HEARTST2

1.0-1 (latest)

Available versions

1.0-1 (latest)

Intro

Heart Stealer 2 is a remake of a game that was originally released in 2013 by Timmy, on the ZX Spectrum.

This game is a remake (or demake, depends on how you look at it) of a game called VVVV, which was written for the Java4k 2010 compo (website no longer exists). By a guy called Markus 'Notch' Persson (you might have heard of him).

According to that compo page, "VVVV is a 4K tribute to Terry Cavanagh's brilliant game VVVVVV."

Goal

Our hero is back again to collect hearts.

This time, our hero only needs 6 hearts to finish the game, but this time they are located all over the world.

Beware of the spikes! These pointy things are the only dangerous things in the game.

To make it easier, you also have infinite lives, with checkpoints all over.

The challenge is not only to complete the game, but also try to finish the game quickly.

Controls

This game can be controlled with a joystick (or use the cursor keys and the space bar.)

Move your character with the joystick (or cursor keys).

Use the fire button (or space key) to "flip". Note: You can't flip while in the air.

During the game, you can HOLD the Escape key to reveal a map.

Timmy's Additional Notes

This version is a bit larger than the original 4K version. The screens in this version are larger than the original 19x11.

That means that all the screens in this game are completely redesigned, even if I tried to retain the original look.

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The map is compressed in a very strange way and it was a way for me to try to use as few bytes as possible. A row of (28) wall tiles takes 28 bits and a 4-bit identifier, i.e. 4 bytes in total.

I've lifted this map directly from the Spectrum version because I'm not redoing this again xD. So you might find references to SP1, which is a Spectrum only sprite library.

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The game is written in C and assembly language using the z88dk compiler, like my other MSXdev entries (including the ones in previous years). The Spectrum version of HS2 also used z88dk, but I still had to rewrite almost everything. :P

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If the game seems familiar, you might have seen a demo of this in Nijmegen back in 2020. :D

Links

The original VVVV game page (web archive version):

• https://web.archive.org/web/20120112053832/http://www.java4k.com/index.php?action=games&method=view&gid=288

The z88dk compiler:

• https://z88dk.org/

Package

HEARTST2.zip

Individual files

HEARTST2.ROM

HEARTST2.BAT

README.TXT

Default install directory

A:\HEARTST2