The Chaos Engine

The Chaos Engine is a Video game of action in 2D developed by The Bitmap Brothers and published by Renegade in 1993. Initially developed on Amiga and Atari ST, the play was adapted on Amiga 1200, Amiga CD32, DOS, Megadrive and Super Nintendo. The history is inspired by the novel the Machine with differences of Bruce Sterling. The action takes seat in a time victorienne Uchronique Steampunk.

The play will know a continuation in 1996, The Chaos Engine 2 .

Play

Synopsis

At last century, the inventor Baron Fortesque created a strange machine, fruit of an experimentation on the space time with the first computers. Its name is… The Engine< Chaos! --: D-->. Increasingly powerful, the machine ended up becoming unverifiable, plunging the area in chaos by transforming the living beings into machine to be killed. A duet of Mercenaire S surarmés is engaged for éradiquer the evil with the source before it extends.

Gameplay

The Chaos Engine is a play of shooting of the type Run and gun for top (of 3/4) playable with two in collaboration. The environment spreads via a multidirectional scrolling. The player must make progress a soldier to the arsenal varied in chaotic environments truffles of creatures and traps. The decorations are boxed and present regularly one or two stages. The character can draw in the eight directions around him. He is constantly assisted by a accolyte, controlled either by the computer or by another player.

The play proposes 16 levels left again on four worlds with the different graphic environment: the forest, the workshop, the manor and sewers. The goal is to find and activate a given number of “nodes” (of the kinds of terminals energy) disseminated in the level in order to open the exit door of it. The action is omnipresent but the progression calls also observation and reflection with secrete ways, short cuts to be discovered and small enigmas to be solved. The play recquiert also a certain strategic direction taking into account the mode two players in collaboration but also of the varied attributes of the characters and the upgrading capabilities.

The player can incarnate six Mercenaire S different: The Thug, The Preacher, The Mercenary, The Gentleman, The Navvie and The Brigand. All have a clean attributes, weapon and special competences. The player is free to make evolve/move the attributes and to improve the weapons as he hears it. The evolutions are conditioned by the amount of money collected in the levels and take effect with the screen of equipment, available all the two levels.

There are four types of attributes: address, endurance, speed and intelligence. The address is most important of the attributes since it determines the potential of evolution of all the others. The intelligence has only one influence in mode solo, on the character incarnated by the CPU. Each weapon can be more or less sophisticated in firepower (weak, average, strong) and in volume of shooting (of simple with quadruple). Generally, a character fast or enduring has a weapon with the potential of evolution more limited and vice versa. Each character has moreover two to four special competences, gradually débloquables, among the following ones: kingpin, bends, salvo of shootings, dynamites, chart of the level, mines, kit first aid… Others are to be discovered. In solo mode, the gold mine is common to both characters but it is not the case in mode two players, even if it is possible to lend money to a ruined fellow-member.

Among the objects to be collected, there are the Trésor S, the Nourriture (which restore the level of endurance) and the Clef S which open new ways by modifying the topography of the places (displacement of walls, appearance of staircase, etc). According to the nature of the keys (money or gold), the open ways will be essential or secondary with the progression. There are also “tokens of dead zone” which determine the point of reappearance of the characters after their death. The levels include/understand many secrete ways and hidden exit doors (by finding all the “nodes” of the level) which influence the continuation of the adventure in one way or another.

The play uses a system of safeguard per password which preserves all the data of evolution of the characters.

Realization

daN Malone conceived graphics of the play in a recognizable style, already appreciable in Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe and Cadaver . The English graphic designer is famous for his capacity to give depth to his visual while using of studied shades. Environments in isometric Prospect “flat” ne misses neither of relief nor of legibility, which are often two skews inherent in this type of representation, and its characters with the “broken mouth” are rather charismatic. Paradoxically, certain players prefer graphics of the original version Amiga 500, however less coloured, estimating that the later addition of colors for the other versions (the versions AGA propose 3 times of them more for example) somewhat denatured the original style.

Richard Joseph carried out the band of the play in a style undue. Its work is one of the first examples convincing as regards interactive music in a Video game. The rate/rhythm of the music is modulated with the liking of the circumstances of play with fluid sequences. The sound environment is decorated digitalized voices which contribute to environment but which is also directly useful for the player.

Development team

Équipe originale

Design: Simon Knight, Eric Matthews
Programming: Steve Cargill
Graphics: daN Malone
additional Programming: Mike Montgomery
Management of the project: Graeme Boxall
Musics and sound effects: Richard Joseph
Music screen-title: Farook Joi, Haroon Joi

Conversion

Code on Super Nintendo: Robert Trevellyan
Code on Megadrive: Glyn Kendall
Graphics on Megadrive and Super Nintendo: Hermann Seranno
His on Megadrive: Jason Page

Exploitation

Versions

The play left to the Printemps 1993 on Amiga and Atari ST and was gradually related to the other supports. For the exploitation on Megadrive and Super Nintendo, Renegade yielded the license to Spectrum Holobyte but the play was developed by close relations of Bitmap. These versions are known under the name Soldiers off Fortune in the United States. They have the characteristic to censure the ecclesiastical references of The Preacher (the preacher): the character saw famous The Scientist (the scientist) and its design was modified to remove the bringing together with the Soutane.

The versions Amiga 1200, CD32 and DOS (VGA) profit from more coloured graphics (and a its quality CD for version CD32).

Reception

Chaos Engine received good a reception of the press specialized, which greeted its extreme Jouabilité, its mode two players, his thorough direction of the detail, its metal graphics and its impressive band. As that will have finally always been the case with Bitmap Brothers, the play draws the best from the machines, that it is on Amiga or Atari ST, the latter especially missing reproducing sound qualities of his/her cousin. The other versions also were well accommodated. The play received various rewards, in particular the Sega Awards of the “best play of action” and of the “best play third-party” of the year 1994.

Andy Nutall wrote in Amiga Format, in April 1993:

“Yes it is a derivative the full ones with other plays like Commando and Gauntlet , but it does it so well and implements as well details as it is forgivable. In mode solo, you and your (machine) against the malicious ones, it is a big game. Addition a second joystick, a comrade with the end, and the play becomes traditional. ”

Amiga Format 90% et 92% (AGA) • CU Amiga 81% et 88% (CD ³ ²) • C+VG 89% (PC) • Tilt 90% et 85% (ST)

The Chaos Engine 2

The Chaos Engine is the last play of Bitmap Brothers on Atari ST and the last but one on Amiga before The Chaos Engine 2 in 1996. This continuation takes again environment, the characters and the prospect for the original, but the principle of play is this time based on match with dead into 1 against 1, screen splity and on short cards.

See too

1991 - Alien Breed of TEAM 17
1991 - Warp Zone of Core Design

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