In Jim Gerrie’s new TRS-80 MC-10 game we must help the Doctor in it’s mission to defeat the nefarious plans of a race of robotic aliens called the ‘Darlecs’
From the Readme:
THE DOCTOR’S ADVENTURE ON SCARO
You’re an inveterate tinkerer. Because you have a Ph.D. in Physics, and also because this is a fact you never hesitate to remind people about, your friends call you “the Doctor.” Because of your advanced knowledge of physics you have managed to invent a time machine. Using your time machine you have begun to travel through space and time. Unfortunately, during your travels you uncover a plot by the evil species, known as the Darlecs, to gain control of the entire universe. They have managed to capture the “Infinity Device” which will allow them to destroy a whole star system, if they should so desire. They plan to use the threat of this device to extort untold wealth from the other civilizations of the universe.
You were in the midst of attempting to recover the device when you were captured, but now you have managed to escape and continue your mission. You must collect the Infinity device parts (Purple) while avoiding the Darlecs (Red). Your advantage is speed. Darlecs are a somewhat sluggish robotic race. When not actively following orders they tend to shut down into an energy saving mode from which it takes a moment for them to recover. You can use this to your advantage when exploring their lair.
To move use:
W Y
A S OR G H J
Z
Pressing space will cast an “energy net” (orange) in whatever direction you were last moving. When Darlecs run over this net they will be destroyed. Beware, you cannot cast a net directly onto a Darlec.
You are able to pick nets up by running over them. You have managed to collect 3 by the time the game begins. Another 4 can be found at random locations throughout the base.
There are also nuclear reactor energy stations (yellow) spread throughout the complex. These can be modified to explode spreading a deadly pulse of energy, which will destroy all the Darlecs in a particular area of the complex. However, they can be tricky to adjust, so you might have to work a little while at getting them to go critical (by running into them). When they do go critical, a countdown from five will begin. You have that much time to get to the next area of the complex to escape the energy pulse.
Collect the yellow keys to open the locked doors of the complex. There are enough keys for all the doors, but sometimes they will be protected by Darlecs. Pressing the ‘K’ key will display the number of keys you currently have.
After having collected all the Infinity Device parts (12) a message will flash indicating it is time to go to the time machine. When you get to the time machine you will be presented with your score, which reflects the number of Darlecs killed and other aspects of your skill at getting through the maze. You will not be able to get into the time machine until you have collected all the parts. Pressing the ‘P’ key will display the number of parts you currently have collected.
If you run into a Darlec you die. If the Darlecs touch you, they will shock you with their electrical prods. You can receive 3 such hits before you die. Use the Darlecs literal machine responses against them by luring them into different areas of the complex in order to get around them or destroy them more easily.
Don’t assume anything about the maze of the Darlecs. Some mysteries and anomalies exist in how it is structured, that you might be able to use to your advantage.
Jim Gerrie, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada 17 October 2012
P.S.
I would like to thank my son Charlie for his contribution of the 8-bit music intro to the game and his work as beta tester and the rest of my family for their patience exercised towards my TRS-80 MC-10 hobby
activities.
- Name: The Doctor’s Adventure on Scaro
- Authors: Jim Gerrie (code), Charlie Gerrie (music)
- Description: Help the Doctor retrieve the 12 Infinity Device pieces in this multiscreen maze game.
- Platform: Radio Shack TRS-80 MC-10 with 16KB RAM expansion.
- Tools used: Real TRS-80 MC-10,Virtual MC10 v0.73C emulator by Emucompboy
The archive contains the .c10 tape image for use with the emulator and the source code in text format.
To load the game on the emulator, type CLOAD<enter> then go to “File->Play Cassette file…” menu and select the DOCTOR.C10 file, once loaded, type RUN<enter> to play.
Another option is to use the “File-> Quick Type” menu to load the source code file: DOCTOR5.TXT
- Download Doctor (Downloaded 8 times)
Updated on January 5: Tandy Coco 2/3 – Dragon 32/64 added
Tandy Coco 2/3 – Dragon 32/64 version:
- Name: The Doctor’s Adventure on Scaro
- Authors: Jim Gerrie (code), Charlie Gerrie (music)
- Description: Help the Doctor retrieve the 12 Infinity Device pieces in this multiscreen maze game.
- Platform: Tandy Coco 2/3 – Dragon 32/64
- Tools used: Virtual Color Computer for Windows by Joseph Forgione – MS WordPad – Real Tandy Colour Computer 2 and 3
The archive contains the game inside a disk image (.dsk) and the programming notes in text format.
Updated on March 12, improved Dragon version added.
This version have a improved keyboard handling for Dragon computers
Battle Bots, a TRS-80 MC-10 game based on the concept of the classic RobotWar is the new entry by Jim Gerrie.
The archive contains an cassete image file (.c10), the source code (.txt) and the programming notes and instructions.
