Talking about Flash and Game development.
When I was a kid I spent hours and hours playing all kinds of Commodore 64 games.
I choosed five of the ones I enjoyed the most, and I am sharing with you some considerations about porting them on Flash.
I am listing them in alphabetical order
Bombuzal
From Wikipedia: To complete each of its 130 levels, the avatar has to destroy all bombs on the level. He must stand on top of the bomb to light it, then is only able to take one step away before the bomb explodes; he can also pick up and move bombs, but only the ones that are on Rail tiles.
How much did I play it: I spent various time on Bombuzal, but I wasn’t able to beat all levels… at that time there wasn’t internet with the walkthrough so I got stuck quite early. But I played a lot, both on the Commodore 64 and on the Amiga
Similar things around the web: I found Detonator, but I have to say I don’t like it.
Porting it to Flash: It shouldn’t be that difficult, but I cannot find a map with the original levels. All in all, it’s like a turn-based game. I also started a prototype in the post From zero to Bombuzal
Boulderdash
From Wikipedia: The game’s protagonist is called “Rockford”. He must dig through caves collecting gems and diamonds and reach the exit within a time limit, while avoiding various types of dangerous creatures as well as obstacles like falling rocks and the constant danger of being crushed or trapped by an avalanche, or killed by an underground explosion.
How much did I play it: I played Boulderdash and its clones as much as I could. When the level editor was released, my social life disappeared. Lucky me it wasn’t the internet era allowing me to download levels from everywhere.
Similar things around the web: The most interesting is this one. Click on “CTAPT” to play.
Porting it to Flash: it’s a grid based game so level design and gameplay aren’t that hard to make… I also made an AS2 tribute level… maybe it’s time to port it into AS3…
Jet Set Willy II
From Wikipedia: Jet Set Willy II is an expansion of the original JSW rather than a new game unto itself. Its map is primarily an expanded version of the original mansion, with only a few new original elements over its predecessor, several of which are based on rumored events in JSW that were in fact never programmed (such as being able to launch the titular ship in the screen called “The Yacht” and explore an island).
How much did I play it: It’s another game I tried to complete without success… I remember wandering around the game just to try to reach the exit at the left side of that room…
Similar things around the web: At this link there is a game with a similar feeling, while at this one there is a porting of Manic Miner, the first game starring Willy, the main character.
Porting it to Flash: All in all it’s a platform game you can make starting from New tile based platform engine – AS3 version
Sentinel
From Wikipedia: It was among the first games, if not the first, to do solid 3D on home computers. While it ran acceptably fast on 16-bit computers, it was notoriously slow on 8-bit machines such as the C64, where the next view took up to 3 seconds to be precomputed. Despite this, it was played by many fans for years, some of whom were able to modify their computers to enjoy it better (for example, by using a CMD SuperCPU in a standard 1-MHz 6502 Commodore 64 to achieve CPU clock speeds of 20 MHz).
How much did I play it: Sentinel is a superb game I played a lot on the C64 and on the sequel released on the Amiga some years later.
Similar things around the web: At the moment there is only a prototype called Sentinel Redux.
Porting it to Flash: It’s the hardest game on the list. No clues at the moment… but I don’t give up…
Trailblazer
From Wikipedia: Trailblazer is a video game that requires the player to direct a ball along a series of suspended passages.
How much did I play it: I played a lot to beat my best time (not worldwide leaderboards at that time) and challenging my friends in the split screen mode.
Similar things around the web: Trail-Blazer is the most similar game, but I prefer my TileBall tribute
Porting it to Flash: If you want a top-down view, the engine is the same as the one used for TileBall… it would be interesting to play a bit with Papervision3D and create the 3D effect.
Do you have in mind other games not included in this list?
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