New Game: LIQUIDATOR

[LOFI_CODER]

Title: LIQUIDATOR
Platform: Commodore VIC-20 without Memory Expansion (tested only on XVIC)
Media: PRG (drag and drop into XVIC window)
Video: PAL/NTSC
Interface: Player 1: Joystick / Player 2: Keyboard (A,D,W,X)
Software type: Logic Game written in Assembler
Written by: LOFI_CODER

Download: ( contains Version 1.0.1 Level 8 BUGFIX )

vic20-liquidator-v1.0.1.prg.zip

(2.52 KiB) Downloaded 127 times

The aim of the game is to prevent a meltdown in a nuclear reactor.
As the liquidator, you have to master this almost impossible task to prevent the catastrophe:
Move the blocks into the hot zone/red fields to seal the leak.

There are a total of 10 levels (reactor leaks) for 1 to 2 players. You can choose the starting level at the beginning.
You have 4 minutes per level before a meltdown occurs.
With 2 players, they do not act as opponents, but try to seal the reactor leak together.
You can push the blocks but not pull them. It can therefore happen that you move a block in such an unfortunate way that you can no longer use it. Press 'P' when you want to restart a level.
The difficulty of the levels is very high right from the start and it is advisable to take notes with pen and paper.

game-screenshot.jpg (55.49 KiB) Viewed 4797 times

Developers note:

The numbering of the blocks has no special meaning. If you play the game with 2 players, you can name the blocks more easily using the numbers.

You can also play the game without a joystick. To do this, you have to configure the "keyset joystick" in XVIC (e.g. to be able to select the level and start the game at the beginning). I recommend: J, L, I, M and Space for Fire. Don't use W,A,D,X.

joystick-conf.jpg (25.59 KiB) Viewed 4797 times

Due to the self-imposed requirements to realize the game without memory expansion (3583 bytes must be enough ...), there is unfortunately only a very rudimentary startscreen, no highscore and no end sequence. I promise to do better for the next game!

Greetings
LOFI_CODER

[Rich]

Nice to see new games for the old Vic20 , thank you for sharing this game

[javierglez]

I got stuck at level 8 but it may be not me but a program bug.

[LOFI_CODER]

I got stuck at level 8 but it may be not me but a program bug.

Thank you for your feedback and for playing the game!

My deepest respect if you have solved level 0 to 7.

What's the problem with level 8?
Is the game hanging or can't you find the solution?

I'm not 100% sure I've tested all the level variants. I will have another look at level 8 this weekend.


Greetings
LOFI-CODER

[LOFI_CODER]

I got stuck at level 8 but it may be not me but a program bug.

There was indeed a bug in level 8.
I also had a look at level 9 and everything is ok there.

I uploaded the fixed version 1.0.1

Thanks for the bug report and have a good weekend!

Greetings
LOFI-CODER

[javierglez]

You're welcome, I like puzzles

[Ola H]

The screenshot made me think of Chris Ratcliffe's 1983 Vic 20 game Atom Smasher. But whereas that is an extremely hectic and downright chaotic arcade game, this was something completely different - a Sokoban game with Tetris bricks - A very nice concept!

At first, I was a little confused and tried to enclose, rather than seal, the leak. But after a few attempts with that approach, I realized where I had gone wrong. The color change helped.

The numbers also confused me. I thought I maybe should put them in order, but that didn't seem to make much sense, so I just ignored them.

All in all, I think this has great potential. It works well as it is, but some polish and additions (perhaps with added memory) could make it something really special.

[LOFI_CODER]

The screenshot made me think of Chris Ratcliffe's 1983 Vic 20 game Atom Smasher. But whereas that is an extremely hectic and downright chaotic arcade game, this was something completely different - a Sokoban game with Tetris bricks - A very nice concept!

At first, I was a little confused and tried to enclose, rather than seal, the leak. But after a few attempts with that approach, I realized where I had gone wrong. The color change helped.

The numbers also confused me. I thought I maybe should put them in order, but that didn't seem to make much sense, so I just ignored them.

All in all, I think this has great potential. It works well as it is, but some polish and additions (perhaps with added memory) could make it something really special.

Thanks for checking out the game, and thanks for your comments!
I'm sorry you had to figure out the game idea first. I will update the short manual.

I completely agree with your comments. Liquidator could use a little more polish.

When I first started programming, I had a lot of ideas of what I wanted to include, but I quickly realized that I could only just get the main game idea into the memory. Even for that, I had to rework the code several times. The attraction of Liquidator for me was whether I could even manage to realize the game without expanding the memory. That could have failed with just a few bytes ...!

In fact, I'm currently thinking about improving Liquidator with the help of more memory.

Greetings

LOFI-CODER

[thegg]

For a first game this is pretty good.

It is a big challenge to squeeze every thing you would like into standard memory. There was a recent poll on how much memory people have and 8k expansion seems to be available to most people.

I too struggled to understand quite what the game is about, so addressing that is a good idea. I'm a bit slow and really would like the option to not have the timer.

I found pushing the blocks detracted from the game. It would be an improvement to be able to select a block and move it wherever you want.

All said though, the puzzle is nice concept and has promise. Well done and thanks for posting it here.

[LOFI_CODER]

For a first game this is pretty good.

It is a big challenge to squeeze every thing you would like into standard memory. There was a recent poll on how much memory people have and 8k expansion seems to be available to most people.

I too struggled to understand quite what the game is about, so addressing that is a good idea. I'm a bit slow and really would like the option to not have the timer.

I found pushing the blocks detracted from the game. It would be an improvement to be able to select a block and move it wherever you want.

All said though, the puzzle is nice concept and has promise. Well done and thanks for posting it here.

Thank you for your feedback and for trying out the game!

I was wondering myself what the most commonly used memory expansion for the VIC 20 is. 8 KB sounds good

[AndyH]

I'd be surprised if the majority of active Vic users today don't have a modern memory cart supporting up to 35k and emulation users have all memory configs available to them also.

At end of the day, my advice is to build to whatever specs you want and if others want to play what you produce I'm sure they'll find a way

[LOFI_CODER]

I'd be surprised if the majority of active Vic users today don't have a modern memory cart supporting up to 35k and emulation users have all memory configs available to them also.

At end of the day, my advice is to build to whatever specs you want and if others want to play what you produce I'm sure they'll find a way

I think you're right.

For me, the question is whether I should convert the game to 3k or 8k memory expansion.
I was quite surprised how quickly 3.5k melted away. I even had to use the tape buffer addresses.

If 3k memory expansion isn't enough in the end, I'll have to adjust the address ranges again ...

I shouldn't have any problems with an 8k memory extension.

[chysn]

Great game, thanks!

A "pull" mechanic would definitely be welcome.

[LOFI_CODER]

Great game, thanks!

A "pull" mechanic would definitely be welcome.

Thanks for your feedback!

The "pull" mechanism is on the To-Do list