Linking Leroy: Difference between revisions

From Research Realm
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 27: Line 27:


== Development ==
== Development ==
Write some background info about Fairlight and the Legoland demos here!
The concept for ''Linking Leroy'' was originally created by FairLight member Bacchus (Pontus Berg) in 1991.<ref name="Jazz"/><ref name="Spaceland"/> Bacchus developed the game's controls, [[Wikipedia:Scrolling|scrolling]], level editor, and environment detection;<ref name="Jazz"/> Bacchus also named the character of Leroy.<ref name="Berg YT"/> Further development was done by Harlekin (Magnus Nyman), including the addition of LEGO graphics created by the group's graphic artist Ogami.<ref name="Jazz"/><ref name="GTW"/> Bacchus had a connection with a marketing manager at the [[LEGO Company]], who sent the group promotional and giveaway items including sweatshirts and bands.<ref name="Jazz"/> The developers hoped that LEGO would endorse the game, but were unsuccessful, and their connection to the company later broke.<ref name="Spaceland"/><ref name="Berg YT"/>
The concept for ''Linking Leroy'' was originally created by FairLight member Bacchus (Pontus Berg) in 1991.<ref name="Jazz"/><ref name="Spaceland"/> Bacchus developed the game's controls, [[Wikipedia:Scrolling|scrolling]], level editor, and environment detection;<ref name="Jazz"/> Bacchus also named the character of Leroy.<ref name="Berg YT"/> Further development was done by Harlekin (Magnus Nyman), including the addition of LEGO graphics created by the group's graphic artist Ogami.<ref name="Jazz"/><ref name="GTW"/> Bacchus had a connection with a marketing manager at the [[LEGO Company]], who sent the group promotional and giveaway items including sweatshirts and bands.<ref name="Jazz"/> The developers hoped that LEGO would endorse the game, but were unsuccessful, and their connection to the company later broke.<ref name="Spaceland"/><ref name="Berg YT"/>
[[File:Linking Leroy visits SpaceLand 2.jpg|thumb|The unreleased non-LEGO version]]
As other companies would not publish an unlicensed LEGO game, the developers planned to redesign the game to remove LEGO elements from it. However, Ogami was unwilling to work on the project at the time, so it was temporarily shelved. Harlekin resumed work on the new version of the game a few years later, once his skills in designing graphics had increased sufficiently. Musician Red Devil (Emil Helldin) was going to supply new music for the project. Titled ''Linking Leroy visits SpaceLand'', the game was to be set in a future where people had colonised other planets in the [[Wikipedia:Solar System|Solar System]] to escape overpopulation. An antagonist named Styggos has planted nuclear bombs on all the planets to destroy them, and Leroy has to find all the keys to disarm the bombs before they go off. Harlekin announced the game in July 1996, with plans for a downloadable demo level to be available soon.<ref name="Spaceland"/> The new ''Linking Leroy'' project seemingly never materialised.


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 19:28, 18 June 2024

Linking Leroy
A screenshot of a Commodore 64 game. The gameplay window shows Leroy, a red LEGO astronaut, jumping in a LEGO world. The world contains a number of LEGO structures and elements set in front of a mountainous background. Above the game window is a title bar with the text "Linking Leroy", with Leroy's head to the left and the LEGO logo to the right. Below is a points counter, a lives counter, and a health bar.
Screenshot of gameplay from Legoland 2
Developer(s)FairLight
Programmer(s)
  • Bacchus
  • Harlekin
Artist(s)Ogami
Platform(s)Commodore 64
Release19 April 1992 (demo)[1]
Genre(s)Platformer
Mode(s)Single-player

Linking Leroy is a series of game demos developed by FairLight for Commodore 64. It is one of the earliest unofficial LEGO video games.

Gameplay

Linking Leroy is a side-scrolling platform game. The player controls Leroy, a red LEGO astronaut from the Legoland Space product line.[2] Leroy can move left or right to scroll the level, and can jump and crawl to traverse obstacles. Touching enemies drains Leroy's energy meter, causing him to lose a life if it runs out; in the Legoland 2 demo, running out of lives causes the game to end and move on to the next demo in the collection.[1] There is also a points counter, but it is not functional.

Two demo levels were created for the game, both of which are short and looping with no objectives. The first level, featured in Legoland 2, is set in a colourful LEGO environment with LEGO houses and trees and a mountainous backdrop.[2] Collectable red bricks are scattered through the level, as are amorphous bouncing enemies. The second level, released with the title of Linking Leroy Visits Legoland, takes place on an alien planet and features many Legoland Space sets in the background. This level contains more enemies and no collectables, but includes objects Leroy can bounce off of. Pressing Ctrl+⇧ Shift+⇧ Shift in either demo opens a level editor, where the player can alter the layout and collision.[3]

Development

Write some background info about Fairlight and the Legoland demos here!

The concept for Linking Leroy was originally created by FairLight member Bacchus (Pontus Berg) in 1991.[1][4] Bacchus developed the game's controls, scrolling, level editor, and environment detection;[1] Bacchus also named the character of Leroy.[3] Further development was done by Harlekin (Magnus Nyman), including the addition of LEGO graphics created by the group's graphic artist Ogami.[1][2] Bacchus had a connection with a marketing manager at the LEGO Company, who sent the group promotional and giveaway items including sweatshirts and bands.[1] The developers hoped that LEGO would endorse the game, but were unsuccessful, and their connection to the company later broke.[4][3]

The unreleased non-LEGO version

As other companies would not publish an unlicensed LEGO game, the developers planned to redesign the game to remove LEGO elements from it. However, Ogami was unwilling to work on the project at the time, so it was temporarily shelved. Harlekin resumed work on the new version of the game a few years later, once his skills in designing graphics had increased sufficiently. Musician Red Devil (Emil Helldin) was going to supply new music for the project. Titled Linking Leroy visits SpaceLand, the game was to be set in a future where people had colonised other planets in the Solar System to escape overpopulation. An antagonist named Styggos has planted nuclear bombs on all the planets to destroy them, and Leroy has to find all the keys to disarm the bombs before they go off. Harlekin announced the game in July 1996, with plans for a downloadable demo level to be available soon.[4] The new Linking Leroy project seemingly never materialised.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Jazzcat (11 October 2010). "The Delight of Eternal Might - The History of FairLight". Recollection. No. 3. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Diskmag version.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Gasking, Frank (4 October 2012). "Linking Leroy". Games That Weren't 64. Archived from the original on 5 April 2024.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Berg, Pontus [Bacchus] (2014). "Initial coder of the game reporting in :-)". YouTube (comment on YouTube video "Unfinished 1992 LEGO Commodore 64 Game" by jamessterV2). Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Berg's comment has been preserved in the video's description as of 16 November 2019, due to comments on the video being disabled. Off-site copy of the comment available here.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Nyman, Magnus [Harlekin] (17 July 1996). "Linking Leroy visits SpaceLand!". Passagen. Archived from the original on 23 October 1999. The date was obtained from the date modified of the two images on the page, which was viewed by using wget to download them.