Skool Daze
Encyclopedia
Skool Daze is a computer game created by David Reidy (whose wife Helen was a school teacher at the time) for the ZX Spectrum
and released by Microsphere in 1985. A Commodore 64
port was subsequently made. The game was hailed for breaking many of the gaming moulds by pursuing a creative route of a childhood experience at school.
There are eleven other boys who have no name and are identical in appearance. Occasionally one will communicate with the player to warn him of impending dangers during breaktime, such as a hidden peashooter, measles or the swot telling tales to the Headmaster. They serve no other real purpose. It is possible to hit them and to stand on them, which is useful for being able to jump higher to reach targets, but they are too short to be able to knock out with a catapult. Occasionally, during playtime following a dinner break, the boys run around the school as a mob, knocking down anyone in their path. This can lead to Eric being given lines for lying on the floor, or for knocking a master over, so care should be taken to stay out of the boys' way at such times.
Each master has his own idiosyncratic banter with the boys. Mr Rockitt and Mr Withit refer to their pupils as 'cherubs' and 'chaps' respectively. Messieurs Creak and Wacker hate boys, calling them "nasty little boys" and threatening to cane
them, respectively.
It is possible to attack masters with a catapult but any attempt to punch them is futile, and usually results in receiving lines.
The offences for which the player could be punished, together with the messages used by the masters when punishing, are as follows:
The speech bursts used by the masters when giving lines are color coded: Eric's are red, Boy Wander's purple, Einstein's and Angelface's green.
Additionally, during break times, sometimes the player will be told that either Boy Wander has hidden a pea shooter with Eric's name on it on the fire escape, or that Einstein is going to tell on Eric. In these cases, the player will have to stop Mr Wacker getting to the fire escape before Boy Wander, or stop Einstein from getting to his office. If the player fails to do so, Mr Wacker will run down Eric and deliver "Take 2000 lines you nasty boy" in a speech bubble. Sometimes the message is that Angelface has mumps
. If Eric and Angelface cross paths during the break, Mr Rockitt will track down Eric and say: "You have mumps ERIC. Go home at once. This game is over". The bully's case of mumps never lasts beyond the end of playtime.
When the player reaches 10000 lines, Mr Wacker begins moving rapidly towards Eric; when he reaches Eric, he delivers the game over message in a speech bubble ("YOU HAVE OVER 10000 LINES TO WRITE ERIC. DON'T COME BACK TO SCHOOL TILL YOU HAVE DONE THEM ALL... PRESS A KEY TO PLAY AGAIN"). It's possible for the player to knock down Mr Wacker whenever he gets close and thus continue playing for a theoretically infinite amount of time after reaching 10000 lines, although it would be nearly impossible to achieve any game objectives in this condition. It's also possible for Mr Wacker to be knocked down by another character while delivering the Game Over message, in which case the message pauses until he recovers; this could potentially lead to a loop, but this is exceptionally rare.
No other characters apart from Eric are ever disciplined for being out of their seat or on the floor, or sent home because of illness. This enables the player to empathise with the principal character who is interminably picked upon by the staff.
The boys with no names are never punished, as if they are invisible to the masters.
At the beginning and end of each game, the game plays an atonal variation of Girls and Boys Come Out To Play
.
Other areas of the school include the Headmaster's study, the staff room, and the Revision Library. Frustratingly for the boys, there are no toilets - players would have to wait until the sequel Back to Skool
for those.
There is a dinner area where boys are expected to congregate during dinner, although it is impossible to sit down and there is no sign of any food. The throng of characters occupying the same small area of the screen during dinner make this period particularly fruitful when it comes to collecting points for hitting other boys using one's fists and one's catapult.
Only Mr Withit or Mr Wacker will ever be found on duty during dinner; Mr Creak and Mr Rockitt always confine themselves to the staff room during this period.
There are plenty of seats in the Exam Room and the White Room but an insufficient number in the Reading Room and Map Room. This is a source of frustration to the player as Eric is constantly shoved out of his seat and punished with lines for sitting on the floor. In the sequel, Back To Skool, this behaviour was altered so that other kids were not able to push Eric out of his chair (though an examination of the code suggests that this feature is actually a bug).
.
by Piranha Games and Hysteria by Software Projects
. It also appeared on the compilation 10 Computer Hits 1 by Beau-Jolly.
, which expanded the gameplay to include a neighbouring girls' school and a love interest (with the benefit of being able to reduce one's lines), along with stink bombs, mice, water pistols, frogs, sherry and a long-suffering caretaker. An unofficial remake is Klass of '99, a PC edition of Skool Daze with updated graphics and various changes to the gameplay.
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
and released by Microsphere in 1985. A 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...
port was subsequently made. The game was hailed for breaking many of the gaming moulds by pursuing a creative route of a childhood experience at school.
