Atomsmash by Dan C

[raw]
made by Dan C for LD23 (COMPO)
An evil atom faction has somehow built a tiny empire out of even smaller particles. It is your duty to annihilate them for some reason.

This is a game for the Commodore 64 made using the Shoot 'em up Construction Kit. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Ludum Dare I decided to go back to my roots and make a game for my first computer :).

It's not very finished and therefore not very good even for a SEUCK game, but here it is anyway. I hope you manage to derive some fun from it.

The disk image contains both the game executable ("Atomsmash"), and the SEUCK data files ("Atomsmash Data"). You can load it on a C64 emulator or on a real C64, like I did :).

Emulator instructions:

1. Download CCS64 from http://www.ccs64.com/
2. Run the emulator and drag the disk image into the emulator window.
3. The disk boots and loads. The screen will flash different colours until this is done. This takes a minute or so since it's emulating the original floppy drive from 1982 :).
4. While the game is loading you can configure an emulated input device. To do this:
5. Press F10 and navigate to Options > Input
6. Configure an emulated joystick on either control port one or two, it doesn't matter which (or you can configure both and play two-player).
7. Press escape until you get back to the game/loading screen.

I did want to provide an easy way to play online without an emulator but I haven't had a chance to do this due to illness. Sorry :(.

Ratings

Coolness 57% 3
Overall 3.69 76
Audio 2.96 242
Fun 3.24 193
Graphics 4.07 54
Humor 2.46 319
Innovation 3.66 117
Mood 3.71 35
Theme 2.34 745

Feedback

headchant
23. Apr 2012 · 20:58 UTC
great stuff! played it in an emulator but you a web version would be very nice!
Sodaware
24. Apr 2012 · 01:52 UTC
Haven't used SEUCK for a long time, but I was never able to make anything decent in it. Really cool to see something being made with it after all these years.
CappaGames
27. Apr 2012 · 19:19 UTC
Cool idea, but you need to have some sort of tutorial to get the emulator and settings right. I set some settings and I was only able to move forward and shoot.
AD-Edge
29. Apr 2012 · 13:40 UTC
One thing I wasnt expecting to see, a Commodore 64 style game! Really interested in this one, the C64 was my first computer as well, all those years ago.
So I appreciate whats going on here. And Ive never even heard of SEUCK, Ill have to give it a go for sure. Ive always wanted to make my own C64 game before, but just havent had the time to learn Basic yet. This might be a quicker way to make something quick and fun.

As far as the game goes though, I enjoyed playing it and it had a decent level of difficulty. Reminded me a lot of another old game I used to play a ton - Tyrian.

The game itself might not be that innovative, but youve scored some big points in that category for having the guts to make a C64 game for a Ludum Dare. Might just have to do the same myself in future - inspired! :)

The last thing too - Id get a Web version up asap if possible (you said you might), a lot of people wont download an emulator just to play. Plus setting up the controls with the emulator I used is a complete pain in the ass, even moreso if youve never used the emulator before. So it would be worth your time to get the web version working!
Benn
02. May 2012 · 15:03 UTC
Sweet C64 entry! :)
🎤 Dan C
02. May 2012 · 15:35 UTC
Sorry guys about the lack of emulator instructions and/or web version. I've been quite ill for a couple of weeks so it hasn't been possible.

I'm glad to see some people are having fun with it anyway :).
Shifty
02. May 2012 · 21:17 UTC
wow so retro so awesome! :)
ratboy2713
02. May 2012 · 21:20 UTC
I love that you made this feel like the old system and got it to run so smoothly. I don't know if I can give innovation points to something 20 years old, but I'm going to try.
🎤 Dan C
02. May 2012 · 21:55 UTC
Uh, it doesn't just feel like the old system, I built it on a real C64 using a real copy of SEUCK from 1987. Here's a picture of my development system: http://pic.twitter.com/A8h63cnv
Christina Antoinette Neofotistou
02. May 2012 · 23:27 UTC
This was AWESOME :) It was my first computer too, and then the 128. I could only ever do sprites in SprDef, and used to wish I could make my own game someday...

Ah the foolishness!

Full marks for this, Dan!
ericdpitts
02. May 2012 · 23:34 UTC
I couldn't get past the title screen, despite my mashing of right alt, right ctrt, and right shift. :P I will bookmark this one though and come back in a week or so to see if there are more instructions or a web version, because I love the idea of this entry! And it's awesome that you developed this using 1987 tech, love it.
Julian Spillane
03. May 2012 · 00:06 UTC
I was definitely not expecting to see a C64 game made for this compo. Very impressive! The game was a lot of fun and brought me back to my C64 game-playing days. Great job.
Scott Baker
03. May 2012 · 03:08 UTC
10 PRINT " Holy crap! Best idea ever!"
20 GOTO 10
30 END
Izzimach
03. May 2012 · 03:29 UTC
Heck, if you put enough effort into making a C64 game I can at least spend some effort to install an emulator. This is a lot better than anything I made on my TRS-80 in the day.
Endurion
03. May 2012 · 04:19 UTC
Awesome! C64 rules!

