New Game: ROVR

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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PaulJ
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New Game: ROVR

Post by PaulJ »

My new game has been released. ROVR.
Image

Download via my website.
http://www.thespectrumshow.co.uk
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Ralf
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Re: New Game: ROVR

Post by Ralf »

Thanks! A nice game with a very distinctive look. I don't remember any other recent Spectrum game being so ... yellow ;)

A note for lazy people who don't read the instructions - there is a working fire button in the game ;) In some locations there are special blocks (with some kind of cross over them) which block your way but can be destroyed. Aproach them and use your drill to clear your path.

I suppose it's not very big but some mapping certainly would be useful.
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Andre Leao
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Re: New Game: ROVR

Post by Andre Leao »

A very enjoyable game... :)
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MatGubbins
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Re: New Game: ROVR

Post by MatGubbins »

Very nice.

Found a bug though...
From start - R,R,D,R,U and you should be in a screen with 4 dot pillars, ant and rock to destroy. It is possible to bounce through that rock and get to the other side without destroying it. However, it needs to be destroyed for the return journey.

Added:
To bounce through the rock press up and left/right quickly and the buggy will move through it. Travel right through the next few screens, destroy the rock, go down, grab the object and up, the rock returns! Left and left again and the rock that you bounced through is now gone.
Last edited by MatGubbins on Sun Apr 22, 2018 11:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Ersh
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Re: New Game: ROVR

Post by Ersh »

Just tried it briefly, seems fun! Will play more for sure. :)

Noticed that 'Implemented' is misspelt on the loading screen.

Edit: Completed it! Albeit short, it's a fun little exploration game, nice graphics, consistent style. Very enjoyable.
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Re: New Game: ROVR

Post by 4thRock »

Good game with nice graphics. :D
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Re: New Game: ROVR

Post by MrPixel »

how did you post this? i've tried posting a file as avi, png and jpeg. the image tool won't accept it
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Re: New Game: ROVR

Post by R-Tape »

MrPixel wrote: Mon Apr 23, 2018 1:53 am how did you post this? i've tried posting a file as avi, png and jpeg. the image tool won't accept it
You can't post any files, including images, directly. They have to be done by remote link to an image you have already stored elsewhere. If you click quote on Paul's original post you can read the bbcode and how to do it. Gif and png work for sure.

Great looking game PaulJ, going to play properly Monday evening.
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Re: New Game: ROVR

Post by R-Tape »

Although you are happy to assist the boffins and their research, for you the aim of the trip is to make money.
Can't we have an Atic Atac style choose your player?! I'd rather be one of the scientists!

Completed, much shorter than I expected.

I would have liked to have seen some hidden rooms, or possibly something extra involving the runes on the walls somehow (unless there were bonuses that I missed!).

Still a very decent, stylish game :D
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Re: New Game: ROVR

Post by PaulJ »

R-Tape wrote: Mon Apr 23, 2018 2:58 pm
Although you are happy to assist the boffins and their research, for you the aim of the trip is to make money.
Can't we have an Atic Atac style choose your player?! I'd rather be one of the scientists!

Completed, much shorter than I expected.

I would have liked to have seen some hidden rooms, or possibly something extra involving the runes on the walls somehow (unless there were bonuses that I missed!).

Still a very decent, stylish game :D
It's AGD.. so a bit limited. It would be nice to get AGD to use 128k paged memory for extra rooms though... that would produce some excellent (and longer games). I could have made each rock use nearly all power, effectively doubling the driving about! But that seemed a bit unfair (and dull).
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Re: New Game: ROVR

Post by hikoki »

Monocolour games in yellow are nice.
One idea could be impossible to traverse hallways unless you use the driller to provoke insect infighting, give them reproduction hormones, block anthills, lay sugary baits, etc
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Re: New Game: ROVR

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

I love this game!

