Academy (video game)

Academy is an action/simulation video game for the Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum,[1] Amstrad CPC, and Amiga[2] It was released in 1986 by the CRL Group. It is the sequel to Tau Ceti and written by the same author, Pete Cooke.

Academy
Developer(s)CRL Group
Publisher(s)CRL Group
Designer(s)Pete Cooke
SeriesTau Ceti
Platform(s)ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS
Release1986
Genre(s)Action, simulation
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

The gameplay is similarto Tau Ceti—the player pilots a 'skimmer' through a 3D world—but with additional features. Instead of a single, large gameworld, the storyline is mission-based (but allowing the player some control over the order of play). The world physics of the original game are expanded on, as these missions take place on different planets under different suns; for example piloting under a dark red-dwarf provides a different play experience to a bright yellow sun.

In addition, the player may design their own skimmers; customising engine and weapon strengths, equipment payloads, and arranging the on-screen control panel.

The game's interface is the same cursor-and-menu system used in Pete Cooke's other creations, such as Micronaut One, A Whole New Ball Game and Tau Ceti.

Plot

From the game's instructions:[3]

After an incident on 61 Cygnus in 2197 when a rookie pilot selected the wrong gear when docking with the main central reactor and reduced half the planet to molten lava, Gal-Corp decided that a special training facility was needed to provide an elite corps of pilots for the advanced military skimmers used in colonisation and reconnaissance work.

The Galcorp Academy for Advanced Skimmer Pilots (GASP) was founded in 2213 to meet this requirement. With an intake of over a hundred would be skimmer pilots a year, only a few meet the exacting requirement of flying and combat skills.

In order to graduate from the Academy cadets must complete 20 missions, grouped in five levels of four, successfully.

A user-created skimmer

Reception

Your Sinclair awarded the game 9/10,[4] with reviewer Phil South impressed with the skimmer design system and the difficulty level of the missions. CRASH awarded the game 92%,[5] praising its slick presentation, mission structure and 3D graphics rendering.

gollark: I would assume that if you're fairly young you're more likely to die while awake and doing things, but it sounds like maybe you should try and get actual mental health support about this?
gollark: I have not.
gollark: Not really, I just won't get one for ages.
gollark: The inconvenient thing about the internet is that there's tons of sometimes-contradictory information on everything ever, and it's hard to find out about subjects which are new for you.
gollark: Based on what happened with the people who had to selfisolate there will be actual teachers there, and we have pretty small classes so it should be okay.

References
  1. Academy at SpectrumComputing.co.uk
  2. "HALL OF LIGHT" (Web). Archived from the original on 2011-09-01. Retrieved 2011-08-23.
  3. "THE SPECTRUM GAMES DATABASE" (Text). Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  4. South, Phil. "Academy". United Kingdom. Archived from the original (Web) on 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  5. "CRASH 36 – Academy" (Web). United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
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