RIVAL GANGS
===========
[TOP SECRET - DESTROY AFTER READING]
Hello agent [-----],
The government has sought the assistance of our agency regarding the urgent need for a solution to the gang-related chaos which engulfs the city. The constant battling between the rival CHAMELEON and DARKSIDER gangs has made the city so unsafe that even the police have fled.
The CHAMELEONS can be identified by clothing and vehicles which change colour to match their surroundings, whereas the DARKSIDERS clothing and vehicles are always black (except when close to water, where they become blue).
The proposed solution is to completely annihilate one of the gangs, which is where you come in. Posing as a gang member, we need you to take out as many of their rival's members and vehicles as possible until your gang achieves total control of the city.
We don't care which gang rises to the top - no doubt you will pick the weakest anyway, knowing how you love a challenge!
You'll start at the hideout in the industrial estate near the docks on the Western island of the city. I recommend you familiarise yourself with its whereabouts, as you may need to hurry back here later.
Everybody in the city has sided with one of the gangs, but most are unarmed and will flee at the first sign of trouble. As you progress, more will start carrying weapons and fighting back if triggered. As your score gets closer to 100%, they will start carrying deadlier weapons, and even start attacking you without provocation!
To assist you, we have arranged for weapons to be left around the city. Some of these are placed quite out of the way to avoid detection by others. To spur you on, we've left a few fun challenges for you too.
Please be aware that the people here are terrible/nervous drivers and they don't stop for anybody! You should probably get used to getting run over, a lot. However they do slow down enough at corners for you to be able to take control of their vehicle, should you require one. Their maniacal driving does also lead to frequent crashes, which can also buy you enough time to commandeer a vehicle.
If you are injured, you will be taken to the nearest hospital and your gang will lose 5% control in your absence. Be aware that when your score remains very high, your rivals will come to attack you the moment you get out, so familiarise yourself with the nearest weapons and/or places where you can commandeer a vehicle to assist your escape. If your score reaches 0% then I'm afraid you'll be leaving the hospital in a body bag, so don't let that happen!
The rivals headquarters are located in a large mansion on the Eastern island of the city. You should familarise yourself with its location and layout, ready for the final takeover - but beware, they don't take kindly to trespassers! At present, we have closed the bridge between the East and West sides of the city, until you have gained enough control to take them on without becoming overwhelmed, so unfortunately you will have to make some serious progress before you can go poking your nose around.
Good luck!
CONTROLS
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FOOT
Q Up
A Down
O Left
P Right
M Shoot
SPACE Enter vehicle
ENTER Change weapon
VEHICLE
Q Accelerate / Forwards
A Brake / Reverse
O Turn left
P Turn right
M Handbrake
SPACE Exit vehicle
Other controls
H Pause
You can quit the game from the Pause menu.
If you get stuck (or just feel like exploding), there is a self-destruct option in the Pause menu - using it will return you to the nearest hospital and cost 5% control.
HINTS & TIPS
------------
Struggling to get in a vehicle? See this short video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcYMsyMinGg
CREDITS
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Code by Presh
Fixed-point maths routines by Zeda: https://github.com/Zeda/
Joystick/keyboard routines by Einar Saukas
Font by Damien G: https://damieng.com/typography/zx-origins/
Thank you for the review! I have to admit, it is a very fair assessment of the game
Allow me a little back-story...
During development, I was persuaded to enter the game into the ZX Dev Media Remakes competition, imposing a tight deadline... so despite many nocturnal coding sessions and a neglected partner, expectations had to be lowered and planned features were cut! Your review picked up a number of these missing features, sadly left out due to time constraints.
While I'm happy I even managed to make anything vaguely resembling GTA on an 8-bit micro by the deadline, my annoyance at the cuts was severe... so your prediction of a sequel is bang on! The extended edition (Rival Gangs EXT) will address most of the omissions you noticed, particularly some of the more frustrating ones which I'm happy to say have already been rectified or improved upon. The remainder are at the mercy of the machine's memory and processor limitations, but I'm confident of a much improved experience regardless.
I'm keen to read any further suggestions / criticisms, and would suggest the game's development thread on Spectrum Computing for these (though I will also check back here periodically)
Cheers!
Presh
Mr Creosote
If you entered it into a competition, I seriously hope you won
Thanks for the background & the outlook. I'll give the extended edition a spin for sure!
Presh
Me again!
The extended edition Rival Gangs EXT was released yesterday to mark the ZX Spectrum's 40th anniversary.
Comments
Mr Creosote
Feel free to share anything about Rival Gangs (2021) here!Presh
Thank you for the review! I have to admit, it is a very fair assessment of the gameAllow me a little back-story...
During development, I was persuaded to enter the game into the ZX Dev Media Remakes competition, imposing a tight deadline... so despite many nocturnal coding sessions and a neglected partner, expectations had to be lowered and planned features were cut!
While I'm happy I even managed to make anything vaguely resembling GTA on an 8-bit micro by the deadline, my annoyance at the cuts was severe... so your prediction of a sequel is bang on! The extended edition (Rival Gangs EXT) will address most of the omissions you noticed, particularly some of the more frustrating ones which I'm happy to say have already been rectified or improved upon. The remainder are at the mercy of the machine's memory and processor limitations, but I'm confident of a much improved experience regardless.
I'm keen to read any further suggestions / criticisms, and would suggest