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| I'm using the DOS version welcome screen, but I'm playing the Amiga version. |
Captive
United Kingdom
Antony Crowther (designer), Mindscape (publisher)
Released 1990 for Amiga and Atari ST; 1992 for DOSDate Started: 10 August 2014
RPGs inspired by Dungeon Master make up a unique and weird subset of the overall genre. While they are inescapably RPGs, they have such particular characteristics that it seems unfair to rate them against other RPG titles. I admire what Dungeon Master offered, but I don't love it the way many players do--players who look for things I don't look for in RPGs. I know that Dungeon Master, Chaos Strikes Back, Bloodwych, and Eye of the Beholder top many players' lists of best RPGs, but with my own preferences for an engaging plot, NPC interaction, tactical combat, and a robust economy, I'll rank most of these as average and many of them as below average--while at the same time understanding that some players prefer them for their lack of such things. More than any other sub-genre, I want to take Dungeon Master clones by the hand and explain, "It's not you; it's me."
Captive fans are going to be disappointed with my coverage. If you tell me you love it, I won't judge you the same way that I would if you told me you loved Rance or Ultima II, but it simply doesn't do anything for me. It rubs me wrong in just about every way, from the goofy framing story to the pseudo-sci-fi setting to the unnecessary reliance on the mouse and the furious clicking that has to accompany every combat. Every time I start it up, I audibly sigh. Yes, it's an impressive development effort from a small team. Yes, it has nice opening music, pretty graphics, and decent sound throughout. But I'd honestly get as much from watching someone's YouTube video of the game as playing it. I realize it's not the game; it's me.
Just like Dungeon Master, the Captive player controls four characters who wander dungeon mazes in real time, gather equipment, solve navigation puzzles, and fight monsters. The creatures often appear suddenly in passages, and you have to click quickly on your attack buttons to defeat them and watch them disappear in puffs of blood. Meters monitor health and power, and the damage system includes a separate meter for each body part. You find bits of equipment that go on your various body parts. As you kill monsters and solve puzzles, your experience and skills increase. It is, in short, very much in the Dungeon Master mold.
That isn't to say that it doesn't have plenty of its own innovations, though. Perhaps the most notable difference is that the game takes place (nominally) in space, the four characters are androids, and the monsters you fight are aliens. Captive's wall-moving puzzles are a bit different than Dungeon Master's pressure plate puzzles, skills are assigned by player choice rather than use, and the characters collect money and visit shops in the dungeons. But the way some of these elements fit in the plot, as we'll see, are frankly absurd.
Captive fans are going to be disappointed with my coverage. If you tell me you love it, I won't judge you the same way that I would if you told me you loved Rance or Ultima II, but it simply doesn't do anything for me. It rubs me wrong in just about every way, from the goofy framing story to the pseudo-sci-fi setting to the unnecessary reliance on the mouse and the furious clicking that has to accompany every combat. Every time I start it up, I audibly sigh. Yes, it's an impressive development effort from a small team. Yes, it has nice opening music, pretty graphics, and decent sound throughout. But I'd honestly get as much from watching someone's YouTube video of the game as playing it. I realize it's not the game; it's me.
_18.png) |
| A typical Captive screen. I face a couple groups of enemies beyond a door, with more buttons than a 747 to master. |
Just like Dungeon Master, the Captive player controls four characters who wander dungeon mazes in real time, gather equipment, solve navigation puzzles, and fight monsters. The creatures often appear suddenly in passages, and you have to click quickly on your attack buttons to defeat them and watch them disappear in puffs of blood. Meters monitor health and power, and the damage system includes a separate meter for each body part. You find bits of equipment that go on your various body parts. As you kill monsters and solve puzzles, your experience and skills increase. It is, in short, very much in the Dungeon Master mold.
That isn't to say that it doesn't have plenty of its own innovations, though. Perhaps the most notable difference is that the game takes place (nominally) in space, the four characters are androids, and the monsters you fight are aliens. Captive's wall-moving puzzles are a bit different than Dungeon Master's pressure plate puzzles, skills are assigned by player choice rather than use, and the characters collect money and visit shops in the dungeons. But the way some of these elements fit in the plot, as we'll see, are frankly absurd.
