Raptor: Call of the Shadows
Encyclopedia
Raptor: Call of the Shadows (often Raptor for short) is a 2D raster graphics
vertical scrolling shoot 'em up
single player
game for the x86 PC
originally written for MS-DOS
, by Cygnus Studios (which has since changed its name to Mountain King Studios
). It was published by Apogee Software
on April 1, 1994.
flying the super-tech Raptor, is sent on interplanetary missions to knock off top competitors of MegaCorps."
The Raptor jet may be loosely based on the Eurofighter Typhoon
, as it has a similar twin-engine and canard
-delta wing
configuration, with the cockpit of the F-16 Falcon, and the twin tail
of the F-18 Hornet.
The game is divided into three "sectors": Bravo Sector, Tango Sector, and Outer Regions, all of which have nine sub-missions called "waves", making for a total of 27 levels (9 per sector). The full version of Raptor allows players to start out in any of the three campaigns, though playing them in order helps the player to more easily accumulate money for weapon and shield upgrades.
Once a player beats a Sector, they can replay it with all the money and weapons that they have accumulated.
games, enemies must be shot and destroyed. While flying enemies are the most numerous, many ground targets (buildings, vehicles, turrets) can be destroyed as well. Bosses appear at the end of each wave or even halfway through the later, more difficult waves.
For each target destroyed the player earns credits. The amount of credits earned per enemy destroyed is usually proportional to how tough or dangerous it is, with some of them dropping additional credit bonuses.
The Raptor jet is particularly durable compared to player-controlled craft of other scrolling shooters which can the destroyed with a few hits. However, there are no "lives" so the game is over when the player dies, although the player can reload a recently saved game.
There are two major categories of weapons: the first type is always active (all carried weapons of this type will always fire simultaneously whenever player shoots), and the second type is selectable. During gameplay, when firing, only the currently selected selectable weapon will fire, though the currently selected weapon can be dynamically switched to deal with the appropriate situation. Some selectable weapons can only hit airborne targets, others only ground targets, while a few can hit both.
Some of the more unique weapons in Raptor, compared to other shoot 'em ups, are the two types of selectable auto-tracking turrets. Other notable weapons are three selectable cannons with expensive prices, that fire continous instant beams capable of penetrating and destroying multiple targets in one shot.
In its own category the megabomb, a one-time use weapon which destroys everything on the screen including enemy projectiles, except for the toughest enemies (such as bosses) in which case it will damage them. It can either be picked up or purchased; a maximum of 5 megabombs can be carried at any given time.
The Raptor jet is protected by 100 points of regular shielding, which regenerate extremely slowly, when the player isn't firing (except in the Elite difficulty). There is also another kind of shields, called phase shields, which add another 100 points of shielding. Unlike regular shielding, phase shields do not recharge (unless the player collects a regular shield power up). Up to 5 layers of Phase Shields can be purchased in the shop. However it is possible to go beyond 5 layers, if Phase Shield powerups are picked up in-battle.
Last but not least the player can purchase a single utility, the Ion Scanner to measure the energy and damage meter of any boss confronted.
#208 by Sandy Petersen
in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen gave the game 4 out of 5 stars.
Gametrailers.com and ScrewAttack have labeled it as one of their "Top Ten 2-D Shooters."
Raptor had the best graphics of any scrolling shooter during the time of release, and after a decade, the graphics are still considered excellent.
Raptor is noted for being particularly difficult to start out. Although the player can skip right to the Tango Sector and Outer Regions before completing the Bravo Sector, this is almost impossible in practice, particularly since the player needs a fully armed ship in order to survive the levels of the Outer Regions.
Some consider Raptor very repetitive for its time when compared to shoot 'em ups for arcades. The craft's firepower cannot be upgraded gradually, the best the player can do is pickup or buy cheaper weapons and hope to save up for the expensive ones. Since selling a weapon will only earn back half of its credits, this means that many players try to hold out until they can afford the most expensive weapons, instead of buying medium weapons as a stopgap.
