- Pico 8
- Videogames
This is my small tribute to a game I grew up with, in the arcades of my hometown when I was a kid. A game with a trackball, lots of missiles and the near-impossible task of holding off a thermonuclear war for as long as possible.
Yeah, I know… it’s not exactly a cheerful theme, but for a child of the eighties, used to seeing the Reagan–Gorbachev US-USSR summits on the evening news, it was everyday stuff. And after all, it isn’t much bloodier than the typical “zombie apocalypse” that is so fashionable these days ;-)
The story
In this game the final war that will wipe out the human race has just begun. Your name is Dave Theurer, not to be confused with the legendary Atari developer who created Tempest and this demake ;-)
Your mission is to stop the thermonuclear missiles raining down on your city. You won’t be able to stop them all, and you won’t be able to keep your loved ones safe forever; but if you are brave and lucky enough, your citizens might live to see another day. At least until the next, inevitable bombing.
Extra lives?
I deliberately didn’t implement any way to earn extra lives in the game. It didn’t feel right: once the city has been wiped out by atomic bombs, humanity ends along with it. Yes, I brought out the worst in me while making this game.
Controls
Use your mouse or the arrow keys to move the crosshair. Press Z or click the left mouse button to fire a single rocket, or hold down X or the right mouse button to rapid-fire as many rockets as you can (I added this feature inspired by Jaleco’s Exerion). Hit the enemy missiles and keep them from falling on the buildings. When the last building collapses, it’s game over.
Want the source code?
Take a look at this thread on the Lexaloffle forum: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=30214