Leaderboard September 2020: Odyssey & Rodland

[Biscuit]

In case anyone missed my message in the main forum I'm gonna quickly dump a couple of links here to the Leaderboard blog and twitter. I've been having fun doing it and say more about it in this thread http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=102334. If it helps a few people find their way here to try some games then all the better.

https://leaderboard123.wordpress.com
https://twitter.com/Leaderboard123

First up this month is Odyssey. From the latter days of the Amiga era, released in autumn 1995, one of the very few games that might be described as a metroidvania. Will be interesting to see how much like one it is. Prepare for some shapeshifting. Looks like a polished game.

Next is one of the very best arcade conversions, Rodland. Cutesy and violent single screen platforming that should appeal to Bubble Bobble fans. As far as I'm concerned the gameplay is basically flawless. A personal favourite.


Odyssey
* Try to beat the game or just give it a go for the adventurer badge.
* To get back to the map screen go to your boat and push down.
* There is a save game option on the map screen. ADF users will need a blank disk.

Rodland
* Get the highest score you can.
* Kill the bosses as quickly as possible to avoid gaining any advantage from the infinite spawning minions.


Round Ends: 23:59 (UK Time) on Wednesday 30th September 2020


Score Badges:

• Post a screenshot of your score and write it nearby.
• All scores must be achieved during this round without the use of save states, trainers, passwords or any other cheats.
• No continues. No infinite score leeching.

Beat the Game Badge:

• Finish the game during this round and post a screenshot of the ending as proof.
• So long as you are not submitting a score, you can use continues, passwords, and in-game saves. Play the game as originally intended.

Adventurer Badge:

• Play Odyssey during this round and post a screenshot as proof.
• Tell us what you think of the game.

Downloads:

• Odyssey - ADF 1 - ADF 2 - WHDLoad -
• Rodland - ADF - WHDLoad -

Never played here before? Why not? Chat, play, chill.


Odyssey

 Harry
 Biscuit
   arcanist
   Harry

Rodland

 696,450 Biscuit 
 676,800 Harry 
 534,350 manossg 
 515,400 capehorn
   375,350 RuySan
   263,350 arcanist

[RuySan]

Does odyssey support more buttons?

These days I'll always need to setup my playing style before playing. Will I go Quickjoy old-school? Should I use the DS4 and map those extra buttons?

[Biscuit]

Unless someone has added it to the WHDLoad I don't think so. Transformations are done on the keys. They tell you the keys as you play - maybe there's a list somewhere. I've only had a quick look at it though, and only the adfs.

Speaking of, I was having a few issues getting the adfs working on A500 and when I did they had some graphics glitches, so I switched to a standard A600. Seems fine now.

Also, it's worth taking a look at the manual. Short read. It gives an idea of what needs doing. Which islands to start with, items you need before going to the castle, etc. I think starting with the Island 'of flight' is best.

[RuySan]

375350. Got to the elephant boss.

This is the first time playing in 4 years. Last time was for my blog, and according to it, I did much worse in 2 tries (https://amigamemoirs.blogspot.com/20...v-rodland.html)

[Biscuit]

Last time I played this must be about 10 years ago. It almost all came back to me. Except for a few tricks and the bosses. Got to the final dude but he politely asked me to leave and I did.

682,250

[manossg]

Currently practicing the final boss of Rodland... Can beat him with a minimum of 4 lives lost, so it seems doable.

[Harry]

A note to Odyssey: You will need the F10-key (and other F-keys) for a transformation, so make sure you set another key as quit for WHDLoad.

[RuySan]

Originally Posted by Biscuit

Except for a few tricks and the bosses. Got to the final dude but he politely asked me to leave and I did.

Ahahah, thanks for the reference

And here I thought I was a decent Rodland player when I was about 13 years old.

[Harry]

Rodland completed:
676.800

[Biscuit]

Well done Harry.

Has anyone given Odyssey a go yet?

