New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

People are still making stuff for the Sinclair related machines. Tell us about new games and other software that runs on the Spectrum, ZX80/ZX81, Pentagon and Next.
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by PeterJ »

[mention]Sokurah[/mention] Thank you for giving Spectrum Computing the agreement to include the game for download in our archive. Its appreciated. We will add it to the next update.
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by Sokurah »

R-Tape wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2018 1:04 pm Not a big deal but is there a little graphical glitch on the wing when the bird is moving right?

The cyan platforms don't perform a function do they?

Can you complete it easily Sokurah?

And would you rather I held back on posting an immunity POKE? :mrgreen:
To answer your questions:

Graphical glitch on the wing? There might be. I haven't noticed it myself though.

The cyan platforms don't do anything - they're just decoration and is treated in the same way as the landscape.

Too late - I see Pavero has already posted a POKE. Damn cheaters :lol:

Personally I've only played through it by cheating a little bit, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much ;) :lol:
Spud wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2018 8:34 pm
R-Tape wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2018 8:05 pm And would you rather I held back on posting an immunity POKE? :mrgreen:
Mr-Tape, Have you swallowed ANDREW RYALS?

Good effort, Sokurah, it plays plenty quick enough as it is, I can't imagine how tough going it would be if the pace was increased. It is somewhat frustrating but I guess that is down to the original game design rather than a slight against your skill.
Yes, I'm sure I could have made a much better game out of it ... but then I'd be moving away from what the original game was. I decided to just make it very close and not change it too much (the whole "carrying items" mechanic has been slightly changed though ... but it makes more sense this way ;) ) so it does have some of the same weaknesses as the C64 version. I'll save my creativity for the next title.

Slightly off-topic. There still hasn't been a POKE for Vallation 128K and I think that's a bit fun. I'd expected MR. CAPS to be on it ... but perhaps he decided that finding pokes for the 48K version twice was just as good :lol:
Website: Tardis Remakes / Mostly remakes of Arcade and ZX Spectrum games.
My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation & Sqij.
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by R-Tape »

There's the map sorted Pavero.
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by Sokurah »

R-Tape wrote: Thu Jan 04, 2018 10:09 pm There's the map sorted Pavero.
Haha, love it. Really old school :lol:

This remake actually started with me playing the C64 version ... and I didn't know how big the game was, so I mapped it using screenshots. Turns out the map is 64 screens big - arranged in an 8 by 8 grid. But oddly enough the map has 2 "holes" in it and 2 rooms "sticking out". You can actually see that on the map above. I wonder why it's made that way? Anyway, the small map is one of the reasons I thought "That's not too bad ... I should remake it" :)
Website: Tardis Remakes / Mostly remakes of Arcade and ZX Spectrum games.
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by R-Tape »

Sokurah wrote: Fri Jan 05, 2018 12:06 am But oddly enough the map has 2 "holes" in it and 2 rooms "sticking out".
I'm glad you said, I worried I made a mistake!

How is the map stored in memory & each screen drawn btw?
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

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R-Tape wrote: Fri Jan 05, 2018 4:04 am How is the map stored in memory & each screen drawn btw?
Since the map isn't constructed from "obvious tiles" - and I decided that I wanted to keep the exact look of it - each screen is constructed from 8x8 tiles. That means that a screen is built from 640 tiles. As there are less than 256 tiles each screen then takes up 640 bytes.

BUT all screens has been LZ compressed. So the smallest compressed screen takes up 12 bytes and the largest 215 bytes. In total the entire map takes up just over 10 KB.

The map is stored as a 9x9 grid to allow for those 2 screens "sticking out". Screens are fetched by finding en entry in a table that points to the data for each screen. That table is then 81 WORDS big. Those 17 extra screens (81 instead the actual 64 used) aren't stored though - their table entries point to the smallest screen (the one taking up just 12 bytes), so doing it this way actually only wastes 34 bytes.

When a screen is needed its data is unpacked into a 640 byte buffer. Then the screen is drawn one 8x8 tile at the time from that buffer. That buffer is used for other things too, so it doesn't just "sit there" after it's been drawn ;)
Website: Tardis Remakes / Mostly remakes of Arcade and ZX Spectrum games.
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by R-Tape »

Oh yeah! A suitably bonkers final screen.
Spoiler
Image
I really enjoyed this, it seemed impossible to start with but the main challenge was getting used to a map in which many screens appear similar.

