nVADERS! a MicroBeast game

Ant Skelton

Ant Skelton

— 2 min read
nVADERS! a MicroBeast game
nVADERS for MicroBeast - a BeastUser exclusive!
The People of the Line lived a simple, peaceful existence until one day an inter-dimensional portal appeared, spewing terrifying number-based aliens on the unsuspecting citizenry! Only you, with your conveniently digit-specific attack ship, can save the line dimension from unwelcome numeracy!
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nVADERS! is a game (the first?) written specifically for the MicroBeast, taking full advantage of its excellent LED displays. The premise is simple: a bunch of numbers march across the screen from right to left, and you cycle your "aim" through all the digits to match an alien then press fire to eliminate him from the playfield.

Keys:

  • Up arrow / down arrow - "aim" at a digit
  • Space / Enter - fire

Screen:

You've got 30 shots, and 3 lives. Clear a wave, and a new, faster wave begins. After level 8 there's a respite in the pace, but... oh no! The terrifying inter-dimensional portal gets even closer!

Gameplay:

You get more points the further to the left an alien is when you dispatch it. If you dispatch multiple aliens of the same kind (i.e. multiple hits without changing your "aim") you get a combo bonus. Certain unspecified actions may invoke the alien Command Saucer (codename MODULO-10).

If you had a Casio calculator watch in the 80s, or the hugely popular MG-880 calculator, then this game will look very familiar indeed. They even did a modern re-issue in Japan in the shape of the SL-880.

I derived the game play from careful analysis of this video and a couple of others on YouTube. I swiped the levels and timings from this Spectrum port.

I changed the mechanics slightly: in my version you get more points the further left an alien is, whereas the original rewards you more points the further right it is. I also added combos for multiple hots of the same value: this gives you a steadily increasing score mutiplier, so there's value to be had in letting the aliens move across the playfield. The original game only let's you increase your aim, but I let you go up and down. I added animation that's deliberately meant to be distracting!

Where can I get it?

Get NVADERS.COM here.

Get a disk image that you can use with BeastEm here. (Load it into page 25, boot CP/M and type restore then run nvaders.com from the B: drive.

What do you think?

Let me know what you think in the comments below. What's your high score? I'm still tweaking the gameplay: do you think the difficulty is right?

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