High Score Challenge - S19 - R03 - Last of the Free

[KarateEd]

Stardot high score challenge
Season Nineteen: Round 03
Last of the Free chosen by Klintworth

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RULES
Round Nine starts at 9pm on Monday the 31st of October and ends at 9pm on Monday the 14th of November
The aim is to score as many points as possible
Post scores and screenshots/photographs in this thread
The rules are here
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DISK IMAGE
http://www.bbcmicro.co.uk/game.php?id=548
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INSTRUCTIONS

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SCORING
Points will be awarded using the following formula.
points = (YS / BS * 50) + ((NOP - YP + 1) * (50 / NOP))
YS = Your Score
BS = Best Score
NOP = Number of Players
YP = Your Position
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HIGH SCORE TABLE

table.png (10.14 KiB) Viewed 2593 times

Link to Overall High Score Table...http://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=25601

Thanks to Galax for the Mode 7 fonts.

Well, this should be interesting. We've seen this style before but I think this will be much harder......Ed ...........
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[Venger]

I'll start things off with a modest score whilst trying to figure out what some of the items are (not always obvious!) and where to use them. I'm pretty sure I had this on the Electron, back in the day. Peter Scott's games are always decent but quite samey and judging jumps can be a bit hit and miss. A nice change of pace from the last round.

[Venger]

Okay, my 2nd go is a bit more respectable. I still don't have a clue what some of the things are supposed to be though

[klintworth]

Not got very far!

[FourthStone]

Can see myself getting into this one if I get enough time, the timing on moving /jumping / room switching is a little fast but hopefully can learn a reliable route and get a bit further.

Score: 410

[Rod C]

Looks like a pretty good fun game. So far I've been blundering through the tricky moves and taking lots of damage but I guess that timing will be important in order to get very far into it.

[Venger]

Just finished my 3rd go and I'm not sure how far I am from completing the game. There are still a lot of objects that I can see but I haven't used and there are a lot of objects that I've used and I still don't know what the hell they're supposed to be. Sometimes it's only by luck that I've managed to use some of the items. A game now takes about 45 minutes so I'm not going to be playing this very often. I've done a video but I'm not going to post it yet as I don't want to give any secrets away

[Venger]

Well, I decided to have another go tonight and I ended up completing the game in just over an hour. There are some quite obscure bits but most of the puzzles are pretty logical (at least to me). The game doesn't loop so there's only a finite score to be had. There were one or two non-essential items that I didn't use so my score can be beaten. I'm not actually sure whether I completed this back in the day on the Electron. I'm sure I wouldn't have completed it in just 4 goes then though.

I do have the run recorded but I'll only post it on YouTube after this round is over (for obvious reasons). I've posted a picture of the completion screen but there's a nice little animation and a tune too.

[Rod C]

Well, I decided to have another go tonight and I ended up completing the game in just over an hour.

Well done!

I managed to crack a couple more rooms and suddenly it seems a lot harder.

[Rod C]

All very confusing but I managed to get a bit further.

[fwibbler]

Always hated this type of game, mainly because I'm crap at them. Could never work out puzzles.

[Cybershark]

Did buy The Peter Scott Trilogy back in the day, and I had a lot of time for Pandemonium and Network which, as Venger notes, are very similar in... well, just about every respect? Network remains my favourite of those games and, after I'd drawn out a map for it, I was even able to complete it (back in the day). I guess Last of the Free is simpler - in some respects - in that you don't have to keep track of teleport devices and codes, but I do miss being able to zap the baddies in this one!

Interesting creative choice to switch the screen background colours from the default black, but I think it makes the game look pretty hideous. Much prefer the black backgrounds and subtle, dithered colours used in his other games in this "series".

For anyone struggling to identify the game items, this map may be some help.

Well, here's a meager attempt from me: 485

[Venger]

Did buy The Peter Scott Trilogy back in the day, and I had a lot of time for Pandemonium and Network which, as Venger notes, are very similar in... well, just about every respect? Network remains my favourite of those games and, after I'd drawn out a map for it, I was even able to complete it (back in the day). I guess Last of the Free is simpler - in some respects - in that you don't have to keep track of teleport devices and codes, but I do miss being able to zap the baddies in this one!

Interesting creative choice to switch the screen background colours from the default black, but I think it makes the game look pretty hideous. Much prefer the black backgrounds and subtle, dithered colours used in his other games in this "series".

For anyone struggling to identify the game items, this map may be some help.

Well, here's a meager attempt from me: 485
lotf.jpg

I've never played Pandemonium or Network but I did own and complete both the Thunderstruck games and Spycat. I think I also had Omega Orb but I can't remember whether I completed it or not. Knowing me, I probably did complete it. I think one of the only arcade adventure games of this ilk that I didn't complete back in the day was Quest (and Spooksville, come to think of it, which was so painfully slow on the Electron as to make it almost unplayable).

[KarateEd]

Well, so far not really getting the point of this one but I'll put my paltry score in.

