Antiquated Game Player

Antiquated
Game Player
A magazine for the old school, vol II.
W
elcome to Volume II of Antiquated Game Player, a magazine designed to
offend only one third of humanity. Allow me to explain.There are three types
of people in this world. There are those who think everything new is better than what
came before it. There are those who consider the past in all ways superior to the present.
And there are those with common sense. My hope is that this publication will appeal to
two of the three! The other group, whether it actually comprises one third the world's
population or nine tenths, is simply not my audience. This magazine is for old fogies and
inquisitive young folk.
Since Volume I had a fantasy theme, I decided to focus on science fiction for my
sophomore effort. I have always loved both, but in my youth I definitely leaned more
toward fantasy in my media consumption. As I've gotten older that preference has waned,
especially when it comes to fiction. Let's face it, most fantasy fiction is mediocre, and
many of the best fantasy writers probably wrote more science fiction than fantasy,
including some of my personal favorites like Jack Vance, Fritz Leiber, and Poul
Anderson.
But this magazine is supposed to be about games, not fiction. For this issue I finally
played Wasteland and I finally finished Mechwarrior, a sci fi game I did actually play
back in the day. I also played Battlecruiser 3000AD for the first time, and apparently I
lived to tell the tale! In my research I also spent quite a bit of time reading old computer
magazines, which inspired me to write about a formative influence of mine, "The Role of
Computers" column in Dragon Magazine. In fact, the column is still one of my most
used resources, and I decided to create an index of its reviews and hints, which you can
find at the end of this issue. Finally, all that time spent reading those old magazines
prompted me to write about how computer games have changed since the early days of
computing in "Games For Nerds".
I hope you enjoy the issue, it was a long time coming. I already have some exciting plans
for Volume III, coming sometime in 2017!
­ Jonathan Simpson @MagisterLudi11
Table of Contents
Battlecruiser 3000AD ......................................................... 4
Games For Nerds .............................................................. 10
The Role of... The Role of Computers ............................. 15
Antiquated Opinion .......................................................... 18
Senescent Tech: The Apple IIGS ...................................... 29
The Role of Computers Index .......................................... 34
Battlecruiser 3000AD:
A Retrospective
W
generated for it by its creator, Derek
Smart, and its failure to live up to that
hype on its initial release. In fact,
version 1.0 of the game is widely
regarded as unplayable. If you were
reading computer game magazines in
the early 90s, you probably remember
the hype. But like me before I began
my research for this article, what you
probably have not done is actually
play one of the later releases of the
game. So, what I am going to do is tell
you if you should. Almost twenty
years later, is Battlecruiser 3000AD
worth your time?
hen thinking about science
fiction games to play for this
issue, I knew I wanted to play at least
one game in the space simulation
genre. There were a wealth of choices,
from action­oriented flight simulators
like Wing Commander to the more
open­ended trading sims like Elite. I
have played a number of these over
the years, but there was one game I
had not played which had always
intrigued me. A game that is best
known as a high profile failure, but
which nevertheless spawned
numerous sequels. A game which is
responsible for perhaps more internet
flame wars than any before or since.
That game is Battlecruiser 3000AD.
If nothing else, the scope and ambition
of the game is something to behold.
Whereas most games of this type
place you in command of a relatively
small ship, Battlecruiser 3000AD
Battlecruiser 3000AD is known
primarily for two things: the hype
6
gives you something closer to the
U.S.S. Enterprise than an X­Wing.
With an initial crew of over one
hundred members, the logistics of
managing the ship are overwhelming
at first. The manual that was
eventually included in later releases is
well­written by Derek Smart but
nearly 200 pages long, not including
the numerous appendices, and the
three­letter acronyms are legion.
You'll need to know that PTA stands
and issue orders to interceptors and
shuttles. You can pilot those craft
yourself if you so desire. You can steer
the battlecruiser and fire its numerous
weapons systems. You can traverse the
galaxy manually or use the Navitron
to set a path for the autopilot system.
You can fill your cargo holds with
trade goods. You can tow disabled
craft with your tractor beam. You can
align your battlecruiser such that its
solar panels operate at maximum
The Many Versions Of Battlecruiser
Take 2 released the first version of Battlecruiser in 1996 against the wishes of
Derek Smart. Since that initial imposed release, Derek Smart has continued to
develop the game. There were numerous patches and upgrades, and different
versions were released via other publishers over the next few years.
Commercially, four games bearing the Battlecruiser name were released
between 1996 and 2003: Battlecruiser 3000AD, Battlecruiser 3000AD v2.0,
Battlecruiser Millennium, and Battlecruiser Millennium: Gold Edition. When
patches and demos are considered, there are almost too many variations of
Battlecruiser to count. None of these games are sequels, exactly. They are more
like refinements of the original game, delivering on promised features and
fixing bugs. They are snapshots of an evolving codebase, the life's work of
Derek Smart. (continued)
for Passive Target Acquisition and that
CTL means Continuous Tracking
Logic. And of course you must know
the difference between the NID and
the CVD and what each is used for!
This is the ultimate game for
nerds[see Games for Nerds in this
issue!].
efficiency(you may need to do this if
you run out of Radine to power the
ship's nuclear reactor). You can launch
probes and mining drones. If your
battlecruiser is boarded by hostile
aliens, you'll need to send your
marines to search out and destroy
them. And you can watch in real­time
as your marine search parties move
about the ship. According to Tim
Howgego's FAQ[1], you should also
disable power to launch control to
prevent the intruders from escaping in
a shuttle!
Learning the game is as uphill battle,
but the level of control afforded to
you is unprecedented. You can issue
orders to each of your crew members.
You can clone them. You can launch
7
Considering the complexity of the
game, the numerous interacting
systems, the dynamic universe, etc., it
is easy to see what went wrong in
Battlecruiser 3000AD's development.
If anyone else seriously attempted a
game of similar ambition in the 90s, it
was never publicly released. As a
software developer, I understand how
say tinkering because that is the best
way to describe my interactions with
the game. Perhaps at some point, you
'play' Battlecruiser, but I have not
gotten that far along with it. I cannot
say much about the quality of the
game that lies underneath all those
systems, but I did have some fun
tinkering. It is at least interesting to
(continued from previous)
And that codebase lives on beyond Battlecruiser. Smart's next series, Universal
Combat, is a clear continuation of Battlecruiser. Approximately six more
"Battlecruiser" games were released under the Universal Combat moniker. And
although I have not played them, I expect that even Smart's other, more
differentiated games are still branches in the evolutionary tree of Battlecruiser,
inheriting a great deal of DNA from their ancestors.
The only version that I have played is v1.01D7C of Battlecruiser 3000AD. This
is the version that was released as freeware by Smart in February 1998. This
version runs in DOSBox and is the only version I have been able to get running
on my PC. I have a physical copy of v2.0, released by Interplay, but it requires
Windows 95/98 and is much harder to get running on a modern PC. I spent
maybe 4­6 hours trying to get it to work in Windows 7, Wine, and virtual
machines running Windows 98 and XP, all to no avail. I also tried all of the
above with the freeware release of Battlecruiser Millennium, with identical
results. Luikly, I found v1.01D7C to be relatively bug­free.
difficult it must have been just to get
the game in a relatively bug­free state.
The task of actually making a fun
game out of all of those systems must
have been an order of magnitude more
challenging. Furthermore, if the
credits listed in the manual are
complete, the main 3000AD
development team consisted of only
four people. The fact that the game
even exists at all is kind of amazing.
I spent a dozen hours or so tinkering
around with Battlecruiser 3000AD. I
8
the right kind of person. It is also full
of ideas, many that I have not seen in
other games of the genre. If I can ever
get v2.0 or Millennium working
properly[see The Many Versions of
Battlecruiser box out], perhaps on real
hardware running Windows 98, I will
most likely delve into the game
further.
