Linking Leroy: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Linking Leroy visits SpaceLand 2.jpg|thumb|left|Level development for the unreleased non-LEGO version of ''Linking Leroy'']] | [[File:Linking Leroy visits SpaceLand 2.jpg|thumb|left|Level development for the unreleased non-LEGO version of ''Linking Leroy'']] | ||
Bacchus and Harlekin hoped that LEGO would officially endorse ''Linking Leroy'', but were unsuccessful, and their connection to the company later broke.<ref name="Spaceland"/><ref name="Berg YT"/> 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 did not want 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 | Bacchus and Harlekin hoped that LEGO would officially endorse ''Linking Leroy'', but were unsuccessful, and their connection to the company later broke.<ref name="Spaceland"/><ref name="Berg YT"/> 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 did not want 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 on Earth. An antagonist named Styggos has planted nuclear bombs on all the planets to destroy them, and Leroy would have 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. | ||
[[File:Drinking Leroy crash.png|thumb|Don't drink and fly]] | [[File:Drinking Leroy crash.png|thumb|Don't drink and fly]] | ||
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<ref name="idg">{{cite web |url=http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.444716/we-might-be-old-but-were-still-the-elite |title=We might be old, but we're still the elite |work=IDG |date=2012-04-20 |first=Daniel |last=Goldberg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421163751/http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.444716/we-might-be-old-but-were-still-the-elite |archive-date=2012-04-21 |translator=Anders Lotsson}}</ref> | <ref name="idg">{{cite web |url=http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.444716/we-might-be-old-but-were-still-the-elite |title=We might be old, but we're still the elite |work=IDG |date=2012-04-20 |first=Daniel |last=Goldberg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421163751/http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.444716/we-might-be-old-but-were-still-the-elite |archive-date=2012-04-21 |translator=Anders Lotsson}}</ref> | ||
<ref name="Jazz">{{cite magazine |author=Jazzcat |date=11 October 2010 |url=http://www.atlantis-prophecy.org/recollection/?load=online_issues&issue=2&sub=article&id=9 |title=The Delight of Eternal Might - The History of FairLight |magazine=Recollection |issue=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406030201/http://www.atlantis-prophecy.org/recollection/?load=online_issues&issue=2&sub=article&id=9 |archive-date=6 April 2024 |url-status=live}} [https://archive.org/details/Recollection_Issue_3_2010-10-03_Jazzcat_Side_A Diskmag version].</ref> | <ref name="Jazz">{{cite magazine |author=Jazzcat |date=11 October 2010 |url=http://www.atlantis-prophecy.org/recollection/?load=online_issues&issue=2&sub=article&id=9 |title=The Delight of Eternal Might - The History of FairLight |magazine=Recollection |issue=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406030201/http://www.atlantis-prophecy.org/recollection/?load=online_issues&issue=2&sub=article&id=9 |archive-date=6 April 2024 |url-status=live}} [https://archive.org/details/Recollection_Issue_3_2010-10-03_Jazzcat_Side_A Diskmag version] available via the Internet Archive.</ref> | ||
<ref name="Spaceland">{{cite web |url=http://hem.passagen.se/harlekin/leroy.htm |title=Linking Leroy visits SpaceLand! |last=Nyman |first=Magnus [Harlekin] |date=17 July 1996 |website=[[Wikipedia:sv:Passagen|Passagen]] |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/19991023123553/http://hem.passagen.se/harlekin/leroy.htm |archive-date=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.</ref> | <ref name="Spaceland">{{cite web |url=http://hem.passagen.se/harlekin/leroy.htm |title=Linking Leroy visits SpaceLand! |last=Nyman |first=Magnus [Harlekin] |date=17 July 1996 |website=[[Wikipedia:sv:Passagen|Passagen]] |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/19991023123553/http://hem.passagen.se/harlekin/leroy.htm |archive-date=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.</ref> | ||
Revision as of 02:58, 19 June 2024
| Linking Leroy | |
|---|---|
 Screenshot of gameplay from Legoland 2 | |
| Developer(s) | FairLight |
| Programmer(s) |
|
| Artist(s) | Ogami |
| Platform(s) | Commodore 64 |
| Release | 19 April 1992 (demo)[1] |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Linking Leroy is a cancelled platform game developed by Swedish warez and demoscene group FairLight for Commodore 64. A short playable demo was included as part of FairLight's demoscene release Legoland 2 in 1992. The game features a LEGO astronaut platforming through environments based on classic LEGO themes.
