BALROG - AA72

This month the Balrog explores the secrets of Magnetic Moon and discovers "what it would be like to be the size of Paul Daniels" in Project X (Microman)...

NEWS

THE ADVENTURER'S HERALD

A new fanzine, The Adventurer's Herald has just been published. Written using a 6128, The Adventurer's Herald plans to cover a wind range of fantasy - including role-playing - games, live role-playing, fantasy books, short stories, game reviews and the odd compeition.

The mag costs 80p and is available from PO BOX 552, Tweedale, Telford, Shropshire.

The first issue wasn't very good value at only fifteen pages, but hopefully subsequent issues will improve as more material is received.

The editor, Rik Jones, also informs me that he is looking for contributors, mainly in the computer section. So, if you're interested in a spot of Adventure Journalism, why not give it a go?

THE CHAOS MAZE

Len Townsend, author of the mediocre Labyrinth Hall, Tulgey Woods and Twelve Lost Souls (reviewed in AA64), has finally, after much hard work, finished the sequel to Tulgey Woods, The Chaos Maze.

GACed again, the Chaos Maze is a RPG with 660 location (yep, you heard right - 660!), with a picture for each - should be interesting to see. For more details, write to Len at 61 Lowergate Road, Huncoat, Accrinton, Lancashire BB5 6LN.

• The three Len Townsend games mentioned above (Labyrinth Hall, Tulgey Woods and Twelve Lost Souls) can not be obtained from Adventure PD - just request PD DISC: AMS 10 and send a disk and one pound and you'll get those three games plus two others.

BUY TWO, GET ONE FREE

Recreation Re-creations, the company that seems to appear every month in the news pages, has launched a special offer for Balrog readers. Buy any two Recreation Re-created games and get one free! For more details, and a price list, write to 39 Gargle Hill, Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich, Norfolk NR7 0XX or phone 0603 31678.

Talking of Recreation Re-creation, the company has just re-released three adventures: The Last Believer by Paul Lucas, Nythyhel by Tony Collins and Die you vicious Fish by Paul Gill.

Last Believer costs £4.50, is 6128 only and is a swords and sorcery style romp. Nythyhel is in two parts with "superb graphics" and "atmospheric descriptions" and costs £2.500 tape, £4.50 disk. Last but no least, Die you vicious Fish, by the same author as Al-Strad (reviewed last month), is available at £2.50 tape, £4.50 disk.

BUTCH COWARDICE IN THE UNDERSEA ADVENTURE

Rob Buckley, author of the technically amazing Eve of Shadows (reviewed last month), informs me that his latest game, Butch Cowardice, will be the first ever WIMP adventure on the Amstrad: it has "good graphics, 356K of code, reams of text and it reads like a book".

The system apparently outshines Eve and Rob relieves it will be better than any other home brew game - lets hope it's all Rob promises! For more details, write to him at 57 Lebrun Square, Kidbrooke, London SE3 9NS.

REVIEW

MAGNETIC MOON

£6 disk, 6128 & PCW only. FSF Adventures, 40 Harvey Gardens, Charlton, London SE7 8AJ

The Balg has been eagerly awaiting Magnetic Moon for some time now. Originally written on the Electron, then converted to BBC and then to the Spectrum (each conversion an improvement on the previous version), Magnetic Moon has been anticipated on the Amstrad for quite a while, but finally it's here - and the wait's been worth it!

The story-line is hardly original, but then it has been some years since it was first conceived! The date is 9th June, 2153AD and you are Sub-Lieutenant Mike Erlin, assistant Astro-navigation officer on board the Survey Spaceship Stellar Queen. While on patrol, you lose all contact with your scoutship, the Pathfinder. On arriving at the last known position of the scoutship, the Queen is nearly wrecked as a powerful tractor beam drags it down onto the surface of a nearby moon.

Fortunately, the ship sustains little damage, but the sensors show that a powerful magnetic field is preventing the Stellar Queen from escaping. The source of this magnetic field is found to be a huge underground installation generating vast amounts of energy.

You, as ever the eager adventurer, volunteer to join the search party, but your Captain says you must stay on board to supervise repairs! After nearly two years of routine survey work, the chance to get in on some real action is just too good to miss. So you decide to disobey the captain by jumping ship and searching for the underground installation on your own...

