Audyssey;

Computer Games Accessible to the Blind

Edited by Michael Feir

Issue 12: May/June, 1998



++

Welcome



Welcome to the twelfth issue of Audyssey. This magazine is

dedicated to the discussion of games which, either by accident or

design, are accessible to the blind. We also discuss any concerns

and issues raised by them. This issue marks the second anniversary

of Audyssey. Kelly Sapergia, our Interactive Fiction Expert, has

once again come through with some very insightful reviews and

articles. As usual, the latest thinking and developments at PCS

will be covered. In addition, two of our readers have come forth

with special offers for the rest of us. 



Please write articles and letters about games or game-related

topics which interest you. They will likely interest me, and your

fellow readers. They will also make my job as editor a lot more

interesting and true to the meaning of the word. This magazine

should and can be a highly interesting and qualitative look at

accessible computer gaming. To insure

that high quality is maintained, I'll need your written

contributions. I'm not asking for money here, and won't accept any.

This magazine is free in its electronic form, and will always

remain so. PCS needs to charge a subscription cost to cover the

disks and shipping costs that it incurs by making the magazine

available on disk. I'm writing this magazine as much for my own

interest as for everyone else's. Your articles, reviews, and

letters, as well as any games you might care to send me, are what

I'm after. Send any games, articles, letters,

or reviews on a 3.5-inch disk in a self-addressed mailer

so that I can return your disk or disks to you once I have copied

their contents onto my hard drive. Please only send shareware or

freeware games. It is illegal to send commercial games. By sending

me games, you will do several things: first, and most obviously,

you will earn my gratitude. You will also insure that the games you

send me are made available to my readership as a whole. As a

further incentive, I will fill any disks you send me with games

from my collection. No disk will be returned empty. If you want

specific games, or specific types of games, send a message in Ascii

format along. *Never* *ever* send your original disks of *anything*

to *anyone* through the mail. *Always* send *copies!* This

principle may seem like it shouldn't even have to be stated, but

when it comes to just about anything related to computers, there's

always some poor soul who will act before applying common sense.

Disks are *not* indestructible. Things *do* get lost or damaged in

the mail, and disks are not immune to these misfortunes. If you

have a particular game that you need help with, and you are sending

your questions on a disk anyhow, include the game so that I can try

and get past your difficulty. If you can, I recommend that you send

e-mail. I have acquired a copy of the UUencode software, and can

send and/or receive files which are encoded via this means. This

way, no money will be wasted sending me a game I already have, and

you'll get my reply more quickly. You are responsible for shipping

costs. That means, either use a disk mailer which has your address

on it, and is either free matter for the blind, or is properly

stamped. I can and will gladly spare time to share games and my

knowledge of them, but cannot currently spare money above what I

spend hunting for new games. I encourage all my

readers to give my magazine to whoever they think will appreciate

it. Up-load it onto web pages and bulletin board systems. Copy it

on disk for people, or print it out for sighted people who may find

it of value. The larger our community gets, the more self-

sustaining it will become.



This magazine is published on a bi-monthly basis, each issue

appearing no earlier than the twentieth of every other month.  All

submissions must be sent to me in standard Ascii format either on

a 3.5-inch floppy disk, or via e-mail to my Compuserve address. I

will give my home address and my Compuserve address at the end of

the magazine. There are now several ways of obtaining Audyssey. To

subscribe to the distribution list so that you receive all future

issues, send a subscription request to J.J. Meddaugh. As he is

running several lists, be sure to specifically ask to join the

Audyssey list. His address is:

jmeddaug@cris.com

Travis Siegel has set up a list to facilitate discussions among

readers between issues. To subscribe to this discussion list, send

a message to listserv@softcon.com with "subscribe audyssey" in the

body of the message. To post to the discussion list, send your

messages to:

audyssey@softcon.com    

You can find all issues of Audyssey on the Internet on Paul

Henrichsen's web site at:

www.thesocket.com/~henrich

All issues are also available in the disability forum on

Compuserve, and also in the gamers forum. If you have web access,

Audyssey now has an official web-page, maintained by J.J. Meddaugh.

There are links to other interesting sites, and all issues of

Audyssey are available there as well. In the near future, software

may also be posted there for you to down-load. The address for this

page is:

http://audyssey.home.ml.org 

If you have ftp access, all issues are also available at Travis

Siegel's ftp site:

ftp.softcon.com

Look in the /magazines directory. 



For those of you who have trouble finding some of the software

discussed in this magazine, or if you know someone who doesn't have

access to the Internet, but would be interested in the magazine,

this magazine is now available on disk. PCS has agreed to

distribute Audyssey, as well as selected shareware or freeware

software on disk for ten dollars US per year. To subscribe to

Audyssey on disk, contact them at:

Personal Computer Systems

551 Compton Ave.

Perth Amboy N.J.

08861

Phone (732)-826-1917

E-mail: pvlasak@monmouth.com



++

Contents:

Welcome

Contents

From The Editor

Letters

News from PCS

The Latest Finds

Questions and Answers With Anacreon's Creator

Hints for Cosmoserve

Game Reviews

AGT Utilities: Pros and Cons on How to Improve Your AGT games

Getting a Handle on Games

Contacting US



++

From the Editor:



Well, folks, it's official. As of July 15th, Audyssey will have

been in existence for two full years. It's been quite a journey for

me, and, I hope, for many of you. unlike the last anniversary

issue, where I found myself doing most of the work of making the

issue special, you, my readers, have marked the second anniversary

of your community's existence for yourselves. I extend my thanks

for the many excellent contributions made over the past two months.

This issue is a prime example on what can happen when enough of you

decide to put in your time, thought, and effort into writing

provocative articles, reviews, and letters. It's good to see that

you enjoy this magazine enough to help in its creation. We still

need more of you to start writing articles and reviews, so I don't

want anyone to think there's some surplus of material I have

stashed away. Nearly everything contributed over the past two

months went into this issue, and it will take a substantial

increase in reviews and articles if I ever hope to have a surplus

to draw upon when there are no new games to report. This magazine

is still a fragile creation in that regard. As a mark of this,

consider that I'm writing this editorial half an hour before I

intend to publish.



I suppose the next order of business is to explain how this crazy

summer is going to work out for us. As I've indicated in the

previous issue, I'm about to head off to Score, a program which

teaches young visually impaired and blind people how to use

computers in the work-place. I'll be helping a chosen group of

teenagers learn the ropes, and updating my own knowledge of

Windows95 and Internet skills. I'll be away for a period of three

weeks as of this coming Saturday. Speaking of July 4th, happy

Independence Day to all you Americans out there. While I'm at it,

most of you will probably receive this magazine on July 1st. for

all my fellow Canadians, happy Canada Day. Well, enough fireworks.

Let's get back to business. I'll be unable to receive E-mail or

respond to other mail until July 27. If you want to send stuff

directly to me, you'd best wait until early August. However, I

haven't left you without help. My father will be keeping track of

my E-mail for me. He will let you know when your message was

received, and will keep it for my viewing when I return. If you

want a more indepth response, or are in need of feedback, Adam

Taylor has agreed to act as editor for the month of July. Send your

E-mail to:

blade@ican.net

Adam will help as much as he can, but please remember that

interactive fiction and other text-based games aren't exactly his

favourites. Therefore, he might not know much about the games you

want help with. However, he does have an exceptionally creative

mind, and has excellent problem-solving abilities. Explain your

problem as fully as possible, and be certain to tell him where he

can find the game in question. I have no doubt that you'll find him

quite a good resource. He'll also save things for me when I get

back, so send any games or articles his way.



From messages posted on various newsgroups, it looks as if July

could be quite a stellar month for interactive fiction. Two Inform

ports of Dungeon, the precursor to Infocom's Zork trilogy, are

being worked on. The word is that they're nearing completion, and

could be released quite soon. One port is called dungeon.z5, and is

an exact port of the original Dungeon with a few extras like

historical information and hints thrown in. The other is apparently

going to be a .z8 file, and will be loaded with footnotes and

extras. I certainly look forward to examining both of these takes

on a game of such historical importance. Also, Avelon is apparently

going to appear at long last as well. The butt of jokes among game

developers for years, this game might finally give its excellent

author the last laugh. A new version of Adom is also on its way for

all you role-playing fans.



Well, that about sums it up for this very special edition of

audyssey. I hope you all thoroughly enjoy it, and look forward to

the next year of this magazine's publication with a good deal of

hope and confidence. I hope you all have a great Summer. When

you're not enjoying what are predicted to be very warm days indeed,

perhaps due to excessive sun-burn, you might want to check out the

many games discussed in this, or previous issues. What the future

holds for this magazine is as much a mystery to me as it is to you.

Like I said before, it's still quite a fragile creation. However,

as this issue demonstrates, fragile things can be beautiful.      



++

Letters:

+

The following two letters are from David Sherman:



Mike,



   (First off, I want to apologize if this letter does not display

well on your end.  The mail program I am using is the "Internet

Mail" package that comes with MSIE.  So if the lines are choppy,

please use your editorial discretion to clean it up. 

Unfortunately, I have no control over line length with this

package.  I guess I need to spend some of my free time obtaining a

better e-mail package, and put the games aside temporarily!)



