Amiga ISO Collection/AmigaDemoCD2.iso/ASCII/TEXTE/c.s.a.reviews/software/games/LostTreasuresOfInfocomII

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Path: menudo.uh.edu!usenet
From: [e-mail] (Thomas Baetzler)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews
Subject: REVIEW: Lost Treasure of Infocom II CD-ROM
Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.games
Date: 30 Jun 1993 18:52:10 GMT
Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett
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Reply-To: [e-mail] (Thomas Baetzler)
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Keywords: game, text adventure, CD-ROM, emulation, commercial


PRODUCT NAME

    Lost Treasure of Infocom II CD-ROM Version for PC/MAC

    (May be run on the Amiga using a freely distributable Infocom
interpreter program, or a PC or Mac emulator.)


BRIEF DESCRIPTION

    The Lost Treasures of Infocom II ("LTOI-2") package is a collection
of eleven "interactive fiction" text adventures.  It includes the following
titles:

    - A Mind Forever Voyaging
    - Border Zone
    - Bureaucracy
    - Cutthroats
    - Hollywood Hijinx
    - Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It
    - Plundered Hearts
    - Seastalker
    - Sherlock - The Riddle of the Crown Jewels
    - Trinity
    - Wishbringer

    The CDROM version includes three extra titles:

    - Arthur
    - Journey
    - Shogun


AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION

    Name:        Activision/Infocom
    Address:    P.O.  Box 67001
            Los Angeles, CA 90067
            USA

    Telephone:    [phone]
            [phone]


LIST PRICE

    I got my copy for $49.00.  This seems to be a "regular" price.  I've
seen it advertised for DM 89.00 in Germany.


SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

    You need a CD-ROM drive with suitable driver software (e.g.,
AsimCDFS, Xetec CDX, BabelCDFS, CDROM-FS, etc.).

    You can run the games with a Mac or PC emulator, or you can use an
Amiga Infocom interpreter program such as ZIP from Fish Disk 833.  The
interpreter must be capable of playing Level 4 Infocom games, so neither the
PInfoCom nor ZorkMachine interpreters will work.

    A basic PC emulation will suffice to run the games.  For the special
pack-ins, a graphics adaptor of some kind is recommended.  I have not tested
the games on a Mac/Mac emulation.

    Memory requirements aren't particular high.  On the Amiga side, 1 MB
of RAM will suffice.


COPY PROTECTION

    None.


MACHINE USED FOR TESTING

    I am currently using LTOI-2 on an A2500/030 running OS 2.04, using a
GVP Series II host adapter, a NEC CDR 74 CD-ROM drive, and Asimware's
AsimCDFS.  The machine features 1 MB of Chip RAM, 4 MB of 32-bit RAM, and 2
MB of 16-bit RAM.  I used the ZIP interpreter from AmigalibDisk 833, Version
1.0 (Amiga Version 2.2).

    PC testing was done on the Commodore A2386 bridgeboard installed in
the same machine.  The PC side is running DOS 5.0.  It is equipped with a 20
MB AT-Bus drive, a multi-I/O card, and a 1 MB SVGA card.

    I have not tested this disc on a CDTV.


REVIEW

    I'm a long time fan of Infocom's brand of Interactive Fiction.  Back
in the old days of the Commodore 64, I used to convince friendly clerks in
our local department store to let me play-test their new releases, because I
could not afford to buy any but a few of those games.  Before the time when I
could have afforded those games, they had vanished from the shelves.  Thanks
to some rummage sales, I was able to acquire some more titles for a reduced
price.  But for a long time, it just looked like most of the Infocom
collection would be lost to me forever.

    But recently, marketing at Activision decided that they could try
and sell the complete collection again.  Of course I'm talking of the first
"Lost Treasures of Infocom".  This package included 20 of the classic titles.
However, still a lot more were missing, and it took about another year for
LTOI-2 to appear - for PC and Mac.  To the best of my knowledge, there's
still no release date set for an Amiga version.

    Being owner of both a CD-ROM drive and a PC board, I figured that I
might as well buy the LTOI-2 CD, instead of missing out again.  The
availability of the ZIP interpreter was another powerful argument in favour
of it.

    The layout of the CD-ROM disc is straightforward.  There's a MAC and
a DOS directory, with subdirectories on the DOS side for each separate game.
Due to support for different graphics adaptors, the DOS directory contains
about 6.3 MB of data, while the Mac games sum up to only about 2.7 MB.  There
would have been more than ample space left to support other systems as well.

    I'll discuss differences in the packaging later on in the
DOCUMENTATION section.

    Getting the games to run on the Bridgeboard was no problem at all:
Commodore's Janus package let me copy required files onto the PC side, where
they ran with no problems at all.  Having a second SCSI adaptor plugged in
there would probably have facilitated it even more.

