European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 6, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes computers tuesday september a 1994 finding the right role Mode latest games live in a fantasy world by Michael j. H1mowitz Baltimore Sun my older son Ike has Een fooling with computers for 11 of his 15 years so he knows a thing or two about games. In fact he a reached that jaded Point in life where head rather read a Good Book or play roller hockey than play a bad computer game so when i find something that keeps him glued to the screen i usually take a look at it. What has him hooked these Days is the elder scrolls Arena irom Bethesda soft works a role playing game that he says extends the genre tar beyond its previous limits for those who prefer to vacation electronically in worlds of knights dragons magicians trolls goblins ores serpents and evil wizards. For the uninitiated role playing games have their roots in the Rich literature of fantasy fiction and in the game of dungeons and dragons a Long honoured pastime that involves a group of people sitting around a table constructing adventures in magic worlds according to a bizarre and arcane set of rules which is generally known Only to the Dungeon master whose main Job consists of settling arguments. These kind of games made their Way to computers Early on although the original Jet adventure titles left much to be desired typically they involved some kind of quest such As freeing the Beautiful Princess of mylar from the evil spell of the sorcerer tsuris and players navigated by typing commands such As a go North a or a get sword a or a kill  the computer responded with a comment telling them whether they were successful or had just become troll meat. A i. A. A a it. As computers and programmers became better games advanced from Sim pie adventures a one character and one quest a to True role playing games which allow you to choose your character a Knight a peasant a magician and specify the characters attributes a strength Speed thieving ability swordsmanship magic etc., Down to the last detail. Straight text also gave Way to detailed graphics and the inclusion of Arcade style animation although me a elder / a a j of v., 4s 1 scrolls \ / m a a ,1 1. A 1 a Tjw brains continue to be Jnore important than reflexes. R a. Role playing and adventure games Are now the second largest category of entertainment software right behind flight simulators. While adventures have taken on Many topics ranging from Futurist conspiracies to modern angst witness Leisure suit Larry in the land of the lounge lizards role playing games remain True to their fantasy roots. The original dungeons and dragons game has spawned an entire series of computer titles and Arena which has been in the top 10 list among entertainment titles is Likely to beget its own. A a. A a a. A a a a a a a Bethesda soft works boasts that Arena offers hundreds of graphics 400 cities and towns 2,500 magical objects 18 different types of characters and 150,000 words of text. I did no to count but having seen it i  doubt the company sword. An enhanced cd rom version of the game is due out this fall and a sequel called Dagger fall is scheduled for release in january. Since i believe in deferring to experts i decided to let Ike write this re View. Herewith is his report the elder scrolls Arena is not a Standard computer role playing game or Reg. In Many rugs a player is forced Down a predestined path. Instead Arena is More like the old paper and Pencil games run by people. It allows the player to choose his or her own quests for hundreds of magical objects or treasures. Arena does have a main objective for those who wish to follow it the player must save the rightful emperor of the known world from an evil Bat Lemage who has usurped his Power and placed the emperor in another dimension. To do this the player must gain All eight pieces of the staff of chaos hidden around the continent and then confront the evil Bat Lemage. However the player is allowed to continue to play in the games world after completing the quest. Arena is Strong in Many areas. The player has total control Over the race and occupation of his character allowing for a Large number of options ranging from a Wood Elf sorcerer to a Kha jilt thief. This also forces the player to use varying strategies. For instance being from a race of thieves a Khan it might decide its better to run from a Knight when caught in the act of burglary which Seldom happen whereas a Wood Elf Bat Lemage May simply decide to cast a spell on the Knight. How Ever the Bat Lemage is caught considerably More often than the thief. Also magic is much More powerful because Arena allows the player to create thousands of different custom spells from 80 different magical effects. Quot. Arenas via graphics and game design Are impressive providing smooth animation of people and objects. In Many cases your character the scenery and computer characters Are All moving at the same time with natural motion. However when one zooms in on the characters one finds Little detail in faces or clothing. There Are some drawbacks to Arena including a Large number of bugs despite several updates. These can make game play frustrating. Other major problems involve equipment setup and configurations. The program takes up 26 megabytes of hard disk space. It also requires 4 megabytes of ram including 2 megabytes of expanded memory and 610k of conventional memory. Getting 610k of free conventional ram is almost impossible without using a separate Boot disk to Start your computer. While Arena will run on a 386-25 ism compatible computer a 486dx-33 is recommended for maximum performance. It ran reasonably Well on a 386-40 but did slow Down on some occasions. In fairness to Bethesda soft works on line help is available to users of Prodigy Compuserve and America online. On these networks it is possible to Send messages to an employee who will help arrange a new configuration or answer any questions you have. For information Contact Bethesda soft works 1370 Piccard drive Rockville my. 20850.communist s trial halted after Berlin a the 86-year-old communist who ran East Germany a secret police for three decades went on trial monday in the shooting deaths of people who tried to flee to the West during the cold War. T but the proceedings were adjourned after a half Nour when Erich Mie Kels attorney filed a motion to remove the chief judge because he paid Mielke a Surprise visit in the Moabite prison Hospital last week. The state court judge wanted to assess Mielkey a health. But Mielkey a attorney said judge Hansgeorg Brautigam showed Bias by not making sure Mielke had Legal counsel present for the. Visit. The three other judges will decide whether Brautigam should be removed. In 1993, Brautigam was removed from the manslaughter trial of former East German Leader Erich Honecker after he passed on a request for Honecker a autograph from an alternate judge in the Case. Canadian ships handed Over haitians to ., group says Erich Mielke 86, former chief of the East German secret police appears in court monday in Berlin. Mielke already is serving a six year term in berlins Moabite prison for murdering two policemen in Berlin in 1931 outside communist party Headquarters. By the Toronto Globe and mail Toronto a confidential Tel exes show that Canada contravened its own Legal advice by handing Over haitian boat people picked up by Canadian ships to  Authorities the Canadian Council for refugees says. But both the department of immigration and the department of National defense deny the allegation. They said the Council a Montreal based umbrella group representing 150 refugee Organiza. Tons in Canada has a misunderstood the situation.�?�. Tel exes obtained by the Council under the Canadian Access to information act and dating from october 1993 Are directions from the naval command to Canadian ships operating in support of . Sanctions against Haiti. A document dated Jan. 13 reminds Shi commanders of their obligation to Rescue people in distress at sea saying that a there is some Legal basis to an argument that once on Board a Canadian naval vessel Asylum seekers have Access to the Canadian refugee determination  cmdr. Douglas Caie a National defense spokesman said Canadian ships picked up 123 haitians in two separate rescues 67 on july 6, and 56 on july 8. They were transferred to  Vessels which took them to the  Navy base at Guantanamo Bay Cuba where they will be detained indefinitely. According to the Legal opinion in the document the haitians should have been brought to Canada said David Matas a Winnipeg Manitoba immigration and refugee lawyer who is president of the Canadian Council for refugees. A the policy does not say to hand them Over to the americans a he said in an interview. A calling in  Ships to Deal with the haitians is not an absolution. Rather it suggests that Canada is trying to avoid bringing haitians Here trying to avoid the implications of the  Pamela Cullum an immigration department spokeswoman said Canada has not forcibly returned to Haiti any refugee rescued at sea. Distributed by Scripps Howard news service