I want to thank you for all your hard work in compiling and

publishing Audyssey.  I first became aware of the magazine from a

posting in the BLIND-L mailing list, last winter.  The first Issue

I received was #9, your "Holiday Edition".  I have to admit that I

was sincerely surprised.  I've been visually impaired for 21 years,

and had no idea that there was such a large resource of games

available for the blind. I was intrigued by the different

"toolkits" or languages available for writing accessible text

adventure games.  In particular, I appreciate your explaining  (in

Issue #9) what three main "languages" are used.  I myself am a

programmer, and am looking forward to bringing some of my ideas to

life, and contributing to the "game pool".



OK, enough with the formalities ... let's take the gloves off. 

I'd like to pass along some tips, hints, suggestions, or whatever

one chooses to observe them as.  First, I'd like to thank Kelly

Sapergia for all of his work in reviewing a wide assortment of

games.  Keep up the good work.  ***However***, (and there always is

some objective criticism) I felt that your review of "Urban

Cleanup", in Issue #11, was a bit too harsh and too quickly cast

aside.  I myself admit that it is a difficult game (and I still

haven't solved it).  But I am an engineer, and enjoy trying to

solve a difficult problem.  I am not sure how far you advanced in

the game, but if you didn't get the floppy disk from the hacker --

try "looking" at your hand.  (Give it another try).

     I imagine that clues can be passed between individuals on the

interactive fiction news groups ... but who has time for

everything! Oh well, maybe someone reading Audyssey can pass

further hints.



Also, in Issue #11, Carman McCauley brought to my attention a game

with a filename of sub.exe.  He was having trouble with the game. 

You responded that you had also given it a try, and had trouble. 

I thought I would give it a shot.  As it turns out, this is

actually quite a cleverly designed game.  I have enclosed a review

(below) if you care to use it.

    Thanks for everything, and don't let the ship sink... I would

have never stumbled across the wonderful world of text adventures

and the games put out by PCS were it not for this magazine.



---------------------------------------------------------



Thanks again Mike.



Dave Sherman

+

And thank you, Mr. Sherman, for your kind words and helpful advice.

Incidentally, I found very little problem with your lines, at least

as far as speech is concerned. I load everything into Wordperfect

though, and that might have something to do with it. If you're

concerned that your messages might look odd, you may still want to

examine other packages. Your criticism was quite fair and

constructive, and I'm certain our young interactive fiction expert

will profit from it and your praises.

+   

Mike,



Thanks for getting back to me the other day.  I hope my review

helps.  Feel free to edit what I wrote.  I threw the review

together fairly quickly, and writing (without several revisions) is

not my specialty.  Like I mentioned, I am hoping to contribute some

games to those currently available.  I will probably work on some

text adventure  / puzzle games this summer.  And, I plan on working

on some more complicated strategy games in the future.  I'd like to

design some strategy games that take advantage of a PC's sound

card.



Speaking of complicated, Wow! -- Your article in the last issue was

amazing.  That must have taken a hell of a lot of time and effort

to assemble Space Miners.  I think it will be a wonderful game,

once it is put into a software format.  I read the article, and had

no idea how anyone could play that game as a straight board game. 

It has so many rules and stipulations that are dependent on each

other and the current event status of the game... extremely

complex.  It seems difficult enough for each player to keep track

of their own ship ... I can't imagine how any human could keep

track of all the aspects of the game and be the "manager" of the

game.  It definitely is a game designed to have a computer keep

track of all the little details.

   Anyway, I am very impressed and intrigued by it and can't wait

until it is developed as a software package!  No offense, but

personally I just can't fathom attempting to play the game as a

board game.  I guess I've spent to many years around computers --

relying on them to keep track of intricate details for me.



Once again, thanks for your time editing Audyssey.  Congrats on the

design of Space Miners -- and most importantly, congrats on your

college graduation!



Dave Sherman

+

thanks for your congratulations. It certainly takes a bit of

getting used to, not having to worry about exams and essays. Now,

I can hopefully find a job, and concentrate on writing stuff like

this, which will hopefully interest many people. I'm certain all of

us are looking forward to your games. As a prospective developer,

you'll doubtless find Mr. Sapurgia's articles in this issue to be

of some interest. With the two of you examining the various methods

of game development along with PCS, the quality of games will

hopefully increase quite quickly. Space miners was indeed quite a

lengthy project, and work on the deluxe version is taking longer

than anticipated. Your opinion coincides with the results of the

testing which took place in my Creative Writing class. They found

it quite hard to keep all the factors in their heads. I certainly

hope it makes a good game when it finally emerges as a software

program.   

+

From Phillip Vlasak



Hi Michael, it's Phil

I just got Issue 11 and was surprised it was so big.

I thought you would only have room for Space Minors.

Hope that more material comes in so you don't regret putting too

much in one issue.

I will have a hard time picking the games to put on the disk

version! I usually try to download all the games talked about and

then find out how many I can squeeze on a disk.



I wish you would put all of the subscription info at the end of the

issue.

I know I can search for the plus sign to skip it but I am lazy.

I turn my text file reader on and read the magazine straight

through.

By moving the subscription info from Welcome to the end, you can

put all the repetitive info in one place.

Then when I hear it I can stop my reader.



When do you plan to release Issue 12?

By the note in this issue I assume at the end of June.



INFOCOM MASTERPIECES AVAILABLE!

From the FERGUSON CD-ROM LIST FOR February, 1998

The following CD-ROM is  the latest in Infocom series.

CLASSIC TEXT ADVENTURE MASTERPIECES: Includes the following: 

A mind forever Voyaging, Arthur, Ballyhoo, Beyond Zork, Border

Zone, Bureaucracy, Cutthroats, Deadline, Enchanter, Hollywood

Hijinx, Infidel, Leather Goddesses of Phobos, The Lurking Horror,

MoonMist, Nord And Bert Couldn't make head nor tail of it,

PlanetFall, Plundered Hearts, SeaStalker, Sherlock The Riddle of

the Crown Jewels, Sorcerer, SpellBreaker, StarCross, Station

Fall, Suspect, Suspended, Trinity, WishBringer, The Witness, Zork

One, Zork Two, Zork Three, Zork Zero, plus special Surprises from

the Archives of Infocom. DOS/WINDOWS. 2 lbs.

*CD-10033. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $29.95

(plus shipping $5.60 for UPS ground shipping.

                       FERGUSON ENTERPRISES

                        104 ANDERSON AVE.

                    MANCHESTER, SD 57353-5702

                       VOICE: 605-546-2366

                        FAX: 605-546-2212

              Email: fergent@fergusonenterprises.com

           Web Site: http://www.fergusonenterprises.com



I just ordered this CD and Pat says she still has stock.



Thanks for the great magazine,

Phil



+

Thanks for the info and the suggestion, Phil. From what I've been

able to gather, it looks like supplies of the Infocom Masterpiece

cd-rom are dwindling. I advise all of you to take advantage of this

timely tip from Phil. As to your suggestion, lets see what our

current readers have to say. What do you all think about having all

of the contact information at the end of the magazine? Please send

your reactions to Adam or I, and we'll come to a decision by the

next issue.



+   

From Magali Gueths:

Hey there. To all audyssey readers:



     Don't think that I've forgotten that home page thing. Now that

I've got aol, I will attempt to create one there. I am also getting

jfw

3.2 in the beginning of June. 



     Mike, you no that uu-encoder/decoder thing that you have? I

would

like it if you could send it to me at the mgueths@world.std.com

address.

This is because aol doesn't have an online encoder/decoder, so

every

attached uu-encoded file that somebody sends to me I will have to

use that

one. I would appreciate it if you could send me that

uu-encoder/decoder.

+

Hi, Magali. I'll try and get that out to you pronto. However,

things are a bit hectic around here, and I might not be able to

before I leave for Score. The file you want to track down is called

Netsend. You should be able to find it on the Internet somewhere if

I don't get it to you. Best of luck with your new software and with

AOL. Keep us informed about your progress, and most importantly,

keep playing those games.

+



From Chris Demwell:

I actually tracked down the author, and yes it is on the web now.

Here

is the message I got from him.



Thanks for your help.



     Chris



From: "George Moramisato"

Actually, I have bad news and good news. Although you can no longer

register

the program, the full version is available on the web. Look at:



www.neurohack.com/anacreon



to download version 1.30 and the manual.



Good luck.



-- George

+

Yes, folks! Thanks to the detective work of Chris, we now have

access to Anacreon Reconstruction. This is one of the few highly

detailed strategy games accessible to the blind. While it is far

from perfect in terms of accessibility, I have no doubt that you'll

find the game to be absolutely captivating. 



+

From Krista Giannak:

To Whom it May Concern,

    Hi!  My name is Krista, and I am thirteen years old.  I live in

the

United States, and I downloaded your magazine via the url

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/9111/audyssey.html

    This site has all of your issues since July of 1996.  I am

visually

impaired, and when I read some issues of your magazine, I thought

they

were very interesting.  I have a game review for you.  I have a

game

called "You Don't Know Jack" on CD-Rom.  However, the game is for

Macintosh users, and I don't know if it is for versions of Windows.

