tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post915692531961584558..comments2024-03-29T02:34:55.592-04:00Comments on The CRPG Addict: Revisiting: Alien Fires: 2199 ADCRPG Addicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-88255989422284261762023-10-10T13:56:52.179-04:002023-10-10T13:56:52.179-04:00I appreciate your recollections of the game from c...I appreciate your recollections of the game from childhood. From the context of your entry, I'm not sure that you realized there was a second entry on the game in which I won it:<br /><br />https://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2017/04/alien-fires-won-with-final-rating.html<br />CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-63015551212837846822023-09-18T17:44:12.312-04:002023-09-18T17:44:12.312-04:00Ah, memories! We had an illegally copied version ...Ah, memories! We had an illegally copied version of this (almost all our Amiga games were illegal copies, which I feel bad about now) along with a photocopied manual so we could answer the copy protection question. My brother and I spent many hours at it even though we could not get anywhere. It is extremely difficult to win a fight. Eventually you can get projectile weapons which do a lot better damage, but ammunition is very hard to come by. Unfortunately, due to the fact that we could not get anywhere without being killed by the first hostile character we ran into, we always set our fighting as all our points and gave no points to anything else. We didn't know at the time that this was why the gumball from the gumball machine always poisoned us. If you were too stupid, you would not recognize a poisoned one and would die. If you were smart, you would get your health restored at the end of each level by eating a (non-poisoned) gumball. I only learned this much later. <br /><br />The other problem with our approach is that with our diplomacy at 0, it was much easier to accidentally piss off a character sufficiently that they would attack you. Some characters that are not necessarily hostile will attack you anyway if your diplomacy is 0. <br /><br />The "rabbit horse" as some call him is actually named Mangle Tangle (I guess his name goes with his being a badass), and was my favorite character in the game. I think of him as a jackrabbit-centaur. I am pretty sure he's supposed to have the big hind legs and small front legs of a jackrabbit, alongside also having (freakishly long, in comparison) human arms and a human torso. I'm just sorry the art on his back legs is rather garbled so I would always wonder what the deal with his feet was.<br /><br />My brother and I were so excited when we did find Angel, but she doesn't really tell you much useful. She tells you to find Darkmoon, but the character you run into who the game identifies (briefly) as Darkmoon if you manage to click the examine button before he starts kicking your ass... always just immediately jumped on us and started kicking our ass. On rare occasions we managed to make it far enough to find the ladder to the third level, and then almost inevitably we would get blown out into space somehow by our lack of dexterity on the ladder (remember how we allocated our points...). I think only one or twice did we make it past that and it required a huge string of luck.<br /><br />The other weird thing (of many) about this game is how many bizarre items you find that seem to have nothing to do with anything. We found a "snake symbol" and were sure that was something very significant, and then later found a guy who is half snake, but he has no reaction to showing him the symbol.<br /><br />I always found this game to have a very eerie atmosphere because of how empty the station seems even though you come across static characters on occasion, and because of the ominous rock music. It's a shame it was an unplayable game. Worse, we didn't realize it and figured we just weren't good enough at it; the idea that some games were just designed badly didn't occur to me at that age.BunnyHuggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00714663559341552636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-77840309602654196022023-09-18T17:24:32.882-04:002023-09-18T17:24:32.882-04:00I'm inclined to agree. I had this game back i...I'm inclined to agree. I had this game back in the day, and while I was extremely excited by the reference to "Time Lords" because I was absolutely obsessed with Doctor Who, I was also basically the only person in my (American) school at the time who knew about it. Even the nerds at my school only really talked about Star Trek. I had learned about Doctor Who from a couple of friends in another city. Doctor Who fandom was extremely niche in the US in the 1980s. BunnyHuggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00714663559341552636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-17007566558375650992019-06-18T12:42:40.389-04:002019-06-18T12:42:40.389-04:00"You can sense it trying to create the perfec..."You can sense it trying to create the perfect assembly of elements that young male players of the 1980s would like. For the plot, it crunched the numbers and figured out that 70% of video game-playing nerds were Dr. Who fans, so it made the main character a "Time Lord" spinning through space in a TARDIS-like vehicle."