Net Yaroze part 1

Net Yaroze part 1

Remember Net Yaroze? It was development kit for the PS1 for hobbyists to make their own games.
Some of these games got featured on demo disks. This was indie gaming back in the days of the PS1.

Net Yaroze gets its name from the word 'nettoyaroze', which means "let's do it!"
It is pronounced 'ya row zey'.

Net Yaroze was released in 1997 in Japan and then USA, Europe, and Australia. It was released for $750USD/£550/$1500AUD.


Inside the kit you received:

• a black Net Yaroze debugging PS1 console
• two black controllers (regular, not Dual Shock)
• a A/V TV lead
• a communications cable
• a PlayStation development tools CD
• development libraries and utilities
• standard C programming libraries
• high-level user-friendly 3D rendering libraries
• PlayStation controller interface libraries
• special Net Yaroze sound libraries
• graphical file format conversion utilities
• 3D object creation and conversion utilities
• programming tools
• R3000-C compiler
• linker
• debugger
• PlayStation boot CD
• access card (security dongle)
• serial cable (connects PC to PlayStation)
• documentation (three cables)
• start-up guide
• user guide
• library reference
• access to the Net Yaroze members website

The Net Yaroze kit doesn't give tools for creating graphics and sounds.
That means you'll have to use software like 3D Studio to create those.

You can buy CodeWarrior from Sony for around $250 for easier game development.
CodeWarrior will compile C++, a more powerful version of the C language.
Net Yaroze doesn't run it though. Converting it to C is a must.

The Net Yaroze is region free, allowing you to play imported games.
Although more expensive it was a better option than modding/chipping your PlayStation, which will shorten its lifespan.

Fun Fact: did you know that Devil Dice [Xi/Sai in Japan] is a Net Yaroze game?
The programmers Shift won a Sony Japan contest called 'Game Yaroze' and won a 3 year deal with Sony, all expenses paid, to make and develop the game.
That's the power of Net Yaroze!

Fun Fact: Toro Inoue, the Sony Japan cat mascot, made his debut in Doko Demo Issyo, which was another entrant of the Game Yaroze contest and thus is too a commercial Net Yaroze game.

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Games

Net Yaroze games are simple but can be interestingly complex.
A lot of the games are tributes to older games, such as games from the Amiga or Spectrum.

On this page I'll be covering the games that I played in my youth.
All of these were played on Euro Demo demo discs.

The next page will cover other Net Yaroze games released on demo disks that I didn't get to play in my youth.


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Total Soccer Yaroze

Genre: Sports
Programmer: Charles Chapman
Developed in: 8 weeks
Released: 27/11/1998

Total Soccer Yaroze is a top-down soccer game in the spirit of Sensible Soccer and Kick Off.
It is based on an original Windows 95 game that the author made.

You can play as 74 different teams (all mispelt presumably for copyright reasons).

You can choose between different team arrangements for different playstyles: offensive, defensive, and moderate.
Every player has their own stat, as such speed, shooting, passing, etc. It is vital to ensure that the ideal player is in the ideal role.

The controls are tricky dicky to get used to.
X kick.
[] passes.
/\ does something
() does a replay of the last five seconds or so.
Hitting () accidentally is very annoying.

It's hard to see what's going on somethings as the players are so tiny. It's like watching ants spaz out on PCP.

It seems as if you can't get a good control of the goalie. He tends to avoid the ball. When he has it he likes to kick it towards the enemy team.

Where are they now?:
Charles Chapman co-founded First Touch Games, a mobile game company, in 2011. He is a current director of said company.

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Blitter Boy

Genre: Shoot em up
Programmer: Chris Chadwick
Developed in: 12 months
Released: 22/10/1998

Blitter Boy, also known as Blitter Boy: Operation Monster Mall, is a game where you run around collecting babies, leading them back to the teleporter, whilst shooting ghosts. Yes...

It's like Robotron: 2084 but with babies.

This is one of the most known and beloved Net Yaroze games. The reasons why are simple: it's one of the most polished Yaroze games. It even won the 1998 Game Developer UK Competition.

There are two modes to play:
* Mission: collect babies and lead them to the televator. Save all babies to advance.
* Survive: collect flags whilst avoiding ghosts with only 1 hit point

Mission mode has you getting them babies back to the televator in the center of the room.

