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GARY Gygax adds a few more gold pieces to his secret hoard by allowing the D&D name to be used on Hillsfar, a new role-playing game from SSI. To what extent this partnership goes is uncertain, but seemingly only to the level of having Advanced Dungeons & Dragons scrawled all over the place – on the box, on the loading screen, on the hint booklet… er not that I needed to read it of course.
Before you go anywhere in Hillsfar you must select a character. This may be of the roll-your-own variety or from the obligatory selections of ones-made-earlier. If you bought Pool of Radiance or Curse of the Azure Bonds, then you can import your character from there, tax free.
Loading in characters – hah! That is a different experience. If there is one thing more annoying then 17 levels of requesters asking you if you are really absolutely sure, certain and positive that you want to overwrite the character in memory, then it is the total lack of any sort of warning whatsoever. Anyway, then you ride into the much fabled metropolis of Hillsfar. Well, maybe they did not have much to fable about in those days. Travelling the highway is itself an adventure. Watch out for all the obstructions in the road – trees, paddles, bales of hay… Added to that, the occasional crazed lunatic takes a pot shot at you from the trees. Who said raving paranoia was a disadvantage? If you do not believe in predestiny, then you are going to be very upset by this game.

There are four character classes – fighter, thief, cleric and magic user. Each has three quests available to him, always the same and always in the same order. OF course, what you do in your time off is up to you.
You can become horrendously wealthy by offering to clean out various persons’ chests while they are not about. You can also become horrendously dead ‘cos if they catch you in the backstreets trying to pick door locks they are going to send you home to your mother in a cardboard box.

The city includes a cemetery, an arena, a shooting range, various pubs – you cannot get a decent pint of Guiness in any of them – and a fair sized sewer system. What you do is totally up to you.
There are other locations outside the city if you want to brave the equestrian challenge again, but they are only really worth visiting if you have to go there as part of a quest. Otherwise you may as well have robbed somewhere closer to home, since once you break in, most places are the same – a maze with chests of booty lying about.

Sounds are generally OK but can be a bit strained at times, so they fit in excellently with the gameplay. To be truthful, it is probably a very accurate simulation of life in a primitive environment, it certainly captures the timeless tedium and pointlessness of it all.
The modus operandi of thievery has just reverted from touch screens and modems in high rise offices to the more noble lock picks and large swords in dank dungeons, but the quality of life is just the same.
Some of the little sequences you stumble upon, like the arena for example, are quite entertaining and graphically effective, but there is not too much to keep the interest above critical boredom level.
Lucinda Orr

There is no RPG system more famous than the AD&D one and SSI have spent the last couple of years trying to capture if not the whole system, then at least the feel of it, on computer. Heroes of the Lance was the first to appear and turned out to be more of an arcade adventure than anything else, then Pool of Radiance came out and was much more like the original system. And now Hillsfar, the second in the series to appear on the Amiga.

The game takes it name from the town around which the game is set and basically it is a mix of two different game styles: adventuring and arcade action.
The arcade side of things plays a less important role in the game and include such things as combat in the arena against various enemies like lizard men and minotaurs, riding your horse from one location to another, improving your aim on the archery range and running around searching for treasure and other goodies in the various mazes that appear to be in almost every house.

If you are more interested in the adventuring then you will find yourself wandering around trying to complete various quests. Of course before you start you will have to create a character, deciding what race he/she should be (human, elf, dwarf and so on), then the person’s occupation (fighter, thief, cleric and so on). Once you have done all that, it is down to you to decide just what to do – visiting the guildhall of your chosen occupation is always a good place to start – but whatever you decide to do it is largely up to you just how you go about it. Whatever path you take, though, it will not be long before you have to have a go at both sorts of game.

GRAPHICS AND SOUND
The screen is split intro three for the most part, the major portion being taken up with a plan view of the town with a small window to the left showing the town through your eyes. The remaining window is reserved for cameos of the various people you will come across and text messages. Overall the graphics are less than impressive, but they serve their purpose well enough. Sound, as well, is disappointing but it does not impair your enjoyment of the game.