If you are a nerd or are developing a
space simulation—which probably
means you are a nerd—then I think
Battlecruiser 3000AD is still worth
Flying over Africa in an interceptor.
playing. For everyone else, it is
probably not worth the time
investment required to get acquainted
with the game. I do not consider that a
fault of the game however. Different
players want different things from
games and the size of a game's
potential audience should not be a
measure of its quality. Unforturnately,
Battlecruiser 3000AD was marketed
to the mainstream computer games
market, which by the mid­1990s had
already begun to broaden beyond
computer nerds. Perhaps this was a
major contributing factor to the vitriol
the game received on release. It was
made to be the game Derek Smart had
always wanted to play, and I do not
think many concessions were made
for a mainstream audience. It was a
gigantic failure of marketting to
assume that the wider market at all
resembled Derek Smart. I believe that
is a statement that even his many
critics can agree with.
[1] If you do want to try the game, it is
well worth your time track down Tim
Howgego's FAQ and walkthrough. It
is practically essential.
9
GAMES
FOR NERDS
W
hen I set out to create a
magazine covering old
computer games, I decided to use the
adjective antiquated to describe the
publication's intended subject matter.
However, age alone doesn't make a
thing antiquated. What is it about the
games I am interested in which makes
them not just old, but old fashioned
and outmoded? The hardware they
were programmed for is certainly
antiquated, but there is more to it than
that. Old computer games aren't just
technically inferior versions of the
games that are being made today.
They were designed differently, made
for a different audience of game
players. To be direct, the games of the
80s and 90s were made for nerds.
describes the nerd as a practitioner of
a topic or field. This stands in contrast
to the geek, who is an enthusiast of a
topic or field, and not necessarily a
practitioner. Nerds are intellectuals
who are idea and achievement
oriented. Geeks are collectors who are
trivia and fact oriented. There is
certainly overlap in the areas of
interest between nerds and geeks, but
nerds tend more toward the scientific
while geeks lean towards the cultural.
But no matter the area of interest,
there are certain characteristics that all
nerds share, and likewise for the
varying types of geek. The two
categories are also not mutually
exclusive. An individual can be both a
nerd and a geek.
We all have a picture in our mind of
what a nerd is, but for my purposes
we need a more exact definition. For
instance, what is the difference
between a nerd and a geek? To shed
light on that and other questions, I
turn to an article written by Burr
Settles to define the terms[1]. Settles
Over the last thirty years the computer
game industry has shifted from
primarily making games for nerds to
primarily making games for a broader
audience, including geeks. In the 80s
and early 90s, the computer game
market was naturally limited to the
relatively few people who owned
10
home computers, either hobbyists or
professionals who used their computer
for work. Professionals probably
account for the popularity of golf
simulations and the like, but the
primary market for non­educational
games were hobbyists. And at the
time, messing around with computers
was a much nerdier hobby than it was
a geeky one. Furthermore, this was a
time when the teams which made
computer games were comprised of a
mere handful of people at most. The
programmer—the one individual you
had to have to make a computer
game—wasn't just an engineer, he was
usually in effect a game desiger as
well. The biggest nerd on the team
played a major role in the design and
conception of the product.
So, the games of the 80s to early 90s
were largely games for nerds because
that is who both the consumers and
the producers were. To support the
consumer portion of this claim, let us
take a look at Computer Gaming
World, one of the first magazines
specifically devoted to computer
games. CGW surveyed its readers
monthly to gather their ratings of
current games. In the early days of the
survey, games were divided into two
categories: Strategy and
Adventure/Action, and the top 50
games in each category were printed
in each issue along with their average
rating out of ten(eventually, CGW
would unify the list into a single top
100).
Top Ten: CGW January 1989
Strategy
Adventure/Action
1. Battlechess
1. Dungeon Master
2. Typhoon of Steel
2. Wasteland
3. Empire
3. Future Magic
4. Reach for the Stars (3rd)
4. Battlehawks 1942
5. Earl Weaver Baseball
5. Pool of Radiance
Consider the Top Ten list for January
1989. All ten of these games can be
considered either role playing,
strategy, or simulation games. By
CGW 100 in 1992 the Top 100 is still
littered with the usual suspects but the
top 10 is starting to show a slight tilt
away from hardcore simulations(see
next page). It is still a fairly nerdy list
for sure, but perhaps slightly less so.
There are three graphical adventures
on this list and the two flight
simulators, Wing Commander II and
Red Baron, are more on the arcadey
end of the spectrum.
11
Top Ten: CGW November 1992
Unified List (All Genres)
1. Civilization
6. Indiana Jones: Fate of Atlantis
2. Ultima Underworld
7. Monkey Island 2
3. Wing Commander II
8. Red Baron
4. Hardball III
9. The Dagger of Amon Ra
5. Solitaire's Journey
10. Perfect General
simulators were particularly notorious
for having detailed manuals that read
like a combination of an owner's
manual and a history lesson on the
relevant plane and/or military conflict.
Role playing games came with
manuals not at all dissimilar to
manuals for actual pen and paper
RPGs. I remember spending hours
studying Wizardry VII's 107 page
manual, planning my party's
composition from the 11 races and 14
professions available.
So, what is the tangible difference
between the nerd­targeted games of
yesteryear and the mass­market games
being made today? How are the games
different in a nerd­focused industry?
For one, nerds are more likely to
enjoy games for more than just their
entertainment value. Games for nerds
can appeal to their nature as hobbyists
and tinkerers. Complexity, obtuseness,
challenge, all the things that hamper
immediate enjoyment of a game,
aren't necessarily a negative for nerds
because nerds like puzzles and
problem solving. They like hobbies
they can really immerse themselves
in. The challenge is part of the
enjoyment. Thus nerds favor games
that require more effort from the
player, games that are more
demanding.
Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series serves
as a good example of a developer
decreasing complexity over time in
search of a larger market. Each game
in the main line series after
Daggerfall has less options for
character development and arguably
less complex game play than its
predecessor, while also selling
significantly more units[2].
Daggerfall features a large choice of
character classes and a complex
custom class creation option. The
game has 35 skills in total, with each
One common attribute that makes
these games more demanding is their
complexity. Computer games used to
come packaged with thick manuals
that were practically required reading
in order to enjoy the game. Flight
12
The main screen for Daggerfall's custom class creation. Isn't it glorious?
class dividing them into primary,
major, minor, and miscellaneus
categories. By the time the series gets
to Skyrim, there are only 18 skills and
no classes. Skyrim also eliminated the
eight basic character attributes of
Agility, Endurance, Intelligence,
Luck, Personality, Speed, Strength,
and Willpower that had been a part of
the series since its beginning.
choices at all when they advance a
level. The difference carries over to
computer games based around the two
editions as well. Except for the fact
that party sizes are larger, SSI's "Gold
Box" games certainly have fewer
moving parts than the games in the
Neverwinter Nights series. But despite
this, the "Gold Box" series requires
more from the player. The combats
are more challenging, dungeon
exploration is in first person without
auto mapping, and there is very little
hand holding. It is telling that the
most demanding of the third edition
computer games is The Temple of
Elemental Evil, a game based on a
first edition module and intended as a
throwback to the classic AD&D games
of old.
But even when modern games are
more complex than their historical
antecedents, they still tend to be less
demanding. Character development in
third edition D&D is quite a bit more
complex than in first or second
edition. Third edition players have
much more choice in how they
develop their characters, with Feats,
Skills, and a very flexible system of
multiclassing. Whereas in first edition,
only spell casters have to make any
The expansion of the market for
computer games has also changed the
13
way games are made. Instead of
making games for themselves,
developers now focus test their games
extensively to ensure that the game
playing experience is as smooth as
possible. An effortless play experience
from moment to moment is a worthy
goal for certain types of games, but a
lot is lost in exchange. This isn't the
type of game that everyone wants to
play. It is especially frustrating for
nerds to see genres that traditionaly
thrived on complexity through
randomness, numerous interacting
variables, or just plain open ended
experimentation be streamlined down
to the point that they no longer
resemble their former selves.
