a calc83plus production

Benjamin Ryves

 

General Information

The game runs a lot faster than the screenshot!

 Based on the BBC Micro game (A Software Studios Production presented by Electric Dreams), Fire Track is the definitive Space-Shooter. Featuring state-of-the-art smooth scrolling backgrounds and slickly animated sprites, Fire Track was a huge hit when it was released. It is one of my favourite 'Beeb' games, up there with other classics such as Imogen and Repton.

Well, the closest there was was Phoenix- a good game, but lacking a certain something- I wanted a game with better graphics and a more 'Fire Track' feel to it- and here is the result, version 1.00.

 

Installation Instructions
First, decide whether you want the MirageOS version or the Non-Shell version. Send FT-MirageOS.8xp if you want the MirageOS version, and FT-Non-Shell.8xp if you want the shell-less version. To run the program, select it in MirageOS and run it the usual way- if you have the non-shell version, you need to put the program in RAM, then run it with 'Asm(FTRACK)' at the home-screen.

 

Game Structure
The idea of this game is simple- you have to knock as many enemy spacecraft down as you can without crashing into them yourself. Every time you get an enemy, you get points. This is a game all about points, and trying to get the highest score. There are different types of enemy to battle- each with their different attack pattern.

 

Playing the Game
Start the game up, and the splash screen will proclaim 'Fire Track'. Press '2nd' and you will come to the information screen. This is mainly a dud- the 'Baseworld' is always 'Cygni', and the 'Zone Scan' is never 'Complete'. This is really just to make the game look like the original. However, the number in the top-left is real- it is your last score (so just now it will say '0' as you have not played a game!). The 'High:' score at the bottom is the high score, and does change. If you are using MirageOS, this will keep your high score (so if you send the game to anyone, your high score appears on their calculator). If you are playing the shell-less game, the high score will reset to zero each time.

Pressing 'Clear' at this screen quits, and pressing 'Alpha' will display the about screen (if you sit at the Information Screen for about 25 seconds, the about screen appears automatically). Pressing '2nd' starts a new game.

Once in a game your controls are easy- the arrows move you around, 'Mode' pauses (press '2nd' to resume) and 'Clear' sends you back to the Information Screen.

One of the quirks of 'Fire Track' is the way that the ship fires- you have no control over this in any way! It is as if the person inside the ship is holding down the trigger and just spewing out bullets- and to keep the authentic 'Fire Track' feel, I have included this odd feature of the game.

You just have to position yourself under the attack and try to guide your shots into the heart of your enemies. Be warned though- you shouldn't get to close, or you might crash! You have four lives all in all- try to stretch these out as long as possible! You can see how many lives you have left at the beginning of each level- you appear from the right, and other ships follow you then pull up and go on ahead. Each time you crash you get one less 'friend'- until you are all alone. Crash then and you die for good.

 

Enemies
The enemies will attack in different ways- here are the attack patterns and scoring for all the enemies. Remember that your score is shown in the top-left at all times!
Shields- These are easy enough to beat-they just appear and scroll past in a 'V' formation. Five points only.
Balls- These strange craft zip past in a diagonal line from the top-left. Harder to hit than shields- Ten points.
Spirals- These are the same as balls, but come on from the top-right.
Vicious- These small ships appear in an inverse 'V' formation, spot you, then home in hard and fast. Hard to get- Twenty points.
Blockers- These indestructible craft block you off and push you into the side- be warned, they might move slowly, but can be a pain... You can't kill them- no points!

 

How much is it like the original?
Judge for yourself... (Screen shots from 'PCBBC' and 'BeebEm')

As you can see, there is little difference between my version and the original- the Blockers (as you can see from the last pair of images) are still there- the small Vicious ships were in the original too (with an identical attack pattern). Well, the screen is smaller, black and white and there is no sound, but the game is a pretty good stab at the original (even if it was completely different, the 83+ version is still a pretty good game anyway).

 

Contact
Visit me on www.calc83plus.freeservers.com, or email me at benryves@techie.com. Feel free to look at the messy source code- it might take half an hour to work it out, and I don't use comments...