Letters If you don't mark your letter "not for publication" and you write on a subject relating to adventuring or SynTax, I'll assume it's okay for me to quote from it here. ----------------------------------------------------------------- From Oscar Steele, Public Domain Corp., 4320-196th SW Suite B-140, Lynnwood, WA 98036-6721, USA Tel: (206) 745-5980 We are in the process of producing text adventures along the lines of the Infocom adventures. We are in need of people who would be interested in working with us on such projects. If you, someone you know, or someone that reads your publication would be interested, please contact us as soon as possible. You can also FAX us a reply at (0206) 348-4276. @~Oscar is looking for playtesters and authors for ST, Amiga, PC @~and MAC. Programming knowledge isn't necessary as they're using @~a standard writer. If you're at all interested in this project, @~why not drop him a line? From Kjell Robertsen, Norway I read, with interest, Phil Darke's letter about SynTax and found myself agreeing with him. But when I read the reply, I agreed with that too, there is probably something wrong with me! Still, I have a few comments. 1. Let's face it, SynTax will never appeal to anyone who's not an adventure fan no matter what its presentation might be. But there is always room for improvement and one thing that in my opinion would be an improvement is to include an option to change the colours to black print on a white background. As it is, I don't read it from disc, I print it out on paper first. 2. Offering a free game on side two will only appeal to those who are already subscribing and have decided they like the mag as it is. 3. Here is my idea of the ideal games mag - one that covered adventures and sport simulations. SynTax - and Probe - are nearly there! Finally, here is my list of my favourite games: 1 El Diablero played on the Dragon 32 2 Black Sanctum played on the Dragon 3 Calixto Island played on the Dragon 4 Match Point (not an adventure but a tennis game) played on the CPC 5 Emlyn Hughes International Soccer played on the CPC and the ST (the CPC version is best as usual) Worst game ever: Bard's Tale. I hate it. Well, that's all for now. Keep up the good work! @~I've put Kjell's adventure list here rather than in the Top Ten @~section as most of the games are non-ST. Would some default @~colours as standard for all issues be popular? Either black on @~white or vice versa? As I've said before, I'm not keen on @~twiddling with the program at this late date as it's so long since @~we touched it, we can't remember what some of it does, having @~taken out all the REMs! But if enough of you would like this @~change made, drop me a line and we'll try to do it. From David Pullin, 3 Beacon Road, Shevingtonmoor, Standish, Wigan, WN6 0SB Thanks for my first issue of SynTax. I am much impressed as your magazine is certainly one of the best around. @+As I've mentioned before ~(when David ordered his first disk), I am aiming to write an adventure. After deciding that STAC is not quite what I need, I did decide to write the adventure directly in GFA BASIC. But now I have decided to first write a STAC-like program so I can have a personalised adventure creation environment. It will probably take ages to complete - but that's half the fun of it anyway. Would you please include this letter in the next issue of SynTax along with my address so that anyone who is interested in what I am doing, or has any ideas or suggestions, can write to me. I will reply to every letter as quickly as possible. @~I hope you get a good response and good luck with your game. From Claire Dyard, Aubrives, France Many thanks for the free game. It was a very nice idea ... and many thanks, too, to John Wilson for giving you the rights to these games. I was particularly lucky because I got the only "Zenobi" game I didn't have yet! Happy adventuring (and good luck for the new mag!) @~Glad you enjoyed your free game. Incidentally, for anyone who @~may have wondered, the authors do, of course, get their usual @~royalties on the games given away with that issue. No-one is @~being short-changed! @~Thanks for the good wishes for Red Herring too. Marion and I are @~really pleased with the initial response and are very grateful @~to everyone who is helping with advertising, leaflet @~distribution and so forth. Jan Kellerman, 2 Altair Court, Lilydale, Melbourne, Australia 