MEGATRAVELLER 1: THE ZHODANI CONSPIRACY

 This game should never have been released. There are several indications that
it was never properly playtested: Many serious and obvious bugs exist in the
program. For example, when when you create your own characters (rather than use
pre-created characters), the game crashes almost every time you try to save your
character pool. It took me three to five tries _per character_ to successfully
create and save the five I needed for playing the game. This bug is extremely
frustrating, as the character creation process in MEGATRAVELLER is very
involved, and takes a fair amount of time. (This review is based on the IBM-PC
version; Version 3.0 upgrade notes follow.)

 However, the worst aspect of MEGATRAVELLER is the real-time combat system.
Real-time combat can be successfully implemented with multi-character parties.
(SENTINEL WORLDS is an example of a role-playing game in which this was done
very nicely.) But this implementation is truly awful. First, you must control
all your characters, but the speed of the combat is so fast that it's impossible
for any human being to control more than one character; to attempt to control
more than one guarantees that you'll lose the fight. The only tactic that works
is to create a Super Rambo character, and fight with that character only. The
other characters must be left standing, so they can serve as decoys to draw some
fire away from Super Rambo. This ploy is totally unrealistic and absolutely
ridiculous; it also means you must create characters with high hit points, so
they can survive as sitting ducks during combat.

 Additionally, both keyboard and mouse response during combat are very slow and
erratic. In several instances, the mouse and keyboard totally froze for more
than a second; this is an eternity in a real-time combat system. However, the
computer-controlled attackers move and fire very rapidly and smoothly.
Typically, they could get off two to three shots for every shot I could fire,
even when I was pounding on the F(ire) key as rapidly as possible. This
indicates that the computer has enough horsepower to run the game on a 12MHz
AT-class PC, but the program has its priorities wrong. The combat code gives a
higher priority to controlling its characters than to responding to the player's
commands. As a result, it's artificially difficult to control even Super Rambo
during a fight. (This lack of response appears to be a basic design flaw in the
program. It occurs at many other points in the game, as well.)

 Compounding the problem, your player-controlled character does not always hit
where you aim the weapon! Accuracy appears to be the result of your ability to
aim, and the character's skill with the weapon. This is the worst possible
combination of arcade combat with role-playing combat.

 The only place to save is in a starport. This is very unfriendly. You can quit
a game at any time, but unless you are near a starport, you will lose all you
have accomplished since your last visit. This feature is especially annoying in
light of the unpredictable program crashes.

 The manual is both well done and poorly done. For anyone interested in playing
the original board version of MEGATRAVELLER, the manual is fine. But if you're
interested in playing the computer version, the manual is inadequate. For
example, it doesn't tell you how to put someone into sick bay for treatment. You
have to figure this out yourself, by "Assigning" someone to sick bay; it's not
mentioned anywhere in the manual. Furthermore, the menu system is not very
intuitive. Deducing the exact sequence of icons to click on when attempting to
do something is not trivial within a command system as complicated as this
game's.

 The IBM-PC version comes with 5-1/4" diskettes only; no version information is
evident. The program supports both joystick and mouse. Copy protection is
manual-based. The Covox sound card is supported, and RealSound is available for
systems that lack sound cards. I was unable to verify Covox support, but the
RealSound effects were rather mediocre. In most cases, they seemed no better
than the noise you normally hear from the PC speaker in other games.

 The design is a reasonable implementation of MEGATRAVELLER for a computer. The
main drawback is the extremely poor programming. There is nothing intrinsically
wrong with a real-time combat system; it can be made to work, with proper
coding. The only game-design problem here is the inability to save the game
outside of a starport. As I said above, the manual needs heavy re-writing to be
useful. Paragon states it is working on a major revision of MEGATRAVELLER. Due
to its numerous and serious bugs, I was unable and unwilling to finish this
version, so I can't evaluate the overall quality of the gameplay (as opposed to
the quality of the programming). However, based on what I _could_ play, it
appears that MEGATRAVELLER would be a decent game, if the bugs were properly
eliminated.

