Questbusters: New= Games for the Fall I'm Writing About Your Plan to Conserve Being Developed for Each

uestBusterS ~ t --- The Adventurers' Journal Vol. V, #10 October, 1988 $2.50 Advanced D & D: The Pool of Radiance By Shay Addams Two of the more than two dozen peo es (Fighters, Magic-Users, etc.) and six ple on the "SSI Special Projects Team" Attributes. (Non-human NPCs may com Overrun with monsters, the 1000-year-old responsible for Pool of Radiance are Keith bine classes.) But there are nine align city of Phlan is slowly being reclaimed Brors and Paul Murray, who did Wizard's ments from which to choose: Lawful block-by-block by adventurers daring Crown and Eternal Dagger, and the cred- Good, Lawful Neutral, Lawful Evil, True enough to venture beyond the civilized its even list SSI president Joel Billings as Neutral, Neutral Evil, and Chaotic Good, part of town. As ______...., ______a playtester. West- Chaotic Neutral or Chaotic Evil. (/ want you uncover lost Type: Tactics-Oriented Fantasy wood Associates, ed a Chaotic Chaotic character-but · lore about Phlan Role-playing who did Questron II, noooooooooooo!) Alignment determines and explore the ter- Systems: C 64/128 also contributed to how NPCs (non-player characters) react ritories in the sur- Planned Conversions: IBM (Oc- the programming and rounding tober), Apple II, ST, Amiga graphics. The story Wilderness, you line came directly learn ofTyran- from TSR's game de- thraxus, the mastermind behind the inva- signers, and many of the puzzles were a sion of monsters, and the source of his collaborative effort. (A sequel, Azure power-the Pool of Radiance. A total of Bonds, is already scheduled for next 18 quests, one for each of the game's 16 x year.) 16-square mazes, awaits the diligent del ver of dungeons who enters the Forgotten Character Creation Realms in the first computer game offi Since all role-playing games were at to a team member. To allow AD & D cially based on TRS'sAdvancedDun least inspired by D & D, everyone is al players to use their paper and pencil char geons and Dragons series of paper and ready familiar with the six races of acters, a Modify option was included; this pencil role-playing games. Dwarves, Elves and so on, the four class- lets you alter a character's attributes-it's also a great way to cheat! After rolling up a character, you custo Origins-GenCon of 1988 mize his or her picture by selecting from a By Ken St. Andre library of head and body gr~phics. (You tournaments, give awards and so forth. . can actually put a female head on a male Every conceivable special interest group We live in an age of miracles and won body-pretty weird!) You also get to al in gaming turns up for these things. ders, a world in which every one of us ter the type and color of the elements Fantasy role-players (Dungeons and possesses powers that would dwarf those composing each character's combat icon: Dragons and the like) account for the ma of the wizards, heroes and monsters we head, shield, weapon, and more. You can jority of conventioneers, but every other pretend to be while questing for gold and name your character, but can't rename possible group is also well represented. glory in mazes, dungeons and castles. him or her later. The party may consist of Board gamers spread their maps and roll Last week I entered the belly of a big sil up to six characters and a pair of NPCs, their dice across countless tables and ver bird and flew halfway across the con who can be hired in town or may be found down long stretches of hallways. Miniat tinent to congregate with my fellow while questing. urists take over every open space to re Mages in a massive fortress on the shores fight the Napoleonic wars, sink the A Man with a Phlan of a mighty lake. In other words, I at Bismark or engage in simulated jet com Town and dungeon scenes are depicted tended the combined Origins-GenCon, bat. Computer gamers fill a hall roughly with distinctive first-person graphics that held August 18-21 in Milwaukee. the size of a small city and play run-and show off good spot animation when you For those whose experience is limited gun games-sixteen at a time. Sports bump into characters or monsters. You'll to computer games, GAMA (Game Man gamers are rolling dice and flipping find three Temples, a training area, a ufacturers of America) puts on a national cards. Play-by-mailers are giving out free gambling den, lots of shops (but none that convention every summer to show off new products, sell lots of games, sponsor Continued on page 12 Continued on page 11 Letters . . . Adventure Hotline ~ to the ~ Editor says completely new game systems are Dear QuestBusters: New= Games for the Fall I'm writing about your plan to conserve being developed for each. The plot for King's Quest IV is out for IBM. SSI just space by abbreviating phrases such as released Demon's Winter (Apple, C 64). the one that will accept Wasteland charac "Seek and Slay the Evil Wizard" to "S & It uses the Shard of Spring game system ters was written by Michael Stackpole, S the E.W." I hope you abandon this and is priced at $29.95. EA says Future and their next fantasy RPG was written by trend, because nonstandard abbreviations Magic is definitely out for the IBM. Steve Peterson, who created the Champi are generally annoying. I doubt the term ons pencil and paper RPG. S & S the E.W. is going to catch on-it's Looks like a series, for the full title is now too long and clumsy. By foisting a lot of Sentinel World/: Future Magic. Mars jargon onto your readers, you might make Saga probably shipped for the IBM by On the Way some drop out, as well as discourage pos now, and the GS version of Bard's Tale II Might and Magic II is not far off. Faery sible new subscribers. Nobody wants to subscribe to a newsletter they can't read. should also be available. Interplay'sNeu Tale Adventure II is much further away. Thomas Q. Radigan romancer was set to ship late September (In fact, it's barely a speck on the hori or early October for the C 64. Infocom zon.) Micro Illusions still hasn't got all Why don't you just S & G the XYZ and picked up Quarterstaff, a Macintosh the bugs out of Land ofLegend. Polar think about it for awhile, maybe you'll D. graphic adventure with RPG overtones, Ware fans will have to wait for summer to B. the RZLL--i[you've got enough OPPE! Actually, the whole idea of S & S from Simulated Environment Systems, play their next graphic game, The Appren the E. W. was intended as a parody of the which had marketed it independently. tice, which is supposed to be very differ way some magazines go off the deep end Now subtitled The Tomb of Setmoth, the ent and feature lots of animation. with jargon.and abbreviations. (Hopeful program was extensively revised (we nev ly someone out there got it!) To clarify er reviewed it because we were waiting Not Another Newsletter! future efforts at nonstandard humor, we'll for SES to get all the bugs out, which nev clearly label them with the line "Attempt If you're dreaming of designing computer at Humor-DoNot Take Seriously." er quite happened) by Infocom, who even games for a living, check out the Journal added color for the Mac II. Owners of the of Computer Game Design. It's $30 for Dear QuestBusters: original version can trade it for the new six issues a year, with articles by publish With excellent software reviews and in formative interviews, QuestBusters con one for $20. Infocom's new graphic er Chris Crawford and a host of other pro games 'Zork 'Zero and Shogun (both Apple tinues to maintain its dominance over grammers. JCGD, 5251 Sierra Rd, San other gaming magazines. I especially 2 and Mac) were set to ship this month, Jose, CA 95132. liked the way you handled the Joel Berez and Journey is scheduled for Mac, Apple interview, focusing on changes in Infoc 2 and GS. Mindscape's Colony is out om' s software instead of the allegations now for the Mac. Contest Winners in O'Neill's letter. I also like the Brian Ken Pomaranski won this month's Keys Moriarty interview. But please change drawing, and the Random Drawing went your name. QuestBusters sounds like a Conversion Mini-Castle to Richard Sanford. bad pun on the movie GhostBusters. The ST and Mac versions of Twilight's Walter Compton Ransom are out A Mac version of Soft works' Adventur-e Game Too/kit has been Sierra Goes Public But Walter, it i£ a bad pun on Last month it was Mindscape, and now GhostBusters. released, and it allows you to play games Sierra On-line has gone public with an of written with the MS-DOS version (or vice fer to sell 1,400,000 shares of common versa). It's a shareware program that stock at $9-11 a share. The offering was costs $20 to register, and comes with expected to take place in early October. source code for a dozen text adventures, Q~~~i~M.§tj~rf Anyone interested in a prospectus can including Original Adventure. Softworks Editor: Shay Addams contact Piper, Jaffray & Hopwood, Inc., News Editor: Nuyu is running an Adventure Game writing Piper Jaffray Tower, 222 Ninth St., Min Contributing Editors: Ken St. Andre, Tim contest (415 659-0533 for information). neapolis, MN 55402. Snider, Stephen King, Brian Smith, Bob Guerra, William E. Carte, Charles Don Wasteland II and Bard's Hall, Mike Bagnall, Tracie Forman Hines, Quest for More Clues Steven Payne, Russ Ceccola, Matt Hill Tale IV? Since Quest for Clues hit the stores, many man, A. Bruce Lotts Electronic Arts refuses to comment on new subscribers have asked "How do I whether they'll do sequels for either of QuestBusters is published monthly by join the QuestBusters Guild?" Easy,just Roger Rabbit. Annual subs, $18. Canada, these games, but you can probably expect send us $50! Only kidding. There is but $23, Int'l, $32, Intergalactic, 324 ziirgz. to see them. You will definitely be able one way to join- by doing a walkthrough Textual contents Copyright Shay Ad to use your characters from both games in that is officially accepted by the Guild- dams, 1988, All Rights Reserved. Copy two of Interplay's role-playing titles that ing without express permission is will follow Neuromancer. Brian Fargo prohibited and punishable by staging an Continued on page 7 air show in your back yard-with all Italian pilots. Mainfraille: the coillputer strikes back! By Tim Snider But with Orbiter, the latest word in of very hard. The mainframe's weaponry ex fensive armament, and its onboard trans acts enormous damage to you: enemies Near the close of the 20th Century, com porter system (no Scotty, though), you appear randomly and they appear often. puterization has penetrated every aspect can teleport to Earth and attack, then re The odds are so lopsided in favor of the of our society. Computers run everything treat to the the space station, where Tri droids and other foes, I sometimes felt as from simple bank tellers to major national complex has no power. (It's nice to have if there was no way to win. And the maz defense systems, and thanks to telecom at least one safe place in this es frequently munications, they're all linked to each game!) You'll also appreciate the turn out to be other. A new supercomputer, the Tricom most powerful assault power suit one-way tun plex System, was designed to control all ever built. With the suit, you can nels: one the others and make them work as one. fire wrist lasers and jump super wrong move The planet would have been harmonious human distances; without it, and there's no for the first time-if it had worked. you're charcoal. This technologi- way out! cal annor that makes you almost t!!!!