How often have you heard someone
gripe about the lack of a good story in
an RPG? A good story certainly wasn't
the expectation in the early days of
RPGs. The genre has simply evolved
into something totally different.
Which brings us to the next point:
narrative is increasingly important in
games. Many games today are a bit
like movies: bite­sized packages of
entertainment with predefined
beginnings, middles, and ends. As
entertainment products this makes
sense, but there is very little reason to
replay a game of this sort. It stretches
the traditional conception of a game as
nothing but a set of rules defining
interaction between the game and one
or more players. Every game of chess,
for instance, is a unique sequence of
interactions, making the game
immanently replayable.
Finally, less games are being made
that appeal to interests outside of
game playing. This isn't surprising
considering the industry's conception
of games as purely entertainment
products. The prominence of historical
war games, flight sims, and other such
simulations is in the past. The
educational market does still exist, and
there are a few noteworthy exceptions,
but most games exist solely to
entertain the player and don't assume
any non­gaming related skills or
knowlegde aside from basic literacy.
The purpose of this article is not to
decry progress in game design, but to
point out that game design has
progressed primarily along just one of
several possible paths, not necessarily
a better or worse path than the others
available, just a different one. There
are players who, with good reason,
still prefer an older style of game
design. A style which unfortunately
hasn't seen as much development over
the years. Complex, sometimes
confusing games aren't necessarily
bad games. Perhaps they are just made
for a different kind of player, a ner...
ahem, an Antiquated Game Player.
[1] http://slackprop.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/on­geek­versus­nerd/
[2] http://www.vgchartz.com (useful for a rough estimate only)
14
The Role of...
I
of TSR, Inc., the developer and
publisher of Dungeons & Dragons.
But aside from covering D&D,
Dragon had regular columns on other
related topics: science fiction and
fantasy novels, original short fiction,
other games published by TSR, and of
course, computer games.
f I had to point to the single
influence which was most
responsible for igniting my interest in
computer games, it would be Dragon
Magazine. It may seem strange that I
came to computer gaming through a
pen and paper role playing magazine
instead of one devoted to computers,
but I don't think my story is that
unusual for the time. Computers were
not yet ubiquitous in the early 90s.
You needed a reason to own one
before you committed to the purchase.
For me and many others, that reason
came in the form of a hobby outside
of computing itself. In my case that
hobby was pen and paper gaming.
Dragon Magazine had a number of
computer gaming columns over the
years, but the one which was current
when I began reading the magazine
was "The Role of Computers". It was
also the longest running and, dare I
say, the best of them. "The Role of
Computers" quickly became the
column I looked forward to the most
each month, even before my family
owned a computer. The computer
games described there seemed to
come so much closer to replicating the
real RPG experience than the few
console RPGs I'd been exposed to.
I first subscribed to Dragon Magazine
the Summer prior to beginning 8th
grade, but I had picked up or perused
issues here and there before then. I
was interested in the magazine
because it was the official mouthpiece
15
Since I didn't know anyone else who
was interested in D&D at the time,
approximating the real thing in a
single player experience was
paramount. The existence of these
games fueled my interest in computer
games and even computers in general.
today were not yet established in
1986. This is especially true with
regard to user interfaces. Many of the
games reviewed in "The Role of
Computers" were innovating, they
were doing things without precedent.
Thus, The Lessers not only had the
task of evaluating games for their
readers, they also had to describe them
well enough that the reader could
actually understand the moment by
moment experience of playing the
game. And their success in doing this,
I think, is the true legacy of "The Role
of Computers". As someone who
didn't even own a computer, through
"The Role of Computers" I could still
imagine the experience of playing Eye
of the Beholder or King's Quest V. It is
even more impressive considering that
The Lessers accomplished this using
relatively few screen shots.
The column began with authors
Hartley and Patricia Lesser in Dragon
Magazine #110 in June 1986. Kirk
Lesser would join the team in issue
#128. Collectively known as The
Lessers, they published the column in
almost every issue of Dragon
Magazine until their final column in
issue #196. Running from 1986 to
1993, "The Role of Computers"
provides a stable perspective on the
industry during a time of rapid
change. In 1986, a diverse range of
home micro computers like the Apple
II and Commodore 64 competed in the
market, but by 1993 the PC/MS­DOS
hegemony was at least nascent, if not
already established. Likewise, during
this time the personal computer
industry would transition from the
primarily 8 bit micros to full 32 bit
architectures. This hardware
revolution was matched by the pace of
software innovation and it was all
documented by The Lessers in their
wonderful colmun over its nearly 8
year span.
"The Role of Computers" also served
an important function as the center for
a community of role playing and
adventure game players. In a time
before internet access was widespread,
The Lessers successfully built a
community by publishing reader
submitted letters, requests for game
help, and game hints and tips. In an
era before gamefaqs, the game player
didn't have a lot of options for game
help outside of official hint books or
phone help lines, so this must have
been a very useful resource. There was
also an annual survey to determine the
readers' game of the year. Judging by
the quantity of reader submitted
During this period of rapid change,
computer games were incredibly
diverse. Many of the genres and
conventions we are familiar with
16
material, simply reading all the letters
they received must have been a
significant time commitment. It is
clear that The Lessers felt that
community involvement was
important. Plus, reading the hints for
unfamiliar games was actually quite
useful for learning about a game. I
bought Dragon Wars, one of my all
time favorite RPGs, solely because of
the hints I read in "The Role of
Computers".
"The Role of Computers" was not
only significant to me at the time I
first read it, I routinely use it as a
resource today. In fact, I refer to it so
often that I have taken the time to
compile an index of all the reviews
and hints published during its 8 year
run. In honor of "The Role of
Computers", I am printing the entirety
of that index in these pages. To some,
it will surely be seen as a waste of
page count to put it here, but I will
refer to this index frequently and will
personally find it convenient to have it
in a nicely printed form. Hopefully
I'm not the only one!
(The index starts on page 34)
17
Antiquated
Opinion
Wasteland
RELEASED: 1988
FORMAT: Apple II, C64, PC/DOS
PUBLISHER: Electronic Arts
DEVELOPER: Interplay Prod.
R
eleased in 1988 for a variety of
personal computers, Wasteland
is mostly remembered these days for
its influence, its innovations, and for
the highly regarded series it inspired,
Fallout. Playing the game today, what
is most striking about it to me is the
degree to which it replicates a pen and
paper RPG scenario. Of course, most
if not all CRPGs up to this point had
similar aims in simulating that
experience, but few had attempted to
clone the experience as closely as
Wasteland did. In fact, many of
Wasteland's innovations: its character
development and skill system, its high
degree of environmental interaction,
and its open­ended approach to
problem solving stem from pen and
paper games.
MAXCON(analogous to Hit Points in
D&D). Of these stats, Intelligence is
the most important because it
determines the number of points the
character has available to spend on
skill development. Some basic skills,
like Climb only cost one point to learn
while more complex skills can cost
more. Pumping more points into a
skill can increase its level, but this
isn't necessary because skill levels will
increase on their own through use.
Skill development is only possible at
character creation and at libraries that
can be found scattered about the
wasteland.
Level advancement in Wasteland is
also similar to D&D. Level, or Rank
in the game's parlance, can be
increased by earning experience
points. With every new promotion,
MAXCON is increased by 2 points
and 2 points can be allocated to
increase any of the other base stats,
including MAXCON. By increasing
Intelligence new skill points will be
gained for use in skill development.