Like just about all Dungeon Master descendants, the creators felt the need to come up with some kind of weird framing story to explain why one player is controlling four party members. In Dungeon Master, the idea was that "you" were the spirit of Theron, influencing the resurrected bodies of four heroes. In Captive, "you" are the imprisoned human named Trill who is remotely controlling four robots via a briefcase that, when opened, makes up the game screen.
The back story begins in 2542, somewhere in space, with Trill being convicted on "all counts" of an unspecified crime he didn't commit. Hoping for community service, Trill is shocked to find himself sentenced to 250 years of suspended animation. (I guess the sentencing guidelines allow for a lot of flexibility in the future.) Some "men in coats" show up and give him a shot.
Trill wakes up 248 years later in his suspended animation chamber on a space station with a feeding tube sticking out of his arm. Looking out his window and seeing the wrecked nature of the place, he intuits that the station was attacked and the damage to the computers caused him to awaken prematurely. In his cell, he finds a briefcase computer that, when opened, allows him remote control access to four droids on a ship. The goal of the game is to use the droids to systematically explore space stations and ultimately find the one containing Trill.
The game starts with the droid ship somewhere in space. You have to navigate to a flashing planet, hit a button to "Orbit" it, and then "Land" on the space station there. This involves a lot of zooming in so you can make sure you have the planet selected before you hit "Land." If you accidentally hit "Land" when space is selected, which could just be a pixel off the planet, you land in water and start taking damage. As there's only one way to get this sequence right and no skill involved in it, the whole "space" part of the game seems a little superfluous.
_1.png)
The meat of the game comes after you land on the space station and start exploring a randomly-generated dungeon in 3D view. It took me a long time to get used to the controls, and I must say that the manual is woefully inadequate in its elucidation of a fairly complicated interface. I had to use Pierre Fournier's Ultimate Captive Guide to help me figure it out. I tried not to look at spoilers, but given the random nature of the dungeons, I'm not sure this game can really be "spoiled" in the traditional sense.
The interface is contained in a panel to the right, and consists of movement keys, a group of indicators showing the droids' current health and power levels, and a group of "hand" icons that show what the droids have in their hands. Icons respond differently to right-clicking and left-clicking; left-clicking on items in the hands actually removes them and puts them in the active "up in the air" inventory, while right-clicking activates them (empty hands punch). There's a non-intuitive process of clicks to get to the droids' inventory and characteristic screens, though thankfully (unlike Dungeon Master) the game has a keyboard analogue to all of these buttons except--maddeningly--the hands, which means that combat still involves a lot of carpal-tunnel-inducing clicking around.
The four screens at the top correspond with various monitors, tools, and cameras that you can find or buy. I bought two in the first dungeon. The first, an "Agscan," displays the specific hit point damages my characters are doing. The other is an "anti-grav" which turns the party upside down and has them walk on the ceiling, which I assume must be the solution to a puzzle somewhere. I don't yet know what devices correspond to the other three, but one is labeled "camera."
Combat comes frequently in the corridors. In the first base, I faced little things that look like garden gnomes and other little things that looked like something out of a swamp. As they get up close to you, you frantically right-click on the various droid hands to punch them. As with Dungeon Master, after you execute an attack, the icon fuzzes out for a couple seconds as you recover. Later, I assume missile weapons will allow me to shoot them at a distance, but in the first base, I only found a bunch of brass-knuckle-looking things.
There are a couple of strategies to make combat easier. The door-smashing trick from Dungeon Master is present here. It does more damage than in Dungeon Master, and unlike that game, this one gives you experience rewards for enemies killed in this manner.
You can also use electrical sockets to power up the arm of the lead droid and shoot electricity at a distance. It's only good for a few shots at a time, and I find it hard to aim them (like Dungeon Master, positioning of enemies is important here; characters on the right cannot strike enemies on the left), but when it works, it's a satisfying way to kill foes without taking any damage. You have to be careful not to touch anything else while so charged, as you'll automatically destroy it.
