ZX DEV 2017 Retroforce

climacus · October 2017

Although a little early, considering the January deadline, we have finished our competition entry for the 2017 ZX DEV conversion competition. Our game is called "RetroForce", and is a vertical shooter, inspired in part by the StarForce/MegaForce arcade game of the 1980's.

It can be downloaded from the ZX DEV forums, found here: /http://zx-dev-conversions.proboards.com/thread/6/star-force-megaforce?page=3&scrollTo=216

ranma_simon · October 2017

Great job!

Sokurah · October 2017

Yeah, great job. Excellent scroll routine and I love the HUD.
... but holy dungballs - it's difficult. It's almost too fast :))

For those struggling like me;

Poke 24734, Lives - 99 is a good number ;)
Poke 55030,0 for infinite lives.

Good luck, commander. :)

climacus · October 2017

Sokurah wrote: »

Yeah, great job. Excellent scroll routine and I love the HUD.
... but holy dungballs - it's difficult. It's almost too fast :))

For those struggling like me;

Poke 24734, Lives - 99 is a good number ;)
Poke 55030,0 for infinite lives.

Good luck, commander. :)

Very fast!!!
But with all this lives, youll never became a commander!!!! :) ;)

kgmcneil · October 2017

Amazing how fast they find the pokes, isn't it?!?!... Takes me longer to sift through the known source code and change the entries before recompiling...!!!

JasonUK · October 2017

Very good!

Hikaru · October 2017

It's always a pleasure to see more games pushing the envelope (pun maybe intended) in terms of the Speccy's potential. :) Definitely one of my favourites from the compo, well done.

Andre Faria · October 2017

Great game, here is the review... :)

https://planetasinclair.blogspot.pt/2017/10/retroforce.html

Ast_A_Moore · October 2017

Now, that’s a great example of a 50 fps shoot-’em-up! I tip my hat to you.

Ast_A_Moore · October 2017

By the way, if you want your game to run on the Spectrum +2A/+3, check the third link in my signature.

ZXSPIRITS · October 2017

:-bd

hikoki · October 2017

The game has been slowed down by the Russians: http://zx-pk.ru/threads/28257-retroforce.html?p=933032&viewfull=1#post933032

kgmcneil · October 2017

The game has been slowed down by the Russians

Why?!?!?... oh, why, would they do that?!?!?... @-)

Well... that was an enlightening read... Thanks for pointing there hikoki...
[1] I can see that some consider this game too difficult... Climacus likes a bit of a challenge, but Im usually the one who counters that during testing because my skills aren't as advanced as his. I can usually get halfway through the game before I even see the Continue/Game over screen, so it IS doable... Although I have practiced on an off awhile... I did leave tips in the English version of the manual. You can learn the patterns, you can anticipate the types of attack, and dodging does help as well as firing... Getting up close and personal also increases your chance of nailing each one in an attack wave and also increases the speed at which you down a boss too. Taking advantage of your death/life lost to gather missed targets also helps, as does prioritizing target shooting at the start of the level... It is possible and playable!!!

[2] It pains me to see the Russian scene upset that the game doesn't work smoothly on their systems... I can assure you, its not personal!!!... The game really was made specifically for the 48k unmodified spectrum, and doesn't necessarily work smoothly on a number of UK 128k models too, so we're not singling the Russian systems out - honest!!!!... I believe Climacus really was using this project to push the limits as to what is possible for a primitive unmodified 48k system... Like our previous Knightmare2 project, we wanted to demonstrate what was possible with the bare minimum system. It wouldn't have seemed quite so impressive if we had pulled it off on a 128k system because people already have higher expectations towards those systems. It really is a compliment then when I hear people say then that the game runs too quickly for them, because I know that this isn't occurring because sprites are moving by big jumps but because climacus has succeeded in creating the smooth, optimized engine that he had hoped for... The map design was seriously restricted due to the limitations of the scroll engine, which was tailored just for speed... If your observant, you'll see that each row only contains 4 tiles at any one time, and one of those is destructible... Making the maps look varied and interesting was a challenge, and one directly related to the limitations imposed by making such an optimized scroll engine... The optimizations were extreme, and hence its incompatibility with other systems... We will try to be more mindful of Pentagon models in our next release, and also more mindful of speed issues... I personally have a great fondness for the Russian scene, particularly their talented musical productions (CPU/Moron, Fatal Snipe, etc)... Iv only ever known the Pentagon model through emulation (EMUZwin is a favorite emulator of mine that I do lots of tinkering with, but I also have fond memories of the earlier incarnations of the ZXMak2 emulator)...

