Letters If you don't mark your letter "not for publication" and you write on a subject relating to adventuring or SynTax, I'll assume it's okay for me to quote from it here.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 Paul Cardin, Wallasey Thanks to Neil Shipman for his very kind comments on 'The Cuplard Look' in Issue 15. The story took quite a while to write, and it was really rewarding to see such favourable remarks and to see that he enjoyed it - and appreciated the story within the story. To answer Neil's query, I have actually attempted to convert one of my Spectrum games. I got halfway through converting 'Captain Kook' to the ST, but gave up when I found I couldn't translate the more complex PAW routines over to the STAC. I must admit, I found the STAC manual quite hard to get to grips with (although graphics were a lot easier to implement than with PAW.) So I rejoined the bustling queue of adventure authors awaiting the 'imminent' release of the ST version of PAW. (Any news on that, Sue?) The last rumour I heard was it would definitely be out in the Autumn. Will it ever see the light of day? I've been waiting about 18 months now, and with adventuring taking a deserved upturn in popularity, Gilsoft really should get a move on! Sue, if I add a few hundred unnecessary linefeeds at the end of this letter, will it bump up my points total? @~Hehe, 'fraid not because I don't count letters anyway! As for ST @~PAW, I gave Gilsoft a ring and spoke to Howard Gilberts. The @~answer is, don't hold your breath waiting for it. It was being @~coded but Tim has got a new job and is so busy he's had to stop @~working on it for the time being. However, anyone who is @~interested in ST PAW should write to Gilsoft saying so and they'll @~then go on the mailing list for any information when it DOES @~become available. In the meantime, I'd say give AGT a go. I'm @~writing my adventure with it (when time permits!) and finding it a @~(relative) breeze to use. I'm certainly finding it much better @~than STAC. From John Carter, Trawsfynedd (extract) (Recently) I've only completed one game, Eye of the Beholder, and have partially completed Cruise for a Corpse. Apart from a few flights into 'Nam in The Intruder and getting soundly thrashed in Jimmy White's Snooker, all the rest of my time has been spent playing Bane of the Cosmic Forge, a greatly-underrated RPG. As long as you consider gameplay more important than graphics or sound, this has to be one of the best around at the moment, not counting VGA PC stuff like Ultima VI. Loads of character classes, dozens of spells, weapons, monsters, objects etc and some neat abilities like being able to "merge" two different items to make a third which, in turn, can be "merged" again. Fascinating! It takes the first person view and animated monsters and spells from Dungeon Master, the strategic turn by turn combat system from Bard's Tale, some keyword prompted dialogue from Ultima and uses them all in a massive complex game world. It doesn't need a hard drive although a second floppy is useful for saves. Just great! In case anyone else has actually got it (it hasn't had a single review in any of the magazines as far as I know) I've enclosed the answers to some of the puzzles I've come across so far. @~Thanks for the hints, John, and also for recommending Bane. I @~think the reason it hasn't been pushed over here by the magazines @~is because it's still on import and, so, very expensive. @~QuestBusters reviewed it back in November '90 and were very @~enthusiastic. ------------------------------------------------------------------ @~Finally, following on from last issue's special feature, a @~letter from: High Voltage Software, 58 Freville Close, The Leys, Tamworth, Staffs, B79 7ER I thought I'd better give you an update on how Brainchild is coming on. To date, we've had absolutely no ideas sent to us and, although we do still want to produce the game, the name Brainchild will be pretty useless if all the ideas come from us! We'd be grateful if you could just give it a little plug in this month's issue of SynTax, saying something along the lines that even the smallest idea towards the game's direction will be of use. If there are any Amiga or PC owners who want to get involved but have no access to an ST, then they can always send an SAE to us here at HVS and we'll send them a full synopsis with all of the room descriptions used in the game, along with some of the many messages to give over the general atmosphere - this way they may be able to get involved as well. @~I know several of you mentioned you had ideas for Brainchild @~when we've spoken on the phone so - come on - send 'em in to @~Gareth and the rest of HVS. Brainchild is an exciting idea and, @~when finished, will be partly YOUR game. But it needs your input @~to succeed. Why not make it your New Year Resolution to send in @~at least one small suggestion to them?