Scuba Dive

edited April 2011 in Games
ScubaDive.gifScubaDive.gif

One of my fave games. Very original. One of the best from the early years, definitely. The difficulty of searching oxygen bottles in the depth labyrinths, the giant octopus,... a great game!

Your opinions?
Post edited by JuanF. Ramirez on

Comments

  • edited April 2011
    Yes loved it, very polished game, nice use of color and great animation. Used to load it up just to watch the sharks turn and the Octopus do it's thing.
  • edited April 2011
    a VERY good game!
  • edited April 2011
    Hmm, never played it, :p
    So far, so meh :)
  • edited April 2011
    One of my favourites too, really colourful detailed sprites etc, too difficult to get back on the boat though!
    zxgraph page HERE

  • edited April 2011
    mickfarrow wrote: »
    One of my favourites too, really colourful detailed sprites etc, too difficult to get back on the boat though!

    You're kidding right? Just swim back up to the surface behind the boat and paddle up to it. Done!
  • edited April 2011
    Hark at Hannah Smith, here! ;)
  • edited April 2011
    Absolutely brilliant game. I bought this with some money I got for my birthday one year and have loved it since the first time I loaded it up.
  • Another thumbs up from me. Scuba Dive is a wonderful game. It took a little while to get used to the controls but well worth the perseverence.

    There's a good atmosphere in the game and it manages to be both relaxing and tense at the same time. The darkness of the sea and the (very) sparse sound effects only add to this.

    The time I got past the first octopus and into the lower caverns is one of my earliest speccy memories.

    Very good animation on the sea-life too and well-judged difficulty offers an exploration or points gathering approach. Do you go after that giant pearl/chest or try and track down that oxygen tank you saw just off screen? Can you get back up to the boat in time to deposit your treasure or will you get too greedy and 'pop' out of existence? When you get knocked unconscious by the giant clam will you be able to recover before the squid finished you off?

    Will you get back up to the boat with pockets full of treasure and stupidly bang your head on the hull? :-(
  • edited April 2011
    redballoon wrote: »
    Hark at Hannah Smith, here! ;)

    Mmmmm... Hannah Smith :D

    I wonder whatever happened to her.
  • edited April 2011
    Yup, superb game. Haven't played it in ages, definately need to play it again soon. Well reminded. :smile:
  • edited April 2011
    it's a nice game but I still couldn't manage to finish level 1.

    What's the object of the game? Collect everything?
  • edited April 2011
    Arda wrote: »
    What's the object of the game? Collect everything?

    Objective? High score I think like a lot of earlier games.
  • edited April 2011
    beanz wrote: »
    Objective? High score I think like a lot of earlier games.

    I mean how do you finish a level?
  • edited April 2011
    Arda wrote: »
    I mean how do you finish a level?

    The same way you finish a level in Elite or Flight Simulation, i.e. you don't.

    The whole point of the game is just to explore and collect.
  • edited April 2011
    As much as I enjoy exploration games, this game didn't "do it" for me.

    And I don't even remember what it was that I disliked about it. Maybe I should go check it out to make sure I still don't like it.
  • ZnorXman wrote: »
    And I don't even remember what it was that I disliked about it. Maybe I should go check it out to make sure I still don't like it.

    I used to be like that with cider. Nowadays I don't wake up in a hedge ;)
  • edited April 2011
    Great little game, but one I have not played for years. I'll have to fire up the Speccy later to have another go at it. What made it great was the the challenge of finding oxygen bottles or heading back to the boat and to ensure you didnt run out of air whilst collecting the goodies. A recipe for a great game!
  • edited April 2011
    Pretty good game. I never played it until later in the spectrum's life, but friends at primary school (including two sisters) raved about it at the time. The attention to detail is great. As I recall, they also had Mrs Mop which I have yet to try.
  • edited April 2011
    Tried it ... still don't like it.