This program has a voice of its own, and screen-readers are of no

use.

It is similar to a TV trivia game show.  The program asks questions

(reading them aloud as well as flashing them on the screen) and you

answer them by "buzzing in" (pressing a key on your keyboard). 

There

are a few visual aspects of the game, however.  For example, the

Jack

Attack, where you have to pick out words that match and buzz in

when you

see them (this feature is not detectable by my screen-reader,

"outSpoken"

OutSpoken) and you will not be able to read your final score. 

However,

by following the rules given to you at the start of the game or any

feature of the game, your score will not be hard to calculate. 

This

game can be played with up to three players, but I give you a word

of

warning that some of the questions can be a bit dirty.

    In addition, my father has found some games by Infocom that are

for

the Macintosh.  However, they did not come with manuals, and I am

not

sure where to get them.  There are few instructions, and I can't

really

figure out the rules without instructions.  So, if you have any

information for me about Infocom or any other games for the

Macintosh,

please let me know.

    Now, I have a question for you.  Since you discuss Windows or

DOS

programs mostly, I wasn't sure if you could answer my question, but

I'll

ask anyway.  I was wondering if you knew of any games for the

Macintosh

that are accessible to blind or visually impaired people.  "You

Don't

Know Jack" and Infocom games were the only games we have been able

to

find.  I was told by Erols Internet Technical Support that I can

accept

and decode UUEncoded files.  However, I was also told that

downloading

them can create problems.  But, if you have any ideas for games

that can

be purchased or games that I can download from you or off the

Internet,

please let me know.



Sincerely,

Krista Giannak

+

Well, Krista, and all other Mac users, it seems as if accessible

Mac games are fairly scarce outside of interactive fiction. There

are several interpreters for the Mac which will allow the running

of Infocom and/or Inform games. I'm fairly certain that Tads and

AGT games can also be run on the mac. If some one knows the names

of the best interpreters to download in terms of speech

accessibility, please tell us of them. I don't have access to a Mac

myself, so I'll have to rely on any of you who are Mac users out

there to keep us posted on developments and games you find. You

Don't Know Jack is also available for the PC, and is one of the few

commercial products which is at all workable for the blind in

Windows95. I am quite an avid player of it. The only really crucial

problem in the game, aside from the visual elements, is that it

doesn't read out the categories available. You have to either pick

a random number, or let it pick for you and throw in an insult or

two. If you're playing with sighted players, you can have them read

out the categories, but they've got to read them pretty fast.   



+

From Stephen Granade:

Michael,



I'm the author of _Losing Your Grip_, one of the text adventures

which

Theresa reviewed in Issue #11 of Audyssey. I was unaware of your

magazine

until a friend pointed it out to me, mentioning that my game was

reviewed

in it. The magazine is great! I spent quite a bit of time reading

back

issues.



I'm writing to offer a "better" registration deal to your readers.

Part of

the $20 registration fee covers the cost of printing game materials

and mailing them and a disk. I would be willing to offer your

readers

registration for $10, which would include a disk with the

registration key

and the manual transcribed in plain ASCII form.



Two caveats, though. The registration items other than the manual

are

visually oriented and thus cannot be offered in ASCII form. Also,

I

cannot offer the $10 registration through the on-line Kagi service

due to

how they handle on-line transactions; you would have to register by

sending me a check or money-order direct.



If you or anyone else is interested, please feel free to e-mail me

at

sgranade@kagi.com.



Yours,



Stephen

+

This is indeed a generous and thoughtful offer. I certainly hope

that a lot of you will consider it. You might also want to give his

other works of interactive fiction a look. He has written

Waystation and Uncle Zebulon's Will. In subsequent communications

between myself and him, he has made several observations which I

thought I'd pass along. Here are some of the questions I asked, and

his answers as taken directly from his reply:



> What do you think about adding hearing-based descriptions to

> dark rooms? I've gotten the occasional resentful posting that IF

games almost never

> describe what should

> be easily heard within a dark room. I'm a little neutral towards

this myself. While I can

> hear where doors, hallways, large objects, stairs, etc are in a

room,

> it seems that a lot of my sighted friends fail to notice such

things.

> How hard would it be to implement

> features like sonic descriptions?



I think that depends on how "realistic" you want it to be. I put

some

simple responses to "listen", "listen to", and "feel" in Grip, and

that

took a reasonable amount of work, especially since I also included

some

gloves. However, I think it's because most IF authors, like authors

in

general, are lazy and stick with what is easiest to do: visual

descriptions.



> About Losing Your Grip, how is registration going

> anyway? Can you give us an idea about how long the game's been

out and how many registrations

> you've gotten?



Sure. Losing Your Grip has been out since late January, and I've

gotten

roughly 20 registrations. It's not a lot, but it's enough to make

me

happy. :)



> What is your sense of the whole shareware venture of IF? Is it

> economically comparable

> to things like video games?



Not at all. Right now, you couldn't make enough money off of

shareware

text adventures to support yourself. You can, however, make enough

money

to help keep you interested.



+

From Travis Siegel:

Ok.  The list is up and running.  The address is

audyssey@softcon.com for

posting to it, and to subscribe, send a message to

listserv@softcon.com

and put subscribe audyssey in the body of the message.  That's all

there

is to it.  There's also a web interface to the postings of the

magazine

(for those interested in seeing back postings and such.  That

address is;

http://www.softcon.com/archives/audyssey.html

Hope this helps.

+

My thanks to Mr. Siegel for his efforts on behalf of Audyssey. The

list he mentioned will act as both a backup means of distributing

the magazine, and as a forum for discussion between members with

Internet access. If you want to participate in any discussion which

might occur, please follow mr. Siegel's instructions and join the

list. If you don't want to receive messages from the discussions,

and just want to receive Audyssey when it is released, be certain

that you are subscribed to J.J. Meddaugh's Audyssey distribution

list. It is my sincere hope that this forum will stimulate

discussion and provide more material for me to use in the making of

this magazine.



+

From Allen maynard:



Hi, Mike,



It's been a while hasn't it?  Another great mag issue.  Sorry for

not

contributing for a while.  I've been busy at work, out of town, and

I had

to completely wipe my hard drive and rebuild the software, which

included

games.



I have 2 questions for you.



Have you downloaded/played the game called Abbey?  It is on the gmd

site in

the pc directory.  I looked at the solution file and it said find

a rope in

the south tower, but there is no rope there.  If you get a chance,

could

you check this for yourself and let me know what you find?



Second, I saw a file called invation.sol on the gmd website, but I

have

never heard of a game called invation.  Have you?  If you have,

where can I

find it?



I'll try and think of some articles for the next issue of audyssey.



Oh, congratulations on finishing college.  It's a great feeling

isn't it?



Take care.





Allen

+

I was quite pleased to receive Allen's letter and learn that he was

still a gamer through and through. I was a tad concerned that the

real world had claimed him for good. Nice to have my lack of faith

unjustified once in a while. anyhow, if anyone can help us out with

Abbey, please let us know where this rope is and how to get it.

I've never come across a game called Invasion. Has anyone else out

there? If so, could you please send in a review of it, and be

certain to include where it can be found on the Net. I certainly

look forward to future contributions from Mr. Maynard, and hope you

don't find it too taxing to rebuild your games collection.



+

From Maurice Press:

Hi Michael,

Thank for the message.

To start with the magazine comes out quite well in Braille although

it is of course, quite bulky.  I translate it from Windows 95 so it

comes out rather well.  Because of not being quite sure whether

this was the correct address, I didn't quite make myself clear

about my offer to readers.



I have a company amongst whose services are Braille/Tape/Large

print/Disk production. Should any readers not have sufficient space

on computer or prefer Audyssey in another format, I would be happy

to provide it free of charge in either Tape or Braille formats.

I would be happy for you to publish this in the next issue.

If anyone is thinking of producing Braille from Windows 95, it is

superb but there are problems that companies either do not let you

know or have not found out yet.



Recently, I have converted all my computer equipment from Dos 6.2

to Windows 95/office 97. As a Visually impaired person without any

sight, I was continuously warned off doing this as problems would

occur.  Many people said to me "if you are happy with DOS, then

stick with it".

I tried 2 training courses which were absolutely useless, and so

have trained myself.

In the last 4 weeks, taking into account I knew nothing about

Windows 95 but being very computer literate, I have so far become

adept in: Windows generally, Word 7, Microsoft Publisher, Internet

explorer, Microsoft explorer, Outlook, and a variety of Braille and

speech programs.  Oh yes, and of course exell.

This isn't at all bad.  I have also loaded various sound drivers so

that I can get Real Audio from the web. 

From the point of a Visually impaired user, Windows is the best

thing since Barbara Streissand (See my Age).



Thank for the information regarding the Two games you suggested.

Silent Steel etc. Where are these games purchased from.  

You said that games with sound is better from PCS, Could you

explain a little bit more.



Is there anything good in the Dungeons and Dragons/adventure area

I can download "safely" from the Web.



Look forward to hearing from you.

Maurice Press.