Enemies are destroyed purely for money, and they will not release powerups that make the player more powerful. Flying enemies only move in fixed predictable patterns - they will not react or home in on the player's moves (although turrets will). There are no obstacles to avoid (except the enemy ships themselves). The Raptor fighter jet can endure a lot of damage if the player buys Phase Shields, but there are no lives that can be earned - either via points or bought - once the player dies it is over unless they have saved the game. There is no multiplayer support. The display is fixed to only scrolling vertically, never horizontally (as in Axelay
for the SNES console).
If the game is started when the computer's internal clock matches one of several predetermined dates (for instance, December 25, one of the programmers' birthdays, etc.) additional objects or enemies will appear on each stage which take the form of cows, monkeys, lizards, etc. This also changes the opening title screen and sound effects.
One can also activate these additional enemies by pressing all the buttons that appear at the bottom of the loading screen (to do this using the keyboard, not the mouse, press the 'S' key, then the '1', '2', and '3' keys at the episode selection screen).
version available for the DOS and Windows ports of this game which includes the first episode, the Bravo Sector.
The full version can still be bought online
today, though Apogee sells only the DOS version while Mountain King Studios sells only the Windows version (see below). A download of the full version will be provided, as Raptor is no longer available for purchase as a standalone physical product.
There was also at one point a Linux
version offered for sale.
program. The Windows version of Raptor features slightly improved graphics and audio, alongside a number of other very minor changes. The game itself remains the same between both versions, and many of the glitches and secrets are retained. However the Windows version is plagued by several issues with the controls which do not exist in the MS-DOS version. When using the keyboard in the Windows version, the player ship's mobility is restricted to half of its normal speed, which makes gameplay much more difficult. If the player chooses to use the mouse to control his ship, he is instead unable to move to the extreme right side of the screen.
, is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 32 and 64 bit. It contains the game music as WAV files, digitized from the original MIDI soundtrack. The game allows you to play in several different resolutions (640*400, 960*600 and 1280*800). The nostalgics can still play with the original rendering, but filtered graphics are also available. Graphics may only be displayed in multiples of the original 320x200 DOS resolution, and the graphics essentially remain untouched. There is no support for varying aspect ratios.
Raster graphics
In computer graphics, a raster graphics image, or bitmap, is a data structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of color, viewable via a monitor, paper, or other display medium...
vertical scrolling shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
single player
Single player
A Single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. "Single-player game" usually implies a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" usually refers to a game mode for a single player, where...
game for the x86 PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
originally written for 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...
, by Cygnus Studios (which has since changed its name to Mountain King Studios
Mountain King Studios
Mountain King Studios is a computer game company located in Chicago, IL. It was founded by game programmer/game designer Scott Host.- Games :*Galactix...
). It was published by Apogee Software
3D Realms
3D Realms is a current video game publisher and former video game developer based in Garland, Texas, United States, established in 1987...
on April 1, 1994.
Plot
The story of the game indicates that "In the future a mercenaryFlying Tigers
The 1st American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force in 1941–1942, famously nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was composed of pilots from the United States Army , Navy , and Marine Corps , recruited under presidential sanction and commanded by Claire Lee Chennault. The ground crew and headquarters...
flying the super-tech Raptor, is sent on interplanetary missions to knock off top competitors of MegaCorps."
The Raptor jet may be loosely based on the Eurofighter Typhoon
Eurofighter Typhoon
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine, canard-delta wing, multirole combat aircraft, designed and built by a consortium of three companies: EADS, Alenia Aeronautica and BAE Systems; working through a holding company, Eurofighter GmbH, which was formed in 1986...
, as it has a similar twin-engine and canard
Canard (aeronautics)
In aeronautics, canard is an airframe configuration of fixed-wing aircraft in which the forward surface is smaller than the rearward, the former being known as the "canard", while the latter is the main wing...
-delta wing
Delta wing
The delta wing is a wing planform in the form of a triangle. It is named for its similarity in shape to the Greek uppercase letter delta .-Delta-shaped stabilizers:...
configuration, with the cockpit of the F-16 Falcon, and the twin tail
Twin tail
A twin tail is a specific type of vertical stabilizer arrangement found on the empennage of some aircraft. Two vertical stabilizers — often smaller on their own than a single conventional tail would be — are mounted at the outside of the aircraft's horizontal stabilizer...
of the F-18 Hornet.
Episodes
Once a player beats a Sector, they can replay it with all the money and weapons that they have accumulated.