    And here is why:
    I don't like "Thrust" type games ... even though there is no gravity at play in this game, I just don't care for the way the controls work. Sure it's "wonderful" to zip around in empty areas and it's somewhat easy to manage getting around the wildlife.

    Also, I don't care for how the collision detection works. It seems to me to be very unforgiving, and I never seem to get it right when I've grabbed something slimy from a shell (or elsewhere). I think I'm miles away from the landscape but then WHAMMO death out of nowhere, apparently because I touched a pixel far away, while re-orienting myself (away from the shell/etc) ... frustration level is just too high for me on this one.

    But I agree it's definitely a nice looking game (for those who are able to enjoy it). And there are obviously enough people who do enjoy it, at least according to this thread.

    Sorry, I'm just one of those people who can't get used to the controls+collision detection.
  • edited April 2011
    Dad bought it when it first came out and I've never stopped playing it. It certainly showed off the Speccys capabilities at the time, and it's endured - losing nothing of its charm or playablity. Check out the other formats of Scuba Dive... you'll be horrified at how bad they are!

    Oh yeah, don't just swim headlong into the rocks or try and turn around 360 when you've got a pearl... that's a sure way to popsville. You gotta play the game with deft maneuverability.

    Totally fab and one of the Speccy's golden greats.
  • edited April 2011
    Yep - this is one I reviewed yonks back. A truly superb time and one of the best games from the 'early' Speccy years.

    Still playable, still fun, still atmospheric, this game and many others are why Durrell where one of my favourite software houses.
  • edited April 2011
    I agree with some people about the 'weak point' of this game, the movement: clockwise and thrust. A better movement would have been better...
  • edited April 2011
    I absolutely loathe this. Was forced to play it for ST2009 and will never, ever do it again. Strictly for masochists and self-haters only. Some nice animated sprites though.
  • edited April 2011
    Graz wrote: »
    It certainly showed off the Speccys capabilities at the time, and it's endured - losing nothing of its charm or playablity. Check out the other formats of Scuba Dive... you'll be horrified at how bad they are!

    Oh yeah, don't just swim headlong into the rocks or try and turn around 360 when you've got a pearl... that's a sure way to popsville. You gotta play the game with deft maneuverability.

    Totally fab and one of the Speccy's golden greats.

    ...+1 here!

    I don't see the problem with the control system, I'm not sure what other movement options there could be, surely directional movement wouldn't work in this case?

    I don't have a problem with the collision detection either, I actually like the way you have to be careful when picking the pearls from the clams. After a bit of practice it's quite easy to do, it's just about getting the angle right.

    Found it quite creepy & atmospheric as you get deeper too - played it recently and still think it's great!
  • edited April 2011
    Matt_B wrote: »
    The same way you finish a level in Elite or Flight Simulation, i.e. you don't.

    The whole point of the game is just to explore and collect.

    hmm, I was looking at pavero's maps, and there seems 4 levels, then I guess pavero used 4 different run, and the map always generated from scratch every time.
  • edited April 2011
    You felt claustrophobic in the narrow tunnels, almost felt the depth as you explored deeper and its true you could just sit and watch the fish swimming around like in aquarium-neat.
    It gets my vote.
  • edited April 2011
    +1 here as well , an instantly playable super duper scuba diving simulation .
  • edited April 2011
    Graz wrote: »
    ...You gotta play the game with deft maneuverability...

    Or, in my case, substitute "deft" with "daft" :p
    Arda wrote: »
    hmm, I was looking at pavero's maps, and there seems 4 levels, then I guess pavero used 4 different run, and the map always generated from scratch every time.

    I'm guessing you were actually looking at Laddermans' map, and the 4 levels are based on the skill level, higher skill level making the play-area a little bit larger.
  • edited April 2011
    Great game to play in the vast silence of night, sometimes relaxant, sometimes tense, sometimes asphyxiating.
    I absolutely loathe this. Was forced to play it for ST2009 and will never, ever do it again. Strictly for masochists and self-haters only.

    +1 because sweet recalls. One of the (very) few games I've managed to beat you :p
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