Meteors 2
by Neil Streeter
from ZX Computing June 1983, page 25

I first got my ZX81 about six weeks after the launch of the machine
way back in April .1981. I set down to writing 1K programs for it and,
after a couple of weeks. I had a selection which I sent off for publication.
Eight of these were accepted for publication, one of which (called
Meteors) provided the inspiration for this program.

The original Meteors program used the 2X81’s SCROLL command to give a
full moving display in 1K. The idea of the game was to move your space
ship left and right in an effort to avoid the meteors and alien space
craft coming at you. The trouble was that the background was white,
which didn't give a very good impression of space! Also, the SCROLL
function went the wrong way. which meant that it felt like you were
moving towards yourself.

Two in one

Also, around the time, there were a number of ‘racer' programs which
used the same idea to represent a car travelling along a winding track.
What I always wanted to do was to combine these two games, and with 16K
that's exactly what I set out to do. After trying a BASIC version and
finding you could make a cup of tea between moves, I decided to write
the bulk of the program in machine code.

The game. entitled Meteors II after its elder brother, is very easy to
play and is extremely addictive. The idea of the game is to pilot your
space craft through various types of obstacles and your score, which
appears on screen, depends on how long you manage to avoid disaster.

There are seven stages to be negotiated after which the whole game
repeats -- so, theoretically, you could be up in space forever!

The seven stages of the game are:

Star Field: This is the first stage, and as you would imagine easiest of
the lot. All you have to do is to avoid the stars that head down at you
from the top of the screen.

Rock Field: This scenario contains block shaped meteors that bear down
at you from the top of the screen.

Asteroid Field: Similar to the last scenario, but this time the rocks are
twice the size.

Meteor Field: Again similar to the last two ‘fields' but now the rocks
are three times the size and obviously harder to avoid.

Aliens: You now have a change of scenery as you find a mass of alien
space craft heading towards you. This stage of the game is not as
difficult as the stage before. but will provide you with a quick
breather in preparation for the next two stages.

Super Birds: These are a weird alien life form and extremely large at
that! These creatures are four times the size of the original rocks in
the second 'field'.

The Tunnel: You now find yourself in a tunnel (similar to the ‘racer'
games I was talking about earlier}. The tunnel gets narrower and narrower
the further along you get. If you manage to make it to the other end,
then you find yourself back at stage one of the game.

For each time you go round the seven stages. your score will be 7,200.
I have so far managed to get through the game just over three times, a
score of 21,750 -- beat that if you can!

