I know Gryzor and I have blabbed on a bit about this game over the last little while - and yes, It's challenging and difficult to say the least (but being our first game - it has a special place on the mantle).
But lately it's been bothering me to the point where I just thought I've got to get this game beat and move on with my life !
Damn you Stephen Curtis.
Anyway I started mapping this darn thing. 2500 screens? You have got to be kidding me! So a few days into this, I found that darn Safe Planet! Yay - but you need to basically explore every screen in order to find all the Psyche units - otherwise you can't survive on the Safe Planet. :(
Not too worry. At least I know where it is now and that just more time is needed to explore around more. BUT this is huge progress on a game that's been plaguing me for 25-odd years!
I've put a partial map on the wiki entry for anyone that cares as much as we do. :D
Into Oblivion - CPCWiki (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Into_Oblivion)
Hats off to ya. This game drove me nuts when I was a kid. I'll be interested to see the full map when you're done.
Good lord, man, what kind of patience do you possess? Is it some drug? Are you Tibetan? Something else?
Just... wow. Even with the map, it takes a LOT of planning to get through the maze. This is much more sadistic than I thought!
I'm so glad Kukulan has made a map for a game I need to get off my chest, I simply need to go off and complete N.O.M.A.D now. ;D
You get it off your chest just by looking at the map?
Argh, going to play some ST.
Quote from: Gryzor on 09:52, 08 October 13
You get it off your chest just by looking at the map?
As well as playing the game. ;D I got a little closer, it's just a pity those round blue faced blobs which bounce around aren't marked on the map and those guns fire at random which makes N.O.M.A.D that bit harder. :o
Into Oblivion, my nemesis!
Looking at your incomplete map, wholly crap. That guy who made that game is just just cruel.
Can't believe after all these years someone is having a go. What was the game designer thinking? What kid back then could finish that game?
The more interesting thing is, this is no randomly-generated maze. The guy actually sat down and designed this huge thing!!!
Maybe we should try to track him down for an interview :)
it would be interesting to have interviews with all the old progammers, like Raefelle Cecco, Perry etc.
Look - this is one killer maze. It gives you a bit of an insight into this guys mind - he design a real prick of a maze! Cruel and sadistic to say the least. There are huge sections that lead no where. Plenty of unexpected dead-ends. There's even a huge spiral that leads to nothing! Absolutely nothing random about this whatsoever.
And then there's the darn one-way screens which put you instantly into a different (potentionally un-mapped?) section of the maze and I still haven't figured out the transporter screen on Nonterra yet. Crikey.
But I'm not on any drugs - just coffee - but I'm not doing it all in one go otherwise I think it would kill me. Just a chunk every day or so.
I can hear him laughing as you have spent 2 hours going in one direction only to hit a dead end :(
Tracking him down would be a great idea! Stephen N Curtis - where are you?
and the map has grown a little bit now too:
http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/File:IO_Map.jpg (http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/File:IO_Map.jpg)
I wonder if the map will actually form an artwork or shape of something...
I found this by google searching. this game has bothered me for years - (sorry to post in Amstrad forum). I played this on the speccy and couldn't find anything out there on the web about this game. im hoping this map is the same as the version I have. I would like to have it printed on large size paper. I wonder how long it took to build that maze, that looks like an insane amount of work for the prgrammer to do back in the 80's. value for money I think so.
Quote from: Spectacular101 on 01:13, 09 October 13
I found this by google searching. this game has bothered me for years - (sorry to post in Amstrad forum). I played this on the speccy and couldn't find anything out there on the web about this game. im hoping this map is the same as the version I have. I would like to have it printed on large size paper. I wonder how long it took to build that maze, that looks like an insane amount of work for the prgrammer to do back in the 80's. value for money I think so.
Step right up folks - best IO Map you'll ever see. You can have a complete copy for $85. :D
Every time I map a little bit more, I can't help to think what a torturing guy he is.
oh and how many guests are coming out of the closet?
Yeah, this seems a popular post :D I tweeted about it, but still...
I actually found a programmer by the same name and probably the right age and asked him if he's the one, still no reply though.
@Spectacular101: no worries, all are welcome here! But, as for the printed map... do you have a spare tennis court to lay it out? :D
I'm glad I never bought this game!
Could the map be coloured to indicate those useless dead-end paths, and useful dead-end paths?
That'd be a nice idea...
As for the game, I think it was a budget title, so you wouldn't have lost much :)
Still, as I've said in other threads, I love this little title to bits. I must have spent countless hours flying around, not knowing what to do but blasting those aliens in their thousands! So I'm not holding it against the dev :)
Hey, I had forgotten about this!
