TND Productions, C64 News + Updates

2005 / 2006 / 2007 / 2008 / 2009 / 2010
2011/ 2012/ 2013 / 2014
2015 / 2016 / 2017 / 2018
/ 2019
/ 2020 / 2021
/ 2022 / 2023

News & Updates
 
December 2022

24th December 2022 - 2 Full games released this Christmas (although one day earlier)

Cruiser-X 79 by TND Games

The New Dimension kicks off this Christmas with the biggest highlight of TND releases. Cruiser-X 79 has officially been released publicly. This is a huge vertical scrolling shoot 'em up featuring graphics by Saul Cross, and a nice loading/intro bitmap drawn by Hugues Poisseroux, and the tape version officially uses Freeload. You were assigned a mission by the Interspace Legion. You were successfully delivering humans from planet Mars to Earth-X (Earth 10). After returning from your last job, Cruiser-X 79 gets captured with you inside it. Luckily you manage to find a way to break out of the Alien HQ base, and set off on your escape - With the aliens tracking you, a new war has broken out. The war - caused by you. You must fly through 16 different alien bases and destroy the evil aliens. Luckily however, there are no big bosses to fight. Can you reach back to your home base, and alert the Interspace Legion of the crisis which you face? Happy Blasting.... Especially this Christmas time.



This way to Cruiser-X 79

Snake vs Bomb by TND Games

TND Games is very proud to present Snake vs Bomb. This is a fun little game made for the Snake Fun Compo 2022, featuring nice graphics by Hugues Poisseroux. This is a very fast paced vertical scrolling collect and avoid 'em up. The idea of the game is to guide your snake inside a rocky tunnel and eat those scrumptious fruit, but avoid the bombs otherwise the game is over. You will have a set time limit in which indicates the progress to the next level. When you move onto the next level, the game will get faster and more frantic. Also you will get a bonus of 1000 points. Keep on raking in as many points as you possibly can. - Who said SNAKE games are games involving growing snakes?



Snake vs Bomb

Have yourselves a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!  I'll see you sometime at the start of 2023

10th December 2022

SEUCK School update "New score and lives status panel (char based)" postponed

Back in August 2022, I did the first of two parts of implementing a brand new 8 sprite score and lives panel in SEUCK. It used Ray Fish as an example. The second part of the tutorial was supposed to have happened in November 2022. Unfortunately it has been delayed even further -even after Cruiser-X 79 was finished. The reason behind the delay is due to problems getting the new score routine to work without losing a lot of raster time in the bottom raster. This delay cannot be helped, but this feature has NOT been canceled. I  am sure one day the status panel tutorial will be updated. I am not sure when that will be.


Expect a TND Christmas update on 25th December 2022 it will be quite a good one :)

November 2022
26th November 2022
Scene World issue 32 released
Issue 32 of the PAL and NTSC talk disk mag has been released today. Unlike issue 31, Scene World issue 32 is a lot smaller, but this time there have been no delays in releasing it. In fact we made it four days earlier before the release date. This issue features the return of "Let's Make a C64 Game", in which you make a platform game called Slug vs Lettuce. There are also a few other cool features, such as C64/retro scene party/meetings, and much more. Also there is a special feature on how to make a Tape Loader game (where in Winter 2023 I will be hosting a Tape Loader Game programming competition). Basically, a loader game is a game in which you can play while loading something from tape. Enjoy this issue, and await 6 months for issue 33 (if no delays take place).



Grab your copy of Scene World #32

New C64 game: Slug vs Lettuce released by TND Games

Slug vs Lettuce is a game which has been written for Scene World issue 32, as part of the games programming tutorial "Let's Make A C64 Game - Part 7". The feature covered programming a simple platform game in KickAssembler. This is the game is available for you to download and play as a standalone game (without the magsys and the source code). The idea of this game is to jump from platform to platform and eat lettuce for points, of which the lettuce appears at random in the cave. The slug must also watch out for the falling droplets which will make it lose a life. After the loss of the last life, the slug will explode and you will carry the total number of points as your final score. You will have 10 minutes to survive and score as many points as possible. What is the chance of you achieving a hi score?



