. If approved by both Boards, the dering rug money from the Sheboygan deal will go down this Spring. Cartel. Stephen King is an Stephen King. The First Conversions Nuyu was the only applicant who would of the Nineties! This Year! Honest! workfor dog biscuits, so naturally we Arcadia, a division of Mastertronic, The Official Book of Ultima-whose re­ hired him. Ziirgz can't be converted to shipped an arcade adventure, Artura, for lease was reported at next year in the Jan­ US dollars, but they make good swizzle IBM and ST, and an Amiga conversion is uary issue-will actually hit the shelves sticks. You probably missed an issue if planned (the C64 version was first in late this summer. QuestBuster subscribers you sent in your $ after the cut-off date '89). The IBM version of Populous in­ will get a free-issue offer if they order the on the card we sent you. Or you may cludes a 500-world data disk The Prom­ book from us. have mailed it to the old POB, where ised Lands, which costs $14.95 forthe mail is picked up weekly. Send all mail Amiga and ST. (Its new worlds are set in The On-Line Hotline to address on this issue's back cover. five fresh landscapes: Wild West, Revo­ Want to get the latest adventure game lution Franr;aise, Blockland, Silly Land news weekly instead of monthly? Look­ and the Bit Plains.) An Apple version of ing for timely online reports on new re­ Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego is leases and conversions, bugs, upgrades wowing them down at the old school­ and hot tips? Then subscribe to the "E­ house by now. Miles Computing un­ Mail Edition" of QB. The initial rate for leashed a raft of riddles for IBMers with the service will be $10 for three months. Editor: Shay Addams the latest incarnation of The F 00[' s Er­ If you want to sign up, send check or News Editor: Nuyu rand. A C64 Sentinel Worlds: Future money order for $10 (US funds), your Contributing Editors: Ken St. Andre, Tim Magic made it in time for Christmas. name and address as it appears on your Snider, Stephen King, Brian Smith, Bob Keef the Thiefis also available for the mailing label (this service is for QB sub­ Guerra, William E. Carte, Charles Don IIGS, which was not mentioned in the scribers only), and your E-Mail address Hall, Mike Bagnall, Tracie Forman December review. on Delphi, GEnie or CIS. (We can only Hines, Steven Payne, Russ Ceccola, Matt accept three-month subscriptions right Hillman, A. Bruce Lotts, Bruce E. Wiley Gold of the Americas now; later we'll offer discounts for r The latest from Strategic Simulations is lengthier subs, and those who've already QuestBusters is published monthly by the reminiscent of Seven Cities of Gold. For subscribed will get a similar break.) Vatican Embassy. Annual subs, $18. the IBM with 512K, it centers on the col­ Checks will not be cashed by us until the Canada, $24, Int'l, $32, Intergalactic, 324 onization and conquest of the New World service is active; if for any reason it ziirgz. Textual contents Copyright Shay from 1500 to 1800. Up to four can play, doesn't do so by March 30, all checks Addams, 1989, All Rights Reserved. heading up the armies, navies and coloni­ will be returned-so if renewing or order­ Copying without express permission is al governors of France, England, Portugal ing other items at the same time, send a prohibited and punishable by replacing and Spain. separate $10 check for this service. your computer's ROM chips with choco­ late chips. Dragon Wars: Best Quest of 1989?

At first glance, I wondered how any and swing swords, while Fighter-types Most of the puzzles and mini-quests game could combine the best characteris­ can cast spells. are a mixture of the "explore around to tics of Bard's Tale and Wasteland and The game hinges on effectively build­ find the key word", "need this to open still be fresh enough as to make it enjoy­ ing and using character skills and attrib­ that," or the "use this item/statistic/ able-not just another rehash of the typi­ utes, much the same as Wasteland. You ability" variety. But one can deduce the cal swords and sorcery role-playing must employ Lockpicking skills, for ex­ proper order of events by their difficulty; game. Interplay's latest hit is unique ample, to open a locked door, Bandage after all, nobody can just waltz up to an enough to be fun, and so challenging that skill is necessary before Elder Dragon it's both stimulating and enjoyable. you can heal wounds, armed only with a and so on. When a char­ dagger and delu­ Pilgrimage to DUman acter finally advances a sions of grandeur The story starts out on an armored Pil­ level, two extra ability and expect to see grim barge sailing for Dilman, a group of points are awarded and the next sunrise. islands on the planet Oceania, which or­ may be used to increase The double hi-res bits Sirius (the star, not the software statistics or boost skills. graphics, which company). The reason for your journey Unlike in Bard's cover more screen is a bit muddled, though. You could be a Tale or Wasteland, space than in other Pilgrim questing for enlightenment and however, there is no 3-D RPGs, are • ______• right up there with bliss, an Adventurer searching for that Board of Advancement ever-elusive gold piece and experience to fmd and visit, or Apple version the other Interplay point, or you may be a Mercenary seek­ Headquarters to radio in releases, and the spot ing eternal rest. This adds a dash of color to in hopes of having your characters animation is nice and smooth. to the story, but has no meaning what­ raised a level. That's because Dragon soever to the individual character in re­ Wars uses an immediate advancement Interfacial Violence gards to game play. system: if the experience points just The game has a lot of good points to Upon docking at the port city of Pur­ earned by a character entitle him to a pro­ it, but the bad points are so glaring as to gatory, you're immediately arrested by motion, it's awarded automatically right occasionally make playing it frustrating the city guard, who strips you of all your after combat. at times. The overhead view auto­ gold and worldly possessions. He then The process of rounding up the 65 dif­ mapping function is a true blessing, and dumps you waist-deep in the muddy ferent spells is also very intriguing, as the sections are proportioned into 10 foot middle of Purgatory, where you find out, you must find the spell on a scroll (which sections that are easy to copy to paper if much to is either purchased or found as treasure) you're inclined to do so. T F R I your cha- and memorize it from there, assuming of But one of the greatest drawbacks is ype: antasy 0 e- grin, that course that you possess the appropriate the lack of a powerful user-interface like playing the city is Magic skill, of which there are four: the one seen in Wasteland. [Which Inter­ Systems: Apple more a Low, High, Druid and Sun Magic, for play probably didn't use, even in a modi­ (128K), C 64 prison than that particular spell. A fifth category, fied form, because Electronic Arts holds Planned conver- a town. Miscellaneous Magic, requires no special sions: IBM Your skill other than the prerequisite Low Continued on page five Version reviewed: first task Magic, which is necessary to obtain any

~Apple ______.. findanywill be to other Magic Skill. Instead of relying sole­ lyon beating up hapless monsters to rack Inventory sort of up experience points, you will appreciate arms and armor and escape from the city. another way of doing so (find the Temple After accomplishing this, you must of Ircalla in Magan Underground and Von't yO Jlwne ...... l amass skills, weapons, armor and spells, walk around till you step on the correct "'Vragon Wars ...... 3 then it's off to seek retribution for the square). gross indignities heaped upon you by Most of the various quests don 't have Cfiampions of 'l(rynn ...... 4 Namtar, the Beast From the Pit, who has to be solved in a specific order, so it's toppled the Government of King Drake less linear than many RPGs. Though get­ Joan ofJlrc ...... 6 and placed the citizens of Dilman in their ting there alive would be a feat in itself, It Came from tfie Vesert .. 7 current dire straits. there is very little to prevent you from Your party can consist of up to four reaching the final objective from the start Waf/(jliru: Space 2UJgue .. 8 characters, which can either be created right outside of Purgatory. However, this tBrUfe of tfie 2UJ60t...... l0 from scratch at the beginning of the is not recommended, as it would not only game, or imported from any of the make for a very short adventure, but you X!-ys to tlie 1(jngaoms ... l '2 Bard's Tale adventures. Unlike most of would also miss out on a lot of very en­ Swap Sliop ...... 15 the games of this genre, your characters tertaining puzzles and the abundance of are not burdened by a moral or ethical humor that runs rampant through the Waiting for Vuffy ...... 16 alignment like Good or Evil, or even a quest. specific class, for that matter. Refresh­ ingly, Spellcasters can wear heavy armor By Bruce E. Wiley The magic system's complexity, more than any other feature, is this game's hall­ Champions of Krynn mark. Though it looks much like Pool Of Champions of Krynn is the third game in must be completed in a linear fashion­ Radiance, Champions makes better use of the Dragonlance series of A D & D quests don't involve logical puzzle-solving. spellcasters. When you create a Cleric, from SSI. Set in the world of Krynn, a Clues and mini-missions are revealed for example, you must choose the god TSR creation, this adventure veers away through on screen text representing dia­ with which you will ally yourself. All of from its action-oriented cousins by con­ logue with NPCs, and in a pair of manu­ them will give you some advantage. For centrating on strategy and tactics. And als with numbered paragraphs that you're example, one might give all followers a SSI finally did something about those told to read at certain points in the game. +1 on any healing spells, while another decade-long battles that made Pool as might double your ability to tum undead much a test of endurance and patience as We're On A Roll creatures. one of tactical combat. As with many As you may remember, the first install­ RPGs, this one starts The Silvery Moon ment, Heroes of the Lance, was a side­ with the selection of There are also three view action role-playing game reminis­ a group of characters moons at the top of the cent of those found on Nintendo and Sega for your six-member screen, waxing and systems. It was much more complex than party, which may be waning at different rates. When something like Mario Bros., but still in­ reinforced with up to it's full, volved lots of running, jumping and two NPCs for a total the white one will in­ climbing. The more recent Dragons of of eight. You may crease the number of Flame also had a side-view that could be choose from a list of spells a good Magic­ toggled back and forth with a more con­ seven races, includ­ user can memorize; as