|
by
Peter Gerrard
Published
by
Duckworth.
£6.95 |
 |
An excellent book aimed at those
interested in Adventures or who might like to try writing one. The book
is part of a series of Exploring Adventures on ... but, apart from one
or two unimportant details, has been well adapted for the Atari.
Beginning with a chapter on how
Adventures came into being and where they may go in the future it goes
on to give hints on how to solve commercial Adventure games before
detailing how to write your own adventures in Basic. Showing you how to
create your own adventures is the major aim of the book and it does this
well by giving not only a step by step guide to programming but also
suggestions for adventure themes and an insight into the thinking that
goes on behind the programming. By using a full-blown listing of
Underground Adventure, each section takes you through one part of the
program including all of the major verb handling routines. All of the
BASIC commands that you are likely to need for a text adventure are
included and, unlike many other books, those commands which are specific
to Atari Basic are included. As far as I could tell there were no
obvious errors to set you off on a wild goose chase trying to use
commands that the Atari does not understand. Underground Adventure is
completed in full tutorial style but there are two other listings to
type in which will give you further insight and ideas for creating your
own programs.
One of the most interesting and unusual
chapters is a series of suggested scenarios for your own adventures.
Once you can program, the hardest thing about writing an Adventure is
thinking of a idea that is logical and coherent Each scenario takes a
basic theme and discusses possible hazards, additional adventures within
the theme and development of the story before suggesting a conclusion.
The themes range from the Streets of London to Outer Space and the Wild
West.
You might think that writing your own
adventure is a daunting task but with each stage of the procedure
explained and with ideas provided, it really is not as difficult as you
might imagine to create your own 'masterpiece'.
In conclusion an excellent book for
anyone interested in writing an adventure and good value at £6.95 for
over 240 pages.
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