P701 CEEFAX 701 Mon Q3 Oct 21:02/59 1/19 O 41 O THE PAGE FOR + Reviews......702 MICRO USERS Diary........703 Edited bz Martin Cooper $eleuoftware.710 Contact us: @ P5JSTJL - 229999677 TJLECOZ GOLD - 72:MAG1049v POST - "NEXT", Room 7059, BBC TV Centre, London W22 7RJP701 CJEFAX 701 Mon 13 Oct 21:03/23 4<,,l / I THIS WEEK WHAT IT TA ES N g l Edw rds ook at the ingredients of a successful adventure game. NEWV * New IBM mbinframes * Cheap US link * Micro Live returns PAYIVG THE PIPER Washington dictates to US computer users PARDON... More jargon every $ |||||||||||| computer buff shwuld know. T UPDATED EVERY JRJDAY- P701 CJJFAX 701 Mon 13 Oct 21:15/T6 3/19 WHAT IT $ARES Nigel Edwards Adventure utility programs are giving more and more people the chance to sign up with software companies. The Quill is now the commonest source of commercial adventures in most formats, followed recently by the Graphic Adventure Generator. With easy-to-eollow manuals, they put adventure writing within the reach of anzonj with a bit of imagination. But although many games have been written, only a few of the best ever get released. What are the ingredients of success? MoreP701 CJJFA( 701 Mon 13 Oct 21:Q4/30 ] 4/19 WHAT IT TAKES J Nigel Edwards There have been plenty of arguments about what makes a good adventure. One obvious requirement is an enjoyable plot. For a long time adventures relied on swampy fantasy worlds of elver and dragons to cast a spell over the player. T More recently they have delved into futuristic and modern-day scenarios involving new heroes cast in the roles of spies and detectives. Humour has also become very acceptable, with a number of spoof adventures selling well. MoteP701 CEEFA( 701 Mon 13 Oct 21:15/12 5/19 U WHAT IT TAKES Nigel Edwards Graphics are probably the most controversial aspect of adventure gbmjs. The original opposition to graphics was a probably result of their poor qublity when they were first introduced. Today a high standard is essential. The number of graphics in a game is another much-discussed topic. In general, more than about 20 means either poor quality or repeat pictures - njithjr very desirable. T Vocabulary next $ P701 CJEFA( 701 Mon 13 Oct 21:27/01 6/19 WHAT IT TAKES Nigel Edwards The vocabulary of an adventure is a sign of the game's quality. If it is too small, the player will soon get tired of guessing instructions. Any key word should have synon:ms which a plazjr can also enter - this keeps the game "user friendly" The vocabulary should also contain nouns from location descriptions so that the player gets a sensible response to his actions. At the same time, although a large vocabulary is an asset, it should only include relevant words. , ] More P701 CJEFAX 701 Mon 13 Oct 21:27/46 ] 7/19 WHAT IT TAKES Nigel Edwards One fault with many games is a lack of things to do. Any game with location after location and no problems to solve will leave the plazjt unsatisfied. T Even trivial problems - such as opening drawers - can help the plazjr kit involved in the plot. Interactive characters are useful for creating an exciting atmosphere They can bj created using the flags provided bz the adventure utility. - Nigel Edwards is author of "League Challenge" for the BBC B currently high in the charts. P701 CJJFAX 701 Mon 13 Oct 21:17/37 /19 NEWS IBM has announced a new series of small mainframes intended to compete with minis made bz firms like DEC. They are to bj known collectively as the IBM 9370 Information System. Microlink has launched a trans- Atlantic computer link expected to cost about half as much as a conventional 'phone call. The move is the result of a dial with the US database Mnjmatics. A reminder that Micro Live returns next Friday (October Q7). BBC2 at 7.30pm. Micro Index BBC2 700TP701 CEEFAX 701 Mon 13 Oct 21:18/12 Y/19 PAYIVG THE PIPER Miles Potwell British firms are being forced to give up commercial secrets to the United States before they can buy certain American computers. T The US Department of Commerce will not issue export licences for some hardware unless the purchaser fills in a questionnaire explaining what hj wants it for. The Americans are worried about the security implications of western technology reaching eastern Europe, but even the Department of Trade and Industry has said the US questions