This is where part one of Magnetic Moon starts - on the bridge of the Stellar Queen with Captain Rumsey, Commander Adams and Lieutenant Rodders busying themselves for departure. (If you recognize any of the previous names, you might also recognize Midshipman Grue, Chief Engineer Bond and Lieutenant Whyte!)

Part one is meant to be an introduction to the rest of the game. Nearly everything can be examined and there's lots of things to do - just don't expect the puzzles to be introductory because they're not!

The first major problem you are faced with is escaping from the Stellar Queen. Not easy when the main airlock is peopled by the search party (who certainly won't let you escape) and Midshipman Grue is on guard duty.

Directions on the ship are in naval form (port, forward etc.) and although the Balg personally prefers normal compass directions, these terms add to the ship atmosphere.

On board the Stellar Queen, you'll find a whole plethora of objects that can be taken. Unfortunately, you can't carry them all, so you must choose! The rest of part one is on the surface of the moon itself, navigating derelict freighters in the search for the installation. The puzzles don't get any easier after leaving the Stellar Queen, either - good luck supporting those loose plates.

Part two is set inside the mystery installation and features a well thought out maze  inhabited by the cute cleaning robot Jojo and loads of verbose text and clever puzzles. The installation is inhabited (I'm not saying who by, as I don't want to give too much away!), and there is always a constant fear of being discovered. The Balg was biting his claws all the way through - a testament to the game's atmospheric descriptions.

Part three has even more puzzles and great text, but I won't say anything more. Suffice to say, if you enjoyed the game as much as the Balrog, you'll be itching to play Starship Quest!

Larry Horsfield, the author, is a perfectionist when writing adventures and Magnetic Moon shows this. Larry has spent much time and effort listening to playtesters' comments and has created a game with oddles of text, loads of brilliant puzzles and an atmosphere or - dare I say it - early Infocom standards.

Parser-wise, there are numerous ways of manipulating objects and looking in places. You can look around, look over, look under, look in and you can also look in various directions. You can also search and examine various objects and places. Larry uses adverbs in some puzzles as well, adding to the difficulty.

Magnetic Moon is a massive game. There's so much in it that it'll take you a long time to complete. In the Balrog's opinion, it's the best game of the year!

ATMOSPHERE: 86%

INTERACTION: 82%

CHALLENGE: 88%

OVERALL: 90%

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PROJECT X (Microman)

£2.25 cassette, £4.25 disk, Mark Eltringham, Recreation Re-creation software, 39 Gargle Hill, Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich, Norfolk NR7 0XX. Tel: 0603 31678

Recreation Re-creation certainly has been busy recently. It's latest price list has 28 games, all at budget prices. One of the games is a re-release, Project X (Microman). Written by Tim Kemp and Jon Lemmon, Project X was originally written on the Spectrum many moons ago, converted to the Amstrad for Global's Fourmost adventure compilation in 1986 and reviewed in AA8.

You play the part of Professor Neil Richards, who becomes the victim of a clinched fate - while working in his laboratory on animal miniaturization, a freak accident occurs.

You receive a massive dose of Gamma radiation and discover that you are shrinking. Realizing your danger, you jump into your car and start driving towards your colleague's laboratory for help. Unfortunately, along the way, you black out and crash, to awaken a microman...

The first puzzle involves escaping from the car. From there you must find your colleague's laboratory, circumvent the COM-2 security system and try to get inside to contact him. Along the way you'll battle with a mole, find a needle in a haystack, develop of photograph and carry out various other tasks to help you in your quest to return to normal size.

Quilled with average graphics, Project X is enjoyable. But, as with Orb Quest last month, it suffers at times with the lack of a decent parser. A good game, but perhaps a bit dated nowadays.

Atmosphere: 45%

Interaction: 45%

Challenge: 60%

Overall: 62%

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CONTACTING THE BALROG

The Balg is desperate for new contributions to the Cluepot and Just for Laughs sections. To get in contact with him, write to: The Balrog, Amstrad Action, Future Publishing Ltd, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, AVON BA1 2BW.

