The Masters Series

                                     by

                               Stephen Upton


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    In some respects, the "Masters" series below is aptly named:  for it is
  the Master and you the slave in a terrifying Computer Aided Bondage
  nightmare, where you are tied down with an unwieldy interface and slowly
  tortured by primitive programming until your vision blurs to the point
  where ultra-low res chunky graphics seem ok, and your reflexes dulled to
  the point of matching the sluggish response times from the computer...



                               Stable Masters

                              Publishers: ESP
                          Provided by: Don Quixote
                                 Rating 20%

    A horse racing/training game.  For those afficiendos of the genre,
  you'll probably love it despite the shonky programming and the complete
  lack of polish, as its simplicity (lack) of design lends well to easy
  (boring) game play.

    You start with 4 horses and up to 4 players.  Your horses come in
  different sizes (Sprinter, Middle Distance, Stayer) with different
  staminas and speed factors.  Training consists of selecting Speed, Normal
  or Stamina training for the horse, and a severity factor:  Rest, Light,
  Med, Heavy.  The horses condition, performance and fitness all change as
  result of training.  Horse races come and go, the big races are shown on a
  schedule, and you have $10,000 that says you can't make money at this
  game.

    I found the best tactic was racing your horses together at the start in
  a Gallop (not a race, just a relative performance over a user-specified
  distance at your own track), dropping the lousy ones and then training the
  better ones (threw Stayers away as most big prize races are 7,8 etc
  Furlongs, not the full-distance 1m 2f).  Auctions are around to both buy
  and sell horses.  Unproven horses go cheap, proven racers - with handicaps
  etc intact - are more expensive.

    The race track is what you'd expect, you enter your horse into the days
  races, if any, select a jockey (different costs/% of winnings) and give
  him his tactics, and then bet on any of the day's three races.  You have
  the option to view the race, it has a pretty nice (tho' lo-res) display of
  the horses running against each other, which can be very helpful in
  deciding training patterns for the horses.

    The object of the game is to win mondo cash in prize earnings as a
  trainer.  Unfortunately, I found the game too non-interactive (dull) to
  continue to this loft ideal.  Additionally, the software is still
  Anglicised - jockeys/trainers/courses/bookies/tipsters are all British.
  
    There is a totally redundant Quit option, that kindly takes you to a
  screen saying "Reboot your machine".  However, at least the (Basic?)
  programme loads totally into mem avoiding disk swaps with the save disk.
  The save game feature is barely supported, the most minimal of "Enter save
  game number (1-9) to save/load" onto a pre-formatted disk.

    Cheating is almost too easy, save the game on the day of big race, bet
  your shirt on a horse, if it doesnt win reload and try again.  There is a
  fudge factor on all horses in the race, so the outcome is by no means
  certain, but is reduced to a four horse race that you can try again at
  will.  Then its just a case of buying and training the right horses.

    The jockey's colours don't play a prominent part in the game, there is
  an annoying lack of thought behind the mouse/keyboard interactions, the
  manual doesn't give you a clue WHAT you are supposed to do - only HOW you
  work the controls (Strewth!), the sweet spot on the save icon is rather
  peculiar, the anim of the horse running is readily glitchy, the interface
  is low res and as primitive as it gets, the game runs slowly, and the
  graphics throughout are poor to shocking quality - other than all that its
  a good horse racing game.

    If you are a horse racing fan, and you don't have a programme in this
  area, this is the ideal purchase for you.  Anyone else, I give you a week
  before it hits the bin - once you've won one race and seen the lack of a
  fanfare, you've won them all.



                              Cricket Masters

                              Publishers: ESP
                          Provided by: Don Quixote
                                 Rating 30%

    Does ESP stand for Exceptionally Shonky Programmes?  I am beginning to
  wonder!  The HD Install is manual, they give the half page of copy
  instructions in the manual...  and after all that, it doesn't work.  The
  interface is low-res, slow, clunky and BASIC by feel.  There is no sound,
  pitiful graphics, and the same lack of variety that the previous game also
  suffers from.

    Based on English cricket, you must manage a team to success.  Seat
  prices, general tactics, etc are up to you.  The ONLY redeeming factor to
  this game is you can set the field yourself by bowler, the computer will
  use that field setting when it auto-picks that bowler to bowl.

