THE SPECTRUM GAMES DATABASE

SOPHISTRY



PUBLISHER

CRL, distributed by Electronic Arts



AUTHORS

TFMG and TEBS



YEAR

Original Release, May 1988

Re-released on Crash magazine tape - Issue 63, April 89



DESCRIPTION

A unique arcade/puzzle game.



CONTROLS

Keys/Kempston/Sinclair/Cursor



On menu screen: Left/Right = highlight main option

                          Up/Down = highlight sub-option

                          Fire = select option/sub-option

                          Fire held down = return to main menu



In game: Up/Down/Left/Right = move pod

               Fire = Use upper

               Fire held down = Pause (fire again to unpause)



Game defaults to Cursor when originally loaded.



INSTRUCTIONS

The map of Sophistry comprises 21 levels. Each of these

levels is made up of many interlocking 'boards', which are

the 3D screens which have to be solved one at a time.



At the start of the game, only 20% of the entire map is

'open' - the rest is inaccessable because of locks present

between the levels. Your objective is to obtain all 64 keys

needed to unlock them, and they can be obtained either by

setting out to find them (they are all scattered throughout

the complex) or by amassing enough points to buy them.



To do this, you control a little pod who makes his way

through the complex by 'solving' each screen. He is only able

to jump in four directions, and release 'uppers' (more on

that later), but special tiles and screens can alter his

actions.



The main game screen (or 'board')

Select the little picture of the joystick on the menu and 

press fire to get a look at this.



Each 3D screen is made up of lots of little blocks. The most

common are the simple Scoring blocks, which have a Specrum

UDG shapes on them, and jumping onto them will give you a

score relative to whichever shape is on the particular tile.

(Full information on this can be accessed from in the game)

There is also a 'Joker' tile, which has an empty rectangle

upon it. This is worth no points, and cannot be 'altered' by

DEC, TRACK or Uppers (see later).



Scoring blocks can be jumped on in various sequences to gain

bonus points. Experimentation is best here, but one such is

the jumping on of identical-valued blocks in sequence.

These multiple-block actions will also award the player with 

Bonuses (denoted by the first two-digit number on the status

line, underneath the picture of the joystick), which will be

traded for Uppers upon the completion of a board.



Uppers are denoted on the game screen by the number

next to the upwards-pointing arrow. Tapping the fire button

on a board will cause all the Scoring blocks to increment by

one, up to a maximum of the block which scores 9. The joker

is not affected. These Uppers come in very useful depending 

on the type of board being played.



Remember that score is a very important aspect to this game.

Points can be used to buy keys, as well as lives and uppers,

so it is advisable to obtain as many points as possible on

screens where it is easy to do so.



Another important block is the TARGET block, which has a 

thick circle on it. This plays a part in the puzzles on many

screens, and its function is specific to the type of screen -

see the instructions for each screen type for details. Once

you have landed on it, it will move to another position on

the board.



The filled in blocks with the split rectangles upon them are

the exits to other boards. The edge of the board upon which

the exit lies determines which direction it is an exit to,

and to use it, simply jump off in that direction. So, to go

'east', jump onto the exit on the right-hand edge of the

board and jump right. If there are two or more exits on one

edge of a board, they will all take the player to the same 

screen, but remember that not all blocks on any one screen

are accesible from any one exit.



The blocks looking like holes are 'vertical' exits to other

levels. There is one type which will take the player up a

level, and another which allows travel down a level. They are

subtley different - see the main program to have a look at

them. Remember that some of these exits will be permanently

locked until you have found or bought the keys needed to open

them.



Wormholes look like vertical exits, but act like

'transporters', taking the player to another board, maybe on

a different vertical level, and almost certainly not at the 

same horizontal position. They are not random, however.



The top-left of the screen shows a 3D representation of the

exits available, with stalks showing the exits which can be

used. This may change depending on the type of screen being

played, for example if a certain amount of time must elapse

before an exit opens. Trying to use an exit without it being

open will result in loss of life, as will attempting to jump

off a board at an unmarked exit, or jumping to where there

isn't a block. The block to the right of the 'exit-map'

simply shows the block which the pod is currently sitting on.



You will also encounter blocks with question marks on, which

will perform a random action, such as giving score or

stripping the player of all current Bonuses. The action

performed will be scrolled across the bottom of the screen

when the block is jumped on.



Lastly, Key blocks hold one of the 64 keys needed to complete

the game. They are always in the same place throughout the

complex, but may not always be easily accessible. Remember

that keys can be bought as well as found. If you find a key,

jumping on it will collect it and tell you what lock it is

relevant to.



As well as the specific actions of each type of board, there

are also three variables to each board, shown by the text

beneath the game screen. 



DEC shows the Decrement Status. If this is ON, each time the

pod jumps off a block, that block will decrease in point

value by one, and it's UDG shape will change correspondingly.

If the pod jumps off a block with a points value of 0 (i.e. a

blank block), that block will disappear. However, it can be

retrieved by using an upper, which will force it back to a

value of 0. Jokers are not affected by DEC. If the Decrement 

Status is off, point values are unaffected by the pod.



TRACK shows the Tracking Status. If this is ON, when the pod

jumps off a block, that block will sink, meaning that if the

pod tries to jump on it again, a life will be lost. Jokers,

exits and Bonus blocks are not affected. In fact, jumping 

on the Bonus block will cause all sunken blocks to revert 

back to their original position, making them accesible again.



The LOCKED status details when and if the exits on the board

will be unlocked, as shown by the 3D symbol in the top-left

corner. 

UNLOCKED - all exits are unlocked for as long as the pod

           remains on the board.

SCORELOCKED - a certain number of points need to be amassed

                 before the exits will be opened. Usually this

                 is cumulative - exits are opened one at a time,

                 and the 'most useful' exits are normally the

                 last to open.

