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Satellite Warrior & Up for Grabs

Started by RocketRanger, 00:28, 19 April 22

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RocketRanger

Hi all,

Here's a couple of Amstrad multiplayer "strategy" games that I used to play back in the day and there's such little information about them, I'm wondering if they are going to soon fade out of living memory. I used to play these games obsessively with friend's and family. So anyone else remember these?

Amsoft's Satellite Warrior by  D. M. Lock. is (as far as I can tell) an Amstrad exclusive. It has arcade battles that are essentially space robot wars!




I still load this one up today as it's totally unlike anything I've played since. This does have a one player option (you can even get the computer to play itself). Players bid for aliens to visit them from which they can buy/sell components to build satellites which must be sent to moons which orbit your planet. Moons provide resources which can be used to build more satellites or you can just sell stuff for more cash. When two satellite's are on the same moon they fight!

There's this simple battle screen in which the satellites fire missles and plasma or use a grabber to break pieces off each other. Often with hillarious results as one player has nothing left but thrusters to run away or is left a sitting duck.

The mix of strategy with arcade reminds me of North & South (without the crazy multi-load!) while the alien bidding screens remind me of the C64 classic M.U.L.E

D M Lock did no other games and this has fallen into complete obscurity, even when Xyphoe did his awesome A-Z of Amsoft stream he wasn't able to get off the menu screen (I think the joystick option doesn't work in emulators, I generally just use keyboard)

The other game is Up for grabs by Alternative software



This was a budget game by Don Priestley who wrote Trapdoor and Popeye. One of his last games for the Spectrum & Amstrad.

It's a sort of text adventure strategy multi-player, but there's a mode 1 map screen. I suppose it's not unlike a board game, players take turns moving around this jungle fictional (third world) location and essentially have to make more money than anyone else and arrive at a sea port or die trying. For whatever reason, found this extremely entertaining at the time. You can buy cars, boats or parachutes(!) trade with locals or just dig around in the dirt until you find valuable items to sell.

Thanks for reading. Be very interested to know if anyone remembers either game?


norecess464

I love the genre (strategy games) I think this game category is not enough represented on our machines !

I was a big fan of San Pablo, a French game by Coktel Vision (to my knowledge, unfortunately it's not available in English).
https://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=1870

I also played a lot Sim City.. but this one aged poorly in my opinion.

Finally, I would suggest to play Spots 94. More a board game than a real strategy game as presented above, but definitely one of my favorite, and it still plays fine !! https://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=3394
My personal website: https://norecess.cpcscene.net
My current project is Sonic GX, a remake of Sonic the Hedgehog for the awesome Amstrad GX-4000 game console!

Axelay

I never came across Up for Grabs, but I certainly remember Satellite Warrior, it was one of my favourite earlier games! :)

Played it a lot with my brother.  I remember that having resources dictate your satellite builds resulted in some crazy combinations, like giant stationary things bristling with missiles and armour, or small ones covered in movement pods with a single grabber on the front.  I think the only 2 player game we actually played a lot of.

Just had a quick game of it in WinAPE and didn't seem to have any trouble with the joystick in that though.

RocketRanger

Quote from: Axelay on 03:58, 19 April 22I never came across Up for Grabs, but I certainly remember Satellite Warrior, it was one of my favourite earlier games! :)

Played it a lot with my brother.  I remember that having resources dictate your satellite builds resulted in some crazy combinations, like giant stationary things bristling with missiles and armour, or small ones covered in movement pods with a single grabber on the front.  I think the only 2 player game we actually played a lot of.

Just had a quick game of it in WinAPE and didn't seem to have any trouble with the joystick in that though.

I'm so glad to hear someone else remembers this forgotton classic! Really is a hidden gem on the CPC for 1985. Amstrad Action did review it, but were fairly dismissive (as they only tried it in single player) it's really one of those games that shines with other players.

