81 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
81 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
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PICTIONARY: THE COMPUTER EDITION
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Chances are, if you haven't actually played the popular party game, PICTIONARY,
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you've probably seen it being played, or have learned something about the rules.
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Briefly, it's a team-oriented game in which two groups of players compete to
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guess as quickly as possible the word or phrase that the "artist" players are
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trying to draw.
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PICTIONARY: THE COMPUTER EDITION is an attractive, enjoyable translation of the
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game to the computer screen. A repackaged version of the original team game,
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this edition allows you to play solitaire, or with up to four human players
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competing. The former option pits you against the computer as the artist (you
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don't get a chance to draw); the latter allows the players to take turns
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drawing, or to allow the computer to do the work. (This review is based on the
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IBM-PC version of the game).
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Not surprisingly, the game is best when played like the original party game,
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using teams. For the human artist, PICTIONARY comes with a convenient set of
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tools that allow quick drawing of straight lines, curves, boxes, circles, and
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triangles; freehand drawing is also supported. You can also change drawing
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colors and perform quick-filling of closed figures with a variety of patterns or
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colors. There is a practice mode to allow players to become familiar with the
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tools. Drawings can be made with a mouse, joystick, or keyboard, although a
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mouse or joystick is required for the greatest enjoyment and control.
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The card deck that assigns the next word to be depicted in the original version
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has been replaced in this edition by a set of four laminated cards, one for each
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competing team. The computer assigns a row and column from this card within the
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category; the category is determined by the location of that team's playing
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piece on the simulated game board. The artist looks up the word or phrase at
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that position, and then is given one, two, or three minutes (depending on game
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level) to represent that word in a drawing. One category ("All Play") allows the
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opposing team to also try to guess the word, and take over control of the
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computer "easel."
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On the game screen, there are drawing toolboxes in columns on the left and
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right sides of the screen; the main drawing area is in the center. At the bottom
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of the screen is an information box indicating whose turn it is, along with
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instructions for taking a stab at the answer. Also, there's a countdown timer:
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When the time runs out, the answer is displayed, and play continues with the
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last person who correctly answered. Across the top of the screen is a pull-down
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menu bar, with options for game type (solitaire, challenge, or team), time
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limits (1, 2, or 3 minutes), and drawing practice.
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The solitaire and multiplayer versions of the game are not quite as successful
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as the team version, although the computer is probably the better artist. This
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is because the computer often draws an elaborately detailed object and adds an
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arrow or other detail at the last moment to indicate which part of the object is
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being referred to. (Clever human artists add the arrow early in the drawing.)
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This rewards conservative play, tends to peeve daring players, and somewhat
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diminishes the excitement of the game.
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If anyone enters a "quick guess" before the time is up (to try to get a time
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bonus added to their score), the computer stops drawing and displays the answer,
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thereby preventing the other players from guessing. Although it's a slightly
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harder programming problem to "keep the clock running" in this situation, it is
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feasible, and it would have added to the enjoyment of the game.
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PICTIONARY comes dual-packed with two 5-1/4" and one 3-1/2" diskette. Graphic
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support includes EGA, VGA, CGA, Tandy 16-color, and Hercules monochrome. The
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graphics, however, are EGA at best: colorful, but not VGA quality on a VGA
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monitor.
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There are no sound effects or music cards supported. There's also no copy
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protection, either on disk or off: You can make working copies of the diskette,
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and either install it on your hard drive or play it from a floppy.
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I found PICTIONARY: THE COMPUTER EDITION fun to play -- especially with a small
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group of computer-literate people; I'm not certain I can envision a large group
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clustered around the machine at a party. Additionally, young children may find
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the drawing tools a little difficult to control, limiting family play somewhat.
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Even so, PICTIONARY is a nicely done translation, and worthy of consideration as
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an addition to your family's software library.
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PICTIONARY: THE COMPUTER EDITION is published by Domark, Ltd. and distributed
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by Broderbund Software.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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