Oo-Topos
| Oo-Topos | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Polarware |
| Publisher(s) | Polarware |
| Artist(s) | Raimund Redlich, Brian Poff |
| Writer(s) | Michael Berlyn, Muffy McClung Berlyn |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS |
| Release date(s) | 1986 |
| Genre(s) | Interactive fiction |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Oo-Topos is an interactive fiction game released by Polarware in 1987. Oo-Topos was originally published by Sentient Software in 1981 as a text only adventure game. The 1987 re-release added graphical depictions of scenes described by the game's text, which were designed using Penguin Software's in-house software tool Graphics Magician.
Plot
The pilot of a space vessel is carrying important cargo vital to the survival of humanity. The pilot is attacked by space pirates and forced to land on the planet Oo-Topos. After landing the pilot is captured and imprisoned in a fortress on the alien world. The pilot must escape confinement, retrieve the precious cargo taken from the crashed ship and get off Oo-Topos with it in order to save the human race from extinction.
Gameplay
As a text adventure game, you input commands to progress. Commands usually involved verbs such as "Go, Get, Put, Shoot, Use, etc." and nouns such as "laser, food, rod, etc." Also, you typed in directions such as "North, South, East, West" to move through areas and rooms within the game. Abbreviations were allowed such as "N, E, W, S."
When entering a new area, the text would give a detailed description of your location and any relevant facts that may or may not help with your progress. This can include both objects and living beings.
The drawn in graphics overlaid the text. When actions were performed on objects that were allowed to be manipulated (retrieved, inserted, dropped,etc.), the objects would appear on screen as though they had been manipulated or moved.
Another feature of the drawn in graphics was after commands were executed some real-time actions were drawn in such as a bright light flash from a laser gun or wearing goggles to "darken" a room.