Slug vs Lettuce (Standalone game)


More new games to come in December 2022, including Cruiser-X 79, Cruiser-X 79 and Snake Bomb.

12th November 2022
Cruiser-X 79 is finished!

It has been a while since TND's web site had a news update. The reason being was to mainly focus with finishing off Cruiser-X 79 and getting it ready in time for November. Also a few other deadline projects piled up onto me as well. Now things have really calmed down (except for a new project in the works). TND is operating back to normal.

I have some excellent news for you regarding my Denaris/PowerRama-inspired vertical scrolling shoot 'em up Cruiser-X 79. The game is finished and it will be released in December 2022. The release of the production will start on the Zzap! 64 Micro Action magazine and its coverdisk. The free download of both D64 and TAP versions of Cruiser-X 79 will be available from TND on 25th December 2022. Please be warned that this game is quite a big game. It features 16 levels, the game is multi-load, which means you will need to rewind the tape to the start of side 2 on game over. The good thing is that you can continue from where you last died, unless you have run out of credits. Cruiser-X 79 has a fair continue system, and I am sure you will probably enjoy this creation when it gets released this Christmas.




September 2022
18th September 2022
SEUCK School update - Sprite score panel part 2 - postponed



Due to recent events and deadlines, I had to postpone the SEUCK School custom score panel update even further until the end of November 2022. I'm nearly there with Cruiser-X 79, but I am experiecing some difficulties with the project. I have a submission deadline for Cruiser-X 79 aimed for November 2022. In the mean-time this web site is going to be in hibernation mode, until the projects are complete. Watch this space if anything changes!!!


August 2022
19th August 2022
SEUCK School update - Sprite score panel part 2 - delayed



Due to recent events, time restrictions and receiving excellent news at the start of this week. The second part of the SEUCK School Sprite Score panel rendering has been pushed forward to beginning-mid September 2022. If you take a look at the example picture above (which was from Ray Fish Deluxe). I will be teaching you how to make a similar type of score panel for the original Ray Fish. Then afterwards, include actual installation routines in which you can load in chars and sprites and merge those into the score panel.

Diamond

2nd August 2022
NEW C64 contributor's game: Diamond by Pinov VOX

 

The contributors section of TND gets a new contribution. This time it is a nice looking space blaster called Diamond. This is a vertical scrolling Shoot 'Em Up Construction Kit, written by Pinov Vox. Pinov also managed to enhance the game using my new SEUCK Title Screen Maker (thanks Pinov) and features a new front end presentation with a high score table. Diamond features very nice colourful background, and also plenty of space blasting. Fly Diamond, your space craft and attack the alien fighters which are out to fight you. Pick up the green orbs to score more points. 10,000 points will of course award you with an extra life. Later on this game upload might have an update featuring a loading bitmap what was made specially for the game. But for now, have fun playing this SEUCK shooter.

Diamond


1st August 2022
NEW C64 Game: Little Nippers DX by TND Games



It is the main summer holiday season, and also this month marks the 40th anniversary of the Commodore 64. How do we celebrate both? Simply by launching a brand new C64 game. That's how. Well, TND has done it once again with Little Nippers Deluxe (or DX for short). This is an extended edition of what was originally a Reset 4K game compo entry. It is also a summer holiday themed featured on the Zzap! 64 Micro Action cover mount and this game is of course now released free for all. Little Nippers DX is a single button challenge in which you fling crabs out of their buckets. Their task is to nip the unruly kiddies that run across the beach or promenade. For each successful nip, points will be scored. For every mistake made, a crab will fall into the deep end of the sea. There are bonus incentives for double points, and level completion. This game is crazy, but was of course made just for fun. Little Nippers Deluxe consists of five different locations, based on skill level and of course 8 levels to complete. Also if you score 10,000 points, you will get to throw a jellyfish at the kids. Have fun.