+

Quite a generous offer, Mr. Press. This opens up some new

possibilities. It will also doubtless bring more members into the

Audyssey community. If anyone wants to obtain a Braille copy of

Audyssey, I invite you to contact Maurice at:

mauricepress@enterprise.net

If any of you have suggestions on improving the magazine's

readability in Braille, please don't hesitate to send them my way.

I can't change anything which would make it harder to read in other

formats, such as on computer. However, I'll do what I can to make

Audyssey as enjoyable as possible in all formats.



As to your other questions: first of all, PCS is the only

commercial company making games specifically for the blind. It has

made several games, including a World War II tank game, a shooting

range, and a version of the arcade classic Breakout. these games

are Dos-based, although PcS is investigating the potential of

Windows. Jim Kitchen's games are also quite good, although not as

polished. Silent Steel and You Don't Know Jack can be found in most

computer stores with selections of games for sale. They are both

CD-rom games. Silent Steel is made by Tsunami, and You Don't Know

Jack is made by Sierra. the best Dungeons and Dragons games are

still Fallthru and Legends, (both strictly text-based), and Adom

and Nethack, (both screen-oriented games using text symbols for

graphics making them playable by the blind.) Fallthru is on:

ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/games/pc

Legends is at:

ftp.cdrom.com

I can't remember where it is within that site, but it shouldn't be

impossible to track down.

Nethack can be found at the same site, or at:

ftp.win.tue.nl/pub/games/nethack

An early version of Adom can also be found on this site, and it is

also on the Gamesdomain.

if you have Web access, the official Adom site is:

ftp://adom.dartmouth.edu/adom



+

From Kelly Sapurgia:



Hi Everybody!,

   A few months ago, I downloaded the magazine XYZZYNEWS from the

Internet. (I heard about this magazine in Audyssey.) I've been

reading in the magazine about different text adventure creation

programs that are available. The authors of these systems keep

saying that "this language is very simple to use and is great for

beginners".

Personally, I don't agree with them. I've got copies of AGT

(Classic, Master's, and all the utility programs for both

systems), TADS (freeware version) and Inform. I played games

created with all three systems and think they're great. But when

I started fooling around with systems like TADS and Inform I

thought to myself "How am I supposed to create a game with this

system?" The problem is that just about all these systems are

basically like programming in C, and I'm not a total expert on C

programming. I hate it when you have to use C-style programming

or some other language like PASCAL. On the other hand, systems

like AGT are very easy to use. The only drawback to using AGT is

that you don't have all the power that you get out of TADS and

Inform. I've even heard that a version of the classic edition,

1.83, looks a lot like Inform.

Note- When I searched the IF-ARCHIVE/PROGRAMMING/AGT directory on

the GMD.DE site, I couldn't find version 1.83. Where can I get

this version of the AGT?)

There are also new languages on the IF-ARCHIVE, such as Hugo,

ALAN (Adventure Language), Questmaker, etc. ALAN is a freeware

system. You can download the interpreter as well as the

documentation from the following Internet address:

FTP.GMD.DE/IF-ARCHIVE/PROGRAMMING/ALAN. There is also a

compiler for ALAN available, but you have to EMAIL the authors if

you want a copy. (Not bad, but I'd prefer to download it from the

IF-ARCHIVE). From what I've heard, you can add graphics and

sounds to your games.

I've also read that this is a "good system for non-programmers".

(I'll believe it when I try it). 

One game, which I got a few days ago, is "The

Hollywood Murders". There are two versions of this game: a demo

version that contains graphics and sound files, and the complete

text-only game. (See Audyssey Issue 3 for

more information about the demo). Another game that was written

in ALAN is "A Day In The Life" which is something like Infocom's

title "Suspended". (I've never played Suspended so I have no idea

what it's about). However, in playing the "Hollywood Murders"

demo game, I found out the following about ALAN:



1. This game was and is very hard, but I managed to get through

it. I now have a choice: either register the game, or forget

about it.

2. The sound effects were really good.

3. The parser isn't too bad, but it isn't as powerful as TADS or

Inform. As long as it's easy to write a game with this system,

that's fine with me.



I'm going to see if I can get a copy of the text-only version of

"The Hollywood Murders", as well as a copy of ALAN. I may even

try to get the compiler for it, but I read that in order to get

the compiler, you must combine and uu-decode a multi-part EMAIL

message. The reason you can only get the compiler through EMAIL

is that the author of ALAN wants to see how many people are using

his system.

   The Hugo compiler is also very popular, although I've never

played any games for this compiler. I do know it's also a

freeware system. I'm also trying to get a copy of this system. I

plan on reviewing these systems in Audyssey and will try to write

a small game with these systems.

   Here's one suggestion for anyone who's trying to decide what

system to go for: on the FTP.GMD.DE/IF-ARCHIVE site, in the

directory /INFO, there is a file called WHICHSYS.ZIP that

contains some information about these adventure game creation

systems. Also, it's a good idea to check out the

GMD.DE/IF-ARCHIVE/PROGRAMMING/ site and try out all the languages

on the site and see which one is the best for you. I would be

interested in hearing what people think of these programming

systems. I personally haven't checked out this site, but when

(and if) I get onto the Internet, I'm going to try just about

every system as much as possible.

You might also want to check out the "REC.ARTS.INT-FICTION

Frequently Asked Questions" file.

   Speaking of beginning programmers, if you're writing an IF

game, I'd be happy to review it for you in Audyssey. I'm also

interested in seeing what people have done with TADS, INFORM,

AGT, and other development systems. If you'd like to send me a

copy of your game please send it to me on a 3.5 inch disk. Also,

please send a solution file along with your game, or tell

me if there are any online hints.

   I hope this information was of help to those of you who are

interested in writing your own games. Meanwhile, I'm already

having some problems with the Master's Edition of AGT. I wonder

if someone could tell me why no room descriptions are

displayed when the commands GAME_END or GAME_WIN are in a room

definition?

Here's an example of this type of definition:



ROOM [I'm Dead]

I'm Dead!

GAME_END

END_ROOM



After that, I define a normal room description, like this:



ROOM_DESCR [I'm Dead]

Darn it! I just fell off a cliff and, of course, killed myself.

END_ROOM_DESCR



Now, here's where the problem starts. If I enter this room while

playing the game, the only thing that's displayed is the score

information. Needless to say, I'm thoroughly disgusted with this

system, although everything else works. So why isn't this

function working? My guess is there's a problem with the game's

MRUN.EXE program, but since SoftWorks is now out of business, I

won't be able to contact the programmers, which is too bad I

guess. But hopefully, I'll get this problem figured out.

Note- The manual says that the room descriptions are supposed to

be displayed. I think these guys just took the manual for the

Classic Edition of AGT and changed the command style to the

syntax required by the Master's Edition. 

If that's the case, that was a poor move on their part. I'm not

impressed.

   Here's a tip for those of you who can't access the GMD.DE/IF-

ARCHIVE sites via FTP. If you want to get onto the site without

using FTP, try this:

WWW.GMD.DE/IF-ARCHIVE/

(Derek told me about this when he got some more games from that

site for me.)

   One article that I've sent along to Mike is my "Hints for

CosmoServe" article. This article is my first attempt at writing

a article with tips for a particular game. I've tried to make

this article as simple as possible, but it was hard to write.

Please accept my apologies if this article isn't helpful. (Hey, I

had to try).

   Oh, just one more thing before I close this letter for this

issue. I read in Issue 9 about some suggestions for Audyssey.

These included a discussion on utility programs for blind and

visually impaired people as well as a Classified Ads section.

Personally, I don't like the idea of having a section for utility

programs because, like Mike said in that issue, it would change

the scope of the magazine. You can find out about some useful

utilities in such magazines such as "Tactic Magazine" (if it's

still being produced). On the other hand, I like the idea of the

classified ads section. The only drawback though is that because

I'm still receiving the magazine on disk two months after the

magazine was published, most of the items probably might have

been sold.

   Anyway, that's all for now, and keep up the good work!



Yours Sincerely

Kelly John Sapergia





Hi Tim Truman,

   I read your letter in Issue 7 of Audyssey. I think that the

idea of having a company, that makes graphically-based games,

and that wants to create text adventures for the blind is a good

one!

With regards to your questions, here's what my personal opinions

are in order to make a game accessible for the blind:



1. What makes a game accessible?

   There are two things that make a game accessible: 

A. The game must write to the BIOS and not directly to the screen

so that it can be interpreted by speech synthesizer software.

B. There shouldn't be any graphics, or anything displayed on the

screen in columns. If graphics or columns were displayed on the

screen, they might interfere with a screen reader for speech or

braille.





2. Are there any games that fit the requirements?

   A lot of today's interactive fiction games are created with

systems like AGT (Adventure Game Toolkit), ALAN (Adventure

Language), Inform, TADS, Hugo, etc. You can find a lot of these

games on the GMD.DE/IF-ARCHIVE site. The directory /PROGRAMMING

contains literally dozens of game-writing systems and tools for

writing your own games.



3. What is the average age of your readers and what types of

games do they like to play?

   I am 18 years old. Personally, my favourite game categories are

fantasy, horror, science fiction, adventure, and educational

games.



   I hope this information was helpful to you. I know I can't

wait to see what you come up with.