ventional overhead picture. In Champions ing two types of it wanes, it reduces the Dwarf, two kinds of potency of spells. Like­ of Krynn, SSI did away with the side­ IBM version view. In fact, Krynn utilizes an improved Elf, Half-Elf, Human wise, the red moon con­ version of the game system introduced in and a new race, the Kender, which pos­ trols neutral magicians, Pool ofRadiance , which took place in the sess the ability to Taunt opponents into a and the black (or dark blue) one affects Forgotten Realms universe. berserker rage. the ability of evil ones. This tale begins several years after the The Kenders' ability to Taunt lowers Another new element is that different events chronicled in the first two Dragon­ the monster's ability to hit your crew spells are available to Wizards of differ­ lance games. The Heroes of the Lance while raising your likelihood of hitting it. ing alignments. Most spells will be the have split up, and things seemed to have Unfortunately, it has a side effect all the same, but a few special ones may only be settled down after the dark queen Takhe­ enemy's magic spells will be cast at the cast by certain types. You'll also find that sis was driven from mankind's universe. Kender. With a disadvantage like this, life is slightly easier for a neutral Mage or Even so, her followers are not quick to you can be sure you'll use up a lot of Cleric than it is for a good one, because put down their arms and live in peace. these little guys! neutrals receive faster spell advancement Since Takhesis created the Draconi­ Depending on your random attribute for less experience. ans-lizard -like scores, you can pick from six If you were a lazy player, you would men-in a complex classes, including Cleric, probably not be involved with a game as process involving the Type: Combat­ Fighter, Ranger, Thief, Mage rich ~n detail as this one, but just in case, corruption of dragon oriented RPG and Knight. You must also SSI mcluded a pre-rolled party that will eggs, it was assumed Systems: C64, IBM decide on alignment, which allow you to avoid the aches and pains of their numbers would (512K; 640K on Tandy determines personality. Be­ character creation. dwindle after her de­ and Jr, MS-DOS 2.1+; cause of the nature of this One word to the wise though: I've nev­ feat. Unfortunately, particular adventure, the only er met anybody who didn't think they supports mouse, Roland could select a better mix than the one that not only are they not MT-32, Ad-Lib and evil creatures are monsters declining, but their and various other bad guys. came with the game--especially after strength seems to be CMS; hard disk Thus, your character will be a you've played it a bit. In any case, the on the rise. Of course, recommended) mix of good or neutral with ready-made group may provide a good the other evil creatures Planned conver­ order and chaos. Those puz­ way to get your feet wet until you can are quick to align sions: Apple e/c zled by the combination of make an informed decision. themsel ves with the these traits will fmd the best The Big Picture descriptions I've ever seen in an owner's Draconian scourge. One of your quests in The graphics are similar to those in Champions will be to put a stop to it by manual. other A D & D games set in the Forgotten finding the dragon eggs, not to mention Clerics & Secretaries Realms series (Pool ofRad, Azure slaying the existing Dracs. Bonds). While outside, you will see a Quests, or commissions as they're As long as the character you are work­ ing on is non-human, you can split class­ map of the country, where various dots called in this world, are usually assigned depict towns and outposts. When you en­ by Sir Karl, though you sometimes have es between the four major types. This ter one of these settled areas, the basic to travel to different places to find him results in a a more versatile character, but one who'll be slower to develop-­ screen maintains a picture on the left rather than return to a Guild or Town Hall with your party statistics at right. Th~ bot­ as in most RPGs. These-which typically because experience points he earns must be split between all professions. tom is reserved for pertinent messages. consist of finding a magical weapon like Pictures often sport spot animation, the Dragonlance, or locating a person, By Stephen King

4 QuestBusters like that seen in Bard's Tale, but the ani­ own, a handful of adventurers would nev­ 5.25" IBM disks are sold in different mation is a much simpler two-frame vari­ er be able to decimate thousands of ene­ packages. ation. Sometimes you will come across a my bad guys. Conclusions: If you enjoyed Pool Of special scene. When this happens, the en­ The key difference between Champi­ Rad or Azure Bonds, you are sure to like tire top half of your screen displays a still ons and the first two A D & Ds is that this one-it's among the truest to the A D picture of the spectacle before you. combat, in general, has been streamlined. & D ideal and is, of course, endorsed by One nice bit of graphic finery consists The action is quicker, and you won't fmd TSR. The story is an engaging one that is of varied types of wall that scroll by as yourself in a prolonged confrontation presented effectively via on screen inter­ you investigate indoor areas. Some may with 6,000 Orcs. There are basically less action and the paragraphs in the manuals. be cobbled stone, others the simple stone monsters, but they are a bit more varied If you like games that are long on strate­ walls of a cave. S till others might be and more powerful. I never faced more gy and tactics, this will make a fine addi­ made of wood. The variety is greater and than a dozen at a time, and the biggest tion to your library . the resolution better than ever before. battles never exceeded five minutes. Though animation is weak, everything Skill Level: Intermediate is portrayed in full color EGA brilliance. Now Featuring ... Protection: Key word Tandy sixteen-color is also maintained, In keeping with recent advancements Price: $49.95 but VGA and MCGA are not supported in the MSOOS world. there are a few Company: SSI/EA in their 256-color modes. As usual, CGA nice new highlights. One is mouse sup­ and Hercules are available for people port, which does a lot to speed up the who don't yet have an enhanced graphic game and make many of the operations Dragon Wars Continued from page three board. less tedious. This was not fully bug-free yet. There were lots of places where I the copyright to Wasteland and could Fighting Your Way had to take my hand off the mouse to hit possibly have held up the Interplay re­ To Fame & Fortune the space bar or ENlER/RETURN keys. lease in court if it looked or played too When combat begins, the view chang­ Since the buttons of the mouse usually much like Wasteland or Bard's Tale.] es. The entire left half of your monitor double for these keys, this was a nui­ The Dragon Wars interface is of the pop­ shows the individual party members and sance. But for a first attempt at control­ up window variety and is rather cumber­ their immediate surroundings, and the ling mouse antics, Champions is not bad some when it comes to repetitive right half is dedicated to messages de­ at all. commands. scribing the battle. Several external sound boards are sup­ At least it lets you move directly be­ As with many of SSl's other RPGs, ported, including the Roland MT-32, the tween the inventory screens of your char­ combat can either be handled manually or Ad-Lib and the CMS Game Blaster. The acters, as well as screens listing abilities, set to automatic. Once your group has sound drivers were not quite complete on with a single numerical keystroke, so you been built up, the auto mode helps speed my version, so I never got to hear the Ro­ can easily page through all of the charac­ up the game considerably, but at the cost land, but the Ad-Lib and CMS sounded ters' possessions, for example, to find of common sense in strategy. quite nice. Unfortunately, the external who's packing a particular potion. (In I suggest that you break out of the auto boards were only used to playa song as most RPGs, you have to call up the next mode (by pressing the space bar) when­ the game credits were displayed. During character before checking his inventory.) ever you encounter magical opponents. I actual play, the PC speaker cut in to han­ Also disturbing and greatly frustrating is had the advantage of using a nearly god­ dle sound effects. the difficulty in resurrecting dead charac­ like party for the purposes of this review, SSI's Victor Penmen told me this is ters. The documentation hints that this and even they were nearly devastated because they found that the PC speaker is can be accomplished in the Well of Souls when a low-level Cleric got lucky. If I capable of more varied effects than the (somebody's been watching Raiders of hadn't been able to break into the manual external sound boards. Indeed, from the the Lost Ark too much ... ) down in the mode, I might even now be lying in a pile soft sound of footsteps to the crunch of Magan Underworld, but I still haven't of ash somewhere! axe and sword, the special sound effects I been able to figure that one out..yet! heard were handled well. I was also told Conclusions: I gotta call Dragon Wars I Auto Know Better that Tandy owners have a slight edge be­ one of the best fantasy games to come Another area where the weaknesses of cause the three-voice chip does a better down the pike in many years. The graph­ the auto mode show up clearly is in the job of reproducing the special sounds. ics are very attractive, the sounds are lim­ erratic way individual party members Champions of Krynn comes with a ited, so they don't get annoying (like in move during combat. Some make a bee­ wealth of material to explain your situa­ early Ultimas), the puzzles are challeng­ line for the monsters, while others, as tion and background, as well as the limi­ ing, there is an impressive amount of hu­ though dazed, wander almost randomly tations of the Dragonlance world. As it is mor throughout the quest and the in the enemy's general direction. They becoming more ever more vogue to say, accompanying documentation, the magic will not even attempt to avoid hazards. there is no "on disk" protection, and one system is varied and entertaining, and the For example, a certain type of Draconian book in particular is used to supply the general flow of the game is very comfort­ will dissolve into a puddle of acid when game's copy protection. No hidden mes able. I can easily call Dragon Wars not killed. Since this can be highly danger­ .are lurking on the disk, and there is noth­ only "Best Quest the Month," but also ous, you'd expect people to avoid it, but ing to keep you from backing up your "Best Quest of the Year" for 1989- noooooooo! -they just walk right disks. However, you will be required to possibly for many years to come. through it and take the damage. type in a random key word from the own­ This, of course, is the difference be­ er's manual each time you run the game. Skill Level: Difficult tween you and the machine. It may be Hard disk installation is recommend­ Protection: "paragraphs" book able to handle most actions on its own, ed, and is much faster than doing so with Price: $49.95 but it can never "think" for you. And previous A D & D games.The 3.5" and Company: Interplay even if the computer could think on its

QuestBusters 5 It's tough to describe Joan of Arc: Siege guards on the city's drawbridge, while & the Sword without bringing up Defend­ avoiding arrows shot from the top of the er of the Crown. Both are one-player Joan of Arc walls. After defeating the guards, you games in which you must take over a boost the royal treasure through taxes, must climb three ladders up the wall, country that's divided into many sections, add men to Joan's army or assemble an dodging the rocks and hot oil dropped which requires participating in arcade se­ additional one, send spies into the coun­ from above by the guards. quences and making sound strategic deci­ tryside, and enforce justice. The game is Complete both sequences, and you'll sions. You must conquer one section after authentic enough to arm you with all the take the city. In a role-reversal of the fI­ another until you rule the entire country, resources and options King Charles nal arcade sequence, you'll bombard the all the while making sure your conquests would have pos­ enemy by tossing rocks aren't recaptured by the enemy. sessed in such a sit­ and oil at enemy Defender took place in England, while uation. One of your knights as they climb Joan is set in France. Both games provide "right-hand men" the walls in an effort to several ways to achieve your goal, but the can be ordered to reclaim the town. Blow similarities end there. Joan gives you the carry out unKing­ it, and you lose the city. ability to assume the role of King and of­ like missions, such In addition to these fers many more options beyond just pick­ as poisoning or kid­ moderately diffIcult ac­ ing which part of the country you want to napping an enemy tion challenges and the attack next. These added features make courtier, for exam­ abundance of decisions Joan the game Defender set out to be. ple, and some of you'll render as King, beautiful graphics and these minions per­ Ye olde Amlga version Englandvs.France form various tasks incredible sounds make of Charles VII of Playing the role better than others. Joan of Arc a pleasure to France, you strive to win back your play. The backgrounds look digitized, homeland from the English by sending Death and Taxes and the characters are well-drawn and de­ your army on successful campaigns, rais­ The fIrst thing to do is collect taxes tailed. My favorite scene is the execution: ing revenues for the royal treasury, sup­ from a province, in order to bolster your the head pops off, and bloods keeps pressing rebellions and improving the army. This stirs up unrest among the resi­ squirting out! You'll hear music when loyalty of the people in your provinces. dents, so immediately after collecting tax­ you're choosing options from the com­ Joan of Arc leads your army into battles es, you must send out spies to root out the mand menu, and the battle sounds are all across France, offering advice in times troublemakers who are agitating the rest quite realistic. of need. The game closely parallels histo­ of the people. This stabilizes the loyalty ry, and many characters from the pages of the province until you can boost it by Fair to Partly Cloudy of time make appearances as the action taking over more land or striking peaceful Another nice touch is the map of unfolds. agreements. France that appears onscreen. Besides Until you become King of France, You'll quickly learn that your potential just showing whether each province is you're limited to moving your army from choices as King are exactly what you'd controlled by the French or English, it province to prov- expect. You can even dispense will display weather conditions across the ince to take over land and the level of trust each province's justice by locking people up or cities and defeat Type: Medieval Strategy population has in you. Systems: Amiga (512K, having them executed. To spice armies. You can up the game, arcade sequences The 52-page manual is explicit and only do so for a two disks, supports key- were added. But unlike those in concisely written. A "Quick Reference" short while before board, mouse and joystick) some games, these are not tedi­ card offers advice on the early stages of your army dimin­ Planned conversions: ous, nor are they uninspired. the game, plus commands for all battle­ ishes to only a few ST, IBM (eGA, EGA, They're slightly challenging field options, such as Jump Right, Climb men and some Hercules, 16-color Tandy) and do contribute to the story. Ladder and Charge with Sword (as op­ cannon. So your posed to Charge with MasterCard). first goal must be Version reviewed: Plus, you can win these arcade Ami n-a sequences! In other games, the Conclusions: In every aspect, Joan of to take over the ....__ '5~' ______.... action challenges are often too Arc has improved the concept put forth city of Reims in diffIcult. by Defender of the Crown. It evens lets the province of Champagne. Five action sequences await in Joan of you save one game per disk, which sever­ After making it over the city walls, Arc. One is nothing more than a side­ al versions of Defender, including the you're crowned King and can beef up view of a battle in which you must move original Amiga game, wouldn't permit. your army before beginning the game's the calvary, infantry and archers back and My only complaint is the copy protec­ real challenge-governing the provinces forth and fire the cannon and archers' tion, a map of France on that ugly, un­ already under your control and taking bows. This one is interesting and differ­ readable brown paper that can't be photo­ over new ones. Since Champagne is but ent, while the other four are pure arcade copied. I'd much rather type in a key two provinces away from your starting mini-games. Sometimes in battle, an ene­ word from the manual-to the guillotine position, you can easily gain the throne my knight will attack your guard, forcing with no-copy paper! (Still, at least you and start the game properly. you to fight him in an arcade game that's can move it to a hard disk without a Once you're King, a menu of options like jousting. Gameplay in this phase and hitch.) becomes available. You can choose to other action sequences is fluid. All are make friends with some of your enemies, challenging but not too hard. Skill Level: Intermediate Whenever you take over a city, you Protection: Key word By Russ Ceccola must engage in two arcade games. In one, Price: $49.95 you've got to fIght hand-to-hand with Company: Broderbund

6 QuestBusters is always appropriate music and some form of spot animation in each picture, It Cam.e from. the Desert usually facial expressions of the citizens, When Cinemaware remains true to their surviving direct physical confrontations or of a giant ant crawling around, ready original concept-to make computer with the ants and ultimately finding her to munch you up. games that are as much like motion pic­ nest and killing the queen ant with explo­ tures as possible-the resulting games ar­ sives. There is plenty to do, and not that Looking for love in Lizard Breath rive bearing a distinctive look and feel much time to do it in, especially since As you encounter the people of Lizard Breath, they will feed you their informa­ unlike anything else in the computer you will have to spend a good deal of gaming field. It Came from the Desert is your time either sleeping or in the hospi­ tion in short conversations. Some of taken directly from the 1954 science fic­ tal. If time runs out these people are your tion classic Them. I wonder if Cinema­ before you can blow close friends, and ware licensed the idea from Universal up the queen, you Type: Interactive Movie they act and sound Studios, or just borrowed it. lose. Systems: Amiga (one-meg & like it. One frustra­ Steven Scheuer's Movies on IV gives One of the things joystick required) tion I experienced Them 3.5 stars out of a possible 4, and I especially enjoyed Planned conversions: IBM; was in not being al- the St. Andre Computer Games on IV/ aboutIt Came from Turbo Grafx; maybe ST lowed by the pro­ Monitors does the same for It Came from the Desert is that gram to ask either the Desert. Indeed, Cinemaware's large Greg Bradley is a very rugged fellow. No Dusty or Nurse Judy creative team has managed to do a lot of matter how many times he gets knifed by out for a date: dedication must be Brad­ things very well indeed in this game, and Ice, mauled by giant ants, sunstroke from ley's middle name! Your assistant, Biff, as a result they have produced a game spending too much time in the desert, will also prove helpful, and, at times, hu­ that looks great, sounds great, moves Greg never dies. Instead, he winds up in morous. Too bad he's never around when along at a rapid pace, is filled with off­ the Lizard Breath hospital, where he will there's fighting to be done! the-wall humor without being dumb, and be personally cared for by one of the There's also an aerial-view map mode. is occasionally both gripping and most buxom and beautiful nurses in all of You get from place to place in Lizard exciting. computer gaming. In fact, it's worth get­ Breath by selecting a destination on the ting hurt once or twice just to watch scrolling map, then pushing the fire but­ New Kid in Town Nurse Judy wink, blink, and purse her ton on your joystick. (Yes, you will need The movie ... er game ... begins when a lips at you. a joystick with your Amiga. Neither meteor crashes into a dead volcano near Keeping you, the hero, alive enables mouse nor keyboard is supported.) It's the little desert town of Lizard Breath, the game designers to tell you the whole simple and intuitive, and the computer California. You, Dr. Greg Bradley, are story, whether it has a happy ending or keeps track of how much time it takes to there to study mineral fragments from the not. Although a save game feature is built get around. There is also a Situation Map meteorite, but you soon get distracted by into the program so you could play in the where you will be able to maneuver army the appearance of large and unfriendly typical save and reboot after each game troops, police, construction workers and ants. Though a new­ death style, that is un­ townspeople around to fight the ants in comer in the area, necessary because their fmal attacks. you are such a likea­ your character is too The Situation Map can only be seen ble guy that you've tough to die. from the Sheriff's office, and I found it already made friends Indeed, when you difficult to get from the office to the with the local sheriff, click on the save game scene of an attack in time to join it. More newsman, university gadget in the upper practice with the game's controls should professor