<br /><br />I think you grossly overestimate how popular Dr. Who was. Until the reboot, references to the series was a cause of bewilderment to most overseas players.Morpheusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-85153421419474529632017-04-19T14:16:04.809-04:002017-04-19T14:16:04.809-04:00Don't be so sure... It makes as much sense as...Don't be so sure... It makes as much sense as some of the stuff written by Eugene Ionesco...tlhonmeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03256644187305759072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-69560697232808895442017-04-14T02:16:59.239-04:002017-04-14T02:16:59.239-04:00Wait, is this Canadian? That would be somewhat emb...Wait, is this Canadian? That would be somewhat embarrassing fora game this bad to be my countries first CRPG. I guess we eventually give the world some of the best to make up for it.Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-53060780484657995392017-04-11T17:18:08.380-04:002017-04-11T17:18:08.380-04:00Yes, well said. You definitely move between discre...Yes, well said. You definitely move between discrete points, but the graphics "slide" between them, suggesting continuous movement, and you can turn and walk at 45 degree angles, AND the shapes of the walls makes it seem as if the "tiles" are different shapes.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-84649547863972685362017-04-11T13:50:36.986-04:002017-04-11T13:50:36.986-04:00Thanks for sharing that. Thankfully, it doesn'...Thanks for sharing that. Thankfully, it doesn't sound like computers will be taking over scriptwriting any time soon.<br /><br />I love how half the dialogue is "I don't know what you're talking about."CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-29115798582361541402017-04-11T01:40:43.188-04:002017-04-11T01:40:43.188-04:00Your introduction made me wonder whether you'v...Your introduction made me wonder whether you've seen this short film of a screenplay that was generated by a computer program? Someone fed a bunch of sci-fi screenplays into a computer and it spit out a script. Then they had actors act it out:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY7x2Ihqjmcronaldsfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15221297712822999741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-26727747194579261032017-04-11T01:24:28.181-04:002017-04-11T01:24:28.181-04:00Glad you're revisiting this, it's an extre...Glad you're revisiting this, it's an extremely interesting game to me, but I got stuck as well... never got past the first area. :/CRPG Bookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10218041029874438142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-89868818759795929892017-04-10T10:04:04.428-04:002017-04-10T10:04:04.428-04:00Dr Sbaitso: The game!Dr Sbaitso: The game!erikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05088258287586749431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-89962950714144479952017-04-09T16:05:06.106-04:002017-04-09T16:05:06.106-04:00Don't be silly. It's Milius doing the plun...Don't be silly. It's Milius doing the plundering. Coppola just made it look fucking gorgeous. Gerald Groyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07617904986733890440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-13956485496692889662017-04-09T06:16:13.042-04:002017-04-09T06:16:13.042-04:00Interesting that ST has such a bad graphics when i...Interesting that ST has such a bad graphics when it used to be a battle between ST and Amiga in the 80's.<br /><br />Maybe they had to rush with the port for ST.Petri R.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-91126279108813167322017-04-09T01:00:43.977-04:002017-04-09T01:00:43.977-04:00I am pretty sure that Jagware's "Sky Matt...I am pretty sure that Jagware's "Sky Matthews" is the same guy who is currently a CTO at IBM, but just as you I can't google up conclusive proof of that. But I can dig up an 1980 8th grade yearbook photo of the now-IBM-CTO standing next to one "Jeffrey Simpson" at a private school in Ottawa -- the home city of Jagware for its brief existence. (Isn't the internet wonderful, where random strangers can google up 8th grade class photos of you?) The future-IBM-CTO started college in 1987. The timing is right that he took a couple of slack years after graduating high school, made a video game with a high school buddy, then went on to college and less frivolous endeavors. Unusual name + uncommon city + right timing = pretty sure its the same guy, even if he now leaves it off his resume.dzdthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06546063512375699302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-25591035941724206102017-04-08T19:58:18.440-04:002017-04-08T19:58:18.440-04:00You might reach out to Ray Larabie for info about ...You might reach out to Ray Larabie for info about the game's creation. He was one of the graphic artists, and continued on to work for Rockstar games and earned fame as a font creator. Jagware shows on LinkedIn as his oldest work experience, the year before he left for