ALIEN LOGIC Start the game with : alien /j and hit [Home] to activate the cheatmode. This enables (in sideways view) : [E] : Effects [O] : God mode [T] : Transport [R] : Full health [H] : Suicide [I] : Map [L] : Jump [M] : Become Eye Evid [C] : Cheat Menu [B] : Turn off sprite collisions A Skyrealms of Jorune Adventure: Alien Logic: Leave Your World Behind Trademarks by Skyrealms Publishing, Ceridus Software, Inc. & Strategic Simulations, Inc Reviewed by: Debbi Rapp Game category: Commercial Game type: RPG Price: $ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Graphics Memory Disk Space Minimum: 486DX/33 1mb SVGA 8mb RAM ~10 MB Max/Rec: 486/66 Control: keyboard and mouse required Sound: Aria, Logitech Pro Audio Spectrum, Media Vision Jazz 16, Media Vision Pro Audio Spectrum, Soundblaster, Soundblaster Pro, Soundblaster Pro II, Soundscape, Ultrasound. Reviewed version: Initial Release 1.01 patched to 1.02 Reviewed version on: 486DX66 , 8mb RAM, Media Vision Pro Audio Spectrum 16 Reviewer recommends: 486/66+, 8mb RAM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SYNOPSIS You are on the world of Jorune, a colony whose communications with Earth has been cut off for 3500 years. The residents of your village have been taken by the evil Red Shantha, and you alone have survived with the help of another Shantha and some serendipitous, if not exactly appealing, events. During the course of this game, you will attempt to increase your use of Isho (magic), gain knowledge of Warpworld, discover the location of the Red Shantha, defeat him and rescue your fellow villagers. In addition to your main quest, there are also several mini quests to complete. While the game is somewhat non-linear, and the completion of all quests are not required to achieve your final goal, the fulfillment of these quests usually improves your abilities or gives you access to something you need. As the game opens, you are in the Mountain Crown of Tan-Iricid, home of alien creatures known as the Thriddle. You are given some information, allowed to ask some questions, and sent on your way to the large human settlement of Ardoth to begin your adventure. Once in Ardoth, you'll visit all the places in town, equip yourself with a laser cutting kit, then set out to explore: searching for Shanthic Ruins, crystals, limilates (plants with special properties), and (of course) monsters. Along the way, you'll have the chance to increase your power, skills, and knowledge so that you will be able to rescue the townspeople. As part of your journeys, you will discover floating islands in the clouds, known as skyrealms, explore the depths of ancient ruins where no human has ever been, discover plots that threaten the realm, and learn enthralling histories of the various races. It is a fascinating journey. Note: Visit the Thriddle often, they will give you locations of Shanthic sites and guide (railroad?) you on some of the quests. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTALLATION, GRAPHICS, & SOUND Installation and set-up was a breeze. The program detects any unmet requirements and allows you to select how much of the program you want to install to your hard drive. The game has above average graphics. Details are sharp and clear and appealing to look at. Even with the "deluxe install" the graphics ran a little slow at times and froze for a moment while my double-speed CD ROM struggled to catch up. Sound effects are appropriate and non-intrusive. Sound quality is good and the music is not bad, if a little repetitive. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAPPING The Thriddle have given you a tracking device to help you on your journey. This is an aerial map of Jorune, with your location enlarged. As you near a site of interest (crystal/warp, plants, ruins, or monsters) an indicator begins to rise on the right hand side of the screen. The closer you get, the higher it goes. Icons also appear on the map when it is in the area that you are. Your coordinates also appear on screen. The coordinate numbers of a site may shift by one or two numbers each time you visit. This is a slight irritation, but since the icon appears on screen, it's not too aggravating. Click where you want to go. When you reach an icon, you will go to zoom map mode, a highly enlarged top-view of photographic looking scenery. A scan button will show you the exact locations of sites of interest or encounters. Moving with the mouse to the site automatically takes you to the side-view or encounter mode. From here conversations can occur, you can dig for crystals or limilates if indicated, create a Reco if there is an incupod visible, or battle nefarious creatures. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NPC INTERACTION Jorune is populated with a variety of intelligent species. The original inhabitants are the Shantha. Intelligent and reclusive, they were once the highest culture in the land. Their race is in danger of dying out, largely due to the wars caused by human greed. Others, such as the inquisitive Thriddle and the fierce and aggressive Cleash, were left behind by an attempted takeover of the planet before arrived. Humans, of which you are one, arrived 3500 years ago, and bio-engineered three additional races: the Woffen, the Bronth, and the Crugar. Other races, such as the Thivin, Trarch, & Ramian, also live on the planet. NPC's, such as the Bronth historian, can provide a wealth of information. Interaction takes place automatically. When you enter a store in Ardoth or get near an NPC in side-view mode, the NPC will speak to you. Your response is given by selecting from a list that appears on the screen. The available responses are often a little too juvenile for my taste. While I like a little humor, many times the responses were somewhat snotty for no apparent reason. In most of the stores, the dialog was far too long. Interesting the first couple of times, it wore very thin after a while when I had to keep clicking through responses just to buy or sell an item. I really would prefer a simple hello and a list. Outside the stores, the variety of NPC's is a welcome change and the response or question list allows you to gain a great deal of information. Morality should have played a bigger part in the game. Many areas of the Ruins were guarded by Shanthas. I did not want to kill them because I was invading their homes and humans were the greatest cause of their current misery. However, I never found a way to gain their cooperation, in spite of the fact that one of the mini quests did a great favor for them. I did eventually find a way to get by them without killing them, but I suspect it really would not make a difference in the game... however, I tend to try to play fair (this is RPG after all). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING BIO-TEC. The inhabitants of Jorune (Jorunians?) use "Recos" or organic robots to perform functions such as digging and healing. You can buy them fully formed or "grow" your own. When you find an incupod (a hairy watermelon found growing around the planet), you can use your laser cutting kit (acquired in Ardoth) and a piece of cork (the genetic material which can be bought or found) to create a Reco. Via a special screen, you will actually make the cuts to create your Reco, sometimes with unintended results. You can create diggers and miners, which dig for crystals and limilates, as well as rejuvenators and surgeons to heal damage taken from encounters. MASTERING WARPWORLD. Warpworld is a way to go instantly from one place to another, rather than traveling overland. In some cases, such as several floating islands, the ONLY way you can get to a place is by warping there. Initially, you will be able to warp only to the Mountain Crown (where you start your adventure) and a location near the city of Ardoth. By finding cle-eshtas, a Shanthic repository of warp locations, you will be transported to Warpworld and gain knowledge of new warps. You will need to find many warps in order to get to the Red Shantha. USING ISHO. In the kerning-bay, you place weave crystals to attract Dyshas (combat spells) and Isho abilities. Skillful placement of the crystals is needed to attract the icon to the center before you run out of crystals. Each one you attract will give you a new ability or increase one of your present abilities. The Dyshas, such as Power Hold and Vampire, give you the offensive and defensive capabilities to battle the various creatures and ultimately, the Red Shantha. The abilities, such as Lava-Walk and Feather Fall, help you navigate the various obstacles in the ruins. Gather lots of weave crystals because you will need them in abundance. EXPLORING SHANTHIC RUINS. Searching for and exploring the underground Shanthic ruins are an integral part of completing your mission. Cle-eshtas will unlock new warp locations for you and items to increase your power and knowledge are often located in these sites. You will have to search for hidden controls, navigate around obstacles, and defeat powerful guardians. Shanthic artifacts can be sold to help finance your quest. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMBAT What would an RPG be without an assortment of nasty creatures, big and small, for your hacking and slashing enjoyment. While the variety is limited, there is a graduated level of difficulty. Small dead creatures can be picked up and sold in Ardoth. There seems to be no limit as to the number you can carry... at one time I was packing nearly a hundred before I got back to Ardoth to sell them. Combat occurs in the side view mode in realtime. This type of combat works well for this type of game. When you begin, you will know only one offensive and one defensive dysha. Before your first combat, these should be put into "slots" which determine what order the dyshas will be released. Initially, you have only two offensive and one defensive slots. You will be able to increase your offensive slots to four during the course of the game. Combat occurs by clicking on the combat icon then pressing the right mouse button. To activate the defensive dysha, hold the shift key down while pressing the right mouse button. While the combat action itself is very simple to perform, getting the right combination of dyshas to defeat an opponent can be tricky. As you gain more dyshas, you will be able to create strategies and save them to the function keys. Combat can then be initiated by pressing the function key, and the combination of dyshas that you saved will be ready to use. Initially, your Isho, or the rate at which you can weave the dyshas is very slow, but increase as you find and use "rate crystals". In addition, some dyshas use more Isho than others, enhancing a very simple combat system. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OVERALL IMPRESSIONS The bad news first: Occasional game lock-ups (greatly improved with the patch, but not totally corrected) were a minor irritation. Save often and on multiple slots (you have twelve). I would have liked to have seen a greater variety of creatures (there were many NPC's, but only about five or six non-intelligent creatures to bash). Loot was too limited, and some of the items seemed to serve no useful purpose (case in point being armor which you couldn't wear and no one would buy). Conversations with shopkeepers are often annoying and questions/responses to NPC's could use a little less of a smart-ass approach. The manual is not very well written and often confusing, not up the usual standards of SSI. Character development gets mixed reviews. While you do get to name your character, there are no stats to divvy out--you essentially don't have any. During the game, the only statistical things you have to worry about are injuries and your crystal weaving rate. I tend to like games with more complex characters (I am one of the 10 people who actually LIKED the SSI Buck Rogers games), but it was kind of a nice change of pace not to have to worry about it. You don't eat, drink, or sleep. There is really no concept of time, except that the town changes from night to day (although apparently everything is open at all hours because I never found anything closed). In spite of the negatives, I really liked the game. Because I bought the game before the patch was out, I had to restart the game from scratch six times. The fact that I stuck with it is less a testament to my tenacity than to the overall playability of the game. This is not your typical dungeon-stomping RPG. It is a world with a rich history, and yes Virginia, there IS a storyline. I am looking forward to sequels. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © Debbi Rapp for the Games Domain Review, 1995