Winter Games

Winter Games
Game No.	217
Voting	8.77 points, 92 votes
Developer	Chris Oberth
Company	Epyx, Action Graphics
Publisher	Rushware(Germany), Epyx (USA), U.S. Gold (Europe)
HVSC-File	/GAMES/S-Z/ Winter_Games.sid
Release	1985
Platform	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 2600/7800/ST, C64, C64DTV, MS-DOS, mobile phone, MSX, NES, ZX Spectrum
Genre	Multi-Event
Gamemode	Single player up to 8 players (in turns) 2 players (simultaneous)
Operation
Media
Language
Information	Follower: The Games - Winter Edition

Description

Menu.

After Summer Games and Summer Games II Winter Games was released in 1985, the 3rd game of the "Games"-Series by Epyx.

The game can be played with up to 8 players, which altogether compete in 7 events. The players get points in each discipline. For each gold medal, you get 5 points, for each silver medal 3 points and one point for the bronze medal. The player with the most points wins the game.

Menu items

1. Compete in all the events
2. Compete in some events
3. Compete in one event
4. Practice one event
5. Number of joysticks
6. See world records
7. Opening Ceremonies

Hot Dog

Hot Dog

In this sport your skill and precision on skis is tested.

Controls:

• Joystick left: somersault backwards
• Joystick right: somersault forwards
• Joystick left up: Daffy
• Joystick left down: mule kick
• Joystick right up: dive
• Joystick right down: swan
• Fire button: start
• Neutral position: land

Points:

• 6,3: one trick
• 7,2: one somersault
• 8,7: two equal tricks
• 9,2: two equal somersaults
• 9,6: two different tricks
• 10,0: two different somersaults
• 10,0: one trick + one somersault
• -1,4: for each wrong movement

Tips:

• To be able to perform another trick, the joystick needs to be brought into the neutral position.
• To manage to make a trick and a somersault the corresponding direction needs to be pressed almost exactly as long as it takes the pawn to perform it.

Biathlon

Biathlon

For Biathlon not only condition in the ski run is required, but also exact timing on the shooting grounds. There are 20 shots to be triggered. The aim of this discipline is to absolve the track as fast as possible without any mistakes.

Controls for running:

• Fire button: start
• steady left/right movements in the rhythm of the runner: speed up on the plains
• fast left/right movements: raise speed going uphill
• Joystick down when going downhill: thrust with both sticks

Controls for shooting:

• Joystick down: open magazine
• Joystick up: reload
• Fire button: shoot

Penalty:

• 5 seconds per missed shot

Tip:

• Rapid fire is possible, but also more risky

Figure Skating

Figure skating on ice.

At Figure Skating the artistic execution of jumps and pirouettes is crucial. The mandatory or short program lasts exactly one minute and the figure skater needs to conduct seven mandatory elements (s. table of points). The aim in Figure Skating is to reach the dream mark of "6.0" from the jury.

Controls:

• Fire button: start to run, start and end of a figure
• Joystick left: viewing direction backward
• Joystick right: viewing direction forward

Joystick direction	Points:	Tips:
up	0.7: pirouette	always do exactly 6 turns
down	0.7: sitting pirouette	orient yourself at legs at the outer left
up, down	1.2: passing from pirouette to sitting pirouette
right up	0.6: Double-Axel	jump forwards, open legs
right down	1.1:Triple-Axel	short press on fire for smooth landing
left up	0.6: Double-Lutz	jump backwards, closed legs
left down	1.1: Triple-Lutz	short press on fire for smooth landing

Tips:

• Only the first execution of a figure counts.
• Each fall is punished with a reduction of points.
• For sloppy execution (e.g. notchy jump / landing with both legs) each 0.2 points are subtracted.

Ski Jump

Ski jump.

In Ski Jump, the jumper sits on the "quiver beam" and looks deep down. Then the signal is given and he drives down the inrun of the ski jump. At the edge of the jump-off platform he jumps to show a jump as far as possible with nice posture and landing. The score that a jumper gets for his jump, consists of distance and posture. (distance*3 + posture marks)

Controls:

• Fire button: start and jump
• Joystick left: if the jumper is leaning too much to the front.
• Joystick right: if the jumper is leaning too much to the back.
• Joystick up: If the jumper has his knees too close to the body.
• Joystick down: if the skis are crossed.

Tips:

• In the upper right corner of the screen the jumper is shown augmented to correct the posture.
• With a nice posture also the distance is better. The correct posture is reached, when the jumper puts his arms close to the body.
• If you aim for getting the skis into the typical V-position, you will not be successful: at the time of the winter games in Calgary the skis were still aligned parallel to each other; the "V" came many years later.
• Jump as late as possible.
• After the jump just turn the joystick steadily clockwise with the right speed. This works only seldom, but is rewarded with a great distance and 20 points for posture.

Speed Skating

Speed skating

At speed skating two skaters run directly next to each other in seperate runways. After the "GO" signal the athlete has to cover the 250 meter track as fast as possible.

