John's Archaeological Adventures - Episode 1: The Tomb
Episode 1: The Tomb
Release type: Shareware
Release date: January 4, 1995
Levels: 12
Author: Roland Ludlam
Website: Studio Walljump
Registration bonus: Episode 2: The Mayan Tomb, and Episode 3: Civilization on Mars
Registration price: $10
Related games: Episode 2: The Mayan Tomb, Episode 3: Civilization on Mars
John's Archaeological Adventures is Roland Ludlam's tribute to George Broussard's Pharaoh's Tomb. Ludlam took his share of liberties, some of them artistic and some of them -- thanks to Game-Maker's infamous quirks -- logistical. The result is an unusual and rich single-screen puzzle-platformer.
The game is unusual in at least two obvious respects. For one, there is only a small handful of Game-Maker based puzzle games. (Of those, most are missing, incomplete, actually unmade, or merely rumored.) Granted, this is an action puzzler and it rarely gets more complex than key-and-door mechanics. Still, it's novel to see the engine used this way.
The other strange bit is the single-screen level design. Each level is scroll-locked in all four directions, meaning each screen is a meticulous construction where every tile is important. Only one other locked-screen Game-Maker game comes to mind, namely Santa is Back!. Of the two, John's Archaeological Adventures is probably the more carefully designed.
A further point of acclaim is the character animation. For such a small sprite, Ludlam made the best use of every frame -- a tendency that also seen in Mech.
The game has its problems -- mostly technical and unavoidable, partially aesthetic. Game-Maker's trademark bouncy monster collision becomes a problem here, as it does in every game with a moving platform. Hop on a platform, and just hope you don't spring off or through it either through your own momentum or through the platform's movement.
Another issue is with Xferplay's strange edge-of-screen issues, where within a few pixels of the screen edge all animations cease, all sprites vanish, and clipping becomes highly unpredictable. In a scrolling game, the character (one hopes) will rarely reach the screen edge, so the worst consequence is occasional sudden monster pop-in. When the screen is locked, though, navigating its edges becomes a whole new adventure.
John's Etcetera consists of three episodes. The first is shareware; the second and third are available to registered users. It is unclear whether Roland Ludlam still retains copies of the later episodes; if he doesn't, again the chances are that they're gone forever.
Background
"One of my other “complete” game maker games was a remake of Pharaoh’s Tomb by Apogee Software, which was my favorite shareware title (so much so that I registered it!).
"Truthfully it was incredibly difficult [to design]. The size of the tiles in Game-Maker and the inflexibility to change that made it pretty hard to do things like spikes with decent collision detection. It was kind of fun, though. I ended up making a game that played like the original Pharaoh’s Tomb, but didn’t actually mimic the level design exactly. It was probably way too hard though."
There are three episodes. Episode One, the shareware episode, is titled "The Tomb".
Story
You wake up in pitch blackness. The massive tomb door has closed behind you, leaving you to your own devices.
You hear noises, a drip far away, and various scufflings, as several unknown things move about in the many rooms of the tomb below you.
At last, you strike a match and light your portable lantern, illuminating the rough stone walls, and gigantic stone bricks. Now it's up to you to escape the tomb, and collect any treasure you can find to make it worthwhile... Maybe even the legendary Pharaoh's tomb itself...
And Maybe, Just Maybe, You'll Find That Amulet You Want So Badly..
Instructions
The game will run by typing PHARAOH at the dos prompt. The first time you run the program, a configuration program will come up. See the HELP option to get help. The SoundBlaster Driver should be done as SNDBLAST.DRV The default will not work. Svga display can be detected, or forced. This option will not affect the graphics, but will affect playability. The game will be much faster with SVGA graphics.
All game commands can be seen in the game by viewing the instructions option.
Saving away from the very beginning of a level will cause a major screen centering problem. If this occurs, simply kill yourself. (You have 99 lives in the Shareware version) and play the level over again. The rest is pretty self explanitory.
Premise
You play the part of the famed archaeologist, John Doe.
You must navigate the many rooms of the tomb and escape with your life, and as much treasure as you can find. If You are lucky, you may find the legendary Amulet hidden in the great Tomb of the Pharaoh...
Controls
Controlling John is simple.
- left=Left arrow
- Right=Right arrow
- Jump Left=Up left arrow
- Jump Right=Up Right Arrow
- Fire Left=Z
- Fire Right=X
You can fire your .44 pistol to kill most monsters you come across. Ammo is not limited.
It is often necessary to do a "DOUBLE JUMP" this is accomplished by pressing the jump key twice in a row.
F5 Saves. BEGINNING OF LEVEL ONLY!!! Otherwise a glitch will result!
F6 Restores. Have FUN!
Credits
This Entire Game Was Produced Using Game-Maker 2.0...
All graphics were created by..
All Animation was HAND-DRAWN by..
- ROLAND LUDLAM
Music is generic royalty free .CMFs.
Playtested By:
- Jeremiah Sears
- Courtney Brown
- Vickie Hamelin
- Kyle Sink
Links
Downloads
- John's Archaeological Adventures (? kB)
- Levels 0, 3, and 10 map (? kB)
- Level 1 map (? kB)
- Levels 2, 6, and 7 map (? kB)
- Level 4 map (? kB)
- Level 5 map (? kB)
- Level 8 map (? kB)
- Boss map (? kB)