This is the only means of acquiring
The similarity to pen and paper RPGs
begins with character creation. As is
often the case in computer RPGs of
this era, you are required to utilize
virtual dice to create your party of
characters. In this case, you can create
a party of up to four characters with
the randomly generated characteristics
of Strength, Intelligence, Luck, Speed,
Agility, Dexterity, Charisma and
18
skill points in the game.
at various distances from the party.
Unlike The Bard's Tale, the player
characters and enemy groups are
positioned on a 2D map. Any
movement, including attempts to flee
combat, is conducted on the map. The
party will need to create enough
distance or break line of sight with all
enemy groups to exit combat.
Distance is also important because
each weapon has an effective range.
Unlike most pen and paper games and
many later computer RPGs,
experience points can only be earned
by defeating enemies in combat. This
was the norm in computer games of
the time, but is a notable divergence
from pen and paper games. For all the
ways that Wasteland broke from
computer game tradition to return to
its pen and paper roots, this was one
obvious omission. Despite including
numerous opportunities to avoid or
mitigate combat in the game,
character advancement is still tied
solely to combat. Which means that
alternate solutions carry with them an
experience point penalty.
Wasteland's combat is lacking some
depth compared to The Bard's Tale
due to the lack of magic, but the game
does at least provide a variety of
weapon types. There are melee
weapons, firearms, explosives, rocket
launchers, etc. Some of these are
powerful one use items with an area of
effect that can damage multiple
enemies. Firearms often have multiple
firing modes and have varying size
clips that require reloading once
depleted. One idea borrowed from pen
and paper games is that ranged
weapon attacks are all discharged
simultaneously prior to melee attacks.
Speaking of combat, the game
borrows the basics from The Bard's
Tale series, but with a couple of
additions. Like The Bard's Tale,
combat is turn­based with actions
chosen for all characters before the
round commences. The enemies
appear in one or more separate groups
Wasteland's
enemy
designs are
varied and
interesting.
19
Any combatant who fires a ranged
weapon always gets a shot off, even if
he is simultaneously ripped to shreds
by his opponents' gun fire.
and out of consciousness quite
frequently during combat. And since
there are no items or skills in the game
which restore CON, there isn't
anything that can be done to prevent
this.
The major weakness of the combat
system has more to do with the
mechanics for damage and healing
than with the actual combat system
itself. In essence, it is both really hard
to die and equally hard to recover
health in Wasteland. The stages of
dying in Wasteland are manifold.
First, when a character's CON falls
below one they fall UNCONSCIOUS.
With time, an unconscious character
will regain CON and will eventually
wake up once his CON has climbed
back above zero. But take too much
damage before that can happen and a
character will enter SERIOUS
condition. At this stage and below, a
character's condition will worsen over
time. Untreated, a character will pass
through the CRITICAL and MORTAL
stages before finally dying. If a
character reaches serious condition,
their only recourse is to see a doctor,
who could be another player character
with the Medic or Doctor skill.
Successful application(s) of the skill
will move them up the ladder towards
mere unconsciousness. At which point
it is only a matter of time until they
are back on their feet. Regaining
consciousness can even happen in
battle. Unfortunately, waking up in the
line of fire with one CON is not
conducive to remaining conscious. As
a result, characters will be popping in
Once the dust from battle clears, the
only option for CON recovery is to
execute the WAIT command to slowly
regain CON, ideally in a location that
is safe from random encounters. Were
it not for the ability to create macros
to execute a series of commands with
the stroke of a button, this alone
would be almost game breaking.
Fortunately, there are macros, and a
macro that WAITs ten times or more is
basically essential to your enjoyment
of the game.
But even worse, an entire party of
unconscious characters is not a failure
state. Game overs only occur once
every party member is in at least
serious condition. Enemies will wait
around until one party member regains
consciousness before attacking again.
Since this party member will only
have 1 CON, he will likely only get
off one shot before being put back to
sleep. This tedious—and
illogical—state of affairs could have
been avoided by making an
unconscious party a dead party and
balancing the combat around that.
Luckily for Wasteland, the rest of the
game more than makes up for the
deficiencies of its combat system. In
20
The main exploration view is reminiscent of a map for a table top role
playing game.
even a thorough player would miss the
majority of it in a single playthrough.
terms of interactivity and open­
endedness, Wasteland set a very high
bar indeed. Borrowing once again
from pen and paper games, the top
down, graphical display of the game
world is complemented by text
descriptions for specific objects or
areas. These add greatly to the
atmosphere but also provide clues for
interactive possibilities. Player
characters' stats, skills, and items can
all be used to interact with
environmental objects. A squeaky
floorboard might be able to be pried
up with a crowbar or a computer
terminal could be hacked to reduce the
number of robot guards patrolling an
area. Locked doors could be bashed
down with Strength, picked by the
Lockpick skill, or demolished with
TNT. The sheer quantity of interaction
programmed into the game meant that
There are also consequences to your
actions. Consider the above example
of three ways to open a locked door.
Using the Lockpick skill will open the
door quietly, but using a louder means
of entrance might draw unwanted
attention and lead to a forced combat
encounter. Wasteland gives you many
choices and options but doesn't make
the mistake of making them all
equivalent. The decisions you make in
the game will matter.
Of course, achieving this level of
detail takes a great deal of time.
Wasteland took a reported 4 years to
develop[1], a staggering length of time
for a game of the 80s. Wasteland also
benefited from the contributions of the
21
professional writers and pen and paper
game designers on the project. If
anything, writers understand the hard
work that goes into refining a piece of
work and the importance of logical
consistency. Pen and paper designers,
on the other hand, are accomplished at
designing for a medium that is much
more open ended and freeform than
electronic games. By borrowing
liberally from pen and paper games
and by utilizing professional writers,
Wasteland's designers were able to
acheive a level of verisimilitude that is
rare even to this day. The game
presents a world that is not only
detailed, it is also logical.
encounters, is an issue that would
plague computer RPGs for years to
come. Perhaps Wasteland's designers
felt they needed the combat to pad out
the length of the game. Or perhaps
they were afraid to break with the past
in too many ways at once. But
whatever the reason, the places where
Wasteland did innovate by reevaluting
the typical computer RPG design
decisions were staggeringly
successful. Wasteland is a fantastic
computer game and still one of the
best translations of pen and paper role
playing to personal computers.
PLAY
So, if Wasteland is a product of pen
and paper game design philosophies,
how does it fare as a computer game?
Considering all the elements that
make up the game, the combat is
definitely the weakest. And it is
Wasteland's combat which hews
closest to computer RPG tradition,
being very close in its implementation
to The Bard's Tale. The combat
system itself is servicable, the main
weakness being the
frequency and
tedium of combat
and healing. The
tedium of healing is
a problem unique to
Wasteland, but the
frequency of
combat, particularly
of random
EXPERIENCE
[1] RetroGamer 134
22
Mechwarrior
RELEASED: 1989
FORMAT: PC/DOS, PC­98, Sharp
X68000
PUBLISHER: Activision
R
eleased in 1989, Mechwarrior is
a 3D mech piloting simulation
(probably the first ever) with simple
adventure and trading elements. Based
on the pen and paper roleplaying
game of the same name, Mechwarrior
was the first in a series of electronic
mech simulations and the second
computer game set in the Battletech
universe.
defeat them in battle, and reclaim the
ancient Chalice of Herne which was
stolen from his family. To do this
Gideon will also need to earn enough
money to build a small fighting force
of mechs powerful enough to defeat
the murderers.
