Producer: Quicksilva
Memory Required: 48K
Recommended Retail Price: £6.95
Language: Machine code
Author: Sandy White

Sandy White is a quiet Scot and a sculptor by trade. His understanding of three dimensional construction is evident in his game, Ant Attack. Unveiled at the Quicksilva press show, it raised admiring oohs and ahs from the gathering. According to the press release, Quicksilva was so impressed by the stunning quality of the graphics, that they flew Sandy down from Scotland and signed a contract within 24 hours. A patent has been applied for to protect his 3D soft solid routines.

Quite simply, Ant Attack contains the most breathtaking 3D graphics yet seen on the Spectrum; as one of our reviewers pointed out, very similar to Zaxxon graphics, and quite as good as you can see in an arcade.

THIS IS WHAT YOU DO

The idea of the game is to enter the Walled City of Antescher (which has rested for a thousand years in the midst of the Great Desert inhabited only by the deadly ants who have made it their home), and rescue your girlfriend. Actually, it's a non-sexist program which asks you whether you are a boy or a girl - the cute graphics distinguish between the two and make the main figure a hero or heroine according to taste.

You can walk or run round the massive city which exists in a space many times greater than the playing area. You can also jump up and down and climb the walls or stairs. All this activity is necessary to avoid the giant ants which will attack within moments of your entering. Two weapons are provided; 20 grenades which may be thrown varying distances by pressing keys S-D-F or G and which will either stun or kill an ant depending on your accuracy, and the other weapon is your feet. Jumping up and down furiously on an ant will leave it paralysed and out of the running. Up to five ants attack at one time, but others will appear to replace the inactive ones. You can stand being bitten quite a bit, but too many bites will eventually result in loss of life!

GENERAL

The graphics are really stunning. The soft solid bit refers to the 3D effect achieved, not only with the buildings, which are all made up of blocks, hundreds upon hundreds of them, but also with the two humans and the ants. If your characters disappear behind a building you can press any of four keys (O/P/ENTER/SPACE) which will give you a view of the same location from another compass point. The effect is very like a scene in a TV studio where you can look at the action from four differently placed cameras. The cutting from view to view occurs instantaneously and without a flicker.

The excellence of the 3D is also seen when your characters are surrounded by ants. The individual elements of the picture all merge in a most realistic manner, so much so that it's hard to tell who is who at times, and this adds to the difficulty of the game.

COMMENTS

Keyboard positions: highly complicated to master, though reasonably logical in placing. Perhaps a North/South/East/West system might have been easier
Joystick option: none possible
Keyboard play: very positive
Use of colour: varied opinions, but averaged out as good
Graphics: excellent
Sound: good
Skill levels: none
Lives: can be bitten 20 times

The animation of the figures must be the best yet seen on the Spectrum.

The most serious drawback to enjoying the game is the handful of control keys required. Four keys for the different view angles, four keys to throw grenades, two keys to rotate left and right, another for forward movement and another for jumping. It makes twelve in all. They are quite difficult to manipulate.

It's an extremely good game with plenty of action, but a little difficult to control at first.

I found it totally confusing at first with all those keys and no joystick that could possibly help, but it's so wonderful to look at that you're bound to persevere.

Producer: Quicksilva, 48K
£6.95 (1)
Author: Sandy White

Some of the best ever 3D graphics for the Spectrum which work excellently not only on the numerous buildings but also on the softer forms of the hero, heroine, and dreaded ants which swarm through the walled city of Antescher. The object of the game is to jump over the one spot low enough in the outer wall, find your girlfriend (or boyfriend - you can select which), and escape before the ants get you. You can run and jump in four directions, throw grenades to kill the ants over varying distances, or stun them by jumping up and down on them. The scene can be viewed from any one of four angles. It isn't easy! There are 12 control keys required and it takes a lot of time to get used to them, but the graphics make it all worthwhile. One criticism aimed at the game is that there's more technical virtuosity in the program than game play and it can become repetitive after a while. Nevertheless, an amazing game. No joystick option really possible. Very highly recommended, overall CRASH rating 85% M/C.

