HORACE MINER (Codenamed “Horace 5”) – Instructions:

Horace is stuck down the mines. You need to guide Horace to pick up all the golden Pounds to allow him to get to the next level before his air runs out. When all the golden pounds are collected, jump Horace into the bell to get to the next level. Horace must avoid the monsters.

Walls are not always completely solid.

TIPS:
You can stand on top of monsters and golden pounds. Watch out when on the monsters though!

KEYS:
Q - Jump
I - Left
P - Right

You can see Lives remaining, Air remaining, Score and High score at the bottom of the screen.

GAME BACKGROUND:
I started to write software again for the ZX Spectrum in 2013 as it takes my mind off the day to day stresses, it keeps the mind running and is quite rewarding and relaxing. 

I am a great fan of retro games and before programming sessions, I like to listen to 80’s music to get me into the right mood, especially music from 1982/83.

I wanted to create a Miner version of Horace for many years and just did not get around to it. I managed to find some time but not a lot of it, so I needed to write the game quickly but also keep all the old ingredients such as the start screen, graphics and sound. The game had to be simple and easy, but not too easy.

To get the game written in record time, I had to rip the graphics and sound from the original game. I had to write the game in Basic and compile it.

The compiler used is Hisoft Colt as it compiles literally everything easily and quickly. It includes a simple sprite system with collision detection and the screen colour change routine for the title screen. All of the above is done very easily and the results are perfect for a retro game such as this. The hard part was designing and testing the levels.

The whole game was written using Spectaculator Spectrum emulator.

Hopefully I have succeeded in keeping the traditional Horace gameplay and appeal.

I hope you have fun with this game as I did writing it.

Steve Broad Jan 2014