Strangeloop

User Summary:

A stand-out game for the ZX spectrum which used existing elements in new ways. You play as an engineer sent into a robot factory that's out of control. In your space-suit, you make your way around the rooms, cleaning up the swarf that bounces everywhere, using items, robots, machines to fix stuff. The swarf punctures your suit, so patching and oxygen are vital supplies.

The game had 240 rooms, a huge number for its day and for the limits of a 48k machine, mainly generated from a variety of objects (boxes, spikes, belts, arms and so on) but with enough variation of shape and colour to keep the rooms unique and recognisable. There is a powerful psychedelic colour scheme through the game which added to its flavour.

Strangeloop also had the most advanced inter-action in the game for its time. The things you do or fix in one room had a direct effect in others. This meant deliberately having to move back and forth to open up further rooms in the factory. Whilst this wasn't new, Strangeloop pushed this aspect to new levels. So the game included a Save Game facility to record your progress. The makers claimed the game offered months of pleasure. It was too long for me to ever complete!

The cassette cover used a Jack Kirby drawing.

From the insert:

Author profile
Charles Goodwin is 28 years old and lives in North London. Ten years ago Charles was introduced to programming on large computers and indeed currently earns his living working with large computer systems. In the last few years he has extended it still to micro computers and games.

In his leisure time he devotes most of his energies into his lifelong love of drawing and painting. Charles used to enjoy playing Dungeons and Dragons and both reading and writing Science Fiction but writing computer games seems to have left no time for that.