Producer: Quicksilva, 48K
£6.95 (1)
Author: Sandy White

Some of the best ever 3D graphics for the Spectrum which work excellently not only on the numerous buildings but also on the softer forms of the hero, heroine, and dreaded ants which swarm through the walled city of Antescher. The object of the game is to jump over the one spot low enough in the outer wall, find your girlfriend (or boyfriend - you can select which), and escape before the ants get you. You can run and jump in four directions, throw grenades to kill the ants over varying distances, or stun them by jumping up and down on them. The scene can be viewed from any one of four angles. It isn't easy! There are 12 control keys required and it takes a lot of time to get used to them, but the graphics make it all worthwhile. One criticism aimed at the game is that there's more technical virtuosity in the program than game play and it can become repetitive after a while. Nevertheless, an amazing game. No joystick option really possible. Very highly recommended, overall CRASH rating 85% M/C.

As summer poises, ready for the onslaught of fab new games around Christmas, CRASH takes a look back at some of the major games we have reviewed in the past to see if they (and the reviews) stand the test of time. MATTHEW UFFINDELL and LLOYD MANGRAM take keyboard and reputation in hand...

Ant Attack has remained high in the HOTLINE charts since we Started them, proof of the games popularity with players.

There have been many failing attempts over the last several months to get fab 3D effect graphics like Ant Attack - its still one of the leading 3D games. Playing it now shows that much more colour could have been added. Content and addictive qualities have dropped dramatically. Also a major point on the graphics is that if 100% (which it received in the originai review) is given then nothing can beat it. I would now rate them at 74%, the reason being that they are unimaginative and uncolourful. Not such a good game itself but still worth buying just to see the 3D effect.
MU

Oddly, Ant Attack came out with a much lower overall rating than Bugaboo (85%) but of course scored on the graphics, still to be beaten in their particular 3D effect. I think we were all a bit overcome by them at first and failed to note that the game itself isn't so great. With the graphics, it isn't only the city which works so well, but the animation of you, your rescuee and the ants is excellent. Incidentally, although it appears to be of no use, there is an ammo dump out in the desert, but it seems to be nothing more than a visual gag put in for those playes who inevitably were going to go off exploring.

LM (Matthew) I think I would want to knock about 5% off the playability rating and some 10% off the addictive qualities given originally as the only real objective is to continually rescue your girl/boyfriend and they are always in the same locations each game.

(Lloyd) I agree.

ORIGINAL REVIEW

Use of Computer: 60%
Graphics: 100%
Playability: 95%
Getting Started: 80%
Addictive Qualities: 80%
Value for Money: 95%
Overall: 85%

LOOKING FOR AN OLD ANGLE

From Ultimate's classics to the cute and quirky Head Over Heels, we've had our arcade adventures in the strange 3-D of isometric perspective.

But, says WILL BROOKER, some of those first tentative steps in the new dimension work better than today's glossy games.

Way, way back when Hungry Horace was still a national hero, 3D Ant Attack sneaked out under the Quicksilva label. Its Softsolid graphics of the walled desert city Antescher were hailed as astounding, and 3D Ant Attack wedged itself firmly into Spectrum history as the first game with truly three-dimensional views.

The next isometric blockbuster was Vortex's Android 2, released in the spring of 1984. In gameplay it's just a 3-D version of the old arcade game Berserk, but the graphics (which CRASH gave 96%) brought it up to this magazine's Game Of The Month standard.

Programmer Costa Panayi followed this up with the impressive TLL - a fighter-plane simulation with a carefully worked-out dynamic playing area. There's not a lot of game behind it, but the flying is enough.

The Softsolid technique was soon followed by the first 3-D 'adventure movie' - Hewson Consultants' The Legend Of Avalon. Its adventure element is a bit dubious, and the term 'arcade adventure' would be disputed for years after its release, but the game was a great success with its colourful, pseudoisometric graphics.

