Quest for the Macguffin

Retrospective

From a young age, I knew I wanted to make video games. I poured over every article in Nintendo Power that revealed any aspect of how games were made. I devoured any game that had a level editor built into it. I yearned for the tools to make games, but there was almost nothing available to help kids get started with game development in the '90s.

My first foray into game development was with 3D Game Studio (called "Acknex 4" at the time), where I was exposed to a demo/tutorial project called "Quest for the Macguffin," which featured a man in a suit of armor walking around a sandy enclosure. As a ten-year-old with no scripting experience, I couldn't make heads or tails of how to modify this tutorial, or how to use this engine more generally.

A few months later, completely by accident, I stumbled across another, simpler game engine - Klik 'n' Play, which was exactly what I needed to get started.

Looking for an idea for my first game, I decided I would try to recreate the 3D demo from Acknex 4, but in 2D. So I began reconstructing the little sandy enclosure (as best as I could remember it), drawing everything I remembered as simple tile sprites. Then I recreated the man in armor, drawing him with a little red feather panache.

Once I had done that, I wasn't sure where to go next. So I started improvising, building the game out one room at a time.

A few months later, I had completed my first game.

Original Description from the TXT File (dated August 22, 2000)

STORY

Year 3000. Humans step on Saturn. 5 days later, the pictures were taken, and one man noticed a large, blinding orb. It was too bright for him. He fainted and got sent back down to earth. 1 month later, there was a terrible meteor shower on Russia. In one area, the only two who survived the terrible meteor shower was Bill and his rival, Crabapple. Both were Russian guards, and the meteor shower happened to the carry the bright orb down with it. Crabapple steals it, thinking it will make him a fortune, but it actually looks dangerous to Bill. Bill's ancestors told him of an orb on Saturn that would come to earth. It must return on Saturn, and only one must return it. Bill has to get it back from Crabapple, or the whole world might be in danger.

WHAT YOU'LL GET IN THIS GAME

• Big fat graphics
• Hilarious animations and levels.
• Fast-moving action!
• Tons of levels
• A great challenge
• DUDE---IT'S FANTASTIC!!!!!!!

CONTROLS

• Move Left - Left Arrow
• Move Right - Right Arrow
• Jump - Ctrl.
• Climb - Up Arrow (near a rope)
• Panic Key - F5
• Restart Game - F2
• Shoot - Space Bar (on some boss levels)
• Hide the Menu - F8
• Quit Game - Alt+4
• Pause - Alt or Ctrl. and P

JOYSTICK CONTROLS

• Move Left and Right - Joystick
• Jump - Button 1
• Climb - Move Joystick Up (near a rope)

MULTIPLAYER

Two players use the keyboard, but you must have at least one joystick to play three people.

WEB SITE ADRESS

Get Quest for the Macguffin and other exciting games at: http://homestead.juno.com/maxandapril/megalithicmainframe  

Also check out Anton's site at: http://homestead.juno.com/maxandapril/antonpower

WHAT'S MEGALITHIC MAINFRAME?

The company who makes these games!

HINTS

• The password to the multiplayer level is MOREFUN! Once someone wins - Press Esc. to go back to the main menu and Space Bar to try again.
• Player 2 controls:
  • Move - Number pad on the right
  • Jump - 1 Number Pad on the right
• Player 3 controls:
  • Move - Z,C,X,S
  • Jump - D
• Player 4 controls:
  • Move - Delete, End, Home, Page Down
  • Jump - Page Up
• Letter B - Takes you to the bonus level!
• Keyhole - Reveals level password.
• The trick to the level in Macguffin HQ (Level 7) is to jump in between the arrows from a distant brick.
• The Lightning Storm on Mars may seem impossible to get past, but I DID TEST IT and IT IS POSSIBLE! You just gotta get close to a strike and run. Don't jump, because a certain part of the lightning doesn't disappear.
• Here's a trick. There is a code to get past all the lightning strikes, but that's for me to know and you to find out.
• Tips on the boss battles: See what everything does to fight against him, since you have no weapons.
• Feeling BOOBEBABish [hinthinthint]? Take a ride to Nonsense Land!

I hope you had as much fun playing this as I did creating it! Quest for the Macguffin was made with Klik & Play.

---

• Development time: Summer 2000 (age 10)
• Tools I used: Klik 'n' Play
• Biggest inspirations: Commander Keen 2000 - the game that exposed me to Klik 'n' Play in the first place!