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Level 9's latest adventure is called Snowball. It is, to say the least, rather large; there are 7,000 locations. The game has a realistically planned layout and, according to the author, would actually work in real life.

It is a new idea in adventures. There are no treasures as such and you don't score points by finding things hiding at a hut, a crossroads or a road by a forest... instead you score points if you do things that help you in your task. This is to get to the main control room and to rescue your ship. You will lose points if you are caught by the Nightingales (this part is rather easy) or if you die.

In order to give you a hand, Level 9 have provided an envelope (but no stamp like they used to) so you may ask questions. Answers are truthful and straight to the point.

The program is written in 'a-code', a very compact language with text messages at around half the size of normal memory requirements, i.e. 'the' takes up one byte. All this data compression means that a game can be crammed into less memory than usual.

The program loading has various parts. The first resets PAGE to &1900. The second is a title page. The third plays five and a half minutes of superb music to avoid total boredom while 65 blocks of code are loaded on board. Finally a short anonymous section is loaded in. The game itself is simple to play but difficult to solve. For example, what's the bank of ten buttons for? Answers on a postcard please. It has taken a mere nine months to perfect this masterpiece and I envisage taking a similar length of time to complete it.

The documentation is absolutely first class. There is a twelve page manual of background notes and hints.

Dave Reeder