Adam's B-Day 3: The Saga Continues - Revision history

Azure: /* Links */

2021-07-03T05:49:39Z

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Aderack at 16:52, 15 March 2018

2018-03-15T16:52:20Z

Aderack at 03:10, 11 October 2016

2016-10-11T03:10:16Z

Aderack at 18:10, 8 October 2016

2016-10-08T18:10:39Z

Aderack at 17:13, 8 October 2016

2016-10-08T17:13:50Z

Aderack at 03:30, 8 October 2016

2016-10-08T03:30:09Z

Aderack at 03:14, 8 October 2016

2016-10-08T03:14:09Z

Aderack at 03:13, 8 October 2016

2016-10-08T03:13:40Z

Aderack at 01:28, 7 October 2016

2016-10-07T01:28:03Z

Aderack at 01:27, 7 October 2016

2016-10-07T01:27:08Z

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 == Links ==
-<videoflash>9bsWxwD4uLE</videoflash>
+<youtube>9bsWxwD4uLE</youtube>
 * '''[http://www.aderack.com/game-maker/java/adam95.php Play ''Adam's B-Day 3: The Saga Continues'' online]'''

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 Technically and stylistically, ''Adam's B-Day 3'' sets the stage for the varied structure and dynamic animation in ''[[Dummy Duck II]]'', which in turn serves as the foundation for most of Alan Caudel's later legacy of design. Though on its own this game is strange and easy to overlook, it serves as a major step in its author's development and an anchor point for many games to come.
-{{SeriesNav|Adam '93|Adam '95|Adam '97|[[Adam's Birthday series]]}}
+{{SeriesNav|Adam '93|Adam '95|Adam '96|[[Adam's Birthday series]]}}
 == Story ==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Pending}}{{box
+{{box
 |header='''''Adam's B-Day 3: The Saga Continues'''''
 |file=[[File:adam95.gif|290px|border]]
@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 '''Website:''' [http://www.dummyduck.com/ DummyDuck.com]<br />
 '''Related games:''' ''[[Adam's Birthday Game]]'', ''[[The Adam's Birthday Saga Continues]]'', ''[[Adam 97]]'', ''[[Adam 98]]'', ''[[Adam 99]]'', ''[[Adam 2000]]''
-}}{{PendingHeader}}[[Category: Pending articles|Adam 1995]]{{Disambig|Alan Caudel|The Adam's Birthday Saga Continues}}
+}}{{Disambig|Alan Caudel|The Adam's Birthday Saga Continues}}
-After two years of rest, the Adam's Birthday saga returns with ''Adam's B-Day 3'', aka ''Adam '95''. This third chapter is a strange and inventive game, that amalgamates some emerging design concepts to lay down a path for future work.
+After two years of rest, the Adam's Birthday saga returns with ''Adam's B-Day 3'', aka ''Adam '95''. This third chapter in Alan Caudel's half of the mostly-annual exchange is a strange and inventive game, that amalgamates some emerging design concepts to lay down a path for future work.
-The series may have rested, but Alan Caudel has been busy.
+The series may have rested for a while, but Alan Caudel has been busy. Since 1993 he has branched out considerably, with games as refined as ''[[FireAxe]]'', as radical as ''[[Adventure]]'', and as distinctive as ''[[Power Budd!]]''. The most immediate precedent here, though, lays in the gonzo platformers ''[[Lil' Choklit Donit Man]]'' and ''[[Mr. Berkel Derkel!]]''.
 [[File:Adam95Sprite.gif|center]]
-somewhere between David Perry and Tex Avery
+As with those two games, ''Adam's B-Day 3'' seems to draw its inspiration from the cultural space between David Perry and Tex Avery: smoothly rendered extreme takes of peculiar and twitchy motions. Eyes bulge. Grins threaten to tear faces in half -- faces that carry most of a character's body weight, leaving stubby limbs to flail and slowly carry the character forward despite great effort. Since all the mass is in the head, so is the power and thus so is the attack. Here, Adam's main offensive move is a risky forward dash through which he slams his face into enemies. It's all very strange yet deliberate.
 [[File:Adam95Screen.gif|thumb|320px|Exploring gradients in ''Adam's B-Day 3'']]
-Meant to be very difficult.
+The consciously slow walking speed carries comedic value, similar to ''[[Watch Me Die!]]'', and it also contrasts Adam's default movement speed with the dash move, that serves as a forward hop just as much as an attack. As erratic as it may seem, motion is of key importance in this game. In early areas, every jump or dash counts; one hit leads to death, monsters tend to patrol everyplace you need to go, and your one method to clear them launches you straight into harm's way. Furthermore, the path keeps branching, and some branches lead to inescapable death.
-Have to track down and collect every single present... but if you die, the counters don't reset, so that makes it easier.
+The difficulty here, it seems, is part of the comedy. Around the time it stops being funny, the game also stops being so hard. Later the game goes the other direction, handing the player various tools to allow near impenetrable defense (a spark explosion) and super glitch powers (a sort of morph ball roll ability). It's easy to duck or roll, then to stand up or jump to clip through walls. This power comes in especially handy during level 2, allowing the player to easily slip through what otherwise would be a confusing and time-devouring maze.
-Two secret exits from the level, one containing a bunch of presents to help with the main exit; one leading to an alternate ending.
+The levels are both highly varied and very detailed, particularly in their response to the player. (When you fall in the slime, you create splashes and displacement.) Each level starts with an on-screen title, made of monster blocks that then explode in all directions. Levels one and four have super animated backgrounds, where every tile ripples and flashes and undulates (which must have slowed contemporary PCs to a crawl). As per Game-Maker standards, it's frozen at the screen's edge, but the visual artifact is an acceptable trade-off.
-Another in-game cutscene.
+Level two is a top-down maze, with shifting mucky currents; as in Adam Tyner's games there's a collection aspect here: you need to track down every present to unlock the exit. In this case the counters don't reset upon death, however -- and there are some secret areas to quickly stock up your present counter -- so it's not as arduous as it could be. Level three is a first-person space sim, where you move a reticle around the screen to shoot down tie fighters and try to recover Adam's presents from Darth Vader.
-Darth Vader has stolen Adam's presents; must fly through space, shooting tie fighters from the first person, using a reticule.
+There are so many other interesting touches, including an alternate ending and a huge, well-designed boss monster (with a really nice transition). It's not obvious what to do, but when you figure it out the game changes view and plays the first of several peculiar in-game cutscenes.
-More cutscenes with incoming tie fighters, then with Adam's ship escaping the Death Star before it explodes.
+Technically and stylistically, ''Adam's B-Day 3'' sets the stage for the varied structure and dynamic animation in ''[[Dummy Duck II]]'', which in turn serves as the foundation for most of Alan Caudel's later legacy of design. Though on its own this game is strange and easy to overlook, it serves as a major step in its author's development and an anchor point for many games to come.
 {{SeriesNav|Adam '93|Adam '95|Adam '97|[[Adam's Birthday series]]}}
@@ Line 151: / Line 124: @@
 * [[Media:Adam95Mapw.png|Whirlpool map]] (22 kB)
 [[Category: Freeware|Adam 1995]]
 [[Category: Alan Caudel|Adam 1995]]

