Down in the Dumps
Encyclopedia
Down in the Dumps is 1996 computer adventure game
developed for MSDOS and Microsoft Windows
, by the – now defunct – French
Haiku Studios
and published by Philips Media. The release for Apple Macintosh was published in 1997.
The story of the game is about the Blubs, an extraterrestrial
family (father and mother Blub, their son and daughter, the grandparents and the pet Stinkie), who crash with their spaceship
on a landfill
on Earth
after being pursued by the villainous Khan and his criminal associates. After surviving the crash, the Blub family goes on to live on the landfill, while trying to repair their damaged spaceship in order to return home. The player is set out on a mission by grandfather Blub, an inventor and the spaceship's technician, to find the missing parts needed to reconstruct the spaceship. Meanwhile Khan, whose ship also crashed on the landfill after the pursuit of the Blub family, sends out his minions to frustrate the efforts of the Blubs.
The game consists of five parts called "toons", all set in the landfill – except for part five which takes place in space – featuring one or two of the Blub family members as playable characters. Each of the five sections has its own title, respectively "The Blub, the Rat and the Bad Guy", "The Hypnotic Machine", "The Abominable Robin Blub", "The Bum" and "The End". Also, every episode has its own distinct visual theme, although the overall visual style is very cartoon
-like. For example, the player visits the head of a homeless person ("bum") and a society inhabited by frog
s, where a series of events somewhat reminiscent of the Robin Hood
story is triggered.
The player has to solve different puzzles in order to advance the plot by using a point and click interface. Large portions of the plot are told by pre-rendered
cinematics, often triggered at the beginning or the end of a "toon".
Down in the Dumps generally received positive reviews and was lauded because of its visual style, cinematic approach and good graphics
, although the humour wasn't appreciated by everyone. Some people also complained about the lack of a real ending to the story, offering a resolution to the situation of the Blubs, and therefore the pointlessness of the whole game. This is because the fifth part of the story – the real ending – is easily overlooked, as it can only be accessed after the credits roll at the end of the fourth episode, as if the developers intended it as an easter egg
.
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
developed for MSDOS and Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, by the – now defunct – French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Haiku Studios
Haiku Studios
Haiku Studios was a video game developer based in France, founded by Olivier Cordoleani and Hervé Lange in 1993. Cordoleani and Lange both worked on "Iron and Flame" , "B.A.T." and "B.A.T. II - The Koshan Conspiracy" under the name Computer's Dream during the 1980s...
and published by Philips Media. The release for Apple Macintosh was published in 1997.
Story
Extraterrestrial life in popular culture
In popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
family (father and mother Blub, their son and daughter, the grandparents and the pet Stinkie), who crash with their spaceship
Starship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
on a landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
after being pursued by the villainous Khan and his criminal associates. After surviving the crash, the Blub family goes on to live on the landfill, while trying to repair their damaged spaceship in order to return home. The player is set out on a mission by grandfather Blub, an inventor and the spaceship's technician, to find the missing parts needed to reconstruct the spaceship. Meanwhile Khan, whose ship also crashed on the landfill after the pursuit of the Blub family, sends out his minions to frustrate the efforts of the Blubs.
Style and Reception
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
-like. For example, the player visits the head of a homeless person ("bum") and a society inhabited by frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
s, where a series of events somewhat reminiscent of the Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
story is triggered.
The player has to solve different puzzles in order to advance the plot by using a point and click interface. Large portions of the plot are told by pre-rendered
Pre-rendered
Pre-rendering is the process in which video footage is not rendered in real-time by the hardware that is outputing or playing back the video. Instead, the video is a recording of a footage that was previously rendered on a different equipment...
cinematics, often triggered at the beginning or the end of a "toon".
Down in the Dumps generally received positive reviews and was lauded because of its visual style, cinematic approach and good graphics
Computer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
, although the humour wasn't appreciated by everyone. Some people also complained about the lack of a real ending to the story, offering a resolution to the situation of the Blubs, and therefore the pointlessness of the whole game. This is because the fifth part of the story – the real ending – is easily overlooked, as it can only be accessed after the credits roll at the end of the fourth episode, as if the developers intended it as an easter egg
Easter egg (media)
Image:Carl Oswald Rostosky - Zwei Kaninchen und ein Igel 1861.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Example of Easter egg hidden within imagerect 467 383 539 434 desc none...
.
External links
- Haiku Studios Official website (defunct, via the Internet Archive)
- Down in the Dumps on HaikuStudios.com (via the Internet Archive)
- ComingSoon Review
- GameBoomers Review
- A for Adventure Review