~!!lr~~~~~~~!I At your dis Paranoia Strikes Deep invincible. Unfortunately, "al- posal are sever Tricomplex exceeded everyone's most" is the operative word here. al scan units dreams by independently thinking and re With the joystick, you maneu you can place in sponding with almost human emotions. ver your onscreen character across a de orbit, and a doctor's lab is available on the No one noticed what Tricomplex was up serted and littered landscape that was Orbiter. Often, however, you'll be killed to until it was too late. Tricomplex want once a large city. Located in the many before you can use any of these items. ed to live ... forever. Upon scanning all buildings are power cells that replenish records on the planet, it realized that most your energy as it's depleted. You may Think Before You Shoot of Earth's major wars, disasters and catas also find additional assault gear, such as This is the first action adventure I've trophes were caused by that unpredictable air, land and water vehicles, in the caves. seen that stresses thinking. Just blunder and irrational being called man. It saw Each of these must be re ing in and shooting everything in sight man as a threat to its assembled aboard Orbit won't get you far in this mindbender. existence. Type: Action Adventure er, but you can't beam You've got to figure out how to take max With Tricomplex System: C 64/128 them up until you've de imum advantage of extremely limited re in control of all the activated the shield sys- sources. Figuring out how your nation's major wea- tem Tricomplex controls. equipment functions and learning its ponry, man was helpless to defeat the on You can see where this gets confusing strengths and weaknesses will be your slaught of robotic warriors the trying to outguess and outthink a comput first priority. Then you'll do well to fa supercomputer sent out to rid the planet of er! Well, saving the world from total an miliarize yourself with the landscape and mazes. this infestation. Man was in danger of be nihilation shouldn't be too easy. coming extinct. Each "screen" is presented with a Continued on page 13 Yet there is one chance. Before Tri cross-section view of the area. Your char complex's final activation, an experimen acter stays in the center of the screen, and tal space station called Orbiter was the surrounding areas shift to give the im launched. Its computer had not been pression he has moved. There is a sense Inventory locked into the massive system now con of gravity, which contributes to the feel trolled by Tricomplex. The weapons, of the game. At the bottom of the screen, Poo{ of'.lqlcliance ...... 1 power and beaming chamber aboard Or a horizontal bar changes colors to reflect 'I1ie Last :J{jnja ...... 4 biter are at your command, for you have your character's health: when it's black, been selected for the mission to stop the 'Eartfiiy 'De{igfits ...... 5 he dies on the next enemy hit. (You only Interoiew: 'Wastefancl's mainframe in its tracks [not to mention get one life and cannot save a game in sectors, bits and bytes]. progress.) Similar bars and gauges dis ~n St. J{ncfre & !Micfiae{ Mainframe paints an ugly picture of play data on your power suit remaining S tackpofe ...... 6 computer domination and ungodly odds energy and other information. against the human race. The idea is to tel 'Wa{/(jfirougfis: Jin;rJer ...... 8 eport down from Orbiter and shut down Computers from Hell 'Wizardry I~ Part 1 ...... 9 this inhuman juggernaut Programmed to After defeating Tricomplex's various 'Waiting for 'Duffy ...... 13 stop anyone from doing just that, Tricom defenses, you'll face the main diode him ~ys to tfie 'l(j.ngcloms ...... 14 plex does not take kindly to the idea. self. The central memory banks are hid You'll face everything from killer droids den deep underground. By throwing four Swap Sfiop ...... 15 to laser-firing tanks intent on destroying switches, you can shut down this comput mankind's last chance-you. er from hell and save the human race. Doing so is very hard. In fact, it is very, darned hard to place the character exactly on any particular spot facing the correct The Last Ninja direction. I spent 20 minutes and wasted count By Stephen King item until you touch it with your hand. less ninjas while trying to cross a stream Because of the unique perspective, this is by jumping from stone to stone. And af This is the year of the dragon in China, often more easily said than done. but over here it's the year of the OrientaV ter finally succeeding and exploring the martial arts game. The Last Ninja is only Stubbing my To far side, I was dismayed to find I had to the latest in a long string of recent games The Last Ninja reminds me of the Sier recross this stream to get back to the rest with Oriental themes. In this one you ra King's Quest adventures, largely be of_the game. Maybe I'm just not adept at play the part of (get ready for the big sur cause of a similar interface. With this sort of thing, but it's not all my fault prise) the last ninja. The evil Shogun Ku keyboard or joystick, you control a cen Landing is such nitoki and his Ashikaga clan have tral character on a three-dimensional an exact thing slaughtered all of the other mystic shad screen; each time you walk off the edge that, after making ow warriors while they were on a pil of the screen, a new one appears. But the a successful grimage. Enroute to to the island of Lin similarity ends here. jump, I frequently Fen to seek and One area where the watched my ninja study the legen games diverge is the sink thr'mgh the dary Koga Type: Action Adventure type of graphics. Un . edge of the road,., scrolls, the nin Systems: C 64/128, IBM (512K like the cartoon style of or mto the stone where he landed. RAM required, 384K for Tandy; jas were cut the Sierra games, The Out on Maneuvers both disk formats included) Last Ninja sports a bat down in an am The graphics of The Last Ninja screens tery of highly realistic bush. Luckily, Planned Conversions: Apple are set on a diagonal axis similar to those pictures, complete with one ninja (you) II and IIGS (both October) in Zaxxon. Your access is generally limit bonsai plants, bamboo survives to find ed to a narrow strip of road that runs from clumps and various the Shogun and comer to comer, some with branches or kinds of foliage. Many screens show run his followers and to avenge the 90-degree turns. Maneuverability is the ning water in rivers or fountains. brotherhood. major problem. From time to time, more spot anima A big reason for this difficulty is the Numchuka Laka Laka tion brings to life a variety of fire fact that you can't reverse your direction When you first run the game on an breathing dragons, flying birds, floating quickly and easily. Turning is done in IBM or compatible, you'll be asked if you ghosts, headless zombies and skittering 90-degree increments. This is ok for go have CGA, EGA or Tandy graphics. All rats. And of course, there are combat se ing left or right, but to tum back the other modes are high-resolution, but the EGA quences with warriors, animated skele way you have to perform an awkward cir and Tandy support a 16-color palette, as tons and other assorted evil beings. In cular motion with your joystick. Many does the C 64/128 version. After making short, the graphics are some of the best times the ninja would not respond if I your choice, you'll be rewarded with a I've seen-even in CGA mode, with its tried to turn back after just having made a beautifully detailed picture of the face of severely limited four colors. a hooded ninja underlined by a sword and tum, and I had to fight with the joy scabbard that opens and closes to display Lights, Camera, Action! stick-to the point of breaking two of the game credits. Next you find yourself Focusing on action-oriented problems, them. It is also easy to get stuck between in one of six separate game sections. The Ninja also leans away from puzzle obj~ts or at the side of the road. End up first is called "The Wastelands." I'm not intensive nature of Sierra's animated facmg the wrong way in a bad spot, and sure why, since the landscape is generally quests. This is not to say that there aren't you will probably have to struggle with as green as a golf course, with plenty of a couple of real stumpers. I was just the joystick a bit to get out running water. Later areas are called the about to yell for help after the first dozen While getting an item, you may have Wilderness Palace. Gardens, the Dun screens because I couldn't figure out what ~o approach it from an odd angle or grab 1t from a specific direction. The first few ~eons, Palace, and Inner Sanctum. Only to do next. Then I thought of trying to m the Dungeon segment does mapping cross a swampy area by somersaulting times I played I was unable to get any of prove desirable. from dry spot to dry spot off the edge of the various tools because of this quirk. You start the game bare-handed and the screen to find And while trying to get things, I some have three lives. A brief exploration of the remainder of times jumped into an area of the screen I the surrounding area will tum up interest the Wastelands. "'.as_n't supposed to be in. Not only was it ing artifacts as well as some warriors for And then there difficult to return to the play area, but this you to battle. Eventually you'll find a To was the fire also threw the perspective out of kilter. (the traditional ninja longsword), some breathing dragon. Maybe the limited control of this game shurikens, numchukas, smoke bombs and Getting past it will make it popular with fishermen. The a bamboo staff. I found the numchukas was a matter of whole time I was playing, I had the im particularly effective in battle. standing in exact pression I was fighting to bring in a 150- When you enter a new location, these ly the correct spot to throw a smoke bomb pound swordfish. I will admit that turn items can be easily distinguished because into its face. Unfortunately, most of the ing about was somewhat easier with the they blink on and off for the first few sec puzzles in this game involve precise keyboard, but because of the number and onds. To retrieve an object you must po placement of your onscreen persona. Continued on page 13 sition your ninja nearby and grab at the This might not be so bad if it weren't so Earthly Delights: an all-text classic By Shay Addams you prowl the City of Lights in search of tioned a "plan" back in your apartment? the Bistro Absymal, where you suspect Despite a rather elementary parser, the You were hardly delighted to learn that the burglar hangs out when not busy loot game does allow you to question people an eccentric uncle left you nothing but a ing