JUDGEMENT
It is always difficult to produce a good game that is a distinct mix of two very different styles without upsetting the purists. SSI have tried very hard – and succeeded – at doing just that. For arcade fans who fancy a bash at something else in between the action events and for adventurers who fancy a slice of action then this is just the sort of thing.
Andy Smith

HILLSFAR

HILLSFAR is an AD&D "Forgotten Realms" role-playing game from Westwood
Associates (QUESTRON II, MARS SAGA) and Strategic Simulations. The game combines
the rigors of role-playing with adventure and arcade action, and offers colorful
3-D and overhead-view graphics, a large city and countryside to explore, quests
that depend on the nature of your character, arcade sequences, character
transfer from POOL OF RADIANCE or CURSE OF THE AZURE BONDS, keyboard and
joystick control, and a save-game feature. The Commodore 64 version is the basis
of this review; Amiga and Atari ST version notes follow.

Taken as a whole, HILLSFAR is a fine game. The graphics are very good on the
C64, the arcade sequences are smoothly done, and there is plenty to keep you
busy. The only drawback is the save-game feature, which can be used only while
in Camp. Unfortunately, there is only one Camp, and more often than not, it's a
zillion miles away.

Several options are available from the Camp, where the game begins: Characters
can be generated, saved, loaded, or removed from the Save disk (which can be
prepared in Camp). Also, characters can be transferred from other "Forgotten
Realms" adventures. Creating a new character consists of selecting a race
(dwarf, elf, gnome, half-elf, halfling, human), gender, class (cleric, fighter,
magic-user, thief, and multiple-class for non-humans), name, and alignment.

The computer generates scores, ranging from 3 to 19, for strength,
intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, constitution, and charisma. Scores can be
re-rolled until you've found a suitable character. Hit points are derived from a
character's constitution and class, as well as experience level, which in turn
is derived from successful adventuring and the accumulation of treasure.

Once you've created and saved a character, the only place to go is Hillsfar.
This is accomplished on horseback. The road is short, but danger presents itself
in the form of fences, holes, bales of hay, puddles, tree stumps, and low-flying
birds. Should you lose your horse, you can walk ahead, walk back to Camp, look
for a replacement horse, or just hang around and wait for help. In all cases,
you run the risk of being attacked by bandits.

On reaching Hillsfar, you'll be in the stables in the northeast section of the
city. You have to make your way through the streets to the Guild for your
character's class, and from there, your adventures in the Forgotten Realms
begin.

Hillsfar consists of streets, alleys, sewers, mazes, pubs, and a variety of
special buildings, such as the Arena, Archery Range, Cemetary, Book Store, and
Haunted Mansion. Some are always open; others only at certain times. All can be
explored and most have valuable items.

You can enter the Archery Range anytime during the day to either Practice or
Compete. Weapons are slings, daggers, darts, arrows, or wands (mages only).
Practice is free; competition costs a fee to enter, but can bring greater
rewards.

You can enter the Arena to fight for fame or wealth, or perhaps to pay for a
crime you've committed, such as getting caught in a building you've broken into.
You won't necessarily be killed in Arena combat, although it is a possibility.

Buildings can be broken into or otherwise entered, and you'll usually have a
finite amount of time to search the area, open chests and doors, pick locks,
avoid the Red Plume guards, and escape with whatever treasure you might find.
Should the guards catch you, you'll most often go to the Arena.

The C64 screen display consists of three-dimensional and overhead views of
Hillsfar, a message window, and character information. Each graphic display
scrolls as you move through the streets. Entering areas of interest accesses the
disk for new pictures, information, and options. The Archery screen consists of
a hanging target; birds fly across your vision, and rats crawl out of bales of
hay. The weapon cursor wavers as you aim each of your 10 allotted shots. In the
Arena, you're given a staff as a weapon, after which you and your opponent slug
it out until one is knocked unconscious.