Controls:

• Fire button: initiate start procedure
• rhythmic left/right movements of the joystick: pick up speed

Tips:

• rhythmic left/right movements
• always keep the speed display at the maximum.
• the basic for the best time is a perfect start.

Free Skating

Free skating

Free skating lasts exactly two minutes and the choreography can be chosen arbitrarily. You can do the seven figures each three times. The elements are only evaluated, if they have been conducted successfully. The aim here is also to reach the mark of "6.0" from the jury.

For sloppy execution (e.g. notchy jump / landing with both legs) each 0.2 points are subtracted and every fall is punished with subtraction of 0.5 points. In theory, you can reach 6.9 points, in this case 0.2 points for every fall and 0.1 for each clumsy execution are subtracted from 6.0.

Controls:

• Fire button: start to run, start and end of a figure
• Joystick left: viewing direction backward
• Joystick right: viewing direction forward

Joystick direction	Points:	Tips:
up	0.3: pirouette	always do exactly 6 turns
down	0.3: sitting pirouette	orient yourself at legs at the outer left
up, down	0.5: passing from pirouette to sitting pirouette
right up	0.2: Double-Axel	jump forwards, open legs
right down	0.4: Triple-Axel	short press on fire for smooth landing
left up	0.2: Double-Lutz	jump backwards, closed legs
left down	0.4: Triple-Lutz	short press on fire for smooth landing

Bob Sled

Bob

At Bob Sled the player drives down audaciously the ice canal. Each wrong steering manoeuvre can lead to a bad crash. The player with the lowest time wins the race.

Controls:

• Fire button: Start
• Joystick left: steers the sled to the left
• Joystick right: steers the sled to the right

Tip:

• keep in mind all the curves
• countersteer hard to avoid an overthrow
• in the curves you should find a good middle way (neither let yourself carry out too much nor take the curve too narrow)
• at the end of the curve steer the bob exactly to the middle (do not let it run out)

Design

... you can choose from 18 nations

Each of the eight players can choose one of 18 nations.

After that the national hymn is played.

• U.S.A, France, Great Britain
• U.S.S.R, Canada, Mexico
• Japan, Netherlands , (Epyx)
• West-Germany, Austria, Italy
• Spain, Denmark, Australia
• Norway, Ireland, Brazil

Hints

... opening ceremony animation

Version by Cyberpunx (see link - gamebase64)

stable

each world record is saved

highscore list can be reset

only 1 disk side (saves space and the bothersome turning of the disk is not needed)

fast load function

Version by Epyx (original):

stable

each world record is saved

empty highscore list

2 disk sides

long loading times and copy protection

Version by Nostalgia 100%:

only 1 disk side (saves space and the bothersome turning of the disk is not needed)

fast load function

empty highscore list

highscore is saved, but this file can be damaged by a bug

Version by Indiana Jones: Version by Megabyte:

stable

each world record is saved

2 disk sides

highscore list not empty

Solution

No solution needed.

Cheats

• To get a mark of 6.0 at Figure Skating, you need to fall at every flag (joystick down + fire). The use of this cheat is of course not allowed for the highscore list (a question of honour!).
• To avoid having to make corrections during the jumping phase at "Ski Jump", just turn the joystick at "the right speed" in circles. Of course, this does not always work (because the speed is always a bit different), but it is possible that way.

Voting

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
8.77 points at 92 votes (rank 11). You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
C64Games	10	31st January 2010 - "Highlight" 68.758 downs
Lemon64	8,6	04th January 2011 - 241 votes
Kultboy.com	8,95	31th January 2010 - 52 votes
Gamebase64	9	5/5 "Very Good"
64er	12/15	Issue 1/86
ZZap64	94%	Issue 11/85

Reviews

Werner: "The disciplines Hot-Dog, Biathlon and Ski-Jump are just great."

Guybrush: "A real classic which unfortunately only gets 9 points from me due to the two nutty and unrealistically realized ice-skating disciplines."

FXXS: "Really a pity that one has to struggle with Free Skating and expecially the Figure Skating, other disciplines (as e.g. Slalom from World Games) would have been clearly the better choice. The remaining 5 disciplines are just enough to reach 8 points when playing alone. As a tournament game it is as all "GAMES" almost unbeatable..."

Darkstar: "A game with much fun, especially when playing it in multiplayer mode. It is only a pity that sometimes you have got the hang of a few disciplines, so you get always full points (Hot-Dog, Figure Skating). However, the game gets 8 points from me."

mombasajoe: "Without Figure Skating, but instead with e.g. downhill it would have been a 10 for me. This way I give "only" a 9."

Shakermaker303: "Oh yes, I was not the only one who hated Figure Skating. But everything else is top! The graphics are very appealing, I always felt like winter holidays :-), I was especially taken by Biathlon. The nice idea with the heartbeat when being exhausted, when you were at the shooting stand, the design of the landscape... I loved it! Everything can be controlled and played well (exception: Figure Skating). All in all WG is a must, for the C64 fan."

