Zero Critical
| Zero Critical | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Istvan Pely Productions |
| Publisher(s) | Bethesda Softworks |
| Designer(s) | Istvan Pely |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS |
| Release date(s) | 1999 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Zero Critical is a 1999 science-fiction computer game for Windows 95, Windows 98 and Mac OS. It is a traditional third-person and fully 3D graphic adventure with a heavy emphasis on story and characters. Zero Critical is notable for its scientific realism.
The game's original title was Satin Rift, but it was released with the title Zero Critical by Bethesda Softworks in 1999. Zero Critical's story and plotline was written by Istvan Pely and Sherban Young.
Zero Critical originally was intended as a direct sequel to Majestic (a game developed and released by Istvan Pely while he was still in college), and also an indirect sequel to the adventure game Symbiocom. Despite the fact that there are many references to the previous games, Zero Critical is very different from both Majestic and Symbiocom.
Story
Chatt Rhuller is an Interstellar Transportation Commission (ITC) field agent on assignment to Planet Rheom 1. A research facility has been established there, currently engaged on the SATIN Project. Dr. Victoria Fayn, the head of the project, has killed a fellow scientist, Geopp, allegedly in self-defense. Subsequently, Chatt is sent to investigate the incident and to deliver an encrypted message to Dr. Fayn. Chatt's supposed quick investigation runs into a snag however, when his shuttle is delayed and he has to stay on base for a few more days.
During his stay, Chatt interviews station staff Dr. Fayn, Dr. Vilken, Roger Olken, Myna Symmine and eventually Magus Canter. The interview is for the most part inconclusive but it is revealed that the project staff are all equipped with SynCore Symbiotes, a microcomputer implanted into the brain to augment its calculation powers. Magus, the station's maintenance worker, also reveals that not far from the SATIN research site lies the wreckage of S.S. Majestic, the infamous space ship that was lost and never found. Upon investigating the wreckage, Chatt finds a furious Dr. Fayn who seems to have lost someone on board but is adamant to speak about it.
Incidents however, do not leave the SATIN project alone. Strange anonymous messages that warn about the SATIN project appear on utility room's computer (where Chatt sleeps). Dr. Vilken is caught attempting to infect SATIN computers with a virus that would have ruined the research to which he was so dedicated. After the incident, he seems cooperative and harmless but largely confused. The good-natured and humorous Roger is the next to go mad; just as he once jokingly has fantasized, he knocks Chatt unconscious and attempts to shoot Dr. Fayn, but kills Magus instead and commits suicide.
Resolved to end the tragedy, Chatt breaks into Dr. Fayn's private quarter and learns of her obsession with S.S. Majestic, space-time continuum and Roland Carson, her late love interest. Chatt also learns that the shuttle's delay is due to Fayn's having dismissed it to prevent Chatt from alerting ITC; the SATIN project is on the verge of fruition and Dr. Fayn is unwilling to risk its being shut down. Chatt also breaks into the main lab and enters a sample SATIN rift which takes him to a room in an intact S.S.Majestic. There, Dr. Vilken invites him to look out of a window overlooking the starry void. Chatt looks out of same window to in S.S. Majestic’s a discovers a SATIN project's secret operation site.
Setting
S.S. Majestic was Earth’s finest pleasure cruiser and a crowning achievement in space travel. On her maiden voyage she set sail from earth’s harbor and never returned. The crew and ship were lost 27 November.
Two decades after the disappearance of Majestic, Zero Critical takes place in Rheom 1, a small terrestrial planet of eternal daylight.
Rheom 1 is an extrasolar planet that is located in the Rheom System; a planetary system composed of many planets along with billions of small bodies, including asteroids, meteoroids, and interplanetary dust. Rheom 1 is primarily composed of silicate rocks. A2B trucks are used for traversing this rock strewn surface. Rheom has plenty of oxygen and it is believed that there would have to be some areas that had water.
