What game is this? Platformer, can use jetpack, includes extensive level editor?

[db6128]

Hi all,

I've been wondering about this for years, and unless I completely dreamt it all on some weird night in the past, someone here is bound to know what I'm talking about!

I remember having a game, on tape, for the CPC in which you control a guy in a suit (white, IIRC) that also has a jetpack. First off: no, it's not Jetpac! The levels are, again IIRC, single screens that flick as you progress (like JSW, Chuckie Egg II, and so on). They were very colourful and active, including various moving enemies and types of scenery.

What really got me interested at the time, but that I never took enough advantage of before I seemingly lost the tape, was that it also included a level editor, which was pretty much fully featured and which allowed you to save to/load from tape.

Does anyone know what game this would be? Again, assuming I didn't just imagine it... which would be crap, and also a bit worrying.

Thanks!

[ivarf]

I remember such a game, in mode 0 released directly on budget. I can't remember much more except a the sound effect when you died and the colourful graphics. I think the game was quite large

[DARKGATE]

  Bye, i think can be this?
http://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=532

CAVES OF DOOM.

[ivarf]

Thats the one I remembered too

[Gryzor]

First off: no, it's not Jetpac!

Damn, that shut me up quick enough.

[db6128]

Gryzor: Heh, I only realised later that Jetpac didn't even come out on the Amstrad, which made me feel a bit silly!

Darkgate: That looks just like it! Great. ivarf, thanks for trying, too. Now I know what I'm doing later.

[Gryzor]

Not released? Damn, I'm getting old. Retro systems are becoming a blur

[AMSDOS]

Bye, i think can be this?
http://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=532

CAVES OF DOOM.

Like the nice simple colourful graphics.   
Kind of reminds me of On The Run which is a bit of a Jet Pack game, no level editor though. 

[Gryzor]

Quote from: DARKGATE on 31 October 2012, 22:32:33 Bye, i think can be this?
http://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=532

CAVES OF DOOM.


Like the nice simple colourful graphics.   
Kind of reminds me of On The Run which is a bit of a Jet Pack game, no level editor though. 

Looks... so... 1985...

[tastefulmrship]

Looks... so... 1985...

1985 wasn't as bad as you might remember. There were some pretty decent games floating around; lots of good MODE 1 games (Nightshade, Jet Set Willy: Final Frontier, etc) and some quite nice MODE 0 games, too! Including...

Cauldron
Commando
Dragon's Lair (Loved this one!)
Gauntlet
Sorcery Plus
The Devil's Crown
The Dragon's Gold (Brilliant for an AMSOFT title)
The Neverending Story (The adventure game of Champions)
Way Of The Exploding Fist
Yie Ar Kung Fu

[AMSDOS]

Don't forget we also had Sorcery in 1985 


I also like:

Chiller
Strangeloop
Assault on Port Stanley
3D Grand Prix
Contraption
Spy Vs Spy
Bounty Bob Strikes Back
Road Runner
Doors of Doom (I think AA gave this one 95% for the Graphics when they reviewed it)
Doors of Doom +
Who Dares Wins II (Ok this is crude, though it looks good without the colour clash).

[mr_lou]

To me it sounds like it might be Radzone.

EDIT: Ah, I read it wrong. Thought you wrote "No it's not a jetpac".
And I see you already said it was Caves of Doom.

[tastefulmrship]

I also like:

3D Grand Prix
Road Runner

3D Grand Prix was probably the best Amsoft game they published... but it was simply too hard to control!

The original Road Runner game WAS graphically impressive for 1985, but six years later the Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote game really showed how Amstrad games had visually improved... however, by then, the machine itself was dying out! Too little, too late!



ANYWAY! Caves Of Doom was not one of my favourite olde skool games. I remember spending a few hours removing all the "killing objects" and replacing them with fuel pods, effectively making the game almost impossible to fail to complete! I got bored!

[SyX]

From the 1985, i loved "The Covenant" so colourful, simply and fun

[tastefulmrship]

Actually, even going back to the first year of Amstrad, there were some pretty good games! Notable MODE 1 games; MANIC MINER, JET SET WILLY and anything by GEM SOFT.

MODE 0 goodies include;
Blagger
Bruce Lee
Fruity Frank
Mutant Monty (The first game I ever managed to complete without losing a life)
Roland In The Caves
Roland In Time (I like to go a-wandering...)