Enemies nonsensically drop gold when they die, which you can spend at various shops throughout the dungeons, both to purchase equipment and to repair body parts. In the first dungeon I explored, there were four or five shops--far more than necessary for its size. There were also various items hidden behind wall panels.
Killing enemies by any means nets the party experience points, although I'm not quite sure how they're distributed. It's not simply based on who makes the kill, but it doesn't seem entirely even, either. The player can then use these experience points to level-up skills. So far, I only have "brawling" and "robotics" as skills, but the manual promises more will become available as I get more experienced. I got enough experience points in the first dungeon to level everyone from Level 1 to between Levels 7 and 9 in both skills, so the rewards are fairly rapid.
I remain a bit mystified as to the general goal of dungeon exploration vis-a-vis the main plot, so let me back up a bit. When I first landed on the first indicated base, I found my party standing next to their lander in a small area surrounded by water and weird things that I guess are maybe bushes or trees.
_3.png)
Clued by the manual, my first action was to open each droid's inventory and insert its chip into its brain. At this point, I was prompted to enter a name for each droid. I used the random name generator LordKarnov42 made for me a few years ago and came up with Ammi, Olla, Heras, and Choun. I guess (the manual isn't clear on this) the droid's name somehow determines its starting attributes (dexterity, vitality, and wisdom), through some kind of complex behind-the-scenes formula. I had scores as high as 15 and as low as 3. Among other things, these attributes seem to affect the number of experience points needed to move between levels.
The starting area featured a large door with buttons in each corner--some kind of combination lock. A square nearby turned up a "message from Ratt" that had the combination of the door, which I soon entered and found myself in the main part of the dungeon. "Ratt" is developer Antony Crowther's nickname; I don't know if these messages are breaking the fourth wall or if he's actually a character in-game.
_7.png)
One square after the entry was a bundle of dynamite and another message from this mysterious Ratt: "You will need this to destroy the generators." I remain confused as to why I would want to destroy the generators, but I took the dynamite. One step later brought me to a dead-end in front of a blank wall.
Only it wasn't just a wall! It was a wall on wheels, which allowed me to push it and reveal an opening in the next passage. This was one of several wheel-walls on this level, and I guess the wall puzzles get even more complicated later on. In this case, I just had to be careful not to push the walls somewhere that permanently blocked a passage. I found out the hard way that this is possible.
The level wasn't very big, and I didn't bother to map it. I found the room full of generators almost right away, but of course I took pains to explore the entire thing, killing monsters, getting fixed up at shops, and finding treasure. The only unique encounter was with a scientist at a computer. He was non-hostile when I first approached him, and I thought he might be some kind of NPC, but there didn't seem to be any way to interact with him. When I attacked him to get past him, his head turned into this freaky screaming skull.
_21.png)
He took a lot of effort to kill. He had a clipboard on him with a password to the computer, which in turn produced something labeled "Map Basic." I assume this helps me figure out where to go next.
In the rest of the level, I found some kind of device called a "Planet Probe," which another message indicated I should put on the "Hola map." I assume that's back in the space view.
At last, I couldn't find anything else to do and it was time to leave the dungeon. The door back to my ship was unresponsive, so I guess that's why I have to destroy the power generators--perhaps to free the door. I took the explosive bundle to the room, tossed it into the generators, and watched everything get enveloped in a sea of fire.
Moments later, I was dead. I guess this process causes the entire base to eventually explode. That seems a little mean to the shopkeepers.
Reloading, I threw the explosives into the generators, then ran for the door. It opened, but on the other side, I found myself facing a blank wall. As I futilely tried to bash it down, the world exploded and the game ended again. Thus, my first post is also a cry for help: what am I missing?
