Talk:The Great Escape (1986 video game)

Merge

Please discuss on the main talk page. -- Padjet1 14:00, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

DOS version

I'm pretty sure there's a DOS version of this game, from the old four-colour display days. I'll try and find out if there are any other 16-bit versions and update the article accordingly. --Zagrebo 11:48, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

There is a DOS version. It's basically a straight port of the Speccy version only with less, more washed-out, colours. It's such a straight port that it even retains a small bit of attribute clash on the medals on the score display! --Zagrebo 17:56, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Back in the day, we had a Headstart LX IBM Compatible PC, which allowed CGA, EGA, and VGA graphics. One of the advertised features, was it's CD-Rom, which worked by loading discs into a cassette that resembled an oversized 3½" floppy case, and then inserting that into the drive. One of the CD-Roms that came with the computer was a disc that had a collection of games, including Alternate Reality, Arcticfox, Road Runner, Uridium, and Wizball, just to name a few; The Great Escape was also among the games.

The DOS version we had was a skewed 2D display (like looking into the corner of a diorama from the top) to give depth to the 2D display. It consisted of a small window in the center where the gameplay is viewed, and a few things outside the window which I can't remember. The controls were a bit awkward, because they used the standard left, right, up, and down arrow keys, but it would correspond to a diaginal direction because of the 2D skewed display; this also made it tricky to pick up/drop/use items in the correct direction (I've been caught a number of times by the guards because my character would accidentally drop stuff in front of the guards, or irretrievably on the wrong side of a fence). The colours were generally yellow for everything during daytime hours, and pastel green during nighttime hours (with the searchlights spotting in yellow). Items picked up would be the same colour as the background, but once inventoried (limited to 2 items at a time), would be identified by a different colour, i.e. German uniform in pastel green, bottle of poison or poisoned food being pastel red (not pink), etc.

As the games on the disc were samples slapped together for promotional distribution, many if not most, of the games on the disc were either unwinnable, or simply unplayable; Alternate Reality is a good example of this. We could never figure out how to obtain the papers; we were always either captured after our successful escape and returned to camp with a lower moral flag, or if we were caught wearing the German uniform after successfully escaping, we would be shot as spies and the game would start over. We only found two keys, so our camp access was limited, even with the wire cutters. I wish someone would post a video of a successful gameplay, unless this game was never winnable, just like Alternate Reality.

If anyone posts a video of the gameplay for The Great Escape with the user completing the game, I would absolutely love to see how it's supposed to be won.

Christopher, Salem, OR (talk) 23:27, 24 June 2012 (UTC)

Holy crap - someone did upload a video, I just wasn't using the correct words with the search. No wonder I never managed to win the game. I was always aware that even if it was time to get up, if I didn't let my character follow routine, he would still be caught (red flag), so I always let him proceed to get up on his own. This explains why I never found that key at the bottom-right guard tower that I needed to get the tools; either I just didn't see it, or the guards found it before I did. Wonderful!

I posted the video I'm watching to the main article, but here it is also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0549ayfPCe4

Christopher, Salem, OR (talk) 23:58, 24 June 2012 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Greatescapegame.png

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BetacommandBot (talk) 23:38, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Official licence?

I may have asked this before, but was the game officially licenced from the film? I understand that it borrows the name, theme tune, and general idea, and that Ocean/Imagine later specialised in film licences, but I was always under the impression that this game was not an official movie tie-in. The article is ambiguous. I don't have the packaging to hand, to check. -Ashley Pomeroy (talk)

The cassette inlay does not credit United Artists anywhere, just Ocean and Denton. However, various magazines at the time did claim it was a licence (Your Computer issue 8610, Computer Gamer issue 22, for example) Without the film company being credited in the game or game inlay, I suspect this is actually just an "inspired by". I'll investigate further - perhaps there is a "making of" article somewhere. Marasmusine (talk) 08:11, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Music

I think the theme music is a medley of Colonel Bogey, Pack up your troubles and Tipperary, but I may be wrong. 2fort5r (talk) 16:58, 12 March 2014 (UTC)