There are 20 levels. Level 20 will simply repeat when cleared.

Collecting babies gives points. You can get a train of babies going and cash them all at once for mega bonus points.

Babies will cry for around five seconds if touched by a ghost or shot at. They cannot be acquired whilst crying and will break away from you.
Shooting at babies with Fruit Drops or Rainbow Death doesn't seem to make them cry.

There is not much in the way of enemies.
Ghosts: ghosts that look suspiciously like the ghosts from Pac Man.
UFO: these things place down mines, which do hurt. You'll have to jump with () to shoot these.

Poweups will help you on the way:
Fruit Drops: fires fruity drops. It causes fruit to splatter on the ghosts before shrinking away. Collecting the fruit heals a bit of health.
Rainbow Death: rapid-fires a constant stream of powerful rainbow death.
Can of food: does something. I still don't know what.
Burger: heals a lot of health
Bottle: makes all babies stop crying
Piggy Bank: +100 points
Rings: creates a spinning shield of eight spheres that destroy enemies upon contact
Hologram sphere: touching it creates a hologram of you that runs about randomly, distracting the ghosts
Battery: makes your gun fire a greater range. The longer you wait while it charges up the greater the range

The music is a bit weird. It's just two notes repeated and then raised a few notes.
The longer you take in the level the faster this music becomes.

This is still a fun game to play, even if it quickly becomes 'samey'.

This game came 1st place in the Yaroze competition.
2nd place went to Z2.
3rd place went to Bouncer 2.

Where are they now?:
Chris Chadwick was going to do some work on the Ouya before that went belly up.
He has made a video about Blitter Boy:

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Mah Jongg

Genre: Puzzle
Programmer: Gerhard Rittenhofer
Developed in: 10 days
Released: 1998

I'm not sure how single player Mah Jongg works. I've seen it played in anime and manga and it always seems to be with other people.

The concept seems sound: match the titles. Doesn't get much simpler than that.

The controls are easy but to be honest I never used anything other than () and the directional pad.
/\ changes the tileset. I don't really see the point other than appearance.
Select + [] changes levels, otherwise known as 'dragons'.
L2 + R2 shows all the moves available. Handy.

Cheat code:
During gameplay, select a tile with ().
Then press and hold L2 + R2 + Select. Then press () again.
This will remove all tiles of that type regardless of their position.

There's not much to say about this game. It's Mah Jongg for Net Yaroze.


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Haunted Maze

Genre: Maze
Programmer: Edward Federmeyer
Developed in: 13 days
Released: 08/09/1998

This Pac-Man clone is unique. It's in 3-D! It's got more zombies than The Walking Dead! It's got kickass classical music!

Written in a blistering thirteen days, this is effort meets vision.

The gameplay is simple: run around the maze, avoid the zombies (I think they are zombies), grab the coloured objects, and get to the exit.

Every stage is randomized, from the locations of the collectible objects, the zombies, the starting door and the end door.

The music in the game is all classic classical music.
Intro: Toccata and Fugue in D minor - Johann Sebastian Bach
Level 1: In the Hall of the Mountain King - Edvard Grieg
Level 2: The Barber of Seville ~ Overture - Gioachino Rossini
Level 3: The Barber of Seville ~ Figaro's Aria - Gioachino Rossini
Level 4: Hungarian Rhapsody - Franz Liszt
Level 5: Waltz of the Flowers - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
and then it repeats from level 1.

As the stages progress you get more zombies and more collectibles.
I haven't progressed far enough to see if there is an end. Maybe one day...

One problem with this game is that you can easily get caught on the edges of walls.
This makes getting through narrow openings a pain.

Also, when you collect all the collectibles the text at the bottom says 'Exit OPEn!'. Yes, it needs to fix the text.

Where are they now?:
Ed Federmeyer has gone onto to be a professional game developer.
Recently he has been the lead programmer of The Conduit.


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Pushy IIb

Genre: Puzzle
Programmer: R. Fred Williams
Developed in: 20 weeks
Released: 24/08/1998

Pushy II is a sequel to the 1995 Acorn computer game. The 'IIb' refers to the Yaroze port.

Pushy II is a Sokoban game: push blocks and balls onto the Xs and don't get stuck.