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LORDS AND LADIES OF ADVENTURE

The Balg received a letter from a Lord of Adventurer in Edinburgh, Ross Younger, who wrote: "Can I ask you to please, please, please re-enforce the message to enclose an SSAE when writing to a Lord or Lady. I have had a few requests recently which did not have an SSAE enclosed." Thanks Ross! The message is: no stamped self addressed envelope, no reply! Please treat the Lords and Ladies with the respect they deserve. They offer a free service and work hard for the name of adventuring.

Adventure Quest, Bards Tale, Dungeon Adventure, Snowball, Worm in Paradise - James Taylor, 9 Crossland Cresent, Aldersley, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV6 9LG

Adult II, Can I Cheat Death?, Cast of the Mixed-Up Shymer, DAA, Doomlords I & II, Dungeon Experience, Firestone, Jason and the Argonauts, Magician's Apprentice, Message from Andromeda, Mystery Mansion, Quest for the Golden Egg-up, Scary Tales, Seabase Delta, Spaced-Out, Stryptische I & II, Subsunk, Tizpan - Dave Adams, 49 Myers Gardens, St. Helens, Merseyside WA9 3YX

Seabase Delta (Thanks for the solution William! - Balrog) - William Huddleston, 1 Millwell Park, Innerleithen, Borders, Scotland, EH44 6JF.

Knight Tyme, Mega Bucks - Andy Riddins, 10 Berkshire Street, Chaddesden, Derby, DE2 6GQ

Ballyhoo, Hitchhiker's Guide, Infidel, Leather Goddesses, Lurking Horror, Hollywood Hijinx, Moonmist, Planetfal, Sorceror, Wishbringer - Amir Mansour, 31 Tenterden Gardens, London, NW4 1TQ. Tel between 5.30 - 9.30 (Mon to Fri) or 1pm - 10pm (Sun & Sat) on (081) 203 3843

Forest at World's End, Hitchhiker's Guide, Jewels of Babylon, Leather Goddess, Message from Andromeda - Ian McCarthy, The Old School, Church Lane, Brantham, Mannintree, Essex, CO11 1QA

Lurking Horror, Pawn - Adrian Forbes, 37 Victoria Road, Gourock, Scotland, PA19 1DF. Tel: (0475) 33633 Mon-Fri 5pm - 10pm, Sat & Sun 1pm-10pm

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BALROG'S POSTBAG

DRAGONTORC BLUES

Have you ever plated Dragontorc by Hewson Consultants? It's quite an old adventure, about six years, but it is my favourite. Though I would have liked to have solved it without cheating, in six years I am no close to beating it so I have come to you for help: I can't open the two doors in the Druid's Sanctuary, I don't know where to use the lcoate spell and I Can get into the crypt but I am unable to open the door... Please help as Hewson Consultants ignored my requests for aid.

R. Crowe - Poole

You've been playing the same game for six years? Wow, that shows dedication! Unfortunately, my tips on Dragontorc are very sparse. Perhaps another adventurer could help?

PROTOCOL PROBLEMS...

I am desperate for somebody's help. Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away, now it looked as if they're here to stat, until I remembered my AA...

I am stuck in part one of The Fourth Protocol - I need to know the answers posed by Sir Anthony Plumb: What is the proof? where did it happen and how was he recruited?

Andy Riddings, Chaddesen

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BALROG's CLUEPOT

Thanks to the following people for this month's pot of clues: Amir Mansour (London), Alistair Cook (Leeds), David Walker (Upminster), Edmund Spicer (Littlehampton), Jay Honosutomo (Hemel Hempstead) and Adrian Forbes (Gourock)...

Ballyhoo

To get the chocolate banana: Enter queue, exit queue, enter other queue. When the other queue gets shorter, exit your queue but re-enter it again. Throw the banana (After you have licked the chocolate off) to rid yourself of the monkey.

Bards Tale

• The name of the mad God is Tarjan.

• Use the death ring on a deal party member. It works like the ANDE spell.

• Don't cast AREN as it doesn't work.

• SOSI is like the SESI spell

• Beware of evil eyes as they can cast spells at your party

• The stone blade is a good weapon - it turns everything it hits into stone

• The spectre snare is like a SPBI spell.

• Use the Bard to sit on the throne.

• All the spells you have cast will dissipate every time you enter the Adventurers Guild.

• If the first three characters in your party are killed and shuffled to the back, you can re-organise your party and replace the dead characters to the front of the group. As only the first three characters can be attacked physically, your surviving members can have a whole round of combat without being damaged.

