New release: Space Mines strategy/simulation game

PaulQ · Post by **PaulQ** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 6:18 pm

Game type: Strategy/Simulation
Platform: ALL Commodore computers (optimized for the Vic 20 display)
Objective: You are in charge of running a mining operation on another planet for 1-5 years (you decide). Reports are sent to your computer once per month, and you enter your orders. Build mines, sell ore, pay the people, and maintain a balance between the number of mines and people or else you'll overwork everyone.

You can download it here: http://vic20.ca/SMINESV1.PRG

There's more to this game than meets the eye, offering remarkable depth for a BASIC game written to run on an unexpanded Vic. Keep an eye on your satisfaction level. If it drops too much, production also drops and people will leave (or worse). Make it go up enough, the population will grow and production goes up. Try not paying them enough, and it goes down. Pay them more than you're supposed to, and it will go up. It's a good idea to get it up, in case of a radiation leak or a plant explosion, which kills people, can destroy a plant, and makes the people less satisfied with you. Once it drops too low, it's pretty hard to get it back up...but if it's too high, the population may grow faster than your ability to support them! Checks and measures are included, so if you're producing too much ore, there will be a market glut. All for the sakes of reality.

This game is based on a similar game for the Sharp Zaurus ZR-5800, which is located here:http://www.murraymoffatt.com/zaurus.html Many (if not all) of the tips for that game also work in my version.

Suggestions and ideas are welcome.

orion70 · Post by **orion70** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:04 am

Great game! I LOVE this kind of simulation, and this one is addictive enough

.

As a suggestion, if it doesn't take too much memory, I would use the VIC ability for colors to represent graphically some (or all) of the parameters with bars, with an appropriate min and max. It wouldn't be difficult or take a lot of RAM, if you use for-next statements and [reverse on] [x spaces] [reverse off]; and it would add a visual counterpart for the player's efforts.

PS- Please, put the game in the "VIC-20 Software Releases of 2008" thread HERE.

Cheers!

PaulQ · Post by **PaulQ** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:39 pm

Orion70, while that seems like a good idea, there are no real limits on this game. One time you play it, you're barely surviving; the numbers don't change much. Another game would give a completely different scenario where you could potentially amass hundreds of thousands of dollars, have dozens of ore plants, and have an exceptionally high satisfaction rate. It would be difficult to plot all the possibilities on a min./max. bar, especially given the Vic's limited screen resolution.

That said, I may consider this in future developments should I decide to write a different variation of this theme.

Kweepa · Post by **Kweepa** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:40 pm

I'm not having much luck running this in VICE (or JarVIC).
I tried autostart disk/tape image but got:

Code: Select all

**** CBM BASIC V2 ****

3583 BYTES FREE

READY.
LOAD"[heart]\[arc]/~[heart]X1.~|_|"


SEARCHING FOR [heart]\[arc]/~[heart]X1
.~|_|
LOADING
READY.
RUN:

READY.
LIST

READY.

Help?

orion70 · Post by **orion70** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 12:48 am

ctrl + shift in VICE to switch to lower-case, and you'll see that those strange characters are SMINES1.PRG in upper-case

.

It doesn't load because the autostart feature in VICE performs a LOAD"",8,1 and the ,1 should be avoided: so, simply type from the prompt (case sensitive text):

Code: Select all

load"SMINESV1.PRG",8

and it should work.

DigitalQuirk wrote:Orion70, while that seems like a good idea, there are no real limits on this game.

You're right, I noticed that after a few games.
Once again, do not forget to list the game (and post a screenshot) in the "VIC-20 Software Releases of 2008" thread HERE.

Mayhem · Post by **Mayhem** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 4:18 am

It does the autoload in Gamebase as well, so I'll have to resave it as ,8,1 to get it work within there anyhows...

d0c · Post by **d0c** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 6:04 pm

i dont get this to start at all in vice unexpanded... i put the file on d64 but it freeze, yes i type ",8" thing.. if something is f**ked up could you please put the prg on a d64 image for download here.....

Hanzi · Post by **Hanzi** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 8:37 pm

Here is a .d64 image : http://rapidshare.com/files/148709913/sminesv1.rar.html

Attach the disk and load"*",8

d0c · Post by **d0c** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:24 am

thanks now it works. added it to "VIC-20 Software Releases of 2008"

PaulQ · Post by **PaulQ** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 10:05 am

Thanks, guys. I appreciate your efforts.

PaulQ · Post by **PaulQ** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 7:03 am

I am now working on the second release of this game, and take advantage of expanded memory on the Vic. I've decided to add other strategy elements and increase the complexity and depth of this game. For example, you must now buy habitats if you expect the population to grow. You need to buy ships to ship the ore you wish to sell. You need to buy silos in which to store the ore. Your population will need to include a certain percentage of trained doctors and technicians to handle outbreaks and to maintain ships, habitats, and ore factories.

Right now, I'm figuring out the nature of this game. Should I make it Vic-20 specific this time, and take advantage of the Vic's sound and graphics? Should I make it Commodore 8 bit-specific only, and just include PETSCII graphics but leave out colour and sound, so that C64, C16/+4 and PET users can also enjoy it? Or should it be platform-independent and contain no special characters?

Right now, I'm tending towards Commodore 8-bit specific, formatted to the Vic 20 screen. I probably could include something to check which machine it's running on to include some colour and sound, if I knew which memory locations to PEEK.

Post by **Jeff-20** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 11:37 am

Of course I am biased. I would make it VIC 20 specific if you're going to get more complicated. The universal version could be bait for the advanced version (VIC 20 specific with even custom characters).

CrAlt · Post by **CrAlt** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 10:10 pm

Neat game. I also vote for a VIC only version.

I'ed black out the boarder and backround then use color text. I find the default colors hard on the eyes.

I'ed also have some kinda delay between the months. Like some sounds and something that symbolizes the message being sent and then coming back.

PS: The 1st link to the .PRG hung my VIC. (No emulator here). The .PRG thats in the .d64 runs fine on real hardware

PaulQ · Post by **PaulQ** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 10:39 pm

Thanks for the ideas, CrAlt.

You know that, because the original is text-only, you can set the screen, border, and text to whatever colour you choose, and the program will run using those colours.

Victragic · Post by **Victragic** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 6:37 pm

Congratulations!

I love resource management games, and I'm looking forward to playing this one 'when I get a few free hours'..

-G