There is actually a plot (sort of):
the boxes are radioactive packages and the balls are radioactive material. The crosses are designated drop-off points.
Push the radioactive materials into the crosses to the save the world!

There are two items to get onto the crosses:
* Boxes: square boxes that can be pushed one grid at a time. Can't be pulled.
* Balls: objects that keep moving until they hit something.

Strategy is paramount here.
You must analyze the board to see how you can get all the objects to their destinations.
Look for places to stash boxes so that they are out of the way but can still be moved.
Use boxes to stop balls and meticulously guide them.
Look for routes that you can send objects around.
Stack objects against each other to maximize positioning possibilities.

There is a timer for every stage but it is only for points.
You don't lose anything other than potential points if the time drops to zero.

The constant 'wub wub wub' sound effect your bloby protagonist makes is quite annoying.
In fact, all sound effects in this game are annoying.
There is no music.

Every level has a name, which is it's password.
You can guess passwords to advance levels. I know I did that as a kid.

Level passwords:
1. Susan
2. David
3. Sarah
4. Bob
5. Joanna
6. Mark
7. Emma
8. Peter
9. Louise
10. John
11. Deborah
12. Philip
13. Heidi
14. Arthur
15. Andrea
16. Terry
17. Cindy
18. Michael
19. Tania
20. Stuart
21. Pippa
22. Nathan
23. Shelley
24. Alistair
25. Lottie
26. Nigel
27. Denise
28. Keith
29. Sandra
30. Stephen
31. Natalia
32. Edwin
33. Ingrid
34. Hans
35. Maggie
36. Glenn
37. Diane
38, Harold
39. Judith
40. Ronnie
41. Jasmine
42. Neville
43. Violet
44. Trevor
45. Lindsey
46. Boris
47. Siobhan
48. Benny
49. Theresa
50. Stanley

Beating the game gives a simple congratulations screen with your score.

Where are they now?:
R. Fred Williams has been programming and coding around various games.
Recently he has been one of the programmer of Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two.


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Psychon

Genre: Shoot em up
Programmer: Ben James
Developed in: 6 weeks
Released: 29/11/1998

Psychon is a top-down maze game where you must find keys, unlock the path to the exit, and shoot a shit-ton of guards.

This game is inspired by Team 17's Alien Breed games.

The goal of each level is to destroy the four destruct orbs and then find the lift.
There is plenty of guns and ammo to help you out but health is scarce.

As a kid I always thought the guards looked like bugs, not seeing their head and shoulders for what they are.

The music in this game is great, if repetitive. A shame it's the only track.

The gameplay is tricky. The guards hurt hard when touched and they tend to throw grenades.
Also: time limit. As if it weren't hard enough.
When you die you get a freaky face on the game over screen.

Ben James has released the source code to Psychon on pastebin.
http://pastebin.com/TduDxU0h

Ben James has also made a sequel: Psychon 2
https://benjames171.itch.io/psychon-2

His website: http://www.onesevenonegames.uk/


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Hover Car Racing

Genre: Racing
Programmer: Richard Smithies
Developed in: 14 weeks
Released: 11/03/1998

Hover Car Racing is a top-down racing game in the style of Micro Machines.
It isn't to be confused with Hover Racing, another Net Yaroze game that looks like F Zero.

You can race in either Arcade or Time Trial.
In Arcade mode you can buy weapons and turbos.
This costs money. You get money by winning races, selling weapons, or gambling.

Gambling is basically Columns.
It's way too time consuming and tricky to earn money from it.
Oddly enough I enjoy this mini game more than the actual game.

Every race has five laps. That to me is too much. Make it three.

This is probably the Net Yaroze game I played the least in my youth.
Sorry Richard, but I'm this just isn't my cup of tea.


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Gravitation

Genre: Racing
Programmer: James Shaughnessy
Developed in: 12 weeks
Released: 23/08/1998

Gravitation is a racing game where you control a rocket ship and pass through numbered checkpoints around a map as fast as you can. It's tricky stuff.

This game is inspired by the classic Amiga game Gravity Force, with some Thrust mixed in.

Because there are no moving obstacles, this game is all skill. I suck at it.
Waiting at the main screen plays some demos. These are very impressive.

