Where Time Stood Still
Encyclopedia
Where Time Stood Still is an isometric
3D
arcade adventure game released by Ocean
in for the Sinclair Spectrum
128K, MS-DOS
and Atari ST
. The game was produced by Denton Designs
as a follow-up to their successful 1986 title The Great Escape
.
. To their horror, the survivors soon discover that it is populated by dangerous prehistoric creatures and tribes.
The player must guide the party of four survivors - the pilot, Jarret, and his three passengers - to safety, avoiding dinosaurs, cannibals and natural dangers, while also ensuring they are sufficiently rested and fed during the long and difficult journey.
3D
projection. The Atari ST
and Spectrum versions are monochrome
while the DOS
version uses four-color CGA
. The DOS version has no music, with sounds limited to PC speaker
beeps and clicks.
.
A simple menu and cursor system is used to select members and manipulate objects.
Each member of the party has a different personality and abilities. For example, Clive is overweight, tires easily, and is always hungry. Dirk is athletic and has some knowledge of the local languages; he is reluctant to leave Gloria, and will become despondent if she dies.
Computer-controlled characters will complain if they are injured, tired or hungry. It is up to the player to decide what action to take in response. Indulge them too often, and food and time will run short. Ignore them, and they will abandon you and try to make their own way to safety.
Useful objects are scattered about the map, which should be carefully explored.
Isometric projection
Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in technical and engineering drawings...
3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
arcade adventure game released by Ocean
Ocean Software
The British company Ocean Software was one of the biggest European video game developers/publishers of the 1980s and 90s...
in for the Sinclair Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
128K, MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
and Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
. The game was produced by Denton Designs
Denton Designs
Denton Designs was a British video games developer based in Liverpool. The company was founded in 1984 and initially specialised in developing software for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum home computer...
as a follow-up to their successful 1986 title The Great Escape
The Great Escape (video game)
The Great Escape is a video game which shares a title and similar plot to the movie The Great Escape. It was programmed by Denton Designs, who went on to produce the similarly acclaimed Where Time Stood Still...
.
Plot
A plane has crashed in a remote and unknown plateau of the HimalayasHimalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
. To their horror, the survivors soon discover that it is populated by dangerous prehistoric creatures and tribes.
The player must guide the party of four survivors - the pilot, Jarret, and his three passengers - to safety, avoiding dinosaurs, cannibals and natural dangers, while also ensuring they are sufficiently rested and fed during the long and difficult journey.
Description
The graphics are rendered in isometricIsometric projection
Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in technical and engineering drawings...
3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
projection. The Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
and Spectrum versions are monochrome
Monochrome
Monochrome describes paintings, drawings, design, or photographs in one color or shades of one color. A monochromatic object or image has colors in shades of limited colors or hues. Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale or black-and-white...
while the DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
version uses four-color 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....
. The DOS version has no music, with sounds limited to PC speaker
PC speaker
A PC speaker is a loudspeaker, built into some IBM PC compatible computers. The first IBM Personal Computer, model 5150, employed a standard 2.25 inch magnetic driven speaker. More recent computers use a piezoelectric speaker instead. The speaker allows software and firmware to provide...
beeps and clicks.
Gameplay
The player initially controls Jarret, the leader of the party. The other survivors are Clive, a wealthy businessman; Gloria, his daughter; and Dirk, her fiancé. Each member of the party may be controlled by the player or by the gameNon-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
.
A simple menu and cursor system is used to select members and manipulate objects.
Each member of the party has a different personality and abilities. For example, Clive is overweight, tires easily, and is always hungry. Dirk is athletic and has some knowledge of the local languages; he is reluctant to leave Gloria, and will become despondent if she dies.
Computer-controlled characters will complain if they are injured, tired or hungry. It is up to the player to decide what action to take in response. Indulge them too often, and food and time will run short. Ignore them, and they will abandon you and try to make their own way to safety.
Useful objects are scattered about the map, which should be carefully explored.
Reviews
- Sinclair UserSinclair UserSinclair User, often abbreviated SU, was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum...
:"Cancel all plans for a fortnight. Dash down to the shop. Pick up a copy of WHERE TIME STOOD STILL. Buy a 128K Spectrum if you haven't already got one. Lock yourself in your room and prepare to play the most exciting game you've ever seen on the Spectrum."
- Your SinclairYour SinclairYour Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated, was a British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum.-History:...
: "A superb arcade adventure..."
Trivia
- The game was inspired by the Lost WorldLost World (genre)The Lost World literary genre is a fantasy or science fiction genre that involves the discovery of a new world out of time, place, or both. It began as a subgenre of the late-Victorian imperial romance and remains popular to this day....
genre of books and movies, notably The Land That Time Forgot - The working title for the game during development was "Tibet"
External links
- Where Time Stood Still at the Little Green Desktop