9 replies to this topic

[Tempest]

After looking over SQ: Waterworld again I've come up with an interesting theroy. I think that either the development cycle was cut short or that the game was significantly scaled back before being released. Look at the facts:

1. There are only three action sequences. Even Earthworld had four and Fireworld had five.
2. There are only 7 rooms! Earthworld had 12 and Fireworld had 10.
3. There are only 7 clues (for 7 rooms). Earthworld had 11, Fireworld had 10.
4. The game resets after every clue. This means that there is no interaction between clues, the game starts fresh every time. Sounds like something you might do during a Beta stage...
5. Waterworld was an Atari Fan Club exlcusive. If Atari really wanted to make WW a real game for the series why not distribute it through normal channels? Did they think only hard core Atari fans would accept a downsized game?

Maybe it's just me, but all these things make me think Atari made the decision to can the SQ series during the production of WW. I think the released WW because it was almost finished, but scaled it way back to save money. What does everyone else think?

Tempest

[Atari-Jess]

reading what you posted it all collects in. It does sound like that is what happened. I mean its not even close to earthworld and that was the first game!!

now does anyone know for sure if the WW contest was held?

im thinking no. *shrug*

[jahfish]

i guess that was the first step to eliminate game #4!

make #3 so wack that nobody would ask for a #4

sound like a good marketing plan ....

specially as they had in mind that they would have to spend loads of money for the final contest and prices ...

[StanJr]

the most damning evidence here is that it was an exclusive. The whole point of the game series was the contest (why else play the games?), why make it that so few people can actually enter the contest? This is counter productive. jahfish makes a good point about saving money that the final prizes would have cost. Sounds like a clear case of biting off more than they could chew...

Et tu Stan?

[Heavy Sixer]

Actually, Waterworld was not completely an Atari Club exclusive; it was sold at Kay-Bee stores in the mid-80s along with tons of other discounted Atari games. (That's how I obtained mine.) Of course, this too smacks of an attempt by Atari to squeeze a few extra $$$ out of the game... Also, Earthworld and Fireworld were being manufactured well into 1984, long after the contests ended (John Earney's list actually has an Earthworld with a 1987 copyright!). Despite its rarity and value, Waterworld is a crap game by any standards, far inferior to its predecessors; I suppose Atari realized that there were some things that even they couldn't get away with, so they sent Waterworld to sleep with the fishes while EW and FW were pimped out for a while longer.

HEAVY***6***er

[MagMax667]

To me, Fireworld doesn't seem finished either. The clues (01, 02, 03...) have nothing to do with the comic book. The only way to find the hidden words are to search through the comic and find them your self. The clues seem like they are place-markers for the actual clues. 01 might have been where the first clue would have gone. The real clues seem like they were supposed to be put in later. But because Atari was rushing to get the games out, they probably released it unfinished.

[Tempest]

Could be. Fireworld has has numerous bugs and the difficulty is unbalanced. Wouldn't surprise me.

Tempest

[jahfish]

i have a newsletter where atari sells bmx airmaster for 9,99$
its from 1992
funny, its one of the cheapest games they offer by that time ....

why so cheap? and are there more bmx carts in the desert?

[AtariDude]

I found a pretty good site regarding the Swordquest series of games. Visit the following URL:
http://www.geocities...9260/sword.html

It might take a while to load because of some of the images. Enjoy!

[Ze_ro]

quote:

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Originally posted by AtariDude:
I found a pretty good site regarding the Swordquest series of games.

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By Scott Stilphen, huh? That name sounds familiar

--Zero