LTROI: The 8-bit video game (a clue to a mystery?)

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Struan
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LTROI: The 8-bit video game (a clue to a mystery?)

Post by Struan » Sun Dec 20, 2009 7:59 pm

Or rather, how it might have looked had it been released in the 80s. Probably would have been turned into a crappy platformer or side-scroller, movie tie-ins are known for being usually rubbish...

Image
Looking for a snack. C-64 Version.

I think the blurb could have gone something like this:

"Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the jungle gym...
Oskar has been kidnapped by Jimmy and his gang, and child vampire Eli must go to the rescue! Guide Eli through the streets and buildings of snowy Blackeberg in search of her lost friend. Avoid rabid cats, nosy drunkards and zombie ex-guardians. And don't forget to feed!
Featuring triple parallax scrolling, day-night cycles and award-winning SID music from Johan Soderqvist/Rob Hubbard
"

Image
Starting screen. ZX Spectrum version.

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Atari VCS 2600 version ("LTROI: Hittin' Back Hard" - prototype) - Story of this amazing find on second page

Of course the final showdown should happen in the swimming pool screen :D
Last edited by Struan on Fri Jan 08, 2010 2:54 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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armyofdorkness
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Re: LTROI: The 8-bit video game

Post by armyofdorkness » Sun Dec 20, 2009 8:02 pm

ahhhhhahahahahahahaha!

Did you make this?

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TΛPETRVE
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Re: LTROI: The 8-bit video game

Post by TΛPETRVE » Sun Dec 20, 2009 8:03 pm

Mwahaha, that's truly hilarious :D .

Actually, I built my player character in Demon's Souls after Eli.
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Struan
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Re: LTROI: The 8-bit video game

Post by Struan » Sun Dec 20, 2009 8:17 pm

armyofdorkness wrote:Did you make this?
Yes, what can I say, I'm a child of the eighties and I'm having a very relaxed Sunday... :D
It's actually based on a screenshot of Cobra for the C-64.

Glad you both like it!
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NaKriege
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Re: LTROI: The 8-bit video game

Post by NaKriege » Sun Dec 20, 2009 8:23 pm

HA I love it!

I could absolutely see that as like the Friday the 13th game for the NES. Eli wanders around town fighting random things and occassionally gets attacked by Zombie Hakan instead of Jason.

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Re: LTROI: The 8-bit video game

Post by moonvibe34 » Mon Dec 21, 2009 12:20 am

that's brilliant! it definetly looks like something i would have played on my NES. i love the "Necks Bitten" counter.
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Struan
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Re: LTROI: The 8-bit video game

Post by Struan » Mon Dec 21, 2009 5:21 am

Thank you guys! Yes, it was a C-64 screenshot but it could also work perfectly well for NES.
I have added the ZX Spectrum port. Just because. :geek:
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Microwave Jellyfish
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Re: LTROI: The 8-bit video game

Post by Microwave Jellyfish » Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:39 am

JALSOFT :lol:
Brilliant, man.
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Re: LTROI: The 8-bit video game

Post by gareth1971 » Mon Dec 21, 2009 1:50 pm

As a ZX Spectrum owner, these bring back many menories - they're just awesome!

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Struan
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Re: LTROI: The 8-bit video game

Post by Struan » Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:47 pm

I might as well offer some background for those who couldn't appreciate this gem when it came out.

The ZX Spectrum port suffered from several limitations compared to the C-64 version. (The original game was programmed for MSX machines). For example, the Rubik's cube on the bottom right was used to track your progress on the C-64 (it would get progressively completed as you advanced in your quest) but was a static image on the Spectrum, presumably due to the attribute clash inherent to the machine that would have resulted in severe color bleeding. Most notably though, fans complained that much of the charm of the original game was lost due the sound hardware limitations. The moody tune that played in the background throughout the game on the Commodore was reduced on the ZX to a couple of groans, squeaks and buzzes, and only during the title sequence.

The game, produced in Sweden by a relatively unknown developer, found its most successful market in Europe, although the C64 version garnered a small but loyal cult following across the Atlantic. The game was unique in that it was distributed worldwide completely in Swedish, and the user had to resort to the manual to get to the English translation. While most European fans were unaffected by this (many knew the few lines of Swedish dialogue by heart anyway), the stunt proved to be a major turn off for many potential buyers in the US, and sales suffered heavily as a result. Even when a US publisher hastened to re-release the game with the English translations incorporated, fans universally decried them as being a travesty of the original Swedish text, and the bad news spread among their virtual communities at breakneck speed (roughly 300 bauds). It took a small team of entrepreneurial fans to hack the code and insert the correct translations in the game, but by then the damage was done and only specialty software stores were interested in carrying it anymore, while some other big retailers, horrified at some nuances of the plot, banished it to the "adult" game sections next to Samantha Fox's Strip Poker. The bootleg version of LTROI: The Video Game, however, was a success, and it was in this form and through word of mouth that the game enjoyed its peak of popularity in America.

While not an outright commercial flop, the game was certainly too strange and/or quirky for mainstream tastes. Although critical reception was extremely good, many users found the glacial pace and the sometimes unclear mission objectives to be simply too much. Some of the most common complaints denounced the game's stubborn refusal to make things easier for the player. Moreover, many of those who struggled through the punishing difficulty and who expected some closure to the story by the game's end were dismayed to see as the sole reward for their efforts a simple message with the words "Congratulations. You win! Puss", flashing for a few seconds before jumping back to the title screen. This alienated many fans who couldn't decide if the ending was a sad one or a happy one, and that sparkled many discussions and heated letters to editors in computer mags of the time. The game also had its share of bugs, usually attributed to the low budget and the "indie" nature of the product (this was also usually offered to explain the unconvincing animation of the cats in-game). The most popular of these was a show-stopping bug at the Hospital screen, where it crashed if Eli tried to enter the building uninvited through the front door. Later, the developer issued a loader that fixed this problem, essentially by showing a line of text at that point that triggered the right script and allowed the main character to enter the hospital unharmed.

In all, LTROI: TVG managed to trascend its modest roots and became a worldwide critical sensation. Many current developers who cut their teeth with this game in their youth don't hesitate to call it a "life-changing experience", and many of those inspired by it have moved on to making great and wondrous things in the fields of art and science.

:D
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