Introduction

Your boss hates you. Your company computer is a demented psychopath, and all you really want to do is get home, sit down and have a nice cup of tea. To make matters worse, you have to build a new rocket and refuel it before you can get away. All this while your oxygen supply is running out, meteors fly and aliens try to squish you. At least there is the odd precious stone to supplement your meagre pay. You may even meet an exotic alien princess if you're lucky. Space travel doesn't get dafter than this!

Playing The Game

Rocket Smash Ex is an extended version of Saul Cross and John Christian Lonningdal's Rocket Smash, their entry in the 2013 RGCD 16K Cartridge Game Development Competition. Your goal in the game is simple; on each of the single-screen levels you must reassemble and refuel your crashed rocket ship before your oxygen runs out. However, the hordes of fearsome aliens and deadly meteor showers on each planet will ensure that your mission is far from easy!

Game Features

Rocket Smash Ex is broken down into a series of levels, each with four separate stages. On the first stage of each level you'll need to reassemble your rocket (the case is already on the floor for you), and then catch the falling fuel pods and carry them to (or over) your ship to refuel it. As you refuel the ship, the hull of the rocket will change colour. When the ship is ready to launch, it will flash and an alarm will sound - this means it's time to climb onboard! Following the first stage of each level, you are only required to collect fuel (the ship is already intact).

Note that the screen wraps on the horizontal axis; if bullets, enemies or our hero exit the screen on one side, they will appear on the opposite side.

The Items

Rocket Parts
Three per rocket, but luckily you only have to collect two (!). Fly over these to pick them up. When you fly over or above the base of your rocket, you will automatically drop them into place. 100 points each.

Fuel
Six per rocket. Again, fly over these to collect, and drop them by flying into or above your rocket. 100 points each.

Oxygen
You only have a limited supply of air, so make sure you grab these whenever you can! Remaining oxygen in your tank is converted into points at the end of each stage at a rate of 75 points per pixel! 75 points each (when collected)

Jewels/Cash
Bonus items. Jewels are worth 250 points, whereas cash is worth 150.

The Enemies

Meteors, aliens, missile drones... Everything on these alien worlds is out to kill you! Be warned - some of these just fly across the screen, whereas others actively home-in on our hero. Points awarded per kill range between 25 and 100.

Credits

Code: John Christian Lonningdal
Design/Music/Graphics: Saul Cross
Box/Poster Artwork: Flemming Dupont
Technical Support: Dr. Martin Wendt
Manual/Testing: James Monkman
Tape Mastering: Richard Bayliss
Tape Loader: Martin Piper

Published in 2015 on cartridge by www.rgcd.co.uk and on tape/disk by www.psytronik.net

Game Options

After the game has loaded, press fire on the joystick plugged into port 2 to bring up the game menu. From here you can select the following options using the joystick and the fire button.

Music/SFX On/Off
Audio options. If music is switched off, all three channels are used for sound effects.

Difficulty Easy/Normal/Hard
Affects your rate of fire and the speed at which your oxygen runs out. On normal, all pick-ups and kills are worth an extra 50 points. On hard, you get an extra 100!

Mode Story/Loop
Story mode is the main game with cut-scenes and an ending. Loop is for high-score chasers - the game continually loops through all the levels until you die!

Start Game
Select this to start the game.

Game Controls

The controls are simple; move either left or right by pushing left and right on the joystick. Push up to boost upwards to boost upwards using your joystick. Press fire to shoot.

Loading

To load, hold down SHIFT and press RUN/STOP. Press PLAY on your cassette recorder. The program will now load automatically.