Adam 2000

Adam 2000

Release type: Unknown
Release date: November 17, 2000
Levels: 3
Author: Alan Caudel
Related games: Adam's Birthday Game, The Adam's Birthday Saga Continues, Adam's B-Day 3: The Saga Continues, Adam 97, Adam 98, Adam 99

It is the new millennium, and there is no more time for Klax.

Adam 2000 is the seventh and so-far final game in the Adam's Birthday series. It also seems to be Alan Caudel's final game with Game-Maker until the DOSBox renaissance of ten years thence. It's one of only three currently known Game-Maker games developed in the year 2000, and only thirteen developed in the following decade (or three by parties other than John and Robert Brandon). This seems as good a point as any, then, to stop and muse.

For all of Alan Caudel's technical and artistic progress, a few years ago he seemed to hit a wall. His last game was Adam '99, a full year earlier; even that came about reluctantly. His only other project in 1999 was Dummy Duck 5, a highly ambitious game that circumstances conspired to cut short. When that game failed to come together, it seems Caudel's already flagging interest passed an event horizon. Some 18 months later, Adam 2000 is a final echo of a long and intense study.

This game sits in a curious place, creatively. It's a call-back to Alan Caudel's earlier games, even to the point of a reversal of some growth in play narrative and environmental design. There also seems to be some thought as to a new beginning here: if he is going to make a new Game-Maker game, maybe he can elevate the tools somehow, make it all seem more professional?

Avoiding danger in Adam 2000

As with Adam '99, there are three levels here -- and as with that game it's made to be hard. This may be the most difficult of all the Adam's Birthday games, and not always in a fair or just way. The first level is full of background hazards, many of which are unclear. There is a recurring tile, for instance, that blends into the background; when it's spinning, it causes Adam injury, when it's still, it is safe to pass. The tiles look like decoration, to the point where it can take a while to realize what is causing injury.

It's difficult to find one's way around the first level, due in part to the abstracted backgrounds and in part to the architecture, which weaves around floating platforms punctuated by hazards that can be difficult to avoid, particularly given Adam's weak jump physics. The entire floor of the level is covered in "OW" tiles that cause Adam injury -- but just enough injury to send him slowly bouncing across the floor until he dies. There is no escape from this scenario, and it takes quite a while to conclude, rather taking the enthusiasm out of any performance.

To add insult, the level requires the player to collect a series of inscrutable widgets that again fade into the background, forcing an exploration of every corner of the level -- and then if the player slips and dies, the level's intro drains that counter (as in the later Mister Spiff games). This is what it is -- understandable on a design level; irritating on a play level -- but the real problem is that the tiles that drain the counter have no discrimination. If you happen to find several widgets and then walk past the intro, your counter is drained -- meaning you very probably will be unable to finish the level without sacrificing a life.

If you make it to the very pretty level two, the game presents a different frustration. Here the environmental hazards -- hidden sinkholes, largely -- are more overtly secret, and also easier to avoid. The real problem is one of force. The level is full of monster generators, that create new creatures on a steady clip. At one key vertical stretch in particular, the background is packed densely with these generators, making it virtually impossible to ascend without spamming the bomb button. Even then, the sheer number of targets, their irregular movement, and Adam's uncertain physics, mean that success is far from assured.

If you manage to push through that, level 3 is sort of a reprieve. Here you're being chased by a giant snowman. That's all. What you need to do is book it, to the left, as fast as you can. Spam the bomb button if it helps, ignore the allure of items, and try not to get hit along the way. Eventually the ground gives way, leading to an impressive .FLI animation introducing Adam's birthday gifts. The level is still tough, but predictably so. If you mess up, generally you know it and have a good idea what to do differently next time.

Although chase levels like this are a staple for early-'90s action platformers (see Decapattack et al), they are unusual for Game-Maker, with only a few other clear implementations (e.g., level three in Builder). Even in Alan Caudel's last game (of his original run), he's still blazing a trail of sorts.

Clearly he had some thought that this might be a new beginning. The first thing you see when you boot up Adam 2000 is a brand new render of the On Target Programming logo. It seems Caudel had a new tool, as screen after screen exhibits a shiny, polished quality. Confounding as some background elements may be, that polish extends to the in-game sprites and tile work. We're past the exaggerated caricatures of earlier games, and now into the realm of careful shading and dithering. There a lot of attention to form here.

So, again, in many ways Alan Caudel's final game feels like it comes from early in his design era -- yet it's overlaid with a level of refinement that suggests the start of something new. As it happens, that something new had nothing to do with Game-Maker. That part of life would have to go on pause, for a while.

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Adam '99	Adam 2000	(Overview)
Adam's Birthday series

Story

It's Adam Tyner's Birthday!

As usual, Alan is taking forever to make his birthday game, and therefore it's going to take forever for Adam to get his presents! Tired of waiting so long, Adam jumps inside of his computer to find the game files himself, so Alan will have no choice but to send the rest of his presents. Collect the flashing bits of information, and escape the viruses! The next level, you're back in the real world, trying to get home! Weird Al shows up to help you along!

Level 3 is a surprise!! The ending took forever to animate!

Instructions

Level 1 - Pick up the flashing star things, get Yoo-hoo for more hit points WEAPONS: Knife & Lazer = spacebar

Level 2 - Get Weird Al's instruments for TONS of hit points Weapons: Bombs = enter

Level 3 - Run left... don't die

Credits

By: Alan Caudel

Availability

This game is not known to have been distributed in any form, prior to its addition to the Archive.

Archive History

On August 1, 2011, Alan Caudel forward a third wave of games, previously thought lost:

• Adam '97
• Adam 2000
• Dummy Duck 5
• Yurik 2

Links

• Play Adam 2000 online

Downloads

• Adam 2000 (1.3 MB)
• Level 1 map (64 kB)
• Level 2 map (75 kB)
• Level 3 map (36 kB)