Hamsterman

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Hamsterman
HamstermanTitle.GIF

Release type: Incomplete
Release date: 1995
Levels: 1
Author: Alan Caudel
Website: DummyDuck.com
Related games: N/A


Not to be mistaken for James W. Morris's Super Hamster.

Hamsterman is an aborted attempt at a wacky character-based game, in the vein of James Morris' Super Hamster (no relation). The character has limited animation; the level mostly only exists as a test ground for the character. This is the same situation that you see in other quickly abandoned games like, B.

As with B, what we mostly have here is a sketch of a tone and a style. Hamsterman would have been comedic and referential to pop culture; the player smashes open boxes of Snapple to free captive hamsters. The main character seems to be a man dressed as a hamster, who has affinity for actual hamsters. By pressing the H key, he summons a charge of hamsters to clear the path ahead.

HamsterSprite.gif

It is unclear exactly what shape the game would have taken, as the hamsters all appear to be beneficial to, benefactors of, or at least neutral to, the character. The character can attack to the left or right, as in many Game-Maker games (e.g., Peach the Lobster), but against what? Presumably, whatever force was squirreling away the world's hamsters?

Befriending hamsters everywhere, in Hamsterman.

The main takeaway from Hamsterman is in a collective with Alan Caudel's catalog from the time -- namely the sheer number of spitball ideas that he put out, many of which may have seemed like a great idea at first, but most of which he moved past within a day or so of development, once certain complications arose. In this case the complication may have been the crates that release the hamsters -- which, if not touched the right way, will continue to output an infinite stream of the animals.

Caudel tried to work with Game-Maker's limitations, and in this case things didn't quite work out. But tomorrow is a new game, a new premise. No use hitting your head on something that isn't working, when there are so many other ideas to explore.

Story[edit]

N/A

Instructions[edit]

  • -: Fire left
  • =: Fire right
  • H: Summon hamsters

On numerical keypad:

  • 7/8/9: Jump left/up/right
  • 4/6: Walk left/right

Credits[edit]

Designed by Alan Caudel.

Availability[edit]

This game is not known to have been distributed in any form, prior to its addition to the Archive.

Availability[edit]

This game is not known to have been distributed in any form, prior to its addition to the Archive.

After an earlier wave of rediscoveries, on July 13 2011 Alan Caudel provided another archive of previously missing Game-Maker material, including the following:

Links[edit]

Downloads[edit]