Unfortunately there are a few flicker bugs, but that's SEUCK, not your fault. It's a bit short though, and the later wall parts are nasty.

Still, lovely idea. Rock on!
Datamosh
03. May 2012 · 05:42 UTC
WOW. This is simply great! As mentioned by other users, an easier to config Web version would be appreciated, I had to download the emulator and such. But it was worth it.
ratking
03. May 2012 · 06:36 UTC
High score on graphics and Mood, but the rest is kinda meh, sorry.
amodo
03. May 2012 · 09:02 UTC
I hope I don't have to say it but: RESPECT for making this on a C64. The result is really coherent, visually very cool, and was enjoyable (and as hard as it has to be) to me. Along with the SEUCK glitches it took me back a long way in time. I played this for quite a bit, trying to beat it. Now I gotta find that Van Halen tape. Great job!
someone
03. May 2012 · 14:17 UTC
Got it running in Wine. Good stuff.
Managed to die a couple of times for seemingly no reason.
howieV (binarygirl)
03. May 2012 · 15:54 UTC
wow .. great stuff :) ahh the gold old days of c64 :)
KungPhoo
03. May 2012 · 16:42 UTC
Since I did a remake of SEUCK (http://gack.glbasic.com) this is a true gem to me! It's awesome with tomato sauce.

A shame you couldn't provide an easier installer. Maybe you upload a YouTube video that people can rate?
manax
04. May 2012 · 00:52 UTC
Sorry, I'm not going to download an emulator, right now. I'll keep this page up, so I can come back to it later though.
DaveDobson
04. May 2012 · 05:23 UTC
This is really cool to resurrect the C64 game, which I enjoyed (particularly Mule!) I applaud it, but I didn't want to go through the hassle of finding an emulator, so I didn't play.
Danik
04. May 2012 · 10:14 UTC
Interesting, I have never played a C64 game before. The emulator you linked was really hassle free and didn't need installing so I tried it out. Nice little game, but hard!
Naouak
06. May 2012 · 14:30 UTC
You should have made a package with every tools needed to run your game. I'm kinda lazy to install lot of stuff just to try your game :/
TenTonToon
06. May 2012 · 15:54 UTC
Just like ericdpitts, I couldn't get past the initial screen, even though I pressed every key and changed the input options what seemed like a gazillion times.
I was really looking forward to this one, even though I never had a C64 (I was an MSX user), so I'll put it on hold for a while.

By the way: "The Firing Button on your pole"??
XD
I'd love to read/see a post-mortem about this game!
onehandclap
06. May 2012 · 17:46 UTC
A Commodore 64 game for Ludum Dare... well, what can I say? You're a genius. =)
Make A Game
06. May 2012 · 18:22 UTC
A bit of a hassle to setup that emulator, couldn't quite figure out which one was the keyboard option. Does it run on an actual C64? Looks cool but it's a shame it was too short for the time it took to setup.
aquasheep
06. May 2012 · 19:35 UTC
Awesome! Tried playing on 5x speed and got absolutely ROCKED, and I liked it! :D
🎤 Dan C
06. May 2012 · 21:38 UTC
Yes, it does run on an actual C64, but you need suitable hardware to transfer the disk image.
Hazematman
07. May 2012 · 02:16 UTC
WOW! Thats pretty awesome that you went and made a C64 game, and its a pretty great game too! I'll have to go with what one of the other guys said, its not the most innovative title, But big props for make it for the C64 :D
Jedi
07. May 2012 · 09:12 UTC
Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! I managed to make the level repeat and scored 1910 :).
demonpants
07. May 2012 · 16:15 UTC
Haha looks very cool. First try my C64 emulator wasn't working but I'll give it another go later.
davidwparker
07. May 2012 · 16:23 UTC
I wasn't able to get it to run on my machine, but I like you went unique with C64.
asfdfdfd
07. May 2012 · 18:26 UTC
This is so fucking cool.
Chaoseed
07. May 2012 · 23:33 UTC
A C64 game! Very classy. :) Moderately fun, too. ;)
recursor
08. May 2012 · 00:04 UTC
Shoot 'em up Construction Kit. Man I forgot about that one, but I sure loved playing with it as a kid. Very cool idea to use it in LD!
Tomalla
10. May 2012 · 14:04 UTC
I'm yet another person who simply couldn't go past the title screen. I see a lot of people who have succeded at running a game. Any hints guys? Please?