The BBC and Master Computer Public Domain Library

THE LIFE OF REPTON

 

 

Professional, Originally Released On Cassette And DFS E00 Disc

 

Game Type          : Arcade Adventure

Author             : Matthew Atkinson

Standalone Release(s)   : 1987: THE LIFE OF REPTON, Superior/Acornsoft, £6.95 (Tape)

                   £7.95 (5.25" Disc)

                    1990: THE LIFE OF REPTON, Superior/Blue Ribbon, £2.99

Compilation Release(s) : 1987: PLAY IT AGAIN SAM 9, Superior/Acornsoft, £9.95

Stated compatibility    : Electron

Actual compatibility    : Electron, BBC B, B+ and Master 128

Supplier            : SUPERIOR/ACORNSOFT

Disc compatibility     : CDFS E00, DFS E00

 

 

Instructions

THE LIFE OF REPTON has a total of 40 screens. These are provided as five cassette files with eight game screens in each:

 

File 1: BABY   

File 2: SCHOOL

File 3: TEENAGE

File 4: WORK 

File 5: OAP  

 

The BABY file is loaded automatically when the game is first loaded.

 

The SCHOOL, TEENAGE, WORK andOAP are on the cassette. To load any of these files, simply select the "L" option on the main game screen, and enter the appropriate filename.

 

Objective Of The Game

In order to succeed in enacting Repton's life-story, you must complete each of the 40 screens without using any passwords. Each new set of characters is based upon the original REPTON 3 characters.

 

The new character sets are also shown. For the BABY screens, you will notice that the rock and the diamond have been replaced with a humpty-dumpty and a teddy-bear respectively. Therefore on the BABY screens Repton pushes humpty-dumptys (as if they were rocks) and collects the teddy-bears (as if they were diamonds).

 

Similarly, the monster and the spirit have been replaced with a dog and a toy soldier respectively. So Repton is chased by dogs (instead of monsters) and toy soldiers (instead of spirits).

 

To avoid confusion, the following game instructions refer exclusively to the original REPTON 3 characters.

 

To complete the game, you must carefully determine your routes through each screen in turn, with the aim of defusing the time-bomb by passing over it. However, before the time-bomb can be defused, you must first:-

 

(a) collect all the diamonds (including those concealed in safes or cages),

(b) collect the golden crown, and

(c) kill all the monsters.

 

Each screen has a time-limit and, if you do not complete the screen within this time-limit, the time-bomb will explode and you will lose a life. Repton can, however, travel backwards in time because whenever a time-capsule is collected, the time-bomb's clock is reset.

 

Each screen comprises a series of puzzles. Many of these are interlinked and you may have to solve a number of small puzzles to enable you to tackle a large one. The puzzles may, in some cases, seem impossible - but we assure you that The Life of Repton can be completed.

 

Rocks will fall if unsupported and should one land on you it will kill you. You must also avoid the monsters, spirits, skulls and fungis - contact with these is fatal.

 

When an egg falls, it cracks upon landing and a monster hatches out. The monsters are killed by pushing or dropping rocks onto them.

 

There may be up to eight spirits on each screen. They always follow the walls to their left until they reach a cage. When a spirit enters a cage, it changes into a diamond. A spirit may become dazed if you drop a rock onto it or collect all the diamonds immediately surrounding it. This is to be avoided as the spirit will then move endlessly in a small circle.

 

Watch out for the poisonous fungus which grows incessantly sealing your fate. Trap it in by surrounding it with rocks if you can, or you may never live to collect the golden crown.

 

Your route may be blocked by a safe. If so, you must locate a key which will open all of the safes on the screen revealing a diamond within.

 

Each screen may have a maximum of four transporters. They cause you to be rematerialised at some other location on the screen, but each transporter can be used once only.

 

Game Controls

Z - Left,   X - Right,   * - Up,   ? - Down,   M - View Map (Screens A-E only)

 

<ESCAPE> - Kill Yourself (Useful if you become trapped),   <SHIFT>-R - Restart Game

P - Enter Password,   L - Load Data File,   S/Q - Sound On/Off

K - Select Keyboard Control,   J - Select Joystick Control (Plus 1 Interface)

F - Select Joystick Control (First Byte Interface)

 

Scoring

 

5 points ............. for collecting a diamond

20 points ............... for killing a monster

50 points .............. for collecting a crown

 

The REPTON 3 Series Editor

Full instructions for the editor package supplied with this game are detailed under REPTON 3.

 

 

Instructions' Source   : PLAY IT AGAIN SAM 9 (Superior/Acornsoft) Inner Inlay

 

Review (Electron User) - "It's A Hard Life"

Yes, he's back! Superior Software's enormously popular Repton makes yet another appearance - his fourth. This time he stars in the story of his life.

 

For old hands, the LIFE OF REPTON is a collection of forty new screens for REPTON 3. If you're a fan, that alone should be enough for you to go out and buy a copy. If, on the other hand, you've been living in the asteroid belt for the last two years then a few words of explanation will be in order.

 

Repton is a cute little reptilian character and the object is to move him around a maze collecting diamonds and killing monsters as you go. Each maze contains earth which you can dig through and barriers through which nothing can pass.

 

You need to plan your route carefully, otherwise a boulder may fall and trap a diamond or squash Repton. There are several puzzles on each screen and you can call up a map of the easier screens to help your planning.

 

LIFE OF REPTON includes the original REPTON 3 shell, but not the screens. The forty new screens load in blocks of eight. The first set depicts Repton as a baby, the second shows him at school, the third is Repton in his teens, the fourth at work and the fifth is Repton as an old man.

 

The graphics in each section have been redesigned - so in the baby set, humpty-dumptys take the place of boulders, teddy bears take the place of diamonds, a fireplace is the skull and irate dogs and toy soldiers become monsters.

 

The graphics in the other ages are similarly appropriate - as a teenager, cigarettes take the place of the skull, while at work a floppy disc is the spirit. As an OAP war medals become the diamonds.

 

LIFE OF REPTON also includes the screen editor. This allows you to edit existing screens or construct new ones. The editor is an excellent piece of software in itself.

 

Before you can edit a screen however, you must successfully complete. When you do, you are given a five-digit code number to be used in the editor. You are also given a password for the next screen so you don't have to start from screen one every time you play.

 

The instructions are generally helpful, although I did find one oddity in the part which tells you the puzzles are not impossible. It says: "We assure you that Around the World can be completed".

 

Back with the program, if you manage to complete all five sets of eight screens without using a password you are eligible to enter a competition. Upon completion of a set, a congratulatory message appears along with a competition entry code number. To enter, you need all five code numbers.

 

Minor niggles apart, LIFE OF REPTON is a superb game which will keep you busy for days, probably weeks. If you don't have a REPTON game already then buy this.

 

Sound .......................... 10

Graphics ....................... 10

Playability ..................... 9

Value for money ................ 10

Overall ......................... 9

 

Ian Waugh, ELECTRON USER 5. 3 (Jan 1988)