Yours Sincerely,

Kelly John Sapergia

+

Thanks a bunch for all your contributions, Kelly. You've certainly

made the making of this special issue of Audyssey a lot easier. I

haven't heard anything from Tim Truman since his first contact. I

hope he is still reading this magazine, and considering making

games accessible to the blind. I invite all of you to write

responses to his questions, as Kelly has done here. They will

doubtless be of interest to the game developers in the audience, as

well as other readers curious about each other. The more we know

about ourselves, the better we can all help each other navigate the

universe of computer games. Keep up the splendid work, Kelly.



++

News From PCS

By Phillip Vlasak



NEWEST GAMES FROM P C S



P C S introduces a new mapping approach in their two latest games,

COPS and HAZE MAZE.

In FOX AND HOUNDS, and PANZERS IN NORTH AFRICA we introduced a  two

dimensional, birds eye view to navigate around a map.  That was

fine for an outdoor perspective.  Now we are taking the art of

mapping inside, for a three dimensional, ground level, viewpoint. 



COPS and HAZE MAZE are PERSONAL COMPUTER SYSTEMS'  two newest games

created using the 3-D look.  When moving indoors it is important 

to know what is ahead and on either side of your position.   With

the new approach, you can move forward one step with a touch of the

up arrow key unless you run into a barrier such as a wall or a

building. You can turn ninety degrees or one quarter turn left or

right with The arrow keys. After moving forward or turning your

perspective is different, and the computer lets you know what has

changed.  This style of mapping gives the perception of moving as

if you are walking along a passage, path, or in a chamber.  We feel

a ground view of a maze, dungeon, or city would be more realistic, 

easier to manoeuvre, and more fun then a birds eye view especially

when small detailed movement is necessary.

Not to say that the birds eye view is dead, because when games use

maps to show the position of cities and other items like lakes,

roads, and oceans, being able to view an area of the map with full

access to all directions will be necessary.  Having the two

different approaches for mapping makes it better for game

development.  Now we have a choice to custom fit a game with the

mapping requirement which works best.

   

COPS:  An alarm goes off, and you know that somewhere in the county

criminals have struck.  Your duty is to find and catch them.  In

this new game by P C S, you play the roll of a police officer in a

police car restricted to movement only on roads, parks, and 

parking lots.  The objective is simple, all you have to do is catch

the suspects before they escape by crossing the Middlesex county

line.  This is usually a nice, quiet, suburban place to live and

work, but lately a criminal element has moved in.  When the alarm

goes off and the dispatcher gives you the approximate location of

the hooligans, it is time for you to fight the traffic and use your

memory of the street layout to cut the thieves off and apprehend

them.  The streets of Middlesex are laid out in a way to help you

know where you are, and how you might travel in order to get to

where the suspects are.  The North/South streets are in

alphabetical order named after states.  With Alaska being farthest

West.  The East/West streets are sequentially numbered, with First

Avenue furthest North.  There are also many landmarks for you to

become acquainted with, and a subway system in the county that the

gangsters can use.  So, make sure you do not lose them in there. 

Just because you have a siren, don't think you won't have cars,

trucks, kids, or many other obstacles getting in the way.  Using

the siren will help you get through traffic quicker, but if the

crooks hear you they will move faster.  One other small matter, the

bad guys are not restricted to roads like you.  Well it is all up

to you now to sweep the county clean of trash, so, go out there and

get them before they get away!  





HAZE MAZE:  Hear your footsteps as you navigate through a maze. 

Listen closely can you hear the sound of your footsteps change when

the ground beneath you goes from stone to wood?  Oh! what is that? 

Hear the echo off to the left, where the passage splits.  Oh! wow,

did you hear the sound of the footsteps become flat when a wall

appeared ahead.  Cool! The only way to get a better feel for a maze

is to walk it yourself.  

P C S takes you one step farther in audio game experience.  As you 

walk through a maze we made it sound as if you are really there. 

While you walk through the maze, you will hear the sound of

footsteps differ as the ground beneath you changes.  You will also

be able to hear the sounds of echoing footsteps off to the sides

when the area next to you is free of obstructions.  When you hit a

wall, the sound of the type of wall being bumped will be heard. 

Just before you walk into a wall, if you're listening closely, you

will hear the sound of your footsteps flatten out, warning of a

wall ahead.  A wind chime becomes slightly louder as you work your

way closer to the exit and complete the maze.  

The game uses stereo sounds to indicate paths to the left or right.

This will allow for more sensory information for a player to work

with, instead of waiting to read and evaluate text.  Not to say

that text is out, but in areas where text becomes repetitive the

game play can be sped up by letting you know the basics with audio

clews.  Text will always be needed for the small details.  P C S

will blend the sounds of movement along with text descriptions

giving you all the information needed to make a move.  This mix

should make for a quicker and more interesting game now and in the

future.          

   

The games cost thirty dollars each. Please add two dollars shipping

per order.  



     You can contact P C S in any format at

PERSONAL Computer Systems

551 Compton Ave.



Perth Amboy NJ.  08861

phone (732) 826-1917

E-mail pvlasak@monmouth.com



++

the Latest Finds



There are four major finds this month for our readership. Actually,

there are five with the availability of Anacreon Reconstruction,

but this has been covered in another article.



The most recent discovery has been Zrogue, a port of Rogue made in

the Inform language for use with interpreters like Frotz. this will

enable collectors of screen-oriented role-playing games to finally

play the game which sparked them all. Following in the footsteps of

this small but challenging game came such renowned masterpieces as

Nethack and Adom. for the most part, this port seems to be quite an

excellent job. I have yet to encounter any bugs. However, Gevan

Dutton has chosen a version which lacks the help facilities found

in other versions such as that enjoyed by any Eureka users out

there. Players are basically left to their own wits and caution

when it comes to finding out the various capabilities of monsters

and items, and the meaning of symbols on the screen. The player is

represented by the conventional @ sign, and monsters are

represented by letters. Walls are vertical bars and dashes, and

doorways are plus signs. Another serious flaw in the instructions

is that they make no mansion of the amulet required to escape the

dungeons of doom. I've played this port using dosfrotz, and I can

vouch for its accessibility. You can find zrogue in the

/incoming/if-archive directory at:

ftp.gmd.de

The file is called rogue.z5.

If you haven't tried a screen-oriented role-playing game before,

this game is a nice and simple beginning. It is free from the

complexities of other similar games. However, I still side with

Nethack and Adom as being the best overall games due to their

extensive instructions and on-line help. Aside from offering us a

game of historical significance, Dutton's work has major

implications for future works of interactive fiction. For quite

some time now, there has been a debate over the possibility of

combining rogue-like game play with a non-linear interactive

fiction plot. If Inform can be used to create something as packed

with intriguing story as Jigsaw, and as random and complex as

Rogue, imagine the possibilities when these two forms of game play

are combined. I can only hope that some one will dare to try.   



for all you Baseball fans out there, I've just learned from the

latest issue of the National Federation of the Blind's newsletter

that version 12 of Worldseries Baseball has been released. Not

being a Baseball fan, I leave it to those more expert than I to

enlighten us on the improvements and changes hopefully by the next

issue. Earl Zwicker, a long-time fan of the game, says that

upgrades for those with previous versions cost five dollars US.



A second crucial Inform release is the spectacularly large game

Anchorhead, written by Michael Gentry. Despite some effort, I was

unable to get a full review of this game in time for this issue. If

some of you could send in your reviews for the next issue due out

at the end of August, I would greatly appreciate it. Fortunately,

I can offer some initial observations. This game is a modern

American gothic, in which you play the wife of a professor hired to

teach at the university of a small town. Your husband sends you

over to the real estate office in order to obtain your keys. Here,

you discover that all is not as it should be in town. The office

has been deserted and locked. Your first task is to forcibly gain

entry to the premises. If this first puzzle is anything to go on,

it would seem that people will probably find this game to be quite

fair in terms of puzzle quality. The author appears to have gone to

great lengths to provide plausible responses to anticipated player

commands, and has also made the game easier to win by making it

unnecessary to solve all of the puzzles in order to win. The file

is called anchor.z8, and it can be found in the /games/infocom

directory of the if-archive at:

ftp.gmd.de/if-archive

The file clocks in at an unprecedented four hundred forty-three K.

This breach of the four-hundred-K barrier puts to rest all of my

conceptions on how large Inform games can get. While Gentry admits

that this size is due to sloppy coding, this should in no way

discourage people from trying out this very well-written game. The

quality of prose is quite high, and the player character seems

especially well developed.



Finally, Tsunami has produced one of the few commercial games which

are fully accessible to blind people using Windows95. Silent Steel

is a very well executed submarine techno-thriller written in the

style of movies such as Hunt for Red October and Crimson Tide. You

play a submarine captain in charge of a ballistic missile sub

caught in the middle of a disaster in the making. the whole world

hangs in the balance, with your actions playing a decisive role.

Using dialogue boxes, the game plays through the story and offers

you choices at crucial moments. There are reported to be at least

thirty different endings. Touted as an interactive movie, Silent

Steel certainly proves that the branching story can be quite an

entertaining medium despite its ultimate limitations. Apparently,

the game is designed for both PC and Mac systems. It can be found

at computer stores.     





