Some games can perfectly do without overworked graphics and the characteristic movement of any arcade.

PSI 5 Trading Company is a space adventure (not conversational but with extensive explanations and numerous menus in English) well done and also relatively complicated. Once again we are talking about a conversion made on a CPC.

Behind this strange name, a great program is hidden. The graphics are simply masterful and, apart from the good screen presentation of the different menus with their respective windows, the characters that are part of the story are truly wonderful.

About the development of the game itself, we cannot tell you too much, because its complexity is notorious and the enormous amount of possibilities that are presented to us is incredibly numerous, which consists of an incredible and enormous space odyssey in which strategy has a place, humor, cunning, skill, business sense and all those skills that may be necessary to successfully complete an adventure of this caliber in which we play the role of the captain of a super-powerful combat ship.

We create the game ourselves, since we are responsible for choosing the crew that best suits our needs (pilot, engineer, mechanic…), as well as equipping the ship correctly, both in terms of weapons and reserves. .

PSI 5 is a very complete game in which we will take control of a commercial ship (not a combat ship). Our first job will be to select the entire crew, each crew member will be in charge of a specific section or department such as navigation, cargo, etc.

Once all the candidates for the respective sections have been chosen, we will be in a position to start “dealing” in all the space stations that we will find on our route full of dangers, pirates and others.

To play with all the guarantees, the program manual is absolutely necessary.

Introduction

Take on the role of a space freighter captain with the responsibility of transporting a variety of goods across the Parvin border. They are everyday things like Grananas and Prebliks that, depending on your preference, you must deliver safely to one of the available destinations.

The fact that Parvin's border is swarming with space pirates makes your task that much more difficult. These undoubtedly represent the descendants of the current SDP and other disaffected minorities.

One of the most interesting features of this game is the fact that you can choose your own crew members, six from a collection of thirty. Now you can't get a much stranger collection than this bunch, unless you regularly attend council meetings.

Almost all of them have peculiar names, as original as they are stupid. A personal profile of each one is available to facilitate your choice. Once this has been completed there are three missions to choose from. And so to the main game.

The screen displays two windows, one view from the cockpit of your ship, the other reserved for an image of any crew members who want to communicate with you. Beneath these is an instrument panel that includes all the usual kinds of information: speed, direction, shield status, weapon power, and so on.

The space freighter has five departments: weapons, scanning, navigation, engineering, and repair. Each department can be accessed by choosing the appropriate abbreviated words displayed below the instrument panel.

Therefore, a wide range of options and data is available for each department and is displayed in the lower half of the screen. This, in part, is where the game seems to get lost, engulfed by a profusion of details: options, sub-options, sub-sub-options…

The game

One of the most satisfying aspects of Psi-5 is the way crew composition affects mission success. The player has six options for each crew position (department). All six candidates are displayed on the screen.

When the cursor is placed over the cartoon and the fire button is pressed, a resume screen appears.

After selecting and finishing the team, the game continues through a split screen. The upper left corner of the screen offers a view screen that projects fore and aft views of the outside of the boat. The upper right corner shows an animated caricature of the crew member the player is communicating with (captain). The entire bottom half of the screen is used to display status.

At the top of the display portion of the screen is a joystick-operated menu that allows the player to control each of the five sections. Toggling any of the department labels provides a separate display for each of the five crew responsibilities. On the Weapons screen, you can review past performance stats, review current priorities and target layout, cancel commands, reprioritize, or command. Scanning provides a list of other ships, locks them down, and also informs the player of destination data and cargo status. Navigation enables risk assessment, commands for evasive maneuvers, course and speed selection, and provides estimated time of arrival data. The Engineering screen shows the current power output and priority layout and allows re-prioritization. The Repair screen shows what is currently damaged and allows assignment of robodroids to repair damage and prioritization of repair projects.

Conclusion

The game is both challenging and fast. It is extremely absorbing as crisis after crisis bombards the player. However, it's certainly not the kind of game that a person can unload stress on, as the command position in the game is extremely stressful.

Unfortunately, this experience is not very enjoyable. My crew members Boris, Nargo, Bronxaag, Craven and Swiglitz seem to bombard you with information that was very difficult to act on.

If you're prepared to be patient, you might find a game here that's worth playing, but you'll certainly have to wrestle with it.

Psi-5 combines 'fog of war', tactical options and smooth gameplay into one thrilling challenge and thrilling space adventure.

In the following images you can check the original packaging.

• Original cover

Here is the original cover.

* Retouched cover

Its measurements are: Width: 29.90 x Height: 13.20 cm.

The manual is printed on the back of the cover on glossy black and white paper. Its measurements are: Height 12.00 x Width 9.00 cm.

Original disc supplied with PSI-5 Trading Company.

Custom labels to print. Over the years due to their use, the labels are damaged and lose their color and quality. Now we try to adapt the closest thing to the extent of our possibilities, the labels so that they can be printed and replaced or for those of you who work with a copy of the program and preserve the original disc. Measurement in 3“ height: 7.00 cm - width: 7.10 cm. The first image corresponds to the original game label, the second is the same modified label to replace the broken one.

Coming soon

Poster

Here you have the poster. Measures: Width 36.10 cm x Height 35.00 cm.

Solution

1. Stay alert all the time. CONSTANTLY (!) check the Scanner with Browse and Show to quickly find potential attackers.
2. To save energy, place the weapons that the gunner cannot handle in the engine room.
3. If nothing (?) happens at this time, you can let the shield battery recharge by increasing its priority. Observe if the fired weapons have an effect ( visualization on the scanner or via acoustic signals = deep explosion sounds) and, if necessary, choose another type of shot.
4. If you are attacked, instruct the navigator to take an evasive maneuver and make sure the required weapons have power.
5. As soon as the shield battery is down to 0%, stop immediately, give the shield battery top priority, and first defeat all attackers before continuing on your course. This way, firstly, it prevents more attackers from appearing, and secondly, it makes sure that the shield's battery is recharged.
6. The following spaceships are always enemies, which can be shot without hesitation, although they themselves have not yet become aggressive: Zeltoads, Narviks, Kiffboks, Skronts, Lepsors, Flarkins and Xantogs.
7. The following machines must always be repaired first: both Reactors , Track Lock , Cargo Environment and Cargo Stab . If the last two are damaged, the products slowly begin to dissolve.
8. As time is totally limited, repair outages should only last as long as necessary until critical machines are back up and running. Damaged shields, control nozzles (“Retros”), Robodroids, or unused weapons should be repaired as best as possible during the entire journey.
9. In the last meters to the destination, you must use the remaining charge of the floating battery to be able to fly with the highest speed.
10. The life support systems of navigators or train drivers, who have mention of physical fragility in their file, must also be repaired as quickly as possible. Dead crew members cause a point reduction.

Game

The disc images, obtained from the original version of PSI-5 Trading Company, have been recorded and verified.

• PSI-5 Trading Company (Compressed .DSK file in ZIP format)

Manual

Below you can download the manual for the PSI-5 Trading Company game or view it online.

• PSI-5 Trading Company Manual (PDF file)

• Play PSI-5 Trading Company online
• Play PSI-5 Trading Company online