IO REMAKE - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI23ExRZsHc)
(from here: IO Into Oblivion Remakes | Nexus23 BrotherhoodNexus23 Brotherhood (http://nexus23.org/warfare2/io-into-oblivion-remakes/))
Thought it's a straight shooter...
Quote from: Gryzor on 10:27, 09 October 13
Hey, I had forgotten about this!
IO REMAKE - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI23ExRZsHc)
(from here: IO Into Oblivion Remakes | Nexus23 BrotherhoodNexus23 Brotherhood (http://nexus23.org/warfare2/io-into-oblivion-remakes/))
Thought it's a straight shooter...
That seems confused. That IO remake was a remake of the shooter IO on the C64 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REootBj0Ks8#).
Yes it is confusing. Even so, Download link is dead...
Quote from: Gryzor on 10:43, 09 October 13
Yes it is confusing. Even so, Download link is dead...
You could always try the original C64 version! ;) Though I find it a bit too frustrating for my taste.
Gah! Looking for it returns results for IO the horizontal shooter... Do you have an image?
Quote from: Gryzor on 11:07, 09 October 13
Gah! Looking for it returns results for IO the horizontal shooter... Do you have an image?
Sorry, I think I misunderstood, you talked about a dead link on that page you linked to, which had almost certainly been for the remake of the C64 horizontal shooter judging from the screen shots, so that's what I was talking about with the original C64 version. I suspect there was no C64 version of Into Oblivion. IO on the C64 is just IO, but the c64-wiki (http://www.c64-wiki.com/index.php/IO_%E2%80%93_Into_Oblivion) mentions there was a budget re-release that added Into Oblivion to the title, so I guess that's where the author of the site you linked to may have got confused.
Ahhh thanks. Makes (?) sense now :)
...and Mr Curtis is actually the newest member of our forum, in case you didn't notice :)
He was kind enough to agree to a small interview over email, so it'd be nice to concentrate any questions you may have via PM, instead of asking in the open.
Or maybe not. Doesn't matter really, I feel all warm and fuzzy :D
Nonterraqueous was the first game I bought with my own money! Thought it was great fun . Look forward to hearing some of your thoughts about your time in the software business. Possibly ? :)
Stephen is here? How did you find him??
This is just epic, wow, solid gold!
I'm giddy!
well Mr Curtis, welcome! Your ears must be burning lately re: Into Oblivion.
Thanks for ruining my childhood! Just kidding.
This is just awesome.
And we should probably get some wiki articles added/updated.
Look forward to the interview details.
I feel pressure now re: that sloppy map I'm tinkering with..
Hi ,
we fixed the link , next time just ask we provide ,
we can't check any link in the middle of 400 posts .
However the only weird thing is that Ovine didn't add this file over its site ,
or forgot to add it .
Btw,
nice forum we shall get in ;P
I guess the interview will go on the wiki once it's done (will try to send him the questions today if I find the time! If you want to ask anything in particular, please PM me!)
@Spartan: thanks - and welcome! :)
I'd like to know how you compress the data for 2500 rooms into a 64kb game.
Unless it's done using some kind of seed algorithm such as with Elite (and maybe Exile or some similar game...)?
Hi everyone,
When I wrote this game back in the Eighties I didn't dream people would still have an interest in it 27 years later ! Thanks all!
I remember defining the map on large sheets of graph paper, I recall doing the spiral and the dead-ends too. The graph paper was divided into squares, each square representing a screen, and then it was a simple 1 bit == exit per byte if I remember, and maybe some other bits representing other info.Unfortunately I've no longer the map or source code, it took me ages to code the maze into bytes.
Cheers all,
Stephen
Welcome Stephen!
Welcome!
Thank you for joining our forum and shed some light on your game.
Have fun!
I should say it's always a great honour when an old CPC dev stops by :)
Quote from: Stephen N Curtis on 11:35, 10 October 13
Hi everyone,
When I wrote this game back in the Eighties I didn't dream people would still have an interest in it 27 years later ! Thanks all!
I remember defining the map on large sheets of graph paper, I recall doing the spiral and the dead-ends too. The graph paper was divided into squares, each square representing a screen, and then it was a simple 1 bit == exit per byte if I remember, and maybe some other bits representing other info.Unfortunately I've no longer the map or source code, it took me ages to code the maze into bytes.
Cheers all,
Stephen
Stephen,
Many welcomes and thanks for dropping by.