TIMELOCKED - a certain amount of time needs to pass before

                     each exit is opened.



On certain boards, if the pod remains for too long without

exiting, a Seeker will be released, which will attempt to

collide with the pod and destroy it, resulting in the loss of

a life. However, points can be used to restrict the

activities of the Seekers.









However, the main obstacles to the pods progression are the

different types of board it will come across. These are all

described fully in the game, but here is a brief description

of each one:



FREEWAY - No restrictions.

COUNTDOWN - Limited amount of time to exit board.

REPULSION - After a certain amount of time, movement in each 

               of the four directions will be prevented.

STOPWATCH - Stopwatch counts down, when it reaches zero, you

               must have either exited, be on the Target block,

               or not have moved.

JUMPY - The blocks around you will alternately sink. You can

            only jump onto a block that is currently sunk.

REACTION - Jumping off a block will cause it to move as far

            as it can in the opposite direction. The distance

            it moves will be the distance you jump.

CHAIN - A chain of low blocks follows you around. Contact 

            results in loss of a life.

HI-LO - A minimum or maximum points total is shown, which you

            must keep within before jumping on the Target block.

            Failure means loss of life.

NO RETURN - Jumping off a block means it will disappear

               forever.

INERTIA - You cannot stop moving unless you land on the

           Target block.

RATIONS - You are limited to landing on the Target block a

                certain number of times.



Usually, all these types of board are combined with the DEC,

TRACK and LOCK status, to make the board as difficult as

possible to complete.





THE MENU SCREEN

At the start of the game, and upon losing a life or exiting a

board, you will be returned to the menu screen. This is to

allow you to access information about the next board and/or

the map as a whole, exchange points for uppers or extra

lives, or quit the game. It should be pointed out here that

losing all lives will not result in the game automatically

restarting, instead this has to be done from the Menu Screen.

This is to allow you to buy a life even if your current quota

of lives is nil.



The bottom of the screen tells you how much of the structure

is open at the moment, and a 100% open structure means you

can proceed to Level 21 to complete the game.



The five main menu options are shown at the top-left of the

screen, and can be selected by moving the joystick left and

right to highlight the relevant option, and then tapping

fire.



PLAY BOARD (Joystick symbol)

Selecting this will take you to the current board.



HALT

This is the Pause option, and can only be selected from 

within the actual game, by holding down fire. 



INSTRUCTION MANUAL

Selecting this will present you with a list of things to call

up information about (do this by moving up/down to select it,

and press fire. Pressing fire again will return you to the

main list). The NEXT BOARD option will tell you what type of

board to expect next, the BOARD SYMBOLS tells you general

information about all the different types of block, and the

rest of the options are information about all the different

type of board.

Hold down fire at any time to return to the main Menu Screen.



MAP

Selecting this will give you a simple representation of the

structure of the level you are on, as well as a cursor which

can be moved about on the map. Depending on how well you

are doing, you will be shown information about each board on

the map, as determined by your Information Access Level. At

the start of the game however, you will only be able to see

the general structure of the level.  Hold down fire to return to

the main Menu Screen.



MAIN CONTROL

Selecting this will give you control over just about

everything. The letter and number on this icon (the small

monitor and 'TEC' written below it) tells you your

Information Access Level (starting at D8, which correlates to

level 1, and ranging up to A1). Many options within this

option will be disabled depending on your Access Level.



The sub-options here are:- (hold down fire at any time to

return to the Main Menu)



- CONTROLS, allows you to select a control method, selecting

                    keys will let you define the keys. 



- TAPE, allows you to save/load the current game.



- SOUND, lets you turn the sound on or off.



- DATA, gives you information about the various aspects of

            the board and map, the most important being the

            current status of the locks, and which keys you have

            collected.

            Much of this may be restricted depending on your

            Information Access Level.



- XCHANGE, allows you to exchange points for various things.

            To do this, simply select it and you will be told

            if you have insufficent score or if your Access 

            Level is too low to do so. The DATA option will

            tell you how many points each key needs to be

            exchanged for.



- RESTART, restarts the whole game from scratch.



HINTS/CHEATS

Most of the CHAIN boards are time-locked with DEC and/or

TRACK on, and it gets a bit dull avoiding the chain for 

several minutes. So, decide which exit you want to use, and

jump between it and all the blocks which surround it, thus

DECing them out and preventing the chain from reaching you.

Then, wait around for the exit to open!



RELATED GAMES

None.



INLAY CARD TEXT



SCORES

Crash, Issue 52 (May 88), p85, 90% (CRASH SMASH) - 'Complex, 

compelling and original'

SU, May 88, p43, 8/10 - 'Well crucial strategy bouncy thingy,

shame about the funny name' [SU with more typically intelligent

comment]

Your Sinclair, Issue 30 (Jun 88), p47, 9/10 (MEGAGAME) - 'A 

cracker'





URL

ftp://ftp.nvg.unit.no/pub/sinclair/snaps/games/by-letter/s/

sophistr.zip



FACTS

It's impossible to travel to Level 1, as for some reason it's

corrupted. Any screen you go to has the wrong information

about LOCK status, and any exits which do open do not exist.

You can also often start the board on a non-existent block,

and each board has a very 'random' feel to it, especially as

there are many blocks you can't get to.  This is obviously not

a problem, as any Keys which are supposed to be there can be

bought with points, but it's an annoying defect in what is

otherwise an excellent game.



NOTES

It is interesting that most of the magazines expressed

surprise that such an original and entertaining game could

come from the CRL stable, and presumably the public couldn't

stem it's disbelief either, as the game was sold barely a

year later to Crash to put on their covertape, suggesting

that full-price sales were less than awe-inspiring.
















