There are nine maps to race on. Each one has a set path you must follow.

There is a two-player mode: dogfight.
You both play on the regular nine maps, but you'll likely be accidentally killing yourselves via crashing into walls than shooting down each other.
There are lots of powerups to help you out, as seen in the Help menu.

Trying to race with two players so even harder than usual since split-screen takes half the viewing space.
Might make a neat Tool Assisted Speedrun idea.

Where are they now?:
James Shaughnessy has gone onto found DemonStudios, an indie game studio,  after a good eleven years of working at Codemasters.
He has completed a sequel to Gravitation: Super Grav. It was released on 7/11/2016.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/509820/?snr=1_5_1100__1100


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Rocks 'n' Gems

Genre: Puzzle
Programmers: Gerhard Rittenhofer and Manfred Tucmandl
Developed in: 12 weeks
Released: 16/02/1998

Rocks 'n' Gems is a port of good ol' Boulder Dash, the 80's game released on every home computer in it's day.

The goal is simple: collect enough gems to open the exit and reach it. Just try not to die... easier said than done.

Every level has a gem count. Collecting enough gems to reduce that count to zero unlocks the exit.
red gems = 1 point
green gems = 2 points
blue gems = 3 points

You dig through dirt by moving through it. This is automatic.
You can blast you rocks, bricks, water, and moss with dynamite. You plant it and run and a few seconds later it goes kaboom.
You can find and use jars of nitroglycerin. It falls down from gravity so watch where you stand. When dropped you can pick it up to save wasting nitroglycerin on a mistake.

Lots of things will kill you:
* being blown up by your own dynamite
* being blown up by your own nitroglycerin
* being touched by fire
* being touched by creatures
* rocks and gems falling on your head
* time

Yep, you have to dash through the level as fast as you can to collect gems lest you run out of time.
This is doubly hard as the controls pretty sensitive.
Even with pad response on low accidental deaths due to missteps are common.

Obstacles stand in your way:
* water is a growing infestation that turns dirt into water. Dynamiting through offers brief passage.
* moss is a tough material that you can't dig through until you find a super shovel.
* the coloured creatures follow a set path
* blue electric creatures chase you constantly
* spiked balls explode upon falling
* doors are unlocked by the same coloured key as the locks. Rocks 'n' Gems? More like Rock 'n' Gems 'n' Keys.
* magic walls are parallel brick walls that turn rocks into gems
* soft dirt are blocks will keep objects on them for a small amount of time before they pass through
* big bombs create a big explosion once lit. They typically set off chain reactions

Passing every level gives a password.
41875763 = all 64 levels unlocked.

Cheat:
68153461 = all 64 levels and unlocks the following cheats.
Pause the game, hold select, and press:
X = open exit
[] = max dynamite
/\ = max time
() = max nitroglycerin

This game is hard. Some levels are easier than others and yet occur after really hard ones. Some levels seem downright impossible.
As such I've only ever completed a few levels.
I just like to look at the level design and imagine how someone could beat it.

Beating the game gets you this screen.


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The Incredible Coneman

Genre: Platform
Programmers: Lars Barstad & Per Ivar Pedersen
Released: 23/02/1998

This game is a 3-D clone of Pac-Man. Doesn't get much simpler than that.

The goal of the game is to collect all the red pyramids in the level whilst avoiding the colourful ghosts.

You play as the titular incredible Coneman. He sure is a conehead; he's bald!
He also has no walk animation; he just slides over the ground like it's freshly waxed.

To aid you are stars. These powerups make you invulnerable and super fast, allowing you to speed through the ghosts unharmed.

The levels change in colour and layout but it's all the same.

The music is just a five second bass loop.
Hear this for any period of time will cause damage to sanity.

One problem with this game is that there is no safe protected respawn zone.
Upon death you appear instantly at the set respawn point in the level.
The game doesn't reset the ghosts like in Pac-Man.

Because the ghosts freely move about, you can respawn surrounded by ghosts.
Sure you have a few seconds invulnerability upon respawning but you better move fast if you respawn next to a ghost gang.

The saxophone tune that plays when killed creates a chuckle out of me.