Little Nippers Deluxe
July 2022

10th July 2022
SEUCK School Update: Making new score panels in your standalone SEUCK game



A brand new SEUCK School feature has been added. This time the picture above will give you a clue about what the next set of tips are. That is absolutely correct, making a new score panel  for your 1 player games. SEUCK School's tutorial is split into two parts. Part one takes a look at the basics of editing the sprites that form the score panel, and then transforming them into scoring sprites, like past time games, Synetic and Monster Mash. Next month will be the second part where we take a look at rendering custom characters into a sprite panel, using the same game project. Well, if you want to make a new score panel in your SEUCK games, check those tips out.

SEUCK School: Sprite Score Panel Tutorial


2nd July 2022
NEW C64 tool update: SEUCK Title Screen Maker V1.5



This is a final updated version of the SEUCK Title Screen Maker V1.5. It has a brand new feature for the music options, where you can choose any music player your want by adding a custom music initialise/play parameters. This can be very handy if for example you create a tune that does not support the general music editor like Goat Tracker, or Future Composer players or Music Assembler players. There are also additional features inside the screen editor and the scroll text editor, which zero-fills on pressing SHIFT+CLEAR home. Finally there is a sound fix option, whiich fixes the lost sound effects, and initialises the in game music correctly. There is one final tip, which I think you might like to see (accompanied by the download) - especially if you want to use a different sub tune as in game music.

SEUCK Title Screen Maker V1.5

1st July 2022
NEW C64 game: Little Nippers (4K version)



The New Dimension is very proud to present our latest entry for the Craptastic 2022 4K game development competition. This time it is Little Nippers 4K. In this game you play the role of the Lord of the Crabs. The crabs have been rudely disturbed by running kids. They become grumpy and they want their revenge. Your task is to help launch them out of the buckets in order from start to finish using the spacebar or fire button, and nip the feet of the pesky kids. Should you miss, then the crabs will end up lost at sea. Lose all of you crabs and it is game over.

Little Nippers 4K

30th June 2022
NEW C64 game: Poing Ultra released



While people are enjoying tennis over the summer. A brand new C64 game has been launched today. It is called Poing Ultra. It was written specially for the Retro Programmers Inside PONG 50 years challenge. It is an alien PONG game, in which one or two players can play the game. Bash the ball and try to to get it into your opponent's goal. If playing against the computer, it may look drunk, but it can be smart. The game also consists of upbeat happy hardcore trance music and some nice scrolling effects. It is out of this world. :)

POING Ultra


25th June 2022
NEW Contributor's game: GOLD QUEST 6 - Extended Edition by Inferior Software International



You may have remembered that Gold Quest series 1 - 5 were all created using the Shoot Em Up Construction Kit. Now there is a new sequel, this time Gold Quest 6. Unlike previous 5 games, this game has been programmed in BASIC, and compiled into machine code. It is a classic looking RPG maze adventure game. You play the role of Sledgie who has to escape from the dungeon, which he has been chucked into by the evil Fulgore, shaman of the orcs. Sledgie must enter the mines and explore each maze of the mine, and encounter many characters, good or bad. The good guys can help you, the bad guys however want you dead - leaving you no option to fight back or bribe them with something else. The mines also have traps.

