Level 1 - Byte Back: Byte Me [ZX Spectrum, Jonathan Cauldwell] - GNU GPLv3 license

Level 2 - Console Combat [Commodore 64, Jason Kelk] - TBC

Level 3 - Retro Reunited [Atari 8-bit, GroovyBee aka Mark Ball] - TBC

Level 4 - Replay: The Attic Bug in SameGame [BBC Microcomputer, Kian Vincent] - TBC

At the homebrew coding weekend which was part of the In Da 80s event in Manchester (16th - 17th July 2011), visitors were invited to submit ideas for an 8-bit game which was to have four levels, each themed around a specific event in the retro gaming calendar from 2009-2010, Byte Back, Console Combat, Retro Reunited and R3PLAY. Attendees were asked to come up with level designs based on their favourite show memories.

Four of the homebrew coders who turned up at the Lass O'Gowrie to socialise bravely volunteered (some without being threatened) to take on a level each to be implemented on a different retro plaform. The hope is that this crack squad of developers will each have a level to show off for their machine of choice in time for the Replay Expo 2011 show in December.

Level 1 - Byte Back: Byte Me [ZX Spectrum, Jonathan Cauldwell] - Status: RELEASED 05/11/2011

Level 2 - Console Combat [Commodore 64, Jason Kelk] - Status: WORK IN PROGRESS

Level 3 - Retro Reunited [Atari 8-bit, GroovyBee aka Mark Ball] - Status: WORK IN PROGRESS

Level 4 - Replay: The Attic Bug in SameGame [BBC Microcomputer, Kian Vincent] - Status: RELEASED 06/11/2011

Discuss Eventureland

Mat Corne's idea is a fusion of two games based around the poor cook at Byte Back, who struggled to serve everyone.

The cook is in the kitchen and has a selection of food items that need to be cooked/prepared e.g. burgers, sausages, baps, chips, tea and coffee.

• The cook must decide when to start items cooking, each taking a certain amount of time to cook.

• Customers queue at the serving hatch and place their orders (perhaps represented by the items in a speech bubble)

• The cook must then select the required items and put them on a plate/tray, then send the tray to the hatch.

• Customers pay for the order (which is basically the scoring) based on how long they have to wait - the longer they wait, the less they pay.

• Score/money is also lost for any food wastage e.g. overcooked burgers/sausages

• Level progression could be based on amount earned or customers served, and perhaps more food items are added on later levels.

• The customers should include Stormtroopers as they were a notable presence at Byte Back!

It's basically a combination of two games - wikipedia:Tapper and wikipedia:Pressure Cooker, an early Activision game on the Atari 2600.

Byte Me rough game outline document by Mat Corne

Posted: Jul 23, 2011

Based on the events at Byte Back in 2009, the game revolves around the antics of the kitchen staff and their attempts to feed an impatient crowd of retro gamers. The idea is to throw sausages at the hot dog rolls and burgers at burger baps which then drop on to a conveyor belt at the bottom of the screen. Send the food to the queuing customers at the sides of the screen using the conveyor - but try not to keep them waiting too long! The direction of the belt is controlled via the buttons in the top corners of the screen. You can only carry six burgers or sausages at a time, but fresh filling supplies are found in crates which parachute in regularly from the top of the screen. Use this ammunition wisely as it only comes in packs of six. Drinks cans yield bonuses. Fail to serve a customer in time and a life is lost. Contact with baps or any other nasties is fatal, as one might expect.

It's effectively classic early 1980s style gameplay which starts off frantic and gets even more so the further you get, adding an extra sprite to the proceedings every two levels. Craig Stevenson's excellent graphics bring the whole thing to life, and there are two more incredible tunes from Yerzmyey. It's worth playing the game in an emulator which supports the 128K/+2/+3 machines, as that way you'll hear the music. Byte Me supports joysticks, the popular Kempston and Sinclair formats. It will support cursor joysticks too, if you select the redefine keys option from the menu and manipulate the joystick in response to the prompts.

Have fun... it's one of the more frantic Spectrum games you'll play. I hope you have as much fun playing this game as I did developing it.

Download also available via Jonathan Cauldwell Homepage from the Spectrum Game Downloads page.

