 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2015) |
| Scarab of Ra | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Rick Holzgrafe |
| Publisher(s) | Semicolon Software |
| Platform(s) | Mac OS Classic |
| Release | 1988 [1] |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Scarab of Ra is a Mac OS shareware computer game written in 1987 by Rick Holzgrafe [2] and released in 1988 [1] by Semicolon Software, with a modernized version released in 2022. It is an adventure set within an Egyptian pyramid. [3]
A sandstorm has uncovered the Great Pyramid of Ra. The player, a lowly archaeology student, decides to learn its secrets and tell of its wonders. After securing food and a lantern on short notice, the player enters the pyramid with hopes of finding and relying on additional equipment abandoned by earlier expeditions.
The game is rendered in monochrome from a first person perspective; the rendering engine only allows grid-based, frame-by-frame movement. The game is played via a point-and-click, icon-driven interface in combination with keyboard shortcuts.
Gameplay is that of a simplified roguelike game, utilising permadeath mechanics. Upon starting a new game, the layout of the game is randomised; the player can only save by quitting, a mechanic put in place to prevent save scumming. Death is frequent and quick, forcing players to make the most of their skills and careful use of all items they come across. Many items have several uses that the player must either discover through experimentation or use of an in-game hint system.
Levels are square mazes that grow larger as the player descends, simulating the design of a pyramid. The first level is 3x3, totalling 9 squares. Each succeeding level is one step larger in each dimension (so the next level is 4x4 steps, for a total of 16 squares, and so on). A key on each must be found to unlock the next level. Ascension is impossible, which can strand players if an important item is left behind.
The pyramid also contains traps, which can harm the player in various ways, and animals, including cobras, lionesses, thieving monkeys, and a mummy, which appears only to players who carry the eponymous Scarab of Ra. Animal threats can be dealt with in a number of ways, but only the mummy can be destroyed; the game's author notes that violence is distasteful, but "the mummy was dead anyway".
Movement is turn-based, with a speed setting that alters how many moves other characters can make after the player acts. Speeds range from 1 (slowest) to 10 (fastest), with a map automatically drawn at speeds 5 and below. The map can be accessed and marked at any point, and is an invaluable tool as the levels become larger and more involved. Traveling at high speeds consumes less food and oil, but the player may blunder into danger and movements will not be recorded on the map if over speed 5. Traps are less likely to be triggered and sleeping animals are less likely to be woken when walking at slower speeds, but it consumes more food and oil.
In order to complete the game, one must gather three major treasures: the Crown, Staff, and Scarab of Ra. [4] Once this task is accomplished, an exit is revealed, yet players can choose to continue playing if they wish to risk death and increase their scores. Once a player picks up the Scarab, mummy-like Guardians immediately began their hunt, delivering an electric shock upon contact.
When the player wins or quits, their character attains a rank based on "prestige points" accrued during the game.
Macworld named the Macintosh version of Scarab of Ra the "Best Egyptian Adventure and 3-D Maze" as part of its Shareware and Public Domain Game Awards in 1987. [5]
The original version of Scarab of Ra ran only on Macintosh computers under the classic Mac OS. It could formerly be purchased through the author's Kagi page. [6] When OS X replaced the classic OS, Scarab of Ra could no longer be used without an emulator such as Mini vMac.
In 2022, the original author released a new version compatible with iPhone, iPad, and M1 Macintosh computers. [7] This version is available in the App Store.
Exile is a series of role-playing video games created by Jeff Vogel of Spiderweb Software. They were released as shareware titles for Macintosh and Windows systems. Exile III was also ported to Linux by a third party. There were four games released in the series. All of the games were later revived in the Avernum series. Common to all games in the Exile series are 2D graphics and basic sound. The graphics in the first versions of Exile I and II had simple textures, colours and outlines, which were then replaced in later versions with Exile III's graphics. The games are designed to be non-linear and long in gameplay length.
Descent is a first-person shooter (FPS) game developed by Parallax Software and released by Interplay Productions in 1995 for MS-DOS, and later for Macintosh, PlayStation, and RISC OS. It popularized a subgenre of FPS games employing six degrees of freedom and was the first FPS to feature entirely true-3D graphics. The player is cast as a mercenary hired to eliminate the threat of a mysterious extraterrestrial computer virus infecting off-world mining robots. In a series of mines throughout the Solar System, the protagonist pilots a spaceship and must locate and destroy the mine's power reactor and escape before being caught in the mine's self-destruction, defeating opposing robots along the way. Players can play online and compete in either deathmatches or cooperate to take on the robots.
Pathways into Darkness is a first-person shooter adventure video game developed and published by Bungie in 1993, for Macintosh personal computers. Players assume the role of a Special Forces soldier who must stop a powerful, godlike being from awakening and destroying the world. Players solve puzzles and defeat enemies to unlock parts of a pyramid where the god sleeps; the game's ending changes depending on player actions.
Ambrosia Software was a predominantly Macintosh software company founded in 1993 and located in Rochester, New York, U.S. Ambrosia Software was best known for its Macintosh remakes of older arcade games, which began with a 1992 version of Atari, Inc.'s Asteroids from 1979. The company also published utility software. Its products were distributed as shareware; demo versions could be downloaded and used for up to 30 days. Later the company released some products for iOS. Ambrosia's best-selling program was the utility Snapz Pro X, according to a 2002 interview with company president Andrew Welch.
