Dino Eggs

Dino Eggs
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Micro Fun
Publisher(s)	Micro Fun
Designer(s)	David Schroeder
Platform(s)	Apple series, Commodore 64
Release date(s)	1983
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player

Dino Eggs is a 1983 computer platform game by Micro Fun. It was released for the Apple II and Commodore 64. The original, Apple II-series version was by David Schroeder, who also developed the concept for the game. The game was ported to the Commodore 64 by Leonard Bertoni.^[1]

Description

Playing a time traveller, "Time Master Tim," the player's objective is to collect dinosaur eggs, and rescue hatchling dinosaurs, while avoiding snakes ("proto-snakes"), gigantic spiders ("proto-spiders"), flying creatures ("proto-pedes"), and the dinosaurs' mother (or "Dino Mom").^[2] Physical contact with any of the first three causes the player, after a period of time, to experience "devolution" into a prehistoric spider (as a result of "contamination"). The player needs to get back to the transport force field ("time warp") before time runs out, in order to avoid this grisly fate (which is equivalent to death; it results in the loss of one of Tim's lives). Returning to the force field in time restores the player's health. The Time Master can also be contaminated through physical contact with a Dino hatchling. When contamination ensues, any of the eggs being carried by Tim are destroyed. For each egg lost, the player gets one minus point. Additionally, coming into direct contact with the juvenile dinosaurs kills them, by infecting them with biological contaminants ("the common Measles") from the 21st century, subtracting ten points from the player's score. While within the transport force field, Tim is safe from all creatures except the Dino Mom.

Hazards

The mother dinosaur, on the other hand, will try to crush the player by stomping on him. Time Master Tim starts with three lives, but if the player attains a sufficient score (400 or less; the exact score is unknown), he receives a fourth, bonus life.

A player's first hazard is the Dino Mom. When starting a level, a player has a short period of time to build a fire to keep her away. Building a fire is done by collecting one of several logs present in each level, and placing that log atop another. The player then tries to collect all the eggs and hatched baby dinos before the fire goes out. The player can also attempt to rescue the eggs and baby dinos without a fire while avoiding the mother's enormous stomping foot (not likely). A fire started at any time will prevent the Dino Mom from stomping. Even if her foot is coming down when a fire begins, she will pull it back up.

On each level, the player is presented with a number of dinosaur eggs, some of which eventually hatch into baby dinosaurs, and all of which must be rescued (in the event they are not killed or destroyed through contamination beforehand), in order to complete the level. The player does this by collecting the eggs before they hatch, or by placing a special, time transporting force field around each baby dinosaur while jumping over them.

Hazards on the levels include snakes, spiders and centipedes. Snakes appear out of thin air, and disappear again after a period of time. In higher levels, centipedes appear suddenly, which run faster below the platforms (above the head of the player, thus making Time Master Tim vulnerable to their attack while jumping, climbing, or falling only). In still higher levels, additional centipedes appear, which run along each of the four platforms at ground level, thus rendering them even more dangerous. Spiders appear at the top of the screen, and slide down to the bottom on lines of silk. Snakes can be avoided by jumping. Spiders can be avoided by simply moving out of the way, to the left or right. Snakes and centipedes can be killed by dropping boulders, and sometimes they kill themselves by slithering into the player's fire. Spiders can be killed by cutting (walking into) the spider's line as it slides to the bottom (presumably causing a fatal fall). The players gets one point for each killed spider, snake or centipede.

Time Master Tim can also be killed by walking into his safety fire. The fire can always be leapt over, but bad timing will result in death. However, if the fire is newly built (energy 9), or about to go out (energy 1), then it can be safely walked upon or through. Fires at stage 9 or 1 will not kill creatures. A fire may be extended, which causes it to start over with energy 9 through two methods: If it is at energy 1 stage, a log can be added to it; if it is at any other stage, Tim can jump over the fire while carrying a log and it will extend. Stoking the fire in this manner increases the rate of efficiency of wood consumption by almost fifty percent.

Gameplay

When the player first arrives on a level, only dino eggs, boulders and logs are present. The player can collect up to three eggs before having to warp them back to the future, and returning for more. The player may collect the "Power", which allows him to carry more than three eggs at a time. If, while carrying eggs, the player comes in contact with a spider, snake, "proto-pede," or hatchling, the eggs become contaminated, and are lost.

If a fire is started, after a period of time some eggs will hatch (presumably from the warmth). Baby Dinos emerge, and the player must rescue them as well. The player can place force fields around them by jumping over them. This encases the baby Dino in a force field that will transport them back to the future with Time Master Tim, when he transports back on a delivery. Up to three baby Dinos can be present at any one time. If they are caged by a force field, the player can warp out to continue playing. If the player rolls away a boulder, he can either discover eggs, some bonus feature like a power flower or hidden log, or the place below the boulder is empty. Every snake, spider or centipede which is hit by the boulder will be smashed to death, and fires similarly struck will be reduced to an energy level 1 state. Falling boulders will likewise kill baby dinos whether they are caged or not. Eggs which are uncovered may hatch in a short time. Eggs which remain covered by a boulder are both not visible to the player, and not subject to hatching.

Baby Dinos face far more hazards than do the nearly invulnerable eggs. First of all, of course, the player must avoid them. Secondly, they must avoid the safety fire; they may accidentally wander into it and be burned to death. Thirdly, on higher levels, spiders may attempt to capture them, and whisk them off the bottom of the screen (virtually killing them). The death of a Baby Dino by any means results in a deduction of ten points from the player's score. Caged baby dinos will not wander into the fire, and are not susceptible to spider abduction or contamination from the player.

The game's levels consist of four levels of platforms. Via stone ladders, players can climb up to and jump down between gaps in the platforms (the player can climb down the ladders, but by using the "jump" button, the player will fall down the length of any ladder he is presently climbing; this trick enables the player to descend to the lower platform more rapidly). The bottom platform is continuous with no gaps. The screen is wrap-around: Exiting on one side, the player will enter on the other side of the screen. The player is intended to locate all the eggs on each level. This requires dislodging boulders, some of which may be hiding eggs. After collecting one or more eggs and/or detaining one or more Dinos in force fields, the player may "warp out," delivering the Dinos back to the future. The player will then return to a different location on the same level, and attempt to save more eggs and Dino hatchlings.

The player may leave a level permanently at any time, by warping out while not carrying any eggs, with no Dinos detained. By leaving the level, the player will receive a bonus for rescuing all hatchlings and all eggs, and then move on to the next level. However, if the player warps out without collecting all of the Dinos and/or eggs, points will be lost for each Dino egg and live baby Dino not collected, and the level will be repeated. The levels get progressively harder, with more snakes and spiders, and fewer logs. Level 9 is the final level; completing this level just loads level 9 again. There are two differences in level 9: The player must build two fires, instead of one, to prevent the Dino Mom from coming, and the bonus for rescuing all of the eggs and hatchling Dinos is raised from ten to fifty points. The sound effect that plays when the level is loaded is also different for level 9.

Remake

An independently produced remake of Dino Eggs called Dino Legs^[3] is in development since 2009. It features an arcade mode that is close to the original game except it allows multi-players action. It also includes a story mode featuring 65 specific levels to complete without losing a single egg or baby dino. This mode brings a more strategical approach to the game.

References

1. ^ Dino Eggs at MobyGames
2. ^ Dino Eggs - Cover Art - Back Cover from MobyGames (retrieved on January 7th, 2009)
3. ^ Dino Legs, at IndieDB