Your Spectrum
Issue 7, September 1984 - Rumbles
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Clive cartoon

A new game aimed at unemployed, aspiring socialites is currently being worked on by that ever prolific ideas machine - Melbourne House. The aim will be to rise from the ranks of 'working class philistine' right up to the dizzy heights of sheer affluence, acquiring on the way the required boorish behaviour and other necessary trappings.
Entitled Hampstead, the game will begin with our unhappy specimen of Homo Sapiens living in a grotty little flat on the wrong side of town. On the dole and with very little money, our working class hero starts to hanker after the good life; he's had enough of poverty. But how can he manage the transition from these humble beginnings to become a wealthy and successful resident of London's desirable garden suburb?
Well, a quick look at the various alternatives will soon rule out such a sordid course of action as actually getting a job. Instead, the correct move is to become - yes, you've guessed it - a 'poser'. This involves finding the right girl, buying the right sort of pet, talking the right kind of esoteric nonsense and generally doing anything else that might help him to become one of 'them'.

OK, YAH!

Unfortunately, being a slob, our social climber doesn't have a clue how to go about it. So it's going to be up to you - the player - to help and advise our unsophisticated, unrefined yobbo on the finer points of succeeding in his desire to live in Hampstead. If MR's programmers keep to their production schedules, you should get the opportunity to do just that sometime in October, for a mere £8.95.
Still proving elusive, however, is Melbourne's long awaited Sherlock Holmes adventure. Says publicity manager, Paula Byrne, "the official launch date is now the 11th of September, and copies should be in the shops soon afterwards". Elementary, my dear Paula.

PLAY IT AGAIN

A lot less 'bovver' than writing completely new programs is to convert existing ones to run on different machines - which is precisely what Salamander Software (or more precisely, Jeff Minter and Co) is doing at the moment.
Towards the end of last summer, Llamasoft released one of Minter's funniest arcade games

RUMBLES

Software sleuth, Ron Smith, wrestles with rumours from around the houses.
for the CBM 64. Called Hover Bovver, the player starts off by 'pinching' his neighbour's Air-Mo so that he can cut the lawn (16 lawns actually). However, Jim (who owns the mower) isn't too happy about all this. In fact, so angry is he, that he decides to give chase around the hedges and flower beds. You retaliate by setting your dog, Rover, on to him.
At this point, things really start to get out of hand. In your hurry to escape the wrath of Jim, you accidentally mow down a few flower beds - which upsets the gardener enough for him to join the posse. And finally, as if all that weren't enough, Rover gets a bit bolshy about the noise and starts biting at the mower; the stupid animal receives a short-back-and- sides, runs off yelping and meanwhile, the Air-Mo overheats. Phew!
Anyway, friend Minter is well into the conversion (claims Salamander's Chris Holland) and the finished program should be available for the Spectrum in good time for Christmas. There's no information on price as yet.

WHO DONE IT?

Bringing us firmly back to earth in the role of a private detective, The Dan Diamond Trilogy is the latest project of Salamander Software. It's a collection of three text-only adventures based on Raymond Chandler's famous character, Sam Spade. As you progress through the game you'll uncover clues (along with a few red herrings) that should solve the case.
But what case? Says Peter Ohlson, "It's quite likely that you won't find out until the last adventure." - by which time, presumably, you'll have been shot at, stabbed, or at the very least beaten senseless for no apparent reason. To add to the atmosphere, appropriate sound effects have been included for when a gun is fired or when Sam runs out of oxygen (?). The whole trilogy comes complete for £14.95, and should be on the shelves by late August or early September. Help sheets will be available on request, for those who get stuck.

SPACE COWBOYS

If you've ever pictured yourself as a sort of helpful, cosmic

MAGIC ROUNDABOUT screen
As a result of signing a dela with the BBC, CRL is now working on a computer adaptation of the very popular Magic Roundabout animation, to be in the shops by around the end of August. Says Andrew Stoddard, the game's author, "The game will be either keyboard or joystick compatibile."
Hell's Angel, then Softek's upcoming offering might be just what you're looking for. It's claimed that it'll be an interplanetary adventure where the player travels around on a motorbike without wheels. Well, who needs wheels in space?
Known as Starbike, the object will be to zoom over to a planet and pick up all the aliens (it's not clear yet whether they're to be rescued or 'alien- napped') and take them back to your space ship. But beware! If you return without having collected every last one of them, you'll be punished by losing one or more of your lives.
"Starbike will be available around the end of August," claims Softek's Martin Davis, "and will include not only adventure, but also strategy and shoot-em-up action as well." The price hasn't been finally nailed down, but it's expected to be in the usual £5.95-£6.95 range.

IT'S IN THE STARS

Strategy (and tactics) will both be included in a game which it's said will be the best of its kind when it's launched in October - according to a CP Software spokesman.
Called Superchess 3.5, "... it beats CDS's Colossus 2.0 with no trouble at all. In fact, it wipes it out", claimed the man from CP. He also said that when Superchess played six games against Colossus, it won four and drew two. With Colossus being generally considered the current 'champion', a result like that just can't be ignored.
Another program being written by CP Software will be of particular interest to those concerned with astronomy, or perhaps even astrology, because it allows the user to look at the planets of our solar system in their correct positions at any given time. Just enter the date, and so on, and away you go. Watch this space for details.

A SPORTING CHANCE

Olympic fever is currently afflicting both the management and staff of Manchester-based Ocean Software, as they work on something called Daley Thompson's Decathlon.
Featuring all 10 events (comprising the 100-, 400- and 1500-metre races, 110-metre high hurdles, javelin, discus, putting the shot, pole vault, high jump and long jump), this looks like being a winner from sheer novelty value alone. But Ocean's not just relying on that. Explains their Mr Finnigan, "we have three programmers working on the graphics, and one on the sound." Great ... but why is it being called Daley Thompson's Decathlon? "Because a little black man is competing", says Finnigan. And also, presumably, because Thompson just happens to be the best in his field (ouch!).
There's no release date at the moment but it'll retail for £6.90, and be either keyboard or joystick compatible, with a two player option.
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