opcode Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Zanac for the ColecoVision Super Game Module. Software done. Several improvements: - Improved performance, the game hardly has any trace of slow down now. Super smooth... - Added a title screen menu with "continue" and "option". Now you can continue from the last "round" you played. - Option screen includes settings for game difficulty, auto fire and initial number of lives. - Game difficulty will adjust the ALC system for normal and easy games. Number of lives let you select from 1 to 9 lives. Now even mere mortals can enjoy Zanac lol - Auto fire offers normal, fast and faster speeds. Faster can make you a killer machine, but that will also send the ALC score through the roof, making the game harder. Ah, the beauty of Zanac... - A nice "sound test" is also offered, so you can enjoy all the tunes and sound fx. General info about the game===== - This is Zanac 1, the game that came out before NES Zanac, which is actually Zanac 2 - Game has 8 rounds (well, actually 9) - About one full hour of continuous gameplay - Your goal is to destroy the mechanized defense system core - Game difficulty is adjusted dynamically by the ALC (auto level controller) system - 7 different special weapons - dozens of different enemies and attack patterns - experience bullet hell on your ColecoVision like never before... Zanac is both a technical and game design masterpiece... 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chart45 Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 when it will be aviable .... next year too .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 So logically, the next thread you will create will be for Yie Ar Kung-Fu II. Looks good, Eduardo! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirby76 Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Excellent! How is the music and sound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 (edited) Excellent! How is the music and sound? Please check this video... http://youtu.be/g02btBpB1Aw Edited September 1, 2014 by opcode 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirby76 Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Oh man I'm a sucker for some classic zanac tunes. Everything is sounding great. A must purchase for my colecovision. Whenever you post your email list for this, I'm all in. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 I just did some play testing, using easy mode, 9 lives, faster auto fire. I stopped playing midway through round 4, no continues, ALC score was near 0 all the time with occasional spikes. So it is now level Pixelboy of difficulty certified. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 I just did some play testing, using easy mode, 9 lives, faster auto fire. I stopped playing midway through round 4, no continues, ALC score was near 0 all the time with occasional spikes. So it is now level Pixelboy of difficulty certified. LOL! Now I can buy this game without worry! Happy-Happy! Joy-joy! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 Ok, I can now officially announce that Opcode Games will be publishing Zanac for the Super Game Module soon. As usual, game will come with professionally printed box, manual and label, no laser printing here. Since game dev is complete, I am aiming for a Q4 2014 release. Pre-orders to start soon. Pictures of the packaging soon... So far Opcode lineup of Super Games looks like this: - Zanac (Q4 2014) - Penguin Adventure (Q4 2014) - Donkey Kong Arcade (Q1 2015) - Space Invaders and Pac-Man Arcade (Q2 2015) 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 If you're planning to use Zanac's familiar box art (used for the MSX box, and other versions too) I pitty the guy who will be in charge of vectorizing it for your box template... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariBrian Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 What about the Gradius you mentioned coming in a few months ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 What about the Gradius you mentioned coming in a few months ? Yes, but Gradius is coming after the 5 games I have announced so far. Two reasons: 1) I want to keep a balance between arcade ports and everything else. 2) I have something special planned for Gradius, a complete makeover, that will make it closer to the arcade original. So probably Q3 2015 Here is an example of the kind of graphic improvement I want to apply... (and in addition to that there is dynamic sync, which should give the game quite a performance boost) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cruise Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Excellent work on this, another must get, especially for bullet hell shooter fans (like me ). I dont have this one for MSX either, but do have Zanac EX which is the same as the NES version and only works on MSX 2 machines, so this one will fill a nice hole in my MSX shoot em up collection. Will look forward to the release. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhomaios Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Excellent work on this, another must get, especially for bullet hell shooter fans (like me ). I dont have this one for MSX either, but do have Zanac EX which is the same as the NES version and only works on MSX 2 machines, so this one will fill a nice hole in my MSX shoot em up collection. Will look forward to the release. Man, I didn't know this. Zanac NES isn't this Zanac? Ugh, should I get an SGM now or not?? :/ This more than anything else is tempting me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cruise Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Man, I didn't know this. Zanac NES isn't this Zanac? Ugh, should I get an SGM now or not?? :/ This more than anything else is tempting me. Yeah the original Zanac only came out on MSX 1 and this is the one Opcode is converting. It is extremely hard to get a MSX copy. The sequel Zanac Ex was brought out for MSX 2 and Famicom/NES (but just called Zanac) - the MSX 2 version is better than the NES version (my opinion). Having the memory the SGM offers allows much more complex and faster games as a lot more can be done in main memory and then copied to video ram in blocks. Plus of course the SGM has the MSX sound chip which uses far less of the CPU to produce sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhomaios Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 The sequel Zanac Ex was brought out for MSX 2 and Famicom/NES (but just called Zanac) - the MSX 2 version is better than the NES version (my opinion). Might be true, but an MSX/MSX2 isn't cheap. I'm sure the NES suffices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ten-four Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Hi Eduardo. 1 Will it be possible to save high scores for Penguin Adventure and Zanac. A.I. ? 2 Is Zanac a SGC 128 PCB game, or just MC 128 PCB. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted September 2, 2014 Author Share Posted September 2, 2014 Hi Eduardo. 1 Will it be possible to save high scores for Penguin Adventure and Zanac. A.I. ? 2 Is Zanac a SGC 128 PCB game, or just MC 128 PCB. ? 1. Yes, it will be possible to save high score and setting on both games. 2. Yes, both games are SGC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted September 2, 2014 Author Share Posted September 2, 2014 Might be true, but an MSX/MSX2 isn't cheap. I'm sure the NES suffices. If this Zanac sells ok, I might port Zanac MSX2 to the SGM. With downgraded graphics, of course... But it should run with a lot less slowdown than the original.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 If this Zanac sells ok, I might port Zanac MSX2 to the SGM. With downgraded graphics, of course... But it should run with a lot less slowdown than the original.. Sounds nice, but if you're going to spend time porting an MSX space shooter, wouldn't it be better to spend that time on R-Type or one of the Gradius sequels? They look cooler IMHO and there's no graphic downgrading to do on those. If you're not sure, perhaps you should run a poll to see which game people would prefer between Zanac 2, R-Type, Gradius II, Salamander and Gradius III, although it's true that several of those games use Konami's SCC for sounds so there would be some conversion work to do on the sound data/output... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icemanxp300 Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 I don't have anything this old in my game library but zanac caught my eye I love nes zanac and there is sooo much more in depth game play than you would expect. However the psx zanac x zanac is fn awesome. I would love an English translation though. I used a sheet I found online to see what achievements I had got and had left. I think I had them all but two or so. Going through the entire game w/out dying wasn't as hard as I expected (especially since I basically did it twice in a row, hit a stray final boss explosion bullet at end game; forgot he did that). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted September 2, 2014 Author Share Posted September 2, 2014 Sounds nice, but if you're going to spend time porting an MSX space shooter, wouldn't it be better to spend that time on R-Type or one of the Gradius sequels? They look cooler IMHO and there's no graphic downgrading to do on those. Let's all pretend you didn't say such a blasphemy.... As for the Gradius sequels, I have something else planned for them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Let's all pretend you didn't say such a blasphemy.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HkryCrkStudio Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Ok, I can now officially announce that Opcode Games will be publishing Zanac for the Super Game Module soon. As usual, game will come with professionally printed box, manual and label, no laser printing here. Since game dev is complete, I am aiming for a Q4 2014 release. Pre-orders to start soon. Pictures of the packaging soon... So far Opcode lineup of Super Games looks like this: - Zanac (Q4 2014) - Penguin Adventure (Q4 2014) - Donkey Kong Arcade (Q1 2015) - Space Invaders and Pac-Man Arcade (Q2 2015) Eduardo, will there be a pre-order subscription list for Zanac & DKA like you have set up for the other 2 releases? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted September 3, 2014 Author Share Posted September 3, 2014 Eduardo, will there be a pre-order subscription list for Zanac & DKA like you have set up for the other 2 releases? Just created one for Zanac: http://eepurl.com/2nOKj As for DKA, I don't think it is a good idea. However, if you subscribed to any of my lists, either in my website or my recent mailchimp list, you will be contacted when the time comes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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