    As mentioned above, I do not own a Mac emulation package, but I
guess that it should be possible to run the games there as well.  A sticker
on the package claims System 7 compatibility.

    Running the games on the Amiga side turned out to be a bit more
problematic.  The documentation of the ZIP interpreter claimed that it would
run all Interactive Fiction Plus games.  While I had no difficulties with
"Trinity" and "A Mind Forever Voyaging", it crashed right at the start of
"Bureaucracy", and refused to load "Sherlock" and "Borderzone".  I did not
bother to check the three "extra" games, since they wouldn't work for an
obvious reasons:  they all include graphics.  All other games run just fine.

    A cross test with my disk-based Amiga version of "Bureaucracy"
proved that it would run this version just fine.  However, the Amiga version
is release 86, while the LTOI-2 version is 116.  I suspect that the problems
with "Sherlock" are caused by a lack in the support of sound, while
"Borderzone" is supposed to need a real time clock in the game.


DOCUMENTATION

    LTOI-2 includes a large paperback manual containing reproductions of
the original documentation and "Invisiclues".  Instructions for the the extra
games are in a separate booklet.  The package includes also separate printed
maps and booklets as included in the original games for Journey, Shogun,
Arthur, Sherlock Holmes and Trinity.

    While the packaging and presentation of LTOI-2 is really
professional, and the manual done better than in the first collection, it is
still no match for the original packages.  Infocom Adventures came in
distinct grey boxes, and they used to contain all kinds of neat stuff that
was or wasn't necessary for the gameplay - you wouldn't know before you
completed the game.  Those so-called "Invisiclues" were sometimes some sort
of copy protection by giving you a vital clue, but they were mainly
necessary for setting the special atmosphere of the game.  They
distinguished Infocom games from "ordinary" text adventures.

    At least some of the clues have been reproduced by photo in the
manual, but not nearly all.  From my own experience I can tell you that you
can live without the "Lucky Palm Tree Swizzle Stick" from "Hollywood
Hijinx", but I don't know about that yellow biro from the original "A Mind
Forever Voyaging" package.

    The manual reproduces parts of the "Introduction to Interactive
Fiction" from some other game.  If you're new to text adventures, you might
feel it's a little bit too terse.

    Loading instructions for PC and Mac are included on an extra leaflet.


LIKES AND DISLIKES

    What irked me most about the LTOI-2 package is that Activision
didn't realize the potential of their CD-ROM release for real multi platform
support beyond PC and Mac.  Most of the games included in this package were
available for Amiga, and they would have just run fine on a CDTV with
Keyboard, being produced for OS 1.2 and 1.3 Amigas.  An extra 5 MB or so
wouldn't have cost anything more in production or packaging, but it would
have shown recognition of the Amiga market.

     With things being as they are, users who want to stay 100% on the
legal side will have to resort to running the package on emulations, since
the Copyright notice forbids the use of the software on other platforms.


BUGS

    As mentioned above, "Bureaucracy" as supplied with LTOI-2 will not
work with the current release of the ZIP interpreter.  I will be notifying
the author of ZIP of these shortcoming - maybe he will be able to supply an
upgraded version of ZIP.

    As far as I can tell, the loading instructions for PC will not work,
as they miss an instruction to the user to type in "Infocom2" - to load a
selector program - before selecting a game by typing in it's name.


VENDOR SUPPORT

    There's a special telephone line offering help for 95c per minute.
It's (900) 680-HINT [680-4468].  I haven't called it, so I can't tell whether
this service is still in operation.  You might also try Customer Support on
[phone] during 9:00 am and 5:00 pm Pacific Time.  Maybe you should let
them know that you want an Amiga version of the disc.


WARRANTY

    90 days warranty on media.  You need the sales slip as proof of
purchase.


CONCLUSIONS

    Apart from rummage sales or buying used games, the "Lost Treasures
of Infocom II" is possibly the last legal way to get your hands on a large
number of very high quality text adventures.  I consider the inability of the
average Amiga user to use 6 out of 14 games a major drawback.  Thus, I can
only recommend this package to other addicts like me.  I'd rate it 3 stars
out of five, with a black bandage as a sign of mourning.


COPYRIGHT NOTICE

    Copyright 1993 Thomas Baetzler.  All rights reserved.

You can contact me at:

    Medic BSS, 2:241/7454.2@fidonet (safest way?)
    [e-mail]         (until October 1993)
    [e-mail]       (will be forwarded to me)

    Thomas Baetzler, Herrenstr.  62, 76133 Karlsruhe, FRG
    Voice: ++49 (0)721 29872  Medic BBS: ++49 (0)721 496821

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