++

Questions and Answers with Anacreon's Creator

by Michael Feir



Several issues back, I reviewed anacreon Reconstruction. This game

is one of the most complex strategy games accessible to the blind.

At the time, I was somewhat annoyed that the author of this game

left it to fade away into obscurity, leaving only the crippled

shareware version to be enjoyed. I was also uncertain as to whether

he was still among the land of the living. At long last, this

mysterious man has emerged once more. This emergence is due to

Chris Demwell's efforts at tracking him down. His initiative has

made it possible for everyone with web access to retrieve the full

version of this game, along with artwork and manual. I should

caution here that the manual is in MS-Word 4.0 format. This is

accessible to Windows users. for the rest of us, you'll need to

find a program like X-ray which will strip out everything but the

text characters. If anyone finds other solutions to the manual

problem, please send them my way so I can inform everyone else. The

manual is extremely well-written, and well worth the effort

required to access it. Mr. Moramisato has graciously answered the

questions I've put to him on behalf of myself and all of you, and

has agreed to answer any further questions the rest of you have.

Simply send them to me, and I'll forward them to him. At the

present time, he doesn't want his e-mail address to be generally

known. Most of the text below is taken directly from his reply to

my message.     





Michael,



Thanks for writing; I'm flattered by the attention and I'm very

happy that you and your readers have enjoyed playing Anacreon. I do

wish that I had been able to support the game a bit better, but

lacking a large-enough user base, I could not support myself on the

sales of Anacreon alone. Nevertheless, I am

proud of the game and I would be glad to answer your questions and

to field some questions from your readers.



Here are the answers to your questions about the game:



1. Can you give us an account of the history of the game in terms

of its popularity. How many registrations did you ultimately

receive?



I received about 200 or so registrations over a period of three

years. In my opinion, this low response was due to a couple of

mistakes that I made: First of all, I think that I charged too much

for the registered version; had I originally set the price at $20

or $25, I'm sure that I would have gotten more than double the

number of registrations. Second of all, I did not spend enough

money advertising and otherwise marketing the game; while I relied

on word-of-mouth and the BBS network that existed at the time, I

should have also tried to advertise in some mainstream gaming

magazines.



2. The version released on the Internet was made several years ago.

Are there later versions?



Unfortunately, there are no later versions. The version at my site

(www.neurohack.com/anacreon) is the latest version.



3. Why did you ultimately stop taking registrations for your game?



By that time, registrations had dwindled to a few a year and I

simply could not invest the emotional energy in supporting the

game. By then I had already moved on and started a career in more

mainstream software development.



4. Did you anticipate that your game would be playable by the

blind, or was this a completely accidental occurrence? In either

case, what are your thoughts on this?



I never did anticipate that Anacreon would be playable by the

blind, but having found out, I am obviously very happy about it. I

have always enjoyed games that are challenging to the mind, and not

just to the senses and reflexes. Certainly, when it comes to games

of pure strategy, blind people are as capable as anyone else. I'm

glad that Anacreon can demonstrate that.



5. Assuming you're still developing software, what products have

you come up with other than Anacreon? Are there any which are not

graphically dependant which you think readers of Audyssey might be

particularly interested in?



Unfortunately, no. Other products that I have created have relied

on graphical user interfaces. There is hope for the future,

however. Microsoft has included special subroutines in the Windows

development tools that can be used to read-out the text of a

graphical user interface. In the future I plan on

making sure that my programs are compatible with that system.



6. Do you have any advice to give people thinking of developing

strategy games?



I think that the most important thing is to ask yourself the

question "what's the fun part?". Every successful game has a core

payoff that makes it fun to play. In Anacreon, for example, I think

that the fun part is successfully executing a complex plan that

eventually causes your opponent to suffer. Thus, in Anacreon, there

is a lot of room for creating devious plans that hopefully

your opponent will not discover. Too often, I think that game

designers make the mistake of concentrating on peripheral issues,

such as how pretty the game looks or how complex the simulation is.

No amount of 3D graphics will help if the game is not fun.



And there you have it. The mystery behind the game's disappearance

is at last solved, and the game is now available to all. Quite a

happy ending indeed. Or, is it merely the beginning of a new

chapter in game complexity? I hope that the excellent advice of

this thoughtful man will spark new interest in strategy games, and

guide their wood-be authors to excellence. Wherever Mr.

Moramisato's future leads him, I wish him the very best of luck on

his odyssey. In closing, I thank him once more for contributing so

much to our own.  



++

HINTS FOR "CosmoServe"

                     By Kelly John Sapergia



Note- This article is not really a step-by-step walkthrough of

the game, but it will tell you how to win some of the difficult

puzzles.

The game is actually easy to win, so this will not be a complete

solution. You can obtain hints from within the game. (See my

review of this game for info on how to use the online hints.)



   The first puzzle you have to work out is to find your system

password. (If you have trouble finding it, read my review of

CosmoServe.)

The password, which will log you onto CosmoServe is

"OPTIMIZATION-DIAPHRAGM". When you get to the ORFCOM menu, type

"UPDATE OPTIMIZATION-DIAPHRAGM" and press Enter. Then you can log

onto the CIS network.

   When you are at the simulated DOS prompt, you'll have to type

some commands that will help you get through the game. One thing

you should do is to try and run your program. You just have to

type "TURBORF" and press Enter. Answer YES and copy the error

message that appears. (You'll need this information later.)

   The easiest way to get to a particular are on the network is

to use the GO command. For instance, if you want to go to the

"Adventure Gamers" forum, you can type:



GO GAMER



(At least I think that's what it is). In any case, you'll be at

the forum and can do whatever you want from here.

   There are two things that you must keep an eye on: your

account activity and the clock. Why the account activity? Well,

for one thing, someone is trying to defraud your account by

taking money from it without you being aware of who's doing it.

There are two things you can do, which are:



- Scramble your password.

- Order a pizza.



Yah, I know. You're saying, "What do you mean, 'order a pizza? I

don't need a pizza, I need to find out who's defrauding me like

this!'" Well, believe it or not, you should do this because you

are hungry and if you don't eat anything, you'll pass out from

lack of food.

But before we do this, we'd better scramble our password. To do

this, go to the Customer Service menu and select option 3. (Or

you can type: GO PARANOID.) You'll be asked if you wish to report

a violation. Answer YES. (Remember, you'll have to do this at

different times in this game.)

   Before we order the pizza, there are four files you'll need to

download. They are on the following forums:



ORFLAND FORUM --OVRA.TXT (This contains information on how to set

up the VR adaptor and interface card. You must read this file

because it contains some precautions you must follow if you want

to win the game.



GAMERS FORUM --HOWTO.TXT (Contains information on how to get onto

the game within a game on VR as well as the access code.



VIRUS FORUM --SWAT.COM (This file will tell you that a virus is

on the hard drive. You need to know this information when you

talk to "The Shrieker" tonight.



PLUMBERS FORUM --BIBLIO )The bibliography file contains some

information on different plumbing books. Look under "The Timeless

Way of Plumbing" and note the page number.)

   Now for the pizza. At the top level menu, select option 5,

then select option 1. Order item 103, the screwdriver.

Then type M to return to the menu and select 2 for the Computer

Store. Order items 207 and 208 (Don't order anything else from

here!). You'll be told that one of the items will be shipped via

DPS or Dominos Pizza Service. You'll also be told that if the

item hasn't arrived in 30 minutes then it's free!

Now you can go to the top menu. While you're waiting, go to the

plumbers forum. (The game will tell you what to type to get

there, so I won't bother explaining what to type.) Read the

messages and answer YES to the question about your response to

the message. You'll get an E-mail from a lady who is holding a

grudge against you. (Don't believe everything you read. She is

really annoyed with you.) Anyway, after you read her E-mail,

return to the Plumber's forum and see if there are any new

messages. You'll be told that you have won a book for winning an

essay competition. Congratulations! But you're not done yet. But

we'll return here later. Leave CIS and quit ORFCOM. Then PARK

your hard drive. Get the $20 bill then go to the driveway. When

the DPS truck pulls up, ask the boy about the VR adaptor. Then

ask him about the pizza. You'll get both the adaptor and the

pizza. You know what to do from this point! (If you don't, cook

the pizza, eat it, then put the interface card and the adaptor in

the computer).

   Now about that book you won: when you eventually get it, read

page 137. (I don't think this is random, but if you don't get any

points for reading that page, then check the bibliography on the

plumber's forum. Anyway, there's a message that was scribbled in

the book. When you log back on to CIS, go to the plumber's forum

again and go to the conference area. You'll see what that message

meant!

   You can respond to any new messages in any of the forums on

the network, but be careful! For example, if you don't want your

computer to be destroyed by a virus, don't respond to the new

messages section on the Virus forum.

Also, in the Dangerous Sports Forum, DO NOT respond to the

message about going onto VR for free. (If you do, and if you type

the password that you are given, you'll be in big trouble! Also,

if you answer the message, but don't use the password, you'll be

convicted of password fraud! But if you want to, go ahead. Just

remember to save your game.) Other than that, respond to every 

E-mail on the network and check each conference area and the 

E-mail section of the network. (You never know who'll want to

talk to you.)