Now someone just needs to convert our 1987 version to the C64 and we can call it quits.

I actually feel sorry for the author of the Speccy original, who did what he felt was necessary to fulfil a contract and will never be allowed to forget it (I guess I'm not helping with the latter). Maybe it was justified, every indication is that programmers were being horribly exploited by the software houses. The real villain here must be whoever had the audacity and disdain for the public to actually release the bloody thing!
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by Sokurah »

R-Tape wrote: Sat Jan 06, 2018 12:32 pm Oh yeah! A suitably bonkers final screen.
Spoiler
Image
Now someone just needs to convert our 1987 version to the C64 and we can call it quits.
LOL, take that you terrible C64 users :lol: :lol:

And damn - I hadn't noticed that typo. Doh!
... I'll make sure to fix that for the cassette release ;)

Speaking of that - does anyone have suggestions about anything I can change for the physical release?
Website: Tardis Remakes / Mostly remakes of Arcade and ZX Spectrum games.
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by Ast A. Moore »

Old Mr. Starvarion is a powerful and cunning foe and is not to be trifled with.
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.

Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by R-Tape »

Sokurah wrote: Sat Jan 06, 2018 12:59 pm Speaking of that - does anyone have suggestions about anything I can change for the physical release?
The only thing I'd like from a cassette version is more replay value (as Alessandro mentioned) by not having the same placement of objects every time. Totally random might spoil it given that there are locked areas, perhaps a choice? 1 - original placement, 2 - random pick from some preset placings known to work, 3 - random placing with some rules.

Just a thought, it's nearly perfect as a remake and good enough for release as is, anything else would be icing on the cake.
Ast A. Moore wrote: Sat Jan 06, 2018 1:03 pm Old Mr. Starvarion is a powerful and cunning foe and is not to be trifled with.
Exactly! And if we're bandying crazy terms like the 'Enertree' and 'Pylpapa' about, noone's going to notice Starvarion is a typo.

It'd be a great name for a shmup actually...
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by Ast A. Moore »

R-Tape wrote: Sat Jan 06, 2018 1:29 pm It'd be a great name for a shmup actually...
Dibs! I call dibs!
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.

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and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by Sokurah »

R-Tape wrote: Sat Jan 06, 2018 1:29 pm
Sokurah wrote: Sat Jan 06, 2018 12:59 pm Speaking of that - does anyone have suggestions about anything I can change for the physical release?
The only thing I'd like from a cassette version is more replay value (as Alessandro mentioned) by not having the same placement of objects every time. Totally random might spoil it given that there are locked areas, perhaps a choice? 1 - original placement, 2 - random pick from some preset placings known to work, 3 - random placing with some rules.

Just a thought, it's nearly perfect as a remake and good enough for release as is, anything else would be icing on the cake.
Alright, good idea. For this release I stuck to the original game's way of doing it, but I'll add more item locations and do it the Ultimate way - by randomly select set of predefined locations for the items when the game starts.

I'll also fill out those holes in the map and add screens up to a total of (perhaps) 81.

... obviously this is going to delay the cassette release a bit ;)
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by Ralf »

I played it a bit.

Now it became a smooth, fast, fun shooter. Maybe it's a long shot but it seemed similar to Atic Atac for me :) You know, you travel from screen to screen, some baddies are generated in random places and you shoot them like crazy.

These caverns are unfortunately a bit dull with all locations looking the same but it guess it's being faithful to the original. It also means that you probably must be mapping the game or using existing map. I tried to play it without it and ended walking i circles.

Generally a great job!
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by hikoki »

One idea would be using a gameplay inspired in Mojon Twins' Tenebra Macabre. You could illuminate caves in the dark by defecating fluorescent excrements (there would be a crap-o-meter since you cannot find food to recharge your bowels).
So all the caves would be in the dark and you turned them on to get oriented. One advantage of flying in the dark is that enemies cannot follow you unless you start firing. Also you could use your bullets like a bat-ecoradar. Procedural generated caves and explosives to get them connected could be interesting to make your own way out. Perhaps instakill for some kind of enemies would make the lighting/ecoradar/bombs mechanics more challenging.
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by R-Tape »

I've found you an avatar hikoki :-p

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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

