sysop@stech.UUCP (Jan Harrington) (09/04/88)
I picked up a copy of The Colony at the Macworld Expo and am fascinated by its graphics, etc. However, not being a very astute game player, I'm stuck. Is there somebody out there who would be kind enough to give me a hint? So far I've found the secret code to the reactor and have been able to lower the reactor. I _think_ the reactor fuel is in the room just above the reactor. Is that right? If so, I need a hint on how to move it. If not, a hint on where the fuel is would be greatly appreciated. Thanks much. Jan Harrington, sysop Scholastech Telecommunications UUCP: husc6!amcad!stech!sysop or allegra!stech!sysop BITNET: JHARRY@BENTLEY ******************************************************************************** Miscellaneous profundity: "No matter where you go, there you are." Buckaroo Banzai ********************************************************************************
Mike_G_Newman@cup.portal.com (09/07/88)
Who wrote The Colony?
rbrewer@reed.UUCP (Robert S Brewer) (09/09/88)
Colony was written by some independant developer type (name might be David A. Smith, then again...) and Mindscape publishes it. Apparently the engine that controls it is generalized (called the "Flyby Simulator" or somesuch), so it seems likely that other "scenarios" will be released, or even the constrution set itself. Since I am posting about Colony, I might as well blab on about it some, now that I have played 20 hours or so. Overall, I must say the game is quite nice, and well worth the $30 I paid MacConnection (THE mailorder place). It is really nice to see a excelent, quality game release for $30. This is a trend (Crystal Quest, Colony, ...) that I hope will continue. Well, now that I have praised it, here are my gripes: * The "bang-into-wall" sound is really stupid and annoying. This is in fact the first thing that hit me when I saw it at MacExpo. The author was playing and he bounced into a wall for a second (for those who have never heard it, it sounds like a .50 cal. machinegun blast). Of course we who were watching asked him who was firing at him, and he sheepishly replied that that was him bumping into a wall. It is getting to the point that I am going to replace the sound with something reasonable. * You can't change the volume. This is pretty darn silly. Almost all programs known to mankind obey the control panel, but not Colony. This is a silly (hopefully) oversight. * Hardware key copy protection. The old spectre of copy protection comes back to haunt again. In several key parts of The Colony, you have to type in a security code based on a little cardboard "spyring" decoder. I guess I prefer this to software protection, but I would MUCH rather have no protection at all. I had the occasion recently when I wanted to play (I had my hard disk along), but I didn't have the #^$*# key! It's pretty darn annoying and will hopefully be fixed in the same way Crystal Quest was. * Too many unknowns. This is just my opinion, but it there is very little information for the beginning player. I realize some people like to "play it by ear" but I would prefer some more info, even if I had to find it in the Colony (most of the info I have found is either bogus or so incredibly fragmented that I couldn't get anything from it). * No maps! I am an experienced computer fantasy game player, and have mapped a zillion different levels of dungeon, castle, etc. But Colony isn't like them. It's so totally "seat-of-your-pants" that I don't WANT to map out where I am. I would have appreciated a set of maps to be found somewhere in the complex (maybe I just haven't found them yet). There are several minor points that are irritating, like the almost exponential increase of alien strength. The aliens are smart, and there is a lot of variety, but I would have liked them to be even smarter. I find it too easy to outrun them, or confuse them. I have found rooms that had no exits. Maybe I am missing something, but I could not find a way out. [Note: if you are playing it, SAVE OFTEN]. A way to pause would also be nice. Now comes to my turn to ask for help. I have a Mac II with 2 megabytes of memory, a Apple Color Monitor, with a SuperMac ColorCard (claimed to be a complete clone of the Apple Video Card with video expansion), and a 80 Meg drive. I am running System Software 6.0 (Apple willing, 6.0.1 soon), with about 15 or so INITs of various tempraments. My problem: during any of Colony's "star sequences" (where lots of little white dots fly around pretending to be stars) my Mac II crashes. Of course on startup, Colony does a neat startup sequence including stars. Luckily you can get by it with a Shift-Click. But if I go to the about box, where there are also stars, I get a crash. At a certain place in the game you can see stars (very cute allusion). In all of these places it crashes. However (and here's the kicker) when I take the _exact_ same hard drive, plug it into a Mac II with 2 meg RAM, and an Apple Color Card, everything works out fine, no crashes. Since it was the same disk, and almost the same hardware, I tried PRAM. No go. So, I have come to the conclusion that there are two possible reasons for the crash: A) The Colony does some sort of really bizarre optimization on a Mac II Apple Color Card, and the SuperMac ColorCard isn't exactly compatible, or B) the SuperMac ColorCard that I bought under the impression that was 100% compatible is not 100% compatible and causes some normal programs to crash. The second possibility is very scarry to me. I have been going through my collection of PD software, and throwing out everything that didn't work, assuming that if it didn't work, it wasn't Mac II compatible. But now I realize that it could be that my ColorCard that was causing the problems. It seems unlikely, but possible. I would appreciate it if someone (Fabian?) could comment on whether the ColorCard is KNOWN to be _100%_ compatible down to the last bit with the Apple ColorCard or whether I was lied to... Anyone who is playing Colony, send me some email. I have gotten pretty far, but I am at somewhat of a barrier. So if you haven't gotten very far I can try to help you out, or if you have gotten farther than me you can help me out. Thanks. Robert S. Brewer Freshman, Reed College Usenet : rbrewer@reed.UUCP Bitnet : rbrewer@reed.BITNET GEnie : R.BREWER
parnes@eniac.seas.upenn.edu ( Parnes Gary) (02/11/89)
Thanks to everyone who responded to my request for help! I have gotten the clue I was looking for. Now maybe I'll be able to solve the !*%$#@#(@$% thing... Gary Parnes U of Penn
murf@Apple.COM (Jim Murphy) (02/22/89)
============================================================================ Below is a spoiler so if you don't want to know then move on ============================================================================ Ok. On the fourth floor how do you get out of the 2001 room? Where is the forklift? I'm really stuck any help would be appreciated. **************************************************************************** * Jim Murphy CSNET: murf@apple.com * AppleLink: Murphy4 * US Mail: 20525 Mariani Ave. Cupertino CA 95014 **************************************************************************** * Disclaimer: I own my own thoughts, Apple own's their own thoughts, let's * keep it that way. **************************************************************************** * Obligatory cute saying: Data? Code? It's all the same to me ****************************************************************************
jlh@stech.UUCP (Jan Harrington) (06/22/89)
I think The Colony is one of the nicest implementations of a game I've seen in a long time, but not being a very good computer game player, I'm stuck. I've got the power suit on, have exited the shuttle (remembering to close the inner airlock behind me), but don't know what to do next. Where's the entrance to the colony itself? All I get on the planet's surface are pyraminds that I run in to and things that shoot at me.???? HELP???????? Jan Harrington Scholastech Telecommunications husc6!stech!jlh or allegra!stech!jlh ************************************************************************* Miscellaneous profundidity: "No matter where you go, there you are..." Buckaroo Banzai *************************************************************************
aff@romeo.cs.duke.edu (Amr F. Fahmy) (07/19/89)
I need some help with Colony. I can find the manual and the badge and ware the suit. However I do not know what to do with the manual or the badge and if I leave the ship I get killed very fast I think because of energy loss. Can somebody please give me some hints. Thanks. Amr F. Fahmy aff@duke.edu