If you don't read the new messages in the Virus forum, you won't

be able to have a conversation with "The Shrieker"! (I've heard

of grues and other strange things, but never "The Shrieker".)

When you meet up with "The Shrieker" in the Virus Forum

Conference at 8:00 PM, answer it's question about what virus you

have on your hard drive. (Be sure you ran the SWAT.COM program

first.)

You'll be told that it will meet you at some area on Virtual

Reality.

   OK. So far, we've been told that "The Shrieker" isn't

responsible for this scandle and we need to fix our program.

So what do we do next? We go to the Virtual Reality section of

CIS. But first, we need to do one more thing. Go to the Sexual

Relations forum and wait until it's 9:00 PM. Then enter the

conference. Type HELLO, then answer the questions (it doesn't

matter what your answers are) then, when you're given the numbers

of the people to talk with, type "JOIN 8" (8 is Mario's number).

Keep in mind that if you type another participant's number, you

won't be able to win the game. Anyway, now we can go onto VR.

   The VR section of the game is fairly straightforward, but here

are some pointers to keep in mind:



1. If you need a hint, ask Judith herself. She's in the "Hint

Office" which, if I remember correctly, is northeast of the Top

Level.



2. When you meet the sysop in charge of the role-playing

adventure, it doesn't matter what character you choose. Just

remember to do it first thing when you log onto VR. Also, after

you choose the character of your choice, grab the clipboard. Read

it. The directions are for the "Maintenance Tunnels" in the game-

within-the-game. If you meet the sysop at a later time, like

11:30 PM, then you can forget about winning the game.



3. While you're in the bar, don't talk to Lucille! (She's the

lady I spoke about earlier who congratulated you on winning the

essay competition.)



4. To get the microchip that will destroy the virus, you'll have

to do a little gambling. On the note from the Shrieker, you'll

find a ticket. Take it to the Theatre Box Office. Show the note

to the sysop and you'll be able to enter the Theatre. When you

get to the Night Club, talk to Deb. She'll give you a roulette

chip. Try to go east into the Casino. The bouncer will stop you,

but you can get past him. Give him the purse. Now you can enter

the Casino. Type "Bet chip on 17" and you'll get the microchip.



5. During the Skydiving section, don't open your parachute until

you've heard the conversation about the Doctor. After that, take

the watch to the doctor's office and give it to him. Warning!: If

you don't give the watch to the doctor, you'll be killed at the

end of the game after you've destroyed the virus!



   That's all there is to it. Everything else is self-

explanitory. If you still need help, let me know and I'll try to

help you. Alternatively, you can also EMAIL Judith Pintar, the

author of this game. Her EMAIL address is:

76636.2067@compuserve.com



++

Game Reviews



+

                     "ENCHANTED CASTLE"

                      Game by Michael R. Wilk

                 Reviewed by Kelly John Sapergia

Standalone game for Ms-dos



   If you're looking for an adventure game that features tons of

puzzles that would make any adventurer happy, then this is the

perfect interactive fiction game for you! The game is small in

size, but has a very good parser. And even though it doesn't work

well with speech, it's still fun to play. I got a copy of this

game from the Internet (I think it's somewhere on the GMD.DE

site.) Previously, however, I really didn't like the game but the

reason for that will be given later. That is until now.

   Before I review this game, I'd like to explain how I

came to play it. Yesterday, April 26, was a miserable day. It had

rained  on the previous night, and the sun wasn't out. I was

feeling bored, so I went to my computer and took a close look at

my "C:\AUDYSSEY\GAMES" directory. This is a huge directory on my

hard drive that contains .ZIP files of every game from most of

the issues of Audyssey as well as other text adventures I've

collected over the years. Well anyway, I was deciding what game

to play, when I thought about "Enchanted Castle", a game which I

had fooled around with but never really liked until now. So I

went to an empty directory on the hard drive, unzipped the game,

started playing it, and actually had fun with it!

   OK, I know you're getting tired of reading this, so I'll now

discuss the game in detail. The game begins at midnight and takes

place in the center of a midieval castle. You have no posessions

and you don't have a clue as to how you got there. But you do

know one thing: you must escape from the castle. But in order to

do that you must complete three missions:



- You must find and take the legendary Star Diamond.



- You must rescue a beautiful princess (no true adventure game

should be without one) from a wicked witch.



- You must destroy the castle as you escape.



Along the way, you'll encounter such characters as a tiger, a

troll, fire-breathing dragons, etc.

In your exploration of the castle and it's grounds, you'll also

find various magic words that when spoken (or in this case typed)

will help you do certain things, such as to return to the

starting location from just about anywhere in the castle if you

get stuck at some point.

   One thing that is important to every adventure game player is

the saving and restoring of a game. Normally, you would have to

type in a command like "SAVE GAME" or just "SAVE", press Enter

and specify a file name. But Enchanted Castle has a unique and

ingenious way of saving your game, or as it calls it, a "State".

The method of saving games is to find a magic word that allows

you to save your state. When the word is typed, you'll be asked

the question about what file name you want to use. The file will

be given the name you chose and the extension is your initials

that you can type in when you start the program. For instance, at

the beginning of the game, I answer the question about my

initials as "KJS" (Kelly John Sapergia), and the question about

my gender as M for male. (I don't know why this question is in

the program, and have never experimented with it). Anyway, when I

find the magic spell for saving a game, I give the file a name

like "KELLY". The file is then named "KELLY.KJS". This isn't a

bad idea, although that was one of the reasons I didn't like the

game before yesterday.

   The descriptions of all the rooms in the castle are very good.

The objects in the room, such as the tiger, or a ladder, are also

described in the room descriptions. This isn't a bad idea either,

although I prefer to type something like "EXAMINE LADDER" or

"LOOK AT TIGER", etc.

When the game starts, it's in the "VERBOSE" mode. Normally,

VERBOSE means that it will display the room description every

time you enter the room and not just the first time. However, in

this case, it's the opposite. It will give the full room

description when you first enter the room, then give a brief room

description when you enter the room again. If you want a full

room description every time you enter a room, you have to type

the command "PROLIX" when the game starts.

   On a scale of 1 to 10, this game is rated at 10, meaning

this is an excellent game for any adventure game

collector/player! The only problem with this game is that it

writes directly to the screen and doesn't go through BIOS. You'll

need to use your screen reader's review mode or you must have the

capability of reviewing the screen by means of the screen

reader's cursor. (An example of this type of screen reader is

JAWS.) Other than that, I highly recommend this game for any game

player!

I have no idea what adventure system (if any) was used, but I do

know that a solution file is also available. (See Issue 8 of

Audyssey to find out where you can obtain the solution).



+

NUCLEAR SUB ADVENTURE

by Steven Neighorn of AdventureWare (Agency Automation)(?)

review by Dave Sherman

Standalone game for MS-Dos



This adventure starts out by explaining a brief scenario and the

necessary instructions to interface with it.  The scenario is: You

have been assigned to a nuclear sub, and are currently going

through a test run with a skeleton crew.  Apparently the test run

is to see if the sub can be safely operated in an emergency

situation when put into "real action".

   You wake up in your bunk.  Within a couple of turns, it is

obvious that something has gone wrong!!  You are alone in the aft

section of the sub.  as you proceed forward through the sub, you

encounter numerous problems with the equipment.  Your generator is

dead, and so is your radio ... come to think of it, where is the

rest of the crew?  You pass several water-tight sealed doors, and

hatches.  Where do they lead to, and how do you open them?  You

also find several lockers and a safe (which of course are all

locked).  Suddenly the emergency klaxon goes off letting you know

that the nuclear reactor is about to blow!!!

   [A few hints]:  The first thing you should do is find your

crewmates.  (Also, it couldn't hurt if you pump some iron.)  Once

you've got the bums on their feet, they will be able to help you

open some of the doors and hatches.  The author of this game put

some careful thought into its design.  He has you running from one

end of the sub to the other.  It is very important to prioritize

your repairs and needs.  Also, when a repair is required, simply

use the verb "fix".

This text adventure is slightly more rigid than the standard games

developed with TADS.  Instead of looking for a "simple imperative

sentence", it looks for a two-word input at the ">" prompt (i.e. -

a verb and an associated noun).  Manoeuvring through the sub is

fairly easy.  The author has assigned directions to the function

keys.

   This game can be found under the filename "submarine.zip" at

ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/games/pc/.  Have fun!

(   I've only been playing with this game for two days -- in my

spare time.  Currently I'm stumped on one of the puzzles.  If

anyone figures out what "$#%$^#$%#%'" means, pass it on to Mike for

me.)



+





++

                          AGT UTILITIES

         Pros and Cons on How To Improve Your AGT Games

                     By Kelly John Sapergia



   As many of you IF players/programmers know, AGT (the Adventure

Game Toolkit) is available freeware. This means that all the AGT

manuals, programs, as well as the popular Master's Edition are now

available to everyone!

However, before you decide to log onto the Internet and download

all the extras that were only available to registered users, let's

take a look at some of the pro's and con's.