Firstly, (ahem) apologies for any harsh remarks about any of your games or you (that I or anyone has made) - absolutely nothing personal! ;D You created some tough games!
Secondly, yes - it must be an interesting feeling all these years later people still talking / playing your games (trying to finish them etc).
Thirdly, thanks for the killer spiral and all those dead-end
in IO. The one-way screens make mapping VERY HARD! By the way - any game hints? I haven't figured out the Transporter screen. Is it safe to say there is just enough extra lives to get you to the safe planet with one left? I thought for sure you would have had to map it our first on paper.... what drove you to choose 2500 screens? And lastly, I haven't been on 'Noral' yet - special trick to finding that planet? Probably really testing you now :)
Also feel free to check these out and modify at will:Into Oblivion - CPCWiki (http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Into_Oblivion) (this is where my crude map is)
Nonterraqueous - CPCWiki (http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Nonterraqueous)
Terra Cognita - CPCWiki (http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Terra_Cognita)
Look forward to hearing more!
hello I remember playing it and almost completing it, but the day before I decided to finish it I got Elite and that consumed me for a lonnnnggg time
Quote from: dcdrac on 23:23, 10 October 13
hello I remember playing it and almost completing it, but the day before I decided to finish it I got Elite and that consumed me for a lonnnnggg time
You came close to completing? wow. You must have made a map. How much Psyche did you get too?
ohh almost 30 years ago will have to play it all over again......
Quote from: redbox on 09:46, 10 October 13
I'd like to know how you compress the data for 2500 rooms into a 64kb game.
Unless it's done using some kind of seed algorithm such as with Elite (and maybe Exile or some similar game...)?
Indeed, especially as a good amount of the 64k is already taken. Like the top 16k is the screen & then there is all the system areas .. so its actually closer to 38-40k. And that is without temporary work space and all those other things ive probably forgotten.
Always been wondering about the "algorithm" games how they managed to pull it off. Barely space in there for a complex algorithm too. Did think of making a longplay of Explorer .. untill i read the back of the game about the 40 billion locations in the game :P
Quote from: Stephen N Curtis on 11:35, 10 October 13
... it took me ages to code the maze into bytes...
Stephen
Ah yes. Sometime i forget about that a byte is still 8 bit worth of storage locations. Anyways, thanks for taking the time to code all those screens into bits (quite a big efford there) ;)
I would love to see the Cholo game redone and Catch 23
If by "redone" you mean "remade", here you go:
http://cholo.ovine.net/terminal/cholo-remake.php (http://cholo.ovine.net/terminal/cholo-remake.php)
8)
Quote from: dcdrac on 19:28, 11 October 13
ohh almost 30 years ago will have to play it all over again......
Cool - please do and keep us posted ;)
Stephen - quick question. Was this intentional:
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/File:Nonterra_Crash.png (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/File:Nonterra_Crash.png)
I was perhaps expecting another planet below Nonterra. Instead I get a crash (is this me crash landing? or something else)
cheers
Quote from: Border_7 on 05:01, 14 October 13
Stephen - quick question. Was this intentional:
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/File:Nonterra_Crash.png (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/File:Nonterra_Crash.png)
I was perhaps expecting another planet below Nonterra. Instead I get a crash (is this me crash landing? or something else)
cheers
Hi,
No it's not intentional, I think you may have found a defect. Looks like its gone in another graphic mode and so it looks all skewed up.
Stephen
I wander if we could tempt someone to make a modern redo the game.......
Quote from: Border_7 on 23:13, 10 October 13
Stephen,
Many welcomes and thanks for dropping by.
Firstly, (ahem) apologies for any harsh remarks about any of your games or you (that I or anyone has made) - absolutely nothing personal! ;D You created some tough games!
No problem
Quote from: Border_7 on 23:13, 10 October 13
Secondly, yes - it must be an interesting feeling all these years later people still talking / playing your games (trying to finish them etc).
Yes, very surprised, 27 years is a long time, wish I'd kept the source code and map now.
Quote from: Border_7 on 23:13, 10 October 13
Thirdly, thanks for the killer spiral and all those dead-end in IO. The one-way screens make mapping VERY HARD! By the way - any game hints? I haven't figured out the Transporter screen. Is it safe to say there is just enough extra lives to get you to the safe planet with one left? I thought for sure you would have had to map it our first on paper.... what drove you to choose 2500 screens? And lastly, I haven't been on 'Noral' yet - special trick to finding that planet? Probably really testing you now :)
Also feel free to check these out and modify at will:
Into Oblivion - CPCWiki (http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Into_Oblivion) (this is where my crude map is)
Nonterraqueous - CPCWiki (http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Nonterraqueous)
Terra Cognita - CPCWiki (http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Terra_Cognita)
Look forward to hearing more!