Gold Quest 6 - Hex of the Seven Dragons [Extended Edition]

2nd June 2022
It has been a while

It has been a while since the last update of the TND web site. I'm sorry for the long delay but there has been nothing to release during the gap. It may have been very quiet on the TND web site, but I can tell you that a *lot* of C64 related activity has actually been going on behind the scenes. For a start, TND and Saul are still working hard on Cruiser-X 79, and the project is progressing really well. Also there are couple of  small game projects under development, one of which is for Reset, and the other which is being created fully on RGL's theC64 for a Retro Programmers Inside programming competition, marking the 50th Anniversary of PONG (POING Ultra). Of course after finished and released via those sources, the games will be released onto my itch.io page (If worthwhile) and this web site along with all of the data and source code for you to learn from. To keep up to date with my theC64 challenge of POING Ultra, please check out the TND theC64 Challenge #7 blog entry. Also check out the TND blog to keep up to date with upcoming projects. Everybody can join in the fun. ... now for some more good news.

Cruiser-X 79 Playable Demo V3 launched

A playable demo of the fun vertical scrolling (non SEUCK) shoot 'em up called Cruiser-X 79 first released by Zzap 64 Micro Action magazine. This third playable demo features the fith level in the game, the vegetation base. The game features plenty of greens (to taste), hoards of aliens and a nice thumping trance tune I made as part of the in game soundtrack.Guide your Cruiser-X 79 spaceship across the enemy base, and blast away at those deadly aliens. Pick up the power ups and try to fly to the end of the base if you can. Good luck pilot.



Cruiser-X 79 Playable Demo


Scene World #31 - late launch
The 31st issue of the PAL/NTSC disk mag, Scene World has been missing on the TND web site. It has now been uploaded onto the Scene World pages. This issue features an article on theC64 challenge, which I did back in 2020 where I wrote Storm Chase. Somehow last issue it didn't load up. There is also a mass load of games news, and a look at Zzap 64 reader games from the 1990s.There is also a special feature on Antstream Arcade, and an interview with Yandex Computer Museum.



Take me to Scene World #31


10th April 2022
Enhance your SEUCK front ends with style with: SEUCK Title Screen Maker V1.2

Have you created a SEUCK or sideways scrolling SEUCK game you are really pleased with, but you are bored with the old standard front end? Would you like have a new front end but you cannot code? If "YES" is the answer then The New Dimension is very proud to bring you the final version of the SEUCK Title Screen Maker. You don't need to program anything. All you will need is some music, a custom made charset, a bitmap logo. Design and configure your own title screen using a series of options that are provided in the menu. You will also need to have a freezer cartridge such as Action Replay/Retro Replay, but of course you can alternatively use VICE soft reset mode. A full manual is also provided, along with and example game: 1941 - The Final Conflict by Gib Ranx.Bring your SEUCK games to life. (SEUCK = Shoot Em Up Construction Kit).


SEUCK Title Screen Maker V1.2

April 2022
19th April 2022
SEUCK Title Screen Maker V1.3, and V1.4 released

You might be asking "What the heck is going on here Richard!?!? ... First you release V1.2, then 2 or 3 days later V1.3 comes, and a few days after that it gets updated to V1.4 WHY?
". Well this is because there have been some major bugs in the actual title screen, rather than the editor. The title screen's bugs were mostly to do with the player's score panel inverting every time a new game starts. Also there were some SFX channels missing which playing the game. Also it has been reported about the title screen logo missing 10 bytes on the actual title screen. This is due to filling the incorrect colour RAM position, and miscalculation. The title screen code has also been shortened, removing unwanted garbage code, such as the inverting character set. I'm sorry about that. Hopefully for a long while, this is the last version of the utility.

Version V1.4 also consists of all example games that were used in Version 1.0 all the way to Version 1.4. There is also an updated user manual on how to re-use front end data from earlier versions of the SEUCK Title Screen Maker, and import the data into this newest version. The reason I added those tips is because the utitlity program is NOT backwards compatible with older versions.

Enjoy creating and designing your own front ends and enhancing your SEUCK game creations with aid of VICE monitor and Exomizer or Action Replay/Retro Replay cartridge.


