Spectrum — Tardis.dk Remakes

Vallation 1.0 released

July 6, 2016 By Sokurah

*Finally* – something new to show. 🙂

This is my latest game – it’s a new game for the ZX Spectrum and written in 100% assembler.
It’s a remake of a C64 game from 2013 by Jason Kelk (see more information on the games page).

In the game you’re flying your little ship through an enemy base (read: maze) and trying to escape and avoid being killed in the process. The base consists of 4 levels and a total of 101 screens. So, basically it’s a Cybernoid clone. 😉

The plan from here is to make a very limited run of physical cassettes and I will post more once I have more details about that.

Show me some love if you like it and send me a mail at r_e_t_r_o_h_e_a_d@tardis.dk (remove the underscores).

Enjoy.

Filed Under: News, Remakes Tagged With: Assembler, Spectrum, ZX

Dingo v1.3 released for download.

January 17, 2016 By Sokurah

I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t made the improved version of Dingo for the Spectrum available for download yet, and as I’ve recently ceased communication with the artist (again) I thought it was a good time to put it online.

The changes in the 2015 version (version 1.3) are;

A much improved control method. This was the bug-bear for many people with the original release, but it’s now MUCH better.
Enemy pre-spawn warning – so you can see where the Dingos are about to appear and move out the way.
Bonus fruit stays on screen – It was easy to forget which was the bonus fruit during the game so the current bonus fruit is now displayed in the status area.
A new loading screen.
A couple of bugfixes.

Grab it – it’s free. Play it using an emulator or make your own cassettes and play as much as your heart desires. Just click the picture and click the download icon on the gamepage.

Filed Under: News, Remakes, Updates Tagged With: Dingo, Spectrum

So, the updated version of Dingo was released.

October 29, 2015 By Sokurah

At one point over the summer Mark R. Jones, who did the graphics for the Spectrum version of Dingo, asked me if I was interrested in re-releasing it as there seemed to be a demand for it.

I said “Okay, but we shouldn’t just release the same version as before – I want to tweak it first“. And then I did just that over the summer. The primary thing was a desire to improve the control method – which I did, but there are a few other changes too.

The changes in the 2015 version (version 1.3) are;

Much improved control method. This was the bug-bear for many people with the original release, but it’s now MUCH better.
Enemy pre-spawn warning – so you can see where the Dingos are about to appear and move out the way.
Bonus fruit stays on screen – It was easy to forget which was the bonus fruit during the game so the current bonus fruit is now displayed in the status area.
A new loading screen.
A couple of bugfixes.

Mark handled the duplication of the cassettes (in 3 different versions) and made a total of 52 copies. There are 26 double jewel cases, 21 clam cases & 5 double jewel ‘line drawing’ inlays. All of them numbered and signed by Mark.

Mark also arranged with Rob Buckley to have him produce a small Dingo tribute statue, so thanks to him EVERYONE who buys one will then be entered into a raffle once all the copies have been sold. Your name is entered for each copy you buy (so if you buy 2 copies your name is in the raffle twice). The person who’s name gets selected will then win the ‘Dingo’ tribute pictured below – once all the copies have been sold.

The updated version will also be put online as a free download once all the physical copies have been sold.

At the time of writing most copies are allready gone and there are only 10 double cases left. Write to Mark to buy your copy if you’re interrested in one. There won’t be produced any more.

Here’s a few pictures Mark took while duplicating the cassettes. Also pictured at the bottom is Rob Buckley’s Tribute sculpture.

The Clam Case version.

The double jewel cases.

The double jewel ‘line drawing’ versions.

All of them.

Rob Buckley’s Dingo tribute.

Rob Buckley’s Dingo tribute.

Rob Buckley’s Dingo tribute.

Filed Under: News, Remakes Tagged With: Dingo, Spectrum

Released: The Speccies (1 & 2).

September 16, 2013 By Sokurah

Okay, finally made it – The Speccies has arrived and are now released into the wild.

The Speccies is a puzzlegame for the 48K ZX Spectrum. It’s coded in pure Z80 assembler and contains 101 levels of brain-torturing‎ fun.

The game is not only released as a digital download but also available as a strictly limited run of physical cassettes for the ZX Spectrum – see below and mail me for information if you’re interrested.

We (the artist and me) had problems with parts of the the physical product (mainly the deluxe version) so we decided to hold off the release until after the summer vacation, then we got some better music for it which introduced some last minute bugs, and before we knew of it much more time, than we had anticipated, had gone by. On the plus side that means that – since the game had basically been completed for several months – there was time to submit it to Retro Gamer Magazine and ended up being reviewed and scoring 85% at about the same time the game was released…so that worked out nicely. 😉

During all this time of doing nothing – and being on vacation and not feeling like doing anything – I came across a Flashgame that I liked and I thought “wouldn’t that make an excellent 16K Spectrum game?“, so I began coding that anyway. I reused a lot of stuff from the first game, which saved a lot of time, and by doing that I was able to code this game in 4½ days. It’s not fantastic, it’s not original, but it’s a simple fun puzzle game and I had lots of fun making it…and feel quite satisfied with what I achieved in the time I spent. And so The Speccies II was born. It is included on the tape on the deluxe version of the physical cassette that we sell (all sold out, btw) but it can be downloaded for free as well.

Here’s a picture showing the menus and an ingame screen from each game.

This picture shows the three physical versions of the game being sold; the single cassette version, the double case version and the Ultimate-style deluxe version and in the background – the poster we also produced.