Wibstars Walkthrough, ZX Spectrum

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Published on July 30, 2016 7:20:16 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu-LPU_GajU

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Walkthrough

Duration: 40:04

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A walkthrough of the ZX Spectrum game, Wibstars. From the recording originally sent to http://www.rzxarchive.co.uk/ . Some notes from the submitter:

Wibstars
RZX by Jim Waterman, 29 July 2016
Recorded using Spectaculator 8.0 - playing time 39:55

The latest nugget of RZX gold from the muddy waters of Sinclair Research's 90-odd-games compilation in association with Argus Press Software is Wibstars - one of my absolute favourites as a nine-year-old but which was (as is the way with this compilation) pilloried to all corners of the Earth by the magazine critics and the players of the time.

But in these days when I hear the complaints about couriers and mail services escalating every day, is this (apparent) parody of an inept delivery service as relevant to today as it was in 1987?

What you have to do in this game is: buy computing goods from the wholesaler, drive around the town to your chosen shop, deliver the goods to their door and get paid for your work.

Sounds easy? It isn't. Be careful what you buy at the wholesaler, as their hyperactive dispatch workers will send everything flying at you so you can only sell what you can catch in the van - anything that ends up broken on the floor is wasted.

Driving around the town is complicated by a competitor who blocks your way and spews damaging junk out the back of his van - but you can always pick up a few extra items to sell later. And arriving at the shop, the path to their door is straight out of the mind of Heath Robinson, strewn with item-destroying traps and a lift that has a mind of its own...

I find the best start is to buy two Spectrums at the wholesaler (at £100 each), catch them both and head for where they can be sold for a large profit - there are two shops who pay twice the cost price or more. Tapes cost £5 from the wholesaler and floppy discs £10.

My quest for this RZX was to play the game "properly" - visit the wholesaler regularly (rather than just at the beginning as I'd usually do), visit all fifteen of the shops (as opposed for heading straight for the one that I know pays the best rates), and see if I can turn in a decent profit that way. Starting with £200, I'd say finishing with £2,000 is a viable target...

...I have, of course, used Rollback, to minimise both van damage and wasted goods at the wholesaler and the shops. If I could do that in the real world, I wouldn't be sitting in front of a nine-year-old laptop with a Spectrum emulator making RZXs of 30-year-old games, I'd have bought a van by now and I'd be out there making so much profit I could literally buy Microsoft *and* Google before the year is out. But real life doesn't come with a Rollback button...

This is a list of shops I've visited, in order - with the prices they pay for each of the goods. I don't say where I've made a trip to the wholesaler; can you work out *why* I went there to buy a few goods *when* I did?

1. ZIFF'S - tapes £4 (worst price), discs £7 (worst price), Spectrums £210 (best price).
2. GREY'S - tapes £8, discs £15, Spectrums £120.
3. WHITE'S - tapes £7, discs £13, Spectrums £112.
4. O'NEAL'S - tapes £8, discs £15, Spectrums £120.
5. WESLY'S - tapes £7, discs £13, Spectrums £112.
6. HANIF'S - tapes £8, discs £25 (best price), Spectrums £80 (worst price).
7. ABDUL'S - tapes £5, discs £10, Spectrums £100 - all at cost price.
8. BROWN'S - tapes £9, discs £14, Spectrums £140
9. COHEN'S - tapes £8, discs £15, Spectrums £130
10. OMAC'S - tapes £8, discs £15, Spectrums £160
11. JONES'S - tapes £5, discs £14, Spectrums £130
12. PATEL'S - tapes £4 (worst price), discs £9, Spectrums £90 - all below cost price!
13. SMITH'S - tapes £6, discs £12, Spectrums £105
14. GREEN'S - tapes £7, discs £13, Spectrums £110
15. ARGUS'S - tapes £10 (best price), discs £20, Spectrums £200.

Wibstars is a game from A'n'F Software, which by 1986 was part of the Argus Press Software empire. The prices paid by Argus's in this game are outlandish. On one hand it could have been a subtle piece of "hey, look at us, we're brilliant!" advertising embedded in the game... or was it something shadier?

Ste L. Cork, the programmer, says in an interview (http://www.worldofspectrum.org/interviews/CorkSte.htm) says he used to joke that they might be an elaborate money-laundering operation as they couldn't possibly be making any profits; neither could their namesake in this game!

Also, did I mention that even if you're playing the Amstrad or Commodore version, you'll still be delivering Spectrums?

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