Initially, the game should be
approached as an adventure game. On
each planet visited, you are given a
menu of important locations,
potentially including a bar, a mech
complex, a star port, and the
headquarters of the ruling House
where mercenaries can seek
employment. The bar is where you
can recruit mercenaries, meet people,
or check for the latest rumors. The
mech compelx is where mechs are
bought, sold and repaired. The star
port provides transport to any planet in
You take the role of 18­year old
Gideon Braver Vandenburg, sole
surviving heir of the Vandenburg clan
in the 31st century feudal society of
the Successor States. His family
murdered by a political rival, he has
until his 23rd birthday to prove it and
claim his rightful position as Duke of
Ander's Moon. Taking up life as a
mercenary on a random planet at the
start of the game, Gideon must search
for clues leading to the location of the
mercenaries hired to kill his family,
23
the Successor States as well as travel
information. You also have options to
manage your crew, visit NewsNet for
the latest happenings around the
galaxy, and save or restore your game.
some mechs from an industrial planet
and sell them for a higher price on a
planet without much heavy industry.
However, you cannot rely on this
technique alone to build your lance.
You're also going to need 3 solid
mercenaries to fill out your crew. And
until you've built a name for yourself,
you'll only be able to hire novice
pilots. To build your rep, you're going
to have to complete missions. The
novice pilots you recuit early on will
gain experience, but it is much faster
to just replace them. And with only 5
years to complete your mission, speed
is of the essence.
The bars and NewsNet are essential to
completing the adventure portion of
the game. Without the clues they
provide you will not have any idea
how to advance the story, which
requires visiting the correct locations
on certain planets. The story that plays
out is a reasonably well written
"Choose Your Own Adventure" type
affair. You are given choices at
various points, with an incorrect
choice usually leading immediately to
a "game over". Once the villains'
location is uncovered—which won't
be the same planet in every
game—you should use the time
remaining to build up your unit in
preparation for the final assault.
Once you decide to actually look for
mecrenary work, you'll head over to
the planet's ruling house headquarters.
There you will be presented with a
randomized selection of missions. The
particulars vary, but there are three
basic types: destroy or capture a
target, defend a target, and destroy all
opposing mechs. Once terms are
negotiated—some employers will
negotiate more than others—you can
proceed with the mission.
Building a viable unit, or lance, of 4
mechs takes money. Gideon starts
with a Jenner and a small amount of
cash. The Jenner is a lightweight
mech without a lot of firepower. To
complete the game you're probably
going to want at least three
Battlemasters, the biggest and baddest
mechs there are. Outside of the
adventure section of the game, there
are two ways to make money:
completing mercenary contracts and
through trade. Trade is actually the
quickest way to make a buck. Buy
Once in the cockpit, you are met with
a simple first person 3D polygonal
view of the battlefield along with
cockpit controls for your mech. The
game supports 2­axis joystick
controls, but most functions are
keyboard only, making a joystick of
limited usefulness. You can rotate
your mech's waist independently from
24
its direction of movement and you can
adjust the aiming reticule up and
down as well. If available, jump jets
can be fired either straight down to
provide lift or backward and down to
provide lift and forward momentum.
The cockpit status displays are pretty
complete, providing weapon and
ammunition readouts, current throttle,
a topographic map, damage indicators
both for your mech and your current
target, and current heat level. You can
also call up a full screen tactical
overview where you can issue simple
commands to your lance mates if
desired.
attack heavy mechs where they are
less armored and hamstring them by
taking out a leg. This one tactic can
see you through most battles in the
game.
There are some good ideas in
Mechwarrior but the technology of
the time doesn't quite seem to be
sufficient to make a truly exciting 3D
mech simulation. The pace is just too
slow and the terrain too simplistic to
make for an exciting combat
simulator. Meanwhile, the adventure
and trading elements aren't interesting
enough on their own to hold anyone's
interest for long either. The result is a
game that is mostly interesting for its
historical significance. But I must
admit that I did feel the thrill of
victory when Gideon finally hefted the
Chalice of Herne at the end of the
game. There must be something of
substance there to give me that kind of
satisfaction.
Unfortunately, the missions
themselves are fairly simplistic,
without a lot of room for strategy or
tactics. I rarely needed to issue
commands to my squadmates as their
default orders were generally
sufficient. Tactics in the game amount
to simple flanking maneuvers and
precision targetting, the most fully
realized aspect of the simulation.
Damage is location specific and you
can aim at specific parts of a mech
such as the legs or head. From what I
understand, the various mechs are
accurate representations of their
tabletop incarnations in terms of
weapon placement and armor, which
means you can take out specific
weapons or aim for vulnerable
locations. One of the most effective
tactics is to use the superior speed of a
lightweight mech to circle behind and
PLAY
EXPERIENCE
25
Star Wars: Dark
Forces
RELEASED: 1995
FORMAT: PC/DOS, Macintosh,
Playstation
PUBLISHER: LucasArts
D
ark Forces is the confluence of
two powerful commercial
forces of the mid­90s, Star Wars and
DOOM. Of course, Dark Forces is not
in any official sense related to
DOOM. It is simply the developer's
attempt to make a game similar to
DOOM but set in the Star Wars
universe. Today, we look upon any
attempt to make a Star Wars themed
derivation of a popular game with a
healthy measure of cynicism, but that
wasn't the case in 1995. After all, we'd
already seen Lucas Arts strike gold
with X­Wing and TIE Fighter by
copying Wing Commander. Why
couldn't they succeed again with Dark
Forces? And of course, as we now
know, our optimism was not
misplaced. In fact, Dark Forces is one
of the better DOOM clones and still
holds up today as an excellent first
person shooter.
You take the role of the mercenary
Kyle Katarn. Employed by the
rebellion, over the course of fourteen
missions you will uncover and attempt
to thwart the Empire's fabrication of
yet another super weapon. These
missions span a period which includes
the events of A New Hope but
precedes The Empire Strikes Back.
Fortunately, the movie tie­ins are for
the most part limited to a few
tangential characters such as Jabba the
Hut and Boba Fett(and best of all, no
Jedi!). The primary villain and the
Fortunately, the interior levels aren't just bland hallways and rooms.
26
main thread of the plot are unique to
Dark Forces. Dark Forces stands on
its own as a Star Wars game and
wasn't made as a tie­in for some other
media.
puzzles instead of tedious obstacles.
Even more amazing is the fact that the
levels still manage to feel like real,
functional places and not simply game
levels.
Released two years after DOOM, in
1995 for MS­DOS and Macintosh, the
developers built a custom game
engine with a number of technical
advancements over DOOM, including
the ability to crouch, jump, and look
up and down. The new engine also
increased the three dimensionality of
the levels, allowing for more complex
level layouts. These technical
advancements appear to have been
driven by the game's design and are
more than just cosmetic
improvements. They aren't merely
bullet points on the back of the
box—you can jump and crouch
because you'll actually need to do
those things to navigate the game's
complex levels.
The levels are also quite diverse. The
game has a mission based structure
that sends you all across the Star Wars
galaxy. You'll still explore your fair
share of similar looking military
interiors, but you'll also visit moons,
planets, the neon city of Nar Shaddaa,
and the Imperial capital Coruscant.
Most importantly, all of these
locations feel like they fit the Star
Wars universe. The textures are
excellent despite their low resolution
and the interactive MIDI music that
Lucas Arts is known for is amazing as
always. The sound effects are also
fantastic and really add to the mood.
The sound of the whistling wind when
perched on some high point is very
evocative of a certain scene in The
Empire Strikes Back.
Fortunately, those complex levels are
one of the game's strong points. After
crawling though countless ventilation
shafts and access tunnels, you'll soon
have a better understanding of the
Empire's infrastructure than the
construction engineers who built the
spaceships, military complexes, and
space stations you traverse. It is a
testament to the fantastic level design
that the requisite key and switch hunts
which play out within the labrythine
levels are for the most part compelling
One common weakness of PC FPSs is
in the implementation of their
save/restore systems, of which there
are two basic types. The most
common implementation in the mid­
90s was a save/restore anywhere
mechanic. In games that use this
system, which includes DOOM and
most of its immediate clones, you can
save your progress at any point to a
number of different save slots.
