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So, we begin to explore the games of the legendary company Level 9. Today, the "DEBUT" section is entirely dedicated to the game "WORM IN PARADISE". It must be said right away that this is quite a complex game: extensive location descriptions, a huge vocabulary, an incredible gaming space for 48 Kb... But, without a doubt, it is a masterpiece. Several years ago, a connoisseur of adventure games, after months of interaction with this program, said: "I have cracked many adventures, but with this one, it seems I have only unwrapped the packaging!".
We would be very grateful to anyone who writes to us about their achievements in "WORM IN PARADISE". As soon as we gather material, we will definitely continue the discussion in the "ASSAULT" section. Well, now our debut.
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Andrey Shkolnikov, 1995.
WORM IN PARADISE
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Level 9, 1985
- Don't rush me. You know, we worms are slow thinkers...
R. Shekley, R. Zelazny. "Bring Me the Head of the Beautiful Prince".
The games of Level 9 are characterized by a vast vocabulary, an engaging plot, and quality language. Its games "Emerald Isle", "Eric the Viking", and the series "Silicon Dreams", to which "Worm in Paradise" belongs, are widely known.
The trilogy "Silicon Dreams" begins with the game "Snowball", in which the main character Kim Kimberly must take control of a giant spaceship (the game features 8000 locations). However, there are some doubts about the word "must": the fact is that Level 9 gave the hero a name that can be both male and female (there is even an opinion that Kim is an android). In the article "Visit to Level 9" ("ZX-Review" 5-1994), it is stated that even among the creators of the game, there was no consensus on this delicate issue. I consider Kim to be a woman, but more on that later.
In the second game of the series "Return to Eden", the crew of the rescued ship wrongly accuses Kim of murder.
Kim escapes in a lifeboat, landing on the planet of the star Epsilon Eridani, or Eden (Eden is how it is called in English). Kim must navigate through hostile jungles, where even squirrels and paradise birds are poisonous, to the territory of an earthly colony.
And finally, the object of my review - "Worm in Paradise" - is the third game in the series. The action takes place many years after the events of the first two installments. However, starting the game with the encouraging message "You remember nothing", you find yourself not in Eden, but in a real paradise.
This paradise seems to be a nice model of what is about to begin, but of which you are still unaware, strolling through nine "paradisiacal" locations and admiring the beauty of fragrant meadows and the antics of squirrels (non-poisonous). However, it is a bit suspicious that paradise is surrounded by a high brick wall. By the way, a tip: take the bench from the location where you start the game.
After strolling, you will certainly notice the tree in the central "paradisiacal" location. In response to an immediate "exam", the program describes the tree in detail, stating that there is an apple on it (the tree of knowledge!), but the lower branches are about three meters high, and the trunk is too slippery to climb (all messages refer to the text version). The obvious solution is to drop the bench and stand on it (just give the command "on"; the kind program will not only understand you correctly but also print the canonical formulation of the command "stand on the bench" for reference). Standing on the bench, you can confidently pluck the apple and, upon confirming that it is of the Golden Delicious variety, eat it.
It is then that you will meet the charming creature that gave the game its name. From the apple core, a little worm crawls out, falls to the ground, and begins to grow. Reaching a length of 20 meters, it crawls out of paradise, breaking through the western wall along the way. Let's follow it.
Immediately after the walls of paradise, a completely different world opens up to you - harsh and desolate. The ground is scorched and cracked; the only vegetation is thornbushes, through which you can barely squeeze. Instead of moths and squirrels, you are surrounded by scorpions and vultures. A trail of the worm stretches westward across the dunes; following it, you come to a chasm that the worm crosses, but it is not so easy for you to overcome. So, let's turn back for now and head to Doom Dune, where a hippopotamus sleeps peacefully. Of course, this hippopotamus is not your ordinary cute hippo; it is an armored predatory beast the size of a multi-story building, devouring travelers by night and resting by day. Fortunately, it is daytime now, and you will be able to approach the hippopotamus close enough to even examine a scale that has fallen off its back; however, you cannot take it - the hippopotamus is too huge, and the bench won't help here. Well, let's gather our courage and wake the hippopotamus (wake behemoth). Strange, but the awakened beast seems somewhat displeased and heads towards you, showing no intention of hiding its motives.