I think the issue with the joystick is on the bidding screen, seems to send me back to the main menu when I press a direction. Might be a dodgy rom though.



eto

Satellite Warrior was one of the first games I bought. And the first one, I regretted (at first). The guy in the shop told me I can't try it out but that I can return it, if I don't like it. Well... I couldn't. He refused it - "you might have made a copy". Of course I never bought a game there again. (15 years later they went bankrupt - my boycott finally worked out!). The problem with it was, that I didn't understand the mechanics and with only a year of school english, I didn't understand the manual. To me it looked broken, as sometimes the ships didn't move. It then sat on the shelf for a year or two until I gave it another try... and then I got how it works - and loved it. It became one of my favourite games. So simple and so addictive. And a fantastic two player game with an unexpected depth especially if you are playing it with 10 planets.

Every now and then, even today, I give it a go. I even put it on my personal webpage so I can play it when I am travelling for work (as I'm not allowed to install an emulator on my work laptop). 

It might look dull at first, but it's a game, you can play either for just a quick round with 5 planets or a bit longer with 10 planets. A single round or 3 in a row. It's unlikely that it becomes boring. 

It's clearly a hidden gem.

Gryzor

Never heard of  Satellite Warrior before, I think! Sounds pretty advanced, concept-wise, for the era!

RocketRanger

Quote from: eto on 12:15, 19 April 22Satellite Warrior was one of the first games I bought. And the first one, I regretted (at first). The guy in the shop told me I can't try it out but that I can return it, if I don't like it. Well... I couldn't. He refused it - "you might have made a copy". Of course I never bought a game there again. (15 years later they went bankrupt - my boycott finally worked out!). The problem with it was, that I didn't understand the mechanics and with only a year of school english, I didn't understand the manual. To me it looked broken, as sometimes the ships didn't move. It then sat on the shelf for a year or two until I gave it another try... and then I got how it works - and loved it. It became one of my favourite games. So simple and so addictive. And a fantastic two player game with an unexpected depth especially if you are playing it with 10 planets.

Every now and then, even today, I give it a go. I even put it on my personal webpage so I can play it when I am travelling for work (as I'm not allowed to install an emulator on my work laptop).

It might look dull at first, but it's a game, you can play either for just a quick round with 5 planets or a bit longer with 10 planets. A single round or 3 in a row. It's unlikely that it becomes boring.

It's clearly a hidden gem.

Yep I was playing a 10 planet game a couple of weeks ago, got a good hour against the CPC at low difficulty level.

I can understand why you were initially put off, the control system is strange (using the joystick to move the cursor onto the satellite you want to control and then messing about trying to get the weapons to fire) but hillarious in multiplayer - as often you would get in each others way!

There's a good deal of balance in the game too as the weapon systems like missiles, plasma have equal defence components you can add. It has quite "modern" game design sensibilities. Some nice presention too for a 1985 Amsoft game, there's subtle animations of creatures getting into their ships and launching and some cute spot effects like alien "chatter" 

Great to hear there are still people that fondly remember this!

eto


RocketRanger

Quote from: eto on 19:28, 19 April 22love this screen :-)
I think I looked through the game code once and saw that "very stupid" is hard coded :D

eto

Quote from: RocketRanger on 12:41, 20 April 22I think I looked through the game code once and saw that "very stupid" is hard coded
Seems not to be hard coded but intentionally insulting ;-) I gave it a quick try and I totally humiliated the computer in just 4 seasons - now my race is called "ordinary" :-D

eto

hmh... 5 seasons and 3 pods => "very clever"

not sure how this is measured. It was 6 seasons and definitely 6 pods. 

With 5 planets it's just too easy to win. Just make sure that the computer won't get weapons. During negotiation make sure an alien visits the planet that does not sell weapons and take out any ship on a planet that produces weapons as fast as possible.


RocketRanger

Quote from: eto on 14:13, 20 April 22
Quote from: RocketRanger on 12:41, 20 April 22I think I looked through the game code once and saw that "very stupid" is hard coded
Seems not to be hard coded but intentionally insulting ;-) I gave it a quick try and I totally humiliated the computer in just 4 seasons - now my race is called "ordinary" :-D

Interesting. Maybe I was looking at the in memory debug output in WinApe at the time or something. Good to know thanks!