people's houses. Each street bears a by saying things like, "Ask burglar about painting of a beautiful woman when he sign that makes mapping much easier. painting." Conducting an interrogation died. "Earthly Delights," the will ex From the Rue Lafayette, you can stroll isn't as player-friendly as the same tech plained, is no treasure in the art world, along the boulevard, as "red-faced nique in an Infocom mystery. Sometimes and its sole value was de schoolboys hurry by" the program responds with,"What do you scribed as "many hours of ------and a tri-colored balloon want to talk about?" and requires that you pleasure" if you take care of Many of our readers sails by, attempting the retype the subject or entire question. At the painting and "never part still enjoy all-text first east-west transo least the vocabulary is large enough that with her." But when a games, but the major ceanic flight. The Eiffel you won't waste much time searching for stranger knocks on the door companies are no Tower dominates the synonyms. If the program doesn't under and offers $75,000 for it, longer doing them. skyline, and all American stand your command, it often says ''I'll you become suspicious and For the die hard text tourists should definitely try to do what I think you meant" and refuse to sell. gamers, we'll be cov check out Shecky's does its best. ering titles from small American Bar & Grill. Chapter by Chapter Graphics are employed On-screen Mapping in 1984? This 1984 mystery has outfits and, for new when you "read grafitti" When you type "Look around" in some definite literary overtones. comers to the genre, at Shecky's: a picture of places, you actually see a floor plan of the It's divided into five chap occasionally reviewing the Eiffel Tower fills the apartment displayed on-screen. Move ters, the first titled "A classic text games left side of the screen and ment can be in any of eight directions, Noise in the Night." An such as this one. huge block letters spell plus up, down, in and out; abbreviations odd scraping sound awak out a clue (or is it a red are accepted. Earthly Delights is also ens you, and you discover herring?). These are not one of those rare non-Infocom adventures that the living room has been ransacked hi-res graphics, but are composed of that permits you to print an ongoing tran and the painting is gone. A call to the punctuation symbols that still lend sur script of all the descriptions as they si police only elicits only an assurance that prise and variety to the all-text format. A multaneously appear on-screen. The they'll launch an immediate investigation few simple sound effects have also been IBM's function keys can be used to exe and get in touch as soon as they find incorporated into some scenes. cute typical commands such as checking something. So this case differs from most inventory, picking up objects and examin computerized mysteries in that you're not The Sights of Paris ing things; numbers represent directions, a police or private detective, but a private It's difficult to keep your mind on the so you can type "l" to move southwest, citizen who must solve the crime case, with the Montmartre district's can for example. These features make the independently. can girls, the Folies-Bergere, Napoleon's game perfect for lazy IBM adventurers. An unusual degree of interaction dis red marble tomb and so many other pictu Both versions accomodate saving up to tinguishes this tale. Events can unfold resque attractions. You '11 even encounter five sessions in progress to the game disk. quite differently depending on your ac a gang of Japanese tourists taking pic You don't get points in this game, just tions. Tiptoe from the bedroom into the tures, in addition to the Parisians going a free trip to Europe, dozens of interesting hall in the first chapter, and you'll see the about their daily errands. Wearing a red and unexpected experiences and the satis- burglar, dressed all in black and looking beret, an old faction of solving like a "lumberjack's big brother." Stand grandfather an unusually there and little happens, but move around whistles "Mar Type: All-text Mystery well-thought out and he'll knock you out cold with a lamp. seillaise" as he Systems: Apple, Mac, IBM PC and jr mystery. The The literary overtones are less subtle returns home climax is pure when you request a clue by typing "help." with a loaf of Robert Ludlum, Hints are revealed in quotes from Robert fresh bread. A ten-year-old girl tosses her with a thrilling chase scene through the Frost, Victor Hugo or another classic au cigarette into the gutter when she hears hills of Switzerland. thor, poet or philosopher. In this situa you approach. And there are poodles Conclusions: Ultimately, you'll find that tion, George Bernard Shaw suggests an everywhere, evidenced by the pile of this is much more than a simple case of all-out attack. Follow his lead and a kara poodle droppings you'll step into sooner burglary-it's a case of international in te-kicking, gun-blasting free-for-all or later. These little slices of life bright trigue than only you can solve. Fans of ensues. en up the story and add life to the town as all-text mysteries and interactive fiction The burglar drops a piece of evidence you scour the town for le Bistro. with a literary flair will get more than a that sends you to chapter two, "Leg Work The mystery deepens when you enter good read out of this classic story by in Paris." After a quick trip by Con the Louvre. . A curator relates how some Dan'l Levitton. corde, you'll land at Charles DeGaulle one has broken into the gallery and stolen Airport and take a train to the center of all the paintings of an obscure artist. It Skill Level: Novice/Intermediate Paris. (Ask for help here, and Ernest turns out that the stolen art consisted of Protection: Program Hemingway reminds you that "Paris is a more works by Parrish, the san1e man Price: $25 movable feast.") The sights are pithily who created "Earthly Delights." Is this Company: Levitton described and authentically situated as what the burglar meant when he men- QuestBusters 5 Interview: Wasteland designers Ken St. Andre and Michael Stackpole One of the most significant developments sponding with Ken, I had put together a T Coleco cut its electronic division. And in computer games is the entry of design & T opus called "City of Terrors," which I'd done some work with Fred Saberhag ers from the world of paper and pencil Flying Buffalo published. After college, I en on setting up a game based on his Book role-playing. Ken St. Andre and Michael went to work at Buffalo. It was in '83 of Swords trilogy. Stackpole, whose Wasteland has turned that I "mishandled" Tunnels and Trolls into a major hit for Interplay, offered and turned it into Mercenaries, Spies and QB: After agreeing to do the game, did some insights into how they became in Private Eyes. I've also done work for you go ahead and write up everything volved in the project, how game designers TSR, Mayfair Games, Coleco, F ASA and possible-the scenarios, maps, and so on, work with programmers (Alan Pavlish, in others. In 1986 Buffalo was selling off a which Alan programmed? this case) and the differences between tra bunch of its stuff. They sold Sorcerer's ditional and computer RPGs. Apprentice to St. Andre: That someone who took a long time. QB: What's your background in game mentioned that he The Wasteland you design? knew people into see is actually the computer gaming second design. St. Andre: I started at five, when I turned stuff and who The first one was a Monopoly into a Gran Prix racing game, would try to get Red Dawn scena and I've been toying with game rules ever us connected rio, with the Rus since. I invented Nuclear Risk in 1971 or with them. I had sians- occupying so, among others. Needless to say, none never heard of In bases in the farm of these designs have been seen by more terplay at this lands of Iowa than three people. When Dungeons and stage. Three This was back in Dragons appeared around 1975, I saw it weeks later he late 1985. We and said, "Barf, ick-anyone can do bet gave me Brian's spent a month ter than that Besides, where would we number, and drawing farmland get all these funny-sided dice?" So I went Brian sent me maps and making home and wrote something I thought was Bard's Tale I. In up Farmer charac- actually more playable, which eventually December, he Pavlish, Stackpole and St. Andre preparing ters. B?an called was called Tunnels and Trolls. I printed flew out with to "discuss" differences of opinion on game up one mg~t .and 100 copies, for my friends, and Flying Alan. Brian and design during the early days of Wasteland ~ked ho~ ~t s go~ Buffalo [which moderates a number of Mike Cranford, mg. I said it's gomg play-by-mail games] started publishing who worked on the first Bard's Tale, but it will be the dullest game you ever and selling it Liz Danforth and Mike knew of Tunnels and Trolls, and Ken and saw until you get at least halfway through, here teamed up with us, and Flying Buffa I. In fact, around '83 Cranford submitted because the Russians would be there in lo eventually did a series of T & T books a solo dungeon that I looked over and ed- strength, and your character starts weak and products. As a result, I got other ited, though we unfortunately had to re- and can't do anything but skulk and hide work designing role-playing games. In ject it. (That was the case with most first and slowly, slowly build up. "On the oth- 1986, Mike and I wound up talking to dungeons, and since he got involved with er hand," I said, "I've been thinking about Brian Fargo about creating a post-nuclear Bard's Tale he didn't have time to rewrite our original ideas-how would you like computer role-playing game with him. it) After Wasteland, Interplay tapped me something with ravening monsters stalk- We conned him into taking both of us for Bard's Tale III, since Cranford had ing through a radioactive wasteland, a few which was better than just taking Mike left. tattered humans struggling to survive alone!-and now the world can finally see against an overwhelming threat?" You what a game designer's version of a com QB: Was Wasteland the first computer could see Brian's eyes light up over the puter fantasy role-playing game looks game either of you worked on? phone. I pitched the basic plot for what like, as opposed to a programmer's Wasteland eventually became, and he said version. Stackpole: I worked on an aborted ver go with it. So a month of maps, charac sion of Tunnels and Trolls for Coleco's ters and so on just went in the garbage Stackpole: I got interested in board war Adam computer. In theory it was also can. games in high school and discovered Fly made for the Apple, and I'd love to see it ing Buffalo. In 1976 I bought some of the if anyone has got it. I also worked on a Stackpole: Ken had the desert map all T & T solo dungeon books, played them 2110: Space Odyssey computer game for designed by the spring of '86, and Joe and decided I could do that. After corre- them, but it went into production just as Ybarra came down from Electronic Arts