Now is the perfect time to remember the thornbushes; you run south, then west, and again south (under no circumstances give any other commands! The hippopotamus catches up with you in exactly three steps). The monster lunges at you, but you deftly dodge, it misses, and gets entangled in the bushes.
Staying in the location with the bushes, you are safe - the hippopotamus misses on the first jump, and cannot make a second due to the bushes. You can calmly think - you can't sit here forever, can you? And then you remember the chasm - if the hippopotamus always misses at first, then maybe... Let's head north and two times west, and in the location with the chasm, we calmly wait for the attack.
The wait is not long - the hippopotamus lunges, misses, and, unsuccessfully trying to slow down, slides into the chasm.
The gigantic beast does not break - for it, this chasm is no deeper than a ditch, but it cannot climb out. Its back is almost level with the edge of the chasm. You can cross the chasm on the hippopotamus! Don't forget to take the fallen scale - a hardened shield a meter in diameter. On the other side of the chasm, the worm's trail continues. Well, let's follow it until we stumble upon the worm next to a door marked with the magical word "Exit". The other exit leads back to paradise beyond the brick wall, and the worm will let you through there. But, of course, you are curious about what lies beyond the exit. You go through this door, and it is here that the hippopotamus's scale saves your life - the worm spits poisonous slime at you, but under the cover of the meter-wide shield, you manage to run to the door.
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Here "the fairy tale ends and pure truth begins." Everything disappears, you hear a voice: "Thank you for watching the dream of Revelin." You find yourself in a small room decorated in the style of the paradise garden from the beginning of the game. You are wearing tradclads - dull but practical clothing, to which a colorful badge and a plastic collar are pinned; a combination of a watch and a credit card, simply called tattoo, is implanted in your hand. After dropping the visor - a device resembling glasses for viewing dreams on demand, you exit the room and find yourself in an octagonal space - the Palace of Dreams Revelin. Seven doors lead to dream rooms, and the eighth is the exit.
So, you are in Enoch, the city of the planet Eden. Many years have passed since the exploits of Kim Kimberly. Now she is lavishly referred to as Kim the First; her statue in a real space suit stands in the museum, and her adventures have become the plot for Revelin's dreams. By the way, it was precisely the statue that helped resolve the great question: in the statue's description, the word "her" is used; that is, Kim is definitively and undoubtedly a woman.
Now Enoch is protected by domes from the dangerous flora and fauna of Eden. The government of Enoch is led by Kim the Third (or the Third) - you will learn about this from the newspaper "Boring Star". You still remember nothing about the world in which you live. From one of Revelin's dreams, you learn that the city is now ruled by a wise and just elite, reflecting the incessant attacks of socialists and outsiders (aborigines?). It controls ordinary people through their collars.
Of course, these collars alone are enough to understand that not everything is right in Enoch. And the dream about the worm is a clear allegory. Well, let's go out onto the street and start observing. You may not know it yet, but you are in the pleasure dome. Stroll around it. Townspeople jog past you, sometimes a person in uniform marches by, droids pass, and tourists with a robot guide walk through. There is a museum here, where the statue of Kim Kimberly - Kim the First stands, a zoo, a recreation hall, and a kiosk where you can buy pizza. It is here that you learn a rather unpleasant fact about life in Enoch - everything that cannot be worn, eaten, or otherwise consumed immediately is prohibited from being stored. The police robot - fuzbot - will fine you 9 credits for possessing prohibited items at every encounter.
You initially have 100 credits. You can spend 9 of them on another dream - for which points are awarded. You can win a little money at the casino from a one-armed bandit, but you won't amass a large fortune that way. And God forbid you get caught stealing from the museum (understand me correctly - stealing can and even should be done, just don't get caught; by the way, a tip: if you steal a leotard - a space suit, wear it under your tradclads, and the police won't notice anything). The fuzbot will fine you a huge sum for theft - 500 credits plus 50 "for debts", meaning for not having that much cash on hand immediately - and will take you to the medical center, where you will be strongly advised to sell "excess" organs to pay off your debts.
