dce@smsc.sony.com (David Elliott) (01/22/90)
Pipe Dreams is a new game from LucasFilms. The object of the game is
to put together pipes to route slime through them as far as possible.
Random pieces of pipe are supplied, but you must use them in order. As
the levels increase, you are challenged with directional pipes and
other special items. I've heard favorable comparisons to Tetris, and
I pretty much agree.
The game uses color pretty well, and to its credit it works fine with
any screen depth, though it could be a little less drab. It works with
MultiFinder. It does bother me that it blacks out the menubar instead of
using a centered window, but the program doesn't conflict with anything
by doing this.
Copy protection is provided in the form of a code wheel. It's a pain,
but doesn't hinder operation of the program. I just leave it running
under MultiFinder.
Crazy Cars is a game from Titus that doesn't rate nearly so highly.
The game itself is interesting and has good graphics. You drive
a Mercedes 560 (other cars are used as you improve) in a cross-country
race with other sports cars. The scenery is well-done, and driving
is fairly easy.
The problem with this game is that it's simply a port from other
machines. When I started it up with my monitor in 8-bit mode, it
turned the screen white, told me to switch to 4-bit mode, and then
left my system font screwed up until after I played the game.
The game controls are strange. To accelerate, you can use S, 8, or
the mouse button. Braking is done with X, 5, or 2. Left and right
are handled using 4/J and 6/K, respectively, so the mouse is only
useful if you put it on the floor for a gas pedal ;-). To the credit
of the game, the controls are very responsive. The other strangeness
is that to quit you type a 0 when the race starts.
The scoring mechanism is stupid. You have to use the mouse or keyboard
to move letters under an arrow. Come on, folks, the Mac has a perfectly
good keyboard; why not let me use it?
The game has no copy protection, which is nice. It does not conflict
with MultiFinder, but you can't switch to another application while
running it. It just doesn't use the menu bar.
I'm definitely recommending Pipe Dream. At $25, it's a good value.
Crazy Cars, which I got for $30, is probably good enough to keep,
though Titus will get a note from me pointing out the flaws. I think
the main reason I won't return it is that at least they made an
effort.
--
David Elliott
dce@smsc.sony.com | ...!{uunet,mips}!sonyusa!dce
(408)944-4073
"Never call a crazed psychotic a crazed psychotic."nilesinc@well.UUCP (Avi Rappoport) (01/24/90)
In article <1990Jan21.215048.11691@smsc.sony.com> dce@smsc.Sony.COM (David Elliott) writes: >Pipe Dreams is a new game from LucasFilms. The object of the game is >to put together pipes to route slime through them as far as possible. >Random pieces of pipe are supplied, but you must use them in order. As >the levels increase, you are challenged with directional pipes and >other special items. I've heard favorable comparisons to Tetris, and >I pretty much agree. > My husband bought me PipeDreams as a present, but I don't like it much. The time pressure is very different from Tetris: makes it much more tense and less attractive. Of course I'm a Tetris junkie and have been known to dream it (loved the Nintendo commercial), but I find Color Shanghai to be much nicer than Pipe Dreams. -- -- Help me justify my online bills: ask me EndNote questions, please! -- Avi Rappoport nilesinc@well.UUCP, Niles.Assoc on AppleLink 415-655-666 2000 Hearst, Berkeley, CA 94709
dce@smsc.sony.com (David Elliott) (01/25/90)
In article <15673@well.UUCP> nilesinc@well.UUCP (Avi Rappoport) writes: >My husband bought me PipeDreams as a present, but I don't like it much. >The time pressure is very different from Tetris: makes it much more tense >and less attractive. Of course I'm a Tetris junkie and have been known >to dream it (loved the Nintendo commercial), but I find Color Shanghai >to be much nicer than Pipe Dreams. I know what you mean about Tetris dreams. I started playing Tetris a year ago, and after a couple of weeks I actually had to avoid my Mac for a couple of days to get out of the habit of starting up Tetris between other things. Have you tried Columns by Chris Christensen yet? It's a similar idea, but a different execution. Pipe Dreams does take a little getting used to. When I started, I ignored the pipes in the stack and just concentrated on getting the current area working. Now, after only about 20 games, I work ahead 3 or 4 pieces. This really helps on the levels with reservoirs and those with directional pipes. -- David Elliott dce@smsc.sony.com | ...!{uunet,mips}!sonyusa!dce (408)944-4073 "Never call a crazed psychotic a crazed psychotic."