6 QuestBusters so we could show him what's going on. Stackpole: As the game evol~. more Stackpole: We really wanted to make it maps fell my way. We were originally an educational game, since there's so St. Andre: I had outlined what I thought shooting for 50 maps. Some early ones much you can learn in a library. needed to be in the game, so I took him had been tossed out. We converted three all around the map: to Quartz, to of them over for the Guardians of the QB: So Wasteland is basically education Needles-the Blood Cult in Needles was Citadel. al software? part of my original idea. My original idea survives in the game to the extent that I QB: As I understand it, some puzzles Stackpole: Right - that's what we were said to Brian and Bruce and various other were also put together by people at shooting for. people, "There's a Blood Cult in Interplay. Needles." That's about as much of my Next Month: St. Andre and Stackpole idea as is still there. Then they go from Stackpole: Yeah. Needles is probably discuss the differences between designing Vegas and get directed to another place the weirdest place. Brian was supposed to computer and traditional RPGs, how de and on to the Indian Village ... do Needles, then it fell to Bruce signers and programmers do (and don't) Balfour ... work together, plus more inside dirt on Stackpole: Don't look for the Indian Vil the making of Wasteland. lage in the game, Ken. St. Andre: I was going to do Needles the week I went out there, and Brian was say St. Andre: I hadn't thought a great deal ing "I want to do a map. Let me have about what was going to be in any of Needles." So I sai,d, "You're the boss, Adventure Hotline Continued from page 2 these places. I just had this nebulous sto Brian, you've got Needles." ry in my mind: our hems will start in A, master. Write us first to see if someone they'll visit every worthwhile place on the Stackpole: And it also got partially done else is already working on it (we may still map and eventually wind up in Z-and if by Bruce Balfour. Then the guys who want yours for verification purposes). If they're good enough, they'll win the were helping code the maps, correcting you're chosen to do a solution, we'll send exact instructions on how to do it. game. Certain things will be happening in what we sent in, wanted to do some maps. Right now we need solutions for: L. A. different locations-monsters of different Everyone wanted to have his own map, Crackdown, Twilight's Ransom, Colony, types, people who are hard to get along his own thumbprint on the game, so they Demon's Winter and King's Quest IV. with, lots of comic references to life be did some maps for Needles. Then Alan fore the war. I figured that when the time and I started talking about Needles, al}d IC came for me to design an area, the Indian we suddenly realized it was not cohesive CEL'E/B'.RJLPE 1988: !Jvl5tq Village, for example, I would sit down at all. Between the two of us we came up Y,E5l!l( OJ' TJ{'E 'lJ'l(J?lqOJ{ and figure out what would be in it and with a plot that kind of tries to tie all off Choose from the greatest 11lactlon of dragons ~~ sculptures, belt buckles, coffee cups, that would be it Except that it started Needles together. So Needles is really ( ,.fil)~~ \ posters, key chains, lapel pins, taking a long time. Every map had 1,024 sort of an abomination. Quartz was done t · { \ · ~ rubber stamps, stationery, and more. r1;_,~7,~f." square on it, and each one could do some by Ken and recoded by Liz Danforth. ':!l 'D r ot111\'\ thing. Even if I just drew all the build What started as a straight, easy map sud (T-SHIRTS) ings, I had to go back and say, "These are denly paled in comparison to some of the Sllkscreened on heavyweight all square nine: wall, wall, wall, wall, later maps, which just had so much detail. 100% cotton rs. wall. And if you bump into a wall you'll get this message: 'The Indians are laugh St. Andre: We made up five game ing at you for walking into the wall."' square types and modified two others. Whatever-a map that I thought I could When I started with Quartz as my first toss off in one or two days was taking two map, there was no such thing as squares weeks, and the project was falling further that would allow you to do something that and further behind. So other people start would have an effect somewhere else. Sizes: S, M, Lor XL ed saying, "Let us do something." I'm fairly strong at making up stories, but not Stackpole: It became a snowball once we at inventing intricate puzzles. In the last got going. I could code a map in an eight analysis, I'm a hack and slash gamer with hour day-then I'd have to take about two only a little thought and strategy thrown days off. in. Interplay and Electronic Arts wanted lots of puzzles in the game. Mike, on the QB: How did you hit on the idea of in other hand, is much more devious, so I creasing skill points in Libraries rather gave him the maps with difficult puzzles than in Guilds and the like? Send $2 for holographic and I did the ones that involved walking El sticker & dragon catalog around, talking to people and shooting St. Andre: I have a regular job as a li Dancing Dragon Designs, Dept BO things. brarian, so whenever you see a Library 1881 Fieldbrook Rd Arcata, CA 95521 that's why. QuestBusters 7 Walkthrus: Jinxter & Wizardry IV By Brandon Leonard and Paul Shaffer with dboemf (twice). (Go to mailbox.) handle. Tum cpuupn mfgu handle. Tum Verified by William E. Carte Unlock mailbox with qmbtujd lfz. Get upq mfgu handle. Tum upq mfgu handle. parcel. Open parcel. Examine parcel. Tum cpuupn sjhiu handle. Tum upq On the Bus Read note. Get charm. Drop parcel. mfgu handle. Open safe. Get dragon Show ticket to inspector (when he says, charm. SW. SE. N. [Beer Garden] En "Tickets, please,"). Push button (after The Boathouse and the Crazed ter well. Get two ferg coin. U. S. [Pub] passing first stop). Get off (when doors Gardener Ppkjnz fireplace. Get bti. NW. SW. open). Get keyring (you'll die). Read Get bung. Put pjm on runners. Drop document. Drop document and ticket. bottle of milk. Open door. S. Get sack. The Carousel Open gate. N. Unlock door with jspo Get amethyst charm. Put nof gfsh dpjo in slot. Ride unicorn. key. Open door. N. NW. Eppgfs unicorn. Get saddle. Put saddle The Canoe and the Lagoon in sack. Eppgfs fire engine. Drop all but In Your House Put cvoh in tpdl. Put tpd1 in hole. Put ca can of worms and walrus charm. Get Look under bed. Get sock. (When phone noe in lagoon. Get paddle. Enter canoe. ladder. rings, go to Library and answer it.) N. S (2). Get out. D. Open dbo pg xpsnt [Kitchen] Get tin opener. E. Get with ujo pqfofs. Empty dbo pg xpsnt on The Clockmaker's Shop tablecloth. dirt. Dig dirt with tfdbufvst. Drop ujo Look in window. Knock on door. Throw pqfofs and tfdbufvst E. E. Get mask, dbo pg xpsnt at lamp. SW. Ppkjnz stool. In Conservatory flippers, wet suit and aqualung. W. W. Get stool. E. [In Weather Clock] Drop Unlock door with jspo key. Open door. U. (Pagoda). Remove clothes. Wear stool. Lean ladder against girder. W. N. Get gloves and tfdbufvst. N. E. mask, flippers and wet suit Drop all but NE. Get all. SW. E. Get on stool. Xbwf ubcmfdmpui at bull. Drop aqualung. Wear aqualung Climb ladder. Jump north. [On the Plat ubcmfdmpui. SE. E. Get bottle. (Re form] Wait (for Rain Weatherman to turn home.) Underwater in the Lagoon spin around on weather vane, or cast N. D. NW. N. Open hatch. D. Close thingy). Get hat and umbrella. Hold onto Your Kitchen hatch. Push left button. Remove Rain Weatherman. Eppebi. (A friendly Open fridge. Get milk bottle. Put aqualung. cloud appears.) Ppkjnz cloud. D. Get on qmbtujd cpuumf in fridge. Close fridge. cloud. Eppgfs cloud. Drink milk. Wait (15-30 times, until you The Airlock, the Sacristy and the can open the door, examine fluid and be Chandelier The Train Station and Beyond told "you can't see any fluid") Close Tum wheel. Open door. E. D. Examine E. Buy ticket with uxp gfsh dpjo. E. E fridge. Drop qmbtujd cpuumf. Put pjm notecase. Get coin. Open door. U. W. (into train). Show ticket to guard. Wait in milk bottle. (Go to Boathouse.) Get [Airlock] Qvti sjhiu cvuupo. E. D. Out. [On Mountain] Put saddle on uni mouse trap and can of worms. (Go to Xfbs brvbmvoh. E. Wait (till xbufs corn. Get on unicorn. Eppgfs unicorn. Xam's Front Garden.) gjmmt.) U. Get unicorn charm. D. W. U. W. [Airlock] Open hatch. U. S. The Castle Xam's House and the Mouse SE. U. S. Remove aqualung, flippers, D. E. N. E. D. Open door. N. Xblf Unlock door with svtuz key. Open door. mask and wet suit Get all. Drop aqua Xam. Tie spqf to nbobdmft. Get nbudi. SW. W. Get matchbox and candle. S. lung, flippers, mask and wet suit. Wear Mjhiu nbudi. Mjhiu dboemf with nbudi. SW. S. [Under Holly Bush] Listen to clothes. Enter canoe. N. SW. Get out. Put dboemf in ibu. Put ibu under spqf. bird. N. NE. N. E. Open trapdoor. S. NW. Enter hatch. Wait (for dboemf to bum Xfbs tqfdubdmft. D. Get cheese. U. Put through spqt). N. U. NE. Open door. E cheese on mouse trap. Tfu usbq. Drop The Village and the Bakery (2). Examine plastic blocks. Slide num trap. (Go west, then wait 10-20 times, re Examine notice. Ask baker about notice. bers in this order: 5, 8, 1, 6, 7, 2, 9, 5, 3, turn and examine trap until you've caught D. Get tin. E. Get sieve. Open sack. 4. Wear gloves. Get bracelet. Put a mouse.) Get mouse. (During this time Tjfwf gmpvs with tjfwf. Get pelican charms on bracelet. Wear bracelet. W the mailman will have knocked on the charm. Put pelican charm in ujo. W. (2). SW. NW. U (2). Open door (right door. Go to the mailbox.) Open pwfo. Put ujo in pwfo. Close or left). N. Get crystal ball. D (2). SE. pwfo. Qvti cvuupo (twice). Open pwfo. Look into ball (until you see Jannedor Xam's Mailbox Get bread. U. Give bread to baker. (He looking into gjsfqmbdt). Eppgfs ball. Open mailbox. Get note. Read note. throws you out) Break bread. Get peli Put bti on ifbsui. Dmjnc vq dijnofz. Drop note. (Go to Xam's Study.) Get can charm. Open door. NE. (Wait for witch to enter.) Put csbdfmfu phone. Dial 300. (Go to mailbox and on xsjtu. wait till mailman locks box, then return to The Post Office house.) Get nbudi. Mjhiu nbudi. Mjhiu Show npvtf to Postmistress. Drop npvtf. See page 14 for code. dboemf with nbudi. lfbu qmbtujd lfz Tum upq sjhiu handle. Tum cpuupn sjhiu