RocketRanger

Back in the day, the newsagent where I bought "up for grabs" had some other obscure budget strategy games that I picked up including Thetre Europe etc also this formula one game by Alternative which had laughable box art but was a really solid management sim with overhead "pit stop" mini game.

Check out that Wikipedia page, I do not think there is an Amstrad/Speccy exclusive written in such detail.

eto

So it seems the system checks how many "pods" have been destroyed during fights and then gives a ranking. A pod is any part of a space ship, not the whole space ship. With 10 planets it's basically impossible to get a "good" ranking as the computer definitely will destroy many pods and probably even win a few fights. But not really important, I think these screens are funny ;-)

I found one bug: after a couple of games, the screen were you approach a planet did no longer work. It was impossible to go to a planet. Both for me and the computer. The ships were greyed out, like when you go to outer space. After a few turns, I received the messaged that I have lost to "strange dark grey rectangular beings that answer to the name of Roland" ;-)

What I did not yet find out: How do defence pods work? I can't really see a difference between using them and not using them.


RocketRanger

#14
Quote from: eto on 00:14, 21 April 22So it seems the system checks how many "pods" have been destroyed during fights and then gives a ranking. A pod is any part of a space ship, not the whole space ship. With 10 planets it's basically impossible to get a "good" ranking as the computer definitely will destroy many pods and probably even win a few fights. But not really important, I think these screens are funny ;-)

I found one bug: after a couple of games, the screen were you approach a planet did no longer work. It was impossible to go to a planet. Both for me and the computer. The ships were greyed out, like when you go to outer space. After a few turns, I received the messaged that I have lost to "strange dark grey rectangular beings that answer to the name of Roland" ;-)

What I did not yet find out: How do defence pods work? I can't really see a difference between using them and not using them.



Must admit, I hardly use defence pods. In the manual they aren't very well described. It does seem to show the curvy ones as "plasma shields" the h shaped ones are ECM and the flat ones are listed  as armor (presumably against the grabber)?

It would be a shame if after all these years they turn out to be bugged! Maybe you are supposed to activate them before impact (so use them like a weapon, making them flash?).

They do seem to make the sat last longer than if it has no pods, but then I suppose so do engines.

eto

Quote from: RocketRanger on 13:56, 21 April 22Maybe you are supposed to activate them before impact (so use them like a weapon, making them flash?).
That is what the computer sometimes does. However I don't see a clear difference between having them or not. Just yesterday the computer had a ship equipped with shields and my first plasma shot destroyed the plasma shield, which was activated. And then, sometimes I shoot ten plasma shots at a ship that has no (active) shields and nothing happens. And honestly if I need to activate the shield, it's hardly of use anyway as I can't shoot in the meantime.

Axelay

Quote from: RocketRanger on 22:33, 20 April 22Back in the day, the newsagent where I bought "up for grabs" had some other obscure budget strategy games that I picked up including Thetre Europe etc also this formula one game by Alternative which had laughable box art but was a really solid management sim with overhead "pit stop" mini game.

I really liked those early PSS games, had Theatre Europe, Battle for Midway, Battle of Britain and later Battlefield Germany.  Liked Battle of Britain the most because I really loved the arcade combat part in that one!

Quote from: eto on 14:23, 21 April 22
Quote from: RocketRanger on 13:56, 21 April 22Maybe you are supposed to activate them before impact (so use them like a weapon, making them flash?).
That is what the computer sometimes does. However I don't see a clear difference between having them or not. Just yesterday the computer had a ship equipped with shields and my first plasma shot destroyed the plasma shield, which was activated. And then, sometimes I shoot ten plasma shots at a ship that has no (active) shields and nothing happens. And honestly if I need to activate the shield, it's hardly of use anyway as I can't shoot in the meantime.
The instructions talk about having 'a chance' of things happening, so perhaps the shields/armour affect the chance of something happening to such a small extent that it's just not very noticeable, rather than providing a predictible boost to hits.  There are times when it seems like the ECM comes in to play on missiles to me, but sometimes it's hard not to just think the missile got confused with its pathing!

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