Quapil: "THE multiplayer game of its time, at least in my circle of friends...and of course without Figure Skating ;) I like playing it today from time to time. But it is most fun when played with the original hardware. From me 9/10 and the hint, that the Games Originals by Epyx load unbelievably fast, no idea how Epyx could have programmed such a fast fastloader so early."

Shmendric: "Fast fastloader? I hated the game due to the permanent loading. But the graphics and fun factor are without doubt top."

MontyMole: "The Figure Skating disciplines bring down the overall impression a bit. Fortunately, you can also leave them out in the tournaments. Through this, the game gets a bit too short. But I like it better than Summer Games. The controls are in the meantime significantly easier to learn. Winter Games is next to California Games my favourite of the series."

Miscellaneous

Trivia

• Winter Games "takes place" in Calgary Anno 1988 according to the manual, but Epyx had no official licence of the IOC for Summer Games, Summer Games II and Winter Games. So they are no real "olympic" games, but only based on them.

• The magazine Zzap probably tested a pre-version of this game. Just take a closer look at the screenshots in the test...

Cover

Diskette

Cassette

Highscore

1. Roland - 4/3/0
2. Werner - 3/1/1
3. Frank & Metin - 3/0/0 (-)
4. Ebster - 2/0/2
5. FXXS - 1/0/0 (5.)
6. Robotron2084 - 1/0/0 (6.)
7. Last Ninja & Reinhard - 1/0/0 (-)
8. riner242 - 0/0/1 (4.)
9. DrCreep - 0/0/1 (6.)
10. Gangsterkater - 0/0/0 (4.)
11. Gk_Joe - 0/0/0 (5.)
12. Spaceball - 0/0/0 (7./8.)
13. Cash - 0/0/0 (7.)
14. Camailleon - 0/0/0 (8.)

• Format: gold/silver/bronze + (best not-medal position)

Discipline	gold	silber	bronze	further places
HOT DOG	10.0 - Ebster, FXXS, Last Ninja 10.0 - Metin, Robotron, Roland 10.0 - Werner	-	-	8) 9,2 - Spaceball 9) 6,9 - Gangsterkater
BIATHLON	1:33 - Roland	1:34 - Frank	1:36 - DrCreep, Ebster, riner242	6) 1:38 - Werner 7) 1:46 - Cash 8) 1:51 - FXXS 9) 2:15 - Robotron 10) 2:29 - Camaileon 11) 2:35 - Gangsterkater
FIGURE SKATING	6,0 - Ebster, Metin 6,0 - Roland, Werner	-	-	5) 5,8 - FXXS 6) 5,6 - Robotron 7) 1,8 - Gangsterkater
SKI JUMP	225,9 - Frank	225,3 - Roland	224,1 - Ebster	4) 219,2 - riner242 5) 218,8 - Werner 6) 217,6 - DrCreep 7) 215,7 - Spaceball 8) 212,8 - Camailleon 9) 212,2 - FXXS 10) 198,7 - Robotron2084 11) 186,5 - Gangsterkater
SPEED SKATING	24,8 - Reinhard	25,3 - Roland, Werner	-	4) 26,3 riner242 5) 26,4 Gk_Joe 6) 26,6 Gangsterkater 7) 26,7 Ebster 7) 26,7 FXXS 9) 26,8 Robotron2084 10) 27,3 DrCreep
FREE SKATING	6,0 - Metin, Roland, Werner	-	-	4) 5,7 - Ebster 5) 5,2 - FXXS 6) 4,8 - Robotron2084 7) 2,0 - Gangsterkater
BOBSLED	21,47 - Frank	21,57 - Roland	21,59 - Werner	4) 21,60 - Ebster 4) 21,60 - Gangsterkater 6) 21,62 - riner242 7) 21,65 - Gk_Joe 8) 21,67 - Klotz 8) 21,67 - Spaceball 10) 21,70 - FXXS

• 

  Werner

• 

  FXXS

• 

  FXXS alt

• Missing screenshots (see Forum 64)

Links

Wikipedia: Winter_Games

• C64Games.de - Game No. 197
• Lemon64 - Game No. 2863
• Gamebase64.com - Game No. 8620
• C64.com - Game No. 310
• Test Report No. 789 on Kultboy.com
• ZZap64 test report
• TheLegacy - Spiel Nr. 6074
• CSDb - Release No. 107705 Epyx Games Collection for EasyFlash.
  It contains Summer Games, Summer Games II (work in combination), Winter Games, World Games and California Games.

Videos

• Video at YouTube
• Video at YouTube (Floppy Fans #10: Winter Games)
• Video at YouTube (Floppy Fans audio comment: Winter Games)

The "Epyx-Games" Series

Summer Games · Summer Games II · Winter Games · World Games · California Games
The Games - Winter Edition · The Games - Summer Edition