Linear Volume

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Linear Volume
VolumeTitle.gif

Release type: Demo game
Release date: 1993 (original release)
Levels: 18
Author: Don'Pan Software
Related games: Sample

WhereasCireneg's Rings was my take on Dragon Warrior, Linear Volume was a direct rip-off of Phantasy Star II -- as close as I could manage.

When it came out, Phantasy Star II was in the range of $80-90 -- and this was in 1980s money -- so as big an impression as the game made on me, I never had my own copy. Instead, I borrowed the game for perhaps two years from a middle school associate. He was a year ahead of me and I didn't know him all that well, but we had similar taste in games.

Marty.gif

Around the time that I finally returned his game, I decided to make him a sort of thank-you gift. I whipped up a bad copy of the Motavian and Dezolian overworlds, and arbitrarily seeded them with towns and dungeons. I also designed an in-game intro, where a school bus disappears into a vortex and my acquaintance emerges into, essentially, the world of Phantasy Star II -- albeit a version populated with Groucho noses, pickles, and toenail clippers.

Roaming the overworld in Linear Volume
LinearMons.gif

Linear Volume has most of the same structural and technical problems as Cireneg's Rings, with a lack of in-game text, poor flow and sequencing, dozens of useless items, and reappearing one-off items. Its sheer strangeness may make it a little more involving than Rings, but without an obvious sense of direction it struggles to retain the player's attention.

The final boss is one of my first experiments in multi-segmented monsters. Unfortunately it does little but sit there. The standard monsters are also sort of charming, and saw much repeated use.

The public version of Linear Volume was eventually folded into the 3.0 CD release of Game-Maker.

- [Azurelore Korrigan]

Story[edit]

World map from Linear Volume

Chapter I[edit]

After getting through the daily hell called high school, Marty headed home. After stepping into the nearest bus, he sat down in the prized position of Farthest Seat in the Back.

"Strange," he thought. "Usually everyone is surging for this seat, but there's no one in here. What's goin' on? Are the cheerleaders putting on a game of strip poker in the gym, or what?"

All of a sudden, the world turned into a big yellow blur. Once everything seemed stable again, Marty climbed out from under the seat. "Hey, this isn't OZ!" Peeking out of the window, Marty learned that this was not the 90's.

He deduced this by observing a large metal earlobe casually flap by.

"Well, well, a time warp... time warp? Wait a second."

Once he finished pondering this subject, Marty noticed that it had gotten pitch black outside. Lighting a match on the back of his hand, he stood up. "Whet's el de screamin' 'bout bak thar," Marty heard from the blackness at the front of the vehicle.

The bus driver, who had blue hair and eyes as big as grapefruits jumped out the window, howling something. Not wishing to be devoured by whatever it was, although he never actually saw it back there, Marty, too rushed away.

Town 4 from Linear Volume

Chapter II[edit]

Soon later, Marty came upon another native. The person turned around, and Marty noticed his purple hair. "Why does everyone here look like he's from a Japaneese cartoon," he asked.

"You must go to the town of Ishmaiel immidiately! World the fate of the known is in your hands," the native responded.

"Hmm... all right. But how do I get back to the past? And how did I get here?"

"You must defeat the evil lord to reopen the time port that brought," he said.

"What language are you speaking," pondered Marty.

"English translated from Japanese."

"Oh. Of course."

So here your jouney begins. You must decide Marty's fate. As for me, I'll go play A-J's Quest (c).

GOOD LUCK!

Instructions[edit]

New World map from Linear Volume

UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT:

Walk in those directions

SPACE BAR:

Use bladed weapon

2-5:

Use various other weapons

1:

Throw eggplants (if any)

Q-T ON QWERTY ROW:

Use magic spells

Suggestions from the Elder[edit]

At the outset, you should first drop all of the items you're carrying, as most do nothing at all.

Next, go to the weapon shop and get a knife. The armor doesn't really do anything, so don't waste your money.

Your first task is to find the first cave. Upon finding it, get up enough strength to brave the terrors inside before entering. If you cannot find it, go to the main menu and don't touch any keys for about 30 seconds. A demo will run which brings the character through these first steps.

Once it (I'm not telling what IT is) is found in the cave, you must enter all the others (once you find IT, you will be able to circumvent the yellow barrier), trying to find a way off the planet.

GOOD LUCK!!

Credits[edit]

Storyline: [Azurelore Korrigan]

Sound: [Azurelore Korrigan]

Graphics: [Azurelore Korrigan]

Menus: Gregory Stone

Availability[edit]

This game is distributed as gameware with Game-Maker 3.0.

During the early 1990s the game also was available for download from GameLynk's Frontline BBS.

Archive History[edit]

Linear Volume was retained as part of the archive from the game's inception.

Links[edit]

Interviews / Articles[edit]

Misc. Links[edit]

Downloads[edit]