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Terra Incognita

Genre: RPG
Programmers: Team Fatal (Mitsuru Payama was the programmer)
Released: 24/12/1996

This game is probably the most well known Net Yaroze game.
It is a 3D action adventure where you pick up blocks and slash at slimes.
So it's like Legend of Zelda mixed with Dragon Quest.

The opening intro is infamous.
The dialogue is in total Engrish (bad translation).
The character portaits don't match the models.
The text speed is slow.
The dialogue itself is dumb, even when corrected.

You have a time limit of 60 minutes to find a treasure in a temple.
Cue getting lost and wasting a lot of time.
Yeah, I never got very far in this game. It wasn't until I saw a speedrun of it a few years ago that I got to see the ending.

You jump with X and swing your sword or lift boxes with [].
Start does nothing. There is no pause button!
Yes, a game with a hard time limit and no pause button. Gotta go fast!

The gameplay is very Zelda-esque.
You get ten hearts for hitpoints with ten more hearts to collect.
You can pick up bombs and use them to blow shit up, but throw them before they blow up in your face.
Locked doors require a key. They tend to be found in unlocked chests.

The slimes are a pain in the ass.
They require three hits to subdue and can be aggressive.
Blue = regular slime
Red = aggressive slime
Purple = fires slime balls that you can ride on
there are probably more but I never got far enough to check

One of the main issues with this game is the combat.
Your sword is short range.
If you get hit you become stun-locked, unable to attack.
A slime can chain-attack you if you are trapped in a corner, pinning you to death like Bubba in the prison shower.

The uninformed gamer can waste a good deal of time getting through a puzzling area just to get a heart vessel.
Chances are you would lose more health and time than the heart vessel is worth.

The most infuriating part of the game is the camera angle.
You can use L2 and R2 to shift the camera in 45 degree turns but ONLY 45 degrees.
There are times you can't see platforms or anything but some structure blocks the foreground.

The music track is nice but, much like other Net Yaroze games, it is the only music track in the game.
It gets old and annoying fast, and with no way to pause the game you are forced to put up with it or mute the volume.

Where are they now?:
Mitsuru Kamiyama, the programmer of the game, made another Net Yaroze game: a parody of Final Fantasy VII.
He then went on to join Square Soft and ended up directing Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles and its sequels.


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Bouncer 2

Genre: Puzzle
Programmer: Scott Evans
Developed in: 12 weeks
Released: 1998 (4/12/1998?)

Bouncer 2 is a Breakout-style game where you must guide two little green men off a seesaw to hit all the bricks.

Your goal is to land the green men onto the unoccupied end of the seesaw.
Landing on an occupied side costs a life.
Bouncing on the ground too long kills the guy.

The game calls the platform the 'bat' but I call it a seesaw.

The controls are simple.
The directional buttons move the seesaw.
X swaps the flips the seesaw.
() sets a bomb.
[] is for the magnetic beam.
/\ releases the block.
Shoulder buttons increase speed.
Every other button does nothing.

I was never any good at this game.
I just liked to watch the demo play on the main menu.

The easiest way to play, for me, is to ignore the controls.
The magnetic beam attracts the in-flight man to the seesaw but it tends to go straight for the occupied side.

I've never found a good time to use bombs.
Pressing () detonates bombs, but one problem: they explode around the seesaw.
No blocks surround the seesaw (I think) so they seem pretty much useless.

As you break blocks and collect gems a meter builds up.
Losing a life or letting your guy hit the ground eliminates the meter.
Getting the meter full completes the level regardless of blocks left.

There is also a time limit.
If it reaches zero, the game is over regardless of lives remaining.
At the last five seconds some time powerups drop from the sky.
Collecting one adds around 15 seconds to the clock.

This game has a good variety of blocks to encounter.
(I wish I knew the names of these blocks)
There's a block that generates a grid of blocks when hit.
There's a block which lowers every row by 1, exposing more blocks at the ceiling.
Numbered blocks have to be hit that number of times to disappear.
Diamond blocks teleport you to a random open area.
Steel blocks can't be broken.
The superman powerup removes collision from the blocks you collect, allowing you to go through them.
The explosion blocks creates an explosion, making you lose a life.
Red blocks can destroy turrets and blocks.
and many more blocks that I can't be bother documenting.