[Rod C]

Made a bit more progress.

[KarateEd]

Me too, a tad bit more progress.....

[KarateEd]

Slowly starting to get the hang of this. Very tedious in having to run back and forth to get things you may or may not need for progressing. Right now I'm stuck at the 'space invaders' because I forgot to go back and get the laser gun....sigh.....

[KarateEd]

High Score Tables Updated

[KarateEd]

Last one for the night....wow, tough, tough game. I salute you Venger for getting this game done so quickly.

[KarateEd]

Well, I got stuck on this screen when I went into this spot, I couldn't get out, not by jumping or moving left so killed the game but it's still my best score.

[Rod C]

Well, I got stuck on this screen when I went into this spot, I couldn't get out, not by jumping or moving left so killed the game but it's still my best score.

Looks like a tricky little death trap. Have to watch out for that one, not sure how.

Slowly starting to get the hang of this. Very tedious in having to run back and forth to get things you may or may not need for progressing. Right now I'm stuck at the 'space invaders' because I forgot to go back and get the laser gun....sigh.....

I had the laser gun in the drains but couldn't get to space invaders. I think I see the way ahead but it's going to take some of that tedious work.

[KarateEd]

I had the laser gun in the drains but couldn't get to space invaders. I think I see the way ahead but it's going to take some of that tedious work.

Looks to me you're on the right track with the score you have there too.....

[KarateEd]

A very slight increase. Definition....slight - 10 points......

[Rod C]

Last one for the night....wow, tough, tough game.

Same here. I like it though.

[KarateEd]

Last one for the night....wow, tough, tough game.

Same here. I like it though.


1690.PNG

Yes, me too though it didn't start out that way.....liking it that is. I suspect that's one reason why the players playing is rather low this round.

[Rod C]

Did some more exploring and picked up a few more points. A breakthrough seemed imminent but was tantalizingly just out of reach.

[Cybershark]

Hey, did anyone try the other version of this game - "Quest for Freedom"?

http://www.bbcmicro.co.uk/game.php?id=2401

Last of the Free is listed in the archive as a re-release of that game, but they look quite different! Certainly the first few screens are - and there seem to be some alternate graphics too. Makes for a good bonus round for Venger

[Venger]

Hey, did anyone try the other version of this game - "Quest for Freedom"?

http://www.bbcmicro.co.uk/game.php?id=2401

Last of the Free is listed in the archive as a re-release of that game, but they look quite different! Certainly the first few screens are - and there seem to be some alternate graphics too. Makes for a good bonus round for Venger

It's interesting that you should say that as I noticed that Klintworth's been playing a different version to the rest of us, with "Quest for Freedom" in his screenshot and also a facility to put your name on the high score table.

[Venger]

Hey, did anyone try the other version of this game - "Quest for Freedom"?

http://www.bbcmicro.co.uk/game.php?id=2401

Last of the Free is listed in the archive as a re-release of that game, but they look quite different! Certainly the first few screens are - and there seem to be some alternate graphics too. Makes for a good bonus round for Venger

Ok, so I had a go at Quest for Freedom and it's a lot more brutal than Last of the Free. For starters, you only get 3 lives (albeit with more energy) and you don't get any energy rewards for solving puzzles. There is an extra life to be had but there's also an extra life to be had in Last of the Free. It looks like I scuppered myself accidentally by not bringing one of the items down to the lower levels with me (a "1" symbol which I think is supposed to be some sort of battery?) and there's no way back up. I lost one of my lives after getting trapped on one of the screens and I couldn't get out (much like Ed's screenshot but on a totally different screen).

A lot of the screens are totally different between the 2 games but the puzzles are almost exactly the same. It also looks like there are more a few more puzzles in Quest for Freedom as, along with having to find the letters to spell "OPEN" in the Last of the Free, you also have to find the letters to spell "FREE" in Quest for Freedom. You also have to use some of the puzzle items in different places in Quest for Freedom, for example, you need the chair to be able to get out of the bit of the screen where the laser gun is

I don't think I was far from completing the game but I'm not sure I would've been able to, having left the "1" in a place that I couldn't get back to (unless there was a quick way of getting back there further into the game that I'm unaware of). Knowing what I do now, I could probably complete Quest for Freedom too as I wasted a life unnecessarily and that wasted life probably would've seen me through to the end.

Anyway. here's a screen shot of my score for Quest for Freedom (very similar to my score after completing Last of the Free). Once again, I do have my run recorded but, due to the similarities of the puzzles in both games, I probably won't post it until after the round is over to avoid spoilers.

P.S. Klintworth, you may want to play Last of the Free rather than Quest for Freedom as it's easier and you're playing a very much different game to the rest of us.

[KarateEd]

Thanks for pointing this out Venger, I never even noticed. Yes, Mr. Klintworth will do better on Last of the Free, I'll let him know that he needs to get a score from this game though if as you say it's a harder game to play the LOtF then perhaps his score should stand. Anyway, I'll let him know.