Mushrooms that Grow in the Woods

MUSHROOMS THAT GROW IN THE WOODS :)

(A downloadable Commodore 64 game)

The Dark Ages...

Great want forced people to journey far and wide...

Even into the very depths of... 

...the Woods.

   And what hides in the Woods, you may ask? Mushrooms, sweet edible mushrooms... and their vicious guardians (mushrooms in themselves).

   Behind this title is a new retro game for c64, inspired by Pac-Man and its many maze muncher clones that we were fortunate to play during the 1980s and 1990s. It also drew inspiration from a number of other old arcade and logic games, as will surely be obvious to seasoned retro gamers.

  The aim of the game is to collect  (eat?) all mushrooms on each single screen level, while avoiding traps and  guardians. There are 32 levels in total in this version, each one designed to be different and more challenging than the one before. As expected, every successful action you perform - mushroom taken, enemy killed - brings rewards in points. A more detailed instructions can be found on the game disk (README.PRG).

   COMPATIBILITY. The game was initially developed on a real C64 using Turbo Macro Pro assembler. In the later stages, the work was transferred on a Windows PC with TMPx cross assembler. It was tested on real PAL C64 and all kinds of emulated setups on Windows and Linux, with CCS64 and VICE emulators. Hopefully, this means that it will work on any emulated setup, though I, obviously, can offer no assurances or guarantees in that regard. As ever, for maximal enjoyment and authenticity a real C64 or C128 is recommended.

   GAME FEATURES:

- High resolution character graphics.

- 32 maze like levels filled with rewards, obstacles and traps.

- A unique code for each level, enabling players to preserve their progress.

- Various opponents that differ in their appearance, movement and general behavior.

- Arcade challenges as well as logical problems to solve.

- Doors, keys, traps, bombs, weapons, teleporting portals and more.

- Random generated single levels, if the main lot is not enough.

- High Score list.

- Works on a bog standard C64.

   CONTROL SCHEME. You can use either joystick or joypad in port 2, or keyboard. The main keys are:                          

      Q - up, A - down, O - left, P - right and CTRL (TAB if using emulator) - to fire.

      Most actions are automatic, fire is used only when you have an arrow. You encounter these throughout the game. To shot one in the desired direction you need to press simultaneously fire AND direction. On their own CTRL/TAB or joystick fire button will produce no effect. There are two different kinds of arrows in the game (heavy and fast), that differ in their range and effect.

    F1 will initiate a pause, while F4 will lose a life. The latter is introduced to handle some situations that may come about during gameplay, for example when player is trapped.

   The game was tested and played from beginning to end using traditional joystick, keyboard and analogue joypad.

   DOWNLOAD. Should you choose to try out the game, you will receive a D64 image (Mushrooms2024.d64) containing two versions of the game (MUSHROOMS.PRG i PECURKE.PRG, in English and Serbian), as well as two instruction files (README.PRG and PROCITAJME.PRG) - merely start the programs with these names to view them. There is also a separate viewer of the title screen(s).

   You will also be able to download two main files as stand-alone PRGs. These are enough to play the game, but if you want to save or load high score a disc image (or a real diskette) must be present. Two executables save different high score files. 

   If you notice any bugs or other dubious features, or if you have any criticisms or suggestion at all, please use the comment section bellow. Every feedback is much appreciated.