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Captain Blood (video game)
Encyclopedia
Captain Blood is the name of a French video game from 1988 made by ERE Informatique
(soon relabeled with their short-lived Exxos label) and released by Infogrames
. It was later re-released in the UK by Players Premier Software. The title tune is a stripped down version of "Ethnicolor" by Jean Michel Jarre
.
version. Bouchon originally designed covers for ERE informatique's Gazoline Software label, but he learned to program in assembler for the Atari ST
after Ulrich provided him with one. Bouchon then created fractal
-generated realtime graphics that inspired both to do a sci-fi inspired video game.
After ERE
's absorption by Infogrames
in summer of 1987 (partly justified by preliminary versions of Captain Blood), Ulrich and Bouchon isolated themselves in the Landes
in order to have the game ready for Christmas. Many adaptations for both 16-bit and 8-bit machines were developed in successive months, although they were straight ports of the original Atari ST
version in graphics, sound effects or music, and therefore follow the limitations of that machine.
and space travel. While testing for the first time his new project, he becomes warped inside the spaceship of the very game he had designed. Soon after, Blood is forced to go into hyperspace
mode and, due to an incident, gets accidentally cloned 30 times. For 800 years, Blood tracks down every clone, as each one took a portion of his vital fluid. When the game begins, Blood successfully disintegrated 25 clones but he needs to kill the last five clones who turned out to be the most difficult to track down or he will lose his last connections with the human species.
The objective of the game is to track down and disintegrate five clones (referred to as Duplicates or Numbers depending on the version of the game) of Captain Blood. To find them, the player must speak to various aliens and gain their trust. Communication with aliens occurs via an icon-based interface known as UPCOM. This consists of around 150 icons, each representing a different concept. As each alien race discovered speaks its own language and reacts differently, the player must learn to negotiate using these UPCOM concepts in a style that suits the races.
Other unique facets of the game play of Captain Blood included changes in the player interface as the game progressed; as time wore on, the character's health deteriorated. This was represented in-game via an increasing amount of shaking of the mouse cursor, making the game more and more difficult to control. Disintegrating a clone would temporarily relieve the symptoms.
The player starts the game at the bridge of a biological ship
, the Ark. The ship begins in the vicinity of one of four predetermined planets, each inhabited by a single alien. To make contact with an alien, the player launches an OORXX - a biological probe - to the planet's surface. The player must successfully navigate the probe over a fractal landscape, eventually reaching the alien at the end of a valley. The UPCOM interface then appears so that the player may talk to the alien and find out more information - most importantly, the coordinates of other inhabited planets.
The Ark also has the capability to hyperspace to other planets, scan planets for defences, destroy planets and teleport aliens to an area known as the Fridgitorium, for disintegration or transportation to another planet. An alien can only be teleported to the Ark after it has consented to do so.
, and was later released on the C64
, Macintosh, Amiga, Apple IIGS, PC and many 8-bit platforms, including the ZX Spectrum
. The ST version is the only version that includes the full set of alien language sounds.
in 1994 and later by Big Bug Bang in 1997, a French-only release.
gave the game a positive review for its unusual concept, execution, and graphics.
INFO Magazine -- January/February 1989 -- gave the game 5 out of 5 stars, remarking: "Captain Blood is a marvelously alien experience. The graphics & sound are first rate.
The more we played, the more we wanted to continue playing, if only to meet more aliens. There is a fully realized universe here that's easy to become completely immersed in."
ERE Informatique
ERE Informatique was one of the first French video game companies, founded in 1981 by Philippe Ulrich and Emmanuel Viau. The company hired freelance game programmers that received royalties for their creations. Initially, the company published titles for the Amstrad CPC, Spectrum and Oric home...
(soon relabeled with their short-lived Exxos label) and released by Infogrames
Infogrames
Infogrames Entertainment SA was an international French holding company headquartered in Paris, France. It was the owner of Atari, Inc., headquartered in New York City, U.S. and Atari Europe. It was founded in 1983 by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet using the proceeds from an introductory...
. It was later re-released in the UK by Players Premier Software. The title tune is a stripped down version of "Ethnicolor" by Jean Michel Jarre
Jean Michel Jarre
Jean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...
.
Development
Captain Blood was developed jointly by Didier Bouchon and Philippe Ulrich, both contributing design and scenario, and Bouchon graphics and programming for the Atari STAtari 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...
version. Bouchon originally designed covers for ERE informatique's Gazoline Software label, but he learned to program in assembler for 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...
after Ulrich provided him with one. Bouchon then created fractal
Fractal
A fractal has been defined as "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is a reduced-size copy of the whole," a property called self-similarity...
-generated realtime graphics that inspired both to do a sci-fi inspired video game.
After ERE
ERE Informatique
ERE Informatique was one of the first French video game companies, founded in 1981 by Philippe Ulrich and Emmanuel Viau. The company hired freelance game programmers that received royalties for their creations. Initially, the company published titles for the Amstrad CPC, Spectrum and Oric home...