If that isn't enough, they will demand you sell necessary ones - the consequences are obvious (in Enoch, this is delicately referred to as recycling). So here’s another tip: sell your excess organs yourself to avoid falling into debt. To do this, simply go to the medical center, and the consultant will offer everything. Don’t miss your organs - when you gather enough, you can buy them back.
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"Worm in Paradise" exists in two versions - purely text and graphic. In my opinion, the graphics of Level 9 are mainly good for the ability to turn them off, but tastes differ.
However, it has provided some information for thought: in the location with the fountain, townspeople are depicted with something suspiciously resembling weapons; there is not a word about them in the text.
In Worm, Level 9 used a fundamentally new vocabulary construction: the program understands all the words that appear in the location descriptions. There are about 1000 words in total in the vocabulary. However, for most of them, on "exam" you receive responses like "it's not important" or "it's just a detail of the landscape". But if the object is significant for the game, you will receive a clear and detailed answer. You can input commands using commas or use "and". Moreover, if you give, for example, the command "get" followed by a list of items separated by commas, the entire command, just like any single action, will be executed in one Enoch minute (there are 100 minutes in an Enoch hour) regardless of the number of items being picked up.
This is very convenient in the museum, where you can steal three items in just one minute while the protective screen is down. The program also understands the word "all".
Perhaps this information is enough to start the game. Walk around, figure things out, explore the way of life in Enoch, and immerse yourself in it. As you learn various small details, you will soon start to understand Enoch and become immersed in its atmosphere. As your first task, you might try to find out where you live.
Good luck!
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Contents of the publication: Spectrofon #13
- Expertise - Андрей Бусыгин
Guide for piloting, finding graphite rods, completing reactor tasks under radiation threat. Tips for city exploration, saving strategies included. Achieving success awards player with corporation bonus.
- Debut - Андрей Школьников
Discussion of the game 'Worm in Paradise' by Level 9, its complex gameplay, and narrative intricacies. Exploration of the 'Silicon Dreams' series and protagonist Kim Kimberly's adventures. Insights into game mechanics and thematic elements.
- Assault - Василий Смирнов
Analysis of game 'HIJACK' with strategies and codes for success, shared by player Vasiliy Smirnov from Kirov. Key to advancing in the game is acquiring codes for opening doors and accessing transport. Exploration of the relationship between different codes and game progressions.
- Exam
Summary of the game contest 'THEY STOLE A MILLION' in Spectrofon #13. Detailed answers from reader Anton Igoshin. Gratitude to participants and encouragement for future contests.
- Premiere
Release of a new version of the logical game 'COLOR LINES' by Moscow's Grepan brothers, featured in Spectrofon #13 with an additional demo reel.
- Review
Review of simulation and sports games for ZX Spectrum, including 'F-19 Stealth Fighter', 'Carrier Command', 'Dizzy 7', 'Hudson Hawk', and 'Magic Johnson's Basketball'. Highlights features, graphics, and gameplay elements.
- Review - Вячеслав Медноногов
Description of the game 'UFO: Enemy Unknown' by Vyacheslav Mednonogov, detailing the storyline of alien invasions in 1997 and gameplay mechanics.
- Overview
Announcement of the 'SPECIAL FORCES' game by Step Creative Group, inspired by 'LASER SQUAD'. Players command a team of space marines against various threats. The article also mentions a new game, 'UFO: ENEMY UNKNOWN'.
- Bits from the World
The article discusses tactics and strategies in the game Elite, focusing on cargo management, achieving ranks, and exploiting game mechanics. Authors share experiences with item limits, cargo extensions, and combat techniques. Interesting insights on using Alien Items and technical lasers are presented.
- System - Matthias
Comprehensive guide on using SOUND TRACKER for ZX-Spectrum, covering features and functionalities like pattern management and sound editing.
- Advertisement
The advertisement section of Spectrofon #13 provides contact information for purchasing the magazine, promoting collaboration opportunities for program developers, and offering various Spectrum-related products and services.