BIG AGT

   As it's name suggests, Big AGT is an add-on to the Classic

edition of AGT that is used to create big games. This is sometimes

useful. Here's a list of what it can do to improve your game: you

can have up to 299 rooms, 199 creatures, 299 nouns, and 500

messages for your game! (This is really impressive. I just wish

they could have included that version with the classic edition of

AGT).

There are no con's for this system, other than you have to be

careful when entering data for creatures and nouns.

For example, in the normal edition, you have Creatures with numbers

from 300 to 399, while the Big AGT system has creatures from 500 to

699! See the enclosed documentation for more information.



The Pophint Hint Creator



Note- The POPHINT package comes with the AGT Master's Edition. Also

note that the manual for the program is for Version 2.0 of the

POPHINT system, but Version 1.0 is included instead of 2.0.



   POPHINT is a package that allows you to create your own hint

file for an AGT game. While I find it easy to use, the only

drawback is that it isn't accessible with speech. It includes an

option to set the program up for BIOS output, but it doesn't seem

to work (at least on my machine). It's really designed to be used

by sighted people.



Pretty Printer



   This program is supposed to take the source files for a game and

create files with annotated descriptions. It also will allow you to

decompile a game to read the source code. The only drawback is that

the version of Pretty Printer that I have only will decompile only

files from AGT Version 1.16 to 1.18! I was surprised to find this

version on the IF-ARCHIVE. There really isn't much point in

downloading the file.



AGTNUM and AGTLABEL



Note- AGTLABEL comes with the Master's Edition.

   AGTLABEL will convert a Classic Edition game to the format

required by the Master's Edition of AGT. The AGTNUM program does

the reverse: it turns a Master's Edition game back into a Classic

Edition game.



The Master's Edition of AGT



Note- When you download the Master's Edition of AGT from the IF-

ARCHIVE, download the files AGTMASTR.ZIP and AGTMSTR16.ZIP. After

extracting the files from AGTMASTR.ZIP, extract the files from

AGTMSTR16.ZIP into the same directory as the Master's Edition. The

version in AGTMASTR.ZIP is 1.56 of the Master's Edition and

AGTMSTR16.ZIP contains the files that are needed to upgrade to

Version 1.6.



   The Master's Edition of the AGT has many more features than the

Classic Edition. For one thing, you can add sound effects and

music, pictures, and custom fonts to your game. You can even use

the Sound Blaster.



Where Can I Get These Programs?



   You can download these programs from the FTP.GMD.DE site. The

directory is: 

IF-ARCHIVE/PROGRAMMING/AGT/





++

Getting a Handle on Games

by David Lant



What are the first issues you think of when trying to design a

blind-friendly computer game?  Will it work with a speech

synthesizer or braille display?  Does it use text or graphics?  Is

there audio feedback?  These are all, of course, perfectly valid

and laudable considerations.  But why is the method of control

always made to be the keyboard?



Before a storm of replies comes through, there is nothing wrong

with using the keyboard as a means of controlling game play.  The

thing is, there is nothing wrong with using any other input device

either.  For example, how many games accessible to the blind use

the mouse for controlling the action or input for the game?  I

cannot think of any myself, not that I have an exhaustive knowledge

of such things.  An obvious reason why a mouse is not chosen as a

control device is that it is intuitively linked to the hand-eye

co-ordination for which it was designed.  This need not be a

limitation though.  As we have seen from existing games on the

market, the use of hand-ear skills is just as challenging and

enjoyable.



As an example of how a very simple task can be a challenge with a

pointing device can be found in the screen reader that I use every

day.  Slimware Window Bridge has a mouse tutor function, which

enables the user to practice tracking in straight lines with the

mouse.  As you move the physical mouse, and hold down a shift key

on the keyboard, the PC emits two simultaneous tones.  One tone,

having the lower pitch range, indicates vertical movement, while

the other, with a higher pitch range, indicates horizontal

movement.  The task is to move the mouse in a given direction such

that you only produce changes in one of the directional tones. 

This is not very easy, but the audio feedback makes it possible to

practice and refine your mouse control technique.  Eventually one

can progress to being able to use the actual pitch value of each

directional indicator to estimate your approximate location on the

screen.  Clearly, those with perfect-pitch will be at an advantage

here.



So, how about other devices?  Let us consider an existing game and

how simply choosing an alternative control device can add extra

skill and realism to its play.  PCS have a shooting game, which

includes sections for shooting at static or moving targets.  In

particular, the clay pigeon shoot provides an excellent opportunity

for added difficulty and action.  As things stand, the player hears

a series of clicks from the PC speaker and, at some point during

these clicks, a higher pitched set of beeps are played to indicate

the target.  The player hears this through once, and then has to

hit a key on the keyboard the next time it is played such that

their key press coincides with the high-pitched tone.  This is

deemed to be a hit.  To make the current game a bit more realistic,

one could pull the trigger on a joystick to fire, rather than

pressing a somewhat un-gun-like space bar.  Now, think how much

more life-like, not to mention challenging, this could be made if

the user were able to move his point of aim, as well as for the

target to track along the series of clicks.  As in a real clay

pigeon shoot, you hear the clay launched, and you then have to

track its flight with your gun before shooting in such a way that

your shot intercepts it.  The practicalities could work something

like this.  Instead of indicating the target as a single tone in a

fixed location in a series of clicks, it could be represented as a

intermittent beep whose pitch rises as it moves.  Now, by using a

joystick, for example, the player's point of aim could be

represented as a continuous tone, whose pitch rises and falls with

the movement of the joystick, much like the mouse tutor in Window

Bridge.  When the tone of the target is matched by the tone of the

joystick feedback, the user pulls the joystick trigger to fire at

the clay.  If the tones do indeed match, then the clay is hit,

otherwise it is missed, or winged.  This concept is very similar to

a game which I came across on the Eureka A4.  It used the same

audio feedback as I've described here, but the player had to track

by using the cursor keys on the keyboard.  Using the joystick to

control the aiming makes the game that much more dynamic and

realistic for the player.



Consider all the alternative input devices that are available. 

From the humble mouse, through the joystick, game paddle, music

keyboard up to expensive add-ons like wheels and consoles.  The

fact that a player has a visual handicap does not preclude them

from handling physical devices with which to control their

computer.  Even more sophisticated systems such as voice input and

touch screens are usable without sight.



The mighty keyboard does indeed have its place.  Obviously it is a

piece of equipment which a game designer can safely assume that any

potential customer will already have.  But, as I indicated on an

earlier article on the use of synthesized sound, choosing the

lowest common denominator robs many people of greater and more

exciting experiences than they are otherwise allowed.  You could

not possibly imagine a general high street store refusing to stock

games because not everyone who walks in might have the capability

to play them on their machine.  AS technology progresses, and

prices fall, new and more exciting features get included in games

and packages to enhance the play enjoyment.



Many commercial games produced for sighted players include the

option to select what device you want to use to control the game. 

For instance, a Star Wars game, that came with my old 486, offered

the player the opportunity to control their ship with the keyboard,

the mouse or a joystick.  There is no reason at all why this same

level of choice cannot be incorporated into games which are

playable by the blind and visually impaired.  Even text based games

could have an extra dimension, simply by adding the support for an

alternative input device.  An example might be a game such as

Infocom's Journey.  Here, the player almost exclusively controls

the game by selecting options from menus.  This can just as easily

be done with a joystick or track ball, provided the software is

intelligent enough to restrict movement to within the menu

structure.



None of these concepts require the invention of any new technology

or techniques.  It has all been done before.  What does not seem to

have happened, is that little extra step of imagination that moves

beyond solving the problems of output for people who cannot see the

screen, to enhancing their experience with physical movement and

dextrous control.  And think on this:  what would it be like for a

blind-friendly flight simulator?  Combine the use of 3D sound

effects, with joystick control, and tone targeting, and you have

the possibility of an enthralling struggle to control your

environment, and survive!



++

Contacting Us



I can be reached in two ways. The easiest is through Compuserve. My

e-mail address is as follows:

72712.3103@compuserve.com



Alternatively, you may correspond with me on 3.5-inch disks,

provided you be sure to send them in returnable disk-mailers. I

don't have the money to pay for postage. My mailing address is:

5787 Montevideo Road

Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Postal code: L5N 2L5



I have acquired a copy of UUencode and UUdecode for dos,

so you may send files to me via this means. Also, thanks to a

reader named Frank Haslam, I have acquired a copy of something

called Netsend. this is a program written and encoded so that it

can be sent as a standard e-mail, but once it is cut from the rest

of the message text, it can be run as an executable file. You will

then have all you need to send and receive files over E-mail. this

should go a long way to making sharing of files easier. thanks a

bunch, Frank.         



Adam Taylor, star of Adam, The Immortal Gamer, and our resident

ADOM guru, can be reached three ways. You can send him e-mail at:

blade@ican.net



Or, you can check out his homepage on the web:

Blade's Armory

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/9111

His page is dedicated to providing help, cheats and solutions to

many games. Send him a request, and he'll do his best to find what

you need. He also has sections on ADOM and Nethack available. And,

you can download the magazine from his page.



Finally, if you wish to contact him at home, his address is:

3082 Bartholomew Crescent

Mississauga, Ontario

Canada L5N 3L1