In Apple's Macintosh operating systems, labels are a type of seven distinct colored and named parameters of metadata that can be attributed to items in the filesystem. Labels were introduced in Macintosh System 7, released in 1991, and they were an improvement of the ability to colorize items in earlier versions of the Finder. Labels remained a feature of the Macintosh operating system through the end of Mac OS 9 in late 2001, but they were omitted from Mac OS X versions 10.0 to 10.2, before being reintroduced in version 10.3 in 2003, though not without criticism. During the short time period when Mac OS X lacked labels, third-party software replicated the feature.
Connectix Corporation was a software and hardware company that released innovative products that were either made obsolete as Apple Computer incorporated the ideas into system software, or were sold to other companies once they became popular. It was formed in October 1988 by Jon Garber; the dominant board members and co-founders were Garber, Bonnie Fought, and close friend Roy McDonald. McDonald was still Chief Executive Officer and president when Connectix finally closed in August 2003.
Dark Castle is a 1986 platform game for Macintosh that was originally published by Silicon Beach Software. The original game was designed and animated by Mark Pierce and programmed by Jonathan Gay with Real Sound by Eric Zocher. In Dark Castle, a young hero named Duncan tries to make his way to the evil Black Knight, dodging objects as well as solving occasional puzzles.
Beyond Dark Castle is a computer game, released for Macintosh in 1987 by Silicon Beach Software. It was designed by Mark Stephen Pierce and programmed by Jonathan Gay. It is the sequel to Dark Castle, with more levels, monsters and items, as well as a larger game map and longer levels. A second sequel, Return to Dark Castle, was released in 2008.
Casady & Greene was a software publisher and developer active from 1988 to 2003. The company primarily released software for Macintosh, but also released software for Windows and Newton. Casady & Greene was formed in 1988 when Greene, Inc. acquired CasadyWare, a company owned by Robin Casady.
Spaceward Ho! is a turn-based science fiction computer strategy game that was written by Peter Commons, designed by Joe Williams and published by Delta Tao Software. The first version was released in 1990, and further upgrades followed regularly; the current version, 5.0.5, was released on July 8, 2003. It has received wide recognition in the Macintosh community, for example being inducted into the Macworld Game Hall of Fame.
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is the first game in the Wizardry series of role-playing video games. It was developed by Andrew Greenberg and Robert Woodhead. In 1980, Norman Sirotek formed Sir-Tech Software, Inc. and launched a beta version of the product at the 1980 Boston Computer Convention. The final version of the game was released in 1981.
Bubble Trouble is a maze game originally released for Mac OS 7 by Ambrosia Software in 1996. It is an interpretation of Sega's Pengo from 1982 with the penguin recast as a goldfish and the setting moved underwater.
Realmz is a fantasy adventure and role-playing video game first developed and published by Fantasoft in 1994 for the Apple Macintosh as shareware. Fantasoft released a Microsoft Windows-compatible version in 1999, and a science fiction role-playing game based on the Realmz engine, titled New Centurions, in 2001. Realmz was originally written by Tim Phillips on a Macintosh IIsi; he also wrote four game scenarios, including the introductory scenario "City of Bywater". Other original scenario contributors were Jim Foley and Sean Sayrs.
The Dungeon Revealed is a dungeon crawl PC game created by John Raymonds and published by Woodrose Editions in 1987. The game is an enhanced commercial release of Raymonds' previous game The Dungeon of Doom, released as shareware in 1985. A final version of The Dungeon of Doom was released as a free demo for The Dungeon Revealed in 1987. Both games were released for Mac OS and were compatible with versions as late as System 7.
World Builder is a game creation system for point-and-click text-and-graphics adventure games. It was released for Macintosh in 1986 by Silicon Beach Software and had already been used for creating Enchanted Scepters in 1984. On August 7, 1995, developer William C. Appleton released World Builder as freeware.
Cap'n Magneto is a shareware graphical adventure game released for the Apple III in 1983 and the Macintosh in 1985. In 2020, the game was re-released as freeware. The game follows Captain Lance Magneto as he attempts to capture the Crown of Control, a mind-control device being used to commit piracy around the planet Rigel IV. As he approaches the planet the device is used on his ship, causing it to crash. The player controls Magneto and tries to collect items from the map in order to capture the Crown and leave the planet.
Power Pete is an overhead view 2D run and gun video game developed by Pangea Software and published by Interplay under the MacPlay brand name. It was released in 1995 and packaged with Mac OS 7 on new Macintosh Performa computers. The player's character is an action figure named Power Pete who has to save the fuzzy bunnies of the doll department from the bad toys while progressing through the fifteen levels of the game.
TaskMaker is a role-playing video game for the Macintosh. It was developed by American software company Storm Impact. Originally published in 1989 by XOR Corporation, it was upgraded and re-released as shareware in 1993 by Storm Impact, featuring color graphics and compatibility with newer versions of the classic Mac OS. The player controls a protagonist who is under the mentorship of the eponymous TaskMaker, a ruler who assigns ten different quests. Completing these quests involves solving various gameplay puzzles, along with battling monsters, and the final task involves a battle against the TaskMaker himself. TaskMaker received mixed reception regarding its overall storyline and gameplay.
Through the Looking Glass, also known as Alice, is a 1984 video game written for the Apple Lisa and Apple Macintosh computers. Written by a member of the Lisa and Mac teams, Steve Capps, it was one of the earliest video games on the Mac platform, part of the only games disk officially sold by Apple Computer during that era.
Mac OS is the series of operating systems developed for the Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and ending with Mac OS 9. The Macintosh operating system is credited with having popularized the graphical user interface concept. It was included with every Macintosh that was sold during the era in which it was developed, and many updates to the system software were done in conjunction with the introduction of new Macintosh systems.