Have you noticed the new brand of superhuman that is around these days? When rising unemployment, high cholestrol levels and the likelihood of overexposure to the Olympic Games are enough for most of us, there are those of rare good sense, who, without regard to witches, ogres, trolls or their brains seek excitement in the world of adventure games. Now for those wh have been gifted with more than their fair share of superhuman powers, there is Creating Adventure Programs On Your Computer, an Interface Publication written by Andrew Nelson: Superheroes read on...

The book itself is quite an adventure. At times I had to rely on my own superhuman skills to fathom it out. An exciting battle with the binder notes followed by skirmishes with the pages that lurked within failed to reval for which particular computer adventures might be created, although, to be fair, the text is very general and the program listings, which were in Basic, could easily be adapted to suit any Basic dialect. Equally mysterious was the price, although I'm sure there must be one, there was no evidence of such, which makes it a bit tricky to judge whether the softback 236 pages between represent good value.

Adventure games represent a substaintial proportion of the sotware available for home micros, while books on their creation are something of a rarity. It was refreshing to discover a text removed from the run of the mill '100 Imitations Of Your Favourite Arcade Games' type that are in such great abundance. Having recognised some uncharted or unwritten for territory, has Andrew Nelson been able to set his mark on the ground he pioneers/ Will the reader, as promised on the binder notes, 'soon be creating magnificent Adventure Programs'. Without leading you a merry dance or on a wild goose adventure, the short answer is no. Well, maybe.

If the type of adventure you see is the picture sort, then go no further for this book is not intended to offer guidance on graphics. Andrew Nelson's adventures are word based and rely on you to draw your own pictures. That is no bad thing for it means that the scope of the adventure can be greater than one that was restricted by graphics. It also means that the design of the game is significantly more simple and can easily be discussed in full within the book.

While any adventure game will be judged for its individuality, it is the effectiveness of its design structure - common to all adventure games - that makes it reliable. In the eighteen months that Andrew Nelson has spent 'playing, devising and programming' adventure games he has learned well the importance of structure and devised his own effective method which he introduces in the book. the three adventure programs contained, Werewolves And Wanderer, The Aftermath Of The Asmovian Disaster and The Citadel Of Pershu, are examples of the application of his design. The text uses these to show home from an initial idea, a full adventure can be built.

From laying the floor plan to developing handling techniques to a final elaboration of the game, reference is made to one of these examples. By following the author's guidelines, a systematic approach to adventure games can be developed and applied to your efforts. No book can guarantee that it will enable you to create "magnificent" games, but many abstract concepts have been explained and, once attained, the reader is empowered to create a reliable adventure base.

Unfortunately, while it was possible to recognise and appreciate Nelson's technique and indeed to learn from it well for it is not too demanding or complicated, it was difficult to follow his train of thought and I foun that several readings and a fair deal of intuitive guesswork were required. "All I can do is ask you to proceed on trust," is to me a rather lame request, better perhaps if the author had spent a few more months planning the book as carefully as he had studied adventure games. I wonder if the publishers were aware of the deficiency and the need for repeated reading and made allowances for such by including pages 189-302 twice!

Achieving magnificence is an individual thing. A magnificent adventure program depends on a reliable structure and the inventiveness of the creator; that inventiveness depends on the creator's background knowledge. Chapter 21, 'Adding Excitement', offers several pointers to features of a good game and sources of information and background. If the reader applies the technique offered by the author, he can create an adventure game; by heeding the advice on characteristics of good games, the reader will be in a position to create a better program.

These are the things that this book can teach. What a pity the text is at times unclear for all the right information is included. Programmers with a working command of Basic will understand any programming techniques used. Maybe only those with an adventure experience will succeed in unravelling the text.