and the left comer of the game . fix that problem. Unlike many computer lovely Dusty, who map, a message comes games that I have lost, I was not so dis­ runs KBUG radio. on screen that asks "Is couraged that I wouldn't like to play it something more im­ again. managedYou have to get also on the i~li_Jlii portant than saving Although there is a certain sense of bad side of a gang of play in moving around the map and in Ant on the Tracks mankind from annihi­ young punks whose lation? If so, select 'Yes. reading the canned messages from the leader, Ice, wants you in the hospital and If you pushed save game by mistake, NPCs in the game, most of the actual out of his way. The self-important little choose 'No. '" Since you can play the game play comes in the mini-arcade mayor of Lizard Breath isn't too happy game from beginning to end in less than games that break up the narrative. The with you either, and even if you drop a four hours, you may never really need the one you will probably see most often is large chunk of ant meat in his lap, he save game function. I used it mostly to Escaping from the Hospital. You have to isn't likely to cooperate and callout the pause the game and tum off the internal try and dodge the doctors and nurses on National Guard until things take a tum clock while getting a snack or otherwise duty, because if they catch you, it's back for the worse. taking a break. to bed for a lot of your valuable game It Came from the DeSert is a sort of It Came from the Desert has several time. real-time game. Each second of player different levels of play. The story advanc­ Other arcade sequences include a time is a minute in the life of Greg Brad­ es from scene to scene like a movie. The game of Chicken on the highway, a knife ley, and you have fifteen game days to scenes are static-you can't go to the fight at the drive-in, trying to shoot the stop the ants before they desp-oy Lizard bathroom in O'Riordan's pub, but there antennae off the giant ants when they at­ Breath. You can accomplish your mission tack you, tossing dynamite at ants on the by visiting all the different locations, streets or in the desert, flying a plane, talking to characters, collecting evidence, By Ken St. Andre Continued on page fourteen

QuestBusters 7 Walkthrough: Space Rogue

Verified with a solution by Richard meet for more. It's possible to steal from when offered. Rasmussen & Danny Petersen safes, but expect to pay a fIne and get kicked off the base or planet if caught. Repair Droid: Random General Advice Eventually you'll encounter a Droid Your ship is really the "character" you'll The Missions named LUX 23A, who wants you to look develop, by equipping it with armament Most of these may be completed in any for his Droid friend MAID. MAID's hid­ and other gear. Concentrate on learning order, though a few require items from ing at Free Trader's under the name Chi­ to fly the ship fIrst, for which a joystick is other missions. Each mission's starting Sha. Mention LUX, and she'll come with essential. Use the Query option to pick up point is noted after its name. you as a Repair Droid. Return her to messages and detect other spacecraft. LUX, and you'll get no reward beyond a Stealth Box: Micon I good conscience. Keep her and you've Making Money: Credits Talk to Sir Eld on Micon I, Karonus. got a very valuable Repair Droid for where Credits is Due He'll give you a Statuette to your ship. Forget playing Hive, which deliver to Orellian at Hiath­ takes too long to make ra Starbase. Do Duchess A venstar: Denebprime Credits. For trading, so, saying it is After fIfteen to twenty cargo runs be­ outfit the ship with not a bribe. tween Denebprime and Free Trader's, four cargo pods, Return you should have enough Credits to fully then load some to Eld, outfIt your ship, assuming you've been cargo aboard. The _illBpwho'll adding equipment all along. You'll need best trade route is give you at least 500 Armor, some missiles, good to/from Deneb­ some valuable Shields and a Particle Beam. Before you prime, Deneb, and information and a Stealth Box, can successfully communicate with Free Trader's, Bassruti. which reduce's the chances of Duchess A venstar on Denebprime, you The cargo lists and prices change every detection by enemy ships. must prove yourself by killing a few 24 hours at each Station, generally fluctu­ Manchi in space. (Destroying Vultures ating four to eight Credits either way. Pilot's License: Hiathra will help. After doing so, she'll tell you At Free Traders, buy Forged CRs, Explo­ This is obtained by answering multiple­ about General Targon, AKA Rayson, sives and X-rated Holos to sell at Deneb­ choice questions when you meet Orellian and his mission's code name: Ferret. prime. At Denebprime, buy Brandy, on Hiatbra, Karonus. Ask him for the Exotic Pets (big bucks!), Videogames CRC-07 Form, used to visit Koth Targon: Micon n, Arcturus and Souvenirs to sell at Free Traders. Carrier. Though you can fInd him here, Targon is You can often get better prices on all insane and needs an injection of NSB be­ items elsewhere, but these are the most Cebok's Sister: Karonus fore he can reveal anything to you. The efficient trade routes for making money Cebok tells you to fInd his sister on La­ NSB is at Cbttsvuj Njojoh, guarded in a hurry. To sell contraband, you need grange for information on Hive. Then de­ by a mutant monster. To get it, land at Forged Cargo Papers from Robocrook. liver the letter to Cebok for more tips. Bassruti, walk around the front of your If planning a life of piracy, pick a Scow ship to the left and down. Wait a few for your first target. Pack at least ten plas­ Beam Lock: Denebprime seconds by the southern door; the mon­ ma torpedos and three SM-l and two See Felsane on Denebprime for a quest ster will be trying to get to you but will Nova missiles. A particle beam laser is to find the Beam Lock, which makes it get trapped in a storage compartment. also handy. When fIring missiles, be sure easier to target ships with your laser. After a few more seconds, enter the door your opponent has an inactive counter to your left. Go through the door to the measure and isn't in an elude maneuver. Microchip Delivery lower left in the Generator Room. Keep As you make more Credits, invest in Tur­ After meeting the Pirate in a bar and ac­ going to the left, and you'll be in the In­ bo-thrusters, more shielding and a 75% cepting the job, take the microchip to ner OffIce. Head straight for the file cab­ ECM unit. (By completing certain mis­ Chisa at Free Guild. inet in the comer and search it for the sions, you'll get more gear.) NSB. Retrace your path back to the ship. Null Damper: Arcturus If this method fails, try again, but wait a Robocrook & other Characters After fInding Veda the Ursellus (who ap­ little longer for the monster to get Robocrook appears randomly in bars pears randomly in bars) and buying the trapped. You have to be careful not to ac­ across the quadrants. Keep offering cash, Amoebic Lenses for 250 CR, head for cidentally lure him out of the compart­ 1. and he may sell you some useful items: the ISS Koth, Arcturus. Use a keycard to ment. (Another way: lure monster to Forged Cargo Papers (see above), Key­ open the door to the restricted area, then right side of room, keeping trash pile be­ 1 cards, the Ruby Cube. Other randomly go through and immediately go to the tween him and yourself. Go through appearing characters to seek out: Ilricki left (to avoid the hidden floor alarm). Ex­ southwest door, use Keycard on south (for useful information on Black Hand amine the Power Generator in back of door, open safe, get NCB and return to and the Manchi), Wandering Spaceman, the room and get the Transmutation Coil. ship.) Veda the Ursellus (sells Amoebic Lens­ Take it to Professor Prosk on Micon IV, Now you can head for Micon II, Arctur­ es), One-eyed Pirate, Merchant. Bartend­ ZED N27. Accept the Null Damper us, and fInd Targon rambling around the ers always have current information and halls. Talk to him and give him one tips, and you should talk to everyone you Credit. When you get an "Other" option, By Joe Terwilliger

8 QuestBusters take it and enter "NSB." Then you'll get and pick the lock on the door. Enter, take another "Other" option, so type in the the Egg and get outta there. Don't Go Alone Continued from page one name of his mission (above). He'll spill all he can before going nuts again. Take Ichiki and the Baakili this info to the Duchess, who'll send you After obtaining the Egg, return to Gut. Just above the main view window, a to fmd Droughton Gut, leader of the Scar­ He'll tell you to find a Baakili trader and small auto-map window displays an over­ let Brotherhood at Free Trader's Outpost. ask him about the Manchi. The Baakili head view of your party and the sur­ also require payment-some Dilithium rounding area. While the first-person Psionic Shield: Gryphon Crystals from a trash pile outside the view may be graphically more appealing, You'll need this item, which protects you back door of the bar in the upper comer you'll want to keep your eyes on this from the powers of Vilinie, to complete of Ross Mining Station, Deneb (keep auto-map to avoid getting lost. At first the final mission. First talk to Omas in searching till you fmd them). the character icon in the auto-map is sur­ the back room on ConvecEast Mining Keep searching bars till you meet Ichiki, rounded by gray, but as your party ex­ Station, Gryphon. He'll ask you to rescue then ask about Manchi and pay him with plores, the gray is erased to reveal the his wife from the Black Hand Cult. She's Gems. Write down the coordinates he positions of walls, doorways and stairs. at the Meditation Room in Uspdihm, gives you for the Manchi's home system, At the bottom of the screen are four di­ rection buttons (left, right, forward, back) Tjhvsf. After you talk to her, she'll tell Ja-Karn. Then return to Gut and tell him that can be clicked on with a mouse to you she's abandoned your fmdings. Omas. Return to He'll direct you to Prosk, maneuver your party. During combat, him for the Shield. the mad scientist from Micon IV. these buttons can be used to fight, to pre­ pare formulas or to flee from your attack­ Droughton Gut: Free Trader's The Warp Drive & End Game ers. When an object is found, these same Gut won't talk to you till you prove your Prosk is working on the Warp Drive. buttons are also used to collect or ignore allegiance to the Scarlet Brotherhood. To When you tell him the situation this time, the object. do so, attack a few Tankers or Scows, Prosk will warp you to the coordinates Though the ability to click on the ar­ take their cargo to Free Trader's, and talk you give him: enter the ones from Ichiki. row of the direction you wish to travel to Omar. He'll grant permission to speak You've got to be heavily outfitted just to seems very convenient, I actually found it with Droughton. After doing so, he'll reach the Manchi homeworld. Plot a a lot easier to use the cluster of cursor help you steal the