Enemies and credits
As in all shoot 'em upShoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
games, enemies must be shot and destroyed. While flying enemies are the most numerous, many ground targets (buildings, vehicles, turrets) can be destroyed as well. Bosses appear at the end of each wave or even halfway through the later, more difficult waves.
For each target destroyed the player earns credits. The amount of credits earned per enemy destroyed is usually proportional to how tough or dangerous it is, with some of them dropping additional credit bonuses.
The Raptor jet is particularly durable compared to player-controlled craft of other scrolling shooters which can the destroyed with a few hits. However, there are no "lives" so the game is over when the player dies, although the player can reload a recently saved game.
Weapons and shields
The player starts out with only the default machine guns, and will eventually be able to buy or collect more weapons using a credit and purchase system menu before starting or after finishing a wave.There are two major categories of weapons: the first type is always active (all carried weapons of this type will always fire simultaneously whenever player shoots), and the second type is selectable. During gameplay, when firing, only the currently selected selectable weapon will fire, though the currently selected weapon can be dynamically switched to deal with the appropriate situation. Some selectable weapons can only hit airborne targets, others only ground targets, while a few can hit both.
Some of the more unique weapons in Raptor, compared to other shoot 'em ups, are the two types of selectable auto-tracking turrets. Other notable weapons are three selectable cannons with expensive prices, that fire continous instant beams capable of penetrating and destroying multiple targets in one shot.
In its own category the megabomb, a one-time use weapon which destroys everything on the screen including enemy projectiles, except for the toughest enemies (such as bosses) in which case it will damage them. It can either be picked up or purchased; a maximum of 5 megabombs can be carried at any given time.
The Raptor jet is protected by 100 points of regular shielding, which regenerate extremely slowly, when the player isn't firing (except in the Elite difficulty). There is also another kind of shields, called phase shields, which add another 100 points of shielding. Unlike regular shielding, phase shields do not recharge (unless the player collects a regular shield power up). Up to 5 layers of Phase Shields can be purchased in the shop. However it is possible to go beyond 5 layers, if Phase Shield powerups are picked up in-battle.
Last but not least the player can purchase a single utility, the Ion Scanner to measure the energy and damage meter of any boss confronted.
Reception
The game was reviewed in 1994 in DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#208 by Sandy Petersen
Sandy Petersen
Carl Sanford Joslyn Petersen is a game designer.Petersen was born in St. Louis, Missouri and attended University of California, Berkeley, majoring in zoology....
in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen gave the game 4 out of 5 stars.
Gametrailers.com and ScrewAttack have labeled it as one of their "Top Ten 2-D Shooters."
Raptor had the best graphics of any scrolling shooter during the time of release, and after a decade, the graphics are still considered excellent.
Raptor is noted for being particularly difficult to start out. Although the player can skip right to the Tango Sector and Outer Regions before completing the Bravo Sector, this is almost impossible in practice, particularly since the player needs a fully armed ship in order to survive the levels of the Outer Regions.
Some consider Raptor very repetitive for its time when compared to shoot 'em ups for arcades. The craft's firepower cannot be upgraded gradually, the best the player can do is pickup or buy cheaper weapons and hope to save up for the expensive ones. Since selling a weapon will only earn back half of its credits, this means that many players try to hold out until they can afford the most expensive weapons, instead of buying medium weapons as a stopgap.
Enemies are destroyed purely for money, and they will not release powerups that make the player more powerful. Flying enemies only move in fixed predictable patterns - they will not react or home in on the player's moves (although turrets will). There are no obstacles to avoid (except the enemy ships themselves). The Raptor fighter jet can endure a lot of damage if the player buys Phase Shields, but there are no lives that can be earned - either via points or bought - once the player dies it is over unless they have saved the game. There is no multiplayer support. The display is fixed to only scrolling vertically, never horizontally (as in Axelay
Axelay
Axelay is a scrolling shooter video game developed by Konami of Japan for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released on September 11, 1992 in Japan, later in that month in North America, and the following year in Europe...
for the SNES console).
