Oysterhead Maze (found 3D Shockwave game; 2001)

A screenshot of Oysterhead Maze.

Status: Found

Date found: 5 Dec 2022

Found by: TheCracksOverhead

Oysterhead Maze, also titled "o y s t e r h e a d m a z e", is a 3D Shockwave game made by Roger Jones that came out sometime in 2001 and was available online until sometime in 2005. It is themed after the musical supergroup "Oysterhead".

History

The game files were hosted on the now-defunct Throbbing Media website^[1] and possibly on the original Oysterhead.com website from 2001.^[2] Little is known about Throbbing Media, other than it was owned by the game's creator, Roger Jones, who also had other Shockwave games on the site. The game uses the Shockwave Havok Xtra, which was a physics engine that could be used with Shockwave 3D. Credit for the game's 3D Art is given to Chris Knoff, according to the 2001 Oysterhead website.^[2]

A user on the Lost Media Wiki Forum, TheCracksOverhead, recalled playing the game only once when it was still available on the original Throbbing Media website.^[3] After managing to find the now dead link to the original webpage, he tracked down a couple of mentions of the game online. The most important mention came from a thread on the DSLReports Forum, where a screenshot of the game was posted.^[4] User TOMYSSHADOW was able to find the name of the game's creator, Roger Jones, by inspecting the Shockwave Movie in Director.

Roger Jones, who used to work for Macromedia, used Director very frequently.^[5] In November 2022, TheCracksOverhead managed to get into contact with Roger, and was sent a working copy of the game on December 5, 2022. The game has since been submitted to Bluemaxima's Flashpoint, and archived on Archive.org.^[6]

Gameplay

In Oysterhead Maze, you play as a blue bird that pulls a wooden cart around the inside of a maze. There are pearls, bricks, a glass bottle, and an Easter egg that the player can interact with by using the mouse to click and drag. Each time you click, the blue bird lets out a chirp. The goal is to find and break through one of the walls of the maze to get into the room with Mr. Oysterhead. The player can choose to play the game in 5 different camera angles, with a 6th angle being unlocked after finding Mr. Oysterhead. The number keys 1-6 can also be used to change camera angles. A description of the game found on the Havok Developers Site Archive reads:

"Find Mr. Oysterhead, steer the cart with your cursor keys, pick up items and store them in your cart."^[7]

Gallery

More texture files found within the game. Another option that's not shown here is a button that reads "HEAD CAM".
Screenshot of the game taken by user "Aint Skeered" on the DSLReports Forum back in August 2nd, 2003.^[4]
Thumbnail image for the game found on the Havok Developer's Site Archive.^[7]
Another thumbnail image for the game that was found on the Wayback Machine.^[8]
The game's loading screen.
A texture found within the game that explains the game's rules.