Velnor's Lair, from Quicksilva. is yet another text-only adventure, but one with a faster response time that doesn't tax the patience to quite the same degree. As an adventurer you can choose to be a wizard, warrior or priest, depending on your inclination. For no particular reason I chose to be a wizard, despite my ineptitude at casting either spells or enemies into oblivion. Naturally I soon met an untimely end. But where this game triumphs over other text-only adventures is in its use of vocabulary. Often it can take aeons to get into the swing of adventure games - understanding the individual programmer's own peculiar logic and choice of words, etc. Here, for some reason not immediately apparent, I found the game responding easily to my instructions.

Producer: Quicksilva, 48K
£6.95
Author Derek Brewster

No adventure anthology would be complete without this one. Text only, but fluid, copious text with fast response times and a sense of humour that takes some of the sting from the gruesome tale of terror which lurks within the complex of Velnor's Lair. There's a clever use of repeat locations which makes you think you aren't getting anywhere, when in fact you must keep entering the same command for five or six steps. The denizens of this adventure are a monstrous lot, and the goblins are tricky indeed. Chose your character carefully, wizard, warrior or priest, and watch out for illusions, which abound. Highly recommended.

Producer: Quicksilva, 48K
£6.95
Author Derek Brewster

No adventure anthology would be complete without this one. Text only, but fluid, copious text with fast response times and a sense of humour that takes some of the sting from the gruesome tale of terror which lurks within the complex of Velnor's Lair. There's a clever use of repeat locations which makes you think you aren't getting anywhere, when in fact you must keep entering the same command for five or six steps. The denizens of this adventure are a monstrous lot, and the goblins are tricky indeed. Chose your character carefully, wizard, warrior or priest, and watch out for illusions, which abound. Highly recommended.

VELNOR'S LAIR BY DEREK BREWSTER


The Black Wizard Velnor has gone into hiding in the goblin labyrinth beneath Mount Elk. After centuries of searching he has finally discovered the ancient tomb of Grako and is about to realise his ambition, to become a true demon on earth. There is only one hope for mankind, and that's you, of course. You must penetrate Velnor's defences, avoiding the traps and surprises before his metamorphosis is complete - but Velnor is a master of illusion.

To undertake this text-only adventure you may elect to go in the guise of a wizard, a priest or a warrior. Each has its own characteristics. The wizard is poorly equipped to physical combat, but his powerful magic compensates for lack of strength. He has a polymorph spell which turns any non-magical creature into a frog. The fireball spell can be used (at a distance) to consume any living creature within a specific location, and the teleport spell carries you and anything in your possession from any location to the cave entrance. Spells used drain the wizard's spell strength.

The priest is somewhat better off than the wizard when it corns to comat and he has a number of defensive spells to use, such as a shield, which decreases vulnerability during combat and makes the priest as hard to hit as the warrior. A healing spell can be used after wounding in combat, and there is also one to dispel any undead creature.

The warrior is obviously best suited to physical combat, the hardest to hit, and can take the most punishment. He has no spells to use, but may make use of any magic object found during the quest.

Combat during the game takes place in rounds where each creature involved is allowed one action, at which point you may continue or flee. There are no graphics in the game, but the border colour alters from white through to black, indicating your state of health.

Although the locations and their positions in Velnor's Lair remain the same from game to game, as do the objects, the living and undead creatures tend to be quite random.

Velnor's Lair was written some time ago, in BASIC, and therefore suffers from hesitant responses, but this is hardly any deterrent to enjoying what turns into a highly complex and convoluted adventure with plenty of humour. Some quite devious solutions are, required to problems - getting through the spore-ridden atmosphere of the passage leading to the Goblins lair is a case in point (but did you remember to pick up the silk handkerchief?). Velnor creates a number of illusions which result in sudden death until you get the hang of treating nothing as an absolute until it's been tested carefully.

Velnor's Lair is definitely one of those games that attract you back for another play, possibly months after your first try, and Derek Brewster has built in enough situations and solutions to make it rewarding. It was originally released under his own company, Neptune, but is now marketed by Quicksilva, price £6.95.

Producer: Quicksilva, 48K
£6.95
Author Derek Brewster

No adventure anthology would be complete without this one. Text only, but fluid, copious text with fast response times and a sense of humour that takes some of the sting from the gruesome tale of terror which lurks within the complex of Velnor's Lair. There's a clever use of repeat locations which makes you think you aren't getting anywhere, when in fact you must keep entering the same command for five or six steps. The denizens of this adventure are a monstrous lot, and the goblins are tricky indeed. Chose your character carefully, wizard, warrior or priest, and watch out for illusions, which abound. Highly recommended.

JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE LABYRINTH

Dungeons and dragons have spawned some exciting Sinclair offspring. Quentin heath goes underground.

Prepare thyself for battle and, with sword in hand, enter the dungeons to face terrors beyond your imagination. I expect you have guessed that I am writing about the dungeons and dragons craze which has hit manufacturers and users of Sinclair software. I also want to introduce newcomers to the cult mythos which surrounds the subject.

A dungeons and dragons adventure usually takes place in an underground labyrinth. You will meet monsters at almost every turn and the object is to defeat them and search for treasure or magic potions.

A new game called Velnor's Lair is an example of this kind of adventure from Neptune Computing, costing £6.50.

The game is for the 48K Spectrum and takes pace in the Goblin Labyrinth under Mount Elk. The Black Wizard Velnor has discovered how to transform himself into a living demon on Earth and is hiding in the caves under the mountain. You are the poor, hapless creature who has been chosen to seek and destroy the wizard before he can realise his deadly aim.

Luckily you can choose whether you want to be a wizard, warrior or priest. The wizard can use magic and his three spells include a fireball which destroys everything, a zap to turn creatures into frogs, and a teleport spell to overcome difficult situations.

Unfortunately the wizard is physically weak and cannot stand prolonged attack by sword or club. He is also limited in magical strength as his ability of 10 decreases with each spell he casts.

The priest is like the wizard but his spells will heal, shield and dispel the 'undead'. The warrior is strong and does well with his club but he has no way of defending himself against magical beings. He is the most difficult to kill.

As with all dungeons and dragons adventures, your character has certain attributes. They determine how well he does in battle and may even determine whether he is magical enough to discover a secret passage. In Velnor's Lair the screen border changes colour to denote how healthy or unhealthy you are.

I have included some playing ideas in the Hints and Tips section. They should help you to play the game and defeat a few monsters.

A do-it-yourself dungeon kit called The Dungeon Master has been produced by Crystal Computing. The package includes two programs, Dungeon Master and Dungeon Creation, which run on the 48K Spectrum.

The package is different from the average adventure game as it allows you to build your own tunnels of death. It includes an example dungeon in which you have to fight all kinds of dragons, vampires and elementals and pick up potions. You may also be caught in space and time warps which can throw you back into the room you have just left or into the last room in the dungeon.

Along the way you can pick up weapons and magical artefacts but the main purpose of the quest is to find a series of turquoise rings.

Fights need not be on a one-to-one basis. It is possible that you will meet two or even three monsters at one time. You can then select which one you want to fight first. Monsters are ranked in order of combat strength. The easiest to defeat is the giant centipede and the most dangerous is the Demogorgon.

The other program in the package is the Dungeon Creator. It enables you to create your own dungeon with all the monsters, pitfalls and rewards you want.

After being let loose on the program for two hours I could give you a fairly lengthy list of things not to do when building your friendly neighbourhood dungeon. One dungeon I created, ominously called Maximus, had me going around in circles for an hour before I realised what I had done. I had created an opening between two rooms which created a space-time loop. There was no warning but I was going alternately from one room in another. Still, that is all part of the game and something with which a dungeon master has to live.

I have been a dungeons and dragons fan for several years but there are few people who will play when I am the dungeon master. The package provides excellent entertainment to all fans of the cult and should prove a good introduction to the game.

PRICE: £6.95
MEMORY REQUIRED: 48K

In this 'Dungeons and Dragons' type adventure you have the opportunity to be either a Warrior, Wizard or Priest, all of which has his or her own aptitudes and capabilities.

Although Velnor's Lair has no graphics it gains points by working on the principle of 'Dungeons and Dragons' in which instant death is very rare. Documentation is quite extensive and contained on the cassette inlay - a good point. Variation within the game is produced by various different spells, demons and ghastly creatures. The response and intelligence of the program is faster than many I have seen.

A good adventure and definitely well worth considering.

A witty, intricate text adventure of the Dungeons and Dragons genre, which takes you into the dungeon fastness of the evil wizard Velnor to prevent him from destroying the world. The game is notable for its simple but effective combat system, and the choice of characters. Players may start in any one of three classes. Fighters are strong, wizards use spells, and clerics can heal themselves.

Few adventure games manage to combine logic problems and monster-fighting happily, and Velnor's Lair remains one the best as well as one of the earliest. A well-wrought and much underrated adventure.

Position 38/50