8 QuestBusters Jinxter A9

Frmn The Mountain. I 1-----J ~

&die• ~ Eudl... Road ~Rood 8 A Wizardry IV By Frank Evangelista Verified by Linda Brooks

To This solution will span several issues. Because the r···+ Cu11e game's creators are sponsoring a related tournament I Parapet The whose deadline is the end of this year, the final part Moumain A6 of the solution won't appear until January. It will A3 include all possible solutions-except the Grand master variation, since we feel the hardcore adven turers should have at least one Mount Everest to climb on their own. (We will provide hints to those who send SASE, but again, not until January.)

The game is tightly balanced, so even with the cor rect answers and guidelines, you may still get killed Map Key: Jinxter U: one ferg coin a few times before completing a maze. When told to A: keyring V: tin of dough pick up an item, make sure you have an empty in B: socks W: sieve ventory slot a few moves beforehand. C: tin opener X: sack D: tablecloth Y: burnt bread Maze 10: Left or Right? E: gloves Z: two ferg coin Artifacts: Black Candle, Amulet and Bloodstone F: secateurs Al: ash Effective Monsters: Priests, Creeping Coins G: plastic bottle (oil) A2: saddle and ladder To exit the first room, you need Priests in the party H: milk bottle A3: stool I: mousetrap to cast MILWA during combat and reveal the exit A4: hat and umbrella (dotted line). Defeat the Guardians at (1), (2) and J: can of worms AS: ticket (3). Go south and west to P2 for more monsters and K: matchbox A6: unicorn spell points, then north to (4) to slay the Pyramid L: candle A 7: Xam, rope and manacles Guardian and get the Black Candle and Amulet M: spectacles A8: puzzle and bracelet Now head to (5) for the Bloodstone and back to the N: cheese A9: crystal ball stairs to the next level. 0: mouse 1: walrus charm P: phone number in note 2: amethyst charm Maze 9: Catacombs Q: bung 3: unicorn charm Artifacts: Demonic Chimes, Lander's Turqouise, Holy Hand Grenade R: canoe 4: pelican charm Effective Monsters: Witches, Anacondas, Dusters, S: paddle 5: dragon charm T: diving gear Creeping Cruds

Continued on next page The first time through this maze, de You may be able to accom feat Guards in Corner Rooms (W) plish the final part of this for gold and items-though the only maze with a team from this ones you must fight are those guard 19 level's Pentagram, but it's ing the stone at (1). Then go to (2) 11 easier if you talce the stairs and use the cmbdl dboemf from the 17 up to Maze 7 and get a previous maze to see the secret door. 16 stronger crew of monsters, Talce the stairs up. Later in the game 15 not to mention Level 4 char you will return to the Abyss (3), 1-1 acter status and its 40 hit which can be entered once you've lJ points. (When summoning got the Dreampainter' s Ka (Level 7) ~ monsters on 7 for use on 8, and are equipped with the Winged lL don't forget the Level S Boots (Level S). You need the LO Priests.) Regardless, you'll 2- cmbdl dboemf, the Efnpojd Dijnft 9 need lots of DIOS, so devote from this Level and a book (the B - some time to seeking out Bsbcjd Ejbsz from Level 6) to enter ., monsters until you have at Hell, where you'll get the HHG of 6 E.' L least 10 DIOS. Since you Aunty Ock, essential for completing s don't need them immediate the game. 4 ly, an easier strategy is to re 3 trieve Pyrite and Dragon Maze 8: "Death by 1,000 Cuts" 2 after obtaining the Winged Artifacts: Golden Pyrite, Amber L Boots from Level S, which Dragon, Witching Rod, Black Box. D allow you to float over the Effective Monsters: Level S Priests, Q :I 2 ' "' 5 6 '1 B g LO LL L2 L' L4 :15 :16 :I? :IB1'Q mines. But if you insist on Harpies, Shades, Ronins. doing it the hard way: from SE, 4N go 1 north, then west From the stairs, head east into NE corner, (through the mines) for the then south to Pentagram (P) at 18E, 15N. you '11 need for the next phase. Amber Dragon (4) at OE, SN and on Stay on the unshaded trail to avoid land through the one-way door. (Camp and mines and get the Witching Rod (1) from Return to the Pentagram, then go north to use DIOS each time hit points fall tolO the Pool at I4E, IN. Then get the Black 19N, west to the NW corner and south to lS.) Follow the trail back to the Penta Box from Glum (2) at IE, IN. The Box get the Pyrite Stone (3) at OE, 9N. Go gram before heading on to the stairs in the gives you room to carry all the DIOS west through the one-way door and north SW corner. to the Pentagram.

Recum of Werdm.: Lewi. 8 1g 19 SD L8 u L7 16 11 16 LS 15 p Li L3 1-1 lJ L2 Ll ~ lL lD 3 LO 9 s +-9 3 8 B 7 ., 6 p 6 5 5 4 ... "" nmrn~m•11L. 4 ... J z i :z 111..aJIUli, Ill :I L SU? D sa o.__~~~-.1111.~IUlllJ!l.llllJ!l.llll.lll.lll.1~~~~~~~---l D 1 2 3 "I S 6 7 I g 10 1 L 12 13 11 LS L& L7 LB L9 C l 2 3 4 5 6 7 B 9 l D ll 12 l HHS Ui 17 11 L9 Pool of Radiance i, j, k and m keys, and can bring up the points, armor class and weapon are dis Continued from page I other menu system at any time.) played at this time, which is helpful. One a~noying flaw crops up after you've will buy your weapons, which makes it The Tactical Combat Display wiped out the enemy: you still have to harder to get rich fast), and a City Hall Essentially, this is the Wizard's Crown cycle through your team, selecting whose clerk tells you of "Commissions" combat system done the way it should "Do~e" and "Quit" before the program (apparently AD & D jargon for quests, have been the first time around. Every as- asks if you want to continue the battle. though we refuse to change our name to pect of combat was dramatically en- This is a tedious time-waster-and since Commission Bust- r===:;-TJ~~;~lf:ICI hanced and streamlined for there's no one left to fight, how could you ers). Proclama- Pool ofRadiance. Instead of possibly continue, unless for some warped tions posted simple lines for walls, you see reason you want to sic your Magic-users outside City Hall 3-D mazes shown from an on your Fighters and Thieves? Even so refer you to relat- oblique angle. The monsters it's still the best combat system and inre'r ed text in a manu- and your characters appear in face to emerge from SSI, notorious for al filled with profile and are superbly de- overly complex interfaces and manuals. details on the var- tailed and actually animated. 'Yhen a character is wounded, his icon ious Commissions Arrows and other missile weap- vanishes and a flashing message intermit and what hap- ons sail through the air, accom- tently reminds you he is dying. Unless pened to other panied by appropriate sound someone bandages the wounded orc quest~rs attempting to complete them. By . effects. The area damage spells basher, he'll die soon. Conveniently, the fulfillmg a Commission, you'll rack up are parbcularly well-animated. and your Bandage option appears on a standard more experience points and gold and get a characters will pivot to face a monster menu and is easy to locate and execute. crack at harder quests. that moves beside them to attack. In com- Dead characters can usually be resurrect One Commission is to kill all the mon- bat, ch_aracters may also move and attack ed with a spell or at a Temple, but some sters in the slums west of town, which diagonally. It is a pretty slick animated spells vanquish any such hope. opens up new parts of Phlan. Sokal Keep combat system that has a "playing with To recover Hit Points, you can rest in on Thom Island is also full of monsters to miniatures" feel I've only noticed previ- camp as long as necessary, or spend a slay. Another goal is to locate maps, ously in the Amiga versions of Ultima. platinum coin to rest at an Inn. Either books and other information about the an- It's also much easier to direct your way, you can rest long enough to recoup cient history of Phlan. No monsters will team in battle, for there are fewer com- all HP. However, time is important: the attack you in this part of town, but you mands and they're easier to find and se- manual says the longer you take to com may get embroiled in a bar brawl or two. lect-joystick control makes a big plete the game, the harder it becomes. Three aspects make the game attractive di~erence. A black box surrounds your You don't always have to fight, for the for those who hate to map. An auto- acuve character, then you pick an order Parlay option lets you adopt assorted mapping feature called "Area" will re- from the menu: Move/attack (you guide stances when dealing with NPCs: Haugh place the picture with a top-down view of the character about, attacking hand-to- ty, Sly, Meek, Nice and Abusive. De ~our party's immediate vicinity, a manual hand by bwnping into a monster), Aim pending on your characters' alignment mcludes basic maps of the first part of (cycle through all potential targets until and stance, the non-player characters may town and many other dungeons and the you find a good one), Target (fire missile help or hinder your efforts (though you Wilderness areas, and an onscreen line weapon at previously selected monster) can usually count on the latter). like this one-E 0: 03, 3,4-indicates the Vi~w (check stats, or ready a new wea~n party's position and direction they're or i.tem), Cast, Tum (dispel undead) and Clerics and Magic-Users facing. Qmck. Some options, such as Cast, bring Spellcasters will eventually master 55 up more menus. spells, all straight out of the A D & D SS!' s Finest Interface books, just like the monsters. You must _ With cursor keys or joystick, you high Quick, but not Fast memorize a spell before casting it, as in The Quick command turns over control light one of the commands in a row at the ln~ocom's Spellbreaker series (Dave Le of an individual to the computer, which bottom of the screen, then hit return or bling was the D & D nut in the original does a pretty good job at tactical combat. punch the button to execute it; this menu group of Infocom designers). In camp, But Quick is far from quick: confronted line wraps around, as do the vertical menu ~ou can memorize multiple spells, includ wi~ two dozen goblins, I put everyone on choices that appear in the main window ~ng the same one several times, by choos Qmck-the ensuing battle took fifteen when you buy things and scoop up treas mg them from your a menu. But that's minutes. Unlike the Wizard's Crown ~e, so yo~ can instantly go from the right not all. Next you must rest fifteen min combat system, this quick combat mode is side of a list to the left without having to utes of game time to memorize each one not an all-text variant. The advantage is scroll through the whole thing. The same plus more time to "relax." Found in the' that you can switch one or all characters menu system is employed whether you 're mazes, scrolls are another source of back to manual control during the fray. exploring, in camp or fighting in an orc spells. These must be "scribed" into your After your move, the computer cycles filled maze. (In maze-mode, you move through every one of the monsters and in by leaning on the joystick or pressing the Continued on next page dividually determines his action. His hit

