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Conference hydra::amiga_v1

Title:	AMIGA NOTES
Notice:	Join us in the NEW conference - HYDRA::AMIGA_V2
Moderator:	HYDRA::MOORE

Created:	Sat Apr 26 1986
Last Modified:	Wed Feb 05 1992
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5378
Total number of notes:	38326

100.0. "The Pawn" by SAMURI::HEFFEL (Owned by a cat) Sat Sep 13 1986 16:08

    My wife and I have been playing "The Pawn" (Rainbird software) a
    beautifully illustrated text adventure and have been both amused and
    exasperated by it.  The markedly British wit adds a dimension not
    seen in the Infocom world.  It is generally sublimely funny and
    abusive but delightful to those who love to watch British TV shows.
    It is exasperating in that it is not the easiest of adventures and
    it is also not the easiest program to communicate with.  With this
    in mind, a brief review follows.
    
    This game is somewhat of an adaptation from some British computers
    (like the Sinclair QL) and it's also running on the ST series. 
    The game uses 2 screens, actually I guess the term is "playfields".
    One for the text, a la Infocom, and another that pulls down very
    handsomely, for the graphic image.  It uses a non-standard menu
    interface.  No right button menus here.  This game has "scroll-down"
    (really) menus which are activated by aiming the pointer and clicking the
    left button.  The menu choice is made by clicking the left button
    again.  Not bad, when you get used to it.  Probably stems from the
    conversion.
    
    The text is, in my somewhat experienced opinion, every bit as good
    as Infocom text.  The parser is nearly so.  Actually, very many
    of your favorite commands are available in perhaps slightly different
    forms.  It adds a few features that Infocom could learn from, like
    function key programming.  You may associate a string of commands
    with any one of the 10 function keys.  If you find you do something
    a lot of times, you can easily program a key to do it.  Not
    necessary, but nice.  The graphics are also very nice.  The images do
    not necessarily change when you change location.  Some apply to
    more than one.  The graphics are loaded in from disk but the load
    time is not bad, and if it bothers you, you can turn it off.  The
    text itself is loaded into the memory at boot time so there are
    no waits there.  You can also use the speech synth to let the game
    talk to you.  This is amusing for a little while but unless you
    are playing the game with blind friends, I recommend that you leave
    this feature turned off.  I doubt if many could stand the slow pace
    for more than a few minutes.  
    
    In short, the pictures are lovely, the theme music that plays while
    the game is loading is amazing(!) and the text is good, though the
    puzzles are a bit, shall we say, non-obvious.  The blue air wafting
    periodically from the computer room proves that. :-)
    
    Text adventurers will probably like it.
    
    One_who_*used*_to_see_no_reason_to_have_pictures_with_his_text,
    Gary

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
100.1		SHOGUN::HEFFEL	Owned by a cat	`Tue Sep 16 1986 22:44`	14
	I forgot to mention that this program is not copy protected so you can make as many backups as you need. And there is enough room on your disk to put some game saves. There is actually a form of copy protection associated with the game. Periodically while you're playing (presumably only once per play session) it will ask you to turn to a particular place in the novelette that's included in the package, find a specific line and word, and type it in. You get 3 chances to get it right. It's limited only to the type of "pirate" who doesn't bother to photocopy the docs, but it does go Infocom's enchanter cards and infotater one better. I haven't yet tried to see what happens if you don't get the word right. I'll be sure to back it up before I try. Gary
100.2	'Pawn my word	SQM::RAVAN		`Mon Oct 06 1986 18:30`	26
	I have to agree that the music and the pictures for "Pawn" are really stunning. These are the sort of graphics that could enhance text games - a flawless depiction of the murder scene in "Witness", the volcano view in "Adventure" (wow!), anything involving maps - and, as "Pawn" uses them, to simply sketch the general area. My only quibble with them is that I want more! (Although, since they aren't animated and you can't do anything with them, it might be cheaper to sell a "you-see-this" book containing big glossy pictures ("suitable for framing"). "You see a range of mountains - turn to page 3 - looming above you.") Now, if you could stare at the mountainside and see a tiny portal open up near that odd-shaped boulder, or see the storm clouds rolling in - that would be a bit more like it. I do think the text is a bit too slapstick, and the gorgeous graphics only seem to emphasize the silliness of some of the situations. I've managed to accept some of Infocom's cutenesses, and it's easier to be wry and humorous than to maintain an "epic quest" feeling throughout, but I wish somebody would at least try a proper epic... no anachronisms, no puns, and the only humor allowed would be from the hero's sidekick. Heck, maybe I should just write one! -b
100.3	`Pawn your shoulders it rests.	SHOGUN::HEFFEL	Examine everything.	`Tue Oct 07 1986 22:45`	22
	re: .2 Agreed. There is truly a place for the epic adventure. You and Jim might make a good team. Let me know if you need play testers. tlh and I would be happy to help out. :-) I have a half dozen adventures in my head but I'm afraid that I'd have a hard time penning a strictly serious one. (I also have no drawing/painting talent, so the meaningful, animated pictures would be out of the question.) Er.. back to "Pawn".... I'm not finding it overly silly so much as downright frustrating. When you are banging your head over a nagging puzzle, sometimes you don't wish to laugh. So, I have no objections to the silliness per se, but it has on occasion made me want to fling the disk across the room. BTW if you want to avoid Infocom cuteness, stay away from "Leather Goddesses of Phobos". Who says it's only a game... Gary
100.4	It's finally over.	SQLRUS::RAVAN		`Wed Sep 20 1989 11:46`	49
	Well, it's been three years and I can finally say I finished Pawn. I did so by buying a hint disk and reading it! This game was EXTREMELY frustrating! But since I had told myself that I wouldn't play another interactive fiction game until the current one was finished, I had to drive this one to a conclusion. My original thought was to just look at the script until I found something that I hadn't already encountered, then go try it and continue on my own. Well... 1. "OK, I've done that... and that... and that... and that... and that..." (repeat step 1 for about a minute) 2. "Oh, here's something... wait... That's only 5 points. No biggee. I'll keep looking..." (repeat steps 1 and 2) 3. Oh, here's the puzzle I was currently stumped on.... wait a minute! You have to WHAT???!!!???!!! AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!! What a silly nit!!! THAT WAS NOT FUNNY!!!!! From my admittedly biased point of view, the solution to this particular puzzle was thought to be a great joke to the developers, and I wasn't laughing. So I just kept reading. I had done everything else! And I had really 'won', that is, there were no more really difficult things to do. Looking back on it, there was one particular puzzle where the game should have ended. But the game didn't say 'Thanks for playing, chum. If you really want to continue, feel free, but that's the big finish.' Infocom games do something similar to that, and you can get a sense of accomplishment. This game didn't do that and, as a result, I spent a lot of time trying to find the big finish when there wasn't one! The &^#$&#^@&^! game just let me keep blundering around. Grrr... And my very fundamental gripe with this particular interactive fiction game is that it is one of what I call the "put-the-cheese-in-the-slot" games. The kind where the solutions to the puzzles didn't really make sense... (with some knowledgeable person looking over your shoulder) "OK, I can't seem to get 300 points. Now what..." "Well, you're not going to believe this, but... go to the blue room and... put the cheese in the slot." "WHAT???!!!" "Yep. I know it doesn't make sense, but you have to." "But, putting the cheese in the slot doesn't DO ANYTHING. It doesn't open a door, or cause a genie to appear, or make it start raining... or... or ANYTHING!" "Uh-huh. But it's the only way to get those five points." I DO NOT* recommend this game. Stay away. Stay VERY far away. -jim