Technician Ted, also known as The Chip Factory: Featuring Technician Ted, is a platform

Platform game

A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...

 computer game for the Amstrad CPC

Amstrad CPC

The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...

 and 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...

 home computers that was published in 1984 by Hewson Consultants

Hewson Consultants

Hewson Consultants were one of the smaller software companies which produced games for home computers in the mid 1980s. They had a reputation for high quality games which continually pushed the boundaries of what the computers were capable of and can be compared favourably with other...

.

It was followed-up by a sequel, Costa Capers, in 1985. A 128K special edition (called Technician Ted: The Megamix - see below) was published in 1986.

Plot

Technician Ted is an enthusiastic young computer hacker who works at the chip factory. He begins his work every day at 8.30am and must complete 21 tasks before clocking-off at 5.00pm. Unfortunately, his boss hasn't told him what the tasks are or where they are located. Ted speaks to his mate who tells him that his first job is to get to his desk and from there he must make his way to the "Silicon Slice Store".

Gameplay

Technician Ted is a flick-screen platform game made up of many different named screens. On many of these screens there are two boxes which must be touched in the correct order (the first one will be flashing) in order to complete the task. Some of these tasks must be completed within a time-limit making it important for the player to guide Ted from one box to the other as quickly as possible.

As well as the tasks, Ted must avoid the various monsters that lurk in the factory and make sure he completes all of his tasks within the game's time limit so he can finish his day.

The game was primarily notable at the time for the extreme accuracy of its collision detection, in contrast with other similar games. The in-game music was an adaptation of the Radetzky March

Radetzky March

Radetzky March, Op. 228, is a march composed by Johann Strauss Sr. in 1848. It was dedicated to the Austrian Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, and became quite a popular march among soldiers....

 by Johann Strauss Sr.

The Spectrum version featured a sprite-animated loading screen with a countdown timer, a significant technical achievement at the time.

Critical response

When reviewed in Crash magazine the game scored an Overall 96%. When Technician Ted was reviewed by Your Sinclair

Your Sinclair

Your Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated, was a British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum.-History:...

magazine in 1985 it was awarded 6/10 although a review of the re-released game by the same magazine in 1989 awarded it 8/10. In 1992, it was placed at number 84 in the Your Sinclair official top 100.

Technician Ted - The Megamix

In 1986, Hewson published a special version of the game exclusively for 128K ZX Spectrums called Technician Ted - The Megamix. As well as featuring 100 extra rooms, this version also has three-channel chip music and the tasks have been numbered in order to make the order they are to be done in easier to understand.