college.dzdthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06546063512375699302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-82875521245820617072017-04-08T19:51:00.795-04:002017-04-08T19:51:00.795-04:00I bought this game back in the 80s for the Atari 8...I bought this game back in the 80s for the Atari 800xl, seduced by the graphics on the back not realizing those were for the Amiga. I saw this coming up on your list as was looking forward to your review. Ugh, this game makes no sense but yet i remember it still to this day.ActionVestAdventurehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09257307189235621679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-25216427364178875432017-04-08T18:41:29.648-04:002017-04-08T18:41:29.648-04:00Interesting, for DOS and Atari ST versions Electro...Interesting, for DOS and Atari ST versions Electronic Arts was Distributor.<br /><br />http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/l/23579-alien-fires-2199-ad-dos-front-cover.jpg<br /><br />http://www.atarimania.com/st/boxes/hi_res/alien_fires_2199_ad_d7.jpg<br /><br />Maybe Atari ST version is better (no dialogue + better looking that DOS version) ?<br /><br />http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/295332-alien-fires-2199-ad-atari-st-screenshot-conversation.pngmpxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16366744101617096955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-70573438933292924712017-04-08T11:56:03.555-04:002017-04-08T11:56:03.555-04:00Huh. Thanks for linking that. I had a different ve...Huh. Thanks for linking that. I had a different version of the manual--probably the original, since mine said "Jagware" as the publisher and the one you linked says "Paragon" Those instructions weren't in the original. The second manual also has a lot more backstory.<br /><br />Anyway, it works. Now I COULD continue with the Amiga version, but the dialogue thing is annoying me. Plus, the Amiga version doesn't have the "stops with a jerk" joke that the DOS version did.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-1109879639403989992017-04-08T11:30:19.655-04:002017-04-08T11:30:19.655-04:00Gah...that speech is giving me flashbacks to B-17 ...Gah...that speech is giving me flashbacks to B-17 Bomber on the Intellivision. Except I could understand what that game said....Honor Sharpehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02992100501425422093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-49253761267702791332017-04-08T06:06:43.963-04:002017-04-08T06:06:43.963-04:00According to the games manual you can use the sp...According to the games <a href="http://www.mocagh.org/miscgame/alienfires-manual.pdf" rel="nofollow"> manual </a> you can use the speech commands "up" and "down" to operate the elevator. Another YouTube link mentions a copy protection at the elevator that could be possibly bypassed if you walk backwards into the elevator. Maybe this helps. Unfortunately i have no setup to test this myself.Sha1tanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12687435585257038279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-56646839680099693232017-04-08T06:05:47.349-04:002017-04-08T06:05:47.349-04:00Though it gives the illusion of 3D walk with anima...Though it gives the illusion of 3D walk with animated movement, it's essentially tile-based. The ability to move diagonally also adds to the illusion.Zardashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856007425128087340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-22628113542950628422017-04-08T02:38:49.672-04:002017-04-08T02:38:49.672-04:00Indeed PC version is pretty terrible in graphics b...Indeed PC version is pretty terrible in graphics but that non digitized speech is a clear winner I mean sure that default Amiga voice synthesizer was cool back in the 80's and was used in a lot of games but the novelty of it does wear off quite quickly.Petri R.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-77665069711165531982017-04-08T02:22:55.197-04:002017-04-08T02:22:55.197-04:00Yeah, that speech function totally blew me away in...Yeah, that speech function totally blew me away in 1988. Ah, to be young and easily impressed again...<br /><br />BTW, Mr. Addict, you sure Alien Fires were not made by the French? Could explain the Turing Test problem.PetrusOctavianusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-62899678554766948392017-04-08T01:56:24.174-04:002017-04-08T01:56:24.174-04:00Absolutely, it was *the* hit with my friends. I ha...Absolutely, it was *the* hit with my friends. I had the first Amiga 1000 (yes, 1000) in our circle, everyone else was still on C64 and even the occasional Spectrum. <br /><br />Having the speech function try to pronounce German (nick-)names was just awesome and the sound is still stuck in my mind like 80s TV commercials. And you all know how uneraseable those are... :)Andreas Matternhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09354645637567670994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-1434987270200422982017-04-07T23:12:57.457-04:002017-04-07T23:12:57.457-04:00Magritte says of one of your captions: Ceci n'...Magritte says of one of your captions: Ceci n'est pas une pip.Quirkzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16409671254311123117noreply@blogger.com