 VERSION 3.0 UPGRADE NOTES

 Version 3.0 of MEGATRAVELLER 1: THE ZHODANI CONSPIRACY for the IBM PC fixes all
major bugs in the previous versions and properly implements the real-time combat
system. The version number is displayed on the first screen after running
TRAV.EXE. However, the version code apperas in dark gray lettering on a black
background: It will be hard to spot. Owners of previous versions of
MEGATRAVELLER 1 can obtain a free upgrade by sending their original floppies
back to Paragon, with a cover letter stating that they wish to upgrade to
version 3.0. Write to:

 Paragon Software
 600 Rugh Street
 Greensburg, PA 15601

 There are still some minor bugs in the program, but the bugs do not show up
very frequently, and you can get around all of them by exiting the program and
restarting it. However, because of the limited ability to save your game, you
can lose considerable gameplay by restarting. This is especially acute when
trying to clear out the rebel base on Louzy. One of the bugs in the program
occurs when you leave the rebel base: The rebel forces regenerate; this is true
even when you finally clear the base by killing their leader. The most commonly
encountered bug causes some items held by your characters to mutate when you
restore an old game.

 The new real-time combat system only requires you to control one character; the
other characters can be given orders to follow. Also, the computer now locks on
whomever you target. The accuracy with which your characters shoot depends on
their attributes and skills, rather than your reflexes. If you control a
character who has high dexterity, and hold down the "F" key, that character
fires more frequently than anyone else. This is a useful feature to exploit.

 Using version 3.0, I was finally able to finish MEGATRAVELLER 1. More
importantly, I _wanted_ to play and finish the game. That is the good news. The
bad news is that the game engine still needs more work, and the game eventually
turns out to be rather simple and easy.

 Space combat and interplanetary travel still occur within the same manual
real-time system used in the original versions. In this game, space combat is
not necessary (and easily avoided), but if space combat becomes necessary in
future games, a similar overhaul of the space combat system will be required.

 Unfortunately, lots of interplanetary travel is unavoidable. The current system
is totally manual, and locating your destination requires trial and error.
Christopher Columbus had more navigational aids and a better idea of where he
was going when he first crossed the Atlantic Ocean! The game seriously needs an
autopilot function for interplanetary travel. At best, the current system is
boring. At worst, it is very frustrating, and detracts from the enjoyment of the
game.

 A potential problem with the game engine is that it is possible to lose
critical items. For example, the half-imperial seal can be dropped or sold. A
safeguard to prevent something like this is needed.

 The basic story, foiling the Zhodani conspiracy, is rather simple. The main
difficulty is in obtaining the 2,000,000 credits needed to buy a Jump-2 engine
to complete the game. There is a very nice touch wherein a character who has to
be rescued gets moved from place to place. This provides the only interesting
complication in the main mission. The game is filled with many side missions
that can be undertaken for money. However, the side missions are (for the most
part) very simple, and do not have interesting stories associated with them. The
game ends abruptly, and you're not even allowed to save the game. If you want to
port your characters to the sequel, save the file UCHARS.DAT.

 All hardware requirements, graphic and sound capabilities, and copy protection
methods (manual-based) are identical to those of the original release.

 With version 3.0, the MEGATRAVELLER game engine is now playable, but still
flawed. However, the flaws are correctable. Interplanetary travel and space
combat needs to be automated. MEGATRAVELLER suffers from simplistic
storytelling, but the various events in the game indicate that the game engine
can support some very complicated storylines. The NPC dialogues need to be
improved with some color, such as accents. It would be really nice if you could
save at any time. In the final analysis, this is a good game with strong
potential to be a great series, if and when the remaining flaws in the game
engine are corrected and the storytelling is improved.

 MEGATRAVELLER 1: THE ZHODANI CONSPIRACY is published by Paragon Software and
distributed by MicroProse.

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