Big K Magazine, Oct 1984. Contents. GAMES PROGRAMS: HEXAGON for ZX81, LANDER 64 for CBM 64, .22 ALLEY for SPECTRUM, DOGS for ORIC, AIRBORNE ATTACK for SPECTRUM. UTILITY PROGRAMS: ATARI PLAYER MISSILES, ADVENTURER'S DATABASE for SPECTRUM 48K. SOFTWARE REVIEWS: Pick of the Month, Review Pages. HARDWARE: MSX: our first look. ADVENTURE SPECIAL: Dorkslayer!, A Wolf in Dungeon Master's Clothing, MUD, Glorious MUD, They Wrote One, Classic Games of Our Time, What's New from Hobbit House?, For This Man X Marks the Spot. FEATURES: Lame Games. REGULARS: On-Line News, Arcade Alley, Taylor-Made Graphics, Charts, Letterbase. COMPETITION: Win Wico Joysticks. PICTURE CAPTIONS: Travel in time back to World War I (p.100), to the near future with MSX (p.76) or to a mythical past as seen through the eyes of Dorkslayers everywhere (p.40). STAFF: Tony Tyler - Editor, Richard Burton - Assistant Editor, Ian Stead - Art Editor, Nicky Xikluna - Features, Andy Green, Kim Aldis - Technical, Steve Keaton, Richard Cook, Richard Taylor, Bernard Turner, Dave Rimmer, John Conquest, Nigel Farrier, Paul Walton, Tony Benyon, Trevor Spall, Barry Leverett - Publisher, John Purdie - Publishing Director, Luis Bartlett - Group Advertising Controller, Robin Johnson - Advertisment Manager (01-261 5119). EDITORIAL ADDRESS: BIG K, IPC Magazines Ltd., Kings Reach Tower, Stamford Street, LONDON SE1 9LS. PHONE: 01-261 5818/6249, 01-261 5660 (Advertising). IF IT'S AN ARTFORM IT MUST BE O.K.: It seems a little ironic that the oldest form of computer game - the "Adventure" - is today both the fastest-growing and the form that seemingly holds the greatest untapped potential. Even in the six months since BIG K last covered this subject in any depth (May issue), the number and types of computer adventures have taken off in a kind of interactive mini-boom. New varieties and sub-varieties have appeared. No longer is the humble text-only job alone in the world. We have graphic adventures, some aiming for a "movie" feel, others for a "comic" look; combined arcade-adventures; quasi-adventures; multi-player adventures for micros and mainframes; and mixtures of all of the above. It's also true that the basic adventure format - interaction with the software via keyboard input - now recognised as the bedrock for a whole future artform. And where the word "artform" leads can "respectability" be far behind? Will some of the terminal computerphobes who guard the nation's culture soon be forced to chuck in the sponge and admit that perhaps computers are not, after all, Satan-inspired? Watch this space... TONY TYLER.