The Thundercloud Project chose to build their outpost on Rheom 1 because of its proximity to the Pleiades cluster.
Characters
Zero Critical features dozens of interactive characters, they include;
- Chatt Rhuller is the main protagonist of the game. He is a new recruit of the ITC's Special Projects Division, an organization that regulates the ever-growing traffic in space. Chatt has just been assigned to his very first case, a homicide. However, once on Rheom 1, Chatt quickly learns of a longer history to the research facility and of the failed Thundercloud Project that was conducted by a group of astronomers.
- Dr. Victoria Fayn is a theoretical physicist and scientist. She is a Nobel Prize laureate, and has received a variety of awards for her pioneering efforts. She is very secretive and serves as the main antagonist of the story.
- Dr. Thomas Vilken is a distinguished physicist recognized for his original contributions which have served to advance frontiers of scientific investigations in a variety of fields. According to Fayn, “He is second in command and integral to the completion of the project”. It is said that Dr. Vilken has been involved in lots of interesting projects over the years and has received many awards and kudos for solving a wide variety of problems throughout his career, including; the "Multi-Legged Vehicle Project".
- Myna Symmine is a programmer-scientist and facility's computer expert. She serves as a research assistant for SATIN. She is the youngest character of the game.
- Roger Olken is a member of the research staff at the Satin Laboratories. He is humorous, good-natured but lazy and sluggish. As a research assistant he is seen operating the terminals in the computer lab. Throughout the game he recurrently complains and expresses a strong disfavor about Dr. Fayn's attitude towards her co-workers.
- Magus Canter is a former member of the ex-Thundercloud team. Now he resides in the facility, doing the cleaning, cooking and paying attention to the medical needs of the staff.
- Eugene Garr, is an ITC Agent sent to Rheom 1 to decide the funding of the project.
- Roland Carson -- The Baron of Sombury, the lover of Victoria Fayn and one of the missing passengers aboard the S.S. Majestic. Being an art collector, Carson paid a record price of 2 million rin. for an artifact belonging to extraterrestrial beings; i.e., Aliens.
- Dr. Dor Geopp is one of the three key scientists of the project, along with Fayn and Vilken. Several days before Chatt’s arrival he went berserk attacking Fayn and was subsequently shot and killed by her.
The following are the minor characters that are responsible for some of the exotic technologies that have been employed in Zero Critical, but do not actually appear in the game.
- Prof. Norma Miller The inventor of SynCore’s first "thinking machine", IPSYSJ. She also completed a translation algorithm capable of processing 'alien' speech and translating them into plain English. Miller understood that Carson's artifact was in fact a hologram, a device for phasing between dimensions namely a "phase viewer", and the alien race who have created it must exist in an alternate dimension, the one we cannot see or imagine. A dimension of which we simply have no knowledge. She’s one of the missing passengers aboard the majestic.
- Doctor Gregg, an associate of Miller, is a prominent Neuro-Tech research scientist at SynCore. He was instrumental in developing the synapse/lattice interface required for a symbiotic to brain connection. He along with Prof. Miller and Magus Canter were a part of the ex-Thundercloud project, they are all mentioned in the game.
Gameplay
The gameplay takes place over a four-day period and the player is required to complete specific tasks and puzzles before proceeding to the next day. Zero Critical uses the point-and-click approach to move around, find and use inventory objects, examine items and communicate with other characters. Conversations take place through a dialog box with pre-programmed questions and responses to progress in the game when talking to other characters.
There is no voice acting in the game, however there are lots of conversations but they are all done in plain text. Conversations are initiated by clicking on a character or showing them an object. It is possible to choose various paths for the conversations. Asking questions normally generates new ones that are added to your list of possible queries. The player's PDA automatically stores dialog transcripts, this allows the player to go back and check on a comment he may have missed.
Audio
The musical score and sound FX to Zero Critical was composed by Seth W. Jones.