's absorption by Infogrames
Infogrames
Infogrames Entertainment SA was an international French holding company headquartered in Paris, France. It was the owner of Atari, Inc., headquartered in New York City, U.S. and Atari Europe. It was founded in 1983 by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet using the proceeds from an introductory...
in summer of 1987 (partly justified by preliminary versions of Captain Blood), Ulrich and Bouchon isolated themselves in the Landes
Landes forest
The Landes forest or the Landes of Gascony , in the historic Gascony region of southwestern France now known as Aquitaine, is the largest maritime-pine forest in Europe...
in order to have the game ready for Christmas. Many adaptations for both 16-bit and 8-bit machines were developed in successive months, although they were straight ports of the original 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...
version in graphics, sound effects or music, and therefore follow the limitations of that machine.
Gameplay
The titular character of the game is a 1980s video game designer, Bob Morlock, who had picked "Captain Blood" as a nickname in tribute to the film starring Errol Flynn of the same name. Morlock develops a new video game about aliensExtraterrestrial life in popular culture
In popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
and space travel. While testing for the first time his new project, he becomes warped inside the spaceship of the very game he had designed. Soon after, Blood is forced to go into hyperspace
Hyperspace (science fiction)
Hyperspace is a plot device sometimes used in science fiction. It is typically described as an alternative region of space co-existing with our own universe which may be entered using an energy field or other device...
mode and, due to an incident, gets accidentally cloned 30 times. For 800 years, Blood tracks down every clone, as each one took a portion of his vital fluid. When the game begins, Blood successfully disintegrated 25 clones but he needs to kill the last five clones who turned out to be the most difficult to track down or he will lose his last connections with the human species.
The objective of the game is to track down and disintegrate five clones (referred to as Duplicates or Numbers depending on the version of the game) of Captain Blood. To find them, the player must speak to various aliens and gain their trust. Communication with aliens occurs via an icon-based interface known as UPCOM. This consists of around 150 icons, each representing a different concept. As each alien race discovered speaks its own language and reacts differently, the player must learn to negotiate using these UPCOM concepts in a style that suits the races.
Other unique facets of the game play of Captain Blood included changes in the player interface as the game progressed; as time wore on, the character's health deteriorated. This was represented in-game via an increasing amount of shaking of the mouse cursor, making the game more and more difficult to control. Disintegrating a clone would temporarily relieve the symptoms.
The player starts the game at the bridge of a biological ship
Bioship
A bioship is a type of spacecraft or starship described in science fiction. Bioships differ from other types of spacecraft in that they are composed, either predominantly or totally, of biological components, rather than being constructed from manufactured materials...
, the Ark. The ship begins in the vicinity of one of four predetermined planets, each inhabited by a single alien. To make contact with an alien, the player launches an OORXX - a biological probe - to the planet's surface. The player must successfully navigate the probe over a fractal landscape, eventually reaching the alien at the end of a valley. The UPCOM interface then appears so that the player may talk to the alien and find out more information - most importantly, the coordinates of other inhabited planets.
The Ark also has the capability to hyperspace to other planets, scan planets for defences, destroy planets and teleport aliens to an area known as the Fridgitorium, for disintegration or transportation to another planet. An alien can only be teleported to the Ark after it has consented to do so.
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Audio clips
Versions
The game was first released on the Atari STAtari 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 was later released on the C64
C64
C64 or C-64 may refer to :* Commodore 64, the most successful home computer of the 1980s* Epson Stylus C64, an Inkjet Printer from Epson* C-64 , a road in the United States of America* C-64 Norseman, an aircraft...
, Macintosh, Amiga, Apple IIGS, PC and many 8-bit platforms, including the 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...
. The ST version is the only version that includes the full set of alien language sounds.
Sequels
It was followed by the sequel Commander BloodCommander Blood
Commander Blood is a science fiction adventure game that was developed by Cryo Interactive, a French company that also created Captain Blood . Designed to run on DOS, Commander Blood was released in 1994...
in 1994 and later by Big Bug Bang in 1997, a French-only release.
Reception
Computer Gaming WorldComputer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
gave the game a positive review for its unusual concept, execution, and graphics.
INFO Magazine -- January/February 1989 -- gave the game 5 out of 5 stars, remarking: "Captain Blood is a marvelously alien experience. The graphics & sound are first rate.
The more we played, the more we wanted to continue playing, if only to meet more aliens. There is a fully realized universe here that's easy to become completely immersed in."
External links
- ARGanoid's Captain Blood Worship Page
- Oldskool.org Captain Blood Shrine (includes Captain Blood novella)
- classicamiga.com features Amiga release (includes manuals, guides, trivia, screenshots, boxart, video and more)
- Video of one of the five Duplicates
- Captain Blood download at the Macintosh Garden
- Captain Blood on Mobygames.com