| ★ AMSTRAD CPC ★ GAMESLIST ★ YES, CHANCELLOR! (c) TOPOLOGIKA ★ |
Amstrad Action | YES, CHANCELLOR! (8000Plus) |
Remember the General Election way back in the mists of June? And how all the parties claimed that their economic policy was the only way to Get The Country Going Again? Topologika's 'Yes Chancellor!' is a simplified but realistic simulation of the country's economy, aimed primarily at the educational market, which lets you check out your pet theories and rubbish your rivals. Or just have a bit of fun. There is an alleged quote of Caspar Weinberger about the US Defence Budget which goes: “a billion here, a billion there - it adds up, you know..." With the Yes Chancellor package you get your chance to play with the country's millions: you take the role of the man in No. I I and guide the nation through a succession of budgets, deciding how much to fritter away on defence, law & order, education and social welfare. You also decide each year the level of taxation, fix the Bank Rate, and grapple with recalcitrant unions who all make ridiculous wage claims and are quite liable to strike if you don't give them enough. The PCW then works through the consequences of the figures you decide and shakes things up with a few (other) random numbers. The year passes quite disturbingly in the twinkling of an eye. and the results of your profligacy or parsimony are shown in graphic detail: the rate of inflation, the GNP. the political climate, the opinion polls and so on guide your policies up to a five-yearly election. If re-elected three times you get kicked upstairs to the Lords, and if your performance is good enough for the hall of fame your name is enshrined for eternity in such illustrious company as Hattersley, Jenkins, Lawson, Callaghan... There's a yearly pay round with the public sector unions and they can make pretty extravagant claims.
They usually settle for a few per cent under their claim but if your offer is still too low after three rounds of negotiation and they won't play ball there's a strike. The opinion polls get uncomfortably important by year five when the election looms and you suddenly wish you'd spent more on welfare and education to keep the plebs happy. If your popularity has slipped too far at election time you see 'The Opposition' chalking up seats at breakneck speed like a phone unit counter on a call to New Zealand. The program is primarily intended as a teaching aid for Economics students, and the accompanying interesting booklet gives a nice little outline of the economic structure of Britain. Things tend to be a bit drab in presentation, and the endless lists of figures can dull the brain a little; but then it could be argued that this captures the atmosphere of the typical budget very well. There's a homespun look about the screen formats and graphics and there's even the odd spelling mistake or two. The economic simulation is obviously very simplified but is surprisingly realistic and subtle - inconsistent policies destabilise your economy uncomfortably quickly and it takes a lot of fine tuning of figures to keep inflation, borrowing, pay claims and public support under control. Yes Chancellor works on four levels of difficulty, from one ('testing the water') up to four ('walking on water'), and the difference may not be obvious until you suddenly realise on year three of the top level, with more or less the same figures that charmed a nation back in level one. that inflation is rampant, the economy is crumbling and the peasants are revolting. It's great fun testing out your pet theories and seeing how quickly things get out of hand! 8000Plus |
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Page créée en 154 millisecondes et consultée 2895 fois L'Amstrad CPC est une machine 8 bits à base d'un Z80 à 4MHz. Le premier de la gamme fut le CPC 464 en 1984, équipé d'un lecteur de cassettes intégré il se plaçait en concurrent du Commodore C64 beaucoup plus compliqué à utiliser et plus cher. Ce fut un réel succès et sorti cette même années le CPC 664 équipé d'un lecteur de disquettes trois pouces intégré. Sa vie fut de courte durée puisqu'en 1985 il fut remplacé par le CPC 6128 qui était plus compact, plus soigné et surtout qui avait 128Ko de RAM au lieu de 64Ko. |
