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Worms (1995 video game)
Encyclopedia
Worms is an artillery video game developed by Team17
and released in . It is the first game in the Worms series of video games and was initially only available for the Amiga
. Later it was ported
to other platforms.
Worms is a turn based game where a player controls a team of worms against other teams of worms that are controlled by a computer or human opponent. The aim is to use various weapons to kill the worms on the other teams and have the last surviving worm(s).
Worms is a turn based artillery game, similar to other early games in the genre such as Scorched Earth
. The game is set on a two-dimensional field. The players control a team of worms, each consisting of four members. The objective is to kill every member of the opposing team(s) within a set time limit per round. Each turn, which lasts from 45 to 100 seconds, a player may move a selected worm and use one or more of the available weapons and tools.
The weapons include simple firearms like the shotgun
and Uzi, alongside a variety of heavy weapons such as the bazooka (the default selection), cluster grenades and airstrikes. The game also includes a number of 'secret' weapons (available through cheat codes on options screens or 'weapon drops' during the game) such as the Banana Bomb and exploding sheep, for which the series has become famous.
Also available are various tools such as the 'girders' - primarily used to add protection - as well as the 'drill', 'blowtorch' and 'ninja rope', which are primarily available for greater mobility across the playing field.
programming competition run by the Amiga Format
magazine, a cut-down version of the programming language
having been covermounted previously. The game at this stage was called Total Wormage (possibly in reference to Total Carnage
) and it did not win the competition. Davidson sent the game to several publishers with no success. He then took the game to the European Computer Trade Show
, where he met with Mark Foreman - Head Games Buyer at GEM Distribution. Mark suggested to Andy that he should speak to Ocean/Team17 as they would be an ideal partner - they also had a stand at the show. Team17 made an offer on-the-spot to develop and publish the game.
During the development of Worms 2, Andy Davidson wrote Worms - The Director's Cut, a special edition produced exclusively for the Amiga. This was, to his eyes, the pinnacle of the series. Featuring weapons not seen in any Worms game before, it looks like an enhanced version of the original game. Only 5000 copies were ever sold. It was also the last version released for the Commodore Amiga platform from which the game originated.
The references to the developers' home county, Yorkshire
, is visible, with a soundbank named "Tykes", which is a Yorkshire accent, and in the "Hell" level found in the single player mission mode, a sign with "Welcome to Ossett
! Ha! ha! ha!" written on it.
of Worms for the Xbox 360 has since been released to the PS3, in April 2009, and on the iPhone
on July 11, 2009. Two direct additions to Worms were developed before Worms 2
was released.
's portable game console the Virtual Boy
. The game was to be published by Ocean, but was canceled only weeks into development as a result of Nintendo's discontinuation of the console.
Team17
Team17 Software Ltd. is a video game company best known for developing the Worms series of games , but it has made many other games, notably Superfrog and the Alien Breed series. Most of its early releases were on the Amiga home computer system and featured trademark smooth scrolling, and detailed...
and released in . It is the first game in the Worms series of video games and was initially only available for the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
. Later it was ported
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to other platforms.
Worms is a turn based game where a player controls a team of worms against other teams of worms that are controlled by a computer or human opponent. The aim is to use various weapons to kill the worms on the other teams and have the last surviving worm(s).
Gameplay
Scorched Earth (computer game)
Scorched Earth is a popular shareware artillery video game, which is a subgenre of strategy game. The game was developed in the DOS era, originally written by Wendell Hicken , in which tanks do turn-based battle in two-dimensional terrain, with each player adjusting the angle and power of their...
. The game is set on a two-dimensional field. The players control a team of worms, each consisting of four members. The objective is to kill every member of the opposing team(s) within a set time limit per round. Each turn, which lasts from 45 to 100 seconds, a player may move a selected worm and use one or more of the available weapons and tools.
The weapons include simple firearms like the shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
and Uzi, alongside a variety of heavy weapons such as the bazooka (the default selection), cluster grenades and airstrikes. The game also includes a number of 'secret' weapons (available through cheat codes on options screens or 'weapon drops' during the game) such as the Banana Bomb and exploding sheep, for which the series has become famous.
