VIC Game Club No. 1 – Qix Inspired Games

[Ola H]

Well, I chose to give Slap Dab another try. But I have to conclude that while it is a very nice concept, it is seriously broken.

I didn't exploit the paint-the-same-stripe-over-and-over-again quirk - instead I played to advance as many screens as possible. But after reaching screen 11 or 12 (I lost count) I decided to call it quits at 101890 p and 6 lives left. The problem is that you get a new life every 10000 p and yet the game doesn't get any more difficult. There are still only two enemies on each screen, and, contrary to the instructions, they don't get any smarter. When you have figured out a way to distribute the paint to shield away the enemies, you can practically play forever. BUT watch out so that they don't catch you while refilling - you will be unable to move and lose ALL your lives

Still, a great spin on the paint/rearrangeable maze genre. With some polish it could have been a real classic!

[litody]

I have to conclude that while it is a very nice concept, it is seriously broken.

Agreed, it was all too easy to break it. It only took me a few turns to come up with a pattern.

I didn't exploit the paint-the-same-stripe-over-and-over-again quirk

To be honest I wasn't paying much attention to the score and hadn't realised that you could paint the same square over and over again, as you found out it is boring enough already once you find a pattern, but to keep going over the same ground would soon become unbearable.

There are still only two enemies on each screen, and, contrary to the instructions, they don't get any smarter. When you have figured out a way to distribute the paint to shield away the enemies, you can practically play forever.

Yes the enemies are reluctant to move up and down around the unpainted areas so it is way too easy to keep them at bay, also they sometimes seemed to link up and become one which makes it even easier.

BUT watch out so that they don't catch you while refilling - you will be unable to move and lose ALL your lives

Yes that is so annoying, I got caught out many times like that, a rather unfair death I thought but then I guess it is payback for breaking the game

One day when I have nothing better to do I might go back and see just how high the score does go, see if it is really possible to break the game or just roll over the score back to zero. I still need to give Shark Attack another try and now I need to go back and try and better my score on Squeeze as well, so I won't be rushing back to Slap Dab any time soon.

[hasseapa]

Well, I chose to give Slap Dab another try. But I have to conclude that while it is a very nice concept, it is seriously broken.

I didn't exploit the paint-the-same-stripe-over-and-over-again quirk - instead I played to advance as many screens as possible. But after reaching screen 11 or 12 (I lost count) I decided to call it quits at 101890 p and 6 lives left. The problem is that you get a new life every 10000 p and yet the game doesn't get any more difficult. There are still only two enemies on each screen, and, contrary to the instructions, they don't get any smarter. When you have figured out a way to distribute the paint to shield away the enemies, you can practically play forever. BUT watch out so that they don't catch you while refilling - you will be unable to move and lose ALL your lives

Still, a great spin on the paint/rearrangeable maze genre. With some polish it could have been a real classic!

I endured it even longer. Must have completed >20 levels before I quit at a score of 206 710.

slapdab206710.png (2.85 KiB) Viewed 6250 times

I tried different strategies to get a good grip on the game concept and it works very well if it wasn't for the already stated flaws. Soo easy to fix...
- No points for painting paint.
- Do not position painter at refill exit at the start of a new life as this may trap him (it does increase tension though... and it can be avoided).
- Start with one enemy and add one for each level.

Enemy speed and AI is fine but additional enemies would increase difficulty very much and would necessitate much more careful thinking at the early phase of a level and much quicker thinking at the end phase of a level. I think it could be great!

[hasseapa]

also they sometimes seemed to link up and become one which makes it even easier.

Yes, I actually appreciated that as cool feature to exploit

[Ola H]

Squeeze must rank among the most frustrating games I have ever played I cant get any strategy working and I sorely need a joystick - playing it on Vice with PC keyboard is maddening when being chased around corners

941p so far...

[hasseapa]

Below is my 6531 attempt. Not a joke, Vice freezed when I hit Alt + C to get a screenshot

[Ola H]

I just don't get along with Squeeze. It's technically excellent for an unexpanded game and it offers an interesting spin on Qix, but it feels unfair and mostly just makes me angry. I had so much more fun with Slap Dap and, especially Shark Attack

My new high score is 2674, Maybe I should give it a rest and give The Count a try instead

[litody]

I still can't stop playing Squeeze, I did make a start on The Count, but after a while I was back playing Squeeze. I think in part because I knew I could do better. After about an hour of playing I pushed my high score up to 6876, and you know what I still feel it could go higher

Squeeze 6876 litody.png (1.45 KiB) Viewed 6173 times

I will probably continue playing this long after everyone else has forgotten about it, it is one of the few VIC 20 games that I have seen where it offers a real challenge but feels beatable with more patience and practice

[hasseapa]

Good job! When I have finished the Count, I will give Squeeze another go. So it may be a while...

[Boray]

Seems like everyone came up with different strategies. Here is mine:

[Ola H]

Thanks for the photos! I will give Squeeze another try soon and see if I have better luck with your approaches. It is a fascinating game for sure; it has much more depth than most unexpanded Vic Games and is also smooth and responsive. I find it great for playing while listening to the radio or podcasts.

[hasseapa]

I find it great for playing while listening to the radio or podcasts.

Had another go at Squeeze while listening to a long and very recent Scott Adams interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpFxLHE ... e=youtu.be The Count is briefly discussed.

9116! But I am disappointed to not reach 10 000 as I lost my first life after 5000.

squueze9116.png (1001 Bytes) Viewed 6102 times

Sorry, the last level was an invisible level
Yeah, new color combinations appear. I first noted it on a white/cyan level.

I'll post a proper screen of my strategy later. It's not foolproof by far, but it's good.

[litody]

9116! But I am disappointed to not reach 10 000 as I lost my first life after 5000.

Impressive! That was quite some achievement, but like I've said before it is one of those games where it feels like you can keep improving with practice, I am sure it won't be long before you beat the 10,000 barrier.

[Boray]

Hint: This page needs to be updated: http://sleepingelephant.com/denial/wiki ... igh_Scores

[Vic Porter]

Is there any prg version of squeeze? I can't play taps on my vic.

Late to the party, but here is my attempt at a prg version. It's actually a D64, but the loader is not needed. This is untested, perhaps one of you experts can check if it works as it should.

Right now I feel it would have been great if the C64 Final Cartridge freeze and dump to disk function was built into VICE!

My process: go into VICE monitor while loading, 'bt' to see the call stack with '100' in it, 'd 100' to disassemble the loading code to see 'jmp $10b0' at the end, 'break 10b0' to add a breakpoint there and when the breakpoint hits, 's "game.prg" 0 1000 1fff' to save the data. As the last step, 'exomizer sfx -t 20 -n -o squeeze.prg game.prg'. Not quite a freezer cartridge but not that far off. The loader took more effort.

As for the game itself: it reminds me of a C64 game of similar type (Zolyx? Zsomething in any case) which I enjoyed in the past. That had the finish level condition at 75% full. Squeeze's limit seems ridiculous to me. Maybe I'm just not good enough a player. Still, Squeeze is the best Qix variant I've seen on VIC, but I haven't looked at the other two yet.