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The Neverending Story by Ocean Software

Started by ComSoft6128, 06:20, 02 June 22

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ComSoft6128

Graphic text adventure (based on the 1984 film of the same name) released by Ocean Software in 1985.
Using the solution available at CPCPOWER this video is a partial walk thru (run thru!) of part one of this three part game, unfortunately right at the end of part one, due to my own impatience,  I get "whacked" again.
Now there should be a CPC version of the Giorgio Moroder/Limahl single playing at the beginning of this game but for some reason zilch, so I've taken the excellent CPC theme (by Fred Gray) available from CPCPOWER and looped it - however, as continued listening to this will sooner or later drive you nuts - reduce the volume or just hit the mute option.
From the box:
"Fantasia, the world of human fantasy is in peril! You, Atreyu, the mightiest warrior of Fantasia, have been chosen to rescue your world from The Nothing, the empty cloud of human despair that consumes the very fabric of the land. Leaving all weapons behind, you begin your quest to find what will stop The Nothing and save Fantasia from extinction.
Choose a companion to hasten your journey. Ride Artax, your faithful steed. Find the magical medallion, Auryn, and befriend Flakor, the Luckdragon. But beware! Gmork, the servant of The Nothing, searches relentlessly throughout the land to destroy you.
Come, discover the world of Fantasia! Meet the natives: Nighthob and Teenyweeny; eccentric gnomes, Engywook and Urgil; the towering Rockbiter; Morla, the apathetic sage.
Each section of Fantasia you traverse presents a new challenge. Each puzzle you unravel brings you closer to your final goals: Contact someone from the Real World and return Auryn to the Empress in the Ivory Tower.
FEATURES:
-real-time, graphics-text adventure game - original film music - split screen display
-save any number of games"



Film & Song:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_NeverEnding_Story_(film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_NeverEnding_Story_(song)

From CPCPOWER:
"The game uses the Multi-Mode technique which allows to mix graphics modes.
The scenery is in MODE 0 and the dialogue area is in MODE 1.
The color palette is changed by the use of rasters between the game area and the score area."

Notes:
The game doesn't seem to be Plus compatible.
The developers created their own font for this game.
For the 464 version two cassettes were necessary and the disc version comes in at 121k total file(s) size.

Reviews:
Nich Campbell @ CPC GAMES REVIEWS - http://www.cpcgamereviews.com/n/index2.html#the_neverending_story

Amstrad Computer User - https://archive.org/details/AmstradComputerUser16-0386/page/n41/mode/2up

Amstrad Action - https://archive.org/details/amstrad-action-004/page/n79/mode/2up

Fred Gray:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Gray_(composer)

Other links:
https://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=1506
https://cpcrulez.fr/GamesTest/the_neverending_story.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_Software

Not emulated - original hardware and software.
Please note that  the aspect ratio for this YouTube video is 16:9 but the CPC monitor
has an aspect ratio of 4:3 so you may wish to adjust your viewing device accordingly.

Gryzor

Nice to see some native, mode 0 imagery in a text game :)

kawickboy

The same authors did Hunchback: The adventure, about one year later.

Skunkfish

Was this sort of mode switch common in 1985? What was the first game/software to achieve that?
An expanding array of hardware available at www.cpcstore.co.uk (and issue 4 of CPC Fanzine!)

ComSoft6128

I don't know the answer to those questions but I would't think so.
Maybe @Nich would know?

andycadley

I have a vague recollection it was a very early title. I seem to recall a story of it causing an issue at an Amstrad trade event because official Amstrad folks thought they must have altered the machine to do it, or something to that effect.

ervin

Was Sorcery one of the earliest to do it?

Axelay

#7
Sorcery was one of the earliest, no idea if it was first.  If you go on CPC-power and do a search on the keyword 'Multi-Mode' it shows 34 games from 1985 using different modes, including Sorcery.  It does list Kong Strikes Back as doing it in 1984, but the manual uploaded for it has the year 1985 on it, so I'm not sure where 1984 has come from.

Also, the multi-mode tag itself doesnt seem to be entirely consistent, as I spotted one of my games listed with it, but another which does the same thing has not been tagged.

Quote from: andycadley on 08:31, 19 July 22I have a vague recollection it was a very early title. I seem to recall a story of it causing an issue at an Amstrad trade event because official Amstrad folks thought they must have altered the machine to do it, or something to that effect.
Don't know if I'm miss-remembering it, but I was sure I'd read a very similar story when reading about Dark Star.  That doesn't use mode 0 with mode 1, but used mode 1 with lots of raster changes to get a lot more colour on the title screen in mode 1.  I'm sure I'd read Simon Brattel saying he'd had an argument with an Amstrad trade show person who was convinced he'd modified the hardware to do it.

Oh, speaking of Dark Star, it does use a mode split in game, and according to the CPC-power page, one of the words you can type in to the high score table is 'VERSION', and it provides a date in January 1985, so possibly a contender for the first.

andycadley

You remember more details of the story than I do, so you may very well be correct.

Nich

Quote from: Axelay on 10:19, 19 July 22Don't know if I'm miss-remembering it, but I was sure I'd read a very similar story when reading about Dark Star.  I'm sure I'd read Simon Brattel saying he'd had an argument with an Amstrad trade show person who was convinced he'd modified the hardware to do it.

I remember reading this anecdote somewhere as well, but I can't remember where I read it!

Axelay

Quote from: Nich on 17:26, 19 July 22I remember reading this anecdote somewhere as well, but I can't remember where I read it!
I did have a quick look for it, I know it was in the earliest days of me me starting to look in to the CPC scene, so I thought it might have been one of the TACGR interviews, but that doesn't seem to have been it.

On the topic of Neverending Story, I do have a 'strange' soft spot for the game.  I don't remember thinking it was a great game, but it was the very first text adventure I ever played.  The only thing I (think I) remember about it though, is thinking it was very annoying how the jump between the sphinx statues seemed entirely random whether you made it.

Strident

Sadly, despite being completed (for at least one format) the third game in the Neverending/Hunchback trilogy, based on Batman, was never released.
8-Bit Adventure Gamer / 8bitAG.com - 8bitAG.com/info - 8bitAG.com/games

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