3140 (extract) ...One quick comment about the serialised solutions that you run eg Hammer of Grimmold. Did you realise that to get the complete solution would take 6 to 8 months? Rather a long time for a not too hard adventure and that unless the last part has gone into Issue 13 it still has one part missing. I know that is hard to keep up with it all but I think rather than let these go over such @+a long period, maybe more should be put in at a time. ~Yes, @~sorry about that; a slight breakdown in postal communications @~between STormbringer and myself as he was only sending me one @~section at a time. The solution is being concluded this issue. We mail ordered UMS II from Special Reserve a while back (that's Mike's forte). It took a few weeks to get here (but worth the wait). Last week we found it in a shopping centre about a 1/2 hour drive from where we live, working out the exchange rate at the time we saved ourselves around $46 which is around œ21.81. Now you can see why we have to have the patience of Job over here. That's quite a few adventures at least, don't you agree? I have done quite a lot of reading lately. I'm on the second book of the Star of the Guardians and I've read the Dark Sword Trilogy and also the first book of the Dragon Wing series. A few years ago I would not have believed that I would ever get into such books let alone enjoy them. Adventuring is so much fun. Could you put a note on your disk for some penpals or such for us here in Australia. If it's possible then thanks very much. Mike has done a huge wall map (on graph paper 6 sheets A4) of Ultima IV. It's all in colour and looks much better than the cloth map you get with the game. It is still not easy to play even though now I don't have to search for the cities and the shrines. @~Any chance of a photo of Mike's map? I'd love to see it. @~Actually, if any of you would like to send photos of yourselves, @~I've collected quite a few of different readers and it's a bonus @~to know what you look like, to put a face to the name. And if @~anyone would like to write to Jan in Australia, please do so. From Ron Rainbird, Holmes Chapel (extract) @+... Since "Arborea" ~(reviewed by Ron this issue) +I received a present of "Secret of Monkey Island" which I nearly fell over myself in my eagerness to play. Now, although the graphics are excellent and the music very good, I'm afraid that I found the humour in it of a decidedly juvenile nature, w R10/H10 x Invasion R2/S3 c x x It Came from the Desert S12 x Jade Stone - The R1/P1/H2 ST Am PC Title Files ------------------------------------------------------------------- x x x Jewels of Darkness R1 x x x Jinxter R1/S2 x x x Joan of Arc S6 x x x King's Quest I H5/R10 x x x King's Quest II H7/R10 x x x King's Quest III H9/R10 x x x King's Quest IV H1/R10 x x x Knight Orc H7/S10>11 x x x Kristal - The S10 x x x Kult S10 x x x Lancelot R1/H1 x x x Leather Goddesses of Phobos R2&11/H2 x x x Legend of Djel R3 x x x Legend of Faerghail (RPG) R11/H11 x x x Legend of the Sword H2/S3/R13/P13 x x x Leisure Suit Larry II R1/H1/S10>11 x x x Leisure Suit Larry III H6/R8/S8 x Lifeboat R10/H10 ST Am PC Title Files ------------------------------------------------------------------- c Limbo of the Lost Prev12 x x x Loom P9/R9&13/H9 x x x Lords of Time R3/H4/S7/M10>13> x Lost Dutchman Mine R6 x x x Lurking Horror H1/S2/R8 x Magic Shop - The R11/P11/H11/S12 x x x Manhunter New York R1/H2 x x x Manhunter San Francisco P3/S5>6/R3&5 x x x Maniac Mansion S5/R5 x e Mapper (util) R12 e x McMurphy's Mansion R13 x x x Midwinter (strategy) P6/R6 x x Might and Magic II H12 x x x Mind Forever Voyaging S1 x x x Mindfighter S10 x x Mission - The R11/S13 x x x Moonmist S2>3>4>5 x x x Murder R13 ST Am PC Title Files ------------------------------------------------------------------- x x Murders in Venice P5/R5/H8 x Mutant R1/S6/M6 x x x Myth S2/R2 x x x Nord and Bert R12/H12>13> x x Odieus' Quest H6 x x x Omnicron Conspiracy R11 x Once a King R2/H9 x x x Ooze R7/S8/M8/H8 x Operation Blue Sunrise Prev12 x x x Operation Stealth R9/H9/S10 x x x Pawn - The H1/R7 x Pay Off - The S3 x x x Personal Nightmare H4 x x Phantasie I (RPG) H6 x Phantasie II (RPG) H4&5 x x x Planetfall H1/S10>11 x x x Plundered Hearts H6/R12 x x x Police Quest I H5 ST Am PC Title Files ------------------------------------------------------------------- x x x Police Quest II R1/H1&3 x x Pork R8/H8