SEUCK Title Screen Maker V1.4

10th April 2022
Enhance your SEUCK front ends with style with: SEUCK Title Screen Maker V1.2

Have you created a SEUCK or sideways scrolling SEUCK game you are really pleased with, but you are bored with the old standard front end? Would you like have a new front end but you cannot code? If "YES" is the answer then The New Dimension is very proud to bring you the final version of the SEUCK Title Screen Maker. You don't need to program anything. All you will need is some music, a custom made charset, a bitmap logo. Design and configure your own title screen using a series of options that are provided in the menu. You will also need to have a freezer cartridge such as Action Replay/Retro Replay, but of course you can alternatively use VICE soft reset mode. A full manual is also provided, along with and example game: 1941 - The Final Conflict by Gib Ranx.Bring your SEUCK games to life. (SEUCK = Shoot Em Up Construction Kit).


SEUCK Title Screen Maker V1.2


5th April 2022

Never mess with the law ... Tasered in the Crotch by TND Games released.

The New Dimension has launched a brand new SHOCKING but funny arcade game called "Tasered in the Crotch". This is a fun little game, where you play Police Commander Supt. Tracey Cisco, who has teamed up with six ruthless officers in the British Police Force. Their assignment is to rid eight different locations of Barkley City of robbers, which there are so many of them. A set quota of robbers, dressed in stripy jumpers must not leave the scene, and a set quota of robbers must be stopped. The officers are all armed with the latest state-of-the art detachable mega-taser, which can be fired from any long range or height. While the arrows are white, a taser can be fired, but when red, the officers will have to wait patiently. The robbers can distract the officers by throwing harmless smoke bombs at them. Also you have to watch out and avoid tasering innocent civilians, otherwise a life is lost. At the end of the day ... "Never mess with the law!!!". A huge thank you goes to Alf Yngve for stepping in to make a cool loading bitmap.


Tasered in the Crotch

25th March 2022
Cruiser-X 79 is back in action

Let me start with some good news for those of you who have been waiting for Cruiser-X 79. I am pleased to announce that this game has officially continued development. There are another two projects in between, but one of those little projects will not start until May 2022. (That is my 4K Craptastic 2022 game compo entry, "Little Nippers", a funny game involving crabs). Cruiser-X 79 was delayed for some time, due to the missing levels and lack of new graphics. Sadly nothing new came out, but a playable preview of the game did come out December 2021.

Saul and I have both agreed to step into plan B. This is where I design the level maps myself, using existing tiles. Then later on, the charsets of each level map get altered slightly making the level look different. I then send each level map to Saul to see if there   are any chars he would like to tweak for that level. This project has continued from Tuesday this week, and will also commence this weekend. I have one full level map complete. There is not much required to code in the game, except for an "continue" option and some bugs. The release date has not been confirmed, but when the game is finished it will be available to download free from TND and https://richard-tnd.itch.io. There might be a chance that the game could appear in the C64 community based Zzap 64 Micro Action covermount (on both disk and tape) some time in the future before a free download to the game comes 1-2 weeks later (Deadline permitting). Keep on following my blog for further progress.



TND Blog

  Will there be another Kick Assember SEUCK Framework update?

Last year I launched the SEUCK Framework for Kick Assembler. The latest version was V4.0. I have recently been asked about any future SEUCK enhancement framework projects, which is not for the SEUCK Redux framework. Will there be any more updates? The answer my friends is "yes". There will be new updates. I hope to add a few more new features some time in the future. This includes a hi-score table that is separated for player 1 and player 2, brand new score panel (after working out how to replace the old score sprites), supporting 1 or 2 players and a colour table for level background (consisting of 22 bytes for background colour, background multicolour 1 and background multicolour 2). If anyone else has any further suggestions of what you would like to see in the next SEUCK Framework, which could be possible please don't hesitate to let me know.


Kick Assembler SEUCK Framework V4.0


February 2022


17th Februarary 2022
Another SEUCK School update (and final update for this week). More title screen colour tweaking.