Linking Leroy is one of the earliest unofficial LEGO video games. FairLight members Bacchus and Harlekin developed the Legoland 2 demo hoping that LEGO would approve of the game, but the pitch was not successful. A non-LEGO version of the game was in development in 1996, but was never completed. The game began receiving wider attention online in the 2010s, and FairLight created a new demo featuring Leroy in 2015.
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]
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The level editor
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Space level title screen
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The space level
Development
FairLight was formed on 17 April 1987 in Malmö by Strider (Tony Krvaric) and Black Shadow. The two had previously been members of West Coast Crackers (referring to the west coast of Sweden) until that group had disbanded earlier that year.[1] FairLight became known for their fast cracks of games, and went on to release hundreds of cracks for Commodore 64, Amiga, Super Nintendo, and PC.[4] The cracking scene came with risks of legal trouble, and the group began increasing focus on "legal" software development in 1991.[1]
At an internal meeting on 7 October 1991,[5] FairLight released Legoland, the group's first major demo in some time. It was programmed by FairLight members Bacchus (Pontus Berg), Harlekin (Magnus Nyman), Rowdy, and Tron. The release consisted of a number of smaller demos linked together; the developers thus referred to themselves as the "Lego Linkers". The Legoland name was chosen because Bacchus had a connection with a marketing manager at the LEGO Company, who sent the group promotional and giveaway LEGO items such as sweatshirts and bands.[1]
Following the release of Legoland, Bacchus and Harlekin wanted to create their own video game, which they decided to make LEGO-themed.[6] Bacchus came up with the concept and 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, including the addition of LEGO graphics created by the group's graphic artist Ogami.[1][2] The demo featured music by Rob Hubbard,[2] originally composed in 1985 for a cancelled Gremlins game.[7] A preview of the new game, Linking Leroy, was included as one of the demos in the team's sequel to Legoland.[6] On 19 April 1992, Legoland 2 was entered at the Light + Phenomena Easter Party in Alingsås. The FairLight members wore LEGOLAND sweaters at the party to advertise their demo. Legoland 2 ranked fifth place out of seventeen entries in the party's C64 Demo competition.[1]
Bacchus and Harlekin hoped that LEGO would officially endorse Linking Leroy, but were unsuccessful, and their connection to the company later broke.[6][3] 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 did not want 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 on Earth. An antagonist named Styggos has planted nuclear bombs on all the planets to destroy them, and Leroy would have 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.[6] The new Linking Leroy project seemingly never materialised.
On 5 July 2015, FairLight premiered Drinking Leroy at the Edison 2015 demoscene party at the Eggeby gård in Stockholm. The demo consists of a short animation coded by moh, with original music by Zabutom and new graphics by Vodka.[8] In the demo, Leroy lands his ship on an unknown planet and starts collecting alcoholic beverages, eventually entering a bar. Leroy later takes off in his ship and ultimately crashes into another planet, ending with the message "don't drink and fly, drink and die!"[9] The animation won second place in the Mixed Demo competition.[8] The demo's credits note that there were both historic and future reasons for its LEGO-themed content.[9]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 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 available via the Internet Archive.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Gasking, Frank (4 October 2012). "Linking Leroy". Games That Weren't 64. Archived from the original on 9 April 2024.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Goldberg, Daniel (2012-04-20). "We might be old, but we're still the elite". IDG. Translated by Anders Lotsson. Archived from the original on 2012-04-21.
- ↑ "Legoland [1992]". [CSDb] - The C-64 Scene Database. 727. Archived from the original on 2024-04-05.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 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.
- ↑ Fisher, Andrew (30 May 2024) [4 October 2012]. "Gremlins". Games That Weren't 64. Archived from the original on 7 April 2024.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Drinking Leroy [2015]". [CSDb] - The C-64 Scene Database. 139585. Archived from the original on 2024-06-19.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Fairlight (5 July 2015). Drinking Leroy (Commodore 64). Scene: Credits.
You have just seen..Drinking Leroy by Fairlight 2015 – Presented at the nightly Edison party held in Eggeby Gard, somewhere around Stockholm. Code: noh – Music: zabuton – gfx: vodka, ogani – loader: hcl – support: hollounan. Some last words of wisdom – Don't drink and fly. Drink and die! – ...Why is this demo about LEGO! There is historic reason, but also future REASON..
