Rock Crush -
35th Anniversary Edition
By Steven McDonald

The 35th Anniversary Edtion is here!

There are 50 numbered copies available direct from the original programmer, Steven McDonald - details below on how to get one.

The game is also being released digitally as Donationware - if you are able to - I would really appreciate the support to do future projects.

Cassette copies are UK £5.99 each. (+postage) They come in brand new 2020 tape stock with glossy printed double length covers and an individual limited batch number certificate.

As I have said, as much as possible from these later re-writes went back into the original game without spoiling the feel of it. The code has been heavily rewritten and optimised in Z-80 assembler from the original source code as its basis.

The game's levels have increased from 10 up to 50 - in 5 level packs. Chroma Colour is fully supported on the fly, if available and it now looks much nicer! Chroma joystick support was added as well. The poor machine doesn't have much more than about 100 bytes free in its RAM in total when loaded up!

Can you get Diamond Dan through the underground mine complex and back up to the surface again, a wealthy man?
Only a select few adventurers are up to this challenge. Are you one of them? 50 puzzling cave levels await you!

ZX Spectrum inspired colour scheme thanks to CHROMA colour board support.

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ROCK CRUSH - ZX81 16K
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35th Anniversary Edition (C)2020 Steven McDonald.

What's new in the this version?

Game re-assembled from the original Z80 source code but a full code review took place and all the core routines were rewritten and optimised for speed.
Seamless changes in mode from HIRES to LORES etc. Some small high res Graphics changes and additions.
Re-wrote the death handling routine to be more graphical.
Added bouncing intro messages and last score display on Game Menu Screen.
Added a new Warp Zone at the start of the game enabling 5 level packs each with 10 screens - so 50 screens in total to play instead of the old 10.
Added support for variable amount of Diamonds per level instead of the fixed 16 in original game.
Added the new ability to run underneath a rock then dive out of the way - especially useful in the last level pack!
Added support for A CHROMA Board Cursor mapped joystick.
New end of level pack and end of game sequences added.
A lot of graphics and level data was compressed and expanded on-the-fly to enable everything to fit into 16K still and making the master tape file as small as possible.

Full CHROMA colour support added to the game. The board is detected at run time and game will self-adjust itself.

NEW SCORING SYSTEM:

The score only used to update for collecting Diamonds in the original game.
It was also necessary to adjust the scoring sytem in view of the vastly different amount of levels now.
It is a bit more dynamic now:

60 Points awarded For each Diamond collected. [Originally 150].

120 Points awarded for completing each screen. [Originally 250].

1 Point for mining fresh Earth. [NEW].

2 "Danger" Points for running Left or Right out of the way of a Rock. [NEW].

5 "Danger" Points for running down from underneath a Rock. [NEW].

150 Points awarded for a perfect mining bonus - collecting all the Earth in a level. [NEW].

125 Points awarded for collecting a level pack key. [NEW].

Game starts with 4 Lives - reset to full on completion of each level pack.


KEYS:

Move you DAN with keys "I", "P", "Q" and "Z". Use Enter to blow yourself up when trapped!

Some special new keypresses are accepted on the pre-game screen:

SHIFT O - Sets Open Play Mode (for the next game only), which opens up all level packs for practising!

SHIFT E - Sets Easy Mode (Gives more time under rocks etc. Very practicle for joystick use for example.

SHIFT N - Sets Normal Mode - the default game speed.

BREAK - Resets Machine (New).


New License: Please Note:
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For personal use only.

This digital version of Rock Crush - 35th Anniversay Edition has been released as donationware.
However the author retains the copyright in this work.

I ask that this archive is kept intact and NOT passed on anywhere such as included with packs of ZX81 game collections etc. I ask you refer anyone interested to www.rock-crush.com to download it.

I would like this to be the exclusive site to obtain it.

Thank You.

Steven McDonald.

Each level pack has its own colour scheme.

In level pack 5, you need the new ability to run under rocks to complete it!

Don't worry if you don't have colour, everything works and looks great in Black & White.

Rock Crush 35th Anniversary Edition running on real hardware.

Yes it is the machine on the left running the game, not the ZX Spectrum on the right ;-)

New: Watch Villordsutch's 9 min Video Review of Rock Crush 35th Anniversary Edition below:

A limited run of 50 individually numbered cassettes has been made.
Each come with their own certificate of authenticity.

HOW TO ORDER A CASSETTE COPY:

The cost of each tape is £5.99 plus £1.50 UK postage. Please enquire for other areas.
Blank tape stock is very expensive these days so this just about covers my head with other production costs as well on top.

Do not send any money at this stage! Just click the Reserve button below to send me an email with you address and how many copies you want. I will then reserve you stock out of the 50 I have and get back to you with a final price.
This also ensures that I have enough stock left to sell.

Once I have confirmed all the above via email and you have paid, I will promptly send out the cassette - they are ready to go in the post already and I will let you know when they are in the mail to you.

Orders are strictly first come first served. Thank you for understanding.

HOW TO DOWNLOAD A DIGITAL COPY

First Of All.. Some things out of the way first...

Is this version the full game shown above? Yes!

Are there any differences at all? No! It's just that collectors want the game on cassette as part of their ZX81 games collection .

Am I able to distribute it? No! - Refer people to this site www.rock-crush.com instead - Thanks.

How come this version is free then? Well that is the question isn't it!

In this day and age, I can't charge for it - cassettes are different as thats a physically produced (at cost) item.

Instead, if you enjoy this game, please consider donating below - even if you come back later after trying it!

Help support future development and the upkeep of this site etc. Buy the author a coffee or a beer even!

How much do you suggest?

There are preset values when you click the donate button or you can enter your own amount.

No amount too big or too small - all will be appreciated!

If you have any feedback, queries or comments, please send me an email - hit the letterbox graphic at the end of this page!

Thank you for reading. Steve.

Please Click Donate To Show Your Appreciation. Thank You.

For all other enquiries, click the letterbox to send an email: