Psst! Night Dive, don't forget: you've got a fish to catch...

A freddi fish...

2...

Awww... Ok then maybe I'll buy this at some point, and then try the Amiga version instead. Albeit, if the PC version supports analog joysticks, the gameplay might be better on the PC version. I think Amiga games always just supported digital on/off joysticks, that's why I like e.g. the PC version of Elite (Elite +) better than the Amiga version.

Thanks, Judas!

A couple of years ago I modified the Elite WHDLoad slave to work with an analogue joystick, and it does seem quite the different game like that.

Unfortunately the Amiga version is something of a remake, and is bit different in parts to other versions. Much easier, for one.

So when e.g. manually docking to a space station, you could match the rotating speed to that of the station's, without having to constantly move the stick on/off/on/off/on/off...? That was the most glaring difference I felt when playing the PC version after the Amiga version (I played both quite a lot, PC version meaning the later Elite + version which had filled polygon graphics (I think VGA even) and sound card support).

I wonder how PC's Elite+ gets ranked then? Those are the only two versions I am really familiar with anyway (and enjoyed both), maybe I've also played the earlier PC version (which had wireframe graphics) a bit.

I recall reading from Ian Bell's Elite page that he considered one of the older Elite versions as the very best (the BBC version I guess), but I like the filled polygons in the Amiga and PC Elite+ versions too much, plus the analog stick support on PC.

EDIT: Now I see it also mentions many regard the Acorn Archimedes version as the ultimate version of the game. Not sure if it has analog controls, and if there is working Archimedes emulation.

https://web.archive.org/web/20000817003756/http://www.iancgbell.clara.net/clara.net/i/a/n/iancgbell/webspace/elite/

Yes, felt pretty glorious the first time I - or anyone else for that matter? - did that on the Amiga. I meant to release the slave (WHDLoad slaves are all original code so there should be no problem with that, I built on an existing one though) but once I got it to the state of good enough for me I eventually moved to other things.

The joystick needs calibration first, I made a console utility for that but it needs to be done in the same same screen mode as the game will run in, so I meant to write a graphical one .. and I think I even did, just wasn't happy with it for some reason. Maybe one day I'll get back to it and perhaps inspire others to do the same for other games :)

The Amiga supports analogue joysticks, but if any were ever made no one seems to have seen one. One has to modify a pc gameport joystick or build/buy an adaptor for it, and since very few people had such, the games weren't made for such controls either. Only a couple of games support one. Two axis and two buttons is all you get (I mapped the second button to Identify), and theres some disagreement over which button is 'first'. I think I planned an option to switch buttons, but probably didn't implement it yet. I think there may have been some other gotcha too.

I haven't tried it in emulation but it'll probably work; just needs a joystick with square axis, not the round ones that controllers have. That would be trickier.

Nice, this release got a shout out on the <span class="bold">System Shock KS</span>. Didn't realise this is a Paul Neurath game, now it's a must-buy.

The Amiga version doesn't sound so hot, either. I guess it's a little bit better. Not really a game you play for sound, I guess :) I believe the "core version" is the C64 version.

Oh ok. I recall when I saw the Amiga version of, was it the first Space Quest game? I was a bit surprised that to me it seemed and sounded identical to the PC version with blocky graphics and PC speaker sounds, so apparently Sierra was too lazy to come up with better graphics and sounds for the Amiga version.

It still felt a bit silly that Amiga's advanced 4-channel sampler was playing some recorded BEEP BEEP BOOP sounds from the PC version. :)

Nightdive's been pretty cool with releases this year; hopefully we'll see Poweslave, Forsaken and some more later on ;)

Do you know why? I recall that it was a big deal on the c64 at the time due to filled vector graphics not having not been seen much on the platform before, but that would not have been a big deal on the other platforms.

I'm fairly sure that I finished it, but I thought it was on the Amiga. All I can find now is the C64 floppy though.

That game is pure evilness. It is one of the seven signs of the Apocalypse, the reincarnation of Hitler, the nightmare of you going to school naked become reality.

https://www.gog.com/forum/general/games_quit_in_2016/post220

Great impression, man, I mean it. I still have my n64 cart and the windows disc one. It's been like 17yrs and I just can't beat this game -not that I'm trying though but I did try back in the day and nope, zero, nada for me.

Loved the part when you said that "(...) there I was, about maybe 75% of the level done, and I'd say I tried to rush and was not fooling around wasting time... yet I ran out of time. So am I now supposed to restart the whole level, just try to be even faster this time? Phuck it."

And our beloved Q and A:

Q: Was their intention to make the game frustrating and irritating, or what is it?
A: Heh. ;P

Now, bring back more Origin Systems classics!
2400 A.D.
Moebius
Times of Lore
Knights of Destiny
Windwalker
Cybermage