Koronis Rift
Encyclopedia
Koronis Rift is a December 1985
computer game from Lucasfilm Games. It was produced
and designed
by Noah Falstein
.
The game was supplied on a flippy disk
. One side had the Atari version, the other side had the Commodore 64 version. The Atari version required computers with the GTIA
chip installed in order to display properly.
Koronis Rift was one of two games in Lucasfilm Games' second wave (December 1985). The other was The Eidolon
. Both took advantage of the fractal
technology developed for Rescue on Fractalus!, further enhancing it. In Koronis Rift, the Atari 800's additional colors (over those of the Commodore 64
) allowed the programmers
to gradually fade in the background rather than suddenly popping it in as in Rescue.
By means of a drone robot, the rover can retrieve modules with various functions (which are not immediately obvious) from nearby hulks. The modules can then be installed in the rover, analyzed aboard the player's space ship, or sold; the rover can carry up to six different modules at a time which can be activated and de-activates as the player sees fit. A large variety of modules is available: Different weapon and shield modules with varying power levels and color codes, modules that increase the rover's power output, a mapper (activating an extra screen on the rover), and even one module that turns the retrieval probe into a bomb, destroying any hulks the probe is sent to investigate instead of retrieving modules.
Conversely, different types of hulks exist including one that simply "swallows" the probe without yielding a module, requiring the player to purchase a new probe (and possibly sell useful modules to raise the required funds).
The goal of the game is to find and destroy the saucer control base hulk. To this end, the player must explore the rifts, find hulks, retrieve and analyze modules and understand the color coding of weapons and shields to overcome the increasingly aggressive and dangerous saucers. The game can be solved in several ways; the quickest is to acquire the bomb module and send the probe into the saucer base with the bomb module activated.
to several other platforms of the home computer
era, including Amstrad CPC
, Apple II, MSX
, TRS-80 CoCo
and ZX Spectrum
.
1985 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* Brøderbund releases Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, the first game of the prolific Carmen Sandiego series* Nintendo releases Super Mario Bros. on September 13, 1985, which eventually sells 40 million copies making it the best-selling video game of all time until 2008.*...
computer game from Lucasfilm Games. It was produced
Game producer
A video game producer is the person in charge of overseeing development of a video game.The earliest documented use of the term producer in games was by Trip Hawkins, who established the position when he founded Electronic Arts in 1982...
and designed
Game design
Game design, a subset of game development, is the process of designing the content and rules of a game in the pre-production stage and design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters during production stage. The term is also used to describe both the game design embodied in a game as...
by Noah Falstein
Noah Falstein
Noah Falstein is a freelance game designer and producer who has been in the video game industry since 1980. He was one of the first 10 employees at Lucasfilm Games , DreamWorks Interactive , and The 3DO Company...
.
The game was supplied on a flippy disk
Flippy disk
A flippy disk is a double-sided 5¼" floppy disk, specially modified so that the two sides can be used independently in single-sided drives...
. One side had the Atari version, the other side had the Commodore 64 version. The Atari version required computers with the GTIA
George's Television Interface Adapter
Color Television Interface Adaptor and its successor Graphic Television Interface Adaptor are custom chips used in the Atari 8-bit family of computers and in the Atari 5200 console. In these systems, a CTIA or GTIA chip works together with ANTIC to produce video display...
chip installed in order to display properly.
Koronis Rift was one of two games in Lucasfilm Games' second wave (December 1985). The other was The Eidolon
The Eidolon
The Eidolon was one of two games that were part of Lucasfilm Games' second wave in December of 1985. The other was Koronis Rift. Both took advantage of the fractal technology developed for Rescue on Fractalus!, further enhancing it...
. Both took advantage of the fractal
Fractal
A fractal has been defined as "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is a reduced-size copy of the whole," a property called self-similarity...
technology developed for Rescue on Fractalus!, further enhancing it. In Koronis Rift, the Atari 800's additional colors (over those of the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
) allowed the programmers
Game programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebase for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines all of which fall under the umbrella term of "game programmer"...
to gradually fade in the background rather than suddenly popping it in as in Rescue.
Gameplay
The player controls a surface rover vehicle to enter several "rifts" on an alien planet which are effectively fractal mazes. A lost civilisation has left strange machinery, so-called "hulks", within these rifts which are guarded by armed flying saucers of different design and color. Depending on their respective color, shields and gunshots of both the rover and the saucers are of varying effectiveness against each other; part of the game is figuring out which shield and weapon modules work best where.By means of a drone robot, the rover can retrieve modules with various functions (which are not immediately obvious) from nearby hulks. The modules can then be installed in the rover, analyzed aboard the player's space ship, or sold; the rover can carry up to six different modules at a time which can be activated and de-activates as the player sees fit. A large variety of modules is available: Different weapon and shield modules with varying power levels and color codes, modules that increase the rover's power output, a mapper (activating an extra screen on the rover), and even one module that turns the retrieval probe into a bomb, destroying any hulks the probe is sent to investigate instead of retrieving modules.
Conversely, different types of hulks exist including one that simply "swallows" the probe without yielding a module, requiring the player to purchase a new probe (and possibly sell useful modules to raise the required funds).
The goal of the game is to find and destroy the saucer control base hulk. To this end, the player must explore the rifts, find hulks, retrieve and analyze modules and understand the color coding of weapons and shields to overcome the increasingly aggressive and dangerous saucers. The game can be solved in several ways; the quickest is to acquire the bomb module and send the probe into the saucer base with the bomb module activated.
Ports
Originally developed for the Atari 8-bit computers and the Commodore 64, Koronis Rift was portedPorting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to several other platforms of the home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
era, including Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, Apple II, MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
, TRS-80 CoCo
TRS-80 Color Computer
The Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer was a home computer launched in 1980. It was one of the earliest of the first generation of computers marketed for home use in English-speaking markets...
and ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
.
External links
- LucasArts' 20th Anniversary retrospective
- Koronis Rift entry from AtariMania