Editing Impossible Mission (section)

==Development==
The first element of the game to be created was the player character's animations, which designer Dennis Caswell lifted from a library book about athletics. Caswell recalled, "I animated the [[somersault]] before I had any clear idea how it would be used. I included it because the animations were there for the taking ..."<ref name="Retro122">{{cite news | last = Bevan | first= Mike | date = December 2013 | title = The History of ... Impossible Mission | work = [[Retro Gamer]] | issue = 122 | pages = 44–49 | publisher = [[Imagine Publishing]]}}</ref> Caswell cites ''[[Rogue (video game)|Rogue]]'' as his inspiration for the randomised room layouts, and the [[electronic game]] [[Simon (game)|Simon]] as his inspiration for the musical checkerboard puzzles.<ref name="Retro122"/><ref name="Edge">Edge issue 167, October 2006; "The making of Impossible Mission"</ref> The hovering balls were inspired by the [[Rover (The Prisoner)|Rover]] "security guard" from the ''[[The Prisoner|Prisoner]]'' [[TV series]].<ref name="Retro122"/><ref name="Edge"/>

The Commodore 64 version features early use of digitized speech: ''"Another visitor. Stay a while... stay forever!"'' and ''"Destroy him, my robots!"'' The digitized speech was provided by the company [[Electronic Speech Systems]],<ref name="Mayhem 64">[http://www.mayhem64.co.uk/interview/caswell.htm Dennis Caswell interviewed by Mat "Mayhem" Allen] from ''Mayhem's homepage''</ref> who drastically raised their prices after ''Impossible Mission'' became a successful test case. Epyx did not deal with ESS again as a result.<ref name="Edge"/> Caswell recounted:

{{quote|I never met the performer but, when I supplied the script to the representative from ESS, I told him I had in mind a "50-ish English guy", thinking of the sort of arch-villain [[James Bond]] might encounter. I was told that they happened to have just such a person on their staff. When I was given the initial recordings, the ESS guy was apologetic about them being a touch [[overacting|hammy]], but I thought the over-acting was amusing and appropriate, and they were left as is ...<ref name="Retro122"/>}}

The game's title was one of the last elements to be finished. According to Caswell, "The choice of a name was delayed as long as possible, and ''Impossible Mission'' was more resorted to than chosen. It was, at least, somewhat descriptive, and the obvious allusion to ''[[Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series)|Mission: Impossible]]'' was expedient, to the extent that both the game and the TV show involved high-tech intrigue."<ref name="Retro122"/>