Digger (computer game)
Encyclopedia
Digger is a Canadian
computer game released by Windmill Software
in 1983
, popular in the era of the IBM PC
with a CGA
graphics card and monitor. It generally requires a genuine CGA card and runs too fast on computers faster than the original IBM PC 4.77 MHz. In an exception to the CGA requirement, it is possible to use a CGA emulator to run Digger on a Hercules
graphics card.
s Mr. Do and Dig Dug
. As in those games, the player is placed in an underground maze
, and can dig
horizontal and vertical tunnel
s through it. At least one tunnel already exists at the start of play. At various points on the board are emerald
s (usually in clusters) and bags of gold. Monster
s (initially in the 'nobbin' form) appear at the top right-hand corner. If earth is excavated from under a gold bag, then the bag will wobble for a few seconds and then drop; if it falls more than one row, it will break open after falling, releasing gold which can be collected. Bags can also be pushed left or right into vertical paths, with similar results. Falling bags will squash monsters that they fall on, but they will also squash the digger. The digger also has a weapon, which will fire in a straight line, but takes several seconds to recharge (taking longer as the levels
go higher).
Monsters will sometimes change from the 'nobbin' form to the 'hobbin' form, more frequently on higher levels. Hobbins also have the power to excavate, and can destroy emeralds and gold bags while so doing.
When a monster is killed, another will appear at the top right-hand corner of the screen, up to a maximum number which depends on the level. Once all the monsters for the level have been created, a cherry
appears in their place. If the digger collects this, bonus mode is entered, and for about fifteen seconds (which decreases as the game level gets higher) the digger is able to eat the monsters. Accordingly, the monsters now run away from the digger rather than towards it (similar to Pac Man).
A level ends when all the emeralds are gone or all the monsters have been killed.
and IBM JX
, the Japanese version. The last original version was released for a Canadian computer Hyperion
running at 6 MHz.
by Gioachino Rossini plays. If the player dies, a rendition of Frédéric Chopin
's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat Minor
(also known as The Funeral March) is played, accompanied with a picture of a RIP
gravestone.
released an enhanced remake for PlayStation 3
called Digger HD.
version of the game called Digger Remastered, by reverse engineering
the original game. It is available for AmigaOS
, DOS
, GNU/Linux, GP2X
, Java
, Mac OS X
, MorphOS
, RiscOS
, Sega Dreamcast, Unix
and Windows.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
computer game released by Windmill Software
Windmill software
Windmill Software is a Canadian software company. Windmill Software today publishes property management software and management information system software, but the company is more notable for its past role as a developer, marketer, publisher, and distributor of computer and video games...
in 1983
1983 in video gaming
-Events:* A major shakeout of the video game industry begins. By 1986, total video games sales will decrease from US$3.2 billion to US$0.1 billion.* MCA Universal files suit against Nintendo, claiming that the latter company's video arcade hit Donkey Kong violated Universal's copyright on King Kong...
, popular in the era of the IBM PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
with a CGA
Color Graphics Adapter
The Color Graphics Adapter , originally also called the Color/Graphics Adapter or IBM Color/Graphics Monitor Adapter, introduced in 1981, was IBM's first color graphics card, and the first color computer display standard for the IBM PC....
graphics card and monitor. It generally requires a genuine CGA card and runs too fast on computers faster than the original IBM PC 4.77 MHz. In an exception to the CGA requirement, it is possible to use a CGA emulator to run Digger on a Hercules
Hercules Graphics Card
The Hercules Graphics Card was a computer graphics controller made by Hercules Computer Technology, Inc. which, through its popularity, became a widely supported display standard. It was common on IBM PC compatibles connected to a monochrome monitor . It supported one high resolution text mode and...
graphics card.
Gameplay
Many features of Digger are similar to those in the arcade gameArcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
s Mr. Do and Dig Dug
Dig Dug
is an arcade game developed and published by Namco in Japan in 1982 for Namco Galaga hardware. It was later published outside of Japan by Atari. A popular game based on a simple concept, it was also released as a video game on many consoles.-Objective:...
. As in those games, the player is placed in an underground maze
Maze
A maze is a tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage through which the solver must find a route. In everyday speech, both maze and labyrinth denote a complex and confusing series of pathways, but technically the maze is distinguished from the labyrinth, as the labyrinth has a single...
, and can dig
Dig
-Music:* Dig , an American rock bandAlbums* Dig , or the title song* Dig * Dig * Dig , or the title song* Dig...
horizontal and vertical tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
s through it. At least one tunnel already exists at the start of play. At various points on the board are emerald
Emerald
Emerald is a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5–8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness...
s (usually in clusters) and bags of gold. Monster
Monster
A monster is any fictional creature, usually found in legends or horror fiction, that is somewhat hideous and may produce physical harm or mental fear by either its appearance or its actions...
s (initially in the 'nobbin' form) appear at the top right-hand corner. If earth is excavated from under a gold bag, then the bag will wobble for a few seconds and then drop; if it falls more than one row, it will break open after falling, releasing gold which can be collected. Bags can also be pushed left or right into vertical paths, with similar results. Falling bags will squash monsters that they fall on, but they will also squash the digger. The digger also has a weapon, which will fire in a straight line, but takes several seconds to recharge (taking longer as the levels
Level (video gaming)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
go higher).
