Moraff's World - SynTax PD 473
                (Shareware RPG for PC)

                  Dwarfed by Grimwold

Moraff's World is a bit of an enigma to me, in the days of glitzy
games with very little gameplay, MW sticks out from many others of
this genre in that it is extremely lasting, but is also quite
pretty. Players who have seen other Morraffware games won't be
surprised by the opening menu, asking the user to select their
graphics card (support is given from CGA right through to SVGA).
Then comes screen after screen of graphical introduction (which,
thankfully, can be switched off by invoking a command on the batch
file runner) until you are led to another menu, asking you to
select what form you would like your (only) character to take. The
list is fairly standard, allowing for Human, Elf, Dwarf (see why I
like this game?), Hobbit, Gnome, Ogre, Sprite or Imp. Then the
dice are rolled, giving the attributes to your character. One
feature here, is that if you don't like the ones you are given,
you just press a key and they are rolled again - no need to
completely re-define the character. Then, when you are happy that
you've got your new friend as powerful as possible, you continue
to be asked what class you would like them to be. Again, the usual
ones are there: Fighter, Worshipper, Monk, Wizard, Priest, Sage or
Mage. Then, when all this is done, it's time to venture forth!

The first level you are plonked on is the town. There are no
baddies here, just a few houses splattered about. There are four
main types of buildings, banks (useful for changing any jewels you
have found to hard cash), inns (sleep in one of these when you
have enough experience to gain a level), temples (will heal you in
a variety of ways - expensive though) and stores (where you can
buy new weapons or armour).

The screen display during play is quite attractive; in the left
bottom corner there is a map which is drawn as you progress, in
the middle are the four views of your character (N, E, W and S),
top left houses battle status and extra messages, while the right
side is given over to status and magical messages.

A quick wander around the town will tell you that you can't do a
thing without money, so, climbing down one of the many ladders
that pepper the landscape, you climb down to level one of the
dungeons. No need of light sources or magical compasses, the
self-drawn map helps you out there.  The tunnels are wire-frame
graphics, being filled by default. This was extremely slow on my
machine (386 SX 25), but there is an option to tone down the
detail so everything runs much faster, though it can still take a
second or two to draw a large area. I would imagine that a 386DX
40 or a 486 would be a must to play this at full detail at a
reasonable speed. But, losing the detail doesn't really detract
from the gameplay.

Dotted all around each dungeon level are ladders leading up or
down, though I have a sneaky suspicion that they don't necessarily
go just one level, it seems that they sometimes go two or three at
a time.

Movement is allowed with the cursor keys and is a little odd in
that you don't have to turn your character so that he/she is
facing the way you want to go before you move off, you just press
the cursor key in the direction you want to travel. This method
works surprisingly well and is easy to get used to.

The monsters vary in strength the further you go down (though this
shareware release only allows for 16 levels) and combat is simple,
just move yourself until you're next to the character, and press
'F' until one of you is dead, or until you run away. The monsters
are very well drawn and you can usually tell straight away what
they are supposed to be.

Now and again you'll come across a nasty monster that either
poisons you or gives you some disease. This is my major gripe with
the game, the only way to cure yourself is to return to the town
and visit a temple - the trouble being that a cure for these two
costs around 1000 to 2000 jewel pieces each, and that is a lot of
money in this game. Even if you die and are resurrected, you are
still infected.  The resurrection is quite nicely handled, the
first time you die, you are taken back to the town with all your

equipment intact.  Then you have to buy another 'raise dead
contract' from a temple if you want to be resurrected again.

There is no save-game function as such, when you finish your
session your position and status is saved, and when you next run
the game, they are automatically loaded. Other than this, there is
no way to make back-up copies of your favourite character, a pity
when it is so easy to be poisoned.

The on-screen help is superb. Pressing F1 brings a while load of
subjects for which help are available. There are also various help
messages flashed up as you progress which, although they are
useful at first, can become annoying when you've read the same one
several times before.

One extra feature in this game is the wilderness. Leaving the town
from a special exit will take you onto a fractal-generated
landscape where you can move your 'X' across it. There are various
other towns dotted around it which could make for more varied
gameplay, if they weren't all suspiciously similar!

There is no scenario as such, just the aim to get as much money as
possible and get as powerful as you can. I think that this perhaps
detracts from the long-term enjoyment as each level looks just the
same, the only difference being the strength of the enemies.

All in all, this is a nice RPG, perhaps suited to the novice who
doesn't want to spend days getting in to it. The help support is a
major plus, as is the simplicity of gameplay. Though this same
simplicity is also a major drawback in the long-term appeal as
after a while, there is no extra variety to urge the player
onwards. The lack of a specific goal is also a down side if you
like your games to last for months.

I like this game, it's good for a week or so's enjoyment, but
falls down on the long-term. There just isn't enough variety to
keep the game rolling for very long.

The UK registration is œ31, which is a bit steep I feel.

   Grimwold's ratings:
                           Graphics        -  7/10
                           Sound           -  N/A
                           Puzzles         -  N/A
                           Atmosphere      -  5/10
                           'Grabability'   -  6/10
                           VFM             -  4/10
                           Overall         -  6/10











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