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I love this game - and I have a few pointers for what might be included in the main article (perhaps if only to answer the questions of those who may want specific knowledge on the game):

  • The 883 droid is obviously a dalek.
  • Paradroid features an alert level, usually green, whereby more points are scored when large numbers of droids are being destroyed (eg by disruptors)
  • The sensors that the various droids have have (as far as I know) no effect on gameplay
  • Paradroid features on the C64 Direct-to-TV "30 C64 games in 1" joystick device
  • (Spolier warning?): The player moves through a series of similar spaceships, first the Paradroid, then the Metahawk and Hewstromo, then apparently a number of ships until a recurring name of 'dejavu' (or some such) is reached.

Cheers, RevJohn 14:23, 25 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Commodore 64 editions

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As I know there were three slightly different editions of the Commodore 64 game! The original version was released 1985. Two remixes, the "Competition Edition" and the "Heavy Metal Paradroid" (aka. "Metal Edition") were released in 1986. (Some sources say that the "Metal" was as late as 1989, but the game itself has a copyright year 1986.)

The only difference I have noticed are the graphics. Both the original and the "Competition" editions have hires monochrome graphics while the "Metal" edition has a bit more metallic (?) approach. There should be some timing differences as some people claim the "Metal" having the best game feel.

Tight analysis of differences between these three versions would be appreciated. :)

After some research done...

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I managed to find the following (http://www.zzap64.co.uk/zzap24/mental2.html):

Friday 6th February, 1987:

"Hopefully by now some of you will have played the Competition Edition of Paradroid in the Christmas [of 1986] double pack. Being 50% faster than the standard edition, it certainly plays a lot more furiously. I discovered how to make Paradroid run fast after I finished Alleykat. I was experimenting with the double-speed CPU in the C128 which is an adaptation of the 6510, called the 8510. It can run at a clock speed of 2MHZ if required, but normally it runs at 1MHz for C64 compatibility.

Upon further investigation, I realised that the 6510 present in all C64s could also be encouraged to run at this higher speed by use of software. I have produced a BASIC listing to allow you to apply this discovery to your own software. Just key in the program and save it to tape or disk. . RUN it, and then NEW it. Finally load in any game from cassette. Once loaded, it will run at up to double normal speed, prepare for a mega-fast game! Since the 6510 Accelerator upsets disk loading speeds, it cannot be used to speed up disk-based software yet, but I am working on a solution to this."

-- Andrew Braybrook (ZZap64 Magazine, Issue 24, April 1987)

Even more research done...

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First, the 2 Mhz C64 hack mentioned above seemed to be an inside joke of Mr Braybrook: :)

"I gather that some people have tried my little 6510 accelerator. Okay so it doesn’t quite speed up the C64 to mega speeds but you have to laugh. It seems to have taken anything from fifteen minutes to two hours to key in depending on manual dexterity. Lucky I didn’t pad it out too much, eh?"

"It’s interesting to study people’s reaction to the hoax, one or two people were apparently very grumpy indeed, hurling abuse in all directions. I reckon that just shows the Human animal for what it is. Greed had set in at the thought of gaining extra CPU wellie for nothing and then it was snatched away. I hope I never get stuck in a lift with any miserable types who didn’t find it amusing!"

Very funny indeed...

194.200.65.239 (talk) 13:51, 29 May 2008 (UTC): Yeah, I just cut'n'pasted it into WinVICE and all it seems to do is flash the screen and speed up the cursor rate![reply]

Anyhow, the difference between original Paradroid and the "Competition Edition" is speed. Scrolling is faster and thus the gameplay harder.

So what's the story with the "Heavy Metal Paradroid" then? In Mental Procreation (aka. the Morpheus diaries, ZZap64 Magazine, Issue 23, March 1987) Mr. Braybrook gives the following tips:

Friday 12th December [of 1986]

"Spent most of the day redrawing the Paradroid graphics in the new [Morpheus] style. After correcting the colour table, which displayed the most grotesque green selection anyone has seen since the Dragon 32, it gives a new lease on life to the game. It's a pity that it's too late to use it in the Christmas double-pack, but may be just as well - I'll let my new game show the graphical advance. After all, the object of this exercise was only to evaluate the new graphics properly."

Saturday 13th December [of 1986]

"Completed work on the new graphics as inserted into Paradroid. It looks very neat and proves that the new graphics wor, although finding colour schemes that fit is more difficult. They represent a step forwards from the Paradroid / Uridium style but retain the shiny metallic look."

Now, if we compare Heavy Metal Paradroid and the metallic graphics of Morpheus there are clearly similarities. (images courtesy of C64 Game Guide)

So there it is. In short:

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Andrew wrote the original Paradroid in 1985. Next year (after writing Alleykat) he hacked up the "Paradroid Competition Edition" which plays faster than the original, mainly due scroll code enhancement. Later that year while working on still unnamed game (Morpheus) he created new metallic charset and used the "Paradroid Competition Edition" as a test bed for it. Later this version of the game will be known as "Heavy Metal Paradroid" or "Paradroid Metal Edition".

"Paradroid Competition Edition" was published in the Hewson Consultants Chrismas double-pack in 1986. The official publishing date of "Heavy Metal Paradroid" is yet unknown (to me, at least).

--

Now... I have spend a way too much time on this detective work. :)

I would appreciate if someone would merge some of this stuff to the main article. Personally I do not have the courage because I am not a native English speaker (or writer).

Cheers, by Anonymous Wikipedestrian, 2006-03-29

Paradroid Redux

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There’s some crazy guy who has disassembled the c64 game code and practically redone the game, fixing several bugs and improving some other stuff while keeping as close to the original as possible. He calls it Paradroid Redux and has a beta up for download as a c64 disk image. Not sure about the legal status, though, but apart from that it’s a real blast. Might be worth mentioning. --Dr. Zarkov 18:12, 23 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

SweetPro

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How can the logo of SweetPro cattle feed supplement have the same typeface than Paradroid? [1] Which one existed first? -- 93.106.86.252 (talk) 12:56, 15 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Paradroid on the Spectrum

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This file contains the following:

Paul Bond's review of Hewson's game _Paradroid_ on Your Sinclair n.11/5, November 1985, closed with the following sentence:

"Hewson has come up with the goods just when some of its fellow little league colleagues seem to be just nightshades

of their former selves"

Now, Paradroid wasn't released for the Spectrum, and Your Sinclair didn't start publication until 1986. I've quickly looked through the November 1985 edition of Your Spectrum but couldn't find any reference to Paradroid (though it contains a large review of Nightshade.) Can anyone elucidate? 2fort5r (talk) 11:37, 22 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This piqued my interest, despite being 5 years old (!)
I happen to own all the Your Spectrums, so had a look through, and the Nightshade review is in there as stated - but by Teresa Maughan, not Paul Bond.
However, Google shows Paul Bond to have been a reviewer for Your Computer, and a bit of work brought up this review of Paradroid by him in the November 1985 issue of Your Computer.
So - it's just a mistake on the part of the transcriber, and a subtle jab at Ultimate by the reviewer.
And - of course - an opportunity to wallow in nostalgia for me. Chaheel Riens (talk) 15:28, 21 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Good sleuthing! An old mystery solved. 2fort5r (talk) 05:35, 29 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Remakes - Yura87 (talk) 06:20, 25 May 2012 (UTC)

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Quazatron in 3D (with relative controls) is available from Retrospec. I found that droids there do too much firing and the hijacking mode is harder. Quazatron by Retrospec and Freedroid Classic are Win32 remakes of the game. Retrospec edition is freeware, Freedroid is open-source.

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