Post by Technopeasant on Oct 1, 2013 21:56:19 GMT -5
I thought I would join in with the first Pie 3D game I have actually ever finished:
Space Station Escape[/u]
As I mention above, this game marks my first ever attempt to actually play through an entire (shareware) game made in Pie in the Sky. Ever since getting a dual-core processor, I am finding DosBox much more responsive with a lot of games, and Pie3D is no exception. As such, I am now finding it more than a mere curiosity but actually something with some games I can get into. So, without further ado: Space Station Escape!
That is what I wrote about this game on Wikipedia, and how does the game stack up? Fairly well, by Pie in the Sky standards - which can range from somewhat impressive to just plain dumb. The environment is decently decked in the standard science fiction accoutrements of computer screens, flashing light and grey metal walls with transparent glass doors. This is further improved by the game's main alteration to the base stock: various whirs, beeps and other machinery or computery noises. All in all, it adds up to a decent atmosphere. Some music would be appreciated, and indeed the win screen promises "more great music" in the registered version, but alas none play on my copy. There are of course some in-game objects in the form of the excepted table, chairs and lockers. Nothing special, but adequate.
What makes this game playable, at least enough for me to invest fifteen minutes or so of my time into it, is the fact that the level designs are fairly straightforward. This is no dreary labyrinth like so many other '90s corridor shooters, Pie3D or not, but a reasonable, planed pattern of hallways and doors weaving out along a central corridor that leads the player from lift to lift. Of course, it is not quite that simple, as the first few levels offer the occasional key-hunt - nothing too taxing, just enough to get you to pay attention. Add in the the occasional firefight, and you have an enjoyable retro shooter experience. In fact, I have only two real problems with this game. Both, really, are one in the same: enemies.
As described, most of the enemies are the standard "ninja" guards from Terminal Terror, as is normal for GCS-created games. This is explained as clones created by the aliens, as mentioned above, but that does not address how much better the game would have been with some custom alien sprites - something ala Blake Stone. The other two enemies in the game are attacking hovercraft and, in its most interesting twist, the same guards only driving attack tanks ala the pig cop tanks from Duke Nukem 3D. These serve as the demo's final antagonists, functioning collectively as bosses of sorts. As novel as these are, they do help show what could have been done if more sprite-work was done on this title. Finally, my second problem is that it is all too easy. I already praised the game for having simple level design, but this really needs harder enemies for it to be truly challenging. Health is too plentiful and enemies are too weak. I was never lost by the mazes, which is refreshing, but I was never really imperilled either.
All in all, Space Station Escape is a good example of a humble, competent Pie in the Sky experience that will neither leave you struck but its' tremendous flaws, as many GCS games do, nor amazement at its achievements, as the very best do. A strictly average corridor shooter, in no way pushing the engine to its limits (no real features for you to study Mystery) but modestly entertaining - at least enough to get me through five levels. Would I have paid money back in the day for the extra 20? Not a chance, but at least it kept me going for a little while, which in the year 2013 speaks enough in of itself.
YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPVpHcpg3Tc
Screenshots: www.mobygames.com/game/dos/space-station-escape/screenshots
Download: firstpersonshooters.net/Games/Space_Station_Escape/files/sse15.zip
Space Station Escape[/u]
As I mention above, this game marks my first ever attempt to actually play through an entire (shareware) game made in Pie in the Sky. Ever since getting a dual-core processor, I am finding DosBox much more responsive with a lot of games, and Pie3D is no exception. As such, I am now finding it more than a mere curiosity but actually something with some games I can get into. So, without further ado: Space Station Escape!
Wikipedia said:
A release by RBSoft (Roy L. Person Sr.) in 1995, Space Station Escape is a science fiction game wherein the player has face an alien attack of a space station, one of the last bastions of humanity following Earth's recent destruction. The majority of the enemies in the game are either reprogrammed defence systems or cloned humans made by the aliens to compensate for their low birthrate (probably a concession to the human-like guard sprites that came with the editor). The game centres around releasing the ship's imprisoned crew and either disarm the self-destruct sequence or escape in time. The shareware level contains five levels.That is what I wrote about this game on Wikipedia, and how does the game stack up? Fairly well, by Pie in the Sky standards - which can range from somewhat impressive to just plain dumb. The environment is decently decked in the standard science fiction accoutrements of computer screens, flashing light and grey metal walls with transparent glass doors. This is further improved by the game's main alteration to the base stock: various whirs, beeps and other machinery or computery noises. All in all, it adds up to a decent atmosphere. Some music would be appreciated, and indeed the win screen promises "more great music" in the registered version, but alas none play on my copy. There are of course some in-game objects in the form of the excepted table, chairs and lockers. Nothing special, but adequate.
What makes this game playable, at least enough for me to invest fifteen minutes or so of my time into it, is the fact that the level designs are fairly straightforward. This is no dreary labyrinth like so many other '90s corridor shooters, Pie3D or not, but a reasonable, planed pattern of hallways and doors weaving out along a central corridor that leads the player from lift to lift. Of course, it is not quite that simple, as the first few levels offer the occasional key-hunt - nothing too taxing, just enough to get you to pay attention. Add in the the occasional firefight, and you have an enjoyable retro shooter experience. In fact, I have only two real problems with this game. Both, really, are one in the same: enemies.
As described, most of the enemies are the standard "ninja" guards from Terminal Terror, as is normal for GCS-created games. This is explained as clones created by the aliens, as mentioned above, but that does not address how much better the game would have been with some custom alien sprites - something ala Blake Stone. The other two enemies in the game are attacking hovercraft and, in its most interesting twist, the same guards only driving attack tanks ala the pig cop tanks from Duke Nukem 3D. These serve as the demo's final antagonists, functioning collectively as bosses of sorts. As novel as these are, they do help show what could have been done if more sprite-work was done on this title. Finally, my second problem is that it is all too easy. I already praised the game for having simple level design, but this really needs harder enemies for it to be truly challenging. Health is too plentiful and enemies are too weak. I was never lost by the mazes, which is refreshing, but I was never really imperilled either.
All in all, Space Station Escape is a good example of a humble, competent Pie in the Sky experience that will neither leave you struck but its' tremendous flaws, as many GCS games do, nor amazement at its achievements, as the very best do. A strictly average corridor shooter, in no way pushing the engine to its limits (no real features for you to study Mystery) but modestly entertaining - at least enough to get me through five levels. Would I have paid money back in the day for the extra 20? Not a chance, but at least it kept me going for a little while, which in the year 2013 speaks enough in of itself.
YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPVpHcpg3Tc
Screenshots: www.mobygames.com/game/dos/space-station-escape/screenshots
Download: firstpersonshooters.net/Games/Space_Station_Escape/files/sse15.zip