Operation: Inner Space

For other uses, see Inner space (disambiguation).
Operation: Inner Space
Developer(s) Software Dynamics
Publisher(s) Software Dynamics
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release date(s) 1994
Genre(s) Action / Strategy

Operation: Inner Space is a PC game developed in 1992 and published in 1994 by Software Dynamics for Windows computers. In the game, the player's mission is to enter the computer (represented by "Inner Space") in a spaceship and recover the icons and resources that have been set loose by an invasion, and ultimately to destroy the "Inner Demon". The game includes a "Ship Factory", which allows the player to make and customize ships. Three add-ons were released that added additional ships and increased the Ship Factory's functionality. The game received highly positive reviews, with reviewers praising its artificial intelligence, replayability, and originality. The game is available for purchase on Software Dynamics's website, where the shareware version is also available for download. The shareware version was distributed as part of the cover CD in Issue 8 of Computer Life magazine (December 1995). A sequel, named Operation: Inner Space 2: Lightning was planned, but cancelled.

Game storyline

The Inner Demon and its viruses have invaded the player's computer and infected its icons. Then the Inner Demon set up a lair in a black hole which changes position. Guarding this lair are four dragons each holding one of the Inner Demon's powers. Using a little spaceship, the player goes into the computer's "Inner Space" to collect the uninfected icons and stop the Inner Demon, while simultaneously improving his ship and maintaining relationships with the population of Inner Space.[1](p2)[2]

Gameplay

Screenshot of a typical wave in progress

Each ship in the game belongs to one of eight teams: the Avengers, Pirates, Predators, Enforcers, Renegades, Fuzzy Ones, Knights, and the Speed Demons. Each team has their own personality and behaviours; for example, the Knights tend to be helpful to their allies, whereas the Pirates enjoy looting other ships. The player can play as any ship from any team, except the Enforcers who only police the many levels as bots. Each team has pre-set relations with the other teams, which are not fixed and can easily change throughout the game. Some ships have special attributes, such as a cloak or shield.[1](pp11,14)

Once the player has chosen a disk drive to "disinfect" and a ship (and therefore a team) to pilot, the player must then choose which directory to enter. Once a directory has been chosen, the player is debriefed on the "wave", which includes which icons are present, which other ships are entering, and what hazards (if any) are present.[1](p3) Hazards include viruses, which infect icons, and turrets, which fire lasers or a specific type of weapon when a ship comes into close proximity.[1](pp7–8) Upon entering a wave, the player's primary task is to collect each icon present. Icons are also the game's currency used to purchase weapons and upgrades. Icons can be damaged (reducing their value), infected (which not only eliminates their value, but also causes the player's ship to temporarily lose control), or destroyed completely. Icons can also spawn small ships called defenders to protect themselves. These ships circle around the icon and attack anything which threatens it. Upon capturing an icon, its defenders switch allegiance to the ship which captured it.[1](p7) Also present are fuel tanks, which the player must collect regularly to avoid running out of fuel. The player will encounter other ships and interact with them, which can include giving them commands. Other ships may not be friendly and the player may enter combat with them. When a ship is destroyed, a resource pack is released containing its icons and a weapon. If the player's ship is destroyed, the game ends. Helping other ships may strengthen relations between its team and the player's team, and attacking them will worsen relations. Friendly ships may come to the player's aid if trouble is encountered.[1](pp11–12) During a wave, any ship can call in the "ambulance" which offers repair and refuelling services, weapons and upgrades.[1](p9)[3] Weapons that can be purchased range from missiles utilizing various targeting mechanisms, to fireballs.[1](p14) Upgrades include more powerful lasers and stronger armour. The player can also purchase a whole new ship, although their identity and team will not change.[4] The player leaves a wave by flying through an exit gate.[5][6][2][7]

From time to time, a black hole will appear and suck the player into the Inner Demon's realm. Here, the player must attempt to rob the Inner Demon of some of its powers. If the player manages to do this, a special weapon (called a "noble weapon") is released for the player to collect. Damage inflicted on the player here is not permanent and the player will return to normal upon exiting when a noble weapon is collected or the player is destroyed. Once the player has obtained all four noble weapons, the Inner Demon can be challenged. If the player is victorious in this challenge, the game is won.[1](pp4,8)[2][7]

Inner Space has laws which all ships must obey. Crimes include destroying uninfected icons and attacking an Enforcer. A patrol Enforcer will occasionally enter and look for crime. If a crime occurs, an Intercept Enforcer is called in to arrest the offender. The offender will be handcuffed and taken through an exit gate to the Hall of Justice, where the offender will be charged and punished for the crime(s). Punishments include fines and confiscation of weapons. If the offender resists arrest, the Enforcer will respond accordingly before continuing with the arrest. In serious cases, a Terminator Enforcer may be called into the wave to destroy the offender.[1](p13)[8][6][2][7]

Some directories will occasionally, and at random, become race directories (the directory where the game is installed is always a race directory). This means the player must race on one of three courses to win the icons. If the player comes in first place, the icons are his to collect. Stealing icons is a crime and the thief will be arrested immediately upon doing so, even in the absence of a patrol Enforcer.[1](pp15–16) There are also duel directories, where the player is locked into a duel with other ships, and must either win or be destroyed.[9][4][2]

The game can be played in either Action mode, where the player handles all the controls manually, or in Strategy mode, where the player gives commands to his ship, and the finer details are handled automatically. For example, the player can command the ship to attack a target, but cannot chose which weapons to use, or when or how they are used.[1](p10)[6]