QuestBusters 11 Broderbund (who cut a deal with PBM Pool of Radiance Origins-Gencon company Reality Simulations). I know I Continued from previous page Continued from page 1 left out a few, but I couldn't meet Magic Book (again, recalling Spellbreak set-ups, posters and maps, hoping some everyone. er) before being memorized. of these people will be hooked into trying their games. Central to the entire thing is And the Winners Are... Puzzles Too? the Dealer's Exhibition Hall, where about Three sets of awards were handed out Most puzzles are of the mapping varie 5,000 dealers set up booths and hawk I can't say who won everything, but some ty: teleports, illusory walls and so on. their wares in an enclosed area bigger of the computer game winners were: You'll need to come up with the right than your average county fair. Bard's Tale III as Best Computer Game, password at times (the codewheel is also And then there are the profes Pirates as Best Graphic Presenta used to decode onscreen clues), and cor sional game designers such as tion Best Science Fiction/Fantasy rectly dealing with NPCs is another way myself. We don't come to game Game. to obtain useful information and assis (though we might if a good op The Academy of Game Critics tance. Don't look for a lot of logical portunity arises) or to sit at a Awards are not to be taken so seri mindbenders like those in Bard's Tale III. booth and sell things. No, we ously. These go to the companies, These puzzles are more reminiscent of come to schmooze. Origins is a people and games that best exem- those in Wizard's Crown and Wizardry. great place for freelancers to meet plify tackiness, bad taste, stupidity people who might buy our product and insensitivity in the gaming indus Is this a Bug? Or a Bugbear? For example, I met Jordan Weisman and try. Of course, it's all done in fun, like The only thing that attacked my sensi Ross Babcock ofFASA, Infocom's Chris the list of the ten worst dressed women. bilities occurred after I viewed a charac Erhardt, Bill Leslie from Omnitrend, Many such awards were given this ter's items while a shop. When I tried to Johnny Williams of Computer Gaming year, but I'll only mention the Bulk Eras return to the shop menu, I got the "Still World, Didier Giserix of Casus Belli and er Award, which goes to the computer Treasure Left" message that appears many more people than I can cram into game that would be best enjoyed by when you're going through the loot after this sentence. hanging it on a refrigerator door with sev combat. I was able to return to the shop There was a far stronger computer eral large magnets. This year's winner without trouble, but for me this anomaly gaming presence at Origins this year than was Stellar Empires by SSI--described as was disconcerting. I've seen previously. A partial list of having the complexity of particle physics Th.Q Faithful to A D & D? companies represented includes Infocom and all the excitement of watching a re I've never played AD & D, so I'm (showing Battletech), SSI (selling vast frigerator light bulb go out I know you'll speaking purely as a veteran of countless numbers of their AD & D games), Origin all want to rush out and buy it to verify computer RPG campaigns when I say this Systems (Lord British showed up to pro this for yourselves. Just don't say I didn't game is too faithful to the paper and pen mote Ultima V), Omnitrend (showing off warn you. cil version in certain respects. The multi Paladin and Breach), Avalon Hill (with a I've been to quite a few Origins con step process for memorizing spells, for lot of war games I didn't even look at), ventions, but this was the best one yet. example: while true to the original game, Micro Prose (Laurence Schick just wan Next year it will be held in Los Angeles. it should have been chopped down to one dered around and had a good time) and Maybe I'll see you there, gamers ... step. This kind of thing might be fun when you're sitting around a table with friends, but not when you're facing a on this topic from Michael Bagnall and Paper and Plastic computer screen. TSR insisted SSI stick others who have played AD & D in both You get a 28-page manual on game by the original rules, and they had final the original and the computer versions. mechanics (not as hard as the manual say on the finished product. That restric All readers with such experience, in fact, makes it look) and a 38-page Journal tion must have been creatively inhibiting are invited to share their thoughts on this filled with relevant text, clues, maps and at the least, for it means ignoring much of subject) Continued on next page what game designers have learned about writing RPGs designed to be played on a For your catalog of adventure games and other software for computer-which are decidedly different from face-to-face games. your Apple II series, IBM PC or Macintosh, send $1.00 On the other hand, many diehard fans (refunded with order) to of the original game tell me combat is the DAR Systems International essence of A D & D, which is certainly PO Box 16-4933 true in Pool of Radiance. If you like Miami, FL 33116-4933 IBM I combat-specifically tactical combat (305) 529-3572 IApple with magic spells for artillery-explore no further for your next game. (In a fu We publish The Mines of Moria, The Gem of'Zephyrr and other fine text adventures. ture issue, we'll have related comments