Chi-Gonger (Manchi course for the planet, and save the game keys on the keyboard to control move­ Egg) from Vilinie on Trochal. frequently. This saves you the trouble of ment and combat. The mouse is useful, having to start allover from the far cor­ however, for selecting options from Manchi Egg: Trochal, Sigure ner when you get blasted by a pack of among the pull-down menus at the top of Due to a diversion by the Scarlet Brother­ Vultures. Once you reach the planet, the screen. These menus let you save and hood, the guards will be in a state of con­ land. restore games in progress, examine in de­ fusion when you land. Go straight to tail your characters' attributes and pos­ Vilinie's room. When she stops and tells The gjobm edition of the sessions, prepare new formulas, select you to remove the Psionic Shield, don't. QuestBusters Code: count various items of equipment, or toggle the The guards won't respond to her sum­ one letter back-RC QB. sound and special graphic effects (you mons. Go to the far right side of the room = can, for instance turn off the slow movie­ style "dissolves" of the pictures to speed up the game). Places and People These are a Few of my Favorite Things Star System Places People Each member of the party has a pack Karonus Hiathra Starbase Orellian, Cebok, Robots, that holds 20 items. Objects can be Micon I Outpost Sir Eld, Miners, Robots, Barnett dropped to make room for new ones, but once an item is dropped, it is gone forev­ Gryphon ConvecEast Mining Omas, Old Miner er. You can also trade items among your characters. This comes in handy, because Arcturus Koth Carrier OldMan often a character will pick up a terrific Micon II Mining Drak, Targon weapon that's unusable by their particular class. Deneb Denebprime Starbase Princess, Duchess, Felsane Ross Mining Robot LUX, Dr. Farah One of the things that I really like about Don't Go Alone is the way its com­ Nar'see Lagrange Mining Tyra (Cebok's sister) bat system tosses together a wide variety of totally unrelated elements with no Stiguere Trochal Outpost Omas' wife rhyme, reason or excuse. Some of the available weapons you may find around Bassruti Bassruti Mining Monster guarding NCB the house include a Swiss army knife, Free Guild Outpost Gut, Cherisa, Omar meat saw, bazooka, blow torch, dagger, machete, meat cleaver, tomahawk, cross­ Zed Micon IV Mining Prof. Prosk bow, rapier, colt, nunchaka, long sword, .38 special, saber, .45 magnum, chain­ Random characters: Robocrook, Ilricki, Wandering Spaceman, Veda the Ursellus, saw, electric whip, Mauser, cutlass, One-eyed Pirate, Merchant Continued on page fourteen from the infamous Dr. Dildo in Planet of fects are also the sort of thing Amiga Lust and satisfying the needs of the Sex owners have come to expect from their Bride of the Robot Vixens in Space, has preceded you-and computers. Proper use of your own "out­ The Adventurer sagged over the key­ not prone to argue, the bereaved widow standing" attribute will earn you a board. This quest had really taken it out answers her door in nothing but a g­ breathy "Oh, Braddddd!" of him, but as the music faded and the string. It is, of course, black for mourn­ The half thing I liked was the humor screen went blank, all he could hear was ing. Any real man would know what to spread throughout the game. Most of it is the sound of one hand clapping. Mter all do in such a situation. callow sniggering over sex in the art and the razzberries he had been hearing for Having con­ text, but occasionally a per­ the last week, that wasn't a bad sound at soled Charlotta fectly chosen phrase forces all, but he needed more, so he got on the (and eventually you to smile. phone and called Duffy. bored by the di­ However, here comes the "Hey, Duffy, I just finished the hardest gitized moans criticism. The second thing adventure ever!" of the be­ you notice about Bride and "Really," said Duffy, "how hard was reaved), you the first two Brad Stallion it???" (Drum roll, Anton.) can deal with a adventures is that no credit That's exactly the sort of question deadly Venus is given to authors, produc­ you'd expect in the text of Free Spirit's fly trap and head ers, artists, musicians or latest interplanetary fantasy, Bride of the off for Wang's anyone else who worked on Robot. Bride is the third in what may be a secret lab on Miss Galaxy beckons ... the game. And I don't blame long, long series of adventures that the planet Mam­ them. I wouldn't put my chronicle the career of Captain Brad Stal­ maria. The lab isn't at all hard to find. name on a product like this. (And it J'm lion, owner and operator of the one-man You can see it from space, and the big lucky, my name won't appear on this space vehicle known throughout the gal­ green neon sign is a dead giveaway. review.) axyas "The Big Thruster." (Oddly Once inside, you may find yourself be­ enough, part of Brad's personal anatomy ing sidetracked to Mars in 20,000 B. C. Hardly Parsing at All is also known as "Big T.") via the professor's time machine-if you Since it is an Amiga adventure, they don't blow up half the galaxy by pulling apparently felt no need to include a real On the Moon of Mammaria the wrong lever. Mars is a great place, if parser for giving commands. Much of the As the story opens, you awake as you're heavily into sand. However, if you time you need only move the cursor Brad, dying on a moon of Mammaria. If can find a canal and don't mind going around with your mouse and click on ob­ you can get off the moon alive-with down, you'll be on your way to the next jects in order to either use or take them. nothing to help you but a stale pair of clue. The Enchantress of Mars is definite­ Clicking on a can of beans was all it took panties and a box of thruster protectors­ ly worth visiting, but watch out for bad­ to be prepared for the fly trap attack. You you can venture off on the quest of rescu­ tempered sand crabs! And that's the way will spend a lot of time clicking on vari­ ing Miss Galaxy from a sex-mad robot it goes. The puzzles are not very deep, ous directions, and occasionally you can that killed its creator, the insidious Pro­ but you should save the game often be­ click on something on the screen. The fessor Wang. cause there is only one penalty for fail­ parser is paper-thin. In fact, it just seems If you don't bring back Allura (Miss ure-swift and agonizing death. to accept just a few phrases (often just Galaxy), the universe's male population I hate to be snide, mean or critical one) for each situation. will lose its sex drive, thus causing the about Bride of the Robot. When I called Then there are the puzzles. Each seems human race to die out, to have only one solution, which is ok, _----...... ------... Free Spirit for help, and it will be all your they were friendly but they are also real dumb. Grabbing fault. (At least, that's Type: Graphic Adventure and helpful. And who three party balloons is enough to float what the text said every Systems: Amiga, ST knows-whoever you off to space, even though they stayed time I failed to solve a Planned conversions: created this sucker on the moon of Mammaria for hours be­ problem correctly and IBM (March, 384K) may be a disciple of fore anyone touched them. And there's died. If dying isn't hard Version reviewed: Amiga The One True Way of the price: $39.95 seems extravagant for a enough on an adventurer, Adventure Gaming. bit of soft com (I mean porn). The same Bride also makes a very But, aside from the sound and the graph­ money could buy you two full-length rude noise every time you muff the as­ ics, there is little to praise and much to hard-core video tapes, or enough maga­ signment, and on an Amiga, the rude criticize in this soft porn space opera. zines to keep you happy for a year! noise sounds very realistic.) Brad's galaxy is straight out of Flesh Lastly, there is the whole philosophy So begins a perilous quest across the Gordon, a camp classic that depicted the of killing the player dozens of times (at galaxy and back to the beginning of time. most depraved adolescent fantasies imag­ least) during the average game. Mter The dangers are everywhere, and every inable on the planet Mongo. I'd like to paying $40 for it, the player deserves to single one of them is lethal. The rewards think that the many references to Gor­ see whatever goodies the program has in are extraordinary ... that is, they all have don's exotic worlds are no accident. store. To create a series of stupid puzzles, enormous assets. But don't forget your There were exactly two-and-a-half kill the player and razz him when he dies thruster protectors, and by all means act things I liked about the game. The graph­ shows the mentality and morality of a first and talk afterwards. ics are not great, but they are sharp, clear thirteen year-old juvenile delinquent. The first lady you'll meet is Wang's and imbued with lots of Uuvenile) humor Conclusions: Still, I think I can hearti­ widow, the beautiful, secluded and easily and lots of naked women. The sound ef- ly recommend Bride of the Robot to all consoled Charlotta Wang. Amenable to thirteen year-old juvenile delinquents, suggestion-your reputation, which you and perhaps their fathers, who are proba- earned by saving the planet of Erotica By Ken St. Andre Continued on page fifteen

10 QuestBusters commands that would allow you to save you want, HOME and END will take you Demon's Tomb and retrieve any number of games by us­ to the start or end of the line. Continued from page one ing different file names, there are also The delete key, as usual, erases the two commands called RAMsave and character beneath the cursor. Additional­ that Tzen was to perform a ceremony for RAMload. ly, Demon's Tomb offers two more delete summoning the evil god. By threatening These allow you to do a virtually in­ functions. Control/Backspace deletes any­ to end both their lives, Thai managed to stant save to a protected part of memory, thing before the cursor on a line, while stop the ceremony just in time. just before performing a potentially dan­ ControllReturn kills off anything after it. Because the ceremony could only be gerous action. This way you always have performed on certain rare occasions a "live" saved game that doesn~t inter­ How Fast Can That Escargo? when the stars were properly aligned, fere with your disk saves. If you're like Yet another feature is found in the va­ Thai assumed he had thwarted the dan­ me, you have probably lost some impor­ riety of modes in which the game can be ger and departed for home. A short time tant sections of your games by saving played. There is a "menu" mode that al­ later it was said that Tzen took his own over them. Prudent use of the RAMsavel lows you to split the screen. The top will life and was buried by his disciples. An­ load with the disk-based save and load be ftlled in with game text and graphic other story circulated, saying Tzen was should allow you to avoid this entirely. pictures when they are available, while only sleeping and would return to sum­ There is