Impossible Mission (Oric)

Overview

Elvin Atombender is seeking world domination again. This time through an Oric near you!

Impossible Mission was an absolute classic game on the Commodore 64 with conversions for most other micros of the era.

The aim of the game is to locate puzzle pieces hidden in furniture spread across all the rooms in a large underground complex then assemble the pieces into punchcards that will form letters for the final Passcode into the Control room to finally foil Elvin's plans. Is that enough?

Oric Impossible Mission differs and is easier than other versions to play as follows

1. No robot sensors/limited robot patterns
2. The length of the robot plasma is much shorter than other versions
3. lifts in rooms always move in half height steps
4. Fewer puzzle pieces to find and match. 28 versus 36 on C64 version
5. Shorter password. 7 versus 9 letter on C64 Version
6. Ethan jumping arc is much more acute allowing him to somersault when the robot is adjacent to him

System Requirements

This is a game designed for the Oric Atmos computer (only works on 1.1 ROMs due to the saving code), but this version is packaged with a ready to run Windows emulator.

Credits

• All code, graphics and audio: Jonathan Bristow (Twilighte)
• Game testing: Symoon, Chema and Dbug
• Additional help: kml, Groepaz, Chema and Dbug

The graphics are all original, with inspiration always from C64 version

Feedback

If you like the game, if you have questions, if you want to post encouragement messages or suggestions, feel free to register on the Defence-Force forums and post your message in the official Impossible Mission feedback and review thread

Controls overview

Use Cursor keys Left, Right, Up and Down. 

All other keys act as Fire.

Corridor and Lift-Shaft Controls

Pressing Up or Down whilst in Lift will move the lift up or down respectively.

Whilst in the lift no other movement is possible.

Ethan can run left and right in the corridors. He can also somersault whilst within the corridor or into an adjacent room by pressing Fire whilst holding down Left or Right.

This is important since many rooms have lifts adjacent to the entrances and if the player has changed its position he will need to avoid the gap on entering the room again.

Ethan can also enter his pocket computer from the corridors. To do so he must press Fire on its own.

Room Controls

Pressing Left or Right will make Ethan run left or Right. Pressing Fire whilst running will make Ethan Somersault.

When standing on Room Lifts pressing Up or Down will raise or lower the lift.

When standing infront of the Security Terminal pressing Up will access it.

When standing infront of furniture pressing and holding Up will make Ethan search the furniture. Releasing the key resumes Ethan to the standing position.

After the search is complete Ethan will return to standing.

To exit a room simply move Ethan towards the exit.

Option List and Menu Controls

With all other menus and option lists in Mission Impossible the same controls are observed. This includes the Title Options, Security Terminal, Modem Options and Disk Options.

Press Up and Down to move through the menu items and Fire to select the option. For multiple option lines such as Difficulty setting, repeated presses of Fire will iterate the options.

Simon Computer Controls

Once the sequence has played use cursor keys to move around chequerboard and Fire to select cell.

Hints n Tips

In some rooms the gap between platforms is too wide to reach with a simple somersault. In this case there is a method of jumping that widens the potential gap between platforms. Since falling only occurs when Ethan puts a foot down onto air he can perform a running jump where just at the edge of the platform he can be seen to begin to somersault just beyond the edge.

Try it a few times. Move to a room where there is a big gap between platforms. then run towards the edge. Just after he runs beyond the edge but before he puts a foot down press fire and he should leap a little further.

This behaviour is supported in all versions of Impossible mission, not just the Oric version.

Hint 1 - Navigating the Complex

Search each room in a single lift shaft before progressing to next shaft. Return to rooms later if they prove too difficult since later means you should have some Passes to play with

Hint 2 - A puzzling situation

Since there are 28 puzzle pieces to find and 30 rooms each room only contains a maximum of one puzzle piece.

Therefore after locating a puzzle piece in a room the only reason to search the remaining furniture items would be to gain passes.

Hint 3 - Ground Lifts

Always return any room lifts on the far left and right to ground level before exiting the room. Whilst you may have completed your search of the room it may turn out to become a passage to get back across to the control room at the end of the game. If lifts are left away from ground level then the worse thing is dying when you are rushed for time :p

On game boot the title screen will be displayed with the pocket computer always resident below

Pressing a cursor key will bring up the Title options menu.