In 1985 the spate of high-quality isometric games continued: Ultimate's classic Knight Lore was followed by another Vortex game, Highway Encounter, and the next technical advance was Filmation 2. An Ultimate invention, this allows graphics of Knight Lore's quality to be scrolled smoothly over a large playing area. Filmation 2 was used for Ultimate's Nightshade, but was soon knocked into a cocked hat by The Edge's Fairlight.

Even back in the golden year of 1986 there were unimaginative clones which sometimes threatened to swamp all the review pages with their identical, and by then extremely boring, isometric screens. But some games brought a breath of fresh air to the already tired genre: the humorous Sweevo's World from Gargoyle Games, Ocean's surprise hit M.O.V.I.E, and Hewson's Quazatron. A Spectrum version of the Commodore 64 hit Paradroid, Quazatron amazed everyone by being superior to the original.

Not so original but also well-implemented was Ocean's Batman, and Quicksilva's Glider Rider deserves a mention along with Design Design's Rogue Trooper for taking a gamble and nearly succeeding.

Last year Ocean had a megahit with Head Over Heels, M.A.D. had a budget Smash with Amaurote, and Gargoyle brought out the first (and probably last) Hydromation game, Hydrofool - the sequel to Sweevo's World. CRL's 3D Gamemaker utility now enables everyone to rewrite Knight Lore, and last November saw the first real isometric adventure, Incentive's Karyssia.

Of course, whether isometric perspective presents a 'true' 3-D view is arguable - the player in these games is 'positioned'somewhere up in the air, outside the playing area, so any game using the technique looks forced, like a technical drawing. Though its representation of object and rooms may be highly effective, if we're going to nit-pick we can't say isometric perspective gives a realistic view.

But the technique has proved perfectly satisfactory for countless games, and it's pointless to damn them all for lack of realism.

More significantly, it will be interesting to see if the market for isometric graphics ever dries up, and if the public will one day reject the genre as outdated and overused, just as it once refused to accept any more Pacman clones.

3D ANT ATTACK
Quicksilva
87% Issue 1

'One day, one year, one hour,'says the introduction. He and She arrived in the walled city of Antescher, 'the signature of a long dead race, the city lost from the world of men for days without number'.

But the Ants of Antescher now have your partner (either He or She - unfortunately, this admirably nonsexist feature is undermined by the program's always calling you a 'hero'), and your job is to rescue him or her with the help of some heavy-duty grenades.

Complete one level and the foolish girl (or boy) goes and gets herself (or himself) captured again, but this time further away from the starting position. Well, that's life...

Back in late 1983 when nobody worried about glaring white backgrounds, UDG-sized graphics and poor sound, 3D Ant Attack was a wonder to behold. But even if you overlook these faults the fact remains that there isn't much gameplay, and what there is soon grows repetitive. Next to modern software, 3D Ant Attack looks rather dismal.

AWESOME ANTS LEAP TO THE ATTACK!

Holding my breath, I climbed over the wall and into the city. Good not an ant in sight. Spotting a lone figure on a pile of rubble and guided by her cries of "My Hero - take me away from all this" I started to lead her to safety. In milliseconds we were surrounded by an army of the nasty biting creatures and were eaten alive!

The deserted streets of Antescher are patrolled by hoards of man-eating giant ants who, guided by the scent of humans come charging to the kill, it is your job to get into the city, rescue the lone survivor and lead her out of danger.

Leaping and running from building to building is the safest way to search for the heroine as the ants can't reach you when you're perched safely above them.

Clustering around you in groups, you can blast them with a supply of grenades you carry - this will kill them but more soon come to take their place.

A scanner which flashes red or green tells you in which direction to search - a useful addition to the game as only a section of the city is shown on screen at any one time. The screen scrolls in whichever direction you move eventually revealing the furthest reaches of the city.

