166:. When 10,000 lines or more are accumulated, the game ends with Eric's expulsion. However, Eric can also receive lines for things that are not his fault, such as lying or sitting on the floor when in fact he has been knocked down, or being nearest a teacher who has just been hit by a projectile fired by one of the other pupils. Part of the challenge in this game is to prevent other pupils from getting Eric into trouble.
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David Reidy considered himself to be more proficient as a programmer and engineer, and decided the game's graphics would benefit from a separate designer. He recruited a family friend, Keith
Warrington, who was studying graphic design. Warrington learned the rudiments of computer graphics from David,
158:
The four teachers are Mr Wacker (the headmaster), Mr
Rockitt (the science teacher), Mr Withit (the geography teacher) and Mr Creak (the history master). Other than Eric, three of the pupils are named: Boy Wander (the tearaway), Angelface (the bully) and Einstein (the swot). The player has the option
212:
for each character. He later obtained a
Spectrum to assist with the design, but found using graph paper easier. Warrington based the teachers on ones that had taught him at school, and later said the geography teacher, Mr Withit, was based on "my all time favourite teacher". He found the
217:
limitations helpful, as it forced him to design cartoon-like characters, saying "you couldn't do a normal person because they would have all looked the same". As with other
Microsphere games, David designed the program on paper, which Helen typed into the computer.
138:
the following year. It was written by David Reidy, with graphics designed by Keith
Warrington. The game was commercially and critically successful, and praised for its original concept. It has since been regarded as one of the pioneers of the
499:, which expanded the gameplay to include a neighbouring girls' school and a love interest (with the benefit of being able to reduce one's lines), along with stink bombs, mice, water pistols, frogs, sherry and a long-suffering caretaker.
449:
was a commercial success when first released, selling 50,000 copies despite very little marketing or promotion. Reidy later realised he could have made more money with an appropriate campaign, and regretted the loss of income due to
174:
Helen Reidy had a background in teaching, while David had fonder memories of activities between lessons and designed the game around this. The pupils were based on schoolboy characters he read about as a child, including
466:
In 1985, Zzap!64 reviewed the
Commodore 64 version which they found to be graphically and sonically weak, but enjoyable to play due to the innovative gameplay. It was given an overall rating of 78%.
155:
out of the staff room safe by accomplishing various tasks around the school. The computer controls all the other characters in the game, including the headmaster, other teachers and other pupils.
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of renaming the characters before the game begins. There are also many unnamed, undistinguished pupils at the school.
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and drew the characters as line drawings on squared paper. From this, he blocked in the individual
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If Eric is caught out of class or otherwise misbehaving, teacher characters pursue him and issue
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The game features the player as a schoolboy named Eric whose objective is to steal his
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with updated graphics and various changes to the gameplay. Unofficial conversions of
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The character of Boy Wander would write on blackboards about
Microsphere games like
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The Video Games Guide: 1,000+ Arcade, Console and
Computer Games, 1962-2012, 2d ed
192:. He later clarified that "each of the rooms would look like a frame in a comic".
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The ZX Spectrum version was one of the
Spectrum games listed in
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547:"Page 2 | Retrospective: Skool Daze and Back to Skool"
693:. No. 25. Newsfield. February 1986. pp. 73–74
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The game has been recognised as being a pioneer of the
894:, Atari 8-Bit Port, Official release announcement
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958:
848:1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die
460:1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die
301:
714:
712:
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608:. No. 10. November 1984. pp. 10–11
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1125:Video games developed in the United Kingdom
637:. No. 36. EMAP. March 1985. p. 35
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951:
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687:"Little and Round, With No Sharp Edges"
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662:. No. 11. Newsfield. December 1984
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722:. Retrogamer magazine. August 6, 2010
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1110:Microsphere (software company) games
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575:. McFarland. pp. 262–263.
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1:
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7:
826:"Archive - Magazine viewer"
805:"Archive - Magazine viewer"
784:"Archive - Magazine viewer"
742:"Archive - Magazine viewer"
146:
10:
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1130:Video games set in schools
1105:Crash Smash! award winners
922:at SpectrumComputing.co.uk
238:, Boy Wander writes about
1120:Single-player video games
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493:The game was followed by
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208:to design the individual
200:to create an appropriate
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882:. Newsfield. p. 37.
