Classic Game Review: Time Ship

Judith Kane knelt on the dais and carefully read the plaque placed under the coffin. “Kills the most birds!” the inscription said. “Hmm!” Kane thought with the best of her Sam Spade cynicism showing through. Looks like I can blame Howard the Duck. She left the dais and faced the surrounding mist, followed by Bertram Trenchcoat, a staggeringly inept android assistant. Suddenly, a band of Mist Dwellers attacks.

Judith dismissed her trusty Smith & Wesson, only to find that she hadn’t seen the stocky little Mist-Dweller coming towards her. “Dammit,” she cursed herself with a 1940’s understatement, “Sam Spade wouldn’t have missed!” The Mist Dweller attacked and sliced ​​through her knee. “Wasn’t he supposed to be a blackjack to the back of the neck?” She fired again and watched the attacking Mist Dweller fall to the orange dust to an agonizing death, then turned to face the next attacker.

TIME SHIP (TS) is not just another adventure game. It is a role playing system. In TS, players can time travel through an ancient knowledge of the power of the mind and universal energy. The system documentation is excellent for setting the parameters of the game environment.

Unlike many systems that are restricted to a certain period of time, task and/or adventure modules that will be released at a later date will be free to explore any historical or historical era. The documentation helps the first-time player set up the system by guiding the novice through the process of creating a player and data disc. The player disc will be able to contain character files for up to 10 players. After creating the player’s data and discs, the program prepares the player for play and allows the character generation process (time travelers guild registration) to begin. Like many role-playing systems, TS begins by quantifying attributes. Unlike some RPG systems, the amounts by which basic attributes are described are determined by the player (not randomly assigned). These attributes are: Strength, Charisma, Dexterity, Stamina and Intelligence. The experienced RPG player will be familiar with his functions within the system.

All five attributes start at a value of 50 (below average) and the player has 60 points to spend on character creation has a Weapons to Hit Number (WTHN) that reflects the character’s proficiency with that weapon (within 19 different categories). Each WTHN starts at 60 and since the lower the WTHN, the more likely a character is to hit, the player is given 60 points to subtract from the 19 WTHN categories. That concludes the character generation (or guild registration) process. Next, following the tradition of most role-playing systems, the player is responsible for equipping their character. Of course, he makes a difference where one goes as to what he will need on the adventure. In MURDER AT THE END OF TIME, the introductory module included with the base system, the player is warned that weaponry is likely to be limited to the standard 20th century detective problem. The player is also warned in the module’s information sheet that many items that were brought into the time stream will be lost or lessened in effectiveness. These factors and the opportunity to choose one’s own team increase interest in this game.

Unfortunately, the introductory module isn’t as well executed as the gameplay. The gameplay requires consideration of one’s “Charisma” value, but interaction with NPCs and suspects is extremely limited. For example, at one point the character meets a nymph in the woods. Upon attempting to initiate any form of dialogue and/or interrogation with her, the character is put off by the statement that he is not to speak to strangers. At another point, when the character tries to question the “butler” of the deceased, he is told that Igor cannot hear. Also, one would think that after all the time spent creating a combat-ready character, one would be able to initiate combat.

This is not always true. If one attempts to attack Igor, the player is told that Igor is unaffected by the character’s attack on his knee. I find it hard to believe that a revolver bullet is going to be dismissed as a pathetic attack, even if it’s aimed at the victim’s knee. Why create an elaborate and well-thought-out combat system to use against the Mist Dwellers and not the research obstacles?

However, even the module has some interesting features. I especially liked seeing what the program does when you write an obscenity. The show says, “Say you’re sorry, you dumb dummy.” It will not accept any further input from the keyboard until the word “sorry” is entered. I also found the in-module graphics and fast scrolling text pages for the basic system to be aesthetically pleasing.

However, the module contains too many dead ends, some of which act as a Deus ex machine. For example, knowing that pressing a certain button causes the character to fall through an iris opening and into the cargo hold of an alien ship, Judith Kane tied a string to a stationary object and pressed the button. When Judith couldn’t find a way out of the cargo hold, she began to climb the rope, only to have an invisible mist dweller pull the rope up and out of her reach moments before she pulled it up. will grab Also, there are many times when it might be advantageous to do something destructive to escape or investigate, but the program simply won’t allow it. Misspellings are also distracting. It is highly unlikely that the decedent was killed with a wooden “steak”, unless he was prop food with a very sharp edge. Also, one gets the impression that I pointed out at the beginning of this review that the phrase “Kills most birds” is an important clue.

Watch out for misspellings and avoid frustration. I’m impressed with TS as a potentially interesting game system, but I was disappointed in the way the introductory module failed to make use of the system’s strengths. One can only hope that the future task (where the character must perform an action, i.e. assassination, rescue, etc.) and adventure (where the character can explore a time environment to solve a given problem) and adventure modules will use more than the built-in features of the system. If future modules exploit those strengths, Five Star will give Info COM some excellent competition.