Paradroid: Difference between revisions

|title = Paradroid

|image = Paradroid cover.jpg

|image_size = 256px

|publisher = [[Hewson Consultants]], <br> Jester Interactive Publishing

|modes = [[Single-player]]

'''''Paradroid''''' is a [[Commodore 64]] [[video game|computer game]] written by [[Andrew Braybrook]] and published by [[Hewson Consultants]] in [[1985 in video gaming|1985]]. It is a [[shoot 'em up]] with [[Puzzle video game|puzzle]] elements and was critically praised at release.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.zzap64.co.uk/cgi-bin/displaypage.pl?issue=007&page=124&magazine=zzap|title=View a Scan|website=www.zzap64.co.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-09-09}}</ref> The objective is to clear a fleet of spaceships of hostile robots by destroying them or taking them over via a mini-game. It was later remade as ''Paradroid 90'' for the Commodore [[Amiga]] and [[Atari ST]] home computers<ref name="diary2">{{citation | url=http://amr.abime.net/review_26661 | title=From start to finish: The diary of a game | journal=Amiga Action}}</ref> and as Paradroid 2000 for the [[Acorn Archimedes]]. There exist several [[fan-made]] [[Remake (computing)|remakes]] for modern PCs. In 2004 the Commodore 64 version was re-released as a built-in game on the [[C64 Direct-to-TV]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pepm.bluedomino.com/c64dtvsupport.htm#games |title=Games on the C64DTV }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> and in 2008 for the [[Wii]] [[Virtual Console]] in Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/2008/05/paradroid_virtual_console |accessdate=2014-06-19|title=C64 Nintendolife ''Paradroid'' Review|date=22 May 2008 }}</ref>

The Influence Device is numbered "001". The primary way in which the Influence Device destroys other droids is by "linking" with them, effectively taking them over. When the player takes over another droid, the previously controlled droid is destroyed.

In either case, the droid being controlled by the player is destroyed. If the player beats the droid in this mini-game, hethey takestake control of that droid. If not, either the droid is destroyed and the player returned to the game as just the Influence Device (if hethey waswere previously controlling a different droid), or the player is killed, ending the game, if hethey waswere not already controlling another droid before the takeover attempt.

While in control of another droid, the player effectively acts as that droid, meaning the player has access to that droid's maneuverability, armor, weapons and "power supplies" (used during the droid-control mini-game). If the droid has weapons, the player can destroy other droids by shooting them instead of taking them over, though higher-numbered droids can require several shots to destroy and might fire back. The player has control of a droid only for a limited amount of time (which is inversely proportional to the droid's number). If that time elapses, the controlled droid self-destructs and the player reverts to the Influence Device (001).

The spaceship has 20 decks, each with many rooms; the game has more than 400 screens.{{r|info198601}} Doors and elevators connect the rooms and the decks. Only droids in the player's line of sight are visible, although doors being operated by out-of-sight droids can be seen moving. Many rooms have computer terminals that provide access to maps of the current deck and the entire ship as well as droid information. Each droid can access information about itself and all lower-numbered droids (this access is available to the player based on the droid being controlled).<ref name="rgamer125">{{citation | title=The Making of Paradroid | journal=Retro Gamer | issue=125 | pages=44–49 | date= February 2014 | publisher = [[Imagine Publishing]] }}</ref>

It's not really an arcade adventure—it leans more towards arcade. Gribbly's I wanted to be a non-violent game. All of the zapping and violence that I couldn't get into Gribbly's will be going into this one. Last week we designed the game's 20-deck space-ship, but I'd like to actually build one just to make sure it all works—all the lift shafts tie up and the decks fit together. Maybe I'll try using Lego. Dunno, it might work.

