Deep Scavenger (Beta v1.1-fixes) - Asteroids with a story

[mwiedmann]

Here is the first beta version of "Deep Scavenger" an Asteroids like game with a story. You play as Rick Frost, a deep space scavenger who finds himself in trouble. Blast open asteroids to harvest valuable crystals inside to pay off your debt to "The Corporation". Can you survive and earn your freedom? Will The Corporation betray you? Cut scenes every few levels show the interactions between Rick, his friends, enemies, and possible love interest?

This one is all in assembly language. I dropped it for quite a few months due to life but it feels great to get back to it and finish it. Feel free to ping me with bugs/feedback on the X16 Discord (Mark Wiedmann - markbugslayer) or here. Hope you enjoy it.

Beta 1.1 fixes - Mainly fixed when extra ships given. Every even field now.

Try It Now!

[Retroplayer]

Great job! Is this in 640x480 mode? Are you using the flip horizontal /vertical to get additional frames for your ship and asteroids? Because we all know the X16 doesn't have much video ram which IMHO is one of it's charming attributes in that it isn't too powerful and it's limitations remind you that the X16 is truly a retro machine.

Adding resource gathering is a neat addition to the Asteroids game. It'd be awesome if someone made a space game with the Asteroids gameplay as a subset of it's gameplay. Like you fly around the different sectors to gather resources, or deliver cargo or play bounty hunter to capture fugitives etc.

[darvidanoar]

Very cool. This is going to take some time to master

[mwiedmann]

Is this in 640x480 mode? Are you using the flip horizontal /vertical to get additional frames for your ship and asteroids?

Thanks!

640x480 mode: YES.
flip horizontal /vertical: YES you nailed it, there are only 5 sprite frames for the ship (0, 22.5, 45,67.5, and 90 degrees). The rest are just flipping those.

I like your idea for a larger game where you fly to different sectors, etc.

[Daedalus]

Did the Corporation blow up a dissenting planet with the "Cube Cannon" to make all that space debris?

The fight against the Cube Cannon ship in the final stage of the RPG version of the game would be epic.

[schristis]

Blasting asteroids and dodging space debris never gets old—pure arcade fun!

[mortarm]

Just tried it out on the Web emulator. Got a few thoughts:

PLUSES

• Like the concept
• Great title screen
• Character graphics well done
• Smooth motion

MINUSES

• Introduction way too long
• No way to skip intro
• No explanation of what "any button" means
• SPACE BAR would make a better FIRE key.

[mwiedmann]

MINUSES

• Introduction way too long
• No way to skip intro
• No explanation of what "any button" means
• SPACE BAR would make a better FIRE key.

Thanks for the thoughts!

The intro is long but you can skip it (and its meant to after you watch it once). Make sure to read the instructions after the title screen, it says you can fast-forward with any button OR press Enter-Start to skip it. Just press Enter when it starts.

Any button means on the joypad. If you don't have a joypad then the emulator will map it to the keyboard instead. I'm just relying on that. Just press a few buttons and you'll find it. I think its ASZX for the main 4 buttons. Any will do. Based on this I'm not actually looking for keypresses, so using SPACEBAR is out.

Intro.jpg (99.46 KiB) Viewed 12349 times

[mortarm]

...you can skip it...Just press Enter when it starts.

My bad. My brain only registered the fast-forward part for some reason. Thanks.

Any button means on the joypad. If you don't have a joypad then the emulator will map it to the keyboard instead. I'm just relying on that. Just press a few buttons and you'll find it. I think its ASZX for the main 4 buttons. Any will do. Based on this I'm not actually looking for keypresses, so using SPACEBAR is out.

I don't do gamepads, but your right, ASZX did the job. It would be helpful to mention that in the instructions for those, like me, who don't use gamepads.

[Dacobi]

This is really awesome. The story part reminds of me of the old Dune RTS games.

So far I've only tried it in the emulator, plays well with arrow keys and 'S' for fire.
Going to try it on the real hardware with gamepad later.