Traps 'n' Treasures

Last updated
Traps 'n' Treasures
Traps n Treasures Cover Amiga.jpg
Cover art
Developer(s) Roman Werner
Publisher(s) Starbyte Software (Germany)
Krisalis Software
Designer(s) Roman Werner
Ruedi Hugentobler
Programmer(s) Roman Werner
Artist(s) Roman Werner
Orlando Petermann
Composer(s) Ruedi Hugentobler
Platform(s) Amiga
Release
Genre(s) Platform, action-adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Traps 'n' Treasures is a platforming and action-adventure video game developed by Roman Werner for the Amiga. [1] [2] Initially released in Germany in 1993 by Starbyte Software, the English version of the game was released several months later, in 1994, by Krisalis Software. [3]

Contents

Plot

In 1641 the pirate captain Jeremy Flynn and his crew are sailing around Tortuga when the compass breaks. Drifting off course they reach the pirate Redberd's base on Devil's Island where they get attacked. Redbeard's men kidnap the crew and take all valuables while Flynn manages to hide from them. It is now up to him to rescue his crew, get back his treasures and escape Devil's Island. [4]

Gameplay

Flynn in the Skull-Grotto stage Traps n Treasures Amiga 1992 2.png
Flynn in the Skull-Grotto stage

The player takes the role of Jeremy Flynn, who is controlled using a joystick and the keyboard. The joystick is used for movement (running, jumping, ducking, crawling), using the primary weapon (a dagger at first), operating switches/levers and carrying boxes. Additionally a parachute can be deployed to slow his descent, as long falls can kill Flynn. The weapon does not work while in the air and is replaced by a ground-stomp used to destroy breakable blocks. The keyboard's arrow keys are used to navigate through Flynn's inventory while the Space key uses/activates the selected inventory item. The Escape key kills Flynn in case the player falls into a trap and cannot escape by other means.

Flynn starts with a life meter of five units (which can be extended) and three extra lives. Touching enemies, enemy projectiles or environmental hazards (poison, spikes) will reduce the life meter depending on the specific enemy. When the life meter reaches zero Flynn will lose a life, the game ends when the last life is lost. The game has four stages and the player will be given a password between each of them which can be used to continue a game after shutting it off or losing all of the lives, but the password only provides level access and does not save any score or other inventory items. The life meter can be filled by picking up potions or buying food. Additionally Flynn can pick up fruit from defeated enemies and pots which fill a "Vitamins" gauge which, when full, is reset to zero and rewards one life point.

During the game Flynn can pick up treasure such as silver/gold coins and money bags. They are found in treasure chests, dropped by enemies, lying in the open or in secret coin-collection bonus stages (which are started by hitting a hidden block with the head). The stages contain shops where the player can use the gold to purchase a variety of items, including stronger weapons (with more power and/or better range), food to restore health, an item to extend the life meter and bombs to blow up walls. The player can also find parts of treasure maps. When six parts are collected a bonus game starts where gems must be collected. At the end of the stage the player receives gold depending on how many gems were picked up and also at least one additional extra life.

Development

Roman Werner was born in 1967 from a father who was a cameraman and a mother who was a director assistant, both working for the Swiss national television. His first contact with videogames was with the game Pong that his father brought back from a trip to Taiwan. [5] Werner experienced with graphic design and programming, but was first known in the Swiss developer scene as music producer. In 1988, he started working for Linel, [6] the only official Amiga game publisher in Switzerland, for who he made demo songs for the software SoundFx and also the title music of the game Eliminator. [7] Next year he composed the music for Leonardo [8] and Clown-O-Mania, [9] both Swiss games produced by Starbyte Software.