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hikoki wrote: Mon Jan 08, 2018 12:38 pm One idea would be using a gameplay inspired in Mojon Twins' Tenebra Macabre. You could illuminate caves in the dark by defecating fluorescent excrements (there would be a crap-o-meter since you cannot find food to recharge your bowels).
So all the caves would be in the dark and you turned them on to get oriented. One advantage of flying in the dark is that enemies cannot follow you unless you start firing. Also you could use your bullets like a bat-ecoradar. Procedural generated caves and explosives to get them connected could be interesting to make your own way out. Perhaps instakill for some kind of enemies would make the lighting/ecoradar/bombs mechanics more challenging.
Those are great ideas ... but they're big changes and would fundamentally change the game. These would be great ideas for a sequel or another game entirely, but not something I would work into this game.
Website: Tardis Remakes / Mostly remakes of Arcade and ZX Spectrum games.
My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation & Sqij.
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by hikoki »

lol who'll be that guy? dunno what you mean

painting the caves as you shoot leaving attributes everywhere would be useful not to get lost and would be good for replayability to paint your own noise differently on every game
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by hikoki »

Sokurah wrote: Mon Jan 08, 2018 1:06 pm Those are great ideas ... but they're big changes and would fundamentally change the game. These would be great ideas for a sequel or another game entirely, but not something I would work into this game.
At least someone makes sense of my surgeoneries. Hope Sokurah made sense of his own judgements.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/Ucyng65R1sQ[/youtube]
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by R-Tape »

hikoki wrote: Mon Jan 08, 2018 1:14 pm lol who'll be that guy? dunno what you mean
That's Klunk from the Whacky Racers, he's a crackpot genius.
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by Ralf »

You could illuminate caves in the dark by defecating fluorescent excrements
What are you smoking now bro? :o
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by hikoki »

hikoki wrote: Mon Jan 08, 2018 2:02 pm If you don't like my vapour surgeonstions you're free to go humpf yourshelf
^^^
Coffin to this guy
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by R-Tape »

Oh dear, hope I didn't misjudge that joke. Hikoki you have a PM.

Sorry it was meant in fondness, and I didn't mean you could not be understood. I remember Klunk as the mad scientist that has a crazy plan, but was a masterful engineer.
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by Sokurah »

R-Tape wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2018 1:04 pm Not a big deal but is there a little graphical glitch on the wing when the bird is moving right?
I think I know what you were talking about, but it's fixed now.

The glitch isn't actually on the wing itself - or present in the graphical data, but sometimes below the sprites. This was caused by enemy sprites sometimes moving outside the screen area. The sprite routine picks up the line to draw on from a table of screen addresses, but as only lines 0-191 are present in the table it would in some cases read some random data outside of those and interpret them as screen address and write to them, resulting in graphics (and possibly other things) being corrupted. I hope that makes sense.
R-Tape wrote: Sat Jan 06, 2018 1:29 pm The only thing I'd like from a cassette version is more replay value (as Alessandro mentioned) by not having the same placement of objects every time. Totally random might spoil it given that there are locked areas, perhaps a choice? 1 - original placement, 2 - random pick from some preset placings known to work, 3 - random placing with some rules.

Just a thought, it's nearly perfect as a remake and good enough for release as is, anything else would be icing on the cake.
So, the graphical glitch-thing has been fixed. Yay!
I've also added 16 screens for a total of 80 screens.
And finally I've added "the Ultimate Play The Game way" of handling items, so the game now has several sets of predefined item-locations, and a random set of those are selected at the start of every game, so that should take care of the replay value ;)

Oh, and it'll be released on tape soon :)
Website: Tardis Remakes / Mostly remakes of Arcade and ZX Spectrum games.
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

Post by R-Tape »

Glad you sorted that bug, sounds like it had the potential to be more damaging than the occasional errant pixel. The strange thing is it only ever did if on my first play, I never saw it again.

Looking forward to the tape.
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Re: New Game: SQIJ 2018 - the worst Spectrum game remade.

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R-Tape wrote: Thu Jan 18, 2018 6:37 am Glad you sorted that bug, sounds like it had the potential to be more damaging than the occasional errant pixel. The strange thing is it only ever did if on my first play
It’s very easy to replicate though. When you start a game to go the right, then up the first time. On that screen let yourself fall back to the screen below, but move right to hug the wall so you’re positioned on pixel line 0. Then wait until until an enemy spawns at the top. The you’ll see it in a few seconds.
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My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation & Sqij.
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