The options from top down are Difficulty (Easy, Difficult and Impossible), Screen mode (Colour or Monochrome), Audio state (On or Off), Load saved game and back to title.

Difficulty adjusts the game time limit where Easy is 6, Difficult is 4 and Impossible 2 Hours. The current difficulty is also displayed in the score panel...

Screen Mode is only for game area since the pocket computer relies on colours.

Game Saving

Impossible Mission supports saving the current game to Tape (since its a tape based game currently). If you use the emulator you are limited to one saved game however real Oric users may save as many games as they like.

The title options Load Game option will load a previously saved game and go direct to the corridor he was in when the game was saved.

The Load Game option is also available during the game as is the Game Save option.

Returning to title then pressing Fire will begin a new game.

New Game

On entering the complex for the first time Ethan will start in the Lift in the left most shaft.

Notice the map in the scorepanel. This map will give a live update of Ethans position in the corridors and lift-shafts. However this map will not be shown whilst he is in a room. Also notice that the map only shows the lift shaft and corridor nearest and doesn't show the rooms adjacent to him.

As Ethan discovers more rooms and corridors in the complex so these will be shown in the map.

Notice too that Ethans current position is shown as a glowing cursor in the map.

From this position Ethan can only move down.

Corridors

Now Ethan can move freely with left and right keys to run around. He can also somersault by pressing fire whilst a movement key is being pressed.

Pressing Fire on its own will take Ethan to the Pocket Computer.

Ethan can also enter the room on the left or right by simply running towards the exit.

Rooms

Each room may contain platforms, furniture, Security Terminals and robots.

In place of the map, rooms display messages issued either from Elvin or when things happen in the room

Ethan may move around in the same way as in the corridors however he cannot now access his pocket computer.

To rise from one platform to the next he may either somersault onto higher platforms as in this screenshot or may use the Room Lift by stepping onto it and pressing either Up or Down to activate it.

The Robots that exist in the rooms act as guards to obstruct you.

Robots

Each Robot may use one of a number of different movement patterns. The exact pattern of behaviour should be tracked before attempting to oppose the robot such as somersaulting over him or following him to reach a piece of furniture or seek passage.

Robots possess no senses beyond automated movement patterns but whilst they won't detect Ethans approach they won't react to it either.

Robots also possess an extremely high voltage plasma gun which is fired at particular points in the pattern.

If Ethan happens to come into contact either with the robot or the plasma gun he will instantly lose his life. In game terms this takes 10 minutes off his life and will reposition him at the entrance again.

Robots may only be disabled from the Security Terminal.

He may use the security terminal by walking infront of it and pressing UP.

Security Terminal

Two options exist in this menu. The first to reset lift platforms in the current room and the second to disable all robots for 30 seconds.

However to activate either of the options Ethan needs to possess Passes that can be collected from some furniture.

Room Furniture

Elvin has hidden puzzle pieces, lift reset passes and Robot Snoozes in the furniture. You must search each one to locate them.

Move infront of them then press and hold the Up key to begin searching.

During each search a box will be displayed containing a progress bar showing how far Ethan has got through searching the piece of furniture. After the furniture has been searched the furniture item will disappear and the result (if any) will be displayed whilst the Up key is still being held down. 5 points will also be awarded to the score.

 A Puzzle Piece was found

The puzzle piece will be added to your pocket computers puzzle memory and 100 points will be awarded in score.

 A Lift Reset Pass was found

Collecting a lift reset will award 50 points to the score. A Lift-Reset can be used in any room to reset the Lifts to their default positions. Use the security terminal to do this. The number of lift-resets ethan possesses are shown in the scorepanel.

 A Robot Snooze was found

Collecting a robot snooze will award 50 points to the score. The Robot snooze can be used in any room to disable the robots for 30 seconds. Use the security terminal to do this. 

The number of Snoozes ethan possesses are shown in the scorepanel.

Most rooms contain some furniture. However there are two special rooms to watch out for.

Simon Computer Room

The simon computer room houses a mainframe computer. It holds a large waist level console together with a electroluminescent display.

It is used by Elvin to issue additional Lift-Reset and Snooze Passes. However to entertain Elvin's mind he devised a game to outwit the stranger.

In order to gain passes the player must play back a series of notes in ascending order.

The display holds a chequerboard with each cell representing a single note. On logging onto the console the game begins with a series of notes being played and their corresponding cells being momentarily illuminated with a cross.

