News

When I started thinking about this issue's news section, I began
to think - where are all the new releases? Looking back at the
list of forthcoming ST adventures, I realised how many of them
have been in the list for months and months. Ok, there have been a
few new adventures out since Issue 10 but most of the new ones
I've come across have been either home-produced or PD. Are
companies cutting back generally or just on the ST? Whichever it
is, it's rather a worrying thought....

However, I have come across a few snippets that may interest you.
Firstly, Virgin Mastertronic are preparing to release another 5
Infocoms under their budget label as before. The titles will be
Enchanter, Sorcerer, Zork 2, Zork 3 and Deadline. They should be
out at the end of March and I would imagine they'd be at the same
price as the last re-releases.

Palace are working on a new text adventure for the ST which is
good news. Titled Demoniak it should be out in a few months and is
the first in a planned series called Pure Fiction. Future games in
the series, though relying strongly on text, will also include
graphics. Demoniak is written by Alan Grant who is well-known as a
comic artist, producing art-work for Judge Dredd and Batman.

Another game which has just recently been announced is Populous 2
from Bullfrog but it isn't expected to be seen on the shelves
until September (which probably means Christmas!) The game will
feature three deities as an atheist has been added (is an atheist
a deity?) and there will be extras such as volcanos, earthquakes,
tornados, tidal waves, plagues and parting seas.

Quest for Clues 3 is out and is the latest compilation of solutions
from Shay Addams, editor of the American adventure magazine
QuestBusters (which is excellent, by the way). I bought my copy
from Strategic Plus Software and it cost me œ14.99 which is good
value as it contains solutions and maps to 40 adventures and RPGs.
Some of the games covered are Circuit's Edge, Gold Rush, Hound of
Shadows, Drakkhen, Space Rogue and Wizardry V. Not all of them
are, as yet, available on the ST but a fair proportion are.

Also on the subject of adventure solutions, anyone playing Captive
might be interested to know that a firm called GAME (Graphic
Adventure Maps Enterprise) have brought out a booklet of Mission 1
maps complete with hints and tips for just œ3.95. Also available
from GAME are complete maps for Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes
Back, each at the same price. You can contact GAME at 18 Goose
Street, Beckington, Bath, BA3 6SS. All prices include UK P&P.
Tell them you read about it in SynTax!

The mail order firm Softsellers has gone into liquidation. I have
dealt with them in the past so was lucky not to have an order
outstanding at the time. Neil Shipman wasn't so lucky as he was
trying to sort out a dispute with them and ended up lumbered with
some software he didn't want. He said I could tell you what he
called them but I'll let you guess! If you got caught out, the
official receivers concerned are Thompson and Patterson, 12
Lowerbrook Street, Ipswich.