Rescue at Rigel
Encyclopedia
Rescue at Rigel is a 1980 science fiction
computer role-playing game written and published by Automated Simulations (later known as Epyx
), and later branded as part of the Starquest series. The game was released for the Apple II, DOS
, as a PC Booter
, TRS-80
, VIC-20
, and Atari 8-bit
. Rescue at Rigel was soon followed by Star Warrior
in the "Starquest" series, although Star Warrior used a more heavily modified game engine than Rigel.
Players take on the role of adventurer Sudden Smith. Smith must try to rescue captives from the interior of an asteroid
orbiting the star
Rigel
. Players have 60 minutes to rescue 10 human captives from the alien moon base. They must first find the captives before delivering them to the rescue ship (via a transport beam). Players must defeat or avoid the enemies wandering the base: the alien Tollahs, two types of armed robot
s, a six-legged "cerbanth", and a huge amoebic
slug
. As players forge deeper into the alien stronghold, they have the opportunity to acquire better weapons.
The playfield is presented as a top-down view of the current location of the hero. The game is turn-based, with the player given a certain number of "points" to spend on various actions, completing their turn when the points ran out. Rescue at Rigel is very similar to Temple of Apshai
, a popular dungeon crawl
by Epyx, part of their "Dunjonquest" series. Rescue at Rigel had a timer similar to The Datestones of Ryn, an earlier Dunjonquest game.
Rescue at Rigel used the concept of providing room descriptions similar to those used in some Dunjonquest
games, but instead of unique descriptions for numbered rooms, the game had multiple rooms labeled "Sanctum", for example, and a detailed description of what typical Sanctums contained was provided in the manual along with about a dozen other room types.
Although nominally a science fiction
setting, the plot of rescuing hostages was perhaps derived from the Iran Hostage Crisis
, which was headline news when the game was written. Additionally, one type of enemy which the player must defeat is the High Tollah, a name that resembles the title of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Iran
ian religious leader whose supporters took the American
hostages.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
computer role-playing game written and published by Automated Simulations (later known as Epyx
Epyx
Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. The company was founded as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman, originally using Epyx as a brand name for action-oriented games before renaming the company to match in 1983...
), and later branded as part of the Starquest series. The game was released for the Apple II, 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...
, as a PC Booter
PC booter
A PC booter, or booter, is a type of software for home computer era personal computers that was loaded and executed in the bootup of the computer, from a bootable floppy disk, rather than as a regular program; a booter thus bypassed any operating system that might be installed on the hard disk of...
, TRS-80
TRS-80
TRS-80 was Tandy Corporation's desktop microcomputer model line, sold through Tandy's Radio Shack stores in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The first units, ordered unseen, were delivered in November 1977, and rolled out to the stores the third week of December. The line won popularity with...
, VIC-20
Commodore VIC-20
The VIC-20 is an 8-bit home computer which was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the PET...
, and Atari 8-bit
Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...
. Rescue at Rigel was soon followed by Star Warrior
Star Warrior (game)
Star Warrior is a 1980 science fiction computer role-playing game written and published by Automated Simulations and released for the Apple II, TRS-80, and Atari home computers...
in the "Starquest" series, although Star Warrior used a more heavily modified game engine than Rigel.
Players take on the role of adventurer Sudden Smith. Smith must try to rescue captives from the interior of an asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
orbiting the star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
Rigel
Rigel
Rigel is the brightest star in the constellation Orion and the sixth brightest star in the sky, with visual magnitude 0.18...
. Players have 60 minutes to rescue 10 human captives from the alien moon base. They must first find the captives before delivering them to the rescue ship (via a transport beam). Players must defeat or avoid the enemies wandering the base: the alien Tollahs, two types of armed robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
s, a six-legged "cerbanth", and a huge amoebic
Amoeba
Amoeba is a genus of Protozoa.History=The amoeba was first discovered by August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof in 1757. Early naturalists referred to Amoeba as the Proteus animalcule after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his shape...
slug
Slug
Slug is a common name that is normally applied to any gastropod mollusc that lacks a shell, has a very reduced shell, or has a small internal shell...
. As players forge deeper into the alien stronghold, they have the opportunity to acquire better weapons.
The playfield is presented as a top-down view of the current location of the hero. The game is turn-based, with the player given a certain number of "points" to spend on various actions, completing their turn when the points ran out. Rescue at Rigel is very similar to Temple of Apshai
Temple of Apshai
The Temple of Apshai is a computer role-playing game from Epyx. The game was first released for the TRS-80 in 1979, then the Apple II and Atari home computers in 1980. In 1983, it was released for the Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64, and IBM PC compatibles. Even later it was made available with...
, a popular dungeon crawl
Dungeon crawl
A dungeon crawl is a type of scenario in fantasy role-playing games in which heroes navigate a labyrinthine environment, battling various monsters, and looting any treasure they may find...
by Epyx, part of their "Dunjonquest" series. Rescue at Rigel had a timer similar to The Datestones of Ryn, an earlier Dunjonquest game.
Rescue at Rigel used the concept of providing room descriptions similar to those used in some Dunjonquest
Dunjonquest (series)
Dunjonquest is a series of single-player, single-character fantasy computer role-playing games from Automated Simulations . The Temple of Apshai and related expansions, later repackaged as a "Trilogy", are the best known and most widely ported games of the series...
games, but instead of unique descriptions for numbered rooms, the game had multiple rooms labeled "Sanctum", for example, and a detailed description of what typical Sanctums contained was provided in the manual along with about a dozen other room types.
Although nominally a science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
setting, the plot of rescuing hostages was perhaps derived from the Iran Hostage Crisis
Iran hostage crisis
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian...
, which was headline news when the game was written. Additionally, one type of enemy which the player must defeat is the High Tollah, a name that resembles the title of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian religious leader whose supporters took the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
hostages.