LADEKS version 1.0 By Lee Tonks, leetonks@yahoo.com (C)2004, Cheese Freak Software WHAT? ----- This is Ladeks, a simple game for the 48k Spectrum written in C. I originally wrote it for the Nintendo Gameboy over a period of a few weeks (on and off) for the Second Bung Amateur Gameboy Coding Competition way back in 1999. When I came across z88dk on the 'net, I set about converting Ladeks to the Spectrum as a 'test' for the compiler and tools. And several months later (on and off!) here's the result! USE? ---- The game is supplied as a .TZX and a .TAP file for using with just about any Spectrum emulator you can think of. It's a bog-standard ROM loader so it should flash-load on just about anything. Boot up your emulator and try to load one of the files and it'll probably work. If it doesn't, try a different emulator. I've had the game working with Spectaculator, ZXSpin, RealSpectrum, X128, Z80..... look, it'll just work, alright? :-) Ladeks in a standard 48k game, it isn't enhanced for 128k machines but should run fine in 128k mode if you can't be arsed changing. PLAY? ----- Ladeks is a version of a very old game which I first played on an old Unix terminal many years ago. Here's a bit of a plot : The evil Ladeks are taking over the Universe! Worse than that, they've kidnapped your friends and are holding them hostage on the many planets that they've invaded. Your job is to travel to each Ladek-infested planet, save your friends and destroy the Ladek presence! After arriving in your time capsule you'll be dumped into the middle of a load of rabid Ladeks. Your movement keys are as follows : Q,A,O,P : Move around M : Teleport SPACE : Use laser screwdriver W : Wait The Ladeks are powerful and deadly, but they're also very stupid. When they detect your arrival they will move towards you and lose sight of everything else in the arena. To destroy them you must trick them into colliding with each other or the smoking remains of previously destroyed Ladeks. This isn't as hard as it sounds - try it and see! The Ladeks won't move unless you do, so there's plenty of time to work on your strategy.... If moving seems like a bad idea, then hitting the 'W' key will cause you to wait and let the Ladeks have a turn - this is sometimes a very good idea! For defence, you have a laser screwdriver and a personal teleporter. The teleporter can be used as many times as you like to get out of trouble, but as it transports you to a random position within the arena you may find that you teleport into more trouble than you were previously in! The laser screwdriver will destroy any Ladeks who are standing immediately next to you, but it's power is limited and when the game begins you only have enough energy for two blasts. Extra screwdriver blasts are gained by rescuing your friends from the Ladek stronghold. When you arrive, you may find that there are a number of people or dogs mixed in with the Ladek menace. They won't move as they're too scared, so it's your job to rescue them before the Ladeks squash them flat! If you manage to rescue every one from a level (by running into them) without the Ladeks getting to them first, you'll be awarded an extra laser screwdriver blast for the next level! To complete the level you must destroy all of the Ladeks one way or another. When this has happened, your time capsule will return and you complete the level by entering it. Be careful not to leave any of your friends behind or you'll lose your screwdriver bonus! After a level is complete, you travel to a new planet with more Ladeks... and the game gets a bit harder! And that's about it! OPTIONS? -------- From the main menu you can access the Options screen. This will allow you to set just one option - the "ground" backdrop on the main playscreen can be switched on or off. I've set it to 'off' as default in the Spectrum version of the game, 'cos I can use colour instead to keep things interesting. :-) HOW? ---- Ladeks was created entirely on a PC using the following tools : DEV: Z88DK 1.5+ - the z80 C compiler. Not quite version 1.5 - I built a custom version from the latest source in CVS. I don't think Ladeks will build with a vanilla 1.5. SEVENUP 1.11 - Nice Windows-based tool for Speccy graphics! BMP2SCR 2.10D - For the loading screen. :-) GRAPHICS: Paint Shop Pro 5 - for all large graphics, including Cheese logo and loading screen (then hacked with SEVENUP and BMP2SCR). EMULATORS: SPECTACULATOR 5.2 - I will register soon, Jonathan! Honest! :-) IMPROVED? --------- Over the original Gameboy version? Yes. A bit. I've added colour, because the Speccy can do that and the Gameboy couldn't. And I added some mostly crap sound effects just as an experiment to see how z88dk's sound routines worked. The loading screen is a Speccy exclusive too! In all, this version is better than the original. But you knew that already - it's on the Spectrum! :-) MONEY? ------ No thanks, this was just for fun. I thought I'd enter it for the Crap Games competition just so that more people got to play it. It wasn't purposely written to be crap. Although it is. A bit. :-) Ladeks is FREEWARE! FUTURE? ------- * I'm now working on a 'proper' game with Z88DK. Keep a look out for it! FINISHED? --------- Almost. Just wanted to say thanks for trying out the game! And if anyone's interested in seeing the source so that they can learn from it... drop me an email. Cheers, Lee.