Lifeforce Tenka
| Lifeforce Tenka Codename: Tenka | |
|---|---|
|
Cover art of Lifeforce Tenka | |
| Developer(s) | Psygnosis |
| Publisher(s) | Psygnosis |
| Platform(s) |
PlayStation Windows |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Lifeforce Tenka (also known as Codename: Tenka in the US) is a first-person shooter for PC and PlayStation released in 1997 by Psygnosis. It is also known as just "Tenka" in some other forms of release.
The game is set in a futuristic action environment. The player character engages in battle with a number of various armed flying robots, stationary turrets, and bipedal creatures.
Plot
Lifeforce Tenka takes place in a dystopian future where a multinational conglomerate, Trojan Incorporated, is in the process of performing presumably unethical genetic experiments. Joseph D. Tenka, the protagonist, discovers the corporation's nefarious activities and sets about bringing them and their genetically engineered army down.[1]
Gameplay
The weapon design differs from similar games of the time in that instead of the player character acquiring stronger more powerful weapons to add to an accumulated arsenal, weapon modifications are picked up and added to the same weapon (known as the "Self-Generating Polymorphic armoury", or SG-26) and switched between as necessary.
Development
The graphics in the game were created using Softimage 3D.[2] With Softimage as the construction tool, the programmers additionally wrote a suite of custom Softimage scene extraction utilities.[3] Since the PlayStation cannot perform perspective correct texture mapping, what senior programmer Martin Linklater called "a dynamic multistage clipping and meshing system" was incorporated in Lifeforce Tenka's graphics engine in order to reduce the effect of warping textures.[2]
The development team opted to make the game single-player only. Linklater explained, "The current design for the game does not lend itself to a two-player game. We have chosen to concentrate on a single-player game - which would be the most played version anyway."[3]
A version was developed for the Sega Saturn and was close to mastering but never saw release due to a technical issue that caused fatal damage to the Sega Saturn system was discovered.
References
- ↑ http://au.gamespot.com/ps/action/codenametenka/review.html?tag=updates%3Btitle%3B1
- 1 2 "Tenka". Next Generation. No. 16. Imagine Media. April 1996. pp. 63–65.
- 1 2 "Tenka". Next Generation. No. 17. Imagine Media. May 1996. pp. 48–49.