Instructions
From the original instructions:Characters
This section describes the identities and behaviour of the characters in the game. The names given are the defaults, but the player has the option of editing the names before beginning the game, e.g. to customise the game to his/her own school.Boys
- Eric, the Hero
- Angelface, the Bully
- Boy Wander, the Tearaway
- Einstein, the Swot
There are eleven other boys who have no name and are identical in appearance. Occasionally one will communicate with the player to warn him of impending dangers during breaktime, such as a hidden peashooter, measles or the swot telling tales to the Headmaster. They serve no other real purpose. It is possible to hit them and to stand on them, which is useful for being able to jump higher to reach targets, but they are too short to be able to knock out with a catapult. Occasionally, during playtime following a dinner break, the boys run around the school as a mob, knocking down anyone in their path. This can lead to Eric being given lines for lying on the floor, or for knocking a master over, so care should be taken to stay out of the boys' way at such times.
Masters
- Mr Wacker, the Headmaster
- Mr Rockitt, the ScienceScienceScience is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
Teacher - Mr Withit, the GeographyGeographyGeography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
Teacher - Mr Creak, the HistoryHistoryHistory is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
Master
Each master has his own idiosyncratic banter with the boys. Mr Rockitt and Mr Withit refer to their pupils as 'cherubs' and 'chaps' respectively. Messieurs Creak and Wacker hate boys, calling them "nasty little boys" and threatening to cane
Caning
Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits with a single cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks or hand . Application of a cane to the knuckles or the shoulders has been much less common...
them, respectively.
It is possible to attack masters with a catapult but any attempt to punch them is futile, and usually results in receiving lines.
Punishments
All masters use the same punishment if they witness any form of misbehaviour: the giving of lines (a seemingly random number in multiples of a hundred, between 100 and 800). If the miscreant commits the transgression behind the master's back he may well escape punishment. It is possible to strike a master using one's catapult and get another boy into trouble if he is closer at the time of the punishment, which is worth the same number of points as the number of lines given if the tattletale Einstein or the bully Angelface are the recipients, as well as being mildly entertaining in itself for the player.The offences for which the player could be punished, together with the messages used by the masters when punishing, are as follows:
- GET TO WHERE YOU SHOULD BE: being in a room other than the one the timetable currently indicates you should be in, or being in a classroom at breaktime.
- CATAPULTS ARE FORBIDDEN: using a catapult (at all) in a teacher's sight.
- NOW DON'T DO IT AGAIN: Being nearest when a teacher gets up after being hit with a catapult. Also given when Einstein tattles on you for hitting him.
- DON'T TOUCH BLACKBOARDS: After Einstein tattles on you for writing on the blackboard in the classroom.
- DON'T HIT YOUR MATES: Using the Hit command (at all) in a teacher's sight.
- YOU ARE NOT A KANGAROO: jumping in sight of teacher.
- GET OFF THE FLOOR: sitting or lying on the floor. It's even possible to receive this punishment if Eric has been knocked down by another pupil.
- DON'T SIT ON THE STAIRS: sitting on the stairs.
- NOW FIND A SEAT: being found standing during a lesson.
- THE ROOM IS PRIVATE: entering the headmaster's office or staffroom.
- COME ALONG WITH ME BOY / DON'T TRY MY PATIENCE BOY / HURRY UP YOU HORROR: given by the teacher of the class Eric is currently supposed to be in. These are given when Eric fails to appear at the class by the time the teacher has arrived at the head of the class, Einstein tells on you, and the professor then chases you down. If Eric remains within the sight of the teacher these punishments are generated continuously, always alternating.
- NEVER BE LATE AGAIN: Entering the room for the first time while Einstein is telling on you for not being there.
- AND STAY THIS TIME: For leaving the room before the bell rings, and returning while Einstein is telling on you for not being there.
- DON'T TELL TALES: This is the only punishment that Eric cannot receive. In some lessons, Einstein tries to get Eric (or sometimes Boy Wander) in trouble by claiming that Eric/Boy Wander wrote on the blackboard or that Eric hit him (usually given even when Eric has not hit him). This usually generates a punishment under DON'T TOUCH BLACKBOARDS or NOW DON'T DO IT AGAIN against Boy Wander/Eric, but sometimes instead generates DON'T TELL TALES against Einstein.
The speech bursts used by the masters when giving lines are color coded: Eric's are red, Boy Wander's purple, Einstein's and Angelface's green.
Additionally, during break times, sometimes the player will be told that either Boy Wander has hidden a pea shooter with Eric's name on it on the fire escape, or that Einstein is going to tell on Eric. In these cases, the player will have to stop Mr Wacker getting to the fire escape before Boy Wander, or stop Einstein from getting to his office. If the player fails to do so, Mr Wacker will run down Eric and deliver "Take 2000 lines you nasty boy" in a speech bubble. Sometimes the message is that Angelface has mumps
Mumps
Mumps is a viral disease of the human species, caused by the mumps virus. Before the development of vaccination and the introduction of a vaccine, it was a common childhood disease worldwide...