Likewise, you can reload from one of
27
these saves at any time. If you die, it
is game over, but there is no
restriction on when or how many
times you can save or reload your
game. This makes it possible to break
the game into segments as small as
you like, replaying each segment until
you've passed it to your satisfaction.
Failure can never send you back
further than the last segment you
completed.
complete the mission. Lose a life and
you'll respawn at a nearby checkpoint
with restored health and shields. Lose
all your lives and the mission is a
failure and you're forced to replay the
mission from the beginning. This
really works in the game's favor
because it provides lots of incentive to
explore and uncover the many secrets
hidden throughout the levels. The
game is challenging enough that you'll
need every health, shield, and ammo
pickup. You can even find extra lives
if you look hard enough. This focus on
exploration is something that has been
lost in modern FPSes. Limiting
restarts as Dark Forces does is a great
way to make item pickups really
matter and motivate the player to
explore.
Many modern FPSes use the second
type of system, where game progress
is saved automatically when you pass
certain check points. You could think
of this as the game being broken down
into fixed segments. Once you
complete one of the predetermined
segments, you never have to replay it.
Many games which use this system
have auto regenerating health because
it reduces the likelihood of getting
stuck if you reach a check point in bad
condition. Whereas games with the
the save anywhere system often rely
heavily on item pickups. In these
games, resource management usually
plays a larger role.
While perhaps not the best Star Wars
game—that honor probably belongs to
TIE Fighter—Dark Forces is at least
worthy of consideration. It succeeds in
creating a highly immersive and
playable experience. It is also one of
the best entries in the now apocryphal
Expanded Universe.
Both of these systems have their
drawbacks. Dark Forces cleverly
forges a middle ground between the
two, using elements of the check point
system in a way that works well with
a game relying on item pickups. In
Dark Forces you can't save at all
during a mission. Instead, you are
given a limited number of lives to
PLAY
EXPERIENCE
28
Senescent Tech:
The Apple IIGS
Tech Specs
Released: September 1986
CPU: WDC 65C816 @ 2.8 MHz
RAM: 256KB or 1.125MB, expandable to 8MB
Graphics: 640x200 2bpp, 320x200 4bpp (4096 color palette)
Sound: Ensoniq 5503 Digital Oscillator Chip with 64K RAM
OS: Apple ProDOS or Apple GS/OS
T
he Apple IIGS was the
culmination of the Apple II line
of computers and a fine machine that
was sadly overshadowed by the
release of the Macintosh two years
earlier. With the IIGS, Apple
Computer managed to release a 16­bit
update to the Apple II that had
multimedia capabilities that rivaled
the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga,
while still maintaining backwards
compatbility with 8­bit Apple II
The Bard's Tale
software. The IIGS even featured an
operating system, GS/OS, which had a
very Macintosh­like graphical user
interface, complete with Finder. With
GS/OS, the IIGS actually had a full
color GUI before the Macintosh did.
I could go on for ages about the
computer itself, but AGP is a game
magazine, not a computer magazine. It
is high time to start talking about the
game software available for the IIGS.
Dragon Wars
Thanks to the work of Rebecca "Burger" Heineman, the IIGS features the best
version of several of Interplay's classic RPGs, including The Bard's Tale I and II
and my personal favorite Dragon Wars. The Bard's Tale games are especially
29
nice ports, featuring the ability to save anywhere and automapping. In addition,
they utilize the IIGS's ability to select a different color palette for each scanline
from a pool of 16 palettes. Bard's Tale I and II utilize this mode to give each
monster a unique color palette. Also, the bard's songs are played using
instrument samples from the bard's equipped instrument!
Dream Zone
Zany Golf
A number of famous developers either cut their teeth on the IIGS or created
some of their most well known titles for the platform. Naughty Dog began life
as an Apple II software house and developed the graphical adventure Dream
Zone and the RPG Keef the Thief for the IIGS. Will Harvey, a vaunted creator of
the time, produced both Zany Golf and The Immortal for the IIGS first.
Rastan
Shadowgate
Of course the IIGS received many ports as well. The Japanese company Taito
ported several of its arcade games to the IIGS, inculding Arkanoid and Arkanoid
II, Qix, and Rastan. ICOM Simulations released a number of point and click
adventures for the IIGS, including Deja Vu, Deja Vu 2, Uninvited, and
Shadowgate. Each of these originated as black and white Macintosh games but
received full color ports to the IIGS.
These are just a few of the titles available for the IIGS. Your best source for
more information about the IIGS and its software library is a web site called
"What Is The Apple IIGS?"[1]. I don't think I've ever seen a more
comprehensive site for a single platform. It even has working disk images and
30
descriptions for every commerically released game for the system. If you are
interested in the IIGS, browse on over there post­haste!
Emulation
Unfortunately, Apple IIGS hardware is fairly expensive these days. Luckily,
there are some good emulators for the system. I initially explored emulation as a
precursor to actually buying a system, but I found the emulation experience
satisfying enough that I held off on buying a IIGS, at least for now.
It is worth providing a brief tutorial on IIGS emulation since most emulators
aren't as straightforward and well supported as DOSBox. And aside from the
emulator, the system itself is foreign to most of us anyway.
The emulator I use is ActiveGS[2]. ActiveGS was designed as a browser plugin,
but can also be run locally as a stand­alone application. It is a Windows
application, but I have been running it successfully in Linux with Wine. Once
you've installed the program, you can run disk images either by modifying the
default.activegsxml file or by simply passing the filename of the disk image as a
command line parameter. In Linux, I usually invoke ActiveGS with the
following command:
wine .wine/drive_c/ActiveGS/ActiveGS.exe harddrive_image.zip
Disk images can be in .2mg, .po, .dsk, or .zip format. ActiveGS will launch with
the disk image mounted in the proper manner depending on its type. In the
example above, the zip file contains a hard drive image and ActiveGS will
mount it and boot into GS/OS. From there I can mount the disk image(s) for any
game or application I want to run.
To access the menus to do things like mount drives, modify emulation settings,
etc. all you have to do is right click. The IIGS mouse only has a single button,
so right­clicking to bring up the emulator menus doesn't interfere with the
operation of IIGS software. One of the first settings you may want to change is
under the Runtime Info tab. From there you can set the emulation Speed Mode
to emulate the presence of an expensive Zip accelerator card, boosting the CPU
clock to 8MHz. You can also set it to Slow for better IIe compatibility or to
Unlimited, which may cause issues with some software but is nice for CPU
intensive games.
The important thing to know about mounting disk images is that ActiveGS
31
emulates a IIGS with two 3.5" drives in Slot 5 and two 5.25" drives in Slot 6.
Slot 7 can support hard drive images up to 32MB.
Also make sure you have enabled Persistent Storage on the Options tab if you
want ActiveGS to save any changes you make to disk images. This creates an
overlay in the directory you specify and won't actually modify the original disk
images.
There are a couple of problems you may run into when trying to run disk
images. Some older games won't run properly in GS/OS. These disks will
usually come with ProDOS included, so you can simply boot from the game
disk to run the game(just run ActiveGS with the disk image as a command line
parameter). Conversely, some newer games don't include an OS on the disk. To
run these games you'll have to boot from an OS disk or a hard drive first. Then
mount the disk image and run the application.
Hopefully this brief tutorial will encourage you to check out an overlooked, but
very capable machine. I find the hardware and software diversity of the 1980s
absolutely fascinating and the Apple IIGS certainly occupies one of the more
interesting corners of computer history.
