SEE Decent Americans Terrorized!
HEAR Teenage Girls Squeal! (This is literally untrue)
And whatever you do... don't have Biff hand you the red one.
June 1st, 1951 - Geologist Dr. Greg Bradley finds himself in America's most uninteresting small desert town to study even less interesting rocks... that is, until a meteor crash lands nearby and very inconveniently exposes local ant colonies to radiation. It Came From The Desert is a 1989 "Interactive Movie" by Cinemaware directly inspired by 1950s b-movies, most notably 1954's "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Them! Them]!"
This article is presented in THRILL-O-VISION.™
Sub-Page#
Unused Dialogue/Narration#
|
This needs some investigation. |
Via dshell:
In the blocks that contain the player narration in the various minigames there is a line that is not presently known to be visible in-game:
Narration |
|---|
The last mutation collapsed in a pile of goo. For the moment, the desert was quiet. |
What's interesting about this is that it mentions a "mutation". This could just be referring to the general mutation of the ants, but in ANTHEADS (the second game in the series), the townsfolk do mutate into ants.
Via desert.dat:
Please do note that Greg is the player/narrator, and that the character's names are not presented in the dialogue threads. Rather, each character has a unique identifier. For the sake of simplicity, the names have been added.
Dialogue/Narration |
Notes |
|---|---|
Greg: As I came up over the rise I saw Ida lying on the ground. She was alive, but barely. I carried her back to my truck. I was then that I noticed the ant tracks on the ground. Ida needed help but the wind would blow these tracks away by the time I could return. It was a tough decision |
There is no presently known scenario or mechanic in the game where the player has to choose between gathering evidence and saving someone. Additionally, there are grammatical errors - "I was then when I noticed..." should be "It was then when I noticed...", and there is no punctuation at the end of the sentence. |
Dr. Wells: Greg, I'm terribly sorry about Jackie. You made the right decision, though, getting her out of Lizard Breath. The big city doctors will know how to treat her injuries. Such a lovely girl! Greg: Right on both counts, Doctor. Anyway, with everything that was going on, a distraction like Jackie was the last thing I needed. |
There are a few lines of dialogue (see below table entries) alongside this that insinuate a scenario where Jackie is injured. This is not presently known to occur in-game, and there does not appear to be any other dialogue indicating what happened to Jackie, how, and why. Some of the additional dialogue below somewhat implies that she was sexually assaulted in a brutal manner by Ice and the Hellcats. Interestingly, the tone of this dialogue entry does not seem to be consistent with the rest - referring to Jackie as a "distraction." |
Dusty: I'm sorry about Jackie, really I am, Greg. Funny, that's the first time I've said her name. If there is anything I can do, let me know. |
Refer to 8-26A above. |
Bar Patron: We're really sorry about Jackie, Doc. Those Hellcats ought to be strung up. |
Refer to 8-26A above. |
Sheriff: Sorry about your lady friend. I wish I could lock those Hellcats up for good, but it's your word against theirs. Without a witness there's nothing the law can do. You did the right thing having Louie fly her to the big city hospital. |
Refer to 8-26A above. Additionally, it is worth noting that there is no narration or dialogue with Louie that depicts this. |
Ice: Hey Doc, Nick, Eddie and I was, ah, devastated to be informed of your lady friend's incapacitation! See, us Hellcats...we's sensitive guys! But not as sensitive as your main squeeze is gonna be for a coupla months...HA HA HA! Greg: Twin emotions raged in me, the pity and disgust I felt for this brutal, ignorant savage...and my own animal need to extract sudden and bloodcurdling revenge on this weaselly little scumface! Then, 2 choices - Knife Fight or Flee. IF Knife Fight + Victory, Then: Greg: Ice lay on the ground moaning in pain. I didn't feel anything. IF Flee, Then: Ice: That's it, pencil arms. I knew you'd chicken out. We'll meet again.... |
Refer to 8-26A above. |
Via phone.dat:
Correlating telephone dialogue to the aforementioned "Jackie Injured" scenario:
Character |
Telephone Dialogue |
|---|---|
Dr. Wells |
I'm so sorry about Jackie, Greg. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Those big city doctors will fix her up in no time. |
Dusty |
Greg,....I'm sorry about your friend. No one deserves what happened to her. If there is anything I can do, come by. |
Sheriff |
Doc, I want to go after those Hellcats in the worst way, but without a witness there's nothing I can do. If Jackie decides to come back to Lizard Breath after she recovers, let me know. I'll keep an eye on her. |
Unused Locations#
Via dshell:
In the blocks that contain the overworld map location are 3 entries that are not known to be visible or accessible in-game:
Map Location |
|---|
Creature Cave A |
Creature Cave B |
Creature Cave C |
If you're attacked by an ant in the nest, but there is still in-game time left, you will land back in the hospital. These map locations suggest that in that scenario, you'd be able to go back by just selecting these on the map, rather than having to get back to the nest as you did the first time.
Miscellaneous#
Via dshell:
There is header data that contains a copyright for the Aegis Sonix music sequencer driver:
Text |
|---|
Sonix Music Driver (C) Copyright 1987 Mark Riley, All Rights Reserved. Version 2.0b - July 19, 1988 |
There is a copyright stamp for Cinemaware's proprietary animation engine:
Text |
|---|
MovE v0.35 - © 1988 Cinemaware Corp. |
References#
- IT CAME FROM THE DESERT Nearly Finished - Computer Entertainer, Volume 8, Number 7, October 1989↩︎
- AVAILABILITY UPDATE - Computer Entertainer, Volume 8, Number 10, January 1990↩︎
- PREVIEW: IT CAME FROM THE DESERT - Computer + Video Games, Number 96, November 1989↩︎