SPECTRUM GAMES DATABASE

ESPIONAGE ISLAND

PUBLISHER
Artic Computing

AUTHOR
Unknown

YEAR
1982

DESCRIPTION
Espionage Island is a classic text adventure with no graphics at
all. It also uses no colour with just black on white text. The
basic scenario is the you are doing a recon mission to and island
where you are shot down. You have to find out the secret of the
island and return to your aircraft carrier.

INSTRUCTIONS
Espionage Island uses the familiar adventure commands i.e. North,
South, West, East, Up and Down to move (can be shortened to
N,S,W,E,U,D) to different locations. To pick up any items just 
type in 'GET item' and to see what you are carrying type in 
Inventory (or Invent or I for short). If you are really stuck you
can type in HELP but as usual this can be very cryptic.


INLAY TEXT

*outside cover*

You have to survive an engine failure whilst flying over an 
apparently uninhabited island in the South Atlantic.  Learn to
treat the natives with respect, avoid capture and harass the
enemy and return with the islands secret.

*inside*

ADVENTURE D: ESPIONAGE ISLAND

Adventures are games in which you explore strange new worlds 
without leaving the comfort of your home.  The computer will act
as your puppet and control your senses.  You instruct the
computer with short phrases usual Verb Noun. If the computer does
not understand then try to re-phrase the command. When entering
your command you may use the DELETE key to erase any letters. In
each location you may find objects which you can manipulate and
use in further locations to help your progress. The game is
written in machine code. The program is saved with the name
"ADVENT" but is simpler to load by LOAD "" CODE command.

In Adventure D you may have been sent on a reconnaissance mission
to observe an enemy island. Somewhere, hidden on the island, is
a secret. Your mission is to observe the island.  Unfortunately,
one of your engines is hit be enemy fire and you are forced to
abandon your plane. Your adventure begins in the aeroplane and
leads to the heart of the enemy stronghold. You must then return
to your aircraft carrier, but beware, your side may be fooled by
your disguise. As this adventure is very large, the program also
had cassette routines with which you can load and save a game at
any stage, to return to at a later date. To save the game you
QUIT the game. The computer then asks if you want to save the
game. If you reply 'Y' the computer will display the READY
CASSETTE. Now start your cassette player on RECORD and hit any
key. The game takes 2 seconds to save. To play a previously
stored game. When you run the program you are asked if you wish
to restore a previously saved stored game. If you answer 'Y' the
computer again displays READY CASSETTE. You then cue up your
tape; press play on your cassette and hit any key. The game will
then continue from where you last left it.  

GOOD LUCK!
(c)1982 ARTIC COMPUTING


SEQUELS/PREQUELS
There were none as such, however Espionage Island was the fourth 
in a series of seven adventures by Artic, these included 

Advent A - Planet of Death, 
Advent B - Inca Curse
Advent C - Ship of Doom
Advent D - Espionage Island
Advent E - Golden Apple
Advent F - Eye of Bain
Advent G - Dead at the Controls


SCORE RECEIVED:
Sinclair User - Gilbert Factor 5, in the later * system used
in SU it was given 3 stars which is rated as Nothing Special.

GENERAL FACTS:
This game was converted to the ZX81, I am not sure is it was
converted from the ZX81 version (as it was with Planet of Death) 
or visa versa. One strange thing is that it runs on 16K in the 
ZX81 version but the Spectrum version says on the tape that it
is 48K. I haven't played the ZX81 version so I do not know if
there are any differences however I suspect that it is the same
as Adventures A-C were converted to the Spectrum from the ZX81.
This was the last Artic adventure that appeared on both formats
and the next game (Golden Apple) used the Spectrums capabilities 
using coloured text on black (but still was text only).  As I
have said the programmer is unknown however some graffiti which
you can examine in the game says "Rick was 'ere 27/09", is this
the name of the elusive programmer ?

CHEATS:
Here are some hints:-

-Don't forget to wear your parachute, and also remember you need 
 to open it as well !

-The dark bundle is your parachute, try removing it.

-Search the dark corner in the wreckage use what you find there
 to trade with the natives.

-The Swamp, the clue is in Stitched swamp. This is another word 
for SEWN, use these directions to get through.

-In the control hut there is a socket to place the explosives and
a switch to detonate it but be careful

-When you fly in the helicopter don't take a straight southern 
route, try going round about.

NOTES:
Looks very basic but under the surface it is very fast and unlike
a lot of adventures at the time was written in machine code. The
game was unique in that you didn't use LOAD "" to load it,
instead you had to use LOAD "" CODE. It was also very tricky and
devious and in some cases precise words were needed. The first
2 problems you encounter (particularly the second one) are very
hard and can prove to be a problem to all but the battle hardened
adventurers. There were also a lot of humorous touches as well
(in a dark humour type of way). Lighting the match where there
is aviation fuel swimming around isn't very wise and remember the
native woman is married!
 
Also of note is the fact that it used the standard packaging for 
spectrum programs at the time (like Chequered Flag and VU3D where
the company name and logo was restricted to a small box at the 
bottom of the front cover.
