PascaLand

PascaLand: winner ex-aequo of the 2024 Pascalated Basic Contest. PascaLand is a ZX Spectrum game by Massimiliano Arca (Cagliari, Italy) entirely coded in Pascalated Boriel ZX Basic.

PascaLand is a stripped-down spin-off of ParaZXLand: the latter includes more features, such as storing the high-score, possibility to redefine keys, use of different fonts, complex animations for the character and the helicopter, and so forth. The graph in PascaLand is different though: all graphic objects have been re-designed.

The Story of Pascaland is the same:  in an unlikely mission, our volunteer parachutist (you!) was 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 opening screen allows to start a new game (option 0), view the instructions (option 1), turn the sound on and off (option 2), and enable a Kempston joystick (option 3; the combination of up and the fire button serves as a pause key). During the game, the current score, hi-score, wind speed and direction are displayed on the bottom line of the screen.

Distribution. PascaLand 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.

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 .