Development

Operation: Inner Space was developed in 1992 for Microsoft Windows 3.1. Software Dynamics were aiming to have the game running at 36 frames per second on 16mhz 386 PCs, and were determined to develop a native Windows game that rivalled the performance of DOS games. The idea to develop the game came about because Software Dynamics wanted to develop something new after developing screensavers. They did not want the game to be like other games where the objective is to kill everyone, but rather to play with the opponents instead. The development team aimed to create an artificial intelligence that felt like real opponents. Another aspect they were striving to achieve was personalized worlds for each user. The team thought this was important because they believed consumers liked things customized just for them. Furthering this goal was the creation of the Ship Factory to enable players to create their own ships with their own sound effects, which Bill Stewart, the game's director, stated was not easy. The team also felt that the game should be funny, and to that end, they "couldn't resist going wild" and created ships such as ducks, tigers, and Mig 29s, and made the fuel tanks change into items such as tea cups at certain times of day. Another goal the team had was to make players think of the game objects as real objects by giving them as many characteristics as they could, such as rocks heating up when shot and doing more damage if a collision occurs when heated. The team also wanted the sound and the graphics to be interesting to the player, and spent "endless hours" perfecting the voice overs to present useful information in such a way. According to Bill Stewart, the team spent "thousands of hours designing, programming, and debugging", and that they did not know if anybody was going to like it because it "ventured into uncharted territory".[10][11]

Three add-ons were released for the game; a Ship Builder's Kit, which enhanced the Ship Factory and enables the player to import ships. This is required for the other two add-ons; the Military and Nations of The World ship sets, which add military ships such as tanks and World War 1 and 2 planes, and ships based on various nation's flags respectively. These add-ons were combined and released as "The Works!", which also includes sound and voice packages which are also available separately.[12]

Operation: Inner Space 2: Lightning had been a planned sequel, but the publisher cancelled the game's development. Software Dynamics, now known as Dynamic Karma, has stated it has no intentions of further game development.[11]

Reception

Operation: Inner Space received critical acclaim. Gamer's Ledge remarked that "OPERATION: inner space is a great game that will astound you!", adding that the game is "An excellent example for other developers to emulate". Maximize Magazine called the game "A slick native Windows game that rivals the best the Mac world has to offer". PC Multimedia & Entertainment Magazine praised the game's artificial intelligence, remarking that " Inner Space has a sophisticated artificial intelligence that makes it endlessly entertaining". Michael Bendner was impressed that the game could fit onto one floppy disk, commenting that "Operation: Inner Space is proof that a very playable and enjoyable game can still be created to fit onto one disk (yes, that's ONE (1) disk)".[6] The game made it into the finalists for Ziff Davis's 1995 Shareware Awards, where it was called "The best of a new breed of native Windows games".[13] Happy Puppy Games praised the game's originality, stating that "Turning directories, applications and icons from real files into a playable game is simply brilliant". Windows Magazine called the gameplay "unique". The Shareware Shop complimented its "Excellent sound and graphics", and added that "This game is definitely one of the World's Best!". Midnight Publications called the game "Amazingly fast, interesting and addictive!". Dan Nguyen of Games Domain stated that "This is an awesome action game...Intense", and was also impressed with the game's size, remarking "A small pro of this game is the tiny space it occupies on your hard drive, 2 MB!".[2] Computer life commented that "Inner Space encourages and empowers your creativity!". Windows 95 uncut called it "Simply the best". Computer life UK considered the game "an animated, audio-filled blast". PC Direct called the game "the arcade shoot 'em-up with attitude", and remarked that "Your PC will never seem the same again". Computer Gaming World commented that the game "offers an entertaining twist to a classic game idea".[14][15]

The game was not without its critics. Jason Bednarik of World Village called the game "repetitious", further stating that the icon collecting and challenging the Inner Demon "doesn't make it much more challenging, just more tedious". He concluded by calling the game a remake of Asteroids, commenting that "For serious gamers, this is just another remake of an old game that's not worth $29.95".[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Operation: Inner Space Instruction Manual. Software Dynamcis. 1994.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dan Nguyen. "Operation: InnerSpace". Games Domain. Archived from the original on 12 January 2004. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  3. ↑ "Totally Important Games: Operation: Inner Space". Totally Important Games. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  4. 1 2 Software Dynamics (1994). "Inner Space Help".
  5. ↑ Software Dynamics (1994). Operation: Inner Space. Microsoft Windows. Software Dynamics.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Michael Bendner (19 December 1995). "Operation: Inner Space from Software Dynamics Inc.". PCM&E. Archived from the original on 24 June 1997. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Ed. "Operation: Inner Space". Socksmakepeoplesexy.net. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  8. 1 2 Jason Bednarik (1997). "A Review of Operation : Inner Space". World Village. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  9. ↑ Rose, Michael (15 September 2009). "Old Favourite: Inner Space (Software Dynamics)". IndieGames. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  10. ↑ Stewart, Bill. "The Making of Inner Space". Software Dynamics. Archived from the original on 5 January 2000. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  11. 1 2 "Inner Space Support". Software Dynamics. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  12. ↑ "SDi Product Information". Software Dynamics. Archived from the original on 5 June 2000. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  13. ↑ "ZIFF-DAVIS ANNOUNCES FINALISTS FOR ITS 1995 SHAREWARE AWARDS COMPETITION". Free Online Library. 2 June 1995. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  14. ↑ "Inner Space features". Software Dynamics. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  15. ↑ "Inner Space Press Page". Software Dynamics. Archived from the original on 28 November 1999. Retrieved 11 February 2016.

External links

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