With the exception of the keystrokes needed to use a healing potion, pause,
toggle sound, recall a clue, and pick a lock, HILLSFAR is entirely
joystick-controlled. The particular use depends on what you're doing. While
riding the horse, you can jump over obstacles (duck under them) and speed up or
slow down. In Hillsfar, you can turn right, left, or completely around, move
forward, or search the immediate area by pressing the button. In the Arena, the
stick controls blocking maneuvers and, with the button held, various attacks.
Keystrokes are available in place of the joystick.

The Lock Picking screen consists of the tumblers within the lock, and a set of
tools that look like surgical instruments. A fuse burns at the top of the
screen, indicating how much time you have to pick the lock. Using the stick, you
can select a tool that matches a particular tumbler. The tool can be flipped
over with fire button or Spacebar; the Return key does the picking. Choosing and
using the wrong pick usually breaks it. If you fail to pick the lock, a trap
might go off. Locks can also be forced, or opened with magical knock rings or
chimes.

HILLSFAR looks very good on the C64. Scrolling is smooth, as are the arcade
sequences. The city is large; new overhead views are periodically loaded from
the disk. The package comes with a Translation Wheel, which is used to enter the
Guilds. The game is copy-protected.

The best thing about HILLSFAR is that it's different from the usual AD&D quest:
Neither weapons nor magic items are allowed inside the city, so you have to rely
on your wits and adventuring ability. Noteworthy as well is the Arena; although
there is combat, it is not always mandatory. Mini-quests send you around the
city and the surrounding areas, which not only makes the game longer and more
difficult, but points out the bogus save-game feature, the program's only
drawback.

As mentioned earlier, the Camp is the only place where a character can be
saved: Game positions aren't saved, only a character's status. (The first two
offerings in THE BARD'S TALE series suffered from a similar save "feature.") On
being given a quest, you can leave Hillsfar to re-enter the Camp and save, but
while on the actual quest, saves cannot be performed. This is unfortunate, as it
takes the edge off an otherwise good game by making you play for a save rather
than a quest. You might weigh this factor when deciding whether to purchase
HILLSFAR.

AMIGA VERSION NOTES

HILLSFAR has been criticized often for its inclusion of arcade elements, but I
have to confess that I liked the game quite a bit. It's immense, and allows for
many different quest possibilities. The "role-playing" element is not the type
that fans of classic RPGs will necessarily find familiar or acceptable, but I
certainly experienced plenty of role-playing thrills in the various action
scenes!

The game comes on one copyable floppy and uses code-wheel protection, which
occurs partway through play. It's multi-tasking if your Amiga has more than 1MB
of RAM, and can thus be played from the Workbench (and windowed into the
background while running other software). Hard drive installation is simple.
Games can be saved on the backup disk, or you can make a save-game disk if
you're running out of room. Sound and graphics are unexceptional but effective.

The manual, as seems to be the case with all SSI products for the Amiga,
includes no specific instructions for the Amiga version; instead, these are on a
separate data card. There are only a couple of notable differences: Sound can be
toggled off with Control-S, and some clarification on how to handle the
lock-picking sequences is offered.

ATARI ST VERSION NOTES

The Atari ST version of SSI's HILLSFAR is more or less the same as the C64
version. The graphics are brighter and more clear, as expected, and the few
differences have nothing to do with gameplay.

The HILLSFAR disks are not copy-protected in the usual way, but any backups you
make will need Twister (available from Antic or CompuServe), a utility that
performs a 400K format on a single-sided, 3-1/2" floppy. Format two Twister
disks, then copy the files; the backups will be playable game disks. You may
also use a commercial copy program, or you can copy all files to a hard drive,
which virtually eliminates disk access. A second disk drive is supported as
well.

As I mentioned above, HILLSFAR on the ST is identical to HILLSFAR on the
Commodore -- including the not so good save-game feature. It's best to keep this
in mind.

HILLSFAR is published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. and distributed by
Electronic Arts.

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