dwl10@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (Dave Lowrey) (06/13/88)
This is being posted for a "netless" friend. Comments, questions & flames
go to him, not me.
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Subject: Game warning: Star Empire
The package for "Star Empire", from First Row Software, says "From the
people who brought you Elite". And the description on the back of the
package sounds like an enhanced version of Elite.
But beware. I can find *no* indication that anyone involved with Elite
had anything to do with Star Empire. Not Dave Braben, nor Ian Bell,
nor Acornsoft, nor British Telecom, nor Firebird Licenses. The manual
gives 100% credit for design and programming to a Fouad Katan, and it's
published in the U.S. (Pennsylvania), by First Row Software.
Furthermore, the manual does not at *all* portray Star Empire as an enhanced
version of Elite. Rather, it appears to be more like an enhanced version of
that ten-year-old arcade game, Asteroids.
The manual itself is a sad affair. It is extremely short (in view of its
other shortcomings, perhaps the term "mercifully brief" is more appropos),
and appears to have been written by an 8-year-old and typeset by a 10-year-
old. The wording is juvenile, typographical errors are rampant, and nary an
illustration is to be found in the manual. Along with the manual is an
unbound half-page of very disappointing screen shots, which is the only place
you'll find any photos of the screen during game play (the package carries
only a photo of the title screen).
I returned Star Empire without ever opening the inner sealed envelope which
contains the diskette. Therefore, the comments above are based solely upon
the documentation, and not upon any actual experience playing the game.
---
Doug Pardee {ames,hplabs,sun,amdahl,ihnp4,allegra}!oliveb!edge!doug
Edge Computer Corp., Scottsdale, AZ uunet!ism780c!edge!doug
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"Familiarity breeds attempt"
Dave Lowrey
Amdahl Corp.
Houston, Texas
(713)-850-8828
...!{ihnp4,cbosgd,hplabs,oliveb}!amdahl!dwl10
[ The opinions expressed <may> be those of the author and not necessarily
those of his most eminent employer. ]