The BBC and Master Computer Public Domain Library

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OXBRIDGE

Professional, Originally Released On Cassette Only

Game Type : Text Adventure With Graphics

Author :

Standalone Release(s) : 1986: OXBRIDGE, Tynesoft, £7.95

Compilation Release(s) : None

Stated compatibility : Electron Side A, BBC Side B

Actual compatibility : As stated

Supplier : TYNESOFT, Unit 3 Addison Industrial Estate, Blaydon, TYNE & WEAR NE21 4TE. Tel: 091 414 4611

Disc compatibility : Unknown

Instructions

"AT LAST!! A FULLY ILLUSTRATED ADVENTURE FOR THE ELECTRON (200 LOCATIONS)

OXBRIDGE takes a light-hearted look at the world of higher education. The Cursor Keys move you about a beautifully illustrated landscape to meet various brain-teaser type problems. If you like puzzle books, you'll love this game. This is no marathon science-fiction epic taking hours to get into. You may progress within minutes and, as you play, you absorb the atmosphere and folklore of the world's most famous

University.

Can you escape from the College, get served in the Pub, learn how to Punt, get cash from your Bank, locate an obscure book, find your way through the "Botanical Garden" Maze? The challenge of student life awaits you!!

Features include HELP facility, mobile talking characters (some famous personalities), single operation load, fully integrated graphics.

Nothing like it has ever been produced for a 32K machine!"

The Loader program contains full instructions - 'HELP' lists the available commands at any time.

OXBRIDGE - Hint Sheet Questions

1. I can't get out of the tower

2. The bees sting me

3. I can't capture the butterfly

4. I can't find a use for the picklock

5. I can't make the punt work

6. The barman in The Punter's Arms won't serve me

7. I can't catch the mouse

8. What use is the bulb?

9. What use is the box with the trefoil?

10. I get killed when I open the fume cupboard

11. I can't get through the college main gates

12. I can't work the service till in the bank

13. I get arrested in the museum

14. I don't get anywhere in the library

15. I get arrested for shoplifting in Harrods

16. I can't get into the Master's lodge

17. I can't get the furniture sorted out

18. I get stuck in the garden maze

19. I have scored maximum points but can't find the endgame

OXBRIDGE - Hint Sheet Answers

1. You need the key to the back door, which is initially in the cellar. Take the

ladder with you.

2. To collect the royal jelly you must first drop the marmalade in the vicinity to

distract the bees.

3. There is a butterfly net somewhere.

4. It opens the front door in the tower.

5. You need a punt pole.

6. There is a hint in there somewhere. Remember to drink your beer.

7. There is a cat on a roof somewhere.

8. You must plant it in a suitable patch of earth.

9. It is valuable. Just resist the temptation to open it.

10. Leave the vicinity temporarily.

11. The barman in the pub knows something useful.

12. You need the card from the dining hall. The numbers on the blackboard in the

maths room should give you a clue to the ID number.

13. The statue is on a weighbridge which rings an alarm when there is no weight on

it. To avoid the guard, try the fire exit.

14. You must reach the end of the alphabet.

15. You must smuggle both items out in the lift. You must work out how to move the

lift without being in it yourself.

16. Ring the doorbell.

17. You are advised to draw a diagram and try it with counters first.

18. The easy way to work out a route is with a chessboard, a knight and 64 numbered

pieces of cardboard.

19. It's a place punters are normally barred from. Blowing your own trumpet a bit

might help.

Instructions' Source : OXBRIDGE (Tynesoft) Back and Inner Inlay

Review (Electron User) - "Adventure Student"

This adventure landed on my desk for review way back in July. It's not that I'm slow, but it has taken me a long time to complete the game and even longer to make decisions as to its merit. The adventure is an oddity as it is presented with simplistic, if sometimes crude, graphics. However, the adventure is ingenious and more about puzzle solving that true adventuring.

The cover instructions do give some warning concerning the contents: "OXBRIDGE takes a light-hearted look at the world of higher education. If you like puzzle books, you'll love this game!"

Those of you who have played Colin Jack's previous adventure, PROGRAMMER'S REVENGE, will have gained some insight into the sardonic wit and ingenuity which is present in this game.

Your object, as the hero is to escape from the college, get served in a pub, learn how to punt, get cash from your bank, solve numerous puzzles and generally cope with student life. My favourite part of the adventure involved the deviation on the old Chinese sliding-block puzzle. In this case, however, you need to sort out furniture into appropriate rooms. This is difficult to say the least but you are rewarded with a Rubik's cube.

I also loved the garden maze, which is solved using the Knight's Tour chess problem. Needless to say, chess players will find this easier than others.

Obtaining the manuscript from the library also involves a clever maze and requires very careful mapping. Look at the colours and lettering. I found the higher letters very difficult to locate.

Having played the 300 location BBC Micro version of this game, I found the watered-down Electron version which has 200 locations a little disappointing. I also found it more difficult, as a result of the paring of the game's structure.

The cassette inlay offers some help in solving the puzzles and if you really do feel like tearing your hair out, Tynesoft provides an excellent four page Puzzle and Solution leaflet.

As someone who loves mathematics and puzzle solving, I like this game though it does not follow that you will. Try before you buy is perhaps the best advice I can give.

Presentation .................... 9

Atmosphere ...................... 6

Frustration factor ............. 10

Value for money ................. 9

Overall ......................... 8

Pendragon, ELECTRON USER 5. 3 (Dec 1987)