There are obstacles to contend with:
* wind turbines push your guys
* platforms that bounce between two bullets
* turrets shoot small slow bullets that can destroy even steel

There are 30 levels.
Levels 31-33 seem to be test levels that bring up the 'level complete' screen upon entering.

This game won 3rd prize in the Yaroze competition.
2nd place went to Z2.
1st place went to Blitter Boy.

Where are they now?:
Scott Evans went on to work with Codemasters before working as a contract programmer for some firms.
He now works as a mobile developer for Yoti Ltd.


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Clone

Genre: Action
Programmer: Stuart Ashley
Released: 28/02/1997

Clone hides under no disguise that it is a clone of Doom.
This game is scary. If you've played it then I'm sure the screenshot has unearthed those memories you buried.
The genre should have been Horror.

You must guide the nameless featureless protagonist through a stone labyrinth, shooting down ungodly abominations that make weird noises.
Sounds like a drunkard's journey back home after a good night at the pub.

The ceiling is very low - probably to hide the fact that there's no jumping.

The music starts off strong, getting your heart pumping... but then it fades away.
Sound effects of a heart pumping play when you are near monsters. Spooky.
You can detect monsters through walls, so often you heart your heart beating when there's no monsters in the area. Unnerving.

Speaking of monsters, they are bane of your existence here.
They look like shambling gore zombies with flailing chicken arms and an alien head.
They shoot projectiles from the center of their chest with a generic sound effect.
They make an alien sound when they die. 6 year old me didn't like these at all.

The map screen is like Doom's but a major flaw: no objects appear on the map.
You appear on the map but monsters, medkits, keys, just you and walls and doors.

Your gun fires super fast. The ease of killing the monsters relieves some of the tension and fear factor.

The sound effect of picking up health sounds like it came straight from Doom.

This game is more Wolfenstein 3D than Doom.

Where are they now?
Stuart Ashley later went on to join Team Soho, where he was a programmer for The Getaway.
Recently he was a Technical Director of L.A. Noir.


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Between the Eyes

Genre: Racing
Programmer: Lewis Evans
Developed in: 12 weeks
Released: 24/01/1998?

Between The Eyes (previously released as Tunnel Racer) is a trippy racing game where you race through a tunnel with shifting colours and patterns. Enjoy your seizures.

You can race on 64 different tracks in 6 different ships against 4 other ships for up to 50 laps.

I want to like this game a lot but there are some things that bother me.
Thankfully the programmer has eased some frustration with smart features.

The music track. It sounds pretty cool but it's just an 8 second loop.
Thankfully you can turn it off.
Even better, you can play music tracks from the CD in game.
Fancy playing the game with Devil Dice music?

You can view a rolling demo and watch the game play itself.
Pretty neat. Just take a tab of LSD and enjoy.

Another cool features is that you can view the tracks, both inside and out.
Viewing them from outside shows all the textures used. Pretty cool.

The textures are too blaring to the eyes.
It doesn't help that the ships have no textures and thus blend in with the walls.

Speaking of ships, they all seem to control the same way.
Maybe there are subtle differences in speed and handling but not enough to affect the decision making other than visual appeal.

This game was previously released as Tunnel Racer aka Tunnel.
In that early version all you could do was Free Practice and View Tracks.
There were only 36 tracks.
You can't choose your ship.
Debug information is on the screen.
Holding L2 + R1 brings up colour debug info. The face buttons change the colour of the ship and lighting.
Holding L1 + R2 and X or /\ brings up sprites of different colour schemes and patterns, presumably for colour testing.

Where are they now?:
Lewis Evans has gone on to work on some football games but hasn't been seen in years.


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Adventure Game

Genre: Adventure
Programmer: Robert Swan
Developed in: 4 weeks
Released: 01/09/1998

Adventure Game is a 3D adventure game (no kidding?) that delightfully parodies the tropes of the genre.

You play as a sarcastic adventurer, with no face, no legs, and a barrel-shapped body.

The plot of the game is that a small nearby village is plagued with birds that (shudder) fly overhead, make noises, and eat crumbs.
The NPCs ingame joke that since a single bloke programmed the game, not a team of developers, there isn't much story-line. Mega meta.

The music in this game is great.
The title screen has the great allegro moment in Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach.
The area with birds plays intro to Toccata and Fugue.
The other music is Medieval-ish type music. It gets annoying as it doesn't loop properly.