Bewbews

• When you fall in the water, ensure you have the sonk's stone.

• Use the spell book on mud

Frankenstein (esp for Jonathon Crompton)

At start: Get money, W, D, drop money, sit, wait, stand, get money, examine chimney, get picture, E, Search garden, examine chest & hinges and unscrew hinges with knife.

Gnome Ranger

• To get the leprechaun: ask the nymph to dig at the base of the rainbow with her shovel. Don't enter the location while she is doing so. Wait for a move, then enter. Pick up the gold and give it to the leprechaun.

• To get the eagle: Wait for her to carry you to her nest, then hit chicks.

Guild of Thieves

At the Junction Chamber you will see bars blocking your way to the SW - just break bars. Beyond the bars at the waterfall untie the rope ladder before you goto the temple and push the statue. Use the snooker cue, the cotton and the pin as a fishing rod.

Rigel's Revenge (esp for D. Sunderland)

• From start: Get and wear the goggles. You see Elliot who starts to give you a message then dies. Examine Elliot, get satchel, Ex2, N, E, D, N, examine unit, get medikit, U, firmly pull bars, remove suit, wear medikit and press red button. You feel strong.

• Bend bars, remove medikit, put all through window (you are now thin enough to get through it), out, get all.

Seabase Delta (esp for a reader from Newquay, Patrick Dyson & Ryan McKenzie)

• You get the ink in the speared octopus.

• The pen is in the bureau in the living quarters

• Spot disc with telescope in shaft below panel, tie the washing line to the magnet (third level - from the speaker in music room, type unscrew magnet) and then drop the line then pull it.

• Play the Heavy Metal to open the doors.

Secret of Ur

Sue Ilsley has solved Kay Wheeler's problem - she should give the parachute to the native and he will then leave her alone. Sue agrees that Ur is a tough game - she still hasn't managed to complete it herself!

Arkham Manor

Patrick Dyson has come to the aid of Simon Netherwood and Jon Bingham:

• To get in the Manor, go through the French windows.

• The rusty key is used to get in through the French windows. Chalk is used to make the shadow dial. The cross is used with the statue and the gun is used in part one not part two.

• Take photo of Smith and send to newspaper with his name. Next day go to telegraph office for useful telegram. Wait at 11 Boxer Road on Tuesday 24th at Night until somebody arrives, have gun with you and you will see what you have got to do with it.

Shadows of Mordor (esp for Jonathon Constable)

• To convert Smeagol to your side you must first get Sam to hit Smeagol with his sword (Frodo cannot do this as his sword would kill Smeagol), tie rope to Smeagol and then get Frodo to say to Smeagol "no", then "promise" and then untie rope.

• To get logs out of the Marsh maze, you must goto the first log, drag it, S, NW, SW, drop log, NE, S, SE, drop log, S, NW, SW, drop log, eat bread - Frodo - eat bread - Sam - NE, S, SE, drag log, S, NW, SW, drop log - Frodo... (now all the logs are in the correct location for making a raft - "TIE LOGS")

HELP

Bloodwych

• Dave Murphy from Tamworth is having big problems - he cannot get out of the keep. The furthest he gets is level 2 where he comes across two doors with black locks and he can't open either of them. From memory, Dave, you must remove the two blue buttons/eyes to the east but I haven't got much further than this myself - can anyone else help? Dave also complains about problems with the load/save game option - he can't seem to get it to work. From the Balg's own experience of the disk version, loading and saving can be a problem. What I have found is that you save to the game disk and don't load from the opening menu option - this doesn't seem to work. What you must do is select one-player game, generate a party and then load save game once in the game by clickin on the disk icon. This method seems to work satisfactorily but every now and then there are glitches.

• Jonathon Crompton is also completely baffled in Bloodwych. He's got so stressed with the games he's been literally pulling his hairs out (I could have made a wig from the contents of the envelope!) His letter reveals a sorry tale of yellow gates, hidden yellow keys, green switches and intense confusion - can anyone help him?

Asylum

Jonathon also would like any hints or tips for this game as he is again stuck.

Firestone

Pervez Choudhury is stumped - how do you cross the chasm and is it possible to talk to the Knight.