Total Eclipse, a 3D adventure game for Atari computers
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After three years of work, Polish programmer Mariusz Wojcieszek published his version of Total Eclipse (Incentive Software, 1988) for Atari 8-bit computers.
Total Eclipsetakes place on October 26, 1930. We play an explorer who has just two hours to explore a pyramid and prevent an eclipse from triggering a terrible Egyptian curse - which implies the annihilation of all humanity.
The game requires an Atari computer with at least 64Kb of RAM. It supports PAL and NTSC video modes, as well as NTSC-50 and PAL-60. Additionally, the Rapidus accelerator card can be used for smoother gameplay.
Wojcieszek's port is based on the Commodore 64 version, albeit with much greater speed due to major optimizations and a faster CPU clock.
The project included Adam Wachowski (graphics); Michal "stRing" Radecki (music and effects); and Jose Pereira (additional graphics).
CONTROLS
Joystick up- advanceJoystick up- back off
Left/Right Joystick- spin
Shot- fire the gun
P key- look up
L key- look down
Key A- change angle (small, medium, large)
S key- change step speed (slow, medium, fast)
F key- look ahead
U key- U-turn
H key- change posture (standing, crouching)
Space bar- shooting mode
C key- enable/disable sight
R key- rest
Fabric I- pause: displays a menu to activate music/sound effects (M) and abort the game (ESC)
In aArticle published in AtariOnline, Wachowski reveals: "In various places in the game, we have to match two symbols drawn on the wall (for example, the eye), which amounts to shooting each of them in the correct order. When you hit the first element, you'll see the phrase "MAKE THE MATCH"; and when you hit the second: "MATCH MADE."
He also says that "in some of the more difficult places in the game, it is extremely important to avoid falling from a height, and it is difficult to accurately determine your position if you just look straight ahead. To make sure that we do not fall, we rotate our "camera" vertically downwards (by holding down the L key for a long time); that is, if we look under our feet. True, we will not see legs there, but it will show us the exact location of the place where we are standing. The game engine checks the position of this point in the middle and it is enough to be careful not to go beyond the boundaries of the environmental element, after which we walk."
Total Eclipse for Atari 8-bit computers
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