Activision's Pastfinder

[Lord Thag]

After quite a long time of searching, I finally got my hands on a Pastfinder cart, thanks to my buddy swlovinist. I'd held off playing it until I got the cart.

What a great game this is! Seriously, one of the best Activision retro titles anywhere. It's got great animation, tons of levels, great graphics, and I love the map exploration/artifact hunt dynamic which adds some light strategy to an already A-list shooter. It's a shame this got released in such limited quantities. It's a stellar game.

Related question: how far has anyone gotten on this? I've made it through twenty-ish levels. It looks as if you could, theoretically, explore the entire map.

 

Any other fans here?

[Heaven/TQA]

Always loved the graphics with its 3D view. Attention to details. No flickering etc.

[Lost Dragon]

It's a bloody marvel isn't it?

 

Poured hours into the C64 version myself and was lucky enough to be able to express my gratitude to David Lubar by doing a little email Q+A thing with him a few years back.

 

He's a real gentleman.

 

It was also fantastic to forward onto him the various pages from the UK comic strip...The Computer Warrior (Eagle comics ), which i'd had scanned from my collection.

 

He'd never seen them before

 

Passed them onto Atarimania.

 

 

Nice to see the game getting some appreciation.

 

I know it's not for everyone.

[Tempest]

This is probably the only Activision game for the Atari that I've never played, I really need to try it. Plus there's a preliminary version called Explorer that I need to review for my site, although I think the only thing different about that is the name.

[Lord Thag]

 

 

It's a bloody marvel isn't it?

 

It really is. I wasn't expecting it to be this good.

 

This is probably the only Activision game for the Atari that I've never played, I really need to try it. Plus there's a preliminary version called Explorer that I need to review for my site, although I think the only thing different about that is the name.

You really do. I've played damn near everything, and this is truly one of those rare, truly brilliant games that just got lost during the crash era. It should be mentioned in the same breath as Monetzuma's Revenge, Pitfall 2, Dropzone and Fractalus. It's that good.

 

It's a must to read the manual first, as you need to understand how the artifacts/powerups/bases work, as that is not obvious from playing at first, but it's quite simple to learn. Think arcade Zaxxon with the map from Star Raiders with a little light strategy/resource management thrown in.

[Tempest]

It's a must to read the manual first

 

That's part of the reason I haven't played it yet.

 

Is there actually an ending or is it a 'play until you die' kind of a game?

[baktra]

There is no ending to the game.

 

As you make progress, the sectors become insanely difficult and if you collect and deliver more than certain number of artifacts, your rank will become "YOU ARE VERY GOOD"

 

The game is a jewel, it has its unique atmosphere.

Read the manual at Atarimania and get ready for darkness and despair of a dead world full of fear and ubiquitous radiation.

 

Reading the manual is a must, otherwise you will have to learn the rules of the game the hard way. There is more to it than just shooting.

[Heaven/TQA]

Played it for days and months.... lovely game - really. There are US guys who havent played it?

[Lord Thag]

 

That's part of the reason I haven't played it yet.

 

Is there actually an ending or is it a 'play until you die' kind of a game?

You can 'beat it' (as in it ends with the message 'You Are Very Good'), I've read, but it's quite an incredible feat apparently, something akin to beating Solaris without cheating.

 

I'll save you the trouble of reading the manual:

 

The map zones are color coordinated by radiation. Green is light, yellow medium, red high. Your rad meter increases faster depending on how high the radiation is. Max it out, lose a life. Shooting the bouncing crystals in-level or using the 4th power-up between levels will lower the rad meter.

 

The goal is to pick up artifacts and deliver them to a fort or a base. Artifacts are round, multicolored disks you find in level that cannot be destroyed. You can also pick up small boxes that equate to 5 of the disk artifacts, as well as four power ups (which you activate between map levels). When you die, you lose half your artifacts, so it's kind of a risk reward deal where you risk your life to grab them but don't want to overdo it or you lose out big.

 

After you explore 4 maps, you'll jump back down to the bottom of the map and get points for the explored areas. You'll see several white circles, those are bases. When you reach that map area, you'll find a weird-looking 'double bullseye' thing. Run over it carrying artifacts and you'll get them credited to your rank, which will increase as your drop more of them off. Later, you'll also discover black boxes on the map, which are forts. Land on those and they will score artifacts as well.