[1] http://www.whatisthe2gs.apple2.org.za
[2] Available at http://activegs.freetoolsassociation.com.
GS/OS will look quite familiar to Macintosh users.
32
33
The Role of
Computers Index
Reviews
Game Title
Issue No.
A Boy and His Blob(nes)
A­10 Tank Killer 1.5
A­Train
AAARGH!
Abrams Battle Tank
Aces of the Pacific
Airborne Ranger
Alien Syndrome
Alisa Dragoon
Alternate Reality: The City
Alternate Reality: The Dungeon
Amazon: Guardians of Eden
Archipelagos
Arcus Odyssey
Arkanoid
Armor Alley
Atari Lynx
Axe of Rage
Back to the Future III
Barbarian(ibm)
Bard's Tale Construction Set
Bard's Tale III
Basketball Challenge
Battle Chess Enhanced CD ROM
Battlechess(amiga)
Battlehawks
Battletech: Crescent Hawks' Rev.
BattleToads
Beyond the Black Hole
Beyond Zork
Black Magic
Blazing Lasers
Game Title
157
176
187
141
147
188
135
141
190
131,135
135
193
169
178
144
166
155
150
180
150
183
138
136
192
144
142
167
187
152
132
124
169
34
Issue No.
Block Out(lynx)
Bloody Wolf
Bomber
BrainBlasters
Breach 2
Buck Rogers: Countdown to...
Buck Rogers: Matrix Cubed
Budokan
California Games
Carriers at War
Castle of Dr. Brain
Castles
Castles II: Siege and Conquest
Castles: The Northern Campaign
Centurion: Defender of Rome
Challenge of the Five Realms
Champions of Krynn
Championship Baseball
Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight...
Citadel
Civilization
Cobra Mission
Conquered Kingdoms
Conquest of the Longbow: The...
Conquests of Camelot: The...
Contra
Curse of the Azure Bonds
Cybergenic Ranger: Secret of...
Danger Zone(Top Gun)
Darklands
Darkseed
Darkspyre
181
164
158
165
158
171
182
161
129
193
180
175
193
180
163
196
156
132
140
155
183
192
194
179
160
142
149
174
181
190
188
172
David Wolf: Secret Agent
Day of the Viper
Death Knights of Krynn
Decisive Battles of the American...
Delta Patrol
Discovery: In the Steps of...
Dive Bomber
Dr. Plummet's House of Flux
Draconian: Drakkhen
Dragon Crystal
Dragon Wars
Dragon's Lair
Dragonfire II: The...
DragonStrike
Dream Zone
Dungeon Explorer
Dungeon Master
Dungeon Master: Chaos Strikes...
Dungeon Master(ibm)
Earl Weaver Baseball
Earl Weaver Baseball II
Ebonstar
Elvira
Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus
Empire
Empire Deluxe
Empire(ibm)
Eric the Unready
Eye of Horus
Eye of the Beholder
Eye of the Beholder II: The...
F/A­18 Interceptor
F29 Retaliator
Faces
Falcon 3.0
Falcon AT(ibm)
Falcon(ibm)
Fantasy Zone
Final Assault
Fire King
Flood
Gateway to the Savage Frontier
Gauntlet(mac)
GBA Championship Basketball
Global Commander
Global Conquest
154
157
173
135
128
191
141
157
160
175
152
133
116
161
134
163
136
171
195
132
127
137
169
180
131
195
142
193
169
171
179
140
174
168
188
142
132
136
142
158
164
177
150
129
140
189
Goblins
Gods
Gold Rush!
Gunboat
Gunboat(amiga)
Gunship 2000
Halls of Montezuma: A...
Hard Nova
Hardball
Harpoon
Harpoon(amiga)
Harpoon(mac)
Harrier Combat Simulator
Head­On Baseball
Head­On Football
Heart of China
Hidden Agenda
Hillsfar
Hostage
Hyperspeed
If It Moves, Shoot It
Ikari Warriors
Imperium
In to the Eagle's Nest
Indiana Jones...Fate of Atlantis
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indoor Sports
IntelliType
Iron Lord
Ishido: The Way of Stones
Ishido(lynx)
J.B. Harold Murder Club
J.R.R Tolkien's War in Middle...
Karnov
Keef the Thief
King's Bounty
King's Bounty(genesis)
King's Bounty(mac)
King's Quest V
King's Quest VI
Kingdoms of England II: ...
Knight Force
Knights of Legend(apple II)
Knights of Legend(ibm)
Laser Squad
Legacy of the Ancients
35
190
189
145
159
174
178
132
167
132
156
174
168
131
141
141
176
150
147
146
180
166
142
165
128
193
152
133
137
159
165
181
176
147
142
157
166
175
187
170
192
192
157
155
157
158
131
Legend of Kyrandia
Legends of Valour
Lemmings
Lemmings(mac)
Loom
Lure of the Temptress
M1 Tank Platoon
M4
Manhunter 2: San Francisco
Marble Madness
Martian Memorandum
Mechwarrior
Mega Man III
MEGA Pack
MegaTraveller 1: The Zhodani...
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2.0
Might and Magic
Might and Magic II
Might and Magic III
Might and Magic IV
Might and Magic(genesis)
Might and Magic(ibm)
Might and Magic(mac)
Miner 2049er
Mines of Titan
Mini­Putt
Minotaur
Mission: Thunderbolt
Moebius: The Orb of...
Monte Carlo
Neverwinter Nights
Night Trap
Nova 9
Nuclear War
Oids
On­Court Tennis
Orb Quest: The Search...
Out of This World(ibm)
Out Run
Pacific Islands
Paladin II
Pax Imperia
Penguin Land
Phantasie III
Phantasy Star 2
Phantasy Star III
191
196
171
193
159
194
154
193
156
131
177
161
168
158
164
142
122
146
177
191
175
132
140
192
154
131
188
189
141
133
179
195
180
159
137
132
118
184
137
189
193
196
140
130
160
176
Pharaoh's Revenge
Pinball Wizard
Pirates
Plan Nine From Outer Space
Planet's Edge
Play Action VCR California...
Play Action VCR Football
Play Action VCR Golf
Police Quest III
Pool of Radiance
Pool of Radiance Clue Book
Pools of Darkness
Populous
Populous: The Promised Lands
Power at Sea
Power!
PowerMonger
Prince of Persia
Prophecy
Prophecy of the Shadow
PT­109
PT­109(ibm)
Quarterstaff
Quest For Glory II: Trial by Fire
Quest For Glory III: Wages of War
Questron II
Railroad Tycoon
Railroad Tycoon(mac)
Realms
Realms of Darkness
Realms of Darkness
Red Baron
Rex Nebular and the Cosmic...
Rise of the Dragon
Risk: The World Conquest Game
Road Avenger
Road Runner
Roadwar 2000
Roadwars
RoboSport
Rockford
Rogue
Rush'n Attack
S.C.OUT
S.D.I.
Sanxion
36
142
129
132
190
182
141
141
141
178
143
142
178
150
156
138
135
168
188
148
189
140
142
133
174
192
138
165
174
194
122
124
188
194
170
156
195
140
118
141
172
141
112
142
196
128
130
Savage
Secret of the Silver Blades
Shadow Dancer
Shadow of the Beast
Shadow of the Beast II
Shadowgate
Shadowlands
Shanghai
Shanghai(lynx)
Sherlock Holmes Consulting...