Do you remember my entry for the Spanish SEUCK Compo 2017, Delta Run. Or perhaps you remember some other SEUCK games consisting of enhanced colours on their front ends. The two that I had in mind were Eradicator 2 and Moon Strike. Do you get bored with the same old 8xcolour bars and you want to make more colourful ones that would stand out for your game project? If the answer is yes, then great. This final update for this week shows you how to transform your SEUCK game title screen with more than 8 colours. So, get your Action Replay ready and have fun playing along with it :)



SEUCK School


16th Februarary 2022
Another SEUCK School update

A few years back, I showed you how to install title and in game music onto a standalone SEUCK game. Now what if you wanted to add *both*. Is it possible to do that? Well, one way or another it is. Today's update could be very useful for SEUCK users who want to add sound effects and music options to their very own front ends. The tutorial also shows how to add the music and sound effects icon on the bottom left corner of the title screen.

There is at least one more SEUCK enhancement update coming some time this week, which you might like.



SEUCK School


15th Februarary 2022
SEUCK School mini update

Recently people have been making C64 SEUCK games using theC64 mini/full size, but there have been some problems with saving the overall project
. Today's SEUCK School update goes through attempting to resolve the problematic issue and help finally save your SEUCK games completely on theC64/mini/full size/theVIC20 in C64 mode.



SEUCK School


12th Februarary 2022
Lane Crazy by Blazon

A brand new C64 game release has been launched, well sort of, because I launched it onto the Zzap 64 covermount first. This is Lane Crazy, a crazy and mighty addictive hi score attack party game that is guaranteed to drive you crazy. The majority of this game production was created and designed by me under the handle, Starhawk. The other friends of Blazon also got involved with additional graphics and testing. The idea of the game is to simply keep all four coloured balls rolling down the steep lanes. Holes will appear at random, and the balls must avoid falling into the holes, otherwise the game is up. This is one crazy game idea I have had stuck in my head for a very long time, and finally I have made transformed my idea into a funny addictive C64 game.



Lane Crazy



January 2022
9th January 2022
Alf Yngve's Cosmic Combat Deluxe Updated to V1.1

You may remember that back in December 2021, I launced two game titles as my last game releases for 2021. They were Ray Fish Deluxe and Cosmic Combat Deluxe. Last weekend I was playing Cosmic Combat Deluxe and I discovered that I made a silly bug in the game's high score name entry routine. Although the player was able to submit his/her name for the hi score table. The name and high score did not register into the hi score table. The good news now is that this bug has been fixed, and the game has now been updated. There is also an additional feature added to Cosmic Combat Deluxe, where the player has a shield after spawning at the start of a new game or after the player has lost a life. The updated version of this game is available to download.


This way to Cosmic Combat DX

What's happening in 2022

New games can be hard work to make, but also good fun. It is always nice to give new games free to the C64 community. There are a lot of things happening in the C64 world for TND this year. For a start off, I have just finished a brand new C64 game along with the Blazon team (and friends) which has been submitted for the next issue of Zzap 64 Micro Action's covermount.The game will also be available from TND as a free download in the beginning February.

Secondly there is Cruiser-X 79 to be finished off this year. The space shooter has been laid dormant for some time now, due to missing features/assets forcing me to be unable to continue with the project. Once they are ready, the project will be back in full swing again. I am very determined to get this game finished off, as it is one of my most ambitious projects since Sub Hunter back in 2005-2008.

There is also a co-op production with Hugues Poisseroux called "Cap and Plug". A cute little static screen - multi-level platform game. This was started in 2021, but had stalled due to a problem with sprite/char collision logic. Hopefully after I get past that hurdle we can continue with this little ambitious game. Another co-op production TND is working on is Captain Ishtar with Alf Yngve. A flick screen platform shoot 'em up adventure, based on an alien world.

Stay tuned for new TND releases in the future folks. I'm sure you'll be looking forward to those. :)