Population: Tire

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Revision as of 20:26, 7 November 2006

Population... TIIIRREEE!

Population: Tire is a game by Videlectrix where you use your mouse cursor to keep The Tire bouncing in the air as long as possible. Increase your score multiplier by hitting birds, balloons, The Cheat and Strong Sad, and beware of wind changes and flying Cold Ones!

Date: June 23, 2003

Page Title: I FEEL ASLEEP!

Premise

Scoring Chart

The main objective of this game is to keep the Tire in the air as long as possible. You earn one point times your Multiplier for each bounce, and your score resets to 0 when the Tire hits the ground. The Multiplier appears when it is 2x or higher — otherwise, it is always 1x. The Multiplier decreases by 1x every 5 seconds if you don't hit any objects.

You can increase your Multiplier by hitting various objects:

• Balloon: +1x
• Bird: +2x
• The Cheat: +1x
• Cold One: -5x

The Cheat can be hit repeatedly, but each time you hit him, he reverses direction and starts walking faster.

Strong Sad Effects

Strong Sad occasionally appears from behind the fence. Hitting him will award the effect indicated in his thought balloon:

• 2X: Your multiplier is increased by 2.
• -2X: Your multiplier is decreased by 2.
• BIG: The Tire increases in size.
• FLY: The Tire falls more slowly.
• SAD: Your multiplier is reduced to 1. (The word in the thought balloon changes to 0x, but you can still score 1 point per bounce.)

Fun Facts

Explanations

• The bad grammar in the introduction is a reference to the language found in old video games that were poorly translated from Japanese to English.

Trivia

• When the Tire hits the ground, your Multiplier resets to 1x, and the effect you receive depends on your score:
  • 0-2: Nothing.
  • 3-99: A sad-sounding sound effect.
  • 100-499: A quick, energetic sound effect.
  • 500-999: A more complicated sound effect, and a plane flies by towing a random message.
  • 1000+: A dramatic tune plays, and a plane flies by towing a random message.

• The possible messages you can see behind the plane are:
  • YOU RULE
  • PURE FUN
  • GIVE IT UP
  • FHI-FIVE
  • POP:YOU
  • ROCK/ROLL
  • GOOD ONE
  • TIRE-TASTIC!
  • JAM ON IT
  • LET GO
  • PARTY.WOO!
  • PARDON ME?
  • X-L-NT
  • GROW IT OUT
  • PARENTAL!!
  • GOSH!
  • LOVIN' IT
  • SPANKIN'!
  • YOU 4 EVA
  • YOU.COM
  • YOU.CALM
  • WISHIWASU
  • WHO'S THAT?
  • THE BOUNCA!

• The background changes with the time of day. For example, if you play this game at 2 in the morning, you will see a night sky.

Real World References

• This game's loading screen is a spoof of the Commodore 64 boot screen:

*** COMPYDORE 64 BASIC V2 ***
64K RAM SYSTEM 38911 BASIC BYTES FREE
READY.
LOAD "*",8,1
SEARCHING FOR *

READY.
RUN

• The loading screen used to read "9,1", but was later changed to read "8,1". In the C-64, "9,1" told the computer to access the second floppy drive, if one was connected.
• This game plays in stereo, even though the C-64 was not capable of stereo sound.

I'M GETTING SLEEPY!!

• The page title "I FEEL ASLEEP!" quotes the game Metal Gear for the NES.
  • There is a C-64 version of Metal Gear, based on the NES version, but it appears to lack this quote.
• The seagull graphic and several of the sound effects are taken from the game California Games (1988).
  • The bird in this game also flies across the screen in take-a-break.exe, which appeared in huttah!
  • The same bird is also seen flying over Bubs' baloney Sammich truck in Weclome Back.
• Other sound effects (including hitting The Cheat and breaking a Cold One) are taken from the game Wizball, a surrealistic shooter game for the C-64.
• Hitting a balloon makes the same sound as running through an explosion in the C-64 game "Paradroid".

External Links

• Play Population:Tire
• Play the Flash file for Population:Tire
• Listen to the Game Music