| Rama | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Sierra Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Sierra Entertainment |
| Year released | 1996 |
| System(s) | DOS, Windows, macOS |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
|---|---|
| Modes | Single player |
| Rating(s) |  |
- For the earlier, text adventure game based on the Arthur C. Clarke books, see Rendezvous with Rama.
Rama is a first-person adventure game developed and published by Sierra Entertainment in 1996. The game is based on Arthur C. Clarke's books Rendezvous with Rama and Rama II and supports both DOS and Windows 95. It is the second Rama game to be produced. Earlier, a text adventure with low-resolution semi-static view graphics for every visited location was released in 1984 by Telarium (a sub-brand of Spinnaker Software, previously called Trillium until forced by a lawsuit to change the name) and ported to systems such as the Apple II and Commodore 64. A sequel was scheduled for production, but was never completed.
As in many Myst-like adventure games, the player is an AFGNCAAP character; an astronaut who is assigned to replace the late Valeriy Borzov who died during the mission under mysterious conditions, as the introduction explains. Much of the gameplay is done with the "wristcomp", a device that is used for communication with other characters and mapping or transport to other locations. The player also has in possession a small android based on Puck which will comment and give descriptions of the surrounding objects or events (therefore used as an interface element for examining objects).
Four years ago, a gigantic cylindrical object entered the solar system. The International Space Agency (ISA) named it Rama and sent an expedition named Newton Team to investigate and find its purpose and origins. They soon discovered that Rama is a hollow, rotating cylinder with enormous cities, populated by other alien species that have been collected during its travels: Myrmicats (seen in images but never encountered in the game), Avians, Octospiders. The native beings of Rama are the Biots (biological robots) constructed by the aliens who built Rama, and are a part of it.
The player at first must investigate the area known as "the Plains" and find items that will help solve the logical/mathematical puzzles. Two Raman cities, nicknamed "London" and "Bangkok" by the expedition crew, will be visited in order to learn more about the species that accompany the astronauts. To proceed, the player must solve "complete with the shape which is logically missing" puzzles as well as mathematic exercises in the octal and hexadecimal number systems.
After the Plains have been explored (actually when the player has managed to reach and obtain all the useful inventory items), Rama changes towards an impact course with Earth and a special team inside the expedition (originally consisting of Heilmann, Borzov and O'Toole) proceeds to the "Project Trinity" and arms a bomb network to destroy Rama and its inhabitants. The player is then free to explore the island within the Cylindrical Sea, nicknamed "New York", that is the location for one of the bombs. While there, the player learns that Rama's course has diverted away from Earth and is no longer a risk, but the bombs have already been armed to explode in six hours. Unfortunately, O'Toole, who knows the code to disarm it, is lost, and during the six in-game hours, the player has to interpret the code and find the bomb in order to disarm it.