[Gryzor]

I never said there were no good games back then; actually it's a nice thing to play the early hits, they're rather different from what came down the road and often surprisingly nice!

What I meant was purely about its looks - programmers back then (wot? No gfx artists??!) hadn't gotten it yet and it shows...

PS Commando was from '85? Damn...

[AMSDOS]

I never said there were no good games back then; [snip]

I was just mentioning the games which looked nice, Roland in the Caves from 1984 is an example of a nice looking game which is just too difficult for long term appeal, which is why Roland In Time is more of a Favourite of mine. 

What I meant was purely about its looks - programmers back then (wot? No gfx artists??!) hadn't gotten it yet and it shows...

That's understandable. Games back then looked more down to earth in creating functional games. Sorcery perhaps is one of the earliest games to start pushing where graphics could go, and along with rival machines, if Graphics from 1985 were still being used in later years, games would of been harshly criticised. "The New Zealand Story" is a great example of it, I actually think it's a great game, but the Graphics sadly hinder it, though here and there there's a couple of nice gfx, I guess if looked as good as "Rainbow Islands", then the game would have been as good as "Rainbow Islands" perhaps better. 

BlaggerMutant Monty (The first game I ever managed to complete without losing a life)

Blagger is an excellent example of using INK swapping for animation. I think anyone who manages to complete Mutant Monty without losing a life deserves a smile, I'm hopeless at it. 

[Puresox]

I think New Zealand Story suffered more from poor scrolling , with a small Playfield. It made it difficult to enjoy or look past the average graphics. IMO

[AMSDOS]

I think New Zealand Story suffered more from poor scrolling , with a small Playfield. It made it difficult to enjoy or look past the average graphics. IMO

Hmm, I don't recall noticing any issues with the Scrolling in NZS, though the game Scrolls all 4 ways so the Horizontal Scrolling maybe rough compared to the Vertical Scroll, I've noticed some of Codies games which scroll 4 ways having a similar problem. I'm pretty sure that "NZS" and "Rainbow Islands" have the same size playing field which is typical of the later games using the Spectrum Screen. "Rainbow Islands" only has to scroll 2 Ways (Up and Down), though the Scrolling in that game is also rough, well at least when I was playing "Edd The Duck", the scrolling in that game appeared to be smoother, though I'm usually too busy playing the "Rainbow Islands" to notice what the scrolling is doing which kind of make it seem less important component in the game. 

[Gryzor]

Aw, come on, the NZS looked super cute!

[Puresox]

Seriously The scrolling totally ruins the game for me,(NZS) the graphics are not a massive issue , the scrolling is unbearable , I checked it out again just to refresh my memory and I stand by my quote, it is so annoying, in that you cannot anticipate enemy's positions,(The scrolling style is similar to Turrican , but worse, far worse) If the scrolling maintained your character in the middle of the screen then I would find the game quite enjoyable  and playable. It doesn't bother me the judder of the scrolling either. The mere fact that you have to walk to the edge of the screen before it scrolls.   

[arnoldemu]

Seriously The scrolling totally ruins the game for me,(NZS) the graphics are not a massive issue , the scrolling is unbearable , I checked it out again just to refresh my memory and I stand by my quote, it is so annoying, in that you cannot anticipate enemy's positions,(The scrolling style is similar to Turrican , but worse, far worse) If the scrolling maintained your character in the middle of the screen then I would find the game quite enjoyable  and playable. It doesn't bother me the judder of the scrolling either. The mere fact that you have to walk to the edge of the screen before it scrolls.

I agree, I hate these type of scrolls.
sad that quite a few cpc games had scrolls just like this.

[Gryzor]

Well, you're right about the type of scroll (was it flick-screen?), but I remember not caring too much back in the day despite the obvious problems it poses...

[AMSDOS]

I was more annoyed with the NZS loader. True was a hacked game from NVG, and instructions in the attached file make a note that it needs 128k, though it was failing on a 464 with 128k (which probably means it would also fail on a 664 with 128k). 

[arnoldemu]

I was more annoyed with the NZS loader. True was a hacked game from NVG, and instructions in the attached file make a note that it needs 128k, though it was failing on a 464 with 128k (which probably means it would also fail on a 664 with 128k). 

perhaps it uses direct calls into the roms for loading the levels?

I have seen some that do that.