12 QuestBusters Pool of Radiance Mainframe Continued from previous page Continued from page 3 Waiting for Duffy more useful information presented in the Graphics are very fluid, smooth and Duffy is meditating, so write these form of an Adventurers Journal (of painted with vivid colors, and it remind people if you can help. course, we all know it's not the Adven ed me of watching a Saturday morning turers Journal.) A $12.95 clue book con cartoon. The colors blend well, creating a Black Cauldron: How do I get past witch tains maps, clues and tips on tactical computer-devastated landscape whose es? If not by giving mirror, then what? combat feeling of eeriness was sometimes a little Chris Kelly, 3709 Sandal Lane, Cincinna The C 64 game spans both sides of unsettling. Other than your character, ti, OH45248 four disks. A built-in Fastload feature nothing in this world is even remotely works remarkably fast, so you don't have humanoid. This heightens the drama, for Bard's Tale II: How do I cure my party of to wait days for the program or a new there's nothing you can relate to in the poison after defeating Toxic Giant? Ron dungeon to load. And none of the disks game: no humans to help, no friendly St Pierre, 405 Urban Takao, 4-2-17 Ta are protected. A codewheel enables you faces-just you versus IT. kao-dori, Nada-ku, Kobe, Japan 657. to type in the correct word in order to A nicely-composed science fiction load the game. theme plays constantly as you roam earth Dark Lord: Need help. Also with Leisure Conclusions: Clearly the most polished in search of the "off' switch. For me, a Suit Larry & Maniac Mansion. Donald piece of work ever to emerge from SSI, good soundtrack often sets the tone of a Kawamata, 1624-D-1 Liholiho St, Hono Pool ofRadiance is highly recommended game, much like a movie soundtrack. lulu, Hl 96822 if you love combat. Don't balk at this Mainframe's theme succeeds beautifully one just because you didn't like Eternal (but you can toggle it off if you prefer). President is Missing: need help. Rich _ Dagger or Wizard's Crown-neither did But aside from the occasional laser blast Worles, 789 Grafton St., Worcester, MA I, but I had fun with Pool ofRadiance. and a few others, you won't hear many 01604 It's also worth checking out if you have sound effects. been playing computer RPGs and want to Conclusions: This is a shoot-'em-up that Wizardry I: Need help on level 10. How see what A D & D, the inspiration for the ain't. Jumping in with blasters blazing do I find Werdna? Alan Barber, 5546 genre is like-without having to sit will just get you killed. Mainframe pro Apple Vale Dr., Murray, UT 84123 around a table with a bunch of people motes strategy and planning-and it's not who've decided they are going to be a game for the light of heart. Micro Illu Wizardry II: Need answer to lst riddle on Elves and Dwarves for the evening. sions is relatively new to the indus 6th level, plus h ints to make party more try, but Mainframe shows they certainly powerful. Chad Sakamoto, 3015 Calle Skill Level: Advanced know what makes a good game. It's a Juarez, San Clemente, CA 92672 Protection: Codewheel joy to look at, listen to, and to play. Af Price: $39.95, C 64; $44.95, others ter playing Mainframe, I now treat my Bard's Tale 3: Need help with Geldia. Company: Strategic Simulations/ Commodore with a little more respect I Might & Magic: Where is code key? Electronic Arts don't want it to turn on me one day! What is Thundranium for? Dan Heffron, 2 Lavelle Lane, Framingham, MA 01701 Skill Level: Intermediate to Advanced The Last Ninja Protection: Program Alternate Reality, The Dungeon: What Continued from page 4 Price: $39.95 time is midnight? I tried 12:00 and 12:30. Company: Microlllusions/Mediagenic complexity of actions, using it was no Mark Lain, 4518 Pine St., Hammond, IN picnic either. 46327 I also noticed an interesting paradox: ing from copies or bilrd disk), and Activi occasionally I'd run off the screen to the sion offers a recorded message with sev Guild of Thieves: How do I get lute? southeast and find myself on a new road eral hints. Don't have enough money to buy. Might facing northeast. These transitions could Conclusions: I give The Last Ninja a & Magic: Need maps, help, supermen. have been made less jarring by adding a limited recommendation. It's hard to im Michael Parkin, 5 Old Lantern Rd., Dan couple of extra screens. agine better use of graphics in an IBM bury, CT 06810 I heard only three sound effects, and compatible game. This one would make these were spread rather thinly around the a really good showpiece to impress Phantasie 3: Needs maps bad, also clues. game. Music, however, is one of best im friends or enemies, and the game itself is Guild of Thieves: How do I enter village, plementations of a single voice that I've not bad either. But due to the stiff inter windmill, wine cellar? Also need maps. ever heard. A hauntingly Oriental sound face, you'll probably get tired of fighting Tom Bray, Box 838, Houston, BC, Cana ing theme plays when the game is first for control and give up before you ever da VOJ lZO run and again at each transition between finish the final level. segments. The blurb on the box boasts Dungeon Master: After Test of Strength "6 different 'movie score' soundtracks." Skill Level: Intermediate on 6th level, where is key to locked door? I only heard one, which played six times, Protection: Key disk Somewhere aroud 13th level, where is but it was beautifully done just the same. Price: C64, Apple II, $34.95; IiGS, key to fit hole next to Ir symbol? What Two booklets tell how play the game IBM,$42.95 do you do where it says "When a rock is and install it on a hard disk (you must Company: System 3 Software/ not a rock"? Tom Page, 96 Haddon PI, briefly insert the original program if play- Mediagenic Upper Montclair, NJ 07043

QuestBusters 13 rLlFl J ~ e

Wasteland Tenebrosia: in the Dungeon: After en Zak Mckracken tering, you'll be in Sceadu's Realm. For a pair of strong NPCs, go to lab in To ~ake up bus driver, qmbz lbapp. Get Take stairs down at 6N, lOE (cast APAR ~arwm an~ use chemical (from Vegas ca two items on plane: Distract Flight atten and SCSD. At the second level, cast sino, upstarrs) on table, then use fruit dant by using upjmfu qbqfs in sink and APAR (13N, 4E) and enter the room to (from agricultural center) on table. Get fhh in microwave. Hostel entry: use upl the east to slay Sceadu. the antitoxin. Send your two weakest fo to sfnpwf qmbuf and repair entry. Jean Pascal Hiebert NPCs (get all their stuff frrst) into combat Huge Face door: watch cut-scene of till thef re seriously wounded, then have Zaire Tribe Dance for sequence that opens To meet Werra, fmd all the Gods of War the main party get them back and wait till door. _Massive doors: To open door two, in: Troy (4, 2), Stalingrad (12, 9), K'un they die. Bury them and use it on the two use WJOZm ubqf ?n EBU in cppn cpy, Way (3, 4), Nottingham (6, 6), Rome (6, guys in the tavern. Hire both. At Library, then sfdpse pqfoJoh of door one or three. 6), \Yasteland (15, 2), Hiroshima (1, 10), Mad Dog should learn Demolitions and !o use blue crystal to become animal, use Metal Maniac should study Assault Rifle. ~er~n (5, 8). (Their names, correspond it on bmubs tupof. To make yellow crys mg m order to the preceeding list: Bsft, tal, use flagpole and both crystals on To assemble Max, you need a servomotor Twbsbaj~, Zfo-Mp-Xboh, Tu. Hfpshf, bmubs tupof with Annie reading the Nbst, TeJbcn, Tvtb-Op-P, Uzs. Or just fusion cell, power converter, ROM board' sc~oll. Zak needs a spacesuit? Try wet go to Berlin at 5, 8. Locate Werra at 1 1 and android head, all found in the Vegas swt, taped fish bowl and oxygen tank. in Tarmitia and say Uzs. Run from ' sewers. In the Lab found in the southern For lotto number on Mothership in Black Slayers. Leave Tarmitia where section of the sewers, think of the four lo Cfsnveb, bring hvjubs to the Ljoh. To you entered by going to the end of pas cations on the right side of the wall as A find glowing object in Bermuda become sage at 12, 12. B, C and D (starting from the top): At epmqijo. Pyramid Door on Mar~: use D, Charles Jones press 1 & 2, use servomotor, press 3. cpccz qjo tjho tO open. At monolith, buy Press 1 & 2, use servomotor, press 3. At uxp ~plfot for each person except Zak. C, press 1 & 2, use servomotor, press 3. Deathlord Keith Gossage In last level of the mine on Akmihr the At B, press 1 & 2, use fusion cell, press 1 is & 2, use power converter. Press 1 & 2, Word Ojlvnv. Senju, at town of Two Guild of Thieves Rivers, wants a cmvf dsztubm. You'll use servomotor. Press 1 & 2. Use ROM The Colored Squares Maze find a Word in the Uspmm Ipmf on Chi board. Press 3. At A, press 1 & 2 use List dpmpst of the sbjocpx cbdlxbset gaku. Cave of the Four Elements is due android head, press 1 & 2. Use ROM VIBGYOR--and proceed accordingly. If ~est ofUplvhbxb. Fire Giants' Cave is board, press 3. Exit through force field to stumped, g?: SE, N, E, E, SE, S, SW, Just north of Dspzp on Btbhbub. To en the south. E, then SE mto the crypt. To exit the John Pontaoe te~ dungeon behind Red Shogun's Castle, Squares maze from the White Square, go sail around back of mountains and enter NW, N, NW, E, SW, SW, NW, N, NW. Bard's Tale III mountains south. The five Relics are: Tenebrosia-Finding the Dungeon: First Mbo~f~o, ~pe, S~oh, Tqfbs and Uppui. Bank Manager's Office and the Vault: Uppm is hidden m Nbmlboui, east of go to Shadow Canyon (3N, lW) and get Make sure you've deposited all fifteen Efnpohvbse Dbtumf. the shadow lock (14S, OE). Get tar from treasures; sometimes you must wait for From "two people playing the game ~e tar pit: (Nowhere, 2S, 6W) and put it the man to change a sign and open the too long," Andrew Griffith and Scott ma contamer. Go to the forest at SN, 7W bank.) J?rop all except bottle, cage and Nawrocki and use the hot tar next to what looks like gum. Difx hvn. Open door. Enter bank a pit Get the magic door here and use it Examine bottle. Nzobi, ippsbz (until bkd and the shadow lock at 6N, 3W outdoors Dream Zone says it). Enter mpoh rvfvf. Show dbse to A bug in some versions won't let you to enter the dungeon. Also, look for the te~ler. [Save] Drop dbhf and cpuumf. jump from the castle courtyard-the only Nuke spell and Bard's Hall in the town. Tiblf cpuumf. Wait (till manager escorts command that works is JuMPU. Two very useful items-a Nospin Ring y~u out). Put hvn in lfzipmf. (The nzobi David Auerbach and the Stone Blade-are found randomly ~ill efupobuf the cpuumf by saying after combat on level 4 of the Chaos Dun Tower of M yraglen ~pp~bz But occasionally he won't tbz ju geon, also a good place to go for experi ~ llme, ,the reason for saving the game. If To complete the 9th level you need five ence points. Combat tips: use Bard song it doesn t fzqmpef while you're outside keys and Menalick's Teachings. You'll #3 until all armor classes are -50. Cast restore and try again.) ' find a key on the lst, 3rd and 7th levels Luck ?nee or twice to make Fighters more Andrew Phang and effecuve and protect against magic. Ef t~o on 9. Teach are in a gffejoh ' uspvhi on 6. Be humble on 10. Braziers fects of Bard song #4 are cumulative, so are hit points for gold traders. you may soon get The "Mangar for President" more than 50 HP David Auerbach back per round. edition of the QuestBusters Ken Code: count one Pomaranski letter back-RC = QB.

