Based on that gif I came up with the following rendition of the game. I found the 8 box layout a little boring, so I added a little variety. So I alternated a second style of map. Since I didn't have a clue about the scoring or what the second number meant of the two number at the top left of the screen, I just had the player hit a key when she returned to base in the red area to signal that she was finished collecting.
Although I was able to load the game into an emulator by James "the Animal" Tamer called "VTrek" (for virtual NEC Trek--the name of the version of the computer unsuccessfully distributed by NEC in North America) either bugs in the emulator or differences between the NEC Trek and the PC-6001 wouldn't allow me to run the game. So I had to rely on a video in which a Russian vlogger, Panteryasha, does a walkthrough/review of the game: https://youtu.be/xUDRF9JGlfk
Later my son Charlie used some of his computer voodoo skills to download the subtitles of the video and translate them into English, which was really helpful. For one thing, Panteryasha noticed a bug that occurs in higher levels where you are required to collect 7 of each item, but the algorithm that randomly creates the layout of the items in the rooms/boxes (versus blank spaces and purple barriers) can only guarantee a maximum of 6 items for each item type. So you could end up with a screen that it was impossible to clear. However, unlike Panteryasha, I was able to see in the code that there was a possible out. You could let yourself be killed and then hit the "h" key and the screen would be re-drawn with new resources and a time penalty. I changed the 'h' key to "H" and instead of a time penalty I made it so that you lost any points you had accumulated on that screen.
This feature is not just useful for higher levels. Even on lower levels, if you are killed while carrying a load of items, you must then go back out and get at least enough new items for one of the item categories to push your number over the number required for that screen (the second number at the top left). Unless you reach that number the computer will not register that you have collected any items or give you a score for them when you return to the red home base. However, if you have collected all the items on the screen before returning to your base and are killed, then you will not be able to have those items scored so you can complete the screen. I suspect the programmer added the "H/Help" restart feature to allow you to sacrifice a life in order to continue. The moral of the story is that you must get back to the red base area with at least one category of items at the target number if collected items are to be registered for scoring purposes.
I also replaced with pure Basic all the machine language calls and code in the original that handled player and monster movement. The NEC PC6001's Basic was a little slow, so I suspect that the programmers had to use machine code routines to get speed for the player and monster movement. Luckily the programmer used Basic for all the scoring and screen transitions. I did use a M/L Timer USR function provided by Darren/Mechacoco to handle the countdown timer part of the game, so it should portray accurate seconds. Thanks Darren! And thanks Charlie for translating the comments of the Russian reviewer for me. Here's what I came up with:
I also replaced with pure Basic all the machine language calls and code in the original that handled player and monster movement. The NEC PC6001's Basic was a little slow, so I suspect that the programmers had to use machine code routines to get speed for the player and monster movement. Luckily the programmer used Basic for all the scoring and screen transitions. I did use a M/L Timer USR function provided by Darren/Mechacoco to handle the countdown timer part of the game, so it should portray accurate seconds. Thanks Darren! And thanks Charlie for translating the comments of the Russian reviewer for me. Here's what I came up with:
Addendum:
I finally uncovered a mystery I had been pondering regarding the counting of items in the original code. I had not fully decoded the inventory logic of the original source and with the substantive changes I made re-coding key key input and movement, I think I obliterated a 5 item carry limit in the original game. I had always wondered why my version seemed much easier than the original seemed in videos I had watched. But that was because I could just venture out of the safe zone and collect items at will from any and all the rooms. This meant that there was no need for path planning and item accounting as you snuck around the hallways avoiding the monster and no need to make multiple return trips to the safe room to deposit those items when the item limit was reached. It drastically changed the time needed in the time-trial intermediate challenges. The multiple return trips really require careful decisions about what to grab and where for best effect. Now that I've fixed my mistake there is actually a challenge getting all the required items within the time limit. In my original version, you just went around gobbling up all items in an indiscriminate and returning to the safe zone, mostly with plenty of time left. I have to thank the following blogger to tipping me off:
He also discusses Manbiki Shounen and shows a very interesting version of it being played that I have never seen before. There are so many versions out there. It's nice to see others exploring these classic and influential BASIC games.
Since I was viewing his video I decided to revisit some other playthrough videos. As I watched them, I noted that there was also another aspect of movement logic that I had failed to implement accurately. I hadn't noticed it but the gun (or whatever it is the player shoots with) only seemed to work on the outside of the walls to the rooms with the items. In other words, you could use that weapon to break into rooms, but not out. In my version you could just shoot into a room and out the other side, effectively "mouse holing" your way around and avoiding the main halls and the monster. Again, this made things easier than the original.
I began to look for other things I might have missed. And I noticed two more. First, I didn't zero the items you were carrying (contrary to what I say in my original post) if you got caught and presumably slaughtered by the alien. I didn't "see this" in the video playthroughs as much as remember reading about it when doing my original research into the game. There is a feature that you can hit H when killed (when the screen goes to the organ alternate colour palette for a brief time after you get caught. Then the screen will refresh with a complete supply of items in the room again, but it will cost you a life. I remembered reading that people had to use this only some of the higher levels because the random populating of items sometimes wouldn't supply the 7 items that your were required to retrieve on those levels. So I had changed the max item you could be asked to get as the levels went up to 6. There will always be at least 6 items from the room item populating algorithm. But I recalled surmising that the feature was also needed sometimes if you simply got killed while carrying a lot of items.
The second thing I noticed as I watched the playthroughs again was that it seemed to take 3 shots to break through the walls. My routine only required two shots. So I upped to to 3. Again, something that might make mine a little easier. Given all these changes I also had to return the time limits to their original 100 second and 300 second amount, which I had brought down in my version because it runs faster and was easier. Now you need all that time to do the extra maneuvering that was required in the original and the time limits really do loom as a threat. So now the game mimic more accurately the challenge of the original and maybe even adds some challenge because I think my version runs faster despite being all BASIC and not really on some M/L routines for key input and player movement.
In the following playthrough I make it to the stage, often missed by commentators, that really demonstrates the suspense and horror aspects of the game. At higher levels the alien appears and disappear at random while moving, creating a creepy suspenseful atmosphere conducive to jump scares. These levels are preceded by a graphic image of the baby alien (around 10:02 in the video), which is a reference to the scene when the alien first appears from the stomach of one of the characters in the movie Alien and then disappears into the bowels of the ship...
2023/12/11.
Decided to go back and play through the history of Horror Games and I have to say thank you for the effort you went to in making this recreation.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I hope it might be useful for people interested in the history of BASIC games.
DeleteVery impressive indeed. You preserved a piece of gaming history.
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