    Manual protected, but not copy-protected, just like Stable Masters, and
  the barest attempts made to make it Workbenchable (with the little that
  they did, its a wonder they bothered with an icon at all.) The manual
  doesn't even tell you how to start the game if you are not booting the
  programme disk - and this same lack of care, effort, quality, standards
  and proofing have added up to a totally miserable game, that invokes more
  frustration at using the clunky interface than gives you joy for
  performing.

    Its two disks, one programme and one data, with a basic manual.  The
  manual in true ESP style avoids the game concept entirely and instead
  concentrates on what the individual functions are on about.  Statistics
  galore, and a few more variables than Stable Masters, but unless you are
  English County Cricket buff, have always wanted to manage a team, don't
  mind missing any sort of good cricketing action and can handle the stress
  of the interface; then leave this game on the shelf and suggest to the
  retailer he send it back for a credit so that he might get some games in
  for you to play.




                      Addendum to The Masters review:

    I've had enough.  The software we've been reviewing lately (RE-Viewing
  ie:  every time you read about a &^^% programme, we've had to endure it
  multiple times until its been fully scoped out!!!!) has been atrocious to
  say the least.  Sure, we've reviewed some excellent titles, but 90% of
  Shareware/Commercial produce has been LOUSY.

    If you happen to know someone who is a games programmer, please get them
  to ask these BASIC blasted questions about their product BEFORE they
  release it:

    #1:  Copy protection removed (pirates do it soon enough anyway, plus its
  a hassle for the legitimate users anyway).  This then includes Hard Disk
  installation, and Workbench icons.  The manuals with the ESP software
  could easily be photocopied, let alone someone with half a neural
  connection in the programming dept being able to rip it right out.

    #2:  Does it's RRP reflect value for money given "classic" titles and
  their value?  At $50 a throw, these ESP packages are a rippoff.  For that
  much, at least borrow a digitiser...

    #3:  Does the manual contain the following:
  Contents
  Installation/Trouble-Shooting/Startup
  Introduction and Overview
  Every user function described relative to the game variables.
  Screen shots of relevant sections.
  An EXAMPLE SESSION!  (Can take the popular form of the game "novellised"
    for increased Virtual Character Association¹)

    #4:  Has the game a consistant play relative to the plot?

    #5:  Is the plot challenging?

    #6:  Is the interface easy to use?

    #7:  Are commonly accessed functions easy to access (larger gadget size,
  heavy borders, outstanding colour, keyboard shortcuts etc)?

    #8:  Does it multitask in a friendly manner?

    #9:  Does it support catalogs?  (If either of the ESP programmes did, it
  would be a simple matter of listing Aussie jockeys and horses etc)

    #10:  Has its VCA¹ been maximised?
  
  ¹   To coin a phrase, VCA is the relationship from the user to the
  programme, measured quantatively in terms of the number,quality &
  complexity of both the input variables (game controls), and the sensory
  feedback to the user.  Obviously then, a game with relevant high quality
  pictures (complex visual sensory stimuli) and audio will have a greater
  user self-identification with the Virtual character in the game.
  Likewise, the better the control over the relevant variables, as well as a
  reasonable number of them, and a series of progressively harder challenges
  involving set patterns of the control variables; the better the game.
  However the challenges themselves are classified under the plot.  Direct
  correlations exist between this and the Character Association that occurs
  with movie watchers and book readers.  Look at what colour plates did for
  classic scenes in tales.  Maximising the VCA maximises investment return
  potential.

    If the programmer even acknowledges the existance of VCA, it is bound to
  improve the product.  People are playing out a fantasy role in the game,
  whether it's chief alien mangler for the Federation of Earth Type Planets,
  or a golfer on the big courses, or a famous race car driver etc.  It is
  NOT just about producing an interactive concept, to make it a great game
  one has to start with the assumption that the MOST important part of the
  game is the PLAYER.  Get the player in on the game, and you've won.  For
  the player to be in on it, he must believe he is playing the part of a
  virtual character.

    Thank you for reading another Cruddy whinge.


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