While I'm asking for help, here are a few more questions:
Again, I can see why people like this type of game, but it just isn't my idea of a good RPG experience. The plot and game world--with all of these bases infested with aliens but containing human shopkeepers who trade in gold--is even more absurd than Chaos Strikes Back, which is really saying something.
 |
| 500 years in the future, medieval styles will come back into fashion. |
Trill wakes up 248 years later in his suspended animation chamber on a space station with a feeding tube sticking out of his arm. Looking out his window and seeing the wrecked nature of the place, he intuits that the station was attacked and the damage to the computers caused him to awaken prematurely. In his cell, he finds a briefcase computer that, when opened, allows him remote control access to four droids on a ship. The goal of the game is to use the droids to systematically explore space stations and ultimately find the one containing Trill.
 |
| The opening screen's depiction of Trill. Game designers: if you're going to decide what the main character looks like without any player input or choices, please don't make him look so stupid. |
The game starts with the droid ship somewhere in space. You have to navigate to a flashing planet, hit a button to "Orbit" it, and then "Land" on the space station there. This involves a lot of zooming in so you can make sure you have the planet selected before you hit "Land." If you accidentally hit "Land" when space is selected, which could just be a pixel off the planet, you land in water and start taking damage. As there's only one way to get this sequence right and no skill involved in it, the whole "space" part of the game seems a little superfluous.
The meat of the game comes after you land on the space station and start exploring a randomly-generated dungeon in 3D view. It took me a long time to get used to the controls, and I must say that the manual is woefully inadequate in its elucidation of a fairly complicated interface. I had to use Pierre Fournier's Ultimate Captive Guide to help me figure it out. I tried not to look at spoilers, but given the random nature of the dungeons, I'm not sure this game can really be "spoiled" in the traditional sense.
The interface is contained in a panel to the right, and consists of movement keys, a group of indicators showing the droids' current health and power levels, and a group of "hand" icons that show what the droids have in their hands. Icons respond differently to right-clicking and left-clicking; left-clicking on items in the hands actually removes them and puts them in the active "up in the air" inventory, while right-clicking activates them (empty hands punch). There's a non-intuitive process of clicks to get to the droids' inventory and characteristic screens, though thankfully (unlike Dungeon Master) the game has a keyboard analogue to all of these buttons except--maddeningly--the hands, which means that combat still involves a lot of carpal-tunnel-inducing clicking around.
The four screens at the top correspond with various monitors, tools, and cameras that you can find or buy. I bought two in the first dungeon. The first, an "Agscan," displays the specific hit point damages my characters are doing. The other is an "anti-grav" which turns the party upside down and has them walk on the ceiling, which I assume must be the solution to a puzzle somewhere. I don't yet know what devices correspond to the other three, but one is labeled "camera."
Combat comes frequently in the corridors. In the first base, I faced little things that look like garden gnomes and other little things that looked like something out of a swamp. As they get up close to you, you frantically right-click on the various droid hands to punch them. As with Dungeon Master, after you execute an attack, the icon fuzzes out for a couple seconds as you recover. Later, I assume missile weapons will allow me to shoot them at a distance, but in the first base, I only found a bunch of brass-knuckle-looking things.
There are a couple of strategies to make combat easier. The door-smashing trick from Dungeon Master is present here. It does more damage than in Dungeon Master, and unlike that game, this one gives you experience rewards for enemies killed in this manner.
_27.png) |
| Preparing to crush these swamp things in a door. |
You can also use electrical sockets to power up the arm of the lead droid and shoot electricity at a distance. It's only good for a few shots at a time, and I find it hard to aim them (like Dungeon Master, positioning of enemies is important here; characters on the right cannot strike enemies on the left), but when it works, it's a satisfying way to kill foes without taking any damage. You have to be careful not to touch anything else while so charged, as you'll automatically destroy it.
_20.png) |
| Grabbing some electricity to throw around. |
Enemies nonsensically drop gold when they die, which you can spend at various shops throughout the dungeons, both to purchase equipment and to repair body parts. In the first dungeon I explored, there were four or five shops--far more than necessary for its size. There were also various items hidden behind wall panels.
_26.png) |
| It'll be a while before I can afford batteries, but for now re-charging at wall sockets hasn't been a problem. |
Killing enemies by any means nets the party experience points, although I'm not quite sure how they're distributed. It's not simply based on who makes the kill, but it doesn't seem entirely even, either. The player can then use these experience points to level-up skills. So far, I only have "brawling" and "robotics" as skills, but the manual promises more will become available as I get more experienced. I got enough experience points in the first dungeon to level everyone from Level 1 to between Levels 7 and 9 in both skills, so the rewards are fairly rapid.