I've started properly today. First island largely done. Now I'm trying Ground Island. There's no music so I can leave vaporwave playing and chill to this. It's a pretty laid back game, big focus on exploration and definitely metroidvania-y. I'm now a bird and a rock.

Save system works okay but I noticed some quirks. You can't carry keys between islands. It remembers you have them if you return but for a moment it worried me as it just disappears till you return.

Level design is good. Enemies are a bit random. It's starting to get some fun but simple puzzles. When you get to this point, you are not stuck, you can break the rock. Just wiggle the joystick a bit diagonally and you'll pick up speed eventually.

[RuySan]

I did play a bit of Odyssey. I liked that the controls are simple and responsive since I was expecting some needlessly complicated stuff like Lionheart.

But the version I tried has some graphical glitches (it was ADFs), and those archers right at the beginning of the first island never stop to be a pain.

And I was checking Amiga Power's review of this game and the put "no music" as an upside. It was not the first time I see their writers deriding music in games. And just to think this used to be my favourite magazine.

[Harry]

There are 3 "first" islands - denoted "Island of the ... crystal". They can be played in any order. However, I find the "island of the ground crystal" the most difficult of the "basic" islands.

[Biscuit]

I've not tried the 'crawling' island yet but I've had to spend a fair bit of time practicing the ground one just because those 3 archers at the start are so tough to dodge. I've been through the whole island now and I really liked it but finished with just one life. I'll play it again and kill at least 1 or 2 of those archers at the start to make it easier.

[arcanist]

I played the demo of Odyssey quite a lot back in the day. My memory of it included atmospheric music, so it was interesting to discover there's no in-game music at all! I guess I listened to the title screen a lot.

The graphics and gameplay are as good as I remember. Big maps to roam and areas blocked by new abilities. I wasn't familiar with Metroid when I was younger - I actually played Super Metroid for the first time this year - but it's about as close to the genre as Amiga games get.

I've tried two of the outer islands so far. I got stuck on a double arrow puzzle in the bottom one. And my A1200 / WHDLoad setup crashed about 3/4 through the top-left one. I'll try A500 with ADFs. I definitely want to see how far I can get in this one.

[Biscuit]

Originally Posted by arcanist

I'll try A500 with ADFs. I definitely want to see how far I can get in this one.

I'd recommend an ECS setup, I went with A600, because OCS can get graphics glitches occasionally.

And welcome back.

[manossg]

About time!

[Biscuit]

Played a really ragged go trying to go for score and ended up only getting a little more and still died at the last boss. oops.

696,450

[manossg]

I think the patterns of the last boss are a little different, depending on the version. I practiced using a floppy version and the 2nd boss form followed a set left-right pattern. But the WHDLoad had a different, more random pattern, so I ended losing more lives than my practice goes and I barely managed to kill the bastard. :S

[arcanist]

Originally Posted by Biscuit

I'd recommend an ECS setup, I went with A600, because OCS can get graphics glitches occasionally.

And welcome back.

I got it working with a A600 setup + ADFs. And thanks! I was busy pretending to be a grown-up for a couple months.

I've completed the three outer levels, unlocking three powers. The top two were fairly easy and had plenty of extra lives. The bottom one was long with aimbot archers and trolly puzzles. Being a rock helps with arrow immunity at least.

I guess the inner levels will require two of each power, where the circles intersect.

[Biscuit]

Originally Posted by manossg

I think the patterns of the last boss are a little different, depending on the version. I practiced using a floppy version and the 2nd boss form followed a set left-right pattern. But the WHDLoad had a different, more random pattern, so I ended losing more lives than my practice goes and I barely managed to kill the bastard. :S

That would make it harder. Strange difference to have, if I get time I'll check it out.

Third time was a charm and I played a little safer and beat Rodland. Now gonna focus on catching up to Harry and Arcanist's progress on Odyssey. I've still only done the flight and rock islands.

@arcanist - you have 12 hours to vote for the next games. Same for anyone else of course.