Gameplay is awkward. The tank controls get used to; you turn your body and then move.

The X button has multiple uses.
In areas with NPCs it talks to them.
In areas without NPCs it attacks.
Why not have more than one button?

The camera is annoying as living Hell. You can't change the camera angle.
Instead it sweeps around to follow you.
This is quite irritating if you are climbing up a hill and it constantly tumbles about.

The game is laden with humour and Yaroze references.
The hero makes references to fetch quests.
Some of the NPCs are cockneys and talk with the British accent.
Lots of fourth wall humour, talking about video games and the programmer.
Programming references, like z-buffer rendering and polygon count.
Mocking TV shows and movies, like South Park and Cujo.

Some models don't match the dialogue.
Female model NPCs are referred to in the dialogue as male.
Intentional? Probably. Funny even if it is a mistake.

One problem I have with this game is that the game doesn't remember my interactions with NPCs.
Example: when you enter the village, a beggar follows you. Talking to him constantly will make him forget about it and spin in a circle.
If you leave and reenter, the beggar will hound you again.

Much like Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, the NPCs speak rubbish and sometimes lies to you.
Example: the ferryman by the river wants you to get permission from the king.
You can look forever but you won't find the king, or any king. You have to talk to the guard in the village. That gets you permission to cross.

The combat will kill you.
Due to tank controls you waste time turning to attack.
The bats don't hit you per se: they drain you. Your full health bar will be taken down to nothing in 5 seconds.
At least they go down quick.but they respawn, which is annoying because the forest is a maze.

To beat the game:
* head down the mountain and take a right to go to the river area
* talk to the ferryman
* return to the starting area and go to the other area
* go past the guards and into the village
* talk to the guard in the town square to acquire permission
* return to the ferryman and talk to him
* head to the water and cross over on the raft
* enter the next area and make it to the top of the mountain
* head to the next area
* follow the path to a cave entrance
- follow the path until you exit the cave
* you should be in an area with a coloured grid
* talk to the man on the left
* head over to the teleporters and choose the right-most teleporter
* cross the desert in a straight line
* keep doing so until you read the pyramid
* enter the pyramid via the entrance on the side
* follow the linear path until you find a guy
* talk to him a few times
* game complete!

Completing the game unlocks 50 fps mode. Adventure Game at 50 frames per second? What could be better?
Well, this mode by reduces the textures and polygon count of everything.
The models of NPCs and enemies are just coloured rectangular prisms.

Where are they now?
Robert Swan later went on found the indie game studio Aah Games.
Currently he is working on a game: Diorama. Looks like Minecraft.
You can catch him at work here: https://www.twitch.tv/robtheswan


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Pandora's Box

Genre: Puzzle
Programmer: Christoph Lürig and Torsten Vendske
Developed in: 10 weeks
Released: 1999

Pandora's Box is a 3D Sokoban game: move boxes onto designated squares and don't get stuck.

There are 15 levels to play and you can freely choose which one to play. Now that's service.

The goal of every level is to occupy the yellow and black squares with blocks.
To aid you is the ability to jump. This will allow you to momentarily see what the first person perspective limits.

I love the music in this game. Pianos and violins, how can you go wrong.

The controls are simple.
/\ pushes blocks
() jumps
The shoulder buttons strafe
Select aborts the level

Every level has a time limit.
This is represented by a colour beam.
Once the meter whittles down to yellow the music will pick up the pace in a panic a la Super Mario Bros.

The graphics remind me of that old maze screensaver.
Brick walls and a generic stone ground... Flashbacks, man.

The sound effects are amusing.
As you walk upon the ground you make heavy footsteps like you're wearing clogs.
If you attempt to push a box against a wall you get a muffled "mmm!" sound.
Pushing a box onto a designated spot makes a "ja" voice sound off.

Completing a level makes thundering clapping congratulate you.
The level name is now coloured green.
I don't know what happens when you complete all fifteen levels.
I can't be bothered finding out.

My favourite level is level 5: Run.
There's only one box and it is right next to a grid.
But it's at the end of a long hallway.
And you only have like ten seconds to do it.
You have to run like Forrest Gump to make it in time.

