Computer + Video Games - Commodore Is Awesome

long awaited ST version of
hit has finally arrived in a
ptudium edition,
featuring both abr original
ercenarv and 'econd City,
For those who
crrenary on an eight
6.4 or Plus 4, the action
above, on, and un
of habitation
or play
ri,
or
planet
beautiful cities
nd complexes
v the great architect
n.
You are a solider of fortune who
has crash-landed on Trag which
has been ravaged by many years of
war between its original
inhabitants, the peace-loving
Palyars and an alien race of robots
known as the Mechanoids.
Your challenge is to escape the
planet by buying another ship,
bought with your ill-gotten gains.
The only thing you managed to
salvage from the wreckage of your
ship was Benson, your in-helmet,
ninth generation PC.
Benson will give you information
on your location, compass heading,
altitudes, elevation and speed as
well as act as a communications
buffer with the various waring
Factions on Targ.
Benson's other major use is in
providing an interpretation of your
s'as only a matter of time before
tarted taking advantage of
superior graphics to
'produce strineasplly exciting
graphics pac e such
gram is Mirr
rector, programm
aesar Studio in Bu
A it Director is a r ' s art
Program which a l to all
Otrty types as aspiring
erslSurprisingly, Art Director
the features of the very
ent Deluxe Paint (see C+ VG
August 86) which runs on the
graphically more advanced Amiga,
and although slower in the
processing department, Art
Director compares very favourably
to the latter.
It has all the features common to
most art programs such as fill,
airbrush, erase, zoom, draw,
geometrical shapes etc. But this
package really comes into its own
when you look at the way a brush,
cut from the screen, can he bent.
stretched, distorted, nipped,
enlarged, and even made to look as
ilk was being reflected off the
inside or outside of a sphere or
cylinder.
Once Art Director is loaded you
are presented with a Toolbox from
which many of the more commonly
needed functions can be
accessed.
The Toolbox can also
be movedor removed
SPECTACULAR
view of events in stunning 3D
vectorgraphics allowing you to see
inside and through normally solid
objects eat your heart out
Superman!
The action starts as you come too
by the remains of the Prestinium,
your trusty intergalactic craft,
which is beyond repair after the
crash.
Luckily you have landed in
Central City, which used to be one
of Targ's main centres of
population. Even more fortunate is
that the Dominium Dart is
standing not 50 feet away, and at
4,000 credits it's an absolute snip!
Flying around in your newly
acquired Dart you can see the
whole of Central City and, from less
than 250 feet, can make out
individual buildings which can, of
course, be zapped out of existence.
Benson's controls provide you
wth all the flight and navigational
controls you will need while the
vector graphic cockpit view it
provides is as smooth as silk.
Eventually Benson will receive a
message inviting you to come to thr
briefing room near the hanger at
location 09 66. To get down to the
hanger you have to land by a lift.
Having descended into one of the
many underground complexes, it's
time to leave the dart and do a little
the Atari's low resolution colour
mode allowing for 16 colours on a
320x200 screen.
Each screen can have up to eight
palettes of 16 colours, and the
program can be made to cycle
through these to spectacular effect.
Each colour is chosen from a
total of 512 and is created by giving
different values to its red, green,
and blue components.
Those functions not accessible
from the Toolbox can be accessed
from the pull-down menus in the
two status bars at the tope Qf the
screen as with any normal Gem
application.
There are a number of pictures
on the two disk set as well as a
selection of ready made fonts that
can be used for placing text directly
on the screen. This is invaluable for
certain applications where words
form an integral part of a screen
design.
Amongst the many innovative
features in Art Director is the
window which allows you to
perform specific graphical
operations (such as fill and change
colour) inside the window leaving
the rest of the screen unaffected.
Not only does this make the
window moderated functions more
flexible but it also cuts down on the
time spent waiting for the
computer to perform those
functions as it need only concern
itself with a smaller area of the
if inconveniently screen,
placed. As with A r t Director provides you with
most ST art two pages on which to paint or
programs Art draw, It is normally advisable to
Director uses use one as a scratch pad and the
exploring.
As with flying, everything
underground is seen in vector
graphics from a first person
perspective, giving you the
impression of wandering in and out
of rooms and down corridors.
As you explore the complex you
will find various objects some of
which can be picked up and used
such as sights, poweramp and keys.
You can also find objects that are
of no use at all such as tables and
chairs! Some objects, such as
medical supplies and gold, can be
sold for a tidy profit if you can only
find a buyer.
When you find the briefing room
other for your main picture.
But, you can also use both pages
for a double-size picture s here one
page fits exactly on top of the other.
Using the Print Pages function
you can make a hard copy of the
two pages combined into one A4
shaped print-out.
you will be offered a mission, and,
in true mercenary tradition, may
wish to only accept lucrative
contracts.
The beauty of this game, apart
froni the stunningly smooth vector
graphics, is the element of strategy
required to negotiate the
diplomatic minefield you must
necessarily create for yourself by
accepting missions from both sides
in the continuing war on Targ.
Complete with The Second City,
which takes you to Targ's dust.
covered southern hemisphere, and
the Targ Survival Kit, in case you
get too lost, Mercenary will be a
high flyer amongst STgamesters,
Although there are certain
aspects of the user interface in Art
Director that could have been a
more friendly, the program's
wealth of powerful and useful
features makes its one of the best
graphics packages yet seen for the
Si..