From the subject line I immediately thought of Legend, but that's much like Orc Attack. The only one which I can think of which involves defending a fixed strongpoint (in this case a village) by placing resources around it to fend off an attack is Swords of Bane.
I've been playing Robo Defence on my tablet and I just don't think something like that would work on the Speccy. There's the obvious issues with controls. Then there's all the towers and enemies. Their can be hundreds of sprites on screen at once.
I've been playing Robo Defence on my tablet and I just don't think something like that would work on the Speccy. There's the obvious issues with controls. Then there's all the towers and enemies. Their can be hundreds of sprites on screen at once.
I don't think it's impossible to do a TD game. Yes, there could be hundreds of sprites on screen at once. But on the spectrum, the number of 'sprites' never really mattered, as long as you don't expect a 50 frames per second game.
Still, it would require lots of work. Which I don't have.
But I wouldn't be surprised that an easy TD game (like Space Invaders) can be done on the spectrum, even in BASIC.
I see that Wikipedia lists Rampart (1990) from Domark as an early example of the genre. Too bad the ZX Spectrum version of that game never seems to have been released. Your Sinclair had a very short preview text in October 1991, and a follow-up in December the same year.
I'm working on a TD type of game using ZXBC, but it will be veeery simplified. No 1000 Sprites at once (mostly symbolic as they are off-screen), and very small playfield. Tower upgrades will not apply to the distance they can reach.
If anyone want try to code a simnple TD game for Spectrum, please check "Crystal Defenders", which is available for iOS and Android.
It would be really cool to see what could be done on the ol' Speccy. A one-screener with a few different enemy types might work.
Urbanupstart mentioned this one in the chit chat thread a while ago.
Would something like that be do-able? It's fairly simple, 3 levels, small enemies, a few different enemy attack waves following the same path, and just a few different weapons to place. I think it's got some good gameplay. Completing the last level took me a few attempts.
Anyway, glad to see that Ralf, Timmy and LCD have already volunteered to code one for us... ;)
- Each type of enemy has a different descending pattern, going down from the screen top jumping from meteorite to meteorite : some jump sideways, downwards, in zig-zag, giving small or big leaps, etc, some move faster than others, some use only big meteorites, some destroy meteorites, some lay black-holes, some absorb meteorites thus enlarging its size, whatever evil behavior you may come up with.
- your ship must prevent them from reaching the bottom.
- you have a magnetic horseshoe to drag meteorites thus arranging them to form your own paths.
- you can place different towers each with their own key
Comments
JSpeccy-win32-portable
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_defense
EDIT: Oh hang on read the second post properly, not quite what you're looking for.
This genre evolved after Spectrum commercial days
I don't think it's impossible to do a TD game. Yes, there could be hundreds of sprites on screen at once. But on the spectrum, the number of 'sprites' never really mattered, as long as you don't expect a 50 frames per second game.
Still, it would require lots of work. Which I don't have.
But I wouldn't be surprised that an easy TD game (like Space Invaders) can be done on the spectrum, even in BASIC.
Games List 2016 - Games List 2015 - Games List 2014
If anyone want try to code a simnple TD game for Spectrum, please check "Crystal Defenders", which is available for iOS and Android.
One day I may try to do it.
Robot Defence Corps
http://www.mojontwins.com/csscgc2011/chris-thompson-robot-defence-corps/
It would not be too hard to optimise it a bit to be more playable....
Urbanupstart mentioned this one in the chit chat thread a while ago.
Would something like that be do-able? It's fairly simple, 3 levels, small enemies, a few different enemy attack waves following the same path, and just a few different weapons to place. I think it's got some good gameplay. Completing the last level took me a few attempts.
Anyway, glad to see that Ralf, Timmy and LCD have already volunteered to code one for us... ;)
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3152568/LeaderboardLocal/index.html
- Each type of enemy has a different descending pattern, going down from the screen top jumping from meteorite to meteorite : some jump sideways, downwards, in zig-zag, giving small or big leaps, etc, some move faster than others, some use only big meteorites, some destroy meteorites, some lay black-holes, some absorb meteorites thus enlarging its size, whatever evil behavior you may come up with.
- your ship must prevent them from reaching the bottom.
- you have a magnetic horseshoe to drag meteorites thus arranging them to form your own paths.
- you can place different towers each with their own key
JSpeccy-win32-portable
It certainly has lots in common with most tower defence games. Using Plants vs Zombies as an example:
- Ants / bugs [Zombies] keep on coming and you need to continually place and repair traps [Plants]
- You have to plant and harvest mushrooms [Sun] to keep purchasing / repairing defences
The main difference is Colony doesn't have set levels or missions, but you play it as long as you can (or want).Not quite a tower defence game, though I guess it is a bit like Plants vs Zombies in some respects.