The game was influenced by several different computer games and movies, and was built on top of a previous game, "Survive", developed by GEC Marconi.<ref>[[Retro gamer]] magazine, spanish edition (issue 28, page103page 103)</ref> Author Andrew Braybrook said in a [[Retro Gamer]] interview that the droid-swapping idea came from an arcade game, ''[[Front Line (video game)|Front Line]]'', where the player could enter a tank and had to leave it when it got hit.<ref name="rgamer100">{{citation | title=In the Chair with... Andrew Braybrook | journal=Retro Gamer | issue=100 | pages=79 | date= March 2012 |publisher = [[Imagine Publishing]] }}</ref> In another Retro Gamer feature, Braybrook also stated that the cover of the [[Black Sabbath]] album ''[[Technical Ecstasy]]'' influenced him, where two droids "interfacing" can be observed, along with the corridors of the moviefilm ''[[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]''. Development started right after Braybrook finished his previous game ''[[Gribbly's Day Out]]'' and even shared some code with ''Gribbly's''.<ref name="rgamer125"/> Later when Braybrook was working on ''[[Morpheus (1987 video game)|Morpheus]]'' he did another diary for Zzap!64 where he revealed that the then recently released Competition Edition of ''Paradroid'' was 50% faster than the original.<ref name="mental2">[http://www.zzap64.co.uk/zzap24/mental2.html Mental Procreation part 2] - [[Web Archive]] {{cite journal | date = April 1987 | title = Zzap!64 | issue = 24 | pages = 92 }}</ref> In the same series he revealed that they had redone the ''Paradroid'' graphics in the new (''Morpheus'') style,<ref name="mental1">[http://www.zzap64.co.uk/zzap23/mental1.html Mental Procreation part 1] - Web Archive from {{cite journal | date=March 1987 | title = Zzap!64 | issue = 23 | pages = 90 }}</ref> which was later released as ''Heavy Metal Paradroid''. Andrew Braybrook did another diary during the development of ''Paradroid 90'' for ''[[Amiga Action]]''.<ref name="diary2"/>

<ref name="cvgreview">{{citation | url = ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/sinclair/magazines/C+VG/Issue049/Pages/CVG04900020.jpg | title = C+VG Paradroid Review (Web Scan) | accessdate = 2014-06-23 | date = November 1985 | journal = C+VG | publisher = [[Future Publishing]] | issue = 49 | pages = 20 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

| rev2Score = 88%<ref>{{cite web | url=http://amr.abime.net/review_12022 | title=Amiga Format Paradroid 90 Review (Web Archive) | publisher=Amiga Magazine Rack | date= | accessdate=2014-06-23}} {{cite journal | date=December 1990 | journal = Amiga Format | issue = 17 | pages = 89 }}</ref>

<ref name="cvgp90">{{cite web | url=http://amr.abime.net/review_12022 | title=C+VG Paradroid 90 Review (Web Scan) | publisher=Amiga Magazine Rack | date= | accessdate=2013-09-29}} {{cite journal | date=April 1990 | journal = C+VG | publisher = [[Future Publishing]] | issue = 105 | pages = 14–15 }}</ref>

* 1986 – ''Paradroid Competition Edition'' – Released as a double pack at Christmas with ''[[Uridium]]+'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/commodore-user-magazine-40/Commodore_User_Issue_40_1987_Jan#page/n23/mode/2up |title = Commodore User Uridium + Review (Web Scan)|publisher=The Internet Archive |date= January 1987|accessdate=2014-06-23}} {{cite journal | date=January 1987 | journal = Commodore User | issue = 40 | pages =24 24}}</ref> plays faster than the original, mainly due to scroll code enhancements.<ref name="mental2"/>

* 1987 – ''Heavy Metal Paradroid'' – ''Paradroid'' with [[Morpheus (1987 video game)|''Morpheus'']] style graphics<ref name="mental1"/> (budget release in 1989).<ref name="zzap64review2">{{cite web | url=http://www.zzap64.co.uk/cgi-bin/displaypage.pl?issue=49&page=87 | title = Zzap!64 Review - Heavy Metal Edition (Web Scan) | publisher=Def Guide to Zzap!64 | date= | accessdate=2014-06-23}} {{cite journal | date=May 1989 | journal = Zzap!64 | issue = 49 | pages = 87 }}</ref>

* 1993 – ''Paradroid 2000'' (Acorn Archimedes)<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.goodolddays.net/game/id,761/Paradroid+2000.html | publisher=Thegoodolddays.net | title= Archimedes Paradroid 2000 }}</ref>

