The BBC and Master Computer Public Domain Library

SCOTT ADAMS SCOOPS

Professional, Originally Released On Cassette Only

Game Types         : Text Adventure

Authors            : Scott Adams and Brian Howarth

Release Information        : 1988: SCOTT ADAMS SCOOPS, Adventure International, £9.95

Compilation Comprises   : 1. PIRATE ADVENTURE, Adventure International

                    2. VOODOO CASTLE, Adventure International

                    3. STRANGE ODYSSEY, Adventure International

                    4. BUCKAROO BANZAI, Adventure International

Stated compatibility    : Electron

Actual compatibility    : Electron, BBC B, B+ and Master 128

Supplier            : ADVENTURE INTERNATIONAL, 85 Summer Street, BIRMINGHAM

                    B19 3TE

Disc compatibility     : ADFS 1D00, CDFS 1D00, DFS 1D00 (All)

Instructions

Please see individual entries for complete playing instructions.

How An Adventure Works

If you've never played an Adventure before, you're in for a real treat. Adventuring permits the player to move at will from location to location within the game "environment" and to examine objects for clues that will reach the objective of the game. For example, an adventure might begin something like this:

   I'M IN A ROOM. VISIBLE OBJECTS ARE A RUBY-ENCRUSTED BOX AND A CLOSED DOOR. TELL

   ME WHAT TO DO.

You might want to begin by entering a direction (North, South, East, West) to see if you can leave the room. Chances are, though, that you will have to find a way to get through the closed door. Let's try something basic. You type:

   OPEN DOOR

but the computer tells you in no uncertain terms:

   SORRY, IT'S LOCKED. WHAT SHALL I DO?

   GET BOX  

and the computer responds with:

   OK

By saying "OK", the computer has let you know that the command has been accepted and the box "picked up". Now that you're "holding" the box, let's see if we can peek inside. You type:

   OPEN BOX

This time the computer understands and you are rewarded with the following response:

   OK. INSIDE THERE IS A KEY AND A RARE POSTAGE STAMP.

Since we still want to exit the room, trying the key to unlock the door might be a good idea. The postage stamp might come in handy so you type:

   GET KEY AND STAMP

But the computer responds:

   SORRY, I CAN'T DO THAT...YET!

Ah yes - asking the computer to get both the key AND the stamp is most definitely a COMPOUND command, something that your computer cannot understand. Try again, this time asking for the objects separately. You type:

   GET KEY

and then:

   GET STAMP

The computer will answer "OK" each time and you will have what you need.

By "getting" the key and the stamp, they are stored for later use as you are, in effect, carrying them. As for your next series of moves, you might want to go to the door (GO DOOR), try the key in the lock (UNLOCK DOOR), and move down the hallway that's just outside. (GO HALLWAY).

You're on your way!

Review (Electron User) - "No Food For Thought"

This is certainly the era of compilations. By their very nature such releases tend to be gambles, and when I saw this one from Adventuresoft, which includes four Scott Adams text adventures, I was a bit sceptical.

Why, on a four adventure compilation, was there the need to include two of Scott's most mediocre offerings, VOODOO CASTLE and PIRATE ADVENTURE? VOODOO CASTLE is a good mystical taster for absolute beginners but that is as far as I would go in recommending it.

STRANGE ODYSSEY and the previously unreleased BUCKAROO BANZAI whetted the appetite, but if the object of the exercise had been to release a cross-section of the best of Scott Adams, wouldn't Adventuresoft have been more judicious in including a classic such as GOLDEN VOYAGE instead of the minute PIRATE ADVENTURE.

Having played all of Scott Adams' adventures when they were first released, I was anxious to experience BUCKAROO BANZAI. The sales hype states, "Only by unravelling the many puzzles set by Scott Adams do you stand any chance of completing this futuristic adventure set in the world of pop groups and science fiction." I wish I had been given the chance!

The copy I was sent - like many others - was riddled with garbled messages and annoying bugs. The little of the game I was able to play did not convince me of its merits.

It is not, as Adventuresoft accredit, an adventure of moderate difficulty but rather, totally confusing. I understand that unbugged copies are now in circulation - a little late for many, I am afraid.

STRANGE ODYSSEY is a superb science fiction jaunt which will involve much head scratching if you are to succeed in your quest on an alien planet. Its parser and text compression are rather limited by today's standards, but this adventure is more than four years old.

PIRATE ADVENTURE has nothing, in my opinion, to recommend it. It is supposedly an escapade involving the discovery of fabulous treasure on a strange island. It is, in fact, nothing more than a collection of short brain teasers with only two treasures and 20 odd locations, doing little to tax the old grey stuff.

This is a Pandora's box of a compilation which would be a bargain investment for the beginner to text adventuring, but will hold little of any substance for the more experienced traveller.

                        Presentation .................... 8

                        Atmosphere ...................... 5

                        Frustration factor .............. 4

                        Value for money ................. 8

                        Overall ......................... 6

Pendragon, ELECTRON USER 5. 5