3/16/2023 0 Comments Lode runner 2 the legend returns![]() In 1994, the same year that Myst won Games Magazine's Game of the Year and X-Com UFO Defense won Best Strategy Game, Lode Runner came in as Best New Arcade Game. My contributions to the ongoing design of Lode Runner led to my placement within the design department at Presage and to the many designs I created and contributed to while working there. Game elements were brainstormed, added and balanced exclusively by the programmers as needed, especially in the case of Lode Runner Online. Also, all of the programmers were called upon to do design work insomuch as there was no significant paper design to begin with. This game did phenomenally well, winning many awards and leading to a sequel: " Lode Runner On-Line - The Mad Monks' Revenge".Īs the Lead Programmer on both projects my responsiblity was to divide code responsiblities among the team, lead the coding effort in general, specifically shepherd the Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 efforts, contribute to the design, maintain the code base between two different remote offices, and deal directly with the client when called upon to do so. The result of this effort was Lode Runner - The Legend Returns. Smith and set out to create a new, updated version for modern machines. ![]() In 1993, Presage Software acquired the rights to the classic Lode Runner game by Doug E. The editor can choose to set the level in night or day, as well as change the background music regardless of the tile set. The game is an excellent example of the trap-em-up genre, which also includes games like "Heiankyo Alien" and " Space Panic".Ī powerful level editor is included with the game, allowing several levels to constitute a single group of levels, as well as the ability to switch between different tile sets. The two Shadowlands levels in this mode are not pitch black. While most levels are set in the day, the levels of Shadowlands take place at night, when the entire screen is pitch black, save a moving circular patch of light within which the player is visible. The game contains 150 single-player levels broken up into ten different worlds: Moss Caverns (jungle), Fungus Delvings, the Lost City of Ur (ancient world), the Crystal Hoard, Winter's Dungeon (ice world), Skeleton's Keep (fossil world), Inferno's Playground (lava world), Shimmering Caverns (phosphorus world), the Shadowlands (dark world), and Meltdown Metropolis (industrial world). Another form of turf is introduced: gooey turf, which slows the passage of both the player and his enemies. In addition to the standard turf, which is susceptible to being dug through with the player's blaster, there are also the nostalgic bedrock (which can only be penetrated with a jackhammer or a larger bomb that, unlike small bombs, permanently destroyed turf or any other item in the level except the exit) and trapdoor turf, which resembles regular turf but which actually is empty space. The game also resurrects the original Lode Runner's several varieties of turf as well as introducing one more. These devices include: snare traps, incapacitating sprays, jackhammers, two types of bombs, pickaxes (which make a pile of rock from the ceiling blocking your enemies), and buckets filled with goo that is used to cover surfaces and slow characters down. New elements introduced to this version include devices that can be picked up and used only one at a time. The goal is to collect all the treasure, avoid touching any of the monks (who are the villains in the game), and making your way to the exit. The game takes place in a single frame with many different elements such as ground, ladders, treasure, items, and villains. The story concludes when the said elevator arrives but malfunctions, leaving Jake no other choice but to reach the surface using the presumably tall staircase. At the end of the game, Jake is seen in the Technological world calling an elevator to the surface, eagerly waiting while the credits roll. The game's manual explains that Jake, and optionally Wes, travel to unknown underground worlds in the hopes of scavenging the untold golden treasures that litter the game's levels. In this reincarnation of Lode Runner, the robots of the original game are skeletal "mad monks" who wear red robes. Your character is named Jake Peril (who wears a gray suit), although a second player can play as his identical partner, Wes Reckless (who wears a blue suit), who can be played during two-player cooperative levels and head-to-head hotseat play. Lode Runner - The Legend Returns © 1994 Sierra.Ī few traces of a storyline are present in the game.
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