#galaxian

The SGA color palette has four colors. And for the main background, I chose two colors from there: blue and pink. The remaining colors are game sprites. So, on a blue background, the ships are pink. And on a pink background, the ships are blue. This substitution also happens with the text. This is a technical feature of this game.

This idea will be implemented in the main menu. The color selection. And it's like two games in one. Different colors mean different colors are used. It looks different. And the retro style is like the SGA graphics in MS DOS. Just 4 colors. You can also select using the left and right arrows.

And again, the game concept. Which still needs to be programmed. It's science fiction. Space. But very simple. Made of squares. And a few colors. Stylized like early MS-DOS games, but with graphics.

I've had the idea for a long time. Back when I learned about SGA graphics. That there are only 4 colors. And several palettes are used. I don't know exactly how, but I really liked the idea. Make a game in several colors. The ones that were in SGA video adapters.

Everything moves a bit slow. It's still retro. Like the computer thinks. Graphics are very complex to display and very demanding on the processor. And the monitor. As they would have said back then. All this has only just appeared! And 10 levels. Essentially identical. Just 10 levels. The enemies are practically static. For a retro feel.

Levels can have one line of enemies. Two or three such lines. There are also gaps in the rows on some levels. Where the enemy should be, there's nothing. It's just there to add interest. The levels are simple. Everything is simple. It moves slowly. Enemies shoot occasionally. When you're in their lane. But not often.

It's all accompanied by some retro sounds. Simple music plays. Like 8-bit. You can almost hear the creaking of an old computer. And it's a retro stylization. I've had this idea for a long time. What if we made a game in BASIC in the spirit of old games? 4 colors. I had this theme of 4 colors - 4 games. But I can't seem to learn how to do everything that quickly. So I went back to the idea of ​​one game from that list.

How much could you do if you could just program well, at least in BASIC? I'm learning, gaining knowledge directly from the topics. So I can try again and again to achieve what I want. One game a week. Like Galaga.

And that's already two projects a week. So, a step on that path. Because of a cold. I took a break for a while. And now I'm trying to get back. This game takes you back to the era of the 286 or 386 processor. And I haven't even seen all of that goodness myself! So I'm just fantasizing and programming.

A simple space shooter. A very popular theme. In the simplest retro solution. This is BasGa. Ga is Galaga. And Bas is Basic.

Basic Pascal version 1.21 "Sand Road" – most newest version. In this version there are 4 new games! Straight Road, Galixanar, Crest and Shooting Mod X, Fish Arcade Extreme Mod. And even more retro games! It is a pack of retro games with modern versions of Basic and Pascal.

A real retro theme! The editor itself is actually quite white. It has a Windows 3.11 interface. That's also great. And everything is unique. There are some monsters in the game. I think they're all underwater on another planet. Or in space. It's up to the player.

There are now enemy animations. So they're not static, but moving. Wriggling. Like, wiggling tentacles. It's a joke. I made an animation for them. It's simple, along the horizon. Move left, then right, and return to the center. Or vice versa. It's the same thing, only to the right. So, according to the formula, they always have a central location. Where they stand. Each one is placed in their own position at the start of the level.

It's already more fun and amusing! They move like this. Each one in their own direction. There are 20 of them. And 10 in a line. And each one moves in their own direction. Some to the left, some to the right. It looks good. Dynamic.

There's also a menu. It's at the bottom. Inside the game. There, in small print, is the level number, the number of lives. And the game score. For hitting an enemy, you get a whopping 10 points. And for destroying an enemy, another 100 points. The number of lives. That's energy. It's more interesting that way. And you have 1,000. By the way, enemies also have 1,000. And in the demo, for now, 1 shot takes off 300 units of energy.

The game menu is finished. It's almost ready. There are still some minor tweaks left. Move some things up. Move the text up. Or down. But that's it. All the text is actually BMP images. And I'm uploading images with text. It's the same story with numbers. A separate font for the numbers. To display numerical information. Like the game score. Or the level number.

I call the levels here "galaxy." And I've programmed an entire system. A module for displaying numbers. And you can also shoot now. These colorful balls. Or like bugs, like bugs. Stars fly out. They can hit enemies. That's already been calculated, too.

The enemies are supposed to be able to shoot, too. But the demo doesn't have that yet. The game is gradually transforming. It's acquiring dynamics. And its own style. As I go along, I'm finishing up the gameplay concept. I added another layer of text to the main menu. Now the game's name is written three times. One layer under the other. It seemed more interesting this way. That was the original idea.