And I think it's time to [mention]pavero[/mention] to make a map of it! ;)
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Re: New Game: ROVR

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

pavero wrote: Thu Apr 26, 2018 10:44 am Done! ;)

https://maps.speccy.cz/map.php?id=ROVR
Oh, man, that's what I call effectiveness!
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Re: New Game: ROVR

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PaulJ wrote: Mon Apr 23, 2018 4:49 pm It's AGD.. so a bit limited. It would be nice to get AGD to use 128k paged memory for extra rooms though... that would produce some excellent (and longer games).
You do not need that to be done from within AGD if you put the machine in USR0 mode and recall the level data from memory banks when needed. I have been doing that since Funky Fungus (2013); other games of mine which employ the same technique are Seto Taisho Vs Yokai, Seto Taisho To Kazan, Sophia and the 128K version of Lost In My Spectrum (the 48K uses a multi-load scheme).

Here is an old thread on the WOS forum where I discuss the topic and how I managed to do it. Some source code snippets are also to be found.

Now on to the game: I like the minimalistic graphics and the perspective view from above - would have liked some more colour for the sprites but anyway... Gameplay is as linear as the graphic style, and the game is pretty short, but on the whole I enjoyed it. I think it's one of the best games from PJ to date.
Last edited by Alessandro on Sun Jun 17, 2018 9:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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PaulJ
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Re: New Game: ROVR

Post by PaulJ »

Alessandro wrote: Sun Jun 17, 2018 9:18 am
PaulJ wrote: Mon Apr 23, 2018 4:49 pm It's AGD.. so a bit limited. It would be nice to get AGD to use 128k paged memory for extra rooms though... that would produce some excellent (and longer games).
You do not need that to be done from within AGD if you put the machine in USR0 mode and recall the level data from memory banks when needed. I have been doing that since Funky Fungus (2013); other games of mine which employ the same technique are Seto Taisho Vs Yokai, Seto Taisho To Kazan, Sophia and the 128K version of Lost In My Spectrum (the 48K uses a multi-load scheme).

Here is an old thread on the WOS forum where I discuss the topic and how I managed to do it. Some source code snippets are also to be found.

Now on to the game: I like the minimalistic graphics and the perspective view from above - would have liked some more colour for the sprites but anyway... Gameplay is as linear as the graphic style, and the game is pretty short, but on the whole I enjoyed it. I think it's one of the best games from PJ to date.
Thanks for the comment Alessandro. That link to WOS doesn't work for me! I would be interested in reading that to see how games can be made larger. I know there are people working on AGDX looking to squeeze more out of it, which is excellent.
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Re: New Game: ROVR

Post by Alessandro »

Sorry Paul, I saved the comment as a draft and then I forgot to clean it of some HTML code it produces when you do that. Now the link should be reachable.

Congratulations again on your game; I really liked the "forced perspective" view; I thought about implementing it in the new version of Apulija-13 but it had a strong impact on memory, and the game had to be limited to a single level and had to fit into 48K.

I noticed you lose a point of energy when entering a room, is that intentional?
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Re: New Game: ROVR

Post by PaulJ »

Alessandro wrote: Sun Jun 17, 2018 9:34 am Sorry Paul, I saved the comment as a draft and then I forgot to clean it of some HTML code it produces when you do that. Now the link should be reachable.

Congratulations again on your game; I really liked the "forced perspective" view; I thought about implementing it in the new version of Apulija-13 but it had a strong impact on memory, and the game had to be limited to a single level and had to fit into 48K.

I noticed you lose a point of energy when entering a room, is that intentional?
Thanks - reading the thread now. Looks very complicated, so i'll need to spend some time working through how it all works.

Yes,your energy reduces each room you enter - fairer than a timed reduction but not as realistic!
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Re: New Game: ROVR

Post by Joefish »

The look of the levels is great, but a shame there isn't a way of generating the levels from chunks or templates, so that memory is not wasted coding repeated features.

Maybe if there was a way of designing a handful of rooms that could be used as 'templates', then for further room design you pick a template and then only record the changes from the template as the room data.
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