441:, the player moves through an isometric maze of 8 x 8 screens. The player must gain access to hidden or blocked areas of the spaceship, often by finding items in order to circumvent various obstacles. Once the obstacles are disabled, the player may use items to create a warhead and carry it to one of the "blue" rooms of the ship. Upon activation of all four warheads, the player must reach the green room in order to complete the quest.
487:, writing his own sprite editor and constructing the spaceship setting. The first version of the game was initially rejected by Firebird. Ahmad asked for two more weeks to improve the game, where the need to collect food and water was added, as well as the objects and items, radiators that drained water, the Jack in a Box, and speech samples recorded by Ahmad. He took it back to Firebird, where it was subsequently approved.
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Twenty-five years after the release of "Chimera", original game designer Shahid Ahmad announced he was working on the 25th
Anniversary Edition of the game, entitled "Chimera 2010", which was never completed. On 3 September 2017, Ahmad announced a VR spinoff "Chimera Zero" saying, "The only things
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The player must also avoid running out of food or water, which are consumed more quickly while carrying something or when in a hot room. Both water and food can be found in the maze occasionally. If the player runs out of food or water, or tries to disable an obstacle with an incorrect item, the
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576:"Chimera Zero" has in common with the 1985 original are the name, robots and an unashamedly sci-fi setting." However, the development studio Ultimatum Games which was working on the title was shut down in February 2020.
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clone. He has acknowledged the game could've been better, and wished he had added more to the game, such as teleporters, jumping, easier controls, a proper map, and more of a story. However, it was because of
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for the
Commodore 64 in just three weeks. It was rushed, resulting in bugs, with Ahmad also claiming to not be paid what his work was worth. However, in December of that year, he was inspired after seeing
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Upon completion of the game, the player receives a key combination granting access to a bonus game in which the player has to shoot at a row of items (similar to
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A huge spaceship threatens to destroy Earth. One person must board the vessel and activate its self-destruct mechanism to make it explode, saving Earth.
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that Ahmad continued in the video game industry, stating that the happiest day of his game-making life was when
Firebird agreed to commission
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685:"I'm about to tell you the name of the VR project I've been working on for about a year in The ShaShed. Are you up for that?"
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In 1984, Shahid Ahmad was feeling disillusioned and was close to giving up video games after converting
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527:"Chimera is definitely graphically and sonically superior but the gameplay is unfortunately weak."
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Chimera 2010 | The 25th
Anniversary | Comment by Shahid Ahmad, September 8, 2011
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Chimera review in Zzap! issue 9, January 1986, p. 26, ISSN 0954-867X
483:, wanting to make a clone of the game. He began learning to code in
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709:"Ultimatum Games Shuts Down, "Chimera Zero VR" Possibly Dead"
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In June 2022, Ahmad announced a sequel to the game,
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90:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
433:About to disable an electric fence with a spanner
609:Jones, Darran (ed.). "The Making Of: Chimera".
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189:. There might be a discussion about this on
821:Video games developed in the United Kingdom
53:Learn how and when to remove these messages
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541:The game was more positively received by
409:written by Shahid Ahmad and published by
274:Learn how and when to remove this message
209:Learn how and when to remove this message
150:Learn how and when to remove this message
251:of all important aspects of the article.
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583:, and released an alpha build under a
247:Please consider expanding the lead to
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88:adding citations to reliable sources
831:Video games with isometric graphics
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683:Ahmad, Shahid Kamal (2017-09-03).
659:"Sinclair User Magazine Issue 044"
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826:Video games scored by Rob Hubbard
34:This article has multiple issues.
445:player dies and loses the game.
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239:may be too short to adequately
75:needs additional citations for
42:or discuss these issues on the
249:provide an accessible overview
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407:action-adventure video game
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801:Atari 8-bit computer games
764:at SpectrumComputing.co.uk
456:A Different Kettle of Fish
811:Single-player video games
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99:"Chimera" video game
613:(169). Future: 64, 65.
791:Action-adventure games
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179:confusing or unclear
84:improve this article
711:. 19 February 2020.
538:issue January 1986
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383:Isometric adventure
187:clarify the article
806:Commodore 64 games
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836:ZX Spectrum games
816:Telecomsoft games
796:Amstrad CPC games
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661:. November 1985.
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729:. 18 June 2022
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692:. Retrieved
689:@shahidkamal
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500:Review score
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355:Commodore 64
323:Shahid Ahmad
307:Publisher(s)
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257:January 2020
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236:lead section
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185:Please help
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140:January 2012
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82:Please help
77:verification
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36:Please help
33:
772:at Lemon 64
723:"Chimera 2"
611:Retro Gamer
561:Knight Lore
505:Publication
480:Knight Lore
466:Development
359:ZX Spectrum
351:Atari 8-bit
347:Amstrad CPC
342:Platform(s)
334:Rob Hubbard
329:Composer(s)
319:Designer(s)
780:Categories
694:2017-09-04
591:References
181:to readers
110:newspapers
39:improve it
619:1742-3155
581:Chimera 2
530:Gary Penn
496:Reception
491:Reception
413:in 1985.
241:summarize
45:talk page
425:Gameplay
411:Firebird
374:Genre(s)
312:Firebird
769:Chimera
761:Chimera
753:Chimera
733:18 June
727:itch.io
587:model.
570:Chimera
566:Chimera
557:Chimera
439:Chimera
402:Chimera
389:Mode(s)
365:Release
292:Chimera
177:may be
124:scholar
617:
551:Legacy
405:is an
126:
119:
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105:
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535:Zzap!
515:Zzap!
508:Score
336:(C64)
131:JSTOR
117:books
735:2022
647:here
615:ISSN
417:Plot
103:news
532:in
520:70%
485:Z80
437:In
86:by
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638:^
599:^
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
