Letters

From Jean Childs, Bagshot

... I'm glad you are trying my short review idea and I hope it is
successful. Of the three games you have selected, I have only
tried Dungeon Master. I found it was easy to operate and the
puzzles were good. The only problem was me. This game is
definitely not suitable for jumpy people. Face to face with the
monsters was no problem. If I was in an area where I knew a
monster was lurking, I'd make one or two moves and then turn the
game off. I had the same problem with Chronoquest. Yes, I am one
of those people who watches scary films through their fingers and
my heartbeat keeps rhythm with the music. Maybe I should stick to
text only games.

@~I know just what you mean. I found the suspense in DM terrific.
@~The first time I was outside a door and could see 'something'
@~moving about the other side, pushed the button and let out a
@~mummy, my heart was racing. As for the first time a screamer
@~yelled at me ... too much! Mind you, I can get quite frantic at
@~some text games too, when the clock is ticking away and I'm
@~trying to solve a puzzle.  I watch films through my fingers too,
@~much to Alan's amusement. The worst one I saw several years ago
@~was Salem's Lot - had to give up on it. Needless to say I
@~haven't attempted watching Silence of the Lambs. I don't think
@~I'd sleep after it! Funnily enough 'blood 'n' guts' films don't
@~worry me, it's the unexpected things that (sometimes literally)
@~leap at you that agitate me.

I read Kjell Robertsen's letter with great interest. Like you,
Sue, I am not well up on the different types of mythology and I
would also enjoy a good fantasy story possibly unaware of any
mixed-up elements. But I can see Kjell's point and I would like to
add that if authors are aiming at a particular market they should
bear in mind that many of their readers do have knowledge of what
they are reading. Also if the get-rich-quick-regardless-of-
authenticity attitude is maintained, the boundaries Kjell refers
to will be lost.


@~Talking of Kjell, here he is, with a few points from last issue.

From Kjell Robertsen, Norway                             (extract)

... First, the movie Close Encounters. My point is this: Spielberg
said that he had made a logical and realistic film based on the
many UFO reports. We have to judge whether it works as such, and
it doesn't. Here we have an advanced alien race who want to make
contact with certain people on Earth. To accomplish this they use
the latitude/longditude degrees of Earth, but these are not
visible things and in order to know about them at all you would
have to learn a whole lot about the world's culture. If they knew
that much, they should certainly have been able to use an easier
and better way, don't you think? I've read hundreds of UFO reports
but in none of them did the aliens use these degrees, probably
because few people know much about them and couldn't have put them
on a map if their lives depended on it. The film is full of things
like that and I doubt that Spielberg has read or understood many
UFO reports. How many poltergeists were there in Poltergeist?

There were plenty of logical holes in Star Wars but then Lucas
only said he had made a film about Space Opera as he understood
it. Whether we like the movie or not is a different matter.

Mini reviews - why not include mini book reviews too? The local
newspapers have them and they are very popular. Just give the
plot, then your opinion. In my experience adventure players were
fans of fantasy/SF books long before they started to play
adventures. However, limiting these reviews to include only
certain titles would limit the reviewers to those who have played
those games/read those books. In my opinion it would be better if
the reviewers could choose the books/adventures themselves. That
way you would get more contributions and SynTax would be a
livelier magazine.

@~Good idea. Suggesting titles hasn't brought much forth so from
@~now on, any mini reviews for any adventures or books will be
@~very welcome. Contributions permitting I'll start two new

@~sections next month for book/adventure round-ups so PLEASE, if
@~anyone would like to write a short piece for either, send 'em
@~in. These ideas suggested are great but will only work if they
@~get supported by at least a couple of readers.
------------------------------------------------------------------
@~Next some advice wanted by
Mark McCormick, Co. Down

@+... As an avid football fan ~(Mark has a PC), +I was wondering if
you could suggest a good football game - not playing, but making
decisions, planning etc. I've seen Football Director II mentioned
in SynTax - is this worthy of buying? There's a new game I've seen
recently advertised called Championship Manager. It sounds good
but I would value your opinion to see if it was worth buying.

@~I know absolutely nothing about football games so I asked a man
@~who does - John Morris at Games Express. He mentioned two, The
@~Manager (US Gold) and Domark's afore-mentioned Championship
@~Manager. CM is due out on July 15th and sounds the better
@~program. Both sell at œ28.99 from Games Express.