Tunnel Vision Typist - PROSM

Challenge Entry "When I'm 64 (Pixels)"

Following in the competition's long tradition of games based on visually impairments, is this entry in the 8 × 8 pixel challenge; which simulates the hardships of typing while suffering from an extreme (and strangely geometrically perfect) case of tunnel vision.


One letter at a time appears on the screen and you must press the appropriate letter on the keyboard. A single mistake results in game over. Since there is no scoring, no time limit (other than the life-span of the player and/or keyboard membrane) and no way of winning (other than retaining your sanity)– it would be safe to call the game "minimalist".


Bonus crapness points are awarded for the game not turning on caps-lock, despite only checking for capital letters; and for exploiting the reduced pixel area to create what is quite possibly the most painful to read message scroller in computing history.

Loading:LOAD "", then RUN
Controls:
Type letterA-Z (capitals only)

Tunnel Vision TypistSpectrum, all models
Tunnel_Vision_Typist.tap.zip(500B)
Rating
28.57%

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Password - Shaun Bebbington

This small, but perfectly formed game from Shaun Bebbington; combines both the heady world of Hollywood style computer hacking, with the gritty reality of social engineering and its application to cyber security (sort of). Player one provides a password and optional "hine" (which is quite impressively the only typo in the game given the awfulness of the ZX80's keyboard); which player two must guess. Presumably the security system was outsourced to Yahoo Mail, since you are given both unlimited time and unlimited attempts to guess the password with no penalty for incorrect guesses.


As there is no feedback about the password other than a correct/incorrect message, success at the game largely depends on how well you know the other player. Since this is quite possibly the first two player only game of the competition so far this year; you'll need to find a friend, relative, well-trained pet or passer-by to play the game to its full positional. If none of these are available (or more likely, they are available, but they don't want to play a crap guessing game for a 37 year old computer), then you could opt to enter the password yourself when monumentally intoxicated; then try and guess the password at a later date when you've sobered up.


For what it is, the game is well executed, and is reminiscent of the functioning, but crap type-ins that would often be used to fill an annoying gap on a page of Sinclair Programs

Loading:LOAD, then RUN.
Controls:
Enter guessA-Z

PasswordZX80 (4k or more)
password.o.zip(596 B)
Rating
16.33%

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Bothersome Bats - textvoyage

Challenge Entry "When I'm 64 (Pixels)"

Somewhat unusually for a CSSCGC entry; this latest game from textvoyage has a plot! Even more unusually, the plot is longer than two lines; correctly spelled, vaguely original and ends on a positive, yet cautionary ecological message. The words even wrap correctly at the end of lines! None of this bodes well in the crapness stakes, but I'll keep an open mind and prepare to be disappointed. I'll leave the entire plot for you to enjoy when you play the game, but suffice to say it involves extra-terrestrial flying mammals of a vexing persuasion that are destroying the world's computers and (because you've been unfortunate enough to be posted to the only military base in the world, that's poorly funded enough to be equipped with a ZX Spectrum) it is your job to defeat them.

Once the game begins, I was glad to see that my expectations of disappointment were met. To meet the challenge criteria; this is another entry in the new gaming genre I'm christening "squinto-vision" with all the flickery action compressed into 64 pixels in the middle of the screen. Making out any kind of detail at this resolution can be a problem, however the game thoughtfully begins with an extreme close-up image of a bat, just in case the player is unable to visualise what three pixels in a V-formation might look like.


Rather than turning to the dark side of Speccy game development and using machine code (which would be the sensible language of choice for a pixel perfect shooter with tiny sprites) textvoyage has opted for BASIC and all the break-ankle speed it commands. Despite this, the graphics move surprisingly quickly, although this is probably helped by the fact that they are only visible for about half the time.


Fortunately these particular bats are considerate enough to only attack one at a time; which is just as well since there's barely enough room to move your turret out of a single bat's way – multiple bats would have significantly increased the difficulty and probably caused the bit of the Spectrum ROM that controls PLOT to burst into flames.


The controls are disappointingly responsive, and the bat(s) never appear at the edges of the playing area (that you can't reach with your turret), so two obvious opportunities for crapness have been missed. There are even sound effects and what I initially thought was some fiendishly clever multi-colour routine, but turned out to be an optical illusion resulting from the flickering graphics and the migraine that develops after more than 10 minutes of playing.

Overall, this is a quite a fun and well implemented game. There isn't a great deal of longevity, but fortunately you won't be able to play it for very long anyway without needing a lie-down in a darkened room while a loved-one makes enquiries about emergency opthamologist appointments.

Loading:LOAD ""
Controls:
Move leftwards:Z
Do likewise, but rightwards:X
Don't move:None
Fire BatBusterLaser:SPACE (without CAPS-SHIFT)

Bothersome BatsZX Spectrum 48/128
BothersomeBats.tap.zip (3.36 K)
Rating
57.14%

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