It was towards the end of 1989 that Roman Werner decided to create his own game: Traps 'n' Treasures. What motivated him was his love for platform games and the desire to create an Amiga game as good as those he played on consoles, but this was the first game he programmed and it was not a small project. [10] On November 20, 1990, the Christmas Party of Starbyte Software took place in Bochum, Germany. On this occasion, developers, freelancers and business partners are gathered. Roman Werner decided to seize the opportunity by taking a demo of his game with him that evening. The general manager and his assistant quickly showed interest in his game and a contract was offered to him. At that point everything seemed to be going well, but during the negotiations on the price they reached an impasse. The general manager decided to take a dice out of his drawer and asked Werner to choose between even and odd. Werner won and signed the contract with the price he wanted, [11] but the contract allowed for eight months to complete the game. At the time Roman thought it was feasible, but by his own admission he was inexperienced in game development and did not realize that this time frame was too short. [12]

In July 1991, he realized that it would not be possible to finish the game within the time limit. Although he had already invested many hours in the graphic design, he decided to ask Orlando Petermann [13] to do it, but as Petermann was an experienced designer and the task is not trivial, he was asked to be paid. Werner did not mind, even if it meant missing out on a significant part of the payment he was to receive from Starbyte Software. Ruedi Hugentobler, another friend of Werner's, was responsible for the level design and also composed the sound effects. Everything seemed to be going well in the process of creating the game, until December 13, 1991. On that day, Roman Werner received a letter from Starbyte Software giving him a final deadline of January 2, 1992 to finish his game, or they would sue for damages to the tune of 200,000 Deutsche Mark. Werner felt devastated at the time, but after several phone calls he managed to convince them that finishing the game was the best outcome for everyone. [14]

In July 1993, after almost four years of development, Traps 'n' Treasures was finally finished. Roman Werner prepared the final version, taking care to replace the title screen with a dummy picture, so that Starbyte could not publish and distribute the game until they had paid Werner. A few days later, a friend from Germany called him and congratulated him on the release of his game in stores. Starbyte had simply replaced the dummy picture with a title picture from one of the previous versions and released the game to the market. Soon after, Starbyte Software became insolvent and declared bankruptcy. With no money in sight, Werner thought he could offer his game to another publisher, but he changed the mind: the rights to his game were tied up and perished with the company. Some time later the company was taken over by another one whose name was also Starbyte, the only difference was that it operated under the name of the former CEO's wife. According to Werner, this was a way to recover the rights to the games without having to pay their debts. After hiring a lawyer, the creator of Traps 'n' Treasures managed to recover some money, about 4,000 Swiss francs for almost four years of work. [15] In spite of this mitigated balance, Roman Werner affirmed that he would not hesitate to start again if it were to be done again. [16]

Reception

The reviews of Traps 'n' Treasures in the Amiga Magazines are of 79% or more, except for two: one of 49% and another one of 65%. [17] The 49% review comes from Amiga Computing, the author is unknown, but the negative points are that the game is just another platformer, the puzzle solving aspect is more frustrating than intriguing and that Jeremy Flynn dies too easily when he falls from platforms. [18] The 65% review comes from CU Amiga, even though the magazine was known as "soft" for their game ratings. [19] Amiga Format gave a review of 82%, and Rob Mead, the author, recognized nonetheless the difficulty and the frustrating side of the game but for him it is part of the challenge. [20] Amiga Power [21] gave Traps 'n' Treasures 79%. Steve McGill, who wrote the review also found the game to be on the harder side of things concerning the enemies the players meet, but on the puzzle solving aspect he thought the difficulty is perfect. He also mentioned the beauty of the graphics, the numerous possibilities and tools the player can use. [22] Traps 'n' Treasures was also awarded game of the month by the German Amiga-Magazin. It received a note of 10.3/12. Carsten Borgmeier, who wrote the review, described it as an attractive platform game with all the refinements of the genre, but also mentioned that it is an arcade-adventure for advanced players. [23]

Legacy

Traps 'n' Treasures is part of the games that were produced in the early days of game design in Switzerland. [24] The game is representative of this period with other games such as War Heli, [25] Ball Raiders [26] and Clown-O-Mania. [27] Traps 'n' Treasures is mentioned as an emblematic Swiss video game in Switzerland by Memoriav, [28] or as cult by the swiss newspaper 20 minuten. [29] It is also mentioned in a blogpost from the Swiss National Museum, who did an exposition on video games in 2021. [30] Traps 'n' Treasures was presented in the gamezFestival in Zurich as part of a retrospective of the early days of game development in Switzerland. [31]

Related Research Articles

<i>Rick Dangerous</i> 1989 video game

Rick Dangerous is a platform game developed by Core Design for the Acorn Archimedes, Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS. The game was released in 1989 and published by MicroProse on the Firebird Software label in the UK, and on the MicroPlay label in America. It was also published in Spain by Erbe Software. Later, it was released with two other games, Stunt Car Racer and MicroProse Soccer, on the Commodore 64 Powerplay 64 cartridge. The game was followed by a sequel, Rick Dangerous 2, in 1990. Loosely based on the Indiana Jones film franchise, the game received mixed reviews from critics.

<i>Wonder Boy in Monster Land</i> 1987 video game

Wonder Boy in Monster Land, known by its original arcade release as Wonder Boy: Monster Land, is a platform video game developed by Westone Bit Entertainment and released by Sega in Japanese arcades in 1987 and for the Master System in 1988, with a number of other home computer and console ports following. The game is the sequel to the 1986 game Wonder Boy and takes place eleven years after the events in the previous game. After enjoying over a decade of peace on Wonder Land following the defeat of the evil King by Tom-Tom, later bestowed the title "Wonder Boy", a fire-breathing dragon called the MEKA dragon appeared; he and his minions conquered Wonder Land, turning it into "Monster Land". The people, helpless due to their lack of fighting skill, call for Wonder Boy, now a teenager, to destroy the monsters and defeat the MEKA dragon. Players control Wonder Boy through twelve linear levels as he makes his way through Monster Land to find and defeat the MEKA dragon. Players earn gold by defeating enemies and buy weapons, armor, footwear, magic, and other items to help along the way.

<i>Batman Returns</i> (video games) 1992 video game

Batman Returns is the name of several video games for various platforms based on the 1992 film of the same name.

<i>Lords of Chaos</i> (video game) 1990 video game

Lords of Chaos is a turn-based tactics tactical role-playing game published by Blade Software in 1990. It is the sequel to Chaos and an ancestor of the popular X-COM series of games, also written by Julian Gollop. In Lords of Chaos each player controls a wizard who can cast various magic spells. The spells have various effects, for example summoning other creatures, or damaging opposing creatures and wizards. The game can be played against a computer-controlled opponent or by up to four human players.

<i>Striker</i> (video game) 1992 video game

Striker is a soccer video game series first released by Rage Software in 1992.

<i>Total Carnage</i> 1992 video game

Total Carnage is a multidirectional shooter arcade video game originally developed and published by Midway in North America in January 1992. Set in the fictional country of Kookistan during 1999, players assume the role of Captain Carnage and Major Mayhem from the Doomsday Squad in a last-ditch effort to overthrow dictator General Akhboob and his army of mutants from conquering the world, while also rescuing POWs held by his military force.

<i>Wiz n Liz</i> 1993 video game

Wiz 'n' Liz: The Frantic Wabbit Wescue is a platform game developed by Raising Hell Software for the Amiga and Sega Mega Drive and published by Psygnosis in 1993. It is a humorous, cutesy platform game. With the exception of some end-of-level bosses, the game contains no enemies.

<i>Obitus</i> 1991 video game

Obitus is an action-adventure game developed and released by Psygnosis in early 1991 for Amiga, Atari ST and DOS. It was also ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System by Bullet-Proof Software. The game features both first-person dungeon crawling and side-scrolling gameplay with action-oriented combat and an emphasis on item acquisition. It is similar to games like Eye of the Beholder on Super Nintendo but without the RPG mechanics.

