Dear Les,
I'd like to respond to David Will Henderson's plea for help with
'Sands of Egypt' in Issue 8. Datasoft was good enough to send a copy
of the game to our users' group some time ago. As organizer of the
Adventure Special Interest Group, it was passed on to me for review.
When I played it, I ran into the same problem as David. I found that
I could not get the ladder out of the treasure room, no matter what
I did. I lent the disk to a friend (who is also a keen Adventurer)
and he breezed through this part without a hitch. On my second and
third attempts to overcome the ladder problem (each about a month
apart), I was again defeated. However, on the fourth attempt, I did
the same things as before, but breezed through it without any trouble.
After much testing and retesting and studying the disk with a disk
editor, I concluded that our disk had a bug. I couldn't complain
as it was a complimentary copy, but David's letter indicates that
this bug is probably on all disks. It is the type of bug that only
occurs randomly and may not have surfaced during play-testing. My
advice to Sands of Egypt players is to save the game frequently,
but particularly before entering the treasure room as you CAN get
the ladder (sometimes) and you DO need it. My advice to potential
'Sands of Egypt' owners is to not let this bug affect your decision
to buy the game, as it is otherwise an excellent program - particularly
the graphics - and you may not even encounter the bug!
Sands of Egypt should appear in the Adventure column towards the
end of the year.
Garry Francis
Sydney, Australia
____________
Dear Sir,
Can you help with a problem on POLE POSITION? When I have had only
the minimum number of accidents on the ATARI circuit doing the full
8 laps, the counter resets to zero after 6 or 7 laps eliminating
the chance to score above 110,000.
I've taken it back to the shop where I purchased it but they don't
believe that anything is wrong as no-one has really sat down to play
it.
Have any other readers experienced similar problems?
Roy Lynch,
Merseyside
** I believe that this is a bug in the program. The 'bonus' counter
only allows for two digits and if you therefore get a lap time bonus
totalling more than 99 points, the counter resets. The only answer
would seem to be to slow down when finishing each lap to try and
ensure that the bonus counter stays below 99. An obvious oversight
on the programmers part!
____________
Dear Les,
Could you please publish a review of all the various copying utilities
available and indicate which is the best to buy?
Steven Spencer,
Tyne & Wear
** Sorry, no. I recently had a letter from somebody who claimed
to have over 900 games for his Atari. Did he really spend £18,000
to £27,000 on these or perhaps just £15 on a copying utility? Whilst
there are legitimate uses for a copying utility it is a sad fact
that most owners use them for illegitimate copying of software. Every
time someone does this, commercial support of Atari dies a little
more in the U.K. If you try and justify it by saying that retailers
make a fortune out of high Atari prices ask one of the dozens who
have gone bust or the hundreds who no longer stock Atari software.
____________
Dear Les,
Congratulations on the 'new look' issue 9, well worth the 90p price.
Each issue goes from strength to strength and I can't wait to get
the next one.
I hope that your readers appreciate the hard work and effort you
put into producing the magazine but especially I hope that ATARI
realise what a great job you are doing to keep ATARI computers alive
in this country.
J.Palmer
Washington,
Tyne & Wear
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