. If Eric and Angelface cross paths during the break, Mr Rockitt will track down Eric and say: "You have mumps ERIC. Go home at once. This game is over". The bully's case of mumps never lasts beyond the end of playtime.
When the player reaches 10000 lines, Mr Wacker begins moving rapidly towards Eric; when he reaches Eric, he delivers the game over message in a speech bubble ("YOU HAVE OVER 10000 LINES TO WRITE ERIC. DON'T COME BACK TO SCHOOL TILL YOU HAVE DONE THEM ALL... PRESS A KEY TO PLAY AGAIN"). It's possible for the player to knock down Mr Wacker whenever he gets close and thus continue playing for a theoretically infinite amount of time after reaching 10000 lines, although it would be nearly impossible to achieve any game objectives in this condition. It's also possible for Mr Wacker to be knocked down by another character while delivering the Game Over message, in which case the message pauses until he recovers; this could potentially lead to a loop, but this is exceptionally rare.
No other characters apart from Eric are ever disciplined for being out of their seat or on the floor, or sent home because of illness. This enables the player to empathise with the principal character who is interminably picked upon by the staff.
The boys with no names are never punished, as if they are invisible to the masters.
At the beginning and end of each game, the game plays an atonal variation of Girls and Boys Come Out To Play
Girls and Boys Come Out To Play
Girls and Boys Come Out to Play or Boys and Girls Come Out to Play is a nursery rhyme that has existed since at least 1708. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 5452.-Lyrics:...
.
Rooms
Each master is associated with a particular room (Mr Withit teaches in the Map Room, Mr Creak in the Reading Room, Mr Wacker in the Exam Room and Mr Rockitt in the White Room), although occasionally masters teach in other masters' classrooms.Other areas of the school include the Headmaster's study, the staff room, and the Revision Library. Frustratingly for the boys, there are no toilets - players would have to wait until the sequel Back to Skool
Back to Skool
Back to Skool is a computer game, sequel to the popular Skool Daze, created by David Reidy for the ZX Spectrum and released by Microsphere in 1985...
for those.
There is a dinner area where boys are expected to congregate during dinner, although it is impossible to sit down and there is no sign of any food. The throng of characters occupying the same small area of the screen during dinner make this period particularly fruitful when it comes to collecting points for hitting other boys using one's fists and one's catapult.
Only Mr Withit or Mr Wacker will ever be found on duty during dinner; Mr Creak and Mr Rockitt always confine themselves to the staff room during this period.
There are plenty of seats in the Exam Room and the White Room but an insufficient number in the Reading Room and Map Room. This is a source of frustration to the player as Eric is constantly shoved out of his seat and punished with lines for sitting on the floor. In the sequel, Back To Skool, this behaviour was altered so that other kids were not able to push Eric out of his chair (though an examination of the code suggests that this feature is actually a bug).
Self promotion
The character of Boy Wander would write on blackboards about Microsphere games like Wheelie and Sky Ranger. In Back to Skool, Boy Wander writes about Contact Sam CruiseContact Sam Cruise
Contact Sam Cruise is a computer game created by David Reidy for the ZX Spectrum and released by Microsphere in 1986. Using a similar engine to Skool Daze, this game charted the exploits of a player-controlled private detective called Sam Cruise....
.
Compilation appearances
Skool Daze appeared on the Spectrum compilation 4-Most Big Hits by Alternative Software, which also included Yeti by Destiny Software, FlunkyFlunky (computer game)
Flunky is a computer game programmed by Don Priestley and released in 1987 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC home computers. It was published by Piranha Games...
by Piranha Games and Hysteria by Software Projects
Software Projects
Software Projects was the name of a computer game development company which employed Manic Miner developer Matthew Smith. After leaving Bug-Byte as a freelance developer, Smith was able to take the rights to his recently developed Manic Miner game with him, due to an oversight in his freelance...
. It also appeared on the compilation 10 Computer Hits 1 by Beau-Jolly.
Sequels
The game was followed by Back to SkoolBack to Skool
Back to Skool is a computer game, sequel to the popular Skool Daze, created by David Reidy for the ZX Spectrum and released by Microsphere in 1985...
, which expanded the gameplay to include a neighbouring girls' school and a love interest (with the benefit of being able to reduce one's lines), along with stink bombs, mice, water pistols, frogs, sherry and a long-suffering caretaker. An unofficial remake is Klass of '99, a PC edition of Skool Daze with updated graphics and various changes to the gameplay.