Scarab of Ra
Encyclopedia
Scarab of Ra is a Mac OS
shareware
computer game written in 1987 by Rick Holzgrafe and released by Semicolon Software. It is an adventure
set within an Egyptian pyramid
.
. The player, a lowly archaeology
student, decides to learn its secrets and tell of its wonders. After securing food and a lantern on short notice, the player enters the pyramid with hopes of finding additional equipment abandoned by earlier expeditions.
game. Each new game is randomized, and the player can only save by quitting. Death is frequent and quick, forcing players to make the most of their skills and careful use of all items they come across. Many items have several uses that the player must either discover through experimentation or use of an in-game hint system.
Levels are square mazes that grow larger as the player descends, simulating the design of a pyramid. The first level is 3x3, totalling 9 squares. Each succeeding level is one step larger in each dimension (so the next level is 4x4 steps, for a total of 16 squares, and so on). A key on each must be found to unlock the next level. Ascension is impossible, which can strand players if an important item is left behind.
The pyramid also contains traps, which can harm the player in various ways, and animals, including cobras, lionesses, monkeys, and a mummy
, which appears only to players who carry the Scarab of Ra. Only the mummy can be destroyed; the game's author notes that violence is distasteful, but "the mummy was dead anyway."
Movement is turn-based, with a speed setting that alters how many moves other characters can make after the player acts. Speeds range from 1 (slowest) to 10 (fastest), with a map automatically drawn at speeds 5 and below. The map can be accessed and marked at any point, and is an invaluable tool as the levels become larger and more involved. Traveling at high speeds consumes less food and oil, but the player may blunder into danger and movements will not be recorded on the map if over speed 5.
When the player wins or quits, his or her character attains a humorous rank based on "prestige points" accrued during the game.
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
shareware
Shareware
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...
computer game written in 1987 by Rick Holzgrafe and released by Semicolon Software. It is an adventure
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
set within an Egyptian pyramid
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
.
Story
A sandstorm has uncovered the Great Pyramid of RaRa
Ra is the ancient Egyptian sun god. By the Fifth Dynasty he had become a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the mid-day sun...
. The player, a lowly archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
student, decides to learn its secrets and tell of its wonders. After securing food and a lantern on short notice, the player enters the pyramid with hopes of finding additional equipment abandoned by earlier expeditions.
Interface
The game is rendered in black-and-white from a first person perspective; the rendering engine only allows grid-based, frame-by-frame movement. The game is played via a point-and-click, icon-driven interface in combination with keyboard shortcuts.Gameplay
Gameplay is that of a simplified roguelikeRoguelike
The roguelike is a sub-genre of role-playing video games, characterized by randomization for replayability, permanent death, and turn-based movement. Most roguelikes feature ASCII graphics, with newer ones increasingly offering tile-based graphics. Games are typically dungeon crawls, with many...
game. Each new game is randomized, and the player can only save by quitting. Death is frequent and quick, forcing players to make the most of their skills and careful use of all items they come across. Many items have several uses that the player must either discover through experimentation or use of an in-game hint system.
Levels are square mazes that grow larger as the player descends, simulating the design of a pyramid. The first level is 3x3, totalling 9 squares. Each succeeding level is one step larger in each dimension (so the next level is 4x4 steps, for a total of 16 squares, and so on). A key on each must be found to unlock the next level. Ascension is impossible, which can strand players if an important item is left behind.
The pyramid also contains traps, which can harm the player in various ways, and animals, including cobras, lionesses, monkeys, and a mummy
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
, which appears only to players who carry the Scarab of Ra. Only the mummy can be destroyed; the game's author notes that violence is distasteful, but "the mummy was dead anyway."
Movement is turn-based, with a speed setting that alters how many moves other characters can make after the player acts. Speeds range from 1 (slowest) to 10 (fastest), with a map automatically drawn at speeds 5 and below. The map can be accessed and marked at any point, and is an invaluable tool as the levels become larger and more involved. Traveling at high speeds consumes less food and oil, but the player may blunder into danger and movements will not be recorded on the map if over speed 5.
Objective
In order to complete the game, one must gather three major treasures: the Crown, Staff, and Scarab of Ra. Once this task is accomplished, an exit is revealed, yet players can choose to continue playing if they wish to risk death and increase their scores. Once a player picks up the Scarab, mummy-like Guardians immediately began their hunt, delivering an electrifying shock upon contact.When the player wins or quits, his or her character attains a humorous rank based on "prestige points" accrued during the game.
Press
- "The game is graphically appealing because of its excellent design, its use of perspective, its detailed monsters, and its real hieroglyphics written on the walls." Rusel DeMaria, Macworld
- Selected as one of the "200 Best Macintosh Products" MacUser
- "It's a fascinating game -- you can spend many hours exploring the Great Pyramid of RA." Bob LeVitus, Marvelous Mac Games
- "It's a very challenging and fun game - well worth trying!" Roberta Dulay, SharewareJunkies.com
- "An impressive adventure. Anyone over the age of eight should find this game enjoyable." Bernard J. David & Maria L. Langer, The Mac Shareware Emporium
- "Aficionados of the genre will become engrossed." Gregory Wasson, ZiffNet
The game today
To play the old game on a current 2010 Macintosh, it is possible to download an emulator such as mini vMac, a power mac ROM.dsk which is available on Apple's older software page, a power mac operating system, also on the apple older software page, and the game.External links
- [ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/mac/games/scarab.sit Scarab of Ra] game binary as a StuffItStuffItStuffIt is a family of computer software utilities for archiving and compressing files on the Macintosh and Microsoft Windows platforms: it was originally produced for the Macintosh. An old version for Linux and Sun Solaris 2.7 or later is also available...
archive in FUNETFUNETFUNET is the Finnish University and Research Network, a backbone network providing Internet connections for Finnish universities and polytechnics as well as other research facilities. It is governed by the state-owned CSC – IT Center for Science Ltd. The FUNET project started in December 1983 and...
's FTP collection of old Macintosh games