keithh@bwdls40.bnr.ca (Keith Hanlan) (01/10/91)
In article <QbWWrmW00WB_MZ234z@andrew.cmu.edu> kg19+@andrew.cmu.edu (Kurt A. Geisel) writes: >I am preparing for another games order and I would like to know a >few important points about the following games, if anyone would like >to comment: > >... >Future Wars Future Wars was promising but: o While it can be installed on a hard-disk as advertised, the game doesn't run properly from a HD. You can't save the game. o The user interface is very awkward and poorly designed - the 3D perspective is nice but it is very difficult to place your character in exactly the right place to perform a function. (For example, you walk across a carpeted room and feel something under the carpet a one point. When you try to lift the carpet, unless you are in exactly the right position, the game tells you either that you are standing on the carpet or you are too far from the carpet.) It takes too many iterations of simple movements to get the game to do what you want and as a consequence, game-play is seriously compromised. o The North American distributer, Interplay Productions, has no handle on the game designers, Delphine who are French. In 4 telephone conversations with Interplay since May 25th, I have yet to receive any satisfaction. I spent a lot of money on the game because it advertised itself as hard-disk installable. I'm sick of being robbed by these incompetant boobs who have never heard of play-testing or beta-testing. SSI's much vaunted Pool of Radiance falls into the same category: A good game, that is hard-drive installable to their credit, which fails miserably because nobody tried to play the goddam thing before they shipped it. Perhaps I'm a little sensitive to the issue since I spent two years doing human factors and user interface R&D but ARGGGGHHH! off soap-box Keith
brian@sky.COM (Brian Pelletier) (01/11/91)
In article <5188@bwdls58.UUCP> keithh@atreus.bnr.ca (Keith Hanlan) writes: >In article <QbWWrmW00WB_MZ234z@andrew.cmu.edu> kg19+@andrew.cmu.edu (Kurt A. Geisel) writes: >>I am preparing for another games order and I would like to know a >>few important points about the following games, if anyone would like >>to comment: >> >>... >>Future Wars > >Future Wars was promising but: [Some Future Wars problems deleted} > o The North American distributer, Interplay Productions, has no > handle on the game designers, Delphine who are French. In 4 Yup, they do seem to have a problem with this group of game designers. I got the game "James Bond - The Stealth Affair" for Christmas, made by the same people and also distributed by Interplay. Most of the criticisms you mention about Future Wars apply to this game. I have other gripes as well: - There is a big `OK` message which you have to click on to get from the intro to the next part of the game. You have to click on a tiny little spot on the OK to get it to work. I thought my disk had crashed the first two times I tried to boot it. - Although JBTSA runs from hard disk, the installation procedure in the manual is incorrect. - You still need a floppy disk to save games in progress. - There is a LONG intro, sporting cheesy IBM-style graphics which you must sit through each time you restart the game. - The game requires you to pick a color from a multi-colored picture on the game manual's back cover. Not only is this impossible for anyone with even slight color-blindness, but you have to pick *2* colors before you can play the game. Why two????? I was really impressed with Dragon Wars (also an Interplay game), but they appear to have dumped many of the 'good' features of that game when they distributed Future Wars and The Stealth Affair..... >off soap-box >Keith Brian Pelletier, Hardware guy | Disclaimer: These are MY opinions, not SKY's. Sky Computer Chelmsford, MA | Amiga! UUCP: pelletier@grove.uucp (home) UUCP: brian@sky.com (work) | Plink: TACK