Lightiania
           (1998 Interactive Fiction Competition)
     Written by Gustav Bodell, Valbo (WhaleNest Games)
        Review by Dorothy Millard (PC Tads Version)

Oh dear!  The author cannot spell.  The opening screen has a
number of spelling errors, as does the first location description,
which is a pity as this isn't a good start ".... witch ends in a
beautiful meadow". This brings up all sorts of visions, of witches
running around in meadows.  Oh dear, the grammar is no better.  I
suspect the author's first language isn't English, so it might
just be forgivable, but don't expect any masterpiece of writing
here.  The opening scenario is given below (minus the spelling
errors and with other changes for readability).

As Gikot Krank, the inventor, you live in the forest just outside
Melton in England.  On this very special sunny Monday you were
walking along your normal walking route, a three kilometer long
path which ends in a beautiful meadow, where you usually stop and
sit down on your thinking-stub before returning to your house to
continue working on your devices.  It is nice weather, not a cloud
as far as you can see.  You have been working in the attic on your
latest project, a solar powered micro robot with no special
abilities at all, just that it is small and solar powered.

As you approach the meadow you can sense that everything is not
what is used to be.  It is quiet and the air is dry. You are VERY
surprised when, after a smaller blackout, you realise that a big
spacecraft has crashed in the middle of the meadow.  Its purple
metallic shell reflects the sun into your wide open eyes.  As an
inventor you begin to imagine what you could do with alien
technology, but soon you are disappointed when you see that
they've run into your thinking-stub!  You walk slowly down to the
circular round craft.  "No signs of any extra terrestrials," you
think. "Have they survived the crash?"

@~I'm a bit concerned about the 'thinking-stub' ... Sue

The game commences with you standing in a meadow in front of the
crashed alien ship.  From here you visit your house and the
workshop attic before returning to the ship to do a minor repair
and refuel to get it going.  In Lightiania's favour, most things
can be examined and the usual abbreviations are supported.
Actually, if you can live with the spelling and English, it's not
a bad little game to while away the odd moment.  It is quite easy
and there is only one point where it may be necessary to resort to
the walk through which is included.












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