Miscellaneous
A glitch/oversight in the game causes the player to keep weapons collected in a level even if the level is aborted. Money accumulated during the level is removed as it should. This means that a player can start a mission, pick up a weapon power-up, abort the mission and sell the weapon. This allows the player to gain money without having to finish any levels. It is possible to use this method to repeatedly accumulate phase shields beyond the purchase limit of five.If the game is started when the computer's internal clock matches one of several predetermined dates (for instance, December 25, one of the programmers' birthdays, etc.) additional objects or enemies will appear on each stage which take the form of cows, monkeys, lizards, etc. This also changes the opening title screen and sound effects.
One can also activate these additional enemies by pressing all the buttons that appear at the bottom of the loading screen (to do this using the keyboard, not the mouse, press the 'S' key, then the '1', '2', and '3' keys at the episode selection screen).
Ports
There is a sharewareShareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
version available for the DOS and Windows ports of this game which includes the first episode, the Bravo Sector.
The full version can still be bought online
ONLINE
ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....
today, though Apogee sells only the DOS version while Mountain King Studios sells only the Windows version (see below). A download of the full version will be provided, as Raptor is no longer available for purchase as a standalone physical product.
There was also at one point a Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
version offered for sale.
Differences between the MS-DOS and Windows versions
In 1999, Mountain King Studios re-released Raptor as a native WindowsMicrosoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
program. The Windows version of Raptor features slightly improved graphics and audio, alongside a number of other very minor changes. The game itself remains the same between both versions, and many of the glitches and secrets are retained. However the Windows version is plagued by several issues with the controls which do not exist in the MS-DOS version. When using the keyboard in the Windows version, the player ship's mobility is restricted to half of its normal speed, which makes gameplay much more difficult. If the player chooses to use the mouse to control his ship, he is instead unable to move to the extreme right side of the screen.
DotEmu 2010 Edition
This version of the game, ported by DotEmuDotEmu
DotEmu is a French video game company created in 2007 by Xavier Liard and Romain Tisserand, with its headquarters in France. This company initially dedicated to B2B adaptation and emulation of old games and now provides a B2C distribution service on dotemu.com.Distribution service: Users can...
, is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 32 and 64 bit. It contains the game music as WAV files, digitized from the original MIDI soundtrack. The game allows you to play in several different resolutions (640*400, 960*600 and 1280*800). The nostalgics can still play with the original rendering, but filtered graphics are also available. Graphics may only be displayed in multiples of the original 320x200 DOS resolution, and the graphics essentially remain untouched. There is no support for varying aspect ratios.
iPhone
Raptor was released for iPhone on December 20, 2010 by BlitWise Productions. It has all the same features as the MS-DOS and Windows versions. The controls are different, using your finger to guide the ship around the screen or using the Accelerometer tilt function to guide the ship. Switching weapons or using the megabomb requires you to tap the icon on the upper corners of the iPhone.Mac App Store
Raptor was released on Mac App Store on January 19, 2011 by DotEmu. It is a port of the 2010 Edition for Windows and boasts same features.See also
- TyrianTyrian (computer game)Tyrian is a scrolling shooter computer game developed by World Tree Games Productions and published in 1995 by Epic MegaGames.The game was officially released as freeware in 2004, and the graphics have been made available under an open license in April 2007.Tyrian was programmed by Jason Emery,...
- StargunnerStargunnerStargunner is a horizontal scrolling shooter computer game developed by Apogee Software. It was released on November 19, 1996, and it has the distinction of being the last title sold under the Apogee brand name.-Overview:...
- AxelayAxelayAxelay is a scrolling shooter video game developed by Konami of Japan for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released on September 11, 1992 in Japan, later in that month in North America, and the following year in Europe...
- Xenon 2
- DemonstarDemonstarDemonstar is a shareware computer game developed by Mountain King Studios, based on their earlier game Raptor: Call of the Shadows. It is a top-down vertical scrolling shooter game with an outer space theme. The game shares many similarities with the Raiden series...
External links
- Raptor Call of the Shadows 2010 Edition page
- 3D Realms Raptor page
- Mountain King Studios Raptor page
- GameFAQs
- Raptor for the iPhone page
- Raptor : Call of the Shadows 2010 Edition on DotEmuDotEmuDotEmu is a French video game company created in 2007 by Xavier Liard and Romain Tisserand, with its headquarters in France. This company initially dedicated to B2B adaptation and emulation of old games and now provides a B2C distribution service on dotemu.com.Distribution service: Users can...