Byte Me WIP screenshot #1 Posted: Oct 24, 2011	Byte Me WIP screenshot #2 Posted: Oct 24, 2011
Byte Me loading screen Posted: Feb 14, 2012	Byte Me screenshot Posted: Nov 05, 2011

[Byte Me](./images/Eventureland-Level 1-Byte Me.zip "wikilink") - .tap ZX Spectrum cassette tape image

[Byte Me source code](./images/Eventureland-Level 1-Byte Me-src.zip "wikilink") - ZX SPIN emulator's built-in assembler GNU GPLv3 licensed source code

Themed around an amusing moment at Console Combat where attendees on the Lass O'Gowrie balcony witnessed someone rather drunk in a bar on the opposite side of the disused canal, dropping and breaking their mobile phone. This person then decided it would be a good idea to jump into the canal and try and reclaim it, breaking or twisting their ankle and then being unable to climb out. The emergency services eventually turned up and had to puzzle for a while over how to get to him and then how to get him out again.

Anyway, the game idea is to turn that scenario into a simple "catch the fool" type of level ...

Unlike Fire, though, where you are only given a linear choice of three positions, instead you get to control a smooth, Arkanoid-style bat with the Lass O'Gowrie pub featured in the background and possibly including other game objects relevant to the Lass O'Gowrie.

Similar concept to Fire (Nintendo Game & Watch title):

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http://sydlexia.com/imagesandstuff/game_and_watch/fire2a.png

http://www.cgeu.info/gallery/var/resizes/Events/Events-UK/InDa80s/Arcadian/HomebrewCoders/HCW2_NewProjects_Eventureland_Level3-OutlineByLinkoVitch.JPG

{{#ev:youtube|tXxfz7lzinI}}

http://www.cgeu.info/gallery/var/resizes/Events/Events-UK/InDa80s/Arcadian/HomebrewCoders/HCW2_NewProjects_Eventureland_Level3-Concepting1.JPG

Photo of LinkoVitch explaining concept to GroovyBee

R3PLAY/Attic Bug van themed version of SameGame puzzle game.

Attic Bug van #1 Posted: Jul 23, 2011

Attic Bug van #2 Posted: Jul 23, 2011

Safely unload the Attic Bug van, in a themed version of the SameGame puzzle game.

Dave M has asked you to help unload the Attic Bug in preparation for R3PLAY.

Unfortunately he has to take an urgent phone call, leaving you to the task unaided.

The boxes in the back are all carefully colour-coded so that everything ends up in the right place. The clock is ticking and so, in order to save time, you should only take boxes of the same colour in any one go. (Obviously just taking one box would be incredibly inefficient so that is not allowed.)

If you take one box from beneath another the uppermost one will fall down to fill the space.

Also, since Dave may have inadvertently parked a little bit up the kerb, the Bug tilts slightly to one side. The upshot of this is that should a gap appear between stacks of boxes then the rest will slide in to occupy it.

There are eight different venues to choose from and in each the arrangement of the boxes is a little more erratic than in the previous one, so making your task a tad more difficult to accomplish.

 Attic Bug SameGame loading screen Posted: Feb 25, 2012	Attic Bug SameGame title screen Posted: Feb 13, 2012
Attic Bug SameGame choose venue Posted: Feb 13, 2012	Attic Bug SameGame in-game #1 Posted: Feb 13, 2012

[The Attic Bug in 'SameGame' v1.21](./images/AtticBugSameGame1 21.zip "wikilink") - .ssd BBC Micro DFS disc image

That joystick thing again. After rewriting the keyboard/joystick routines for MazezaM I changed them for 'AtticBug' as well. The same problems had not occurred in this game but . . . just in case. Many thanks to RichTW for his sage advice. Added RS freeware loading screen.

[The Attic Bug in 'SameGame' v1.2](./images/AtticBugSameGame1 2.zip "wikilink") - .ssd BBC Micro DFS disc image

Thanks to Samwise's keen eye it was noted that there was a problem with the joystick support - (aside from the fact that there was no mention of it on the title screen). After a little to-and-fro this problem has now been fixed.

[The Attic Bug in 'SameGame' v1.1](./images/Attic1 1.zip "wikilink") - .ssd BBC Micro DFS disc image

Different box graphics and the level select screen now shows which levels you have completed.

The Attic Bug in 'SameGame' - .ssd BBC Micro DFS disc image

The version ready in time for Replay Expo 2011. A few bits of tinkering left to do.

As handed out on 16th - 17th July at In Da 80s, Manchester.