This is a recode of a game from the NEC PC-6001 computer to the TRS-80 MC-10 using Micro Color BASIC. The original game, published in Mycom BASIC magazine in September 1989, used machine language to move the meteorites, but I just use a large string array, which I scroll through using variables and the MID$ command to create the effect of falling meteorites. Then I use VARPTR to POKE those meteorites out of existence if hit by an explosion.
The keys used to position your explosions are the following:
2 3 4 5 6 7
W E R T Y U
S D F G H J
Z X C V B N
As you can see, the programmer chose (no pun intended) to use a slightly staggered arrangement rather than simply following the diagonal left line of a QWERTY keyboard. I think this makes more tactile sense as it fits better with the actual up and down orientation of the grid of shots.
I have played the game a little now. It is easy to settle in to using only the bottom row with 3 fingers from each hand. I suspect the original game plays a little differently. It might be faster, but you also seem to have the ability to launch multiple explosions at the same time, a byproduct of the use of machine language and the ability of the NEC to run sound in the background. So I think my program is not a completely accurate rendition of the original gameplay. But I think it does present some of its challenge within the limitations of a fully BASIC variation of the game. My version has only 2 levels of ground above the three bases you are trying to protect, rather that the 3 from the original: _ - =
This decrease perhaps makes up (somewhat) for the lack of speed of my version. And of course, since you can have only one explosion going at time, it requires the player to (perhaps) be more selective when choosing targets.
The original programmer Kenta Cho seems like a really interesting fellow. He is described as an "indie programmer" and he has been responsible for some recent game hits like "Paku Paku." Here is some information on the original programmer: https://blog.gingerbeardman.com/2024/02/10/interview-kenta-cho-indie-game-developer/. But his programming career began back in the early 80s on the NEC PC-6001 home computer and using BASIC. From the interview, he credits some of his earliest inspiration as a programmer to playing games originally programmed in BASIC, like Heiankyo Alien, which I have also ported, and their creative game techniques and narrative premises.
If you want to see the original being played, look here:
