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Text File  |  1997-01-16  |  8KB  |  138 lines
  1. 066010303050001132002006006010000
  2. 11
  3. 2#1
  4. F0110000001
  5. 9[....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....]0110
  6. Ç
  7. +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
  8. -Q-BLUE-
  9. +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
  10. AgameforFalcon030
  11. programmedbyMarkusBinder
  13. Thetextfilewiththisgameisminimalindeed.Andthefewscanty
  14. Englishwordsinformusthatthisismoreofa'jokethanagame'.
  15. Intrigued,webootQ-Blueandwaitforthejoketobegin..
  16.  
  17. ..oopswe'reinthewrongresolution,(perhapsthatwasthejoke)
  18. (thisisanotherGemgamespecial)soafterputtingitinto320x240
  19. truecolourmodewemakeasecondattemptathavingsomefun.
  20.  
  21. Sportingthecorrectresolution,wewaltzintotheintro..A
  22. somewhatchunkyrenderedintropictureofatank-seenfroman
  23. overheadview-isfollowedbyacreditsscreen,usingthesystem
  24. font(oritstwinbrother)againstanice,wibbly,copperybrown
  25. backgroundtexture.Thisinturnisfollowedbytheonly
  26. configurableoption,asyouareaskedtochooseyourvehicle
  27. speedfromthechoiceof:fast,quickandswift(er..aren'tthey
  28. allthesame?-Ed)..translatedthisshouldread:quite
  29. playable,completelyunplayableandtotallyutterlycompletely
  30. unplayable.Butmoreofthatlater.Alsoonthisscreenisthe
  31. 'Redrobotspeed',whichisproportionaltoyourownspeed,soifyou
  32. increaseyourspeed,therobotspeedwillautomaticallyincrease
  33. andthegamewillnotactuallybemadeanyeasier.Infact,increasing
  34. yourspeedmakesitharderforyou,butagainmoreofthatlater.
  35.  
  36. Onceyouhavechosenyourtankspeed,alittlerenderedpicture
  37. ofatankwiththeusual"GetReady"sortofspielisdisplayed.It
  38. haschristenedyou'Buddyboy',soafteraquicktriptothenearest
  39. phoneboxtochangeintoyourcheesysuit,slickbackyourshorthair
  40. withappreciableamountsofspittleandaffixyourblackrimmed
  41. glasses,youpressspaceandalmostenterthegame.Almost..but
  42. thecodercouldnotresistprolongingthesuspense,aenigmatic
  43. Çsentence(perhapspartofthejoke?)isdisplayed:'Doyouknow
  44. whatoldfashionedmeanes?'(sic).Hmm,atthispointwefeelthatare
  45. beingtentativelyprimedNOTtoexpecttoomuch,nottotaketoomuch
  46. seriously.Weceasetoevenexpectthatagamewillemergeoutof
  47. thislabyrinthofintroductionscreens.Andwecertainlywonderifit
  48. willbeworthalltheeffortexpendedtoreachit.Butwithourlast
  49. sparkofpatiencewestrikethemuchabusedspacebarandthegaming
  50. fieldemerges..
  51.  
  52. ..butstillonemoredelayisyettobeendured!asyet
  53. anothersmallpictureofarenderedtankappears,thistimewitha
  54. briefexplanationofwhatyoumustdotocompletethislevel-
  55. collectallthe'blueradioactiveballs'toescapefromearth.
  56. Dismissingthislastdelaywithasnarlofimpatience,weareintothe
  57. game.
  58.  
  59. Thegamingfieldismostlygreen,onsomepartsarespeckledgreen
  60. squareswhichlooklikesomeonehasscatteredabouteightlightgreen
  61. pixelsonagreenblock.Someoftheseanimateveryoccasionallyand
  62. thesearetheswampsquaresandmustbeavoidedbecauseifyoudrive
  63. ontothemyouwillbeinformedthatyourtankisnotan'amphi-car'
  64. andalifewillbelost.Thetroubleisthattheswampsquareslook
  65. verysimilartonormalsquaresandsoitisdifficulttotellwhatis
  66. swampandwhatisnotandthiscanbefrustrating.
  67.  
  68. Theblueballsaredistributedaroundthelevel,usuallyplacedin
  69. areasofheavyswampandyoumustdriveyourlittletankaroundthe
  70. leveltoreachthem.Alsoclumpedinclustersaroundthelevelsare
  71. crateswhichyoucanpushinfrontofyourtank,theseareusedin
  72. laterlevelstopushontospecialblocksandconvertthemintoblue
  73. ballswhichcanthenbepickedup.Therearealsoyellowballs
  74. whichhavesomethingtodowithpowerfuel,buttheydidn'tseemtodo
  75. much.Justcollect'emanyway.
  76.  
  77. Onthefirstlevelthereisalittlespinning,renderedearthin
  78. thecentreofthelevel,anicelittletouch.Andasthelevels
  79. progress,thepuzzleschange,(someofthemhaveadistinctChip's
  80. ÇChallengesfeel)onone,youmustdrivethecorrectwayarounda
  81. 'maze'-intheloosestsenseoftheword-becausethegroundyou
  82. driveoverturnstoswamp.Butitissuchatokenmazethatitis
  83. perhapsalittletooeasy.
  84.  
  85. Theredrobotsemergeafterafewlevels,takingtheformofsquare
  86. blocks.Theysortofhomeinonyouandtryto'restrictyour
  87. mobility',butaresoslowandeasytooutwitthattheymightas
  88. wellbewearingBlackburnshirts.However,Ihavenotseenthemwhen
  89. theyarefaster(i.e.whenyouhaveincreasedyourownspeedandthus
  90. increasedtheirs)sotheymaywellturnintoSheffieldWednesday
  91. Gods..whoknows.
  92.  
  93. Ihavenotseenspeedyrobotsbecausewhenyouincreaseyour
  94. ownspeed(evenonlyto'quick')yourtankmovesSOquicklythatit
  95. isalmostimpossibletocontrolaccurately(especiallybecausethe
  96. controlsarejoystickonly)andinvariablyyouendupblunderinginto
  97. aswampand/orknockingthatcrucialcrateagainstawallandgetting
  98. itstuck.It'sagoodideatohaveoptionsinagamesothatplayers
  99. canconfigurethegametosuittheirownwishes,buthaving
  100. optionsthatrender(ha-bloody-ha-Ed)agameunplayableseem
  101. alittlepointless.Iftheoptionshadincreasedyourspeedbya
  102. reasonableamount,theywouldhavebeenaniceaddition,butasitis,
  103. theymightaswellnothavebothered;cateringforsuicidalgamers
  104. shouldnotreallybeapriority.
  105.  
  106. Well,forajokegame,thereismoretothisthanMarkus
  107. Binder'sothergame'SolitarDeLuxe'.Itmaybealittlelacking
  108. graphically,(althoughtherenderedpictureslooknice,therest
  109. ofthegraphicsaredistinctly16colourish)butthegameplayis
  110. definitelytryingtostruggleoutofaGemstraight-jacketand
  111. shout"I'mSane!".Forthepuzzleaddict,Q-Blueisatruebluefind,
  112. somethingofaGem..?
  114. HHIGGGHHSSSS
  115. HHHHIGHHHHSS
  116. HHIGGHHSS
  117. ÇHHIGGGGHHSSSS
  118. oFun,addictivegameplay
  119. oLevelsgrowincrementallymoredifficultsoaddtolongtermappeal
  120. oSomenice,renderedgraphics
  122. LOOOOWWSSSS
  123. LOOWWSS
  124. LOOWWWSS
  125. LLLLOOOOWWWWSSSS
  126. oNomusicorsoundFX
  127. oNotthegreatestin-gamegraphicsever
  128. oGembasedgame
  129. oJoystickonly-nochoiceofcontrolmethods
  130. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
  131. TheauthorofQ-Bluecanbecontactedbywritingto:
  132. MarkusBinder,
  133. Schumannstrabe17,
  134. 40789MonheimamRhein,
  135. GERMANY
  136. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
  137. Ripley/ReservoirGods.
  138.