![[Robot City]](../../../graphics/r00088i1.gif)
You
awake after crash landing onto a bizarre planet in a city built by robots,
inhabited by robots, and ruled by robots. You haven't entered the Twilight
Zone but you have entered "Robot City" an interaction multimedia adventure
game for the science fiction fanatic in your family. Shortly after your
arrival you discover the robots consider you the prime suspect in a murder
case and place you in confinement. It's quite evident these robots guarding
you are new at this and escape is quite easy. But, there are hunter robots
out there that are not so easily fooled.
The objective of Robot City is to search for clues that will solve the murder and provide evidence to prove your innocence. During your visit to Robot City you are expected to unlock the hidden knowledge of Robot City's mysterious human creator. These robots are entertaining as they have all the characteristics of humans in that they can change their minds, can be fooled, be very stubborn, and their logic is not always based on common sense. The most unusual thing about Robot City, besides the fact that only robots live there, is the way that the streets and buildings rearrange themselves as you move around. I found maneuvering the streets of Robot City to be very awkward and found myself completely lost several times. You must always remember the Three Laws of Robotics in order to save yourself and Robot City, and thus shape the future of human- kind and robot-kind. Don't know them you say? Just ask a robot!
Help in this adventure is as close as the Robot City Hints and Tips World Wide Web site. By pointing your Web browser to http://www.byronpreiss.com/brook/rcity/rcity.htm you'll find all the hints of a hint book.
The stated minimum system requirements is a 486SX/25MHz, 8 MB RAM, SVGA graphics card, double speed CD-ROM, mouse, Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. My system is a "plain vanilla" 486DX2-66MHz,16 MB RAM, SVGA graphics card, sound blaster 16, quad speed CD-ROM, MS Mouse and Windows 95. I was please with the performance of this multimedia game even with my tired old system. This product comes on two CD-ROM discs, marketed as Windows CD-ROM it works with Windows 3.1 and is Windows 95 compatible. Robot City is also available on the Macintosh platform.
Installation was not completely uneventful but did require some effort on my part. I have not forgotten the good old days of wrestling for hours with video drivers, sound cards and CD-ROM drive configurations to install one game. Not so with Robot City, The only real hitch in the installation was when I was required to change my video configuration from 16 million colors to 256 colors (8 bits)after getting the error message" The display mode must be 8-bit (256 colors) to run Robot City." I didn't even have to reboot Windows 95! That was my only installation snafu, I could get use to this! But ,should I complain about the omission of autoplay with Robot City? Technical support is provided Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST.
List price for Robot City is $49.95. A search of several local software retailers in the area failed to turn up the Windows version I did however find Robot City for the Macintosh for under $30.00. To get the Windows version you'll have to call 1-800-945-3155 (when calling this phone number you can expect to be treated rudely so don't say I didn't warn you).
Robot City is produced by Byron Preiss Multimedia Company, Inc.,
24 West 25th Street, New York, NY 10010. E-mail: welcome@bpmc.com