Paradroid and Paradroid 90

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JaySevenZero
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Paradroid and Paradroid 90

Post by JaySevenZero »

Here's where you can contribute your memories and opinions of Paradroid and Paradroid 90 for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

Friendly reminder to all that where feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but self-editing (brevity) is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mainly reading. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
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The Baboon Baron
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Re: Our next-but-one podcast recording (31.5.19) - 372: Paradroid and Paradroid 90

Post by The Baboon Baron »

This year I’ve been trying my best to play along with the show as much as I can, so with a little bit of fiddling around I was able to get a copy of the Amiga ST version of Paradroid 90 working. I never had an Amiga personally, but it does have a certain hallowed history of being the bridge between the causal NES owners, and the upper-class PC players of my youth. The cooler, more interesting kids had one, the ones who knew how to code in basic and had seemingly thousands of floppy discs full of games. It also seemed to me as a melting pot of weird and wonderful games, games that could be bought from some bloke who smelt of B&H and Thatcherism at a car boot sale, games such as Paradroid.

In my first sitting I died within 30 seconds countless times. Without knowing the controls, mission statement or life count, my little drone got blown up regularly as I gently learned this was not a top down sci fi shoot em up- It was cleverer than that. The process of transferring or hacking the other robots escaped me for a spell, but once I’d got used to it, it proved to be a really interesting mechanic. When hacking a robot, the player is greeted with a short mini game, which to be fair by today’s standards is quite clunky, but very innovative considering the release date. The grandad of all hacking mini games perhaps?
Further to this modern mechanic I also was very impressed with the ability to log into computers across the space ship, to check the robot population and the get extra info on how they will fight or avoid the player. It really added to the atmosphere and curiosity of what was round the next corner.

I still died a lot though, and my patience for steep learning curves isn’t what it once was so this one will have to remain uncompleted. I felt I spent far too long in the main drone’s defenceless form, running away from machine gun totting mechs for me to stick with it to the end. But despite that I really enjoyed my time with Paradroid 90. It’s a joy to see where some the things we now take for granted like mini games and data logs originated from. Cheers C&R team!

3WR- Transmission Terminated… AGAIN!?
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Jesse Fuchs
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Re: Our next-but-one podcast recording (31.5.19) - 372: Paradroid and Paradroid 90

Post by Jesse Fuchs »

If people do want to play along, I'd recommend the C64 Paradroid—or, if you don't mind a little non-canonicism, Paradroid Redux, which cleans up some of the bugs and rough edges of the original without changing how it feels. I've been poking around in the general Paradroid diaspora (including Magnetron, Quazatron, and Ranarama), and of all of them I think Paradroid 90 is maybe the least accessible, or at least considerably less so than the original.

For those looking to play along, here's a few resources:

Though the game has an anomalously extensive in-game rules explanation, the manual is definitely helpful: https://www.digitpress.com/library/manu ... adroid.txt

This ZZap! review is both very charming and has some good basic strategy tips:
http://www.zzap64.co.uk/cgi-bin/display ... mp;check=1

A site that has the in-game-computer info, along with distributions of enemies on various floors. I'd recommend not looking at this until you've gotten at least a little ways into the game, as it's fun to find out this stuff diagetically, but eventually you'll want it as reference:
http://www.paul-kitching.uk/games/c64/p ... amain.html

I'm not sure what the rules on posting links to actual game files and such on the forum is, so I won't risk it, but will note that my Twitter account is bound by no law of God or man. 😉
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Simonsloth
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Re: Our next-but-one podcast recording (31.5.19) - 372: Paradroid and Paradroid 90

Post by Simonsloth »

Having never played Paradroid when it was released I can only imagine how ambitious and impressive it was on original hardware. I don’t have that reference point though but If I were to judge the game on whether it is playable in 2019 the answer is definitely yes. The individual gameplay elements are a little ropey but somehow add up to a game that is more than the sum of its parts.

I played it on the delightful C64 mini which was initially tricky as the bundled joystick isn’t the best. However after a bit of internet research and with the help of retro asylum I chose a new controller which is excellent. It also made the game significantly easier.

The movement is quite rigid and there is often a delay on any kind of shooting you attempt which adds a bit of tension which isn’t always welcome. Clearing out each level appealed to my slightly obsessive nature and was immensely satisfying seeing the lighting on each floor switch off.

The transfer puzzle was challenging but once I established that attempting to take over a high level security droid with my entry level starting drone was foolhardy things improved. My general tactic was to wait until the enemy had placed their pieces and then quickly placed mine seizing control in the dying seconds. It didn’t always work but was exhilarating every time.

After a good few attempts I cleared one ship thinking I had finished the game. I was wrong.
I think I’m done with Paradroid but I enjoyed my time with it. It was just about enough to justify my C64 mini alone.

I’m looking forward to the Cane and Rinse history lesson and the thoughts from the team.
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