mcgowen@saturn.ucsc.edu (Richard McGowen) (10/13/90)
The best public domain amiga game in my opinion is Grav Attack. Very addictive game. It is what went on to become Dr. Plummets (sp?) House of Flux. (With the title change and story being against the wishes of its author. They also made him add a joystick option which totally kills the playability of the game.) If there is enough demand, ie more than one person mails me, I will put the game (Grav Attack) onto abcfd20. A word of advice for those that have Dr Plummets HOF, use the keyboard and give the game a chance. And for those of you that haven't seen it, you would be surprised that Grav Attack is in the Public Domain.
snovell@wam.umd.edu (Scott J. Novell) (10/14/90)
In article <7803@darkstar.ucsc.edu> mcgowen@saturn.ucsc.edu (Richard McGowen) writes: >The best public domain amiga game in my opinion is Grav Attack. Very addictive HE IS SO RIGHT! When I firt got my Amiga 1000, GravAttack was the first pd/shareware game I truly fell in love with. I spent a good three months or so playing the game nearly non-stop. There are seventeen levels in all, and I reached level 14 before I got stuck, stuck bad. In the instructions, the author (Scott someone) lists an address where you can send $10 and get a list of the secret bonuses (play the game and you will understand). Well, I sent the money and also included a kinda joke-hate letter, asking how he could make the game so hard and asking what was going on in level 14 (the gravity changes in different ways on each level, and I just couldnt figure out the gravity for level 14). He wrote back saying he enjoyed my letter, toldme what was going on in level 14 (Im not telling), and that he knew (at that time) only one other person that had made it to level 14, a person from Electronic Arts! For any Amiga owner who doesnt have this game, GET IT! The graphics are not mind-blowing, the game itself is not very complicated, but I found it VERY ADDICTIVE!!! By the way, Richard McGowen, what level did you get to??? snovell@cscwam.umd.edu figment@bagend.eng.umd.edu
mcgowen@saturn.ucsc.edu (Richard McGowen) (10/14/90)
I made it to Level 14 also. My housemate Greg Orchard is the only person I know of (with the exception of Scott) to have solved the game. If you have Dr Plummets and look at the default high score list for all-play you will see a Richard M. Dr Plummets is like Grav Attack but has an additional 11 levels, improved graphics, and 4 missions instead of just one. For those that might be interested in publishing their own games, I will let you know of some of the not so fun things that happen when you try to do so. Microillusions gave Scott a "producer". This wonderful persona wanted to change many things in the game, the Title being just a start. He got some one to write a story line (that has nothing to do with the game), got someone to make a title screen, someone to add some dippy music, and forced Scott to put all of these things into his game that he had been working on for over a year. At one point they even made him change the ship so much it was unplayable. The thing I love most about Grav Attack is the attention to small details that Scott incorporated into it. The feel of the ship is so good that levels that look at first to be impossible become very fun to fly, once you get the hang of it. If you get two astronauts on the screen at the same time they will be moving in different ways. And the most creative thing of all is that every single level in Grav Attack has a secret bonus as well as there being 5 universal bonuses. Microillusions also made him take these out as they would be "too confusing". Argggh. Unfortunately Scott Hjalmer Peterson is no longer alive and able to write games for the amiga. He took his own life with a bomb he built about 2 years ago. He was a genius, an artist, and one of only two people to waterballoon David Huffman (ala Huffman coding) while he was giving a lecture. If anyone has questions about the Secret Bonuses or Grav Attack, feel free to write me. Also look forward to seeing GravAttack on abcfd20.