Nodes of Yesod
Encyclopedia
Nodes of Yesod is a video game developed and published by Odin Computer Graphics
in 1985. The game is very similar to Underwurlde
, which was released a year earlier.
The game was released for the Amstrad CPC
, Commodore 64
, Elan Enterprise 64 and 128
and ZX Spectrum
platforms. Versions were also planned for the BBC Micro
and MSX
platforms but these were cancelled.
On the ZX Spectrum, the game came in separate 48K and 128K versions. The latter had improved title-screen music, in-game music and additional synthesised speech.
A sequel, The Arc of Yesod
, was also published the same year.
A "25th Anniversary Edition" was released in 2010 for the iPhone
and iOS (Apple) devices. This version included a "classic mode" (very similar to the original ZX Spectrum version) and an "enhanced mode", which featured new color graphics, help system, map system, save/resume game feature and remixed music.
). Charlie promptly volunteers for the task of going to the moon and finding the monolith.
. The player controls Charlie Fotheringham-Grunes, who is dressed like an astronaut
. Starting on the moon's surface, Charlie must venture into the caverns below and retrieve eight alchiems (which look a little like coloured crystals) in order to find the monolith.
Charlie can perform a rolling-jump in order to make his way around the caverns and can jump quite high, doubtless thanks to the moon's low gravity. However falling from great heights is still dangerous and will cause him to lose a life.
Before venturing into the caverns, Charlie needs to search for a lunar mole
on the moon's surface. Once he has collected one of these creatures, he can release it in the caverns when required and it will chew-through any walls it can revealing new areas of the maze.
Once Charlie has collected an alchiem, it appears on his status panel at the bottom of the screen. Unfortunately, there are "muggers" in the caverns (who look like red astronauts with jet packs). If one of these touches Charlie they will steal alchiems meaning Charlie will have to find them again.
There are two kinds of monster in Nodes of Yesod - harmful and non-harmful. The harmful creatures float around the caverns and will sap Charlie's strength if touched. The non-harmful creatures won't do Charlie any damage but will cause him to bounce around (similarly to the creatures in Underwurlde) and are thus a nuisance.
Odin Computer Graphics
Odin Computer Graphics were a Liverpool-based computer games developer who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a variety of titles for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC home computers.-History:...
in 1985. The game is very similar to Underwurlde
Underwurlde
Underwurlde is a video game for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 developed and released by Ultimate Play The Game in 1984. The game is the second in the Sabreman series, following on from his adventures in Sabre Wulf. The format of the game is a 2D side view flip-screen platform game...
, which was released a year earlier.
The game was released for the Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, Elan Enterprise 64 and 128
Enterprise 128
The Enterprise is a Zilog Z80 based home computer first released in 1985. There are two variants, the Enterprise 64 with 64 kB of RAM, and the Enterprise 128 with 128 kB.- Hardware :- CPU, memory and ASIC chips :...
and ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
platforms. Versions were also planned for the BBC Micro
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
and MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
platforms but these were cancelled.
On the ZX Spectrum, the game came in separate 48K and 128K versions. The latter had improved title-screen music, in-game music and additional synthesised speech.
A sequel, The Arc of Yesod
The Arc of Yesod
Arc of Yesod is a video game by Odin Computer Graphics published in for the Sinclair Spectrum and Commodore 64. It is the sequel to Nodes of Yesod.-Overview:...
, was also published the same year.
A "25th Anniversary Edition" was released in 2010 for the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
and iOS (Apple) devices. This version included a "classic mode" (very similar to the original ZX Spectrum version) and an "enhanced mode", which featured new color graphics, help system, map system, save/resume game feature and remixed music.
Plot
Charlemagne "Charlie" Fotheringham-Grunes, the apprentice saviour of the universe, has been asked to find the source of mysterious signals from the moon which turn out to be a black monolith (a homage to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
). Charlie promptly volunteers for the task of going to the moon and finding the monolith.
Gameplay
Nodes of Yesod is a flick-screen platform gamePlatform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
. The player controls Charlie Fotheringham-Grunes, who is dressed like an astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
. Starting on the moon's surface, Charlie must venture into the caverns below and retrieve eight alchiems (which look a little like coloured crystals) in order to find the monolith.
Charlie can perform a rolling-jump in order to make his way around the caverns and can jump quite high, doubtless thanks to the moon's low gravity. However falling from great heights is still dangerous and will cause him to lose a life.
Before venturing into the caverns, Charlie needs to search for a lunar mole
Mole (animal)
Moles are small cylindrical mammals adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They have velvety fur; tiny or invisible ears and eyes; and short, powerful limbs with large paws oriented for digging. The term is especially and most properly used for the true moles, those of the Talpidae family in the...
on the moon's surface. Once he has collected one of these creatures, he can release it in the caverns when required and it will chew-through any walls it can revealing new areas of the maze.
Once Charlie has collected an alchiem, it appears on his status panel at the bottom of the screen. Unfortunately, there are "muggers" in the caverns (who look like red astronauts with jet packs). If one of these touches Charlie they will steal alchiems meaning Charlie will have to find them again.
There are two kinds of monster in Nodes of Yesod - harmful and non-harmful. The harmful creatures float around the caverns and will sap Charlie's strength if touched. The non-harmful creatures won't do Charlie any damage but will cause him to bounce around (similarly to the creatures in Underwurlde) and are thus a nuisance.
Trivia
- The central character's double-barrelled surnameDouble-barrelled nameIn English speaking and some other Western countries, a double-barrelled name is a family name with two parts, which may or may not be joined with a hyphen and is also known as a hyphenated name. An example of a hyphenated double-barrelled surname is Bowes-Lyon; an example of an unhyphenated...
is taken from the surnames of two of the artists - Stuart Fotheringham and Colin Grunes. - Stuart Fotheringham, one of the artists and game designers on Nodes of Yesod, claims that an earlier finished version of the map and screen layouts was created but was lost in a MicrodriveZX MicrodriveThe ZX Microdrive is a magnetic tape data storage system launched in July 1983 by Sinclair Research for their ZX Spectrum home computer. The Microdrive technology was later also used in the Sinclair QL and ICL One Per Desk personal computers.-Development:...
crash and the maps and screens had to be recreated from scratch. He claims that the second, published, version was slightly inferior to the lost original. - In Poland, game was known as Charlie na księżycu (which means Charlie on the moon).