Editorial

First of all, I hope you had as happy a Christmas as we did. It's
nice to have a break for a few days. When you work from home, it's
often hard to know when to stop and take a break. That's not to
say that the computer didn't get switched on at all over the long
weekend!

Remember, next issue is the last one in the current 'points mean
prizes'. I think it is pretty certain that Issue 28 will be a
bumper one to use up all the contributions ie 2 3.5" or 4 x 5.25"
depending on the format, but please send in any more reviews,
hints, solutions or whatever if you want them included.

Following on from last issue's letters section, Alex van Kaam was
asking for suggestions for RPGs which need mapping. Dave Barker
said, try Captive. Each mission has 10 planets and a space station
to explore and map and there are at least 6 missions. I know Dave
has been playing it for some time.

Alex, meanwhile, has been playing Might and Magic IV and has sent
in a full solution. He's written it like a story, which makes a
change from the usual 'do this, go there' solution and more
interesting for non-RPGers to read, if they want to. But I'd
especially like to draw your attention to the maps he sent in too.
If anyone else would like to send in similar maps for another RPG,
they'd be great for a future issue. Alex used control codes to get
the special symbols on the PC version, but we can always add those
for you.

Alex also suggested that I close the current Top Ten and start a
new one as it's the beginning of the year. I think that's a great
idea; I wish I'd thought of it! So, Alex has started the ball
rolling with his Top Ten - he was actually the first person to
send one in, way back in Issue 9. So, don't forget to send in your
votes for your favourite adventures. I'll probably re-start it
again in another year's time.

Richard has amended the Amiga version of SynTax so that it will
now run from a hard drive too. The PC version has done all along.

I may not remember what I was doing when Kennedy was murdered ...
being brought up in Cardiff, the Aberfan disaster had more of an
impact ... but I'll remember what I was doing on the 30th
anniversary of his death - watching the special episode of Quantum
Leap. I know a lot of you saw it as many of my callers over
the next few days mentioned it. It was an excellent programme and
I'll be very sorry to see the end of the series. I don't know if
the current one, which started on January 4th, is the last one.

Now, a quick note about contacting me. I'm getting more and more
busy all the time because of working on 4 magazines now (SynTax,
Red Herring, PC Mart and The Shareware Magazine) so I am having to
let the answering machine take more calls. If you ring through and
get the machine, please leave a message (you might as well, you've
paid for the call) and I'll happily ring you back later. Remember
to leave your phone number too! As for letters, I'm being slower
replying to those too. Orders and requests for help are dealt with
ASAP, but personal letters are taking longer so apologies to
anyone who has had to wait for a reply.

The PC games magazine market has grown tremendously over the last
few months. I'm a sucker for mags, so am finding it hard to know
which to take and which to leave. I already subscribe to two
American magazines - QuestBusters and Computer Gaming World. Then
there's PC Mart and The Shareware Magazine (of course!), Strategy
Plus, PC Format, PC Review, PC Home and PC Zone.  New ones that
started at the end of the year include PC Player, PC Gamer, PC
Action and ... well, the list goes on.

PC Home have recently started offering the option for a cover
CD-ROM disk instead of the ordinary or high density 3.5" disks. On
each CD-ROM disk you not only get the same programs as are on the
floppy, but other shareware programs and demos of commercial
games. I've now seen snippets of Day of the Tentacle, the talkie
version of Indy and the Fate of Atlantis (strangely Indy didn't
appear in it!), and Sam and Max on the Road. All look excellent,
and the speech on the CD-ROM versions certainly adds a new
dimension to the games. Alan bought me the Indy CD-ROM for
Christmas and the full game is brilliant. I showed it to Alan's
nephews, Neal and Ian, when they were down over New Year and for
the first time they were interested in an adventure. They're SNES
users and the closest they get to my sort of game is SimCity -
though I must admit I enjoyed playing some of the SNES games,
especially those that used the new light gun. You rest it on your
shoulder to look through the sight and it's surprisingly
controllable.

I had a quick look at the deluxe version of Railroad Tycoon too.
Hmm, great graphics but it runs much slower now and moving round
the screen isn't as controllable either. I reckon I'll go back to
the original - until we get a 486!

Finally, how many of you saw the computer special on Equinox some
weeks ago? I was enthralled by the clips they showed of SimCity
2000.  That's a must-get for me. Another sim I am really looking
forward to is Bullfrog's Theme Park.  Ah dear, so many games, so
little time ...!
                         Happy New Year to you all,
                                                   Sue