Ludography
Oo-Topos cover

1986 · Penguin Software · Adventure

Oo-Topos

After having crashlanded on the planet of Oo-Topos and taken prisoner your goal is to break out of captivity, repair your ship and get away from the hostile planet.

Released
1986
Platforms
AmigaApple IIAtari STAtari ST/STECommodore 64Commodore C64/128/MAXMS-DOS
Genres
Adventure
Developers
Penguin Software
Publishers
Penguin Software
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
Text
Themes
Science fiction
Country
United States
Languages
English
Time to beat
9hwith extras

About

Oo-Topos is an interactive fiction game published by Sentient Software in 1981 for the Apple II. In 1986 it was re-released by Polarware for additional systems and with graphical depictions of scenes described by the game's text. The graphics were designed using Penguin Software's Graphics Magician.

›Story

It's 1995 A.D., Earth time.

An Interstellar Transport carrying power transfusion waste collided with a meteor, scattering its contents towards Earth's Sun. The transfusion waste ist so deadly that all life on Earth will be destroyed unless something is done to save it. But Earth, in a restricted travel zone, has neither the knowledge of nor the technology to cope with such a catastrophe.

Your mission is to deliver the chemical seeds of a protective compound that will render the waste harmless. Your destination is Observation Labport 5V, a seemingly lifeless planet just outside of Eartth's Solar System. From there, the compound can be synthesized and secrectly seeded into the Earth's atmosphere.

During the otherwise routine voyage, however, your ship was ensnared by a tractor beam and forced to land on the planetoid Oo-Topos. Hostile aliens boarded your ship and threw you in a prison cell. You must escape and recover your ship with it's valuable cargo. Life on Earth depends on you.

Keywords

  • shoot 'em up
  • interactive fiction
  • spaceship
  • space battle
  • single-screen level
  • instant kill

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The player enters commands on the keyboard to progress. Commands usually involve verbs such as "Go, Get, Put, Shoot, Use, etc." and nouns such as "laser, food, rod, etc." Directions such as "North, South, East, West" are used to move through areas and rooms within the game.

Abbreviations are allowed such as "N, E, W, S." When entering a new area, the text gives a detailed description of the location and any relevant facts that may or may not help with progress. This can include both objects and living beings.

Story

The pilot of a space vessel is carrying important cargo vital to the survival of humanity. The pilot is attacked by space pirates and forced to land on the planet Oo-Topos. After landing the pilot is captured and imprisoned in a fortress on the alien world. The pilot must escape confinement, retrieve the precious cargo taken from the crashed ship and get off Oo-Topos with it in order to save the human race from extinction.

Reception

Dale Archibald reviewed Oo-Topos in Ares Magazine #13 and commented that "Aside from the fact that you can be resurrected, this isn't a particularly unusual game. If mental jigsaw puzzles are your favorite hobby, Oo-Topos should keep you happily occupied for many, many hours."

Legacy

Many years later, Penguin Software released Oo-Topos (with several other games) as freeware.

Also after end of official support, an enthusiast reconstructed a source code variant of the game's engine to port it to modern platforms.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Apple II31 December 1981North America
Amiga31 December 1986North America
Atari ST/STE31 December 1986North America
Commodore C64/128/MAX31 December 1986North America
MS-DOS31 December 1986North America

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Licensing

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.