Chimera (video game)

Chimera is a 1985 arcade video game developed by video game designer Shahid Ahmad.

Game plot

About to disable an electric fence with a spanner

A huge spaceship threatens to destroy Earth. One person must board the vessel and activate its self-destruct mechanism to make it explode, saving Earth.

In Chimera, the player moves through an isometric maze of 8 x 8 screens. The player must try to gain access to hidden or blocked areas of the spaceship, often searching for items in order to circumvent various obstacles. Once the obstacles are disabled, the player may use items to create a warhead and carry it to one of the "blue" rooms of the ship. Upon activation of all four warheads, the player must reach the green room in order to complete the quest.

The player must also attend to his water and food reserves, which run out faster when carrying something or when in a hot room. Both water and food can be found in the maze occasionally. If the reserves run out, or if the player tries to disable an obstacle with an incorrect item, the player dies and has lost the game.

Upon completion of the game, the player receives a key combination granting access to a bonus game in which the player has to shoot at a row of items (similar to Space Invaders). It has been said that the bonus game on the Atari 800 crashed due to a programming error. However, the game's author claimed^[1] that the Atari 800 bonus game, A Different Kettle of Fish, was working when the software was shipped to the publisher, Firebird Software.

Sequel

25 years after the release of the original Chimera, game designer Shahid Ahmad commenced work on a 25th Anniversary Edition of the game, entitled Chimera 2010.^[2]

Announcing the launch of the Chimera 2010 project on the project's web site,^[2] Ahmad wrote, "I'm not sure which platform it will end up on, but I'll probably start with a prototype on the Mac."^[3]

The Chimera 2010 web site maintains a blog with information regarding the progress of the project, including design and development decisions.^[4] The project has gained much support and encouragement from those with fond memories of playing the original, including an offer to supply remakes of the original title audio track.

On the 13th February 2015, an AtariAge forum user by the name of "Tezz" from the United Kingdom produced "Chimera+" for the Atari 8-bit.^[5] In this version he was able to speed up the spaceman, amend the control method and removed several bugs which did not allow the original game to be completed.

References

External links

• Chimera on Atarimania.
• Map to Chimera on Atari 8-bit game maps
• Chimera on the World of Spectrum