A downloadable game

I was always fascinated by this weird ninja game on the CPC 464, I've bought as a 12 year old. Inspired by that, I want to make a game for the NES that is roughly based on the concept of it. Please welcome a first screenshot from SABOTEUR on NES.

Gamebox, work in progress
The backstory they led to the project

In 1990, a Schneider CPC 464 came into our house, originally as a workstation for my older sister. She used it quite sporadically, mostly as a typewriter replacement.

I (nine years old at the time) fell in love with this machine quite quickly and, in addition to playing numerous games that we got as cassettes from friends, started to try out the BASIC commands printed in the manual. It took a while to understand what was happening on the screen, but studying various CPC print magazines, including the printed source code, also helped me to test ever crazier things.

We also happened to own a Dk’tronics Lightpen, so the inhibition threshold for getting graphics into the computer was low. My experimentation later turned into my first own game project called Singh’s Revenge. Similar in structure to Roberta and Ken Williams’ game Mystery House.

In our small town there was an electronics shop where you could still order games for the CPC at that time. You were given a list of several pages with game names and prices and could choose what you wanted. I can’t remember exactly why I ordered SABOTEUR back then. Perhaps it was reported in one of the print magazines, or the game was highlighted in the list.

Whatever the reason, at the age of twelve I was fascinated by it.

About the game

The game is loosely based on the 1985 classic of the same name by Clive Townsend. The world will consist of individual rooms (no scrolling) that are freely interconnected. There will be barriers, enemies and collectable items that can be used as keys or weapons. One of the biggest enemies is time. Randomly distributed terminals are planned, which the player can use to reset the constantly ticking clock or to unlock certain doors remotely.

Some rooms will not be linearly accessible, but will be randomly connected.