<i>Treasures of the Savage Frontier</i> 1992 video game

Treasures of the Savage Frontier (1992) is a Gold Box Dungeons & Dragons role-playing video game. It was developed by Beyond Software and published by SSI for the Amiga and DOS.

<i>The Immortal</i> (video game) 1990 video game

The Immortal is an isometric action-adventure game originally created by Will Harvey and released by Electronic Arts in 1990 for the Apple IIGS. It was soon ported to the Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Genesis. A wizard is attempting to find his mentor in a large and dangerous labyrinth. It has a high degree of graphic violence. In 2020, the NES port was re-released on the Nintendo Switch Online service, while the Genesis port was re-released on the Piko Collection Collection 1 cartridge for the Evercade.

<i>Big Nose the Caveman</i> 1991 video game

Big Nose the Caveman is a side-scrolling platform game developed by Optimus Software and released in 1991 by Camerica for the Nintendo Entertainment System and by Codemasters for the Amiga and the Atari ST. A Master System and Game Gear version called Dinobasher was completed, but never published.

<i>Ruff n Tumble</i> 1994 video game

Ruff 'n' Tumble is a 1994 platform run and gun video game developed by Wunderkind and published by Renegade Software for the Amiga. An Amiga CD32 version was planned but never released. It was the only game made by Wunderkind. It stars Ruff Rodgers, embarking on a quest across an alien planet to reclaim his marbles after one of them fell into a portal inside a rabbit hole while playing with his collection in the park, and free the planet from Dr. Destiny and his Tinhead army. Through the journey, the player explores and search through each level for items and power-ups, as well as fight enemies and defeat bosses.

<i>Gauntlet III: The Final Quest</i> 1991 video game

Gauntlet III: The Final Quest is a home computer game by U.S. Gold and Tengen it was released in 1991 for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC. Besides the standard four main Gauntlet characters, Thor, Thyra, Merlin, and Questor, four new playable characters were available: Petras, a rock man; Dracolis, a lizard man; Blizzard, an ice man; and Neptune, a Merman. The game is viewed from an isometric perspective and the cooperative multiplayer mode supports two-players.

<i>Sword of Sodan</i> 1988 video game

Sword of Sodan is a hack and slash video game released for the Amiga in 1988 by Discovery Software, which also commissioned a port for the Apple IIGS. A scaled-down version for the Sega Genesis was released in 1990 by Electronic Arts, and in 1993 it was released for the Apple Macintosh System 7 by Bethesda Softworks.

<i>Lionheart</i> (video game) 1993 video game

Lionheart is a platform game for the Amiga developed and self-published by German video game developer Thalion Software in 1993. Using a fantasy motif, the game takes place in the land of the Cat People, a race of feline humanoids, who are threatened by the evil Norka. The player assumes control of Valdyn, an outlaw swordsman who is also known as "Lionheart". Players have to fight their way through 14 levels filled with monsters and environmental hazards. Most of the gameplay is melee combat and precision platforming.

<i>Hannibal</i> (video game) 1994 video game

Hannibal, often subtitled Master of the Beast, is a historically accurate war strategy game first released in 1994. The game was designed by Claude Cueni for Starbyte Software and published by MicroLeague and General Admission Software.

<i>Rings of Medusa</i> 1989 video game

Rings of Medusa is a fantasy-themed video game developed and published by Starbyte Software for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS in 1989. The game is a hybrid of role-playing, strategy, and trading genres. It received mixed reviews.

<i>The Return of Medusa</i> 1991 video game

The Return of Medusa, also known as The Return of Medusa: Rings of Medusa II, is a 1991 role-playing video game and strategy video game hybrid developed by X-Ample and published by Starbyte Software for Amiga, Atari ST and PC DOS as a sequel to the 1989 game Rings of Medusa. A planned Commodore 64 version was cancelled.

<i>Fly Harder</i> 1993 video game

Fly Harder is a multidirectional shooter developed by Starbyte Software and published by Krisalis Software. The game was originally released for the Amiga in 1993. A port for the Amiga CD32 was released in 1994.