I wish I could remember so I could answer your questions on the map and lives, but to be honest I can't recall a lot. Sorry. Wiki pages look good though!
Thanks.
Stephen
Quote from: Stephen N Curtis on 21:51, 15 October 13
Hi,
No it's not intentional, I think you may have found a defect. Looks like its gone in another graphic mode and so it looks all skewed up.
Stephen
Stephen, thanks for getting back to me. There are actually seven places on Nonterra where this happens:
http://cpcwiki.eu/imgs/7/73/IO_Map.jpg (http://cpcwiki.eu/imgs/7/73/IO_Map.jpg)
A couple of times you can just make out a spaceship sometimes... but I'm guessing its not really another planet (or was it meant to be?) because I've been to all 42 now.
Ok guys, the interview is up!
Forgive me any naffness, never taken an interview from anyone before!!
Stephen Curtis - CPCWiki (http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Stephen_Curtis)
Quote from: Gryzor on 15:59, 16 October 13
Ok guys, the interview is up!
That was nice read, thanks to both of you.
I knew he would have used a seed algorithm ;)
Thanks for interesting interview, I am sorry that I was disparaging about Into Oblivion,it Just wasn't my type of game, I think Soul, Nonterra and Terra Cognita were great purchases in the budget range and I was really impressed with those two loading screens on Nonterra, back in the day. I personally think that Nonterraqueous and Terra Cognita, were Stephen's best games. But I remember being disappointed that the (Trilogies?)final title Into Oblivion was not as exciting as the previous two. Thanks for the memories!
Quote from: Gryzor on 15:59, 16 October 13
Ok guys, the interview is up!
Forgive me any naffness, never taken an interview from anyone before!!
Stephen Curtis - CPCWiki (http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Stephen_Curtis)
Fantastic stuff. IO could have been massive if Stephen wasn't so busy at the time..... !
Quote from: Gryzor on 15:59, 16 October 13
Ok guys, the interview is up!
Forgive me any naffness, never taken an interview from anyone before!!
Stephen Curtis - CPCWiki (http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Stephen_Curtis)
Thanks Gryzor & Stephen for the interesting read! :)
Stephen - another quick question (if you are monitoring this thread).
Can you recall how many Psyche units you need to have before going to the Safe Planet? so far - without mapping every single screen, I've found 100 units (is that enough?!?).
Also - It looks like there are actually 2 safe planets! :D
2 safe plantes? Either 'oops' or a great way to confuse players... :D
Quote from: Gryzor on 06:40, 18 October 13
2 safe plantes? Either 'oops' or a great way to confuse players... :D
I thought big time Oops on my part - have I started some sort of duplication? am I re-mapping ... but alas, no. There are definitely 2 safe planets (screens). Maybe more?
oopsie!
yep, thought so. There's actually 3 safe planets... I think 2500 screens might have been the minimum :(
What happens on save planets?
3 safe planets? Damn. I'll ask Mr Curtis when I email him again, unless he sees this post :)
Quote from: TFM on 18:00, 23 October 13
What happens on save planets?
The game ends abruptly if you haven't collected enough Psyche!
Quote from: Gryzor on 18:47, 23 October 13
3 safe planets? Damn. I'll ask Mr Curtis when I email him again, unless he sees this post :)
Yeah I think this map will take months... just when I think I'm on the home stretch, bam! A whole new section of the maze opens up. There could even be more than 3 safe planets!! arghhhhh.
I think if I had persevered with this game it back then it would have carried me through the eighties and into the nineties :D
I think I must have been having a relapse. I never actually played this on the speccy, it was an Amstrad. Sorry! So yeah I think it wasn't released on anything but the Amstrad. Nice map though. It is coming along nicely. Now, I just need a few spare days to play it and follow through this to completion.
Nice Curtis interview by the way. Priceless.
Thanks for the comments mate :)
However I think IO is actually mentioned (as missing) on WoS? Is that a mistake then?
My gut feeling is WoS might have a mistake on their hands..... seems unusual for a game to be released on speccy and there be nothing about it anywhere...that, combined with Stephen's comments, I think IO is more likely than not to be 100% Amstrad only!
Just contacted Martijn, the WoS maintainer. Let's see if I hear back from him...
Cool... I'm sure he can confirm that. As I'm sure it would have appeared in one of the below mags at some stage - and apparently hasn't...ever...
