Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Kasparov Beaten At Repton, Game Recreated?

Posted by simoniker on from the push-those-boulders dept.

migstradamus writes "Anyone out there remember the BBC microcomputer? If so you probably remember the puzzle game Repton, too. ChessBase.com has a charming story about how a 3-year-old was clearly better at any computer game than the newly crowned World Chess Champion, including Repton, back in 1985. This defeat led Garry Kasparov to import Atari computers to Russia! The kid who beat him is now a 21-year-old programmer and has recreated the legendary game for free download. There's been plenty of feedback for the officially-sanctioned mini-remake, and on Jan. 21 they will release a super-hard level as part of a contest." It's worth noting that Repton has also been commercially re-released for Pocket PC and Java-enabled phones, as well as a full PC version from the original makers, Superior Software.

28 comments

  1. We've come far in 18 years by Scarblac · · Score: 2, Funny

    Quoth the article: The program only runs smoothly on modern graphics cards. If you have a very old version you may need to keep the window very small to play the game properly.

    And I tell you, some people believe in a thing called "Moore's Law"... Nicely nostalgic article.

    --
    I believe posters are recognized by their sig. So I made one.
    1. Re:We've come far in 18 years by seann · · Score: 1

      Can't even make a simple platform game with horrible graphics run smoothe.

      Horrible world we live in.

      --
      I'm a big retard who forgot to log out of Slashdot on Mike's computer! LOOK AT ME.
  2. My favourite game! by alyosha1 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Woohoo! That was the first computer game I ever played. I Had the whole series, Repton, Repton2 (a pain to finish, but I managed it....) Repton3 and Repton Infinity (ahead of it's time - it had a complete game editor/designer built in, including an entire language for modifying the behavior of game elements, but ran way to slow...)

    Anyone else play the other greats of that era - things like Ravenskull, Striker's Run, Exile etc...? Did anyone ever finish Exile? Even with the cheats I couldn't figure it out.

    Truly awesome games. Amazing how addictive they could be, and running in just 32kb of memory. (We had 128 kb in our BBC master, which alas was thrown out last month.)

    1. Re:My favourite game! by Haeleth · · Score: 1

      You finished Repton 2?! Impressive stuff... I can't imagine more than a handful of people can make that claim.

      Mind you, we only made it through Repton 3 with liberal use of a Replay chip... ^^;

    2. Re:My favourite game! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You finished Repton 2!! How on earth did you do it??

      I came close several times but I could never do ALL the levels one after another. In isolation I could do >95% fully completed.

      I am awed by the skill involved.

    3. Re:My favourite game! by skinfitz · · Score: 1

      Anyone else play the other greats of that era - things like Ravenskull, Striker's Run, Exile etc...? Did anyone ever finish Exile?

      Don't forget Elite, Arcadians and Starship Command.

      Exile still is my favorite game - it works under BeebEm!

      I never finished the Acorn Electron version (couldn't afford a Model B or Master) but got it for the Amiga years later and finished it.

      I recently found it again as an emulated game (using BeebEm) and started playing again - even now it's very playable.

    4. Re:My favourite game! by SST-206 · · Score: 1

      I've resurrected my Beeb recently and got into Repton 2 again, which rocks, as they say :-) I liked it much better than 1 and 3 (with the annoying fungus). Also ELITE of course.

      Another favourite was Labyrinth, which featured a bizarre screen mode using remarkably only four colours to simulate many more with pixel patterns. Very cool game.

      There are many great Beeb sites out there, particularly 8BS.com - see also my list of (mostly) Beeb games

      Have fun!

      >_

      --
      Co-operation beats competition
    5. Re:My favourite game! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What about Repton Thru Time?

      Pyramids, all that sand etc etc. WICKED GAME!

      I remeber getting our first Pace Floppy drive (when floppies were really floppy) and not loading it through a tape!

  3. it is like boulderdash by TheLink · · Score: 1

    I remember modifying boulderdash so that a diamond explosion would generate even more diamond explosions - I ended up with a sea of diamonds.

    Not sure why they say repton is superior. Maybe the puzzles?

    With boulderdash hand eye coordination does help because you can actually run downwards under a boulder - you just have to make sure you step out of its way in the end.

    Actually I remember an AppleII game called repton that was a side shooter. Much like defender.

    --
  4. If you're on Gnome... by chendo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ... then you already have a clone of Repton. GNOME Stones is very similar to Repton, if I RFTA correctly. Maze, diamonds, stones... same concept.

    --
    Founder of Mirror Moon - Tsukihime Game Trans
  5. Hmm by ReyTFox · · Score: 1

    I played Boulder Dash as a kid. And on the Atari, its ORIGINAL platform(more people remember it on the C64 of course). I wasn't so great at it because all the levels past the first two or so really were quite hard. But when we got the BDCK I had lots of fun making levels ^.^

    Interesting how both games(BD was made by Peter Liepa, whose page comes up first on any google search) were made by mathematicians.

    I wonder why mathematicians stopped making video games? ;)

  6. Mathematicians stopped making video games by Flyboy+Connor · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...because mathematicians solve problems by reducing them to other problems they know the solution to. Repton is the Ultimate game in the sense that all other games can be reduced to it. When thinking of a new game concept a mathematician will simply prove that it is, effectivily, Repton, and be satisfied.