The game is a dark version. A dark purple or dark blue background. Just to make it interesting. Not quite black. And some mysterious monsters. They want a black background, I've already prepared one too. Just a full-screen color. That's the background.

You're also kind of strange, by the way. And you also look similar in your own way to the monsters above. Roughly the same appearance. Only you're probably like a machine. And there are some creatures above. Probably. Inspiration from outer space. From science fiction. And the underwater world. Where strange creatures live. And everything glows. I mean the deep sea world.

By the way, shooting is timed. There's about a 0.2-second pause between shots for the player. Well, so they don't shoot too often. And the bullet buffer is only 10 for the player.

And the enemies have 20. But they won't shoot that much. So they shoot from different directions for the sake of dynamism. To make it more dynamic. Someone fired from the left. There's someone on the right too. And in the middle.

This is already getting closer to gameplay.

Basic Pascal version 1.20 "Lagushka" – most newest version. In this version there are 4 new games! Udochka, Parohod, Auto Car Stop, Lagushka. And even more retro games! It is a pack of retro games with modern versions of Basic and Pascal.

A game about something in space or underwater.

Monster movement. They move left and right from their center position.

Basic Pascal version 1.20 "Lagushka" – most newest version. In this version there are 4 new games! Udochka, Parohod, Auto Car Stop, Lagushka. And even more retro games! It is a pack of retro games with modern versions of Basic and Pascal.

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I remember I loved trying out different games on MS DOS, what I called VGA graphics. Or maybe it was SVGA graphics. But that's what I called it. And I tried different games. Completely unfamiliar to me. And sometimes I came across something strange, sometimes something interesting. There were some weird arcade games like that. I really liked them. They captured my imagination.

And all sorts of colorful shooters, with large, colorful sprites. The movement on the screen. It was all very interesting to me. I've long dreamed of creating my own weird arcade games. And this game is just that. I've had this image in my mind for a long time. A dark blue background. Like underwater. Or maybe space. And something like Galaga. Some kind of unique creatures. Monsters, probably.

I think it will be space. Or a huge underwater world. I haven't decided yet. And there are these monsters. And you're weird too. Such strange graphics. But at least they're unique. Their own look. And simple gameplay. For me, these games are more like games and art. That is, they're art. Their own visuals and their own dynamics. That's probably why I don't make games with great dynamics. They're art and you have to take it slowly.

Another source of inspiration here are dungeon and dragon adventures. They have all sorts of labyrinths and monsters. Typically, like Lord of the Rings or typical fantasy. So I decided to create something of my own. Sometimes, something very strange lives in the depths of a dungeon. Or like deep underwater. An angler fish. Well, no, that's too creepy. So, I created my fantasy.

So far, you can move left and right. And this is the first demonstration. The idea itself. The graphics are basically ready. The visual style is there. Along the way, I happened to draw sprites for another game. Also in the style of a space shooter like Galaga. But more fun. It's about a fly. And I even have two modifications in mind. And this game is the starting point. And this one is done in a dark tone. Like in the shadows. Underwater. In dark black. Or not black. But a dark tone. Dark purple.

It's great to be an artist and a programmer. And to bring ideas to life. I remember someone said that it's bad to make games based on pictures from your head. Well, like, it's better to think everything through, it's more reliable that way. Maybe. But for simple games. Like Galaga, it's perfectly possible to pull themes and ideas from your head, some pictures from your head, pictures from your imagination. That's totally possible. It's more about drawing and even more about programming.

So far, I have a picture of the idea itself. And of course, I still have some details to think through. But I think it will be a simple game. Probably with slow gameplay again. And several levels, maybe 8. And the main thing is the dark tone. And some of my own sprites. Creatures like deep-sea fish. Or something from another planet. From the depths of space, like in Lovecraft.

In theory, they're like strange fish, but that's only part of the idea. The starting point. In the game Space Invaders, for example, in the version for the first PlayStation, something strange flew in from space. Like nuts and bolts. Things like that. In the game for the Dendy and MSX computer, there are things like bugs and flies. Something funny and interesting. I decided to give it a try too.

Like fish from outer space, deep underwater. And the name of the game: Galixanar. A combination of the words "Galaga." Like a clone of this game. And "xanar" is something fantastic. Or sonar that helps with underwater navigation.

Basic Pascal version 1.20 "Lagushka" – most newest version. In this version there are 4 new games! Udochka, Parohod, Auto Car Stop, Lagushka. And even more retro games! It is a pack of retro games with modern versions of Basic and Pascal.