Popular Computing Weekly
Crash
Your Sinclair
Computer & Video Games
Sinclair User
Your Computer
ZX Computing
Games Machine
ACE
Home Computing Weekly
Sinclair Programs
Quote from: Gryzor on 10:07, 20 November 13
Just contacted Martijn, the WoS maintainer. Let's see if I hear back from him...
I'm not sure if you will. Martijn is currently on a sabbatical (http://www.worldofspectrum.org/whatsnew.html) and I don't know when he will return to maintaining WoS. There is a long discussion about it on the WoS forums (http://www.worldofspectrum.org/forums/showthread.php?t=44836).
Quote from: Nich on 21:40, 25 November 13
I'm not sure if you will. Martijn is currently on a sabbatical (http://www.worldofspectrum.org/whatsnew.html) and I don't know when he will return to maintaining WoS. There is a long discussion about it on the WoS forums (http://www.worldofspectrum.org/forums/showthread.php?t=44836).
September 15 2013
I'm afraid the rumours are true and I found the girl of my dreams a couple of months ago, so I'm currently away on a sabbatical.
Classic. Wait until he marries her, then he'll be back :D
Nobody missed me when I got married :D
This one is for you Gryzor:
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/File:IntoOblivionSafePlanetGameCompleteScreen.png (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/File:IntoOblivionSafePlanetGameCompleteScreen.png)
Phew! finally!
:D
/me sheds a tear...
Oh man. Wish you'd video'ed yourself!
oh man - you tube.... ahhhh, now that would have been awesome!
I can't imagine too many people sitting through something like that though! That's many many hours...
I must say though, I would have love some sort of spectacular ending... something other than a text message. But that's OK - we know Curtis was under the pump...
Actually, I meant a video of you. Sitting there for hours on end, pulling your hair, would be lots of fun :D
As for the ending screen, I agree, but then again that was the norm back then, wasn't it? I don't know about you, but it actually moved me :'(
oh, a video of me? lol. you would have seen me slowly growing a beard and going grey! I guess that would have been cool.
It moved me too...
"This is the last in the Nonterraqueous trilogy. Good bye"
Would it have been better to leave that ending a mystery forever? Nah! Happy closure.
Just re-read the cassette "Aim of the Game". Curtis obviously had more then just erratic droids planned, as there is mention of a "race of primitive human-like creatures" ... could have been epic :)
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/imgs/1/14/IO_Inlay_Reverse_Full.jpg (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/imgs/1/14/IO_Inlay_Reverse_Full.jpg)
...or the guy who did marketing and copy at Mastertronic just took it and run with it :D
If you did a video of yourself finishing it you should also have a camera pointed at the discarded coke/beer cans and pizza boxes. Thankfully technology doesn't allow for the smells to pass through :D And a close-up of the tear running down your cheek as you read the final message...
Quote from: Gryzor on 08:44, 19 December 13
...or the guy who did marketing and copy at Mastertronic just took it and run with it :D
If you did a video of yourself finishing it you should also have a camera pointed at the discarded coke/beer cans and pizza boxes. Thankfully technology doesn't allow for the smells to pass through :D And a close-up of the tear running down your cheek as you read the final message...
Ha - yeah, we've heard about those 'marketing' types... remember 'The Hollow Moon' ? :)
A shot of my misses whacking me with a blunt object, asking me what I've just spent 3 days doing as part of the video would be cool too... and too bad I wasn't close to the S.A border, I could get 10c for each of those empty cans/bottles that covered the floor.
Merry Christmas!
To you, too, man, time to tackle Nonterraqueous :D
Another Nonterra question-- Is there music in this game or not? I have never heard it, even though it claims to have it?
No idea. Maybe I should try it tomorrow :)
Nothing like working backwards ;D from the last in the 'trilogy' to the first... Can't wait! Although I told myself I would finish these first:
- Apprentice (the) (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Apprentice_(the))
[/size]- Radzone (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Radzone)
[/size]- Doppleganger (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Doppleganger)
[/size]- Questor (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Questor)
Oh, Apprentice is cool! Used to drive me mad as well...
The Apprentice is a different beast though... limited ammunition, dangerous fires, annoying baddie movements (especially on re-entry to a screen, can take all your lives, or worse, you get stuck in a wall)...plus fussy wizards and red herrings....
love the greensleeves music though :D
Ah damn you, you didn't need to remind me! Now I can't get the tune out of my head and I have to play it...
[EDIT] Loaded it, didn't remember it had a green screen option. How great is that!
Green screen option - now that's thoughtful. I better knock it off, as this is an IO thread :D
Nah, nobody will mind ;)