An additional feature to the game is the power to view your hero from four angles. Occasionally he'll disappear from the screen and to keep track of him, run through all the different view angles which will being him back on screen.

Another interesting effect is the 3D graphics. If you run behind a building you'll disappear from sight as will the pursuing ants. Cries of "Bitten" will appear on screen once the ants close in and if you don't want to be eaten alive you'll have to make a run for it.

In each new level you have to search further afield for the heroine and of course there is a much greater chance of getting caught as you try to find your way out of the maze of buildings.

The ants are horrifyingly lifelike as are the movements of your hero. The keyboard controls on the Spectrum are very well placed to enable the easy movement of your hero. Ant Attack is written in machine code and features high-res graphics which are among the best I've seen on the Spectrum, with hidden line removal.

Ant Attack is available from Hampshire-based Quicksilva for the 48k Spectrum at £6.95.

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K
JOYSTICK: No
CATEGORY: Arcade
SUPPLIER: Quicksilva
PRICE: £6.95

The most impressive thing about Ant Attack is the scrolling 3D depiction of the city in which all the action takes Place.

For example, if you move your man behind a building, he disappears from view, and to see what's going on you have to select a different scanner. You have a total of four scanners, all of which depict the same part of the city, but from different angles.

It's not advisable to leave your man out of sight, because the city is inhabited by vicious ants who love nothing better than munching flesh.

Your mission is to rescue a number of trapped damsels in distress, although to protect themselves from the accusation of sexual typecasting. Quicksilva offer you the option of rescuing boys instead.

You find the trapped persons by using a direction indicator, which turns green when you're moving in the right direction, and red when you're not.

To avoid being devoured, you must either stay above ground level where the ants can't reach you, or use grenades to destroy them.

Trouble is, to throw a grenade you must choose from four different buttons, one each for four different distances. If you add to these four buttons the four direction control buttons, and the four scan buttons, you need the skills of a touch-typist just to stay alive.

Another thing that greatly annoyed me was the tunes that are played whenever you find a damsel, or are bitten to death. They really are tedious.

Still, if you're prepared to put in the work necessary to master the controls, Ant Attack offers you an original and challenging entertainment.

An arcade game which heralded a revolutionary technique called 3D SoftSolid, and apt name as the background scenario, a city called Antescher, and the ants, hero and heroine, are all displayed in solid 3D. Characters can pass between objects and move in three dimensions. The technique makes movement of objects and characters extremely fast. The walled city can be viewed from four angles which can be switched around on the screen instantaneously. The game is novel too because it allows you to select the sex of the protagonist who combats the evil ants to rescue their prisoner from the city.

Position 9/50

48K Spectrum
£6.95
Quicksilva

There have been 3D games before, of course, but never one so quick or effective as Quicksilva's Ant Attack. Not only is the Softsolid 3D - Patent Pending - remarkably good, but the game itself is exciting and intriguing.

The location is the “walled city of Antescher" and, indeed, the city's buildings do resemble the geometrical paradoxes of the artist Max Escher. Walls, blocks and steps combine to make a huge maze in which roam the giant ants.

These ants are truly fearsome insects, huge and gobbling with enormous jaws. The object of the game is for your man or woman - this is a non-sexist game - to enter the city and rescue the captured loved one who the ants have somehow tied to a slab somewhere in the maze. You can rotate, move forward and jump to safety as the ants gang up and come after you.

As you progress through the city you often lose sight of yourself because of walls and towers. But one flick of a button and you have a choice of four different perspectives. This cart sometimes be rather unpleasant; you change to another view only to see yourself being eaten alive in a corner by a pack of hungry ants. Such gruesome experiences can be avoided by judicious use of the grenades you have, though care must be taken not to blow yourself up.

Ant Attack impresses chiefly because of its graphics and 3-D, which are truly admirable. The game itself can prove to be awkward, given the large number of keys which must be controlled. But it is certainly worth investigating for the joy of its 3D effects.