OVER 2 YOU 234 (07/06/05)

GENERATION GAMES

My elderly mother now has very restricted movement of her hands, preventing her from enjoying many of her past hobbies, such as embroidery. Can anyone recommend computer games, appropriate to her age, that require little hand movement, which she could play on a laptop PC?

Jon Warren, via email

Your correspondent could consider a game called 'Pharaoh' for his mother. It is based on Ancient Egypt, from the age of the Great Pyramids to the years of the new Kingdom, and one builds villages and towns.  'Govern all aspects of the exotic Egyptian culture from religion to trading with distant cities.'  It all has to be done in the correct order, or everything collapses.  The game can be played at different levels, and as far as I can tell does not involve zapping everything in sight, but as it gets more advanced there will be some battles to be won. It is a Sierra program marketed by SoldOut software, and I think obtainable at places like PC World.  My copy was given to me, and it is proving to be addictive when I get going on it. If she can use a mouse, she should have no problems on the computer.

Carol Grimston, via email

My favourite games are Roller Coaster Tycoon 1 and 2. I enjoy the management aspect as well as the scenery. Another good game for similar reasons is Zoo Tycoon where the graphics are very realistic. Also Monopoly where you can play against one, two or three computer opponents. Shops such as Game, GameStation and PC World generally have a good range of games and they are not particularly expensive unless they are very recent releases.

Margaret Kingman, via email

Jon Warren's mother might enjoy a tile matching game based on Mahjong. Visit www.f1-software.com for a download of "Piles'O'Tiles" to try before you buy. Be warned - it's very addictive!

Marjorie Clarke, via email

I enjoy Bookworm, an online word game from www.popcap.com/gamepopup.php?theGame=bookworm, and Jewel Quest from Zylom Games (www.zylom.nl/game/300/jewel-quest.html). You can test both games before purchase.

Julia Ram, via email

I can strongly recommend Kyodai Mahjong. This costs $22.95 to download and has a superb range of Mahjong games for people on their own. I have used it myself and friends and their children soon gravitate to it when they visit me. The website is www.kyodai.com and I believe that there is also a free version to test

Alan J Burton, via email

GARDEN DESIGN

My wife and I have recently moved to a new house with a largish garden that probably contains well over 100 different and varied shrubs and conifers. We would like to get them named (we know someone who will do this for us) and then map them out professionally on a sheet no larger than A3. Can anyone suggest a way of doing this on our home computer?

Ric Toovey, via email

Have a look at 3D Garden Composer. It’s a really versatile piece of software that lets you design a plan for your garden based on digital photographs. It contains an encyclopaedia of thousands of plants -- regularly updated over the Internet -- and a guide to garden pests and diseases. You can ‘tour’ the garden using a virtual viewer and there’s a 3D option, using special glasses. There are more details and a free trial: www.gardencomposer.com/, prices for the program start at around £25.

Ron Peters, via email

There are some very helpful reviews of a wide range of garden design programs at: www.sisley.co.uk/emp_uk/soft.htm. It lists more than a hundred titles, so you are really spoilt for choice and there’s bound to be something to suit your needs. Software can be purchased direct from the web site, often at quite competitive prices.

Margaret Payton, via email

POLISH PASS

My father-in-law (a soldier) died recently and in his papers we found a "Wehrpass" a sort of passport belonging to a WW2 German soldier, all in perfect condition. It would be nice if we could restore this booklet to the present generation of this man's family. It's written in German, some of it in the old "Gothic" script. Although a German soldier it looks as if he could have been from a Polish family. We do not have any knowledge of either the Polish or German languages. Could any reader, help us in our research by directing us to appropriate web sites etc. either here, Germany or Poland.

Eric Blackburn, Stockton on Tees

The simplest way, and probably the most accurate, is to send copies, asking for assistance, to the appropriate Embassy. The German Embassy helped me in a similar request some years ago.

Dennis Jackson, Old Colwyn

CAN YOU HELP?

I have a Smith Corona 3900 PWP - it has been a loyal friend and still works well. But I have to move on and purchase a proper computer. My problem is I have lots of vintage steam engine stories saved to my floppies in PWP and ASC11 format. Does anyone know of a program, which I can use to transfer them over to Microsoft Word without loosing any of the data?

Tim Keenan, via email

My father was in the Royal Navy during the last war.  His ship, for part of the time, was H.M.S. Sikh, which was sunk at Tobruk on September 14th, 1942. Dad received a Distinguished Service Medal. He was eventually picked up from the water and spent time in an Italian prison camp. He was never very keen to talk about any of this, said he didn't want to relive the experience. I do have his medals and a few newspaper cuttings but would love to find out more. Can anyone suggest a suitable website or resource for research? 

Pam Sturrock, via email