Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!att!emory!hubcap!robert From: robert@hubcap.clemson.edu (Robert Reynolds) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.games Subject: Projectyle is terrific! Keywords: projectyle arcade Message-ID: <11273@hubcap.clemson.edu> Date: 31 Oct 90 02:28:45 GMT Organization: Clemson University, Clemson, SC Lines: 66 I hope this isn't old news. Summary: Remember when you discovered Shanghai and tried to describe how wonderful a game it is -- and people looked at you funny. Well, that's the way I feel trying to describe Projectyle. If you like multi-player arcade games with great balance, good music and sound effects, good graphics, and more depth than you're likely to explore in a hurry -- buy it. I saw someone asking for playable Amiga arcade-type games. Well, I'm no experienced game reviewer, but I know what I like. Projectyle (an import via EA) is an absolutely wonderful multi-player arcade game. It's been describes as Rollerball meets Air Hockey -- that's close enough. It supports the parallel port joystick interface, so it can handle up to three human players. Each player (0, 1, 2, or 3 human -- there's always three players in a game) controls a team (tribe) of eight critters. You select the five who get to play in the current game, and assign one to each of five playing areas. Each critter has characteristics like Mass, Speed, Slide (cornering), and such. Each tribe has different strengths and weaknesses, as does each critter within the tribe. If you opt for extended play (leagues) you can buy up a critter's attributes with points you collect during game play. The playing area is divided into five `rooms'. The central room has four exits, one to each of the other rooms. Each of the three players sort of `owns' a side room in the sense that there's a goal in there that the other two players are trying to stuff the puck into, and this poor sucker is trying to keep it out. Of course, since only the scoring player gets points, the other two players are trying to prevent each other from scoring while trying to score themselves. In the fourth side room, everybody has a goal. That's why it's called the `frantic room'. Trust me -- it's well-named. You can only see part of the current room at any one time (in other words, each room is bigger than the display), and the view follows the puck. There is a small display of the whole room so you can tell where you are if you're far away from the action. When the puck leaves a room, joystick control passes to the critter in the room it then enters. You move your players pretty much like you'd think you would, but when you press the joystick button they accelerate toward the puck. Don't press too much, though, because there's this attribute called Stamina .... You try to slide your critter into the puck with enough force and direction to get it into a goal. Right. There are three sets (periods, or `halves' as the rules say) of some timed duration. I just realized that I've played for hours and have no idea how long a set is! I'm too busy playing to bother with details like that! Maybe a couple of minutes? There's a nice frenzy-inducing countdown as each period comes to a close. Oh, yeah, every once in a while (like most of the time) some little pellet will appear on the playing surface. They're marked, so if you have time to think before running over it you might be able to avoid the bad ones. There's +/- slide, +/- bounce, make the puck act goofy, make the puck skip up into the air, make your player accelerate *away* from the puck when you press the button, and so on. I can't adequately describe this thing. OK, let me try this. I'm a definite competitive type A personality. I hate to lose. I'm also usually not so good at arcade games. So, the fact that I'll play this for literally hours (with two other humans, preferably) even though I usually don't win and often finish third of three, well, that should tell you something. -- Robert Reynolds inet: robert@hubcap.clemson.edu CS Dept, Clemson Univ. uucp: ... !gatech!hubcap!robert phone: (803) 656-6783