<i>Ghost Battle</i> 1991 video game

Ghost Battle is a 1991 action-platform video game developed by Interactive Design and published by Thalion Software for the Amiga and ported later to the Atari ST. After finishing Ghost Battle as freelancers, Austrian programmer Erwin Kloibhofer and Dutch graphic designer Henk Nieborg got an in-house job at Thalion. They went on to design another side-scrolling platform game, Lionheart (1993). It received a higher critical reception. Nieborg cited influences for Ghost Battle as Ghosts 'n Goblins, Green Beret, and various horror films.

References

  1. ↑ "King for a Day - The making of Traps'n'Treasures". at Kingroman.
  2. ↑ "Traps 'n' Treasures". at GameSpot .
  3. ↑ "Traps 'n' Treasures". at HOL.
  4. ↑ Amiga Power, Future plc, June 1994, n°38, Steve McGill, p. 42.
  5. ↑ "King for a Day - The making of Traps'n'Treasures". www.kingroman.com. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  6. ↑ Bauer, Suter (16 April 2021). "Anfänge des Schweizer Game Designs – Teil III". Spiel-Kultur-Wissenschaft (in German). Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  7. ↑ "Eliminator - ExoticA". www.exotica.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  8. ↑ "Leonardo for Amiga (1989)". MobyGames. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  9. ↑ "Clown-O-Mania for Amiga (1989)". MobyGames. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  10. ↑ zapiy (2019-01-22). "RVG Interviews: Roman Werner". RVG. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  11. ↑ "King for a Day - The making of Traps'n'Treasures". www.kingroman.com. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  12. ↑ zapiy (2019-01-22). "RVG Interviews: Roman Werner". RVG. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  13. ↑ "Orlando Petermann Video Game Credits and Biography". MobyGames. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  14. ↑ "King for a Day - The making of Traps'n'Treasures". www.kingroman.com. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  15. ↑ "King for a Day - The making of Traps'n'Treasures". www.kingroman.com. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  16. ↑ zapiy (2019-01-22). "RVG Interviews: Roman Werner". RVG. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  17. ↑ «Traps 'n' Treasures review, Other Reviews», Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  18. ↑ Amiga Computing, Europress, July 1994, n°75, p. 106-7, Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  19. ↑ "Magazine Commodore User / CU Amiga - ABANDONWARE FRANCE". www.abandonware-france.org (in French). Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  20. ↑ Amiga Format, Future plc, June 1994, n°60, Rob Mead, p. 84, Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  21. ↑ "AP - KICK OFF 96 REVIEW". worldofstuart.excellentcontent.com. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  22. ↑ Amiga Power, Future plc, June 1994, n°38, Steve McGill, p. 43, Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  23. ↑ Amiga-Magazin, Markt & Technik, July 1993, Carsten Borgmeier, p. 90-91, Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  24. ↑ René Bauer und Beat Suter, "Anfänge des Schweizer Game Designs Teil 3: Atari/Amiga-Cracker und Demoscene" in:  Spiel-Kultur-Wissenschaften, http://spielkult.hypotheses.org/2977 16.04.2021
  25. ↑ "War Heli". zarkonnen.github.io. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  26. ↑ "Ball Raider for Amiga (1987)". MobyGames. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  27. ↑ "Clown-O-Mania for Amiga (1989)". MobyGames. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  28. ↑ "Sauvegarde des jeux vidéo suisses: Memoriav lance une étude collaborative #pixelvetica". Memoriav (in French). 2022-12-15. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  29. ↑ "Vom Schweizer Hacker zum Gamedesigner". 20 Minuten (in German). 2013-09-04. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  30. ↑ Rochat, Yannick (2021-04-28). "Jeux vidéo «Made in Switzerland»". Musée national - Blog sur l'histoire suisse (in French). Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  31. ↑ Roman, King (2013-10-06). "King for a Day - My Blog: Traps'n'Treasures @ the gameZfestival in Zurich". King for a Day - My Blog. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.