Skylands Star - authors Daniel Berke and Matthew Engle (Text adventure for PC on SynTax PD 530) Reviewed by Simon Avery "The time door will remain open for only ten hours, Doctor, so keep a watchful eye on the time." You glance at your watch; it is 11:00 AM. "Remember, the survival of the world rests on this final attempt to find a reliable energy source. The Earth's natural resources have been used up, and we have been unable to fully replace them. You must, by using this highly experimental process, travel through time into the Earth's future, if there is one, and find out exactly how the future society has dealt with the problem. Do anything necessary to accomplish this. This may sound extreme and cruel, but think of it this way: there won't be a future if the present doesn't survive." One thing bothers me about the above introduction to this adventure; if I am to go into the future to save the present, and if there is a future to go into, then I must have already solved the problem on zero energy and have therefore no need to go. Alternatively, if I haven't already been there, then the future has managed to find a solution without my intervention and I don't need to go anyway. So what's the point? Time travel has always confused a lot of people since the idea was brought forward by the science fiction writers earlier this century, and I think that the authors of this game aren't totally at ease with the idea. I think the introduction above shows this, and I also think that an alternative scenario would be better placed rather than one upon which the future of the world depends on, when it clearly shows that the future happens anyway? Anyway, to review this science fiction adventure, and not to rip holes in the plot... Skyland has been written using the authors' own system which bears up fairly well to TADS, though not nearly as versatile or as friendly, it serves its purpose competently enough and, for the most part, doesn't present much of a problem. The parser is ok, though some of the vocabulary has been omitted and this can cause minor problems. "I don't see that here." crops up with annoying frequency when you try to examine something that appears to be fairly crucial in the location description, though the non-essential scenery messages are well supported. The occasional spelling mistake also interrupts the flow of the text, which is mostly well-written and verbose. Location descriptions are similar to TADS and AGT games in that the first time you enter a location, the full text is displayed and at future visits, only a short message is shown. One thing I did like that I've not seen before, is that when you, for example, go south, a short message along the lines of "You fight your way through the crowds to the south." appears before the next description. This of course varies with the location and the relative happenings in that area. The time limit is my main moan with the game, I have never liked being penalised for examining the surroundings by having precious minutes deducted. Some might argue it adds to the realism, but for me, it is just an unnecessary obstacle. Of the the eleven hour time limit, one minute is deducted for every turn you take, making a total of 660 turns before the game ends. The game also ends with monotonous regularity with you dying, usually suddenly. One more pet hate of mine surfaced with the inability to abbreviate the 'examine' command to 'x' or even to 'ex'. Having said that, 'l' does the job, but it takes a while for your fingers to get accustomed to the new letter. Saved positions cannot be named by the user, but have to be a single letter from A to Z. I prefer to be able to name a saved position so that it can tell me where and in what circumstances I saved it, such as "BRIDGE" or "TROLL" which gives me much more information than a single letter. I usually like science fiction adventures, but this one, while it is well programmed and as atmospheric this games of this genre can be expected to be, lacks the certain something that keeps you interested throughout the whole game. The system used for this adventure can be obtained from the authors in America. Rating = 6/10. Difficulty = 4/10. Registration price: $15 from the authors.