  7. Repton for Windows and Unix by grrussel · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There are various reimplementations of Repton for Unix and Windows. This includes a version for the Linux console via SVGALib, for generic Unix / X11 through KDE (both 1.x and 3.x) and for both Windows, X11 and possibly OSX throught FX Repton using the FOX toolkit.

    This is the site, at http://www.keelhaul.demon.co.uk/krepton/ and also of interest may be the Repton appreciation society.

  8. Enjoy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Iridium
    Zukertort
    Telescope
    Crocodile
    Zugzwang
    TheVish
    Quasar
    Congratulations, you have completed the episode!
    You have solved the ChessBase Christmas Edition of Repton 1

  9. Citadel by meowsqueak · · Score: 1

    You finished Repton2 - impressive. I got quite a way through Repton Thru Time, but it got insanely hard at one point.

    One of my all-time favourite Beeb games was Citadel - did anyone else play that? I managed to complete it after many weeks of searching for those damn crystals. My friend and I actually drew a map of the entire world - I still have that somewhere. I still remember the ending sequence when you blow up the teleporter - wow, all those colours! That was one thing that really struck me about Citadel - all the amazing colours generated out of just 8.

    Did anyone get the full 100 points?

    1. Re:Citadel by Repton · · Score: 1

      I used to know the full solution to Citadel, many years ago... We (my dad and I) had a map drawn on fanfold paper too :-)

      There was also a Citadel 2. I only discovered this recently (well, a couple of years ago) when I was looking at emulators.

      Did you find the easter egg? You could jump into the title screen... you needed to drop a trampoline on the beach at the far east of the game (where this ball of fire floats towards you over the ocean to kill you). Then you use the trampoline to jump up off the screen. [you have to jump into the room to the left a couple of times to reset the fireball]

      (oh, I used to play Repton too :-/ )

      --
      Repton.
      They say that only an experienced wizard can do the tengu shuffle.
    2. Re:Citadel by meowsqueak · · Score: 1

      Yes, I did find that, but at the time I was too young to realise it was an easter-egg and thought it was just a cool bug! :)

      I tried Citadel 2 out recently with an emulator - it seemed to lack a lot of the polish that made Citadel great.

      One thing I spent hours trying to do - the water at the bottom of the 'Well' (after you've initially drained it) - I was damn sure I could get past those arm-wavy plants and swim around under there, but I never could. I used to dream about what might have been to the right and left of that screen. Sigh. In case you're wondering, I don't think it was possible.

    3. Re:Citadel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow! Memories! I dreamt about where those arms going out from the well would lead to...

      Back on the BBC we could always only find one of the three crowns, which always bothered me the most. We made a map, too.

      Now that we have emulators where you can save and load states I finally found the three crowns and got the full 100 points.

      By the way, here is a map with the position of the crowns in it if you want to cheat ;-)

    4. Re:Citadel by meowsqueak · · Score: 1

      Ah, yes, the crowns - I found that one in the cellar purely by accident :)

      What a great map btw - brings back all the memories. I remember finding that crystal in the 'hidden' room in the central tower - I was just bouncing around and suddenly, pop! I was in this room... odd...

      I'll probably never forget this game - it was one of the most engaging games I have ever played. Elite is the other (it took me two years of irregular play but I eventually made it to Elite and over 1,000,000 credits - and then I had even more fun with a savegame editor, imposing my own prices for even more powerful lasers and cargo capacities).

      Did anyone play Strykers Run: Codename Droid?

    5. Re:Citadel by meowsqueak · · Score: 1

      I can't remember what the two blue 'boxes' were for (one is near where you start). Also, the iron bar...

    6. Re:Citadel by alyosha1 · · Score: 1

      It was possible! You had to take the ice-crystal down with you, which froze the ice. Then you could jump over the plants, get through the tunnel to the right and retrieve one of the hidden crowns. Ok, I don't know what that says about me...

    7. Re:Citadel by alyosha1 · · Score: 1

      Yes, I finished Codename Droid. It was easier than Strykers Run I found, but if you didn't jump just right on the very last level you got stuck in a little hole you couldn't jump out of, and had to start the entire game again...

      Ahh, memories.

    8. Re:Citadel by alyosha1 · · Score: 1

      I think that if you took them to StoneHenge they got converted into gold bars, but I've forgotten what you would use them for after that.

    9. Re:Citadel by meowsqueak · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I realise that - I meant the 'pipes' you see after you've reached the bottom - you can't jump up some of them, they are too high.

    10. Re:Citadel by meowsqueak · · Score: 1

      That was right next to some kind of space ship thing, wasn't it? Down there with the nuclear missiles. I got up to that bit several times, but EVERY SODDING TIME I'd get stuck in that hole!! So, I was pretty close to the end then?

      I never completed Strykers Run unfortunately - tended to die fairly early. Was it just me, or was it possible to 'stand' on bullets? ;)

  10. Bloatware! by mark2003 · · Score: 1

    The compressed download for this game is 4.5 megs.

    Considering the original ran in 32 kb of memory this is worse than Microsoft bloating...