Talk:Impossible Mission

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Famicom style controller This article is within the scope of WikiProject Video games. For more information, visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.
Start This article has been rated as Start-Class on the assessment scale.
Mid This article is on a subject of Mid priority within gaming for inclusion in Wikipedia 1.0.
VG To-do:

Contents

[edit] Ball

The ball definately disappeared on the C64 version. 128.114.57.91 23:03, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Release year

The in-game copyright date of the Commodore 64 version is 1984. I know I first encountered the game in 1984. Does anyone know when exactly (year and month) it came out? Mirror Vax 29 June 2005 02:29 (UTC)

MobyGames says the release date for the Commodore 64 version of Impossible Mission is 1983. They get their information from users who are requred to take it from actual game material. If your copy says 1984, it's possible the game went through more than one printing. I know that with SunDog, for example, FTL came out with two versions, though they looked nearly identical. The second version looked the same as the first, it just included some bug fixes. The same may be going on here... — Frecklefoot | Talk June 29, 2005 13:38 (UTC)

Yes, that's possible. I don't have my old 64 disks so my statement is based on what's on the 'net - and it could be that the 1984 date is only in the European version. BTW, the screenshot on Mobygames says 1984: [1] Mirror Vax 29 June 2005 17:29 (UTC)

Well, it is possible that MobyGames is wrong (the submitter could've hit a wrong button, made a typo). It's also possible that Epyx released it near the end of '83, but gave it an '84 copyright. I really have no idea why there's the discrepency. If it makes you feel better, go ahead and change the date—I won't revert it this time. :-) — Frecklefoot | Talk June 29, 2005 19:08 (UTC)
The point I would make is that MobyGames is hardly a definitive source. We don't know where the information came from. It might well be correct, but who knows? Mirror Vax 29 June 2005 19:56 (UTC)
No more than Wikipedia. Both project rely on user contributions. The only real difference is MobyGames does not allow for anonymous contributions, records on video game information and models the data in a relational format. I guess you would look up who contributed the 1993 release info on MobyGames and ask them. --Flipkin 19:04, 22 November 2005 (UTC)
The US Gold conversion of Impossible Mission to the Acorn Electron states "(c) 1983 Epyx Inc, (c) 1986 U.S.Gold". I've uploaded a screenshot to prove it. I guess this could also possibly be a typo by someone at U.S. Gold but otherwise Epyx seem to have claimed copyright for 1983. - ThomasHarte 13:27, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Randomness

The page states that "game elements are randomly generated each game". As a longtime Impossible Mission fan, I thought the different rooms are randomly distributed in the various staircases and the puzzle pieces are randomly distributed on the various pieces of furniture and so on, but besides these, the game is not random. I believe all rooms have the same layout and furniture and also the robots (at least mostly) have the same behavior and placement in each game, so actually clearing a given room is the same every time you play. Can anyone confirm? --80.186.38.189 23:46, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

Cannot confirm.
The rooms, along with their furniture and the robot tracks, are static. The black ball also belongs to specific rooms.
The rooms are located randomly in the underground base.
The robots' behaviours are also randomized. While a specific room always has it's specific number of robots, it may be easier or harder from game to game because the robots show different behavior. The exception is the black ball, which always has teh same behaviour in the same room.
The placement of items (punch card fragments, snooze and lift reset passwords) is also random.
The punch cards are randomized. It's unclear if the punch crads are completely random, or randomly chosen from a set of punch cards. The password, which is encoded in the punch cards, may also differ from game to game. Currently I know of three different passwords.
The punch card fragments can also differ from game to game. There are more than 9 different sets of punch card fragments (already corrected for orientation, of course). It may be that the differt punch card puzzles correspond to the different passwords.
This is all for the C64 version. Other versions may differ. --11:19, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Sequel

There's a new recently announced Impossible Mission game for the PS2 and DS (the main enemy is Dr. Atombender, so it's definitely from the same series), I added it to the Sequel section.


[edit] Wii version

I'm not sure about the best way to add what I found to this page, but this site has an advertisement for the Nintendo Wii version of Impossible Mission http://gonintendo.com/wp-content/photos/862c41337a.jpg Looks like it'll be a full-fledged, non-Virtual Console game. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.61.14.5 (talk) 23:54, 7 January 2007 (UTC).


I removed this from the main page " The updated Wii version is also one of the first non-virtual console downloadable game for Wii" because the article cited did not say it was downloadable and in fact mentioned the game "hitting store shelves" Ciper 19:41, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Speech

The samples weren't made from SID waveforms, they were digitized syllable by syllable. This interview gives some more info:

"The speech was an impressive and, at the time, incredible addition to the game. Tell us some information about how it came to be added.

The speech in the game was real, digitized speech. The performances were provided by Electronic Speech Systems, who also provided the software for reproducing the speech on the Commodore 64. I told them what I wanted the game to say, and when they asked me what kind of voice I had in mind, I said I was imagining a fiftyish English guy, like a James Bond villain. I was told that they happened to have such a person on their staff, so, instead of hiring an actor, they let him take a whack at it, and I thought he was just fine. I never met the guy who provided the voice, but, to my knowledge, the recordings were not altered or processed, apart from being digitized. It is certainly possible, though, that Electronic Speech Systems could have tweaked them without my knowledge. There are no other digitized sounds in the game."

Interview from http://www.mayhem64.co.uk/interview/caswell.htm

85.228.202.42 15:12, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:ImpossibleMission.jpg

Image:ImpossibleMission.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 01:28, 7 November 2007 (UTC)