Oh, and thanks to all who have done reviews... It really does help us appreciate what people connect with and like or dislike... Feedback is always appreciated and helps with the design of our future projects... We're both very flattered that the game has been as well received as it has so far... :)

Ralf · October 2017

Why?!?!?... oh, why, would they do that?!?!?...

I know you won't like this answer ;) but for me it's more playable and enjoyable this way.

With the game slowed down I'm actually able to play it, complete levels and it's still a nice challenge. When running at 50Hz I lose life in less than 20 seconds.

Yes, it's a crazy paradox. You make a game technically pushing Spectrum to the limits never reached before. And some people yet prefer the more lame version. I almost feel guilty about it :)

MatGubbins · October 2017

Original version.
Well done, it's great, fast and when played on EmuZWin it shows this game as super silky smooth.
If it is possible to have slower moving aliens and bullets, but keeping the smooth scrolling... yes
EmuZWin at 70% is great.

Slowed version.
It's too slow, needs to be a bit faster

Bug:
Define Keys
Pause key can be defined as the last movement key (down), so you can have
Down - A
Pause - A

pressing A during the game will down and pause.

The status panel really needs to surround the play area as I sometimes
think that I have more space to move into but held back by an
invisible blank area.

The screen flash/mega bomb is a little hard on my eyes. It's probably me and
the way that I'm not a fan of it.

Terra Cresta is a great example of how a life lost routine keeps the game
playing, scrolling and aliens moving for a few seconds as the space craft
explodes.

Ivanzx · October 2017

This is pretty tricky, Ralf, as in the begginning the game may look too hard but after a few goes you will learn patterns and tricks and you can advance much easier. Don´t give up and try ;)

The game in its original versión is very playable, IMO, but Climacus is also considering doing some changes for the final versión and also adapt it to the 128K models!

Ralf wrote: »

Why?!?!?... oh, why, would they do that?!?!?...

I know you won't like this answer ;) but for me it's more playable and enjoyable this way.

With the game slowed down I'm actually able to play it, complete levels and it's still a nice challenge. When running at 50Hz I lose life in less than 20 seconds.

Yes, it's a crazy paradox. You make a game technically pushing Spectrum to the limits never reached before. And some people yet prefer the more lame version. I almost feel guilty about it :)

joefish · October 2017

It does amuse me how all those threads refer to the European Speccy community as the bourgoisie.

kgmcneil wrote: »

[2] It pains me to see the Russian scene upset that the game doesn't work smoothly on their systems... I can assure you, its not personal!!!

You see, you can't help but denigrate the proletariat, when you own the means of production! \:D/

climacus · October 2017

Ralf wrote: »

Why?!?!?... oh, why, would they do that?!?!?...

I know you won't like this answer ;) but for me it's more playable and enjoyable this way.

With the game slowed down I'm actually able to play it, complete levels and it's still a nice challenge. When running at 50Hz I lose life in less than 20 seconds.

Yes, it's a crazy paradox. You make a game technically pushing Spectrum to the limits never reached before. And some people yet prefer the more lame version. I almost feel guilty about it :)

I cant believe you prefer the Russian version speed. For a shooter?
Slowing down a 50 fps game is more complicated than he has done.

ivanb303 · October 2017

Yep holy shitballs that's seriously smooth and fast! Well done to the authors and yes you learn the patterns after a while.

climacus · October 2017

MatGubbins wrote: »

Original version.
Well done, it's great, fast and when played on EmuZWin it shows this game as super silky smooth.
If it is possible to have slower moving aliens and bullets, but keeping the smooth scrolling... yes
EmuZWin at 70% is great.

Slowed version.
It's too slow, needs to be a bit faster

Bug:
Define Keys
Pause key can be defined as the last movement key (down), so you can have
Down - A
Pause - A

pressing A during the game will down and pause.

The status panel really needs to surround the play area as I sometimes
think that I have more space to move into but held back by an
invisible blank area.

The screen flash/mega bomb is a little hard on my eyes. It's probably me and
the way that I'm not a fan of it.

Terra Cresta is a great example of how a life lost routine keeps the game
playing, scrolling and aliens moving for a few seconds as the space craft
explodes.

Great idea to slow down the game with the emulator speed!!!
Thanks for the bug in the redefine keys. Ill try it.

I like that all stops when the hero ship explodes. This is why Ive done it in this way, Terra Cresta way is interesting too, but I prefer mine.

I think that slow mode is more unplayable that normal way.

Ast_A_Moore · October 2017

If you’re interested, I posted a redefine keys routine here. It’s fairly well optimized and uses a relatively obscure—but very helpful in this case—instruction, CPIR.

climacus · October 2017

Ast_A_Moore wrote: »

If you’re interested, I posted a redefine keys routine here. It’s fairly well optimized and uses a relatively obscure—but very helpful in this case—instruction, CPIR.

Thanks. Ill study it and see if is shorter than mine...

Turrican · October 2017

For me the game plays as fast and furious as it should be.
The movements are incredible smooth.
Great game, thanks.

MatGubbins · October 2017

Is that Boba Fett on level 8?

MatGubbins · October 2017

Played through the entire game at 70% with EmuZWin roll back feature - it's a hard game with some very nasty alien formations zipping around the screen, some sneaking up from the bottom of the screen and others pouncing around onto the space ship.

The levels do change into the game, with new colours and graphics, so there are new things to look forward to, just remember to keep shooting at the bonus blocks, the enemy and avoiding those bullets.

Nice R-Type style ending and scrolling message.
Scored 29980, level 25

climacus · October 2017

MatGubbins wrote: »

Played through the entire game at 70% with EmuZWin roll back feature - it's a hard game with some very nasty alien formations zipping around the screen, some sneaking up from the bottom of the screen and others pouncing around onto the space ship.

The levels do change into the game, with new colours and graphics, so there are new things to look forward to, just remember to keep shooting at the bonus blocks, the enemy and avoiding those bullets.

Nice R-Type style ending and scrolling message.
Scored 29980, level 25

Perfect. Thanks for the information.
Ill try to adjust the speed for 128kb version with the 70% EmuWiz one. Or perhaps a menu speed option

Art · October 2017

A great achievement. I think it's amazing to see something like this done only using software tricks without any hardware help on the Spectrum 48K. And it's not a demo, but a real playable finished game.

Ralf · October 2017

Ill try to adjust the speed for 128kb version with the 70% EmuWiz one. Or perhaps a menu speed option

Yes, please give people a choice in the menu. And I promise to use Russian hacks no more ;)

kgmcneil · November 2017

please give people a choice in the menu. And I promise to use Russian hacks no more

Your wish is our command, Ralf... We present to you, RetroForce128... If you visit http://zx-dev-conversions.proboards.com/thread/6/star-force-megaforce?page=4 , you can see our announcement for the new version of the game, which includes a speed option, sound effects, music and increases compatibility across many more ZX platforms now... Direct download can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/otvamoyd9gbvwfd/RETROFORCE.rar?dl=1

We hope it is to your satisfaction... ;)

ZX DEV 2017 Retroforce

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