Space Peril! (Adventure in Spaaaace!) [7800]

[+Karl G]

This is my space-themed Adventure-inspired game for the Atari 7800. You must find the Energy Cube and bring it to the space rift to heal the rift and win the game. Watch out for the hungry space blobs, and malfunctioning scavenger droid!

 

 

 

Updated 9/7/2021:

 

NTSC region:

SpacePeril_NTSC_8.a78 (most emulators and carts)

SpacePeril_NTSC_8.bin (cuddle cart)

 

PAL region:

SpacePeril_PAL_8.a78 (most emulators and carts)

SpacePeril_PAL_8.bin (cuddle cart)

 

Space Peril! Manual

Space Peril! Manual.pdf

 

Play online with JS7800

 

 

Backstory:

 

A dangerous rift to a pocket dimension has been growing for many years, and the ships sent by the Galactic Empire to fix it have all been sucked into the rift before completing their missions.

 

Your mission is different: you have been asked to purposefully enter the rift, and fix the rift from the other side. To do this, you must locate the energy cube (lost in a previous mission), and drop it into the rift to fix the dimensional rupture.

Based on information from scans into the pocket dimension, this will be no easy task! The pocket dimension is full of energy barriers, and odd environments not yet understood by the Empire's greatest scientists. There are strange creatures that may attack your ship or steal its equipment.

 

In addition to the energy cube, there is likely to be other technology scattered through the dimension from the previous failed missions, but note that your ship only has the power and cargo space to install one upgrade at a time.

 

Good luck with your mission! The Galactic Empire is counting on you!

 

[+Karl G]

I have updated the ROMs and link in the first post Version 3 has the following improvements:

 

• Added a title screen. Title ship graphic is by @TIX
• Funky TIA title screen music by @mvo
• Game can now be reset with a long press of the drop button without having to hit "reset"
• Fixed issue with the ship occasionally getting trapped in the void
• Added the ability to reset the game by holding the "drop" button for about a second

 

This isn't new, but I should also mention that there's also an Adventure-style easter egg in the game. It should be interesting to see if anyone finds it.

[+Karl G]

At the request of my sister, I made a version that has thrusting SFX for the ship when appropriate. I haven't decided if I prefer it with or without yet.

 

Version 4 with thrust SFX:

 

SpacePeril_4_thust.a78

 

SpacePeril_4_thust.bin

 

Play online with JS7800

 

One feature I forgot to mention from the last release: Holding down the "drop" button for about a second will act as the Reset switch.

[+Karl G]

I've updated the current version with only minor changes. Blobs can no longer start in the starting room when starting a new game.

 

I think this one is more or less done, failing any bugs that are found.

[+Karl G]

I've updated the first post with a new version. This version is back down to 48K without losing any features. Additionally, there are the following minor changes:

 

• Blobs won't appear in the starting room after hitting Reset (otherwise it's not very sporting-like)
• Bugfix related to the scavenger bot stealing the energy cube from the player

[+Muddyfunster]

Nice job Karl, Going to give it a spin over the weekend.

[+Karl G]

Version 7 has been added to the first post. This version adds a PAL region version, and one bugfix to the easter egg,

[gambler172]

Game is great....story not easy to understand....

What must i do?

It is like Adventure....only in Space....this is the problem.....

 

[+Karl G]

1 hour ago, gambler172 said:

Game is great....story not easy to understand....

What must i do?

It is like Adventure....only in Space....this is the problem.....

 

Find the energy cube, and return it to the rift (in the middle of the starting screen). The game needs a proper manual, though, which should help.

[+Karl G]

Version 8 has been uploaded with many changes:

• Added a much-needed manual for the game
• Added 3 game modes: Simple, Normal, and Random, as well as variations that disable the ship thrust sound effect, all descrived in the manual
• Fixed sporadic cannon firing issue
• More PAL version speed tweaks
• Fixed issue involving the easter egg

Random mode still needs some tweaks. Most games are winnable, but there are a few unwinnable combinations that I need to check for. There have been enough changed and additions that I wanted to see how the new version worked for people in the meantime, however.  ? 

[CaptainBreakout]

Looking good!  Nice to see a new game like this!

 

[+Karl G]

I am honored that Space Peril! was nominated for an award. Thanks to @TIX for the titlescreen graphic and @mvo for the funky TIA theme music.

 

[+Karl G]

I got a request for a walkthrough of the game, so I decided to make a short video showing me playing and winning in "Simple" mode. Getting the hang of Simple mode should make it easier to figure out the more challenging modes. Apparently my screen recording didn't capture sound, however.

 

Edit: revised video link (cropping)