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Pharaoh's Tomb | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Micro F/X Software |
Publisher(s) | Lone Star Micro (Pursuit) Apogee Software (Tomb) |
Designer(s) | George Broussard |
Engine | FAST |
Platform(s) | MS-DOS |
Release | July 15, 1990 (Tomb) November 8, 1990 (Pursuit) |
Genre(s) | Platform |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Pharaoh's Tomb is an MS-DOS platform game created by George Broussard (misspelled as "Broussad" [1] ) and published by Apogee Software.
The game uses CGA graphics based on the FAST (Fluid Animation Software Technology) engine. Notoriously, objects' positions are determined by their bounding volumes, not their pixel-precise positions on screen. [2]
The game was re-released in 2015 on Steam with support for Windows and macOS.
The protagonist, Nevada Smith (a play on Indiana Jones), is an archaeologist and adventurer who is exploring an Egyptian pyramid, hoping to find the Pharaoh's Tomb and get evidence of his findings.
In each level, the player navigates and avoids obstacles by jumping or falling, evading or killing enemies, and find keys to exit each level. Nevada Smith has no life bar, and is killed instantly when he touches enemies or traps. Nevada Smith can collect coins and masks for extra points. Lethal obstacles include pyramid-themed traps, such as blocks that fire projectiles when Smith passes in front of them, wall spikes, ceiling spikes, floor spikes, moving spikes, and wind. Navigational challenges include moving platforms and elevators. Bonus points are randomly concealed in some bricks, which are awarded when hit from below. Occasionally, Smith will become invisible, where only his hat will be visible. The game contains many dead ends as 'traps' where Smith can become permanently stuck, forcing the player to either quit or reload a saved game. Collecting manuscripts will cause blocks to appear (though they are occasionally traps), and invisible triggers will cause blocks to disappear (usually activated around masks). Collecting an 'F' will temporarily freeze all enemies and traps. Collecting 5 masks earns the player 11,000 points and collecting 100 coins earns the player an extra life.
Pharaoh's Tomb is a four-episode game, with the first episode being released as shareware. Each episode contains 20 levels, and each level consisting of a single room. The episodes are:
The game was later released as an 80-level commercial game called Pharaoh's Pursuit published by Lone Star Micro. The game was discontinued on March 2, 2000, and was released as freeware on March 20, 2009. [3]
A sequel, Arctic Adventure , based on the same engine, features Nevada Smith as the protagonist and has similar gameplay.
Computer Gaming World called Pharaoh's Tomb "lively and imaginative", praising the FAST engine's animation and level design. The magazine said that the low price of the full game made it an "outstanding value". [4]
Rise of the Triad: Dark War is a first-person shooter video game, developed and published by Apogee Software in 1995. The player can choose one of five different characters to play as, each bearing unique attributes such as height, speed, and endurance. The game's story follows these five characters who have been sent to investigate a deadly cult, and soon become aware of a deadly plot to destroy a nearby city. Its remake was designed by Interceptor Entertainment and released by Apogee Games in 2013. The shareware version of the game is titled Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins.
Commander Keen is a series of side-scrolling platform video games developed primarily by id Software. The series consists of six main episodes, a "lost" episode, and a final game; all but the final game were released for MS-DOS in 1990 and 1991, while the 2001 Commander Keen was released for the Game Boy Color. The series follows the eponymous Commander Keen, the secret identity of the eight-year-old genius Billy Blaze, as he defends the Earth and the galaxy from alien threats with his homemade spaceship, rayguns, and pogo stick. The first three episodes were developed by Ideas from the Deep, the precursor to id, and published by Apogee Software as the shareware title Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons; the "lost" episode 3.5 Commander Keen in Keen Dreams was developed by id and published as a retail title by Softdisk; episodes four and five were released by Apogee as the shareware Commander Keen in Goodbye, Galaxy; and the simultaneously developed episode six was published in retail by FormGen as Commander Keen in Aliens Ate My Babysitter. Ten years later, an homage and sequel to the series was developed by David A. Palmer Productions and published by Activision as Commander Keen. Another game was announced in 2019 as under development by ZeniMax Online Studios, but was not released.
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Duke Nukem is a 1991 platform game developed and published by Apogee Software for MS-DOS. The 2D, multidirectional scrolling game follows the adventures of fictional character Duke Nukem across three episodes of ten levels each. The game's first episode was distributed as shareware. The name was briefly changed to Duke Nukum to avoid trademark issues.
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Paganitzu is a puzzle video game created by Keith Schuler and published by Apogee Software for IBM PC compatibles in 1991. It is the sequel to Chagunitzu. The player controls Alabama "Al" Smith, who works his way through an ancient Aztec pyramid while solving Sokoban-like puzzles.
George Broussard is an American video game producer and designer. He is one of the creators of the Duke Nukem series, along with Todd Replogle, Allen Blum, and Scott Miller.
PowerSlave, known as Exhumed in Europe and 1999 AD: Resurrection of the Pharaoh in Japan, is a first-person shooter video game developed by Lobotomy Software and published by Playmates Interactive Entertainment in North America, and BMG Interactive in Europe and Japan. It was released in North America, Europe and Japan, for the Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and MS-DOS over the course of a year from late 1996 to late 1997. On May 24, 2015, Powerslave EX, an unofficial remake of the PlayStation version appeared on GitHub. The MS-DOS version of PowerSlave was added to the GOG store on November 19, 2020.
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Boppin' is a puzzle-oriented video game created by Jennifer Diane Reitz in 1991, developed under the company name Accursed Toys and published by Karmasoft for the Amiga computer. Around that time Karmasoft held a level design contest. The game sold poorly with 284 copies, so Jennifer got it republished by Apogee Software with up to 256 colors on screen. Due to mature content containing blood and seppuku, Apogee included a disclaimer in the manual that the game contained potentially offensive imagery, as well as part of a manifesto from Accursed Toys stating that their games were produced for an audience of adult gamers who are mostly 25 and older.
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Commander Keen in Goodbye, Galaxy is a two-part episodic side-scrolling platform video game developed by id Software and published by Apogee Software in 1991 for DOS. It consists of the fifth and sixth episodes of the Commander Keen series, though they are numbered as the fourth and fifth, as Commander Keen in Keen Dreams is not part of the main continuity. The game follows the titular Commander Keen, an eight-year-old child genius, as he first journeys through the Shadowlands to rescue the Gnosticenes so they may ask the Oracle how the Shikadi plan to destroy the galaxy, and then through the Shikadi's Armageddon Machine to stop them. The two episodes feature Keen running, jumping, and shooting through various levels while opposed by aliens, robots, and other hazards.
Commander Keen in Aliens Ate My Babysitter is a side-scrolling platform video game developed by id Software and published by FormGen in December 1991 for DOS. It is the seventh episode of the Commander Keen series, though it is numbered as the sixth, as Commander Keen in Keen Dreams is outside of the main continuity. The game follows the titular Commander Keen, an eight-year-old child genius, as he journeys through an alien world to rescue his kidnapped babysitter. The game features Keen running, jumping, and shooting through various levels while opposed by aliens, robots, and other hazards.
All moving objects are defined by a rectangular region around them.