_28.png) |
| Leveling up robotics. |
I remain a bit mystified as to the general goal of dungeon exploration vis-a-vis the main plot, so let me back up a bit. When I first landed on the first indicated base, I found my party standing next to their lander in a small area surrounded by water and weird things that I guess are maybe bushes or trees.
Clued by the manual, my first action was to open each droid's inventory and insert its chip into its brain. At this point, I was prompted to enter a name for each droid. I used the random name generator LordKarnov42 made for me a few years ago and came up with Ammi, Olla, Heras, and Choun. I guess (the manual isn't clear on this) the droid's name somehow determines its starting attributes (dexterity, vitality, and wisdom), through some kind of complex behind-the-scenes formula. I had scores as high as 15 and as low as 3. Among other things, these attributes seem to affect the number of experience points needed to move between levels.
_12.png) |
| My newly-created droid party. |
The starting area featured a large door with buttons in each corner--some kind of combination lock. A square nearby turned up a "message from Ratt" that had the combination of the door, which I soon entered and found myself in the main part of the dungeon. "Ratt" is developer Antony Crowther's nickname; I don't know if these messages are breaking the fourth wall or if he's actually a character in-game.
One square after the entry was a bundle of dynamite and another message from this mysterious Ratt: "You will need this to destroy the generators." I remain confused as to why I would want to destroy the generators, but I took the dynamite. One step later brought me to a dead-end in front of a blank wall.
_8.png) |
| Putting my new items in the droid inventory. |
Only it wasn't just a wall! It was a wall on wheels, which allowed me to push it and reveal an opening in the next passage. This was one of several wheel-walls on this level, and I guess the wall puzzles get even more complicated later on. In this case, I just had to be careful not to push the walls somewhere that permanently blocked a passage. I found out the hard way that this is possible.
_15.png) |
| Note the rollers at the bottom. |
The level wasn't very big, and I didn't bother to map it. I found the room full of generators almost right away, but of course I took pains to explore the entire thing, killing monsters, getting fixed up at shops, and finding treasure. The only unique encounter was with a scientist at a computer. He was non-hostile when I first approached him, and I thought he might be some kind of NPC, but there didn't seem to be any way to interact with him. When I attacked him to get past him, his head turned into this freaky screaming skull.
He took a lot of effort to kill. He had a clipboard on him with a password to the computer, which in turn produced something labeled "Map Basic." I assume this helps me figure out where to go next.
_24.png) |
| Getting my rewards on the other side of that lunatic. |
In the rest of the level, I found some kind of device called a "Planet Probe," which another message indicated I should put on the "Hola map." I assume that's back in the space view.
At last, I couldn't find anything else to do and it was time to leave the dungeon. The door back to my ship was unresponsive, so I guess that's why I have to destroy the power generators--perhaps to free the door. I took the explosive bundle to the room, tossed it into the generators, and watched everything get enveloped in a sea of fire.
_30.png) |
| I'd rather be tossing dynamite in New Vegas right now. |
Moments later, I was dead. I guess this process causes the entire base to eventually explode. That seems a little mean to the shopkeepers.
_31.png) |
| So has your punctuation. |
Reloading, I threw the explosives into the generators, then ran for the door. It opened, but on the other side, I found myself facing a blank wall. As I futilely tried to bash it down, the world exploded and the game ended again. Thus, my first post is also a cry for help: what am I missing?
_33.png) |
| I even tried the anti-gravity thing. |
While I'm asking for help, here are a few more questions:
- The space map indicates the location of the base you should go to, but you can theoretically land on any base at any time. Is there any reason to do them out of order like this, or is it just wasting time?
- Are all the dungeons one level and relatively small, or will I eventually need to map?
- Shopkeepers are willing to pay hundreds of gold pieces for those messages from Ratt. Any reason to keep them?
Again, I can see why people like this type of game, but it just isn't my idea of a good RPG experience. The plot and game world--with all of these bases infested with aliens but containing human shopkeepers who trade in gold--is even more absurd than Chaos Strikes Back, which is really saying something.
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