Archipelagos - (by AntHill Games) [Universal]

[slewis7]

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This is based on an old Amiga and Atari ST game that I thought was really cool back in the day. I was the proud owner of an Amiga 1000 when it was released (in the mid 80s I recall) and, yes, it was by far the coolest computing device I ever owned. It was amazingly far ahead of its time. Jay Miner and Amiga will live forever for many of us older computer nerds.

The original developer of the game has updated Archipelagos a bit with graphics from a newer PC version and touch controls. He posted about it in the Archipelagos Upcoming thread.

Somewhat surprisingly, Archipelagos seems to hold up pretty well in my brief time playing it. The touch controls work pretty well on an iPad screen, but I can't say how well they will work on a smaller screen. Part of the gameplay involves touching squares of land. You do have to be careful trying to touch far away squares as it is easy to miss and then you move past your target. In that case, I find it is best to tap part way there and then aim for the now larger square.

While there is a huge nostalgia factor for me, I still think this could be of interest to a general audience here. Check it out.

[slamraman]

Absolutely great find. Didn't play it back in the day but enjoyed this last night. Could do with a double tap to stop or some such. Will come backnto it once I've cracked Little Inferno. Good one.

[PaulCarruthers]

Really chuffed that you're enjoying it guys.

I'm generally dubious about re-releases of old games, but I think the gameplay here has stood the test of time well.

Double tap to stop is a good idea although if you were over water or poisoned land then it would cause a problem. You'd have to keep moving until you reached a "clean" square OR just ignore the instruction. I'll have a think!

[iPadisGreat]

What is Archipelagos? Can't figure out from the description and pictures. Is it a Populous clone?

[slewis7]

Originally Posted by iPadisGreat

What is Archipelagos? Can't figure out from the description and pictures. Is it a Populous clone?

I think the best way to understand it is to look at some of the available YouTube videos. Basically you fly over this 3d landscape tapping on certain type of terrain elements and avoiding other elements. There is a time factor to take into consideration since parts of the land areas are being increasingly poisoned over time. The game is not much at all like Populous other then both have an evolving 3d lanscape, and it is much simpler.

[PaulCarruthers]

Not like Populous, no.

It's about connecting up islands and then destroying stones.

Here's a gameplay video that might help..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0BpNMsafMI

[naberhaus]

Yes, yes, yes!!! Loved it on my Amiga! Looks great!

Gonna snap it up now!