Monsters will sometimes change from the 'nobbin' form to the 'hobbin' form, more frequently on higher levels. Hobbins also have the power to excavate, and can destroy emeralds and gold bags while so doing.
When a monster is killed, another will appear at the top right-hand corner of the screen, up to a maximum number which depends on the level. Once all the monsters for the level have been created, a cherry
Cherry
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....
appears in their place. If the digger collects this, bonus mode is entered, and for about fifteen seconds (which decreases as the game level gets higher) the digger is able to eat the monsters. Accordingly, the monsters now run away from the digger rather than towards it (similar to Pac Man).
A level ends when all the emeralds are gone or all the monsters have been killed.
Scoring
The player scores 25 points for collecting an emerald, with a bonus of 250 if eight are collected in immediate succession. Killing a monster by shooting it or dropping a gold bag on it scores 250 points; in bonus mode, the player scores 200 points for the first monster eaten, 400 for the second, and so on, doubling each time. Collecting gold earns 500 points, and entering bonus mode 1,000. A new life is awarded at each multiple of 20,000 points.Development
Digger was developed by Rob Sleath, the primary developer of Windmill games in 1983. In 1984, Digger was converted to run on IBM PCjrIBM PCjr
The IBM PCjr was IBM's first attempt to enter the home computer market. The PCjr, IBM model number 4860, retained the IBM PC's 8088 CPU and BIOS interface for compatibility, but various design and implementation decisions led the PCjr to be a commercial failure.- Features :Announced November 1,...
and IBM JX
IBM JX
The IBM JX was a personal computer released in 1984 into the Japanese, Australian and New Zealand markets. Designed in Japan, it was based on the technology of the IBM PCjr and was designated the IBM 5511.-General:...
, the Japanese version. The last original version was released for a Canadian computer Hyperion
Hyperion (computer)
The Hyperion vied with the Compaq Portable to be the first portable IBM PC compatible computer. It was marketed by Infotech Cie of Ottawa, a subsidiary of Bytec Management Corp., who acquired the designer and manufacturer Dynalogic in January 1983...
running at 6 MHz.
Music
During normal game play the Popcorn theme is used as background music. In bonus mode the Overture to Wilhelm TellWilliam Tell (opera)
Guillaume Tell is an opera in four acts by Gioachino Rossini to a French libretto by Etienne de Jouy and Hippolyte Bis, based on Friedrich Schiller's play Wilhelm Tell. Based on the legend of William Tell, this opera was Rossini's last, even though the composer lived for nearly forty more years...
by Gioachino Rossini plays. If the player dies, a rendition of Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat Minor
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat Minor (Chopin)
Frédéric Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 35 was written mainly in 1839 at Nohant, near Châteauroux in France, though the third movement, the funeral march, had been composed as early as 1837.-Movements:The sonata comprises four movements:...
(also known as The Funeral March) is played, accompanied with a picture of a RIP
Rest in peace
"Rest in peace" is a short epitaph or idiomatic expression wishing eternal rest and peace to someone who has died. The expression typically appears on headstones, often abbreviated as "RIP"...
gravestone.
Remake
Creat StudiosCreat Studios
Creat Studios, Inc. is a video game developer and publisher for sixth and seventh generation handhelds and consoles.It was founded in 1990 in Saint Petersburg, Russia...
released an enhanced remake for PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
called Digger HD.
Digger Remastered
In 1998, Andrew Jenner created a Free SoftwareFree software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
version of the game called Digger Remastered, by reverse engineering
Reverse engineering
Reverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object, or system through analysis of its structure, function, and operation...
the original game. It is available for AmigaOS
AmigaOS
AmigaOS is the default native operating system of the Amiga personal computer. It was developed first by Commodore International, and initially introduced in 1985 with the Amiga 1000...
, DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
, GNU/Linux, GP2X
GP2X
The GP2X is an open-source, Linux-based handheld video game console and portable media player developed by South Korean company GamePark Holdings. It was released on November 10, 2005, in South Korea only....
, Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
, Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, MorphOS
MorphOS
MorphOS is an Amiga-compatible computer operating system. It is a mixed proprietary and open source OS produced for the Pegasos PowerPC processor based computer, PowerUP accelerator equipped Amiga computers, and a series of Freescale development boards that use the Genesi firmware, including the...
, RiscOS
MIPS RISC/os
RISC/os was a UNIX operating system developed by MIPS Computer Systems, Inc. from 1985 to 1992 for their computer workstations and servers, such as the MIPS M/120 server or MIPS Magnum workstation. It was also known as UMIPS or MIPS OS....
, Sega Dreamcast, Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
and Windows.
External links
- Digger Remastered, a remake for modern PCs
- Digger Mobile Edition, a mobile phones (or small devices capable of running Java ME) port