14 QuestBusters for the Stars, Sword of Kadash. D. Campbell, COMMODORE 9772 Via Pavia, Burbank, CA 91504 Trade: Defender of Crown, Heart of Africa, Alice in Wonderland, Swiss Family Robinson. Want: Leather Goddesses, Hollywood Hijinx, Want Oo-topos, California Games, One on The Pawn. Have Bard's Tale 1-2 (w/ One. Chris Kelly, 3709 Sandal Lane, Cincin cluebooks), Amnesia, Moebius. Will trade, nati, OH 45248 buy, sell. M. Scholz, 1019 California St., Woodland, CA 95695 Rescue Rachel, a C-128 text/graphic adven Trade or sell your old adventures with a ture on 2 2-sided disks w/hints, solution. •free ad. (Adventures only, no pirated Trade: Ultima 3-4, Bard 1-2, King's Quest 2, State 1571 or 1541 drive. $6 or trade. Tony Might & Magic, Beyond Zork, more. Want Fournier, RD 3 Box 112, Bainbridge, NY software, limit of 10 games per ad. Wasteland, Ultima 5, Deathlord, others. Will 13733 Please state system. swap lists. D. Stewart, Rte 5, Box 1235, Hills borough, NC 27278 Bard's Tale 1: $1 '1. AmigaBard 1, $20, and Bard 2, $25. Paul Shaffer, 1705-C, O'Shea Trade: 2E/C version of Space Quest 2 for Ave, Bowling Green, KY 42101 APPLE Space Quest; King's Quest 3 for KQ 1 or 2. Wasteland, $20. Deathlord, $18. Beyond Maniac Mansion for sale: $10. G. Mintz, $15@ or trade: Defender of Crown, Legacy Zorlc, $16. AR: Dungeon (&hint book), $16. 4088 Armstrong Ave, Boise, ID 83704 of Ancients, LastNinja. $10@or trade: Many more, send SASE for list. R. Robillard, Phantasie, Roadwar 2000, Spell of Destruc 52 S. Main St., Baldinville, TX 01436 Sell/trade: $15 @:Ballyhoo, Lurking Horror. tion, Black Magic, Portal, ACS, Heart of Afri $20: Spellbreaker. Want new GS or Amiga ca. C. Burkart, 1320 Crosby Ave, NYC, NY Mindwheel, $22 or make offer. Write lst. D. stuff. I pay postage. Aaron Chou, 7032 10461 Griffin, 29881 Preston Rd., Pueblo, CO 81006 Woodbury, MN 55125 $15@: Roadwar, Beyond Zork. $10@: Tri Sell: Ultima 2, 3, 4; Wizardry 1, 2, 3; Bard's Trade/sell: Autoduel, Might & Magic, Bard 1, nity, PSI 5, Killed Until Dead, Labyrinth, - Tale, Ikari Warriors, ACS, Archonll, Zorro Ultima 2, Aztec, 7 Cities of Gold. M. Bennett, Hacker 2, Seastallcer, Oo-topos. Craig Konec and more. Write lst, let's swap lists. Chi H. RD 1Box576, Montoursville, PA 17754 nik, 873 Yorkshire, Crystal Lake, IL 60014 Shum, 1941 3rd Ave, NYC, NY 10029 Sell/ Trade: $20 @: Ultima 4, Might & Magic Trade: Autoduel, Ultima 1-4, Might & Magic, Trade/sell: 2400 A. D., Bard's Tale 3, Wizar (both with super characters). $14: Moonmist. Eternal Dagger, Phantasie 3, Last Ninja. Let's dry 4, King's Quest 3, Space Quest 2, Shard of $3: Underworld map for Ultima 5. Want swap lists. R. Nelson, 1114 Tahoma Rd., Lex Spring. Brad Kinman, 510 Laurel Rd., Easley, Wasteland, Bard 3. Greg Watanabe, 3203 N. ington, KY 40503 SC 29640 Alpine Rd, Stockton, CA 95205 $10@: Questron 1, Phantasie 1-2, Bard 1. Mac, $15 @, 2@ $25: Legacy, Dragonworld, $15@: The Pawn, Mind Forever Voyaging, $15@: Bard 2 w/clue book, Phantasie 3. $20 Fahrenheit 451, Borrowed Time, Mindshadow, Voodoo Island. Bruce Smith, 10035 Placer @: Might & Magic, Questron 2. $25 @: Zork 2, Transylvania, Crimson Crown, Reach St., #D, Cucamonga, CA 91730 Continued on next page

OK, so they're Order yours not really now, for sup bumper stick plies are limit ers of the ed (we only Ancient Astro have 75,000 nauts, who left!). Stickers probably didn't are $2 each, or have cars any 6 for $10. (lst way. But Class US post even if you age is included don't have a in both prices. car, you can Overseas, add find plenty of $2 for one, $4 other things for six.) AZ that would residents, add look a lot bet 5% tax. Send ter with one of all your money these quality to QuestBust two-color, ers, POB vinyl 3" x 12" 32698, Tucson, stickers on it. AZ 85751. Also Available: Mad Max School of Defensive Driving Warning: Monster Lurking Bard on Board (black or white background) Inside My Trunk Troll in Trunk Teleport Now, Orac I'd Rather Be Avenging & Pillaging He's Dead Jim-You Grab his No Matter Where you Go, Carousing & Wenching Tricorder, I'll Get his Wallet There You Are Slaying Dragons Beware of Troll Don't Panic Flogging Peasants My Dungeon or Yours?

QuestBusters 15 Continued from previous page $15 @: Where in US is Carmen SanDiego?, Where in World is Carmen SanDiego?, & Passport to Wasteland, Bard 3. Many more. Gene He Where in Third World is Carmen SanDie skin, 65 West 19th St, Huntington Station, go?,Hackers 2, Brimstone, Breakers, Lurking Adventure NY 11746 Horror. Want to buy non-Infocom text adven tures. Maureen Moran, 160 W. 96 St, NYC, For a 10%-20% discount on NEW games Arniga: Trade or $15 @: Trinity, Mindshad NY 10025 ow. (See Apple ad.) Aaron Chou, 7032 order from QB-& get 3 extra issues for Woodbury, MN 55125 ATARI each game you buy. ST: Beyond Zork, Captain Blood, Gauntlet, IBM & QUEST-AUKES Rogue, more. Most are $15. J. Hollings Am building IBM clone & need these parts: worth, POB 27, Kelso, WA 98626 Ultima 5: IBM, Apple, $45 135-watt power supply, 5.25" drive & control Zak McKracken: IBM, $40; others, $35 ler card, CGA & other cards. If you've up ST: $10@-Knight Ore, Questron 2, Space AD & D: C 64, $35 IBM, $40 graded & have any of these lying around, write Quest. R. Podlesak, 11616 SW 4th Terrace, me: Tom Radigan, 264 Addison Rd., River Yukon, OK 73099 Last Ninja: C 64, Apple, $30; others, $38 side, IL 60546 Earthly Delights: $25 ST, trade: Barbarian, Dark Castle, Defender Mainframe: C 64, $35 Sell: Wizard's Crown, $20. ACS, $10. $15 of Crown, Gauntlet, Rogue, Time Bandit, @: Black Cauldron, Mindshadow, Gauntlet E. more. Want Obliterator, Sundog, Tangle Wasteland: Apple,$ 44.95, C 64, $40 Su, 11 Kuchler Dr., Lagrangeville, NY 12540 wood. Have maps, clues for Dungeon Master, Wizardry 4: Apple, $45 will swap for more clues. Jayson Hogan, 502 Bard's Tale 3: Apple, $45; C 64, $40 Trade/sell: Moebius, Space Quest 2, Police N 75, Seattle, WA 98103 Quest, Wizard's Crown, Roadwar 2000, Tass Quest for Clues: $24.99 Times, Wizardry, Bureaucracy, Leather God 8-bit: $10 @ or trade: Age of Adventure, QB Map Kit (includes US/APO shipping) desses, Hitchhiker and more. Robert Garcia, Mask of Sun, Ultima 1, Zork l, Questron. C. Kit A: (for text/graphic games) $8 1350 N. State Parkway, Chicago, IL 60610 Burkart, 1320 Crosby Ave, NYC, NY 10461 Kit B: (for role-playing games) $8 .• Trade/sell: Pirates, Universe 2, Bard 1, Master 8-bit-trade: HHG, Zork (I on C 64), Eidolon Ninja, Wizardry 1-3. $20@. James Bum (AT & 64), for any Infocom but Hijinx, Infid Enclose $3 shipping & handling for lst gardner, RR 1Box136, Fillmore, IN 46128 el, Spellbreaker, Starcross, Wishbringer. J. Kalstrom, 6237 Cumberland Dr., Goleta, CA game/book, $2@ extra. $6 to Canada & Want Apshai Trilogy, Police Quest, Space 93117 APO, $12 overseas. AZ residents add 5% Quest 2, Lurking Horror, Stationfall, Border sales tax. Send checks payable to Quest Zone, Might & Magic, Bard's Tale. Will buy/ OTHER trade (have most of older Infocoms and King's Nintend~Legend of :lelda, Metroid. $20 @ Busters, with street address--no POBs. Quest 2) Carl Stubblefield Jr, 3780 Ramble or trade. C. Burkart, 1320 Crosby Ave, NYC, wood, Flagstaff, A:Z 86004 NY 10461 AZ residents add 5% sales tax.

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