 

In addition, on the map screen, you'll see a yellow box with a couple of arrows. Those point you to extra ships you can collect for 1ups. Black areas on the map are areas you've already explored, but will no longer contain enemies (or crystals to lower your rad meter, which can be deadly).

 

in between rounds you'll get to choose to activate four power ups. The first three act like toggle switches for powers like lowering your radiation accrual or shot resistance. Once activated, they will last indefinitely... until that ship gets killed, in which case you lose all active powerups. You find more in some levels. The 4th power up is like a one use rad meter reset. Think of it as an emergency save switch.

 

That's pretty much everything you need to know to play. Have fun, it's a fantastic game.

[Tempest]

Nice! Thank you. Maybe it's time I finally get around to that review. Has anyone played the Explorer proto? Is it just a name difference?

[Mclaneinc]

Thank you Lord Thag, that's made the game sound a hell of a lot more interesting and understandable...

 

I may have to give it a shot after all these years again...

[baktra]

The power-ups have names

 

1. HEAVY METAL - Protects against radiation

2. BEAM SHIELD - Protects against the enemy's ship fire

3. SCRAMBLER - The enemy ship cannot track you

4. DERADIATOR - Instantly reduces radiation to zero

[Lord Thag]

The power-ups have names

 

1. HEAVY METAL - Protects against radiation

2. BEAM SHIELD - Protects against the enemy's ship fire

3. SCRAMBLER - The enemy ship cannot track you

4. DERADIATOR - Instantly reduces radiation to zero

Yes, thanks. I couldn't remember what they were called on my break at work. The first two powerups are really essential in later levels, so save them for then.

 

 

 

Nice! Thank you. Maybe it's time I finally get around to that review. Has anyone played the Explorer proto? Is it just a name difference?

The little I've played seems to be cosmetic. Instead of the yellow/red map, you have a yellow/purple scheme, and the title scroll is slightly different. Map layout seems the same. Most of the game play elements (power-ups, forts, artifacts) seem to be there. I'd guess this was a last minute name change and cosmetic update, as 'Pastfinder' is much less generic than 'Explorer', and probably tied to whomever came up with the manual backstory. I'll try the ROM again and see if I discover anything more. If you want some help with the review, let me know, as I'm playing a lot of this ATM.

[Tempest]

If you want some help with the review, let me know, as I'm playing a lot of this ATM.

 

I'm always up for a guest review. I still need someone to help with that Star Raiders II proto since I'm not a huge Star Raiders fan or good at games like that in general.

[Wrathchild]

Don't forget the good interview with David Lubar over on ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

[Lord Thag]

 

I'm always up for a guest review. I still need someone to help with that Star Raiders II proto since I'm not a huge Star Raiders fan or good at games like that in general.

Ok, cool. I could actually do both, as I'm a huge fan of Star Raider and I've played Wilmunder's sequel quite a bit.

 

I'm heading on vacation, remind me after the 6th and I will write up Star Raiders 2 for you as well. I'll PM you a word doc for Pastfinder in a bit.

[Tempest]

Ok, cool. I could actually do both, as I'm a huge fan of Star Raider and I've played Wilmunder's sequel quite a bit.

 

I'm heading on vacation, remind me after the 6th and I will write up Star Raiders 2 for you as well. I'll PM you a word doc for Pastfinder in a bit.

Oh cool. Shoot me a PM with the details (how you want to be credited and what not). I'll also need screenshots if you can get them of various interesting points in the game.

[Kr0tki]

Nice! Thank you. Maybe it's time I finally get around to that review. Has anyone played the Explorer proto? Is it just a name difference?

Don't you remember?

[Tempest]

Don't you remember?

Haha... obviously not. I've got a short err... umm... what were we talking about?

[+Stephen]

Haha... obviously not. I've got a short err... umm... what were we talking about?

I have the same issue.

[Kr0tki]

Dude, false dichotomy. It was "OR" not "XOR", you know.

[Tempest]

Don't you remember?

 

What about the color differences Lord Thag mentioned?

[Kr0tki]

He probably played Explorer under emulation, in PAL mode, which would explain the perceived differences in colours and scrolling speed. In reality both versions are identical in these areas.

[Tempest]

Ah ok. Good to know. Thanks.