{{quote|Andrew Braybrook's ''Paradroid'' is a masterpiece, there's no other way to describe its sheer brilliance.<ref name="rgamer96">{{citation | title=Top 25 Commodore 64 Games of All Time | journal=Retro Gamer | issue=96 | pages=58–67 | url=http://www.retrogamer.net/top_10/top-ten-commodore-64-games/ | date= November 2011 | publisher = [[Imagine Publishing]] | accessdate=2013-01-11 }}</ref>}} In 1993, ''[[Commodore Force]]'' ranked the game at number 14 on its list of the top 100 Commodore 64 games.<ref>{{cite web|title=Top Ton!|url=https://archive.org/stream/zzap64-magazine-101/ZZap_64_Issue_101_Commodore_Force_Issue_11_1993_Autumn#page/n32/mode/1up/|website=Commodore Force|date=Autumn 1993|accessdate=2017-09-03|page=33}}</ref> Also in a 2002 Zzap!64 tribute publication, ''Paradroid'' via a community vote was ranked the best C64 game ever with the comment "there is something about ''Paradroid'' that sets it apart from other C64 games".

When it originally came out it received 97 out of 100 in the ''Zzap!64'' November 1985 issue with the comment "THE classic shoot em up"<ref name="zzap64review"/> and receiving a "Gold Medal" where 98% is the highest score ever given in the magazine,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.zzap64.co.uk/zzap100/100thspec5.html | title=Zzap!64 Gold Standard }}</ref> once again 97 out of 100 with the remark "A game no C64 gamer should be without", in 1989 for the re-issued "Heavy Metal" Edition.<ref name="zzap64review2"/> In November 1988 it was selected the second best Shoot 'em up on the C64<ref>{{citation | url=http://www.zzap64.co.uk/cgi-bin/displaypage.pl?issue=043&page=106&magazine=zzap | journal=Zzap!64 | title = DEF Guide to Shoot 'em Ups | date=November 1988 | issue=43 | pages=105–108 }}</ref> and in December the same year it was selected the third best game by ''Zzap!64'' magazine.<ref>{{citation | url=http://www.zzap64.co.uk/cgi-bin/displaypage.pl?issue=044&page=124&magazine=zzap | journal=Zzap!64 | title = The Best and Worst of Six Years of the C64! | date=November 1988 | issue=44 | pages=124 }}</ref>

''Paradroid 90'' received "C+VG Hit" with a score of 93% in ''Computer and Video Games''<ref name="cvgp90"/> and was ranked the 22nd best game of all time by ''[[Amiga Power]]''.<ref>{{citation | url=http://amr.abime.net/issue_419_pages | title=All-Time Top 100 Games | date=May 1991 | journal = Amiga Power Supplemental | page = 7 }}</ref>

* ''Project Paradroid'' for Windows, current version 2 (2006)<ref>[http://paradroid.ovine.net/index.php Project Paradroid] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325185229/http://paradroid.ovine.net/index.php |date=2015-03-25 }} Project home page</ref>

* [[C64 Direct-to-TV]] (the "30 C64 games in 1 joystick" unit)

* {{moby game|id=/paradroid}}

* {{Lemon64 game|id=1888}}

* {{Lemon64 game|id=3066}} (Heavy Metal Paradroid)

* [http://www.c64-wiki.com/index.php/Paradroid ''Paradroid''] at the C64 Wiki

*[http://www.lemonamiga.com/?game_id {{Lemon Amiga game|id=818 ''|name=Paradroid 90''] at Lemon Amiga}}

* [http://www.zzap64.co.uk/zzap3/para_birth01.html Birth of a Paradroid] &ndash; the original diary of the making of the game by Andrew Braybrook

* [http://www.c64-longplays.de/downloads.html#P Longplay (Video)] at [http://www.c64-longplays.de/ www.c64-longplays.de]

* [https://archive.org/download/C64GVA230-Paradroid/C64GVA230-Paradroid.ogv Longplay (Video)] at [https://archive.org/details/C64GVA230-Paradroid www.archive.org/details/C64GVA230-Paradroid]

* [https://conceptalpha.co.uk/category/devblog/paradroidremake ''Paradroid Remake in progress'']