The What Ho! Cinema

Big update: the game is now 60% bigger, in fact.

My original idea for the Corridor, as I have mentioned before, is that the game would be an Oregon Trail affair, and this incarnation is very much the prequel to it –– a chance for some world-building. The original ‘test’ would have required the player to unravel clues to find out what happened to Dave. As I have progressed with the game, I like the idea that each section of the corridor has a quest, so this update introduces the What Ho! Cinema.

I am grateful to James O’Grady for allowing me permission to use his likeness for the character. I am a big fan of his YouTube channel WhatHoSnorkers!, which you can check out here (https://www.youtube.com/JamesO'GradyWhatHoSnorkers), as it reminds me of my childhood and specifically; my first computer, which was a Commodore 16 plus 4 that we got circa 1986/7. I remember being dragged along by my parents to Comet (or the like) to buy a new kettle, and with the machine being recently discontinued, there were piles of them in the shop, massively reduced in price, to the point where they were practically giving them away.

What followed were numerous trips to the library to pick up ‘Type your own games’ books. However, most of these books were aimed at C64, BBC, Spectrum and rarely, if at all, could I get these games to work on the Commodore 16’s BASIC but nevertheless, many a happy afternoon spent typing away. On James’s channel, he often goes through these old type-in games, making improvements –– hence the nostalgia. Also, those days you really needed to use your imagination, and his videos capture that zeitgeist of the period splendidly.

Visiting What Ho! Cinema, depending on your choices, gives the quest for this section of the corridor.

Fixes:

• Guard option at the Hinterland Gate was still not working properly, despite the last update.
• There was a glitch in the services, where you could get stuck in the bin.
• Some typos.

Major:

• Two new characters.
• Three new locations.
• Branching paths are back.
• 30 New lines of Dialogue.
• 26 New images – including 6 new pieces of rubbish to find.

New Music:

I’ve expanded the opening theme, which I am calling England by Vang-Wellies. I’ve been playing around with automation and an LX-480 compressor in Logic Pro, and I will be the first to admit, I have no idea what I am doing – so expect a further revision down the line. There is also background music for the cinema.

Minor:

• Magic Mike changed to Amazing Alec.
• Tea choice introduced in Camp Hood.
• 3 new images to the intro.
• Introduced some more typos.

The next update will be a night at Colin’s – this, I envisage, is at least going to double the size of the game, so it will be some time coming.