Shining in the Darkness
Shinobi
Shufflepuck Cafe
Siege
Sign of the Wolf
Silpheed
SimAnt
SimCity Terrain Editor
Skate or Die
Skyfox II: The Cygnus Conflict
Soko­ban(ibm)
Solitaire Royale
Sonic the Hedgehog
Space Harrier 3D
Space Legions
Space Quest I(ibm)
Space Quest III
Space Quest III(mac)
Space Quest IV
Space Quest IV
Space Rogue
Space: 1889
Spaceward Ho! V3.0
Spectre
SpellCraft: Aspects of Valor
Spider­Man
Spirit of Excalibur
Star Command
Star Control II
Star Fleet II: Krellan Commander
Star Saga One: Beyond the...
Star Wars
Starflight 2: Trade Routes of the...
Stellar 7
Street Sports Basketball
Strider(nes)
155
163
172
169
169
128
192
138
181
175
178
190
142
189
141
151
178
147
132
133
132
141
174
144
193
177
149
176
173
179
153
170
196
184
190
177
171
138
195
154
142
145
165
167
131
151
Strike­Fleet, the Naval Task...
Super Space Invaders
Superstar Soccer
Swamp Gas Visits the USA
Sword of Aragon
Tangled Tales: The Misadvent...
Task Force 1942
TaskMaker
Test Drive
Tetris(ibm)
Tetris(mac)
The Ancient Art of War at Sea
The Ancient Art of War in the Air
The Bard's Tale
The Bard's Tale II (discussion)
The Computer Ed. of SCRABBLE
The Dagger of Amon Ra
The Eternal Dagger
The Faery Tale Adventure
The Faery Tale Adventure(genesis)
The Four Crystals of Trazere
The Immortal(ibm)
The Incredible Machine
The Journeyman Project
The Keys to Maramon
The Kristal
The Last Ninja
The Legend of Blacksiver
The Lord of the Rings, Volume 1
The Magic Candle
The Pawn
The Revenge of Shinobi
The Secret of Monkey Island
The Sierra Network
The Simpsons: Bart's House...
The Simpsons' Arcade Game
The Summoning
Their Finest Hour: The Battle...
Thexder(mac)
Thud Ridge
Tiger Road
Time Bandit
TNK III
Tower of Myraglen
Treasures of the Savage Frontier
Trust and Betrayal: The Legacy...
37
134
187
132
178
153
166
193
155
132
135
141
129
190
116
120
131
189
129
132
175
187
178
193
196
163
152
132
144
169
148
134
163
168
184
179
180
194
153
176
151
156
158
135
129
184
150
Tunnels & Trolls
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian...
Ultima V
Ultima VI
Ultima VII: The Black Gate...
Universal Military Simulator
V for Victory: Battleset 1...
Vapor Trail
War of the Lance
Warbirds(lynx)
Warlords
Warrior of Rome II
Waxworks
Welltris
Who Killed Sam Rupert
Wing Commander
Wing Comm. Secret Missions Exp
Wing Commander II
Wings of Fury
167
187
137
162
191
137
180
178
158
181
172
189
192
159
195
166
169
177
132
Winter Games
Wizard's Crown
Wizardry (mac)
Wizardry IV
Wizardry IV(ibm)
Wizardry V
Wizardry VI: Bane...
Wizardry VI: Bane...(mac)
Wolfenstein 3­D
Wonder Boy in Monster Land
Wooden Ships and Iron Men
World Builder
World Games
World Tour Golf
Y's Books I and II
Zak McKracken...Mindbenders
Zany Golf
Zarlor Mercenary
Zombie Nation
132
114
110
130
142
145
168
174
192
144
138
118
132
132
172
142
144
173
172
Hints
Game Title
Issue No.
Actraiser
Alternate Reality: The City
Autoduel
Battletech: Crescent...Inception
Beyond Zork
Bubble Bobble
Buck Rogers: Countdown...
Cadash
Champions of Krynn
Citadel
Conquest of the Longbow
Conquests of Camelot
Curse of the Azure Bonds
181
133,141
138,159
147,149,151,153,159,174,182,187,172,181
136,182,187
157
170,171,174,177,179
181
157,161,163,175,194
173
180
164,183
151,152,153,157,158,160,161,162,164,165,166,167,
168,170,173,174,175,181,184,190,194
130
168
194
173,177,181,195
178
144
157,164
162,171,174
Dark Castle
Dark Heart of Uukrul
Dark Queen of Krynn
Death Knights of Krynn
Defender of the Crown
Deja Vu
Deja Vu II
Draconian: Drakkhen
38
Dragon Wars
DragonStrike
Dungeon Master
Dungeon Master: Chaos Strikes...
Elvira II
Eric the Unready
Eye of the Beholder
Eye of the Beholder II
Faery Tale Adventure
Frederik Pohl's Gateway
Gateway to the Savage Frontier
Gemstone Warrior
Gold of the Aztecs
Hero's Quest I
Heroes of the Lance
Hillsfar
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
King's Quest V
King's Quest VI
Kung­Fu Master
Leather Goddesses of Phobos
Legacy of the Ancients
Legend of Blacksilver
Maniac Mansion
Mean Streets
Mechwarrior
MegaTraveller 1
Might and Magic
Might and Magic II
Might and Magic III
Might and Magic IV
Moebius
Neuromancer
Operation Wolf
Phantasie
Phantasie II
Phantasie III
Pirates of Realmspace
Planet's Edge
Pool of Radiance
Pool of Radiance (mislabeled)
Pools of Darkness
Prophecy of the Shadow
Quest for Glory II
Quest for Glory III
161,165,170,172,173,178,178,181,183,188,190
163,181,181,190
157,173,178,188,193
175
181
193
173,181,187,193,194
187,188,196
138
187
181,190
129
173
157,177
149
149,152,172
179
192
192
173
190,191
150
143,149
133
178
157,159,161
164
127,129,131,135,136,137,138,140,141,142,144,146,
151,167,170,181
145,154,157,176,181,184,195
177,181,187,188,196
191
144
146,158,172
157
127,150,154
131,150
133,150
194
182
143,145,146,147,148,153,157,158,159,167,172,178
170
177,179,181,182
188
179
192
39
Questron
Questron II
Rise of the Dragon
Search for the King
Secret of Monkey Island II
Secret of the Silver Blades
Sentinel Words 1
Shadowgate
Shard of Spring
Sim City
Space Rouge
Spectre
Spellbreaker
Spellcasting 101
Spirit of Excalibur
Star Command
Stellar Seven
Sub Battle Simulator
Sword of Aragon
The Bard's Tale
The Bard's Tale II
The Bard's Tale III
The Dagger of Amon Ra
The Dark Heart of UuKrul
The Eternal Dagger
The Last Ninja
The Magic Candle
The Pawn
Times of Lore
Treasures...Savage Frontier
Ultima III
Ultima IV
Ultima Underworld
Ultima V
Ultima VI
Ultima VII
War in Middle­earth
Warlords
Wasteland
Wishbringer
Wizard's Crown
Wizardry
Wizardry II
Wizardry V
Wizardry VI
Wizardry VII
149
149
189
172
189
164,165,167,168,171,172,173,175,175,177,178,188,191
147
130,147
127
146
164
184
172
178,188,190
172
150,154
177
144
164
130,135,138,143,144,157,167,120,124,172,173,174,179
127,128,129,130,131,133,135,136,137,140,141,142,157,
159,177,190,192,168
141,142,144,146,147,151,152,157
189
164,169
130,133,135,137,150
147
178
127
144,153
196
136
136,142,154,147,155,177
187
140,142,143,144,146,148,156,164,176,189,190
164,165,167,168,173,174,175,175,177,180,183
187,190,195,196
173
192
149,167,174,175,179,181,184,187,193
143
138
167,170
170,174
145,151,152,156,158
174,176,178,179,190
192
40
© Copyright 2015 Jonathan Simpson. All Rights Reserved.
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http://jjsimpso.magcloud.com.
Prepared by MagCloud for Jonathan Simpson. Get more at jjsimpso.magcloud.com.