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 '''Related games:''' ''[[Adam's Birthday Game]]'', ''[[The Adam's Birthday Saga Continues]]'', ''[[Adam 97]]'', ''[[Adam 98]]'', ''[[Adam 99]]'', ''[[Adam 2000]]''
 }}{{PendingHeader}}[[Category: Pending articles|Adam 1995]]{{Disambig|Alan Caudel|The Adam's Birthday Saga Continues}}
-After two years of rest, the Adam's Birthday saga returns with ''Adam's B-Day 3'', aka ''Adam '95''. This third chapter is a strange and inventive game, that amalgamates some ongoing design tendencies to lay down a path for future work.
+After two years of rest, the Adam's Birthday saga returns with ''Adam's B-Day 3'', aka ''Adam '95''. This third chapter is a strange and inventive game, that amalgamates some emerging design concepts to lay down a path for future work.
 The series may have rested, but Alan Caudel has been busy.

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 }}{{PendingHeader}}[[Category: Pending articles|Adam 1995]]{{Disambig|Alan Caudel|The Adam's Birthday Saga Continues}}
 After two years of rest, the Adam's Birthday saga returns with ''Adam's B-Day 3'', aka ''Adam '95''. This third chapter is a strange and inventive game, that amalgamates some ongoing design tendencies to lay down a path for future work.
 Much has happened since late 1993. Caudel has developed games as refined as ''[[FireAxe]]'', as radical as ''[[Adventure]]'', and as distinctive as ''[[Power Budd!]]'' -- but the most immediate precedent lays in the gonzo platformers ''[[Lil' Choklit Donit Man]]'' and ''[[Mr. Berkel Derkel!]]''.

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 After two years of rest, Alan Caudel returns to a growing tradition with ''Adam's B-Day 3'', aka ''Adam '95''. This third chapter in the Adam's Birthday saga is a strange and inventive game, that builds on earlier trends and lays new ground for future work.
-Much has happened since late 1993. Caudel has developed games as refined as ''[[FireAxe]]'', as mold-shattering as ''[[Adventure]]'', and as distinctive as ''[[Power Budd!]]'' -- but the most immediate precedent lays in the gonzo platformers ''[[Lil' Choklit Donit Man]]'' and ''[[Mr. Berkel Derkel!]]''.
+Much has happened since late 1993. Caudel has developed games as refined as ''[[FireAxe]]'', as radical as ''[[Adventure]]'', and as distinctive as ''[[Power Budd!]]'' -- but the most immediate precedent lays in the gonzo platformers ''[[Lil' Choklit Donit Man]]'' and ''[[Mr. Berkel Derkel!]]''.
 [[File:Adam95Sprite.gif|center]]

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 ''Adam's B-Day 3'', Caudel's return to the yearly ritual after a year away, is a strange and inventive game.
-Since last game, designed such games as ''[[FireAxe]]'', ''[[Adventure]]'', ''[[Power Budd!]]'' (though closest precedent is in ''[[Lil' Choklit Donit Man]]'' and ''[[Mr. Berkel Derkel]]'')
+Since last game, designed such games as ''[[FireAxe]]'', ''[[Adventure]]'', ''[[Power Budd!]]'' (though closest precedent is in ''[[Lil' Choklit Donit Man]]'' and ''[[Mr. Berkel Derkel!]]'')
 This sets the stage for ''[[Dummy Duck II]]''