502:An unofficial remake is
284:Computer and Video Games
934:A walkthrough video of
846:Tony Mott, ed. (2010).
1115:Open-world video games
1095:Action-adventure games
518:have been made on the
476:Little Computer People
473:format, later used by
656:"Skool Daze (review)"
520:Atari 8-bit computers
124:action-adventure game
720:"Skool Daze feature"
189:The Bash Street Kids
852:Universe Publishing
828:. World of Spectrum
807:. World of Spectrum
786:. World of Spectrum
744:. World of Spectrum
424:
258:
1100:Commodore 64 games
1051:Contact Sam Cruise
1009:Crevasse / Hotfoot
938:on the ZX Spectrum
854:. pp. 1–990.
569:Fox, Matt (2013).
555:. 31 October 2010.
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256:
241:Contact Sam Cruise
134:and ported to the
1135:ZX Spectrum games
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981:Business software
861:978-0-7893-2090-2
582:978-1-476-60067-3
508:IBM PC compatible
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379:Sinclair Programs
215:screen resolution
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84:1984 (Spectrum)
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765:. Ysrnry.co.uk
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1044:Back to Skool
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496:Back to Skool
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359:Your Sinclair
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257:Review scores
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236:Back to Skool
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206:tracing paper
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988:ZX-Sideprint
987:
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876:"Skool Daze"
870:
847:
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830:. Retrieved
820:
809:. Retrieved
799:
788:. Retrieved
778:
767:. Retrieved
763:"Skool Daze"
757:
746:. Retrieved
736:
724:. Retrieved
695:. Retrieved
690:
664:. Retrieved
659:
650:
639:. Retrieved
634:
631:"Skool Daze"
610:. Retrieved
603:
600:"Skool Daze"
571:
550:
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511:
504:Klass of '99
503:
501:
494:
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471:sandbox game
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370:ZX Computing
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178:Just William
176:
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141:sandbox game
136:Commodore 64
126:released by
115:
114:
113:
75:Commodore 64
40:Publisher(s)
1070:Helen Reidy
1067:David Reidy
1002:Video games
974:Microsphere
530:computers.
528:Amstrad CPC
510:edition of
439:Crash Smash
428:Publication
262:Publication
184:The Beano's
153:report card
132:ZX Spectrum
128:Microsphere
71:ZX Spectrum
66:Platform(s)
58:Helen Reidy
56:David Reidy
52:Designer(s)
45:Microsphere
1084:Categories
1032:Skool Daze
936:Skool Daze
927:Skool Daze
919:Skool Daze
908:Skool Daze
832:2012-04-23
811:2012-04-23
790:2012-04-23
769:2012-04-23
748:2012-04-23
726:10 January
641:2024-03-08
534:References
516:Skool Daze
512:Skool Daze
447:Skool Daze
232:Sky Ranger
170:Background
121:open world
116:Skool Daze
86:1985 (C64)
25:Skool Daze
1038:Skyranger
1021:Evolution
913:MobyGames
612:2 January
552:Eurogamer
253:Reception
248:Reception
993:Omnicalc
482:The Sims
147:Gameplay
92:Genre(s)
1026:Wheelie
697:8 March
666:8 March
228:Wheelie
204:, with
143:genre.
103:Mode(s)
81:Release
1061:People
880:Zzap64
858:
579:
526:, and
489:Legacy
202:sprite
198:pixels
119:is an
691:Crash
660:Crash
605:Crash
506:, an
436:Crash
431:Award
423:Award
289:34/40
272:Crash
265:Score
234:. In
164:lines
856:ISBN
728:2013
699:2024
668:2024
614:2015
577:ISBN
524:Oric
479:and
374:8/10
364:8/10
230:and
181:and
911:at
382:75%
277:93%
1086::
878:.
850:.
707:^
689:.
676:^
658:.
633:.
622:^
602:.
591:^
561:^
549:.
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244:.
73:,
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959:t
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793:.
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701:.
670:.
644:.
616:.
585:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
