ParaZXland

ParaZXland: 3^rd place in the Planet Sinclair GOTY 2023 ranking in the category "Basic".

ParaZXland is a ZX Spectrum game by Massimiliano Arca (Cagliari, Italy) entirely coded in Boriel ZX Basic for the ByteManiacos Concurso Basic 2023, where it ranked 5th (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/list?group_id=2114).

The Story. In an unlikely mission, a volunteer parachutist has been chosen to save the world by dropping from an unstable helicopter onto a tiny island where the ultra-secret codes to save the world from destruction have been hidden. The island is protected by flying anti-grav bombs, which would kill our hero on contact. Strong oceanic winds also make the descent difficult. Our hero will have to take off from the helicopter, avoid explosions, contrast the wind, and finally land on the tiny island. In the unlikely event of success, the mission will be repeated, but with increased difficulty, more scaring types of bombs and – of course – more points! Thankfully, extra points are also distributed in the sky under the form of red hearts and additional lives are available on increasing the score.

The Game. The opening screen allows to start a new game (option 0), redefine the keys (option 1; by default: "O" for left, "P" for right, "Q" for pause), enter a previous high score (option 2), view the instructions (option 3), turn the sound on and off (option 4), and enable a Kempston joystick (option 5; the combination of up and the fire button serves as a pause key). The hi-score is associated with an encrypted 8-digit code (in the format ###-####) that can be entered by the user to retrieve a previous game. During the game, the current score, hi-score, wind speed and direction are displayed on the bottom line of the screen.

Distribution. This game is completely free and can be unreservedly distributed, provided that it is not modified in any way and that the relevant files are accompanied by this text.

Acknowledgements. José Rodriguez, aka Boriel, for the immense gift of ZX Basic to the community of ZX Spectrum enthusiasts; David Saphier aka em00k for setting up NextBuild; DuefectuCorp for the ZX Graphic Editor; Damien Guard aka damieng for the exterminate collection of fonts available on his web site.

Final notes. The short tunes in the game are copyright-free and royalty-free. They are freely inspired by Beethoven symphony no. 5 and the Cucaracha motif. Finally, the author guarantees that no parachutist has been harmed during the development of this game. For any further contact: massimiliano dot arca at tiscali dot it .