"Outpost 19" for Blue Ram BASIC Review -------------------------------------- By Dave Carson Extracted from: "Extended Memory Products Review," ARCADIAN, 6, no. 11/12 (Oct. 31, 1984): 118-119 As busy as I'm told that Mike Peace has been, he still finds time to crank out a new masterpiece every once in a while. "Outpost 19" is his latest Extended BASIC creation and definitely is a masterpiece. More software like this and interest in the system would be growing rather than declining! The scenario of the game is that you are stranded aboard a lonely space station. Searching your surroundings will reveal trophies and treasures that you may "pick up" for points. You will also find that you are not quite alone. There is a really bad guy on board that can pass through walls, leaves a trail of "poisoned" garbage, and is obsessed with getting rid of intruders (you)!! He also poisons the treasure in the room that he's in so don't pick it up when he is present. The space station is equipped with a computer which you can access by pulling the trigger. In doing so, you will be shown a location grid that is more or less a map of the level that you are on. It shows all of the rooms, room numbers, and whether there is still a treasure in the rooms. The grid also shows your location and the location of the monster in his quest to get to you. Use it often!! The rooms are numbered from one to sixteen. In the even numbered ones, you will get a burst of energy (speed) when picking up a trophy. In the odd numbered rooms there are invisible transporters that will send you to a new location on outpost 19. These transporters are always in the same place and will always send you to the same room. It takes play experience to become familiar enough to use the transporters efficiently. After reaching the fourth level, the monster begins to use his own transporter. So beware! The rooms are all different in their general layout. They each have a treasure and some type of simple maze configuration. The doors may lead in any of four directions with some being "one way", meaning that if you go through then you can't get back by the same door. Room 13, shown here [the original article has two B&W screenshots], has an east door and a south door. Your player piece is the face near the east door. The "fire plug" in the center is the treasure. There is a transporter somewhere (maybe in the maze??). The status line at the top shows room number and remaining lives on the left. In the center is the most valuable treasure at the present time. In this case it happens to be the one in this room. Your score is on the right. The lower status line keeps track of the items that you have collected. You need all sixteen in order to advance to the next level. The computer display below shows the player location in room 9 and the bad guy in room 11. The trail he's leaving shows his progress during the time this display was used. The status lines show level, lives, current most-valuable trophy and trophies gathered. Outpost 19 is a relatively easy game to play in the early levels. Later levels present an entirely different situation when the monster can use his own transporters. There is lots of fun and challenge for everyone in this game. It takes strategy to stay ahead of the bad guy and when he gets close, skill and reflexes. Don't touch his trail. In fact, don't touch anything in the room but the walls if he is in the room with you. The use of graphics and color in "Outpost 19" are great. So is the sound and overall playability. With the exception of one or two cartridges that I can think of, this may be the best piece of game software yet in existence for the Bally-Astrocade machine. This may be a rather strong statement but it's my honest opinion. I really hope that mike peace can continue to find the time to write in E.B. and produce software for us. The more he does, the better it gets. Each seems to be more sophisticated and innovative than the last. Keep it up, Mike, we need you. Mike needs our support in order to do this type of work. Keep it profitable for him. I have yet to see an E.B. game from him that I could not fully recommend. By all means, "Outpost 19" is a "must have" piece of software for all Blue Ram users. It has my highest recommendation!!!