80s/90s DOS minimalistic labyrinth game - very rare!

Goya88 · Post by **Goya88** » Fri May 04, 2018 8:01 am

Hi, first of all, sorry if my English is bad. I've been looking for this game for years without finding it, I think it's very rare. Who finds it is a damn genius!

It was very similar to pac-man (but NOT a clone). The main character is only a face, you control him by the mouse (like the mouse cursor). You are in a labyrinth and you have to avoid monsters; moreover, if you touch the labyrinth walls, you die. There's no pills to eat, you have only to escape from the labyrinth.

Graphic was very minimalistic, only a few colors on a black background, and every level (or world?) had different colors. I remember yellow and magenta levels, with a sort of strange oniric atmosphere (but maybe it was due to the fact that I was a child).

Other informations:

What platform did you play this game on?
DOS
What year(s) did you play this game in?
Early '90s
What was the genre of the game?
Arcade
Were the graphics 2D or 3D?
2D, minimalistic pixel art
What was the perspective of the game?
Bird's eye
What did the (main) character(s) look like?
Only a face.
What did the monsters (if any) look like?
Uuuh... bats?

Thanks!!

Rwolf · Post by **Rwolf** » Fri May 04, 2018 5:16 pm

Was it done with custom graphics, or perhaps with ASCII/ANSI-graphics like in Snipes?
(Snipes on higher levels had electric walls I think, but you had to shoot the baddies and their spawning generators. They were also faces, but smaller)

Turn-based or real-time movement of your character vs monsters?
Some games like the ZZT uses turn movement, so as you move, the monsters move too, else they stand still. That game used keyboard though.

Goya88 · Post by **Goya88** » Tue May 08, 2018 9:53 am

Thanks, but it was not Snipes. Was done with custom graphics.

Movements was in real time, controlled ONLY by mouse (or anyway I played it like that, I do not know if there was another way).
Two other things: walls killed you in every levels and, if my memories are correct, there was no scrolling: every level was in a single screen.

I think it's a really rare game!

Rwolf · Post by **Rwolf** » Wed May 09, 2018 1:09 pm

I haven't found it, but something slightly similar to your description; the 'Boa' game that came with some versions of MS Mouse.

In it your character is a small ANSI-character face, and the Boa-constrictor snake hunts you on the single screen, getting longer all the time, and the long snake body can look like a kind of maze to navigate.

You need to avoid the snakes body, or your character dies.

However there is only one screen to move around on, no levels, and you cannot win the game. (you only score points the longer you survive)

http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/micro ... luded-game

legaloneforever · Post by **legaloneforever** » Wed May 09, 2018 1:35 pm

It sad but that's the way life is sometimes. My dad Nguyen Binh Thuy died lonely. He had no one but his last dying words to me were "JESUS!" Although he did not get the honour he deserves I love my father to say he was a Christian at least. My mom is way over board on being kind. She takes me out on skirmishes to the place where the homeless people are so I could visit where I came from today. She even got a Coca-Cola classic for memories sake of the times when I was a kid in her mom and pop store of 7-Eleven. I used to slurp that Big Gulp up and get the ice slushies that were either Coca-Cola classic or some red or pynk colored. But I remember excitedly they had Coca-Cola classic slushies at 7-Eleven back then. Thank you to the only son of God who keeps my mom perfect everyday# hehe

Goya88 · Post by **Goya88** » Wed May 09, 2018 2:36 pm

Thanks, but was not Boa. Uff... I'm afraid I'll never find it again.

I made a drawing of the game as I remember it, I do not know what else to do.

[/img]

I have some doubt about the character and monster's look (the paint is based on the memories of a child), but that's the general look.

legaloneforever · Post by **legaloneforever** » Wed May 09, 2018 3:08 pm

Well I am not that good at programming but I can do PhotoShop! So here is the edited image to DOS specifics.

http://www.mediafire.com/?hjcwi09brrdmv

legaloneforever · Post by **legaloneforever** » Thu May 10, 2018 4:46 am

http://www.mediafire.com/?86k9zeaje9egd

Well hope you like it. Not what you want but what you need! You'll have to figure out the controls! I am busy programming and resting. hehe Thank my mom Huong Thi Vu for allowing this program to be released freeware.

Goya88 · Post by **Goya88** » Thu May 10, 2018 5:11 am

What is the meaning of all this?

Rwolf · Post by **Rwolf** » Thu May 10, 2018 5:19 am

Sorry, most threads get invaded by this nonsense. I guess it will go on until a proper spam filter can be applied. Don't feed the trolls...

Back to the topic: Do you remember if you started the game from DOS, or if you put in a floppy and booted the PC from it to run the game?

(e.g. was it a PC-booter program? At MobyGames they are sorted in a different list than programs depending on DOS to work.)

Goya88 · Post by **Goya88** » Thu May 10, 2018 6:06 am

I'm not sure, but I do not think there was a floppy. It's like if I had found it randomly on the computer, as if it were installed from the beginning. I remember that I often could not find it and every time I asked my mother for help (she played the game with me, I'd like to find it for this reason too).

Rwolf · Post by **Rwolf** » Thu May 10, 2018 8:58 am

So...it could perhaps be something supplied with the computer...do you recall the brand?

Goya88 · Post by **Goya88** » Thu May 10, 2018 9:34 am

Rwolf wrote:So...it could perhaps be something supplied with the computer...do you recall the brand?

No

However I'm sure it was supplied with the computer, it was that kind of software.

Rwolf · Post by **Rwolf** » Thu May 10, 2018 11:10 am

There is a similar game that was mentioned in another thread, you drive a small car and try to find an exit to the next level, while other police cars chase you around (slowly).

You can shoot the enemy cars (very limited ammo), and you must find some buttons to open gates in each level, but still a somewhat similar gameplay I think. There is exits on each screen, but multiple screens made up one level.

'Fatal Choice' was the games name, and there was a download site for it which I mentioned at the end of the thread:

http://www.dosgames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20634

Goya88 · Post by **Goya88** » Thu May 10, 2018 12:17 pm

Nope, there was no cars, only a face-guy and monsters.

Rwolf · Post by **Rwolf** » Thu May 10, 2018 1:25 pm

There is a group of games wich might be interesting to look through, called 'protagonist: blob' found on Mobygames here:

http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/pro ... ,50/so,1d/

Some of the games are only using faces for the main character, lke you describe.
What might fit could be 'Puffy's Saga' or one of the 'Bumpy' games. There are quite a few.

Note that some of those games are not documented as being for DOS, but that could mean it has yet only to be found for that platform.

Goya88 · Post by **Goya88** » Sat May 12, 2018 8:32 am

None of them. It was a very minimalistic game, the paint should be very similar.

legaloneforever · Post by **legaloneforever** » Sat May 12, 2018 11:12 am

Hey Goya88 I do demos for a living! You should start programming and make the game you want. Seriously it is fun. Just contact Borland or eBay and buy PASCAL for DOS. Make sure it has TASM (Turbo Assembler) in there. Or alternatively you can buy C or C++ with the TASM assembler. It should take a couple of years to complete the reading but you will get some where and it is worth it more to your soul that you did something than just played around!

legaloneforever · Post by **legaloneforever** » Sat May 12, 2018 10:44 pm

Thank you Goya88 for the idea of crunching the picture of my mom into my software. I was thinking of my demo I made for you and figured how nice it would be if I did one for my mom and had it all one file.