Also available are various tools such as the 'girders' - primarily used to add protection - as well as the 'drill', 'blowtorch' and 'ninja rope', which are primarily available for greater mobility across the playing field.
Development
The game was originally created by Andy Davidson as an entry for a Blitz BASICBlitz BASIC
Blitz BASIC refers to the programming language dialect that was interpreted by the first Blitz compilers, devised by New Zealand-based developer Mark Sibly. Being derived from BASIC, Blitz syntax was designed to be easy to pick-up for beginners first learning to program...
programming competition run by the Amiga Format
Amiga Format
Amiga Format was a British computer magazine for Amiga computers, published by Future Publishing. The magazine lasted 136 issues from 1989 to 2000. The magazine was formed when, in the wake of selling ACE to EMAP, Future split the dual-format title ST/Amiga Format into two separate publications...
magazine, a cut-down version of the programming language
Programming language
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
having been covermounted previously. The game at this stage was called Total Wormage (possibly in reference to Total Carnage
Total Carnage
Total Carnage is an arcade shooter, developed by Mark Turmell for Midway in 1991. The game was released for the SNES in 1993 and the Amiga CD32, Amiga, and DOS in 1994. Later the game was re-released in 2004, as part of Midway Arcade Treasures 2 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube...
) and it did not win the competition. Davidson sent the game to several publishers with no success. He then took the game to the European Computer Trade Show
European Computer Trade Show
The European Computer Trade Show, commonly known as ECTS, was an annual trade show for the European computer and video game industry, which first ran in 1988, with the last event occurring in 2004....
, where he met with Mark Foreman - Head Games Buyer at GEM Distribution. Mark suggested to Andy that he should speak to Ocean/Team17 as they would be an ideal partner - they also had a stand at the show. Team17 made an offer on-the-spot to develop and publish the game.
The references to the developers' home county, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, is visible, with a soundbank named "Tykes", which is a Yorkshire accent, and in the "Hell" level found in the single player mission mode, a sign with "Welcome to Ossett
Ossett
Ossett is a market town within the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on junction 40 of the M1 motorway, half-way between Dewsbury, to the west, and Wakefield, to the east. In the 2001 census, it was classified as part of the West Yorkshire...
! Ha! ha! ha!" written on it.
Character, level and sound design
The game's graphics and sound design is primarily 'cartoon-like' (though less so than the later games in the series). Levels designs are randomly generated by the use of alpha-numeric strings. The object and landscape sets used to generate the field are arranged into 'themes' including forests, martian landscapes, beaches and 'hell'.Legacy
Worms is the first in the Worms series of games. A remakeWorms (2007 video game)
Worms is a turn-based, artillery game developed by Team17. It is available on, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and iPhone OS platforms and is one of the many installments of the Worms series created by Team17...
of Worms for the Xbox 360 has since been released to the PS3, in April 2009, and on the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
on July 11, 2009. Two direct additions to Worms were developed before Worms 2
Worms 2
Worms 2 is an artillery game, which is a subgenre of strategy game developed by Team17 as part of the Worms series. The game was released in 1997...
was released.
- Worms Reinforcements is an expansion pack for Worms, which was later amalgamated with the original game to create Worms and Reinforcements United (a.k.a Worms United or Worms Utd.) the same year. Released only for the PCPersonal computerA 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...
, it added a single player campaign and the ability to add custom levels and soundpacks (which was already available for the AmigaAmigaThe Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
version). It also included an introductory FMV.
- Worms: The Director's CutWorms: The Director's CutWorms: The Director's Cut is a sequel to Worms, an artillery game developed by Team17 and published by Ocean Software. It was programmed by Andy Davidson and released in 1997 for the Amiga platform only....
is a sequel to Worms, available only on the Amiga. It is largely built upon the original Amiga game engine with various gameplay enhancement and additions, as well as graphical improvements and fixes.
Virtual Boy
In 1995, Team 17 began development on a port of Worms to NintendoNintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
's portable game console the Virtual Boy
Virtual Boy
The was a video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was the first video game console that was supposed to be capable of displaying "true 3D graphics" out of the box. Whereas most video games use monocular cues to achieve the illusion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional...
. The game was to be published by Ocean, but was canceled only weeks into development as a result of Nintendo's discontinuation of the console.