Where are they now?:
Christoph Lürig was the programmer of the AquaNox games of the early 2000's. He's recently worked on Army of Two: The 40th Day.
He is currently a professor of game programming at Trier University of Applied Sciences.
Torsten Vendske also helped work on AquaNox (he gets a Special Thanks To credit)


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Opera of Destruction

Genre: Shoot em up
Programmer: James Pretorius
Released: 5/2/1999

Opera of Destruction sounds like a cool game. You start it up and are greeted with the famous Night on Bald Mountain music...
but then you find out it's a 'destroy the other person's city before they destroy yours' game.

The game menu is a cube, much like Hover Car Racing. Better music too.
One of the sides of said cube is a texture. Selecting and holding that freezes the background animation.

For one player mode, you have to destroy all the TIE fighter enemy ships and then destroy their city.
You can control either the various turrets that are placed on the outskirts of your base or your easily-destroyed ship.

For multiplayer mode, it's a matter of destroying their city before they destroy yours. It's basic but it works.

This game is no Crimson Skies. It's a good effort though.
I have a fondness for these kind of models that break into many triangular polygons. Very retro.

One thing I hate is the inverted controls, even for the turret mode.
I know it is common in flying games but I can never get used to them.

The most kind fun to be had is dropping your bombs on the enemy city.
The terrific succession of explosions and polygonal pieces flying up and raining down is a delight.

The NTSC and PAL versions have different graphics here and there.
The NTSC version is also darker.

What this game needs is some ingame music. Give me that goddamned opera of destruction!

Where are they now?:
James Pretorius later went on to be a programmer for the FIFA soccer games until FIFA Soccer 06. He hasn't been seen since.


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Time Slip

Genre: Platformer
Programmers: David Johnston and Mike Goatly
Developed in: 3 months
Released: 7/04/1999

Time Slip is one of the most interesting Net Yaroze games out there.
It is inspired by an episode of Dr. Who.

You are Super Snail and you must reach the exit of every level, but you are caught in a space/time distortion.

The gameplay is unique in that every 60 seconds a past version of you appears, doing everything you did before.
The longer you stay in the level the more versions of you there are running around.

If you touch a past version of yourself will create a paradox and destroy the universe. Game over.

To complete every level you need to collect the requisite number of coins.
That usually means going out of your way, creating more paths to avoid.
That can be a death sentence.

To get to the exit you need to stand on switches.
You'll never make it past the gate, which is why you stand on the switch and wait near the gate while a past version of you opens the gate for you.
To speed up the waiting you can hold the [] button.

To keep tabs on your past selves you've got a snail scanner at the bottom of the screen. This lets you where your past selves are in proximity to you.

You can shoot with () button.
You will need to shoot gnome things and targets to advance through the levels.
It goes without saying that you don't want to be hit your a past version of you's bullets.

Be wary of platforms: when a time slip occurs the platform will return to the first position it was at when the timer starts.
I've fallen victim to this one before.

I used to fascinated by this game and its unique mechanic.
I drew lots of potential levels. If I had any competence at game development I might have made some levels.

I was bad at this game. I could never get past level 4.
I'm still bad at it.

Every level completed rewards you with a password.
Level passwords:
64692179
72219452
21888490
40201965
51025106
04186333
49910262
53069001
13820607
82300692
06195550
59042718
33018927
28701248
92160302
31008923
06731910
80650492
73209468
06325091
28452127
51830772

10101010 = invincibility

There is a final boss to this game
The idea behind the boss is you need to position yourself after every time slip in a new location and constantly shoot at the plasma space-time relay on the ground.
When enough of your past selves + yourself are shooting at it, the health bar will actually start dropping faster than the electric orb things can heal it.
The ending cutscene is a very colourful boss death and a credits scroll.

This game is just begging for sequel.
It has already been remade for Xbox Live Arcade in 2010.
Can you say Time Slip 2 HD on PSN, XBLA, and Steam?

Where are they now?:
David Johnston went onto to found Smudged Cat Games, which specialises in 2D sidescrollers.
Mike Goatly is now a .NET software developer.

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That is all the Net Yaroze games I played as a youth.

Click here to go to page 2, where I cover other Net Yaroze found on demo disks,

[[link to page 3]]
Click here to go to page 3, where I cover part 2 of Net Yaroze found on demo disks.