After the sequence has been played (in nor particular order) a square cursor will appear and the Player must select each note but this time in ascending order.

If successful the computer will issue a pass (could be either) then animate the chequerboard to indicate success.

If a wrong note is chosen then the player will be immediately logged out.

The player is allowed to log on as many times as they wish. However on each successful game the computer will increase the number of notes played.

Note that the simon computer room is shown on the map as two light blue dots within the room.

Control Room Doorway

Elvin resides in a central control room only accessible through a single doorway that can be found in one of the rooms somewhere in the complex.

The room looks like this one

Once the passcode is found then Ethan can enter this Control room (by pressing Up infront of it) and foil Elvin's evil plans.

Puzzle collection

Puzzle Pieces are fragments of a punchcard. In total there are 7 punchcards and each one has been fragmented into 4 parts known as puzzle pieces.

Each puzzle piece may need to be flipped or mirrored then merged with another to form a more complete punchcard. The final punchcard may then require

further flipping, mirroring and colour filtering before it is recognized by the pocket computer, read and turned into a passcode letter.

Once a number of puzzle pieces have been collected the player should move Ethan to a corridor and access his pocket computer by pressing Fire.

The Puzzle Editor replaces the map.

It contains the puzzle pieces found, on the left. This list is known as the Puzzle Memory.

The single slot on the right is known as the work memory.

When the cursor is moved right (off the power button) the current puzzle piece is selected. Moving right again moves the cursor to the buttons on the right.

When fire is pressed the selected puzzle piece is moved to the work memory. The three top buttons on the right side of the pocket computer control the work memory.

The first button will flip (mirror vertically) the Puzzle piece.

The second button will mirror (mirror horizontally) the Puzzle piece.

The third button will move all work memory merged puzzle pieces back into the Puzzle Memory.

When it is believed a puzzle piece in the Puzzle Memory can be merged with the work memory puzzle piece without any overlap then the cursor should be moved to select the puzzle piece (from the Puzzle Memory) and press Fire.

This will attempt to merge the two puzzle pieces together. If they overlap with one another then the pocket computer will reject the attempt.

And so the process should continue until 4 puzzle pieces have been merged together to form a punchcard like these ones..

However the punchcards may still require correct orientation. The may also require correct colour filtering. The second row of the buttons to the right in the pocket computer control the colour of the final punchcard.

These are Yellow, Green and White

Once the pocket computer recognises the punchcard it will clear it from the work memory and issue a letter of the final Passcode. 500 points will also be awarded to the players score.

Once all the letters have been found Ethan must get to the control room (as described above) and defeat Elvin.

Ethan may also utilise the power of the mainframe computer by using the integrated Modem to dial out to check if the possessed Puzzle pieces are enough to form a single punchcard.

Modem Menu

The bottom left pocket computer button switches on the modem menu.

when the modem menu is displayed and if sound is enabled then the dialing tone should be heard. This indicates that the modem has a connection to the outside world.

Two options can be chosen. The first option will dial out to discover if the possessed Puzzle pieces are enough to form at least one Punchcard. The second option will dial out to scan for the location of the Control and Simon rooms. These will then be shown on the map when Ethan switches off the pocket computer.

On selecting either option a short pause will be experienced whilst the modem physically dials out to establish a connection with the Mainframe back at HQ.

to Quit the menu select the HANG UP option.

The three buttons in the bottom right of the Pocket computer are described in the following sections.

Audio

During the game audio (sound) may be switched on or off with this button.

The audio state will also be shown in the scorepanel as a tick or a cross.

Statistics

During the game statistics will be accrued for the final report that Ethan will create on his return to HQ (should he survive to tell the tale). These statistics may be viewed using the Stats button on the bottom row of the right buttons on the Pocket computer.

The puzzle editor will temporarily be replaced with the game stats.

Furniture corresponds to the number of furniture that have been completely searched for items. Rooms are the number of rooms visited. Puzzles are the number of Puzzle pieces found. Punchcards are the number of Punchcards found and Simon Steps represent the level accrued using the simon Computer to gain more Passes.

Press any key to exit from Stats. Also note that viewing stats will not freeze time

Pause

The game may be paused (freezing time) anytime during gameplay. However it will temporarily hide the Puzzle piece editor whilst it displays the message.

The Pause Button will animate during pausing. Press any key to resume gameplay (and time).