are "unnecessarily T detailed". MoreP701 CJEFA( 701 Mon 13 Oct 21:09/39 10/19 PAYIVG THE PIPER Miles Potwell British academics arr no strangers to American paranoia over computer technology. Operators of US "supercomputers" have to get permission from the American Department of Commerce before they can sell them or move them from one place to another. Earlier this year the University of London had great difficulty in getting the go-ahead to buy a second-hand Cray 1 from Harwell. The US-imposed restrictions wire eventually waived, but only, one ) suspects, because the Cray belonged to the Department of Energy.P701 CJEFA( 701 Mon 13 Oct 21:02/27 U PAYIVG THE PIPER Miles Potwell British academics are no strangers to American paranoia over computer technology. New US export regulations prevent foreign owners of American "super computers" from issuing passwords to nationals of 19 so-called unfriendly countries. More seriously, they are also T prevented from sharing data with anzonj from these countries. T Academics say this effectively bans them from publishing their work in scientific journals, which are circulated round the world. P701 CJEFAX 701 Mon 13 Oct 21:10/13 12/19 SPECTRUM BBS John Langfield writes that a growing number of Spectrum owners are running their own Pristel-style bulletin boards. His own is called Ptestonet, and is run jrom Preston in Lancashire (Phone 0772 612462). Others include: Livjrnjt (051 546 4640 - 10pm-1am) D/net (08u 13147 - M-F 9pm-11pm* T Extel (0274 586923 - 8pm-11pm) More details on Prestel *700110061# Jargon guide next P701 CJEFAX 701 Mon 13 Oct 21:40/59 13/19 PARDOV...? by Steve Muir Jargon a computer buff should know. BENCHMARK A precise method of measuring the ability of a computer to do something which nobody in their right minds would want it to do. T BY-J Eight bits, only one of which is wrong. - CALL @ A simple but powerful method of leaving the section of cods in $@ which you knew where you wire to enter another section of code of unknown location. More...P701 CJEFA( 701 Mon 13 Oct 21:21/27 ]]]] 14/19 PARDOV...? bz Steve Mujt Jargon a computer buff should know. CASCADE SORT An advanced jorm of mainframe sorting. More usually, the re;ult of tripping whilst carrying a large, untied pack wf pznchjd T cardsn COZPILER A program written specifically to treat a hjghjr-level language program as data, reduce it to $ machine code in parts and @ re-arrange those parts before kjvrng upn See DUMP. More... P701 CJEFAX 701 Mon 13 Oct 21:23/53 15/19 PARDOV...? J bz Steve Muir Jargon a computer buff should know. T , DAUB A vital collection of variables which, when held in memory, leave no room for the program. T ] DATBBASE A vital collection of variables which could not conceivably be held in memory, whether thjrj is a program there or not. - ] DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM A program without which those vbriables cannot bj accessed and with which they will not fit in memory. Matters arising nextP701 CJEFA( 701 Mon 13 Oct 21:12/18 16/19 U MATTERS ARISING A remjndjr that the Tjlisoftwari office will not be able to reply to qujties and comments sent via Prestel unless an address is included in the mjssagj. Please uvj mjssagj page *89#. T ] F.Barrow wants to know if there is a user group jot Randy/Video Genii mbchjnjs... W Sorry about the garbled pages on 701 on Friday evening. A $ - telisoftware experimknt appears to have gone awry. T O JC P701 CEEFA( 701 Mon 13 Oct 21:13/04 ] 17/19 U b{ = ( 5j ] ORJC DOS Rob Davis writes: You will kit an itrot message if you try to !STORK an array unless you have vjty recently PRINTed one of the subscripts. To avoid this, ask BASIC to pick a szbscript at random, PRINT it and imjjdiately !STORE the array on disc. - The DOS prevents BASIC jrom continuing after !COPY or !BACKUP within a program, even using double disc drives. Has anzonj solved this problem? This week's reviews nextP701 CEEFAX 701 Mon 13 Oct 21:02O39 19/19 WTJTIVG FOR NEXT If you are planning to submit an item on paper, do bear in mind the limitations of the teletext page. * Ljnjs up to 35 characters long. $ * Up to 18 lines on a page - Q7 is preferred, to allow room jot crossmriferincing. T * Short paragraphs of four or five lines each. * A single blank line between pbragraphs. $ Address in a moment...