STARFLIGHT II: TRADE ROUTES OF THE CLOUD NEBULA

 I've been waiting to get my hands on this for several years now. I had a lot of
fun with the original STARFLIGHT I, and the storyline of STARFLIGHT II is
equally entertaining. That's the good news. Unfortunately, there is also bad
news: This is one of the most frustrating games I have ever endured. (This
review is based on the IBM-PC version.)

 For its off-disk copy protection, STARFLIGHT II uses a combination of a
trademap (a map of the universe you're playing in) and what they call a
navigation calibrator. That's a contraption you place over the map on its x-y
coordinates and look through the opening. The computer then asks for a piece of
coded information. Seems pretty simple, right? Wrong! I completely wasted the
first ten hours trying to play this game, in which I answered the code question
correctly only once (and I'm really not that stupid).

 Every time you leave your Starport, you're asked for a code. When you answer
the code question, it never tells you if you're right or wrong; it just asks if
you're sure. You find out if you are wrong anywhere from one half-hour to
several hours later, when the Interstel Police pull you over. Then you get _one_
more chance: Blow it, and the game is history. Perhaps there were problems in
printing some (if not all) of the maps; some dark blue stars look purple, some
orange stars look red, and if you happen to be slightly colorblind, forget it!
Electronic Arts says it will provide a replacement map for colorblind players,
but I don't think anyone should have to go through that hassle in the first
place. Different lighting conditions can also affect how the colors are
perceived. This is probably the first time I've ever been convinced that an
off-disk protection scheme really stinks.

 Some things about STARFLIGHT II are good; it's just hard to find them when you
have so much trouble getting started. There are many more alien races to
interact with (30 in all); planetside trading with different races (some of
these guys like to bargin hard); time travel; somewhat better resolution in some
places; a good story line; and interaction with some old and some new
space-faring aliens. The universe you play in doesn't seem as dense (there
aren't as many systems and planets) as the origional, but with 150 star systems
and 500 planets to explore, there's plenty to do. A few of the speciality items
are neat: Jump pods allows you to cross great distances, although you don't
always end up exactly where you expected; blasto pods are a good weapons system;
and there are an assortment of other items that might prove useful.

 Although I played the IBM-PC version on a 386-16 (0 wait states) clone,
STARFLIGHT II is the _only_ game or simulation I've encountered that runs slow
in many places: It's barely playable. I shudder to think what it's like on a
PC/XT/AT-class machine. When you're tooling your terrain vehicle around on a
planet's surface, it can actually take a second or two to go from one option on
the control panel to another. The speed of moving between commands is also a
problem in other parts of the game. And if you're not careful, several stacked
commands might be processed while the computer is waiting a second or two; those
commands are saved in the type-ahead buffer and executed when the computer
catches up to you. In some sections of the game, this can get you killed (i.e.,
the game is blown) with just one wrong answer. Make sure, therefore, to enter
your commands _very_ slowly. Your computer may be fast, but this game is not.

 The graphics of STARFLIGHT II are somewhat improved over the original game
(STARFLIGHT I). In EGA/VGA mode, the opening screen is quite nice. When you
encounter other races, their images are well-illustrated, but that's about as
far as it goes. The interface (command menus), ship's graphics, etc., are
basically the same as the original. You get more colors and it looks a bit more
detailed, but the ultimate effect is the same.

 With a game as big and complicated as STARFLIGHT II, a save-game feature is a
_must_. But in this game, the procedure just doesn't work as stated in the
manual, which means that after hours of play, you can find yourself up the creek
(or downspin) without a paddle. A lot of Gamers' Forum members on CompuServe
have come up with various fixes; some seem to work on some systems, and some
don't. The one thing that apparently worked for me was saving the game and
exiting; saving and continuing worked only intermittently. One of explanations
offered by Electronic Arts is that it might be a DOS problem. However, the
manual says the program supports DOS 2.11 through DOS 3.3; I used 3.3 and still
had problems.

 Bottom line: If you have played and loved the original STARFLIGHT I, and you
can't live without trying STARFLIGHT II, I hope you have a lot of time and
patience. Otherwise, I'm sorry to say, I must recommend that you avoid this
game.

 STARFLIGHT II is published by Binary Systems and distributed by Electronic
Arts.

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253