Difference between revisions of "Void Raiders"
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Compared to John's games, his brother Robert's may be distinguished by two themes: one, they more tend to be complete; two, whereas John most seems to enjoy the act of production, Robert tends to use what is to hand to sketch at a structure. If John is the artisan, Robert is the architect. When Robert happens on a vat of John's raw material, we get a collaboration like ''[[Terra]]'' or ''[[Fox World]]''. In the case of ''Void Raiders'', Robert seems to have found his beats in other material -- namely, ''[[Nebula]]'', ''[[Zark]]'', and ''[[Orb: The Derelict Planet]]''. | Compared to John's games, his brother Robert's may be distinguished by two themes: one, they more tend to be complete; two, whereas John most seems to enjoy the act of production, Robert tends to use what is to hand to sketch at a structure. If John is the artisan, Robert is the architect. When Robert happens on a vat of John's raw material, we get a collaboration like ''[[Terra]]'' or ''[[Fox World]]''. In the case of ''Void Raiders'', Robert seems to have found his beats in other material -- namely, ''[[Nebula]]'', ''[[Zark]]'', and ''[[Orb: The Derelict Planet]]''. | ||
| − | For his melody, Robert seems to be working from riffs that he improvised in the maze game ''[[Droid]]''. Some part of its chaos may have kept an orbit in his head, and stabilized over time. | + | For his melody, Robert seems to be working from riffs that he improvised in the maze game ''[[Droid]]''. Some part of its chaos may have kept an orbit in his head, and stabilized over time. Here he more clearly sketched an environment, put more thought into player input, draped the game with with a more focused theme -- that old stalwart, space ships. So here, we've got something. Or, the start of it. |
| − | On paper, ''Void Raiders'' | + | On paper, ''Void Raiders'' holds promise. It's a wander-free space shooter that controls like ''Robotron'' -- an uncommon scheme, yet ideal for the engine. The visuals are lifted, yet applied with an eye and ambition. One level turns some marble tiles from ''[[Pipemare]]'' into a seeming torrent of water or plasma. Elsewhere the levels are set on a tapestry of NASA photographs, scrounged from whatever source would hold them. |
Revision as of 17:54, 23 July 2016
Release type: Shareware
Release date: 2001
Levels: 7
Author: Robert Brandon
Registration bonus: The rest of the first episode, side-scrolling scenes, and bonus courses
Registration price: $8
Related games: Orb: The Derelict Planet
FULL ENTRY COMING SOON!
Whereas much of John and Robert Brandon's material is unfinished, due often to ambitions greater than the available cup, a few games did continue to some form of rest. Void Raiders is one of their most complete games, to the point of asking for registration. The lens we use, then, should here be different from the lens we use elsewhere.
Compared to John's games, his brother Robert's may be distinguished by two themes: one, they more tend to be complete; two, whereas John most seems to enjoy the act of production, Robert tends to use what is to hand to sketch at a structure. If John is the artisan, Robert is the architect. When Robert happens on a vat of John's raw material, we get a collaboration like Terra or Fox World. In the case of Void Raiders, Robert seems to have found his beats in other material -- namely, Nebula, Zark, and Orb: The Derelict Planet.
For his melody, Robert seems to be working from riffs that he improvised in the maze game Droid. Some part of its chaos may have kept an orbit in his head, and stabilized over time. Here he more clearly sketched an environment, put more thought into player input, draped the game with with a more focused theme -- that old stalwart, space ships. So here, we've got something. Or, the start of it.
On paper, Void Raiders holds promise. It's a wander-free space shooter that controls like Robotron -- an uncommon scheme, yet ideal for the engine. The visuals are lifted, yet applied with an eye and ambition. One level turns some marble tiles from Pipemare into a seeming torrent of water or plasma. Elsewhere the levels are set on a tapestry of NASA photographs, scrounged from whatever source would hold them.
Fluid, responsive.
Difficult to play; contributing factors: persistent monsters (keep coming, take multiple shots), shots that can't pass through walls, narrow passages, momentum-based movement. Hard to run away. Hard to get into passages. Hard to hit monsters. Monsters never give up. Also, goals are unclear and it's hard to survive long enough to figure them out.
Basically, difficulty balance and overall playability need attention. What's there is appealing. Just hard for the player to make meaningful progress.
Contents
Story
Once, in a land far away, there was a strange occurrence. Where it came from, nobody knew, but whenever anyone touched it, he/she disappeared. Some believed that it was some mystical portal conjured up by the ancients. Others thought that it was an alien device accidentally left there. Nobody knew. It was eventually forgotten, that strange mist of swirling purple gasses, and it remained, swallowing the odd traveler here, a hiker there.
CENTURIES LATER
Technology had improved much since the discovery of the transporter, and the Zorbians were once again ready to take on the once forgotten menace. They constructed a fine ship, made of the best materials of Zorb, and equipped with dual ion cannons. However, the portal was quickly fading, so they strapped in the first junior pilot they could find and started the countdown.
...5...4...3...2...1... PREPARE FOR LIFTOFF!!!
Here's my story; I was walking down the sidewalk in my rider's outfit, (I was waiting for the washing machine to finish) and suddenly, a big guy's arm reaches out, grabs my arm and throws me into a nicely padded seat. As the countdown begins, I'm wondering exactly what I'm doing here. I'm also wondering if I can get back before my clothes are done. I've been using the on-line help section of the ship, and what I've been able to come up with at the moment is the movement keys, the turbo keys, (W,S,A,D) and the fire keys. (T,G,F,H) Well, I hope that they're friendly...
Instructions
WASD = TURBO
TFGH = PHOTON
Arrow keys = movement
[] = Expel - Impel items into your ship
BN = Plasma bolts - if you have them
ENTER = Cloaking device activate
Credits
This game was made by Brandon Enterprises in the name of the great Emperor Zorgisang.
Actually, I was just kidding - Robert Brandon made this game.
Background
John Brandon:
- Game by my brother, looks like it borrows graphics from Nebula, Zark, and Orb. I do remember my brother spending a lot of time on this.
- Looks like it is a maze style game. You can shoot at the enemies, the levels should have exits, and there is a level select screen! Don't forget to regEster! LOL
- Needless to say, like all of our other games and tech demos, none of these were ever released to the public at the time, nor was a more complete/registered version ever created.
Availability
Prior to this archive's online presence, this game is not known to be publicly available.
Archive history
On January 21st 2010, Rob Brandon pseudonymously responded to a Reddit thread with a passing comment about Game-Maker. When pressed about his history with the software, he replied that all of his games were stored on a couple of defunct computers, either inaccessible or destroyed.
Over 31 months later on August 23th 2012, John Brandon commented on a YouTube clip that he had found an archive of his and his brother's old games. The next day he composed a long e-mail describing the contents of a jumbled collection of gameware files, adding up to an ostensible sixteen games. All of the games were in pieces, many of them incomplete.
Over the next five months, through regular consultation, the games were all reassembled as well as the materials would permit. The games were reconstructed or otherwise recovered on the following dates:
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Links
Downloads
- Void Raiders (544.1 kB)