also a conventional, single- the bottom half offers up a menu of mon the mad god when the sky was right move "undo" com­ commands. once again. mand, in case you This works similarly to Lucasfilm ad­ should unexpectedly ventures like Indiana J ones and the Last Enter, Professor send Richard to his Crusade. Some words, like "quit", are Edward Lynton demise. self-explanatory. When you choose oth­ As we begin the ers, such as-"open," you get a second list game, professor Lyn­ Adventurer's of words asking for clarification (which ton is alone on an ar­ Shorthand object do you want to open?). Pressing chaeological dig in a You can set up a any letter key will take you to that part of remote English forest. set of macros by us­ the menu. For example, hitting the L key To all appearances, he ing the Defme com­ takes you to the section of the menu that is trapped in a deadly mand. For example, contains the "look" verbs (look around, situation from which De Demon, boss, de demon! you might want to look in, look under, and so on). mere is no escape. "defme ga = Get All" By choosing the more conventional ad­ Since, in this c~, appearances are not or "defme longwait = wait, venture interface, you can modify the dis­ deceiving, y~tl' will have only a few wait,wait,wait,wait". If you fmd that you play to use either a two-column moves in whlGh;i save some of the pre­ need to change a defined key (such as "newspaper" type format, a standard 80- cious evidence he has compiled, and "e" for exit, which should have been column screen format, a centered 60- maybe leave some clues behind. At best, east), "undefine" will take care of it. The column screen, or for the terminally you will be able to save your own life for "list" command allows you to see which blind, a 40-column display. a few minutes of final preparation. You letters of the alphabet have been already will need every one of those minutes if assigned to macros. Sand In The Ointment? the world is to be saved. Two of my favorites are the "exits" What is the downside? Well, mapping At the end of this opening segment, and "think about" commands. The for­ is definitely required. There is only one you take over the persona of Richard mer can be used to display a list of exits real maze, an interesting variation that Lynton, Edward's son. As Richard, it from any location. For anyone who has toggles back and forth as you drop and will be up to you to recover your father's had to randomly walk into walls trying to pick up objects. Still, even with the exits mysterious clues and piece them together find all the exits, this is very handy. The command, there were so many locations in order to foil the quickly encroaching latter is almost like a built-in help com­ that it would be easy to get lost continual­ evil. mand. It causes your character to give ly without a map. Of course, many gam­ As I said before, Demon's Tomb is thought to any object you specify. This ers like this feature in a game. predominantly a text game. Once in will help you make more informed deci­ The parser is very good but has a few awhile a little status line will appear at sions about the best course of action. flaws. Its understanding of pronouns was the bottom, letting you know that there The "Concise/Detailed/ferse" com­ limited. For instance, if you had manipu­ are graphics attached to the screen. mands allow you to select the level of lated an object on the previous tum, you When this happens, the player hits the FI the text description that is given of any could then "get it" (or whatever). But if key and is rewarded with a low to medi­ room when you walk into it. These oper­ the item had only been described on­ um-quality EGA still picture. ate similarly to Verbose, Brief and Su­ screen, you couldn't do so. Likewise, None of the pictures I saw were par­ perbrief in Infocom games. when I tried to put the notebook in the ticularly noteworthy. They seem to be sleeping bag (to protect it from encroach­ there only as a visual aid for people of A New Contributing Editor ing fire) the text described the notebook limited imagination. What makes this Another unusual feature is the built-in "seeping" into the bag, a message obvi­ game special are not the graphics, or the line editor. With this, you can retrieve ously intended for the water in the bucket. .admittedly interesting setting and text. any of the last ten lines you typed, then There was also a quirk in the graphics . Real interest is fostered by some of edit and reuse them as you like. As you While the game displayed pictures either the unique commands and the clearly dif­ would expect, the right/left arrow keys in CGA, EGA/VGA or Tandy modes, ferent perspective from which it was move one character at a time to either there was the usual conflict on a Tandy written. As an example, even though side. Add a control key to this, and you 1000 system with an EGA or VGA board. there were conventional save and load can skip over whole words instead. Or, if Continued on page fifteen

QuestBusters 11 Keef the Thief Force; Owl's Eye, Wart Weed, Glow Cave, IW 7S; bridge to the base of Remember your profession, and steal Grass), Goodas Newus (twenty; Force; Mount Salvation, 7E, 13S; entrance to everything in sight. Don't try to buy any­ Peppermint, Narcissus, Phoenix). Mystic Wood, 2N, 21E; entrance to the thing, just grab it-but have a saved Ken Robertson Tars Ruins, OS, 6E. The Well of Souls, game ready to restore! This will increase where resurrection is possible if you use your stealing abilities while saving your Windwalker arcane lore, is behind the wall at lOW, gold. In Same Mercon, search every Dont' steal from anyone's cupboard, or 7N, but you must enter it through the City house; fIrst steal everything that's not you'll lose Honor. Buy incense as soon as of Necropolis. The Tars Ruins have three trapped. Sell all stolen goods before try­ possible and get it Blessed at the local secret rooms with treasure. These can be ing to steal trapped items. Sell stolen shrine. The medicine man is on an island located by auto-mapping, and the stairs goods to Collector or Merchant at Pink to the northwest of your starting place. lead up to the surface ruins. Several Dragon. You must buy the stuff from the The monastery is to the northeast, and the scrolls are to be found on the southern Nasty Dude: go for the lockpicks, knife, Explorer's hut is to the east. shore, and a Fire Sword can be picked up rope and oil first; once you've got Raymond Fong on the eastern shores of these ruins. enough cash, get some flints. The Book Fred P. Andoli Shop contains a Scroll of Magic, and the Don't buy the Provincial Map from the Bad Poetry also contains a few cryptic Merchant, since you can get the Explor­ To get some free weapons and armor, go spells. The Princess is partial to special er's map from Di Ahn John's house east to the Arena and fIght-but run away flowers. Start disarming the traps from of Yjboh Mpi. Don't bother buying any from the Gladiators. You'll still have you the treasures found in city houses before drugs or medicines other than for Eyes of weapons, though you'll forfeit any gold you try to disarm traps in the castle, since Fire, because they serve no practical pur­ you may have been carrying. To get mag­ you need to build up your intial Disarm­ pose. The prayer for Quickness is ic spells, go to the Old Man west of the ing ability. Climb up the tree in Land's "Rvjdlfo nz qbdf." It's necessary to Slave Camp. To escape Purgatory, go End (extreme southwest of map) to get use it to defeat the Warlord. The Sea through a secret door in the northwest Phoenix Eggs. If you keep climbing up Dragon hangs out around the Isles of the comer, or enter the Magan Underworld and down, you'll get lots of Eggs as well Dead. Copy the Nubian language scroll after giving an offering to the goddess as boost your Stealing and Disarming in the monastery so you can gain access Irkalla. scores. Another magic scroll is found in to the Princess' chamber. Copy the Al­ Raymond Fong Same Mercon treasury, another in the chemist's scroll and talk to the Medicine Prophet's Library. Give the horse to the Man in Xiang Loh in order to get a letter Head toward the northwest comer of Pur­ Prophet for a key. The Priest in Mem of introduction to Feng Shu, who hides in gatory. In a one-room building about Santi wants the Shard of Mem (from the the secret entrance to the qbmbdf. Jade twelve paces south of the northwest Tow­ Same Mercon treasury), while the Mer­ is under the Emperor's throne. After de­ er is a Magic Shop where characters can maid wants a Ring from the caves behind feating Warlord, make sure you talk to learn Low Magic spells. In the southeast the waterfalls before she'll reveal a secret Concubine 10 get the Warlord's key. Kau­ comer Tower is a square that restores door. fu the Jailer has prison key in cabinet, but Power points. In the west part of the city Andrew Phang make sure you are invisible when you go you'll meet the King of Thieves, who after it. Di Ahn Jon has gold powder in a asks if you'r a slave, beggar or thief. Say Spell (points; Circle; Reagents: cave in the island group north of the Im­ neither, and he asks you to fIght Humba Bandus Aidus (three; Unity; Peppermint, perial Palace. The Princess has the Jas­ in the northeast comer of town. (Also in Narcissus), Flickus Bickus (four; Unity; mine Flowers. The Shaman is on the the northeast part of town is a bar where Dragon Drool, Glow Grass), Emmus Ex­ northeast comer of the Isles of the Dead. you can pick up seven rumors and hire esus(three; Unity; Scorpion), Nudus Bun­ The Peach See is acquired by going Ulrik.) By defeating Humba, you can re­ sus (one; Unity; Pearl, Narcissus, Rhino through the Oni's Cave southwest of the turn to the King for a reward of 1,000 Hom), Generus Elektus (seven; Unity; Shaman's demense, and during the New gold pieces. In the north part of town, you Dragon, Glow Grass, Owl's Eye), Huvius Moon, the panda will reveal his true na­ can fIght Gladiators for your freedom. Vacuumus (twenty-fIve; Power; Pearl, ture as Shin-do, the gold of Luck, and Just west and north of the Arena is the Owl's Eye), Cynus Arcenus (four; Pow­ will give youthe seed as well as restoring Black Market, where you may buy weap­ er; Pearl, Scorpion), Agenus Oranus (ten; a life and blessing you with Luck. ons and armor. Soldiers, Pikemen, Jail Power; Kiki Root, Scorpion), Riteus Gor­ Kalen Lowe Keepers and Guards usually carry gold on dus (six; Power; Skunk, Narcissus), Mak­ them; for defeating others, you only get us Foodus (twenty; Power; Peppermint, Dragon Wars experience points. The entrance to the Narcissus, Wart Weed), Takus Tylenus The entrance to the Underworld is SN Apsu waters is in the southwest comer. (fifteen; Force; Peppermint, Narcissus, 16W of the Gates of Purgatory. The fol­ There's a secret door in the northwest Wart Weed), Dranus Liqus (twenty; lowing important places to visit are refer­ Tower, and an exit to the Harbor in the Force; Pearl, Rhino Hom), Qnus Arudes enced. from this entrance: Entrance to the southeast Tower. If you join the Slaves, (fifteen; Force; Pearl, Scorpion, Wart Undercity of Lansk, ION 3E; Power Re­ you'll be sent to the salt mines and bound Weed), Napus Almus (twenty; Force; generation Square, ION 4W; entrance to in chains. By wandering around in the Scorpion, Wart Weed, Kiki Root), Mutus the eastern section of Dwarf Clan Hall, mines, you'll fInd rocks, dragon stones Omahaus (fIfteen; Force; Pepperment, 3W ISS; one of the best weapons for ear­ and the handle of a battered cup. Use the Skunk, Wart Weed), Bigus Litus (twelve; ly stages of the quest, 2W 13S; Crystal cup at the spring, then give water to the

12 QuestBusters dying man to get laces. In Garbage Wait for all the Brigands to start moving entrance Dump, use rock, handle and laces to fonn around. Climb the table. Open the door. Row 10: nothing a hammer so you can break your chains; At the Fun House: Ask about Elsa, then Row 11: sixteen chests retrieve your weapons from the garbage. walk to the right. At the comer, barely Row 12: nothing Defeat Guards and Foreman to head up to touch it and go up (if you don't make it, Row 13: ten chests, six coffms Slave Estate. Use Track skill to follow just type "stand"). Go through the green Row 14: one coffIn footprints to door. Kick through two doorway. Pull the chain, and then go Row 15: thirteen chests, one coffIn doors to reach the second room, then back. Open the door and move away Row 16: nothing search the west comer and get the mirror. from it quickly, otherwise it will fallon Row 17: four coffms, one chest Return to the fIrst room and use the mir­ you. Open the door. When you meet up Row 18: two coffms, ten chests, key ror on Mog. Explore the rest of the with the Brigand Leader, tqmbti ejtqfm Row 19: nothing grounds and you'll encounter three Gob­ qpujpo on leader. Search the desk, then Row 20: the two comers lin squads. Then exit Slave Estates and get the potions and the njssps. Leave visit the Ruins. through the curtain on the right. In order (Names of valuable items, etc., are Richard Rassmussen to obtain that ever-elusive Mandrake italicized.) Root, you will fIrst have to buy some Un­ Jason Hamm Mines of Titan dead Ungent from the Healer. Take it Here's an easy way to obtain lots of with you to the clearing with the Spirit. The Magic Candle Credits. First recruit a Medic and fIght Don't let it touch you. In the middle of Teleport combs: one battle. Then pool Credits, drop the re­ the night, enter the graveyard and drink Pheron-Pheron, Bay of Meric: cube, cruit and get another one. (Repeat until the Undead Ungent. Then you can get the sphere, cube greed is satisfied.) Characters can only be Mandrake Root Head to Baba's. To slay Pheron-Meran: sphere, pyramid, sphere improved to a limited extent. The best Baba, use the mirror. Vocha-Ice Plains: pyramid, sphere, skills are Cudgel, Auto, Rifle, Medical Andrew & Matthew Takahashi sphere and Golum. Improve everyone's Educa­ Bedargidr-Shendy: three spheres tion enough to equip each of them with a Demon's Tomb Vocha-Shendy: three spheres Med Kit C. You only need one character This is a correction for a clue recently Buy book of Sabano from Azidamus in with high Programming skills, since any published in these very pages, in which Soldain for 1,500 gold pieces. Ask people of them can get Golum skills at the Paral­ an important item was omitted. This se­ about gods, temples, elven maids, lax Training Center (after getting the quence must be followed exactly, or halfling teachers, gate prayers and gem password at a repair shop). Find the fugi­ you'll never get all the items out Tum traders. Get star from white wolf at Wolf tive woman at the Armor in Parallax. Vis­ torch off. Get bag. North. Put bag in hole. Rock in Phaleng. Tonton of Bondell sells it the University in Parallax to get Finder West. Open lid. Put torch in coffm. East. Charisma for 200 gold per lesson. The to Nomad's Cavern. East. Get plaque. West. West. Put plaque Mad Wizard has the Blue Ring. To raise Caryn Neuamnn in coffin. East. North. Get bird, bag. the gate to Vocha, chant ipelf, Ibgmui, South. Get bucket. West Put notebook in qplboebkp. The Godchant it fgubi, Police Quest IT bag. Close bag. Put bag in bucket. Put fgubi, zpmjnebs, qnsja. To get the dive team, first search the left bucket in coffIn. Put bird in coffin. Point Chris Pinnell shore area for drag marks. Then Keith tocoffm. will send for the team. To get the scuba Fred J. Phillipp gear, search wallet for certifIcate. To find ~ys to the ~ys the motel, examine the comer of the en­ Tangled Tales For new subscribers, here's how this sec­ velope from the car trunk. At the motel, If you want to take a magic carpet ride, tion works. First you send in clues and don't forget the bathroom. just drop a spuufo tbh on Jinx, then go tips to recent adventures-those not cov­ Caryn Neuamnn visit the Imp. Dig in the grave of the dead ered in previous issues, walkthroughs or man and you'll come up with a key. Be Questfor Clues lor II. We'll publish the Hero's Quest sure to include Gnu Gnu in your party. most useful ones, and you'll get your (These clues were obtained when a Thief He is extremely useful when it comes to choice of $5.00 or three free issues of QB was used as the player's character, broken elevators and sand castles. for each passage of clues and tips that ap­ though some solutions for other character Raymond Fong pears (two for Canadian and 1st Class types are also included.) To get past the subscribers, one for overseas). That bear in the cave: first walk to it, then Tower of Myraglen means that you may never have to renew gffe it. You can now walk by. To get It can be very confusing and time­ your subscription again! [All submissions Key: Tofbl to the Kobold. Look at Ko­ consuming to map the Dark Planes. This become the exclusive property of bold. Get Key. To obtain the Spore Seed, is a "map," in rows from top to bottom, QuestBusters.] a Thief should climb and catch, or throw of the Planes: When sending in clues, do not code them-we'll do that here. If you can do a rock at seed. A Magic-User gets it by Row 1: the two comers thorough walkthrough for the game, let casting fetch at seed. The Fighter should Row 2: nothing us know in the same letter. Be sure to throw rock at seed. To get past the log Row 3: one power potion, one coffin, key put your name and address on the sheet trap, you must walk around the logs on Row 4: one coffm with your clues, to ensure credit. It's ok the left, then cross the right plank and Row 5: room, braziers to send clues for several games at once. step over the wire. At the Fortress, block Row 6: fIve chests the door. Walk over to the door on the Row 7: exit, twenty coffins upper right. Block that one too. Push the Row 8: one coffm To decode clues, candleabra. Go to the front of the table. Row 9: twenty coffms, eighteen chests, count one letter back.

QuestBusters 13 is Cinemaware's fInest product for 1989, skeleton, satyr, Golem, hydra, flesh It Came from and I recommend it highly for all science hound, whirlwind, vampire, mummy, the Desert fiction and monster movie fans. fire elemental, wraith, wight, Spectre, Continued from page seven poltergeist, ghost, banshee, komodo, gila Skill Level: Novice monster, slime, bat and so on. There are driving a tank, extinguishing a fIre and Protection: None more than 60 different types of monsters, perhaps some others that I didn't see. Price: $49.95 each colorfully drawn and fully animated. These games are all extremely simple and Company: CinemawarelEA Some of the monsters were best handled instinctive, but they didn't annoy me in through the use of formulas; none seemed to be immune to good old brute force. the same manner as similar games in Lords of the Rising Sun. Perhaps that is Don't Go Alone Continued from page nine Chemistry 2101 because these short sequences made more Like most role-playing games, Don't sense this time around, and because if broadsword, hunting rifle, elephant gun, Go Alone features a magic system that you blow it, you're not dead and out of scimitar, flame thrower, Flamesword, can be used by properly equipped charac­ the game-just on your way to the atomic-powered ters to do some amazing hospital. spark generator, things. Instead of spells, I must admit to a certain elation the machine gun, Spir­ however, this system one time I was able to shoot an ant's an­ itsword and Spirit uses chemical formulas. tenna off. Except for the lack of a recoil Wand. Best of all, Most common formulas from the gun, the shooting sequences, you won't have to are listed in five chemis­ where you see only your hand, the gun save up a fortune in try volumes you'll fmd and your target, felt more like the real gold to afford these among the house's sev­ thing than anything else I've ever en­ weapons. Every­ erallevels. A sixth "for­ countered in a computer game. It was thing you need dur­ bidden" volume is also also a lot of fun to dynamite the monsters ing the game can hidden somewhere. The in the open, though I wish I had been able either be found ly­ reation problem with the chem­ to win at least one of those fIghts. ing around, or re­ Ye Olde Formula C istry books is that some The creators of the game obviously trieved after slaying specifIc monsters. are so old that some of specific elements had a lot of fun with it. Everyone in the The assortment of armor is almost as in the formulas are too faded to read. If credits has some piece of real estate in bizarre, including everything from boots, you search the house carefully, however, Lizard Breath named after them. For ex­ shields and motorcycle helmets to a you'll discover the names of some of the ample, there is the Beverly Drive-in, bomber jacket, diving suit, bulletproof missing elements scrawled on pieces of named after Production Coordinator Bev­ vest and radiation suit. All weapons and paper. Each character keeps his own for­ erly Needham of Cinemaware. armor, as well as every other item you mula notebook, and formulas can be add­ [md in the house, are displayed when you If you go the drive-in, you can spend a ed or edited by selecting elements right find them. Thus, it's easy to tell by look­ pleasant evening watching a black and from the periodic table. Each character's ing, just what kind of damage a specific notebook can hold 25 formulas. white version of Rocket Ranger. Rocky weapon can inflict, even if you've never flies around in fIne style on the silver A few of of the most useful formulas heard of it before. In addition, whenever include Neomycin (reduces the party's screen. It won't keep your interest for you equip a character with a weapon, the long since he never gets anywhere, but Fear by half), Occularium (expands the weapon's numerical rating is listed; de­ auto-map to fill the entire screen), and it's a neat little touch that brings reality to fensive ratings for armor are displayed as the game world (and plugs another Cine­ Demon's Breath (kills a single monster). well. Toward the end of the game you'll need maware product at the same time.) The only thing I didn't like about the to [md a formula to dissolve solid walls, It Came from the Desert comes on game's combat system is that once you and another called the Shield of Zeus, three disks, and there is absolutely no begin a battle, you can't choose a differ­ which protects your party against The copy protection-not even a password ent weapon or change the currently se­ Ancient One. Of course, a formula's ef­ protection scheme in the manual. You are lected formula. However, you can change fectiveness depends on the Concentration asked to copy all three disks and play the lead character during a battle and this level of the character using it. from the copies, but the only reason to do character is really the only one who is en­ While completing Don't Go Alone so is just to be safe. gaged in combat. After you kick some will take some hard work, it's the type of There is also a 16-page manual, illus­ monster butt, the experience points are game that makes you want to keep going. trated with comic strip sequences or pic­ distributed among your four characters, One reason you want to press on is be­ tures that help you understand the with the lion's share going to the charac­ cause none of your characters ever dies as different playing challenges as you go ter who did the most work to defeat the a result of combat or any other mishap. If along. Cinemaware also included a real monster. Thus, if you want to build up you aren't successful in battle against one incentive to make you buy the game. A your characters evenly, you should al­ of the house's array of monsters, you are second Lizard Breath scenario, Ant ways try to let your least experienced simply teleported to another location. Of Heads, is available directly from the com­ characters do a lot of the fighting. course, there is a price to pay for defeat. pany for $14.95 if you send in your regis­ Usually one of your characters will notice tration. To play it, you'll need Reel 1 Now for a Few that their pack feels lighter and that they from the original game. I've already sent of my Least Favorite Things are missing an item from their inventory. for my copy and I'm eager to see it. I'll When you see tlle variety of monsters This can also occur if the party flees from do a follow-up review on It Came from there are to battle, you'll know why you a battle. Though the house is fairly huge the Desert II in a month or so. need so many weapons. Some of the and contains one-way doors, illusionary Conclusions: It Came from the Desert monsters you'll face include a cotton­ mouth snake, Sorcerer,lizard, Zombie, Continued on next page

14 OuestBusters & 2, Wasteland, Tangled Tales. Jack Friend, 8007 Aspendale Dr, Las Vegas NY 89123 Demon's Tomb Continued from page eleven SelVtrade: Bard 1 & 2, Legacy of Ancients, This happens when a game auto-detects Questron & more. Want Pool of Rad, Wizard­ ry 3. Raymond Fong, Box 700, Sub PO #11, the Tandy motherboard and forces the Edmonton, Alta, Canada T6G 2EO Tandy graphics on. Most companies have solved this by giving the player a special Amlga: Want Suspect, Infidel. Paul Shaffer, parameter that forces the game into an­ •Trade or sell your old adventures with a 4405 Osage Ct, Kennesaw GA 30144 free ad. (Adventures only, no pirated other mode when you load it. With De­ software, limit of 10 games per ad. Amlga-$10@: The Pawn, Kingdoms of mon's Tomb, the best I could do on my Please state system. England, Manhunter NY. $20 @: Lords of Tandy was to either view the graphics in Rising Sun (+ shipping). Steve Berquist, 165 s a garbled mode or completely shut them Bernard #32, Sunnyvale CA 94086 off. APPLE Conclusions: This is not a game I Want any/all Ultima, Wizardry, Bard's IBM & QUEST-ALlKES would play all the way through, but as I Tale. Also Azure Bonds, War of Lance, Sell only: 5.25" Azure Bonds, Magic Candle said, I have a bias against text adventures. Dragon Wars, Battletech, Neuromancer. (both w/c1uebook), $22@, write 1st. Richard Robillard, 52 S Main St, Baldwinville MA Even given this, the high quality features Trade/sell Gauntlet 1. Jason Curry, POB and interesting story did a lot to pique my 279, Emmetsburg IA 50536 01436 interest. I found the English puzzles to be $20@: Manhunter SF, Space Quest 3, King far more logical than most similar games $25 @: Dragon Wars, JIGS Dark Castle. Arthur, Hero's Quest, Leisure Suit 3, Colo­ P. Matta, 2081 Blvd, W Hartford CT I've seen that were developed in the nel's Bequest, Indy's Last Crusade graphic states. It is an exceptional value for the 06107 adventure, King's Quest 4. Garth Beagle, HC- 73 Box 2A, Smithville Flats NY 13841 price. Trade/sell $20@: Times of Lore, Moebi­ us, Pool of Rad. Send SASE for list. SelVtrade-$25 @: Magic Candle, Ancient Skill Level: Intermediate Want Bronze Dragon 1 & 2, BattIetech. J Land of Ys, Hero's Quest. Roadwar 2000, Protection: None J Parus, 1156 Lawson Cove Cir, Virginia $15. Send list! Santa Parava, 223 26th Ave S, Price: $14.99 Beach, VA 23455 CranbrookBC Canada VIC 312 Company: Mastertronic Trade: Azure Bonds, Prophecy, Battletech, Want Questron 1. Prefer to buy. Bruce Future Magic, Bard I, Starfiight. Want M & Bride of the Robot Smith, 9244 Timberline Lane #B, Cuca­ M 2, Wizardry 5, Neuromancer, Leisure Suit Continued from page ten monga CA 91730 3, Space Quest 3. Andrew Pollack, 2002 Reg­ is Dr, Davis CA 95616 bly reading this review. I rate Bride R for $20@: Demon's Winter, Moebius, Auto­ raunchy, S for silly and D for Duel, Ultima 4, Ultima 5, M & M, Zcirk Trade only: Sword of Aragon, Leisure Suit 1, disappointing. Trilogy, Wasteland, Bard 3. Robert Pool of Rad and Ultima (both w/cluebook). T. Breezley, 4922 Coco Palm Dr, Fremont Dauer, USMCA Frankfurt, AETV-FT-EP, APONY 09710 Skill Level: Novice CA 94538 Protection: None Sell/trade: Deadline, Demon's Forge, Last ATAR18-bit Price: $39.95 Ninja, Leather Goddesses, Bard 1, Roadware $5 @: many games, like Ultima 1-5, A. Reali­ Company: Free Spirit Europa. Harold Heck, 2789 N Sheldon Rd, ty: City. Send SASE for list. Embret Johns­ Strykersville NY 14145 gaard, Norbyveien 56, 2050 Jessheim Norway. Don't Go Alone Continued from page fourteen COMMODORE $10 @: Azure Bonds, Pool of Rad, A.Reality: MISCELLANEOUS walls and teleportation squares, the auto­ City, more games & clue books. Send SASE Want Enchanter Trilogy box that holds mapping feature lets you systematically for list. Embret Johnsgaard, Norbyveien 56, all 3-just the box . Paul Shaffer, 4405 cover every inch. Also, while there are 2050 Jessheim Norway. Osage Ct, Kennesaw GA 30144 ten levels of achievement for each of the four professions, promotions come quick­ Want docs & software for C128, Stationfall & Want Original Adventure (from Golden Old­ Suspect (w/all docs & boxes), Book of Adven­ ies 1) for ffiM & C64. Mama Halle, 1718 . ly. It may take 300,000 experience points ture Games ll. Send card w/prices, shipping Laurel Dr, Harlingen TX 78550 for a character to reach the highest level, details. Kenneth Plank, 3611 Hwy 97 North, but defeating a single monster in the space 2, Klamath Falls OR 97601-9321 C64, ffiM, Amiga: send lists for trading. Mas­ deepest levels of the house can yield as . simo Galluzzi, Via Emilia 401, 15057 Tortona much as 20,000 experience points. $25 @ (includes shipping in US): Pool of (AL) Italy Conclusions: Don't Go Alone is a lot Rad, Bard 2-3 (w/cluebook). $20@: Hillsfar, easier to complete than most role-playing Rocket Ranger, Times of Lore. $15 @: De­ fender of Crown, Battletech. Will trade for Ul­ Swap Shop ads are for QB subscrib­ games. However, the wide variety of tima 3, Magic Candle, Tangled Tales. B. ers only. To get yours in the next weapons, armor, and monsters, as well as Gladstone, 8731 Graves Ave #35, Santee CA month's issue, it must arrive by the the game's unique system of chemical 92071 15th of the preceding month. All magic, should make the game interesting ads are edited, and we assume no and fun for garners of all skill levels. Pool of Rad w/hint book, 2 extra player disks, responsibility for typos (or the en­ $22. Steven Avent, 13531 Clairmont Way tire staff would be injail by now!) Skill Level: Intermediate #54, Oregon City OR 97045 or anything else connected with thse Protection: Codewheel Trade/sell: Faery Tale w/cluebook, Ultima 1- ads. (Remember, no illegally cop­ Price: $39.95 2-3-4, War in Middle Earth, Bard 1 w/clue ied software, caveat emptor, etc.) Company: Accolade book & characters, Hillsfar. Want Roadwar 1 QuestBusters 15 Dungeon Master: how to open last door the vault door? Get cube off the outcrop­ Waiting for Duffy on level3? Kill Rock Monsters quickly? ping? M. Spivey, Rte 1 Box 1130, Rua­ Duffy's still recovering from Allan Anderson, 623-B Amaopio Rd, ton, LA 71270. Kula HI 96790 Vegas CES, so contact these Legacy of the Ancients: Where's Sap­ people if you can help. M & M 2: rescued lots of Hirelings, none phire Key in.Pirate's Lair? Am at Level 8 Prophecy: password for Tower of Jed? show up at Inns. Time travel-how? but can't find Key or doors down. Where Ancient Land of Ys: Can't fmd hid­ Where's Shamash. Need other help. do I get Magic Ice? Can't fmd Guardian den passages, get in Daan Tower. Caryn Starflight: How to destroy Crystal Scroll or Pegasus exhibits in Museum. Neuamnn, 4306 Althea Way, P. B. Gar­ Planet? (Need coordinates of where to And where is Dimon Coin? J. Pullen, dens, FL 33410 drop egg.) Mark Kassouf, 12767 Royal 11015 Fenway St., Sun Valley, CA Ave, Grand Terrace, CA 92324 91352 Ultima V: where's center of Under­ world? Mark Digman, PSC Box 3211, Demon's Winter: need general maps. APO NY 09223-5370 How do I stop dying each time I get the Passport to Orb? Harold Heck, 2789 N Sheldon Rd, Phantasie 3: where's Hall of Giants? Strykersville NY 14145 Adventure Need maps, tips, etc. Tom Bray, POB 838, Houston, BC Canada VOJ 1Z0 Beyond Zork, BUreaucracy, King's Quest 4: Need hints, tips, maps. S. Stiles, Rte 1 Quest for Clues I: $24.99 Box 510, Millstone, WV 25261. Quest for Clues II: $24.99 Neuromancer: need help with Zone 5, Official Book of King's Quest: $9.99 info leading up to it. Philip Tayco, 3569 Spellbreaker: How do you get through The King's Quest Companion: $14.99 Boston Ave, Oakland CA 94602 QB Map Kit (includes US/APO shipping, Canadians send $3 US for shipping; no Thirteen-issue Renewals for the Price of Twelve! overseas sales) Kit A: (for text/graphic games) $8 Just like the day you fIrst subscribed, you can now get 13 issues of Kit B: (for role-playing games) $8 QuestBusters for the price of twelve-if your sub expires prior to May (Each has 100 sheets of mapping paper.) 1990 and we receive your renewal by April 12, 1990. Third class re­ US orders, add $3 shipping! handling per newals are $18 a year, Adventure Express (1st Class & in an envelope, book; Canada & APO, $6; overseas, $12. to US only) costs $24, Canadian subs are $24 US funds only, and over­ Credit cards are not valid in this realm, seas subs are $32 in US $$. 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