Monday 29 April 2013

Guns 'N' Ghosts (C64) (2013)


System Requirements

* A Commodore 64/128/GS (PAL/NTSC).
* A joystick/joypad (two for two-player).
* A VDU preferably connected to a loud sound-system.


Downloads

The retail version of Guns 'N' Ghosts is currently not available for free download. You can buy the game on cartridge from RGCD here, or as a download, tape and disk from Psytronik Software here.


Introduction

The C64 game development super-team Georg "Endurion" Rottensteiner and Trevor "Smila" Storey have returned with their first new collaborative game since their record-breaking successful hit Soulless!

Another Psytronik and RGCD collaboration, Guns 'N' Ghosts delivers a long-awaited, original single or two-player arcade style experience to your C64 in all formats (cartridge, disk, tape and download). Grab your shotgun, ready your psychic powers and help paranormal investigators Trev and Georg battle through 72 screens infested with zombies, skeletons and bats and various other spooks & spectres!


Reports of supernatural sightings have been coming in from all over the country and Trev and Georg are on the case! Georg is very handy with a shotgun, useful for getting rid of any unwanted zombies, reanimated skeletons or freakish lab experiments gone wrong, and Trev is gifted with incredible mind powers. These give him a special link with the spirit-plane - and the ability to send demons back to whatever hell-hole they crawled out of.

Guns 'N' Ghosts is an intense action game with a variety of play modes that offers a particularly rich two-player cooperative adventure, so get a friend round, plug in an extra joystick and kick some undead ass!


Playing Guns 'N' Ghosts

To play the game (all retail versions include a digital download) you will need either a real C64 (and a method of transferring the files over to it) or an emulator. For emulator users, we recommend VICE, as it works on a variety of systems and is very user friendly. Just download the emulator and drag and drop the .d64 file into the open program window (or attach the .crt image from the file menu).


When the game has loaded the high score table is displayed and you are presented with the option of selecting a game mode and turning music on or off. Using the joystick plugged into port 2, push up or down to chose game mode and left or right to swap between music and sound effects.

The different game modes are as follows:

1 PLAYER GEORG
A single player mode featuring Georg as the hero (shotgun attack, two shots per reload, long range).

1 PLAYER TREV
A single player mode featuring Trev as the hero (psychic attack, unlimited use, short range).

BROTHERS
A two player mode, with player one controlling Georg and player two controlling Trev. Both players can kill the enemies with their own powers independently.

CO-OPERATIVE PLAY
A two player mode, with player one controlling Georg and player two controlling Trev. In this mode the enemies must be caught by Trev's psychic power, and then shot by Georg. This is the most challenging way to play the game!

DOUBLE GEORG
A two player mode, with both players controlling Georg as the hero (shotgun attack).

DOUBLE TREV
A two player mode, with both players controlling Trev as the hero (psychic attack).


Controls

In game, both players are controlled via a similar method. Push the joystick left or right to move and up to jump. Fire is the attack button; for Georg you just tap the button to fire your shotgun, whereas the player controlling Trev needs to keep the button held down.

To reload shotgun shells, Georg needs to stand still (when he is reloading, an animation will play and you'll see the depleted shells on the HUD light up.

Press 'P' on the keyboard to pause and un-pause the game. This function is not available for GS users.


Power Up!

A number of power-ups are dropped by dead enemies. These are illustrated and described below.


EXTRA BULLET - Awards additional capacity to the ammo chamber of Georg's shotgun, meaning he has to reload less often (maximum of eight).

SUPER BULLET - Gives Georg 10 sacred silver bullets that kill enemies dead with a single shot.

INCREASED MIND POWER - Increases the range of Trev's attack (maximum of eight).

DEMON BLOOD - Gives Trev 10 one hit kills using his psychic attack.

WEAPON SPEED UP - Awards the player who collects it with a weapon power up. Reduces the time it takes for Georg to reload, and for Trev's psychic power to kill.

EXTRA LIFE - Awards the player who collects it with an additional life.

SHIELD - Awards the player who collects it with temporary invincibility.


Trivia

Guns 'N' Ghosts was originally developed by Georg Rottensteiner as 'Supernatural' and was specifically written as a series of coding tutorials. These can be found on the Retro Remakes (now One Word: Videogames) discussion board here.

It is also the first game to feature Georg Rottensteiner and Trevor Storey as playable characters(!)

Finally, the cartridge version of the game features a WONDERful Easter egg for those of you with a spirit for adventure and eager to explore new LANDs. Can't find how to access it? Drop us a line for hints!


NTSC Compatibility

Guns 'N' Ghosts has been tested on both PAL and NTSC machines, and works on the C64, C128 and C64GS (there is no keyboard input required to play). Although the game runs on NTSC hardware, it does play fractionally faster. As such, the game is labelled as NTSC compatible, but designed for PAL systems.


Gameplay Video

Below is a short gameplay video recorded using the VICE emulator showing the game being played. The footage was recorded by Jason Mackenzie.



Credits

The following people made this game possible.

Code & Design
Georg Rottensteiner (RGCD)

Graphics & Design
Trevor Storey

Music & Sound Effects
Richard Bayliss (TND)

PAL & NTSC Testing
David Simmons (Onslaught)
Dr. Martin Wendt (RGCD/Onslaught)
Jason Mackenzie (Psytronik)
James Monkman (RGCD)

Cartridge Hardware
Tim Harris (Shareware Plus)
Raymond Lejuez (C64 World)

Guns 'N' Ghosts is an RGCD/Psytronik production, Copyright 2012-13, published on cassette by Psytronik Software, and cartridge by RGCD 2013.


Ordering The Official Cartridge/Disk/Tape/Download

The cartridge version is available to buy from our shop. The 64KB PCB is housed in a ghostly transparent cartridge shell illuminated by an internal LED, and the game comes complete with a printed manual and seven vinyl stickers.


The cartridge version is available in two packaging types, a standard card carton and a more expensive 'deluxe version' that comes in a plastic case (a Universal Game Case with a specially cut foam insert to hold the cartridge as shown below). The standard version is priced at £22, whereas the deluxe version costs £27. Shipping is £4 for UK/Europe and £5 for the rest of the world. A digital version of the game will also be sent out to all customers following receipt of payment.

Please note that Pystronik Software are also selling the game on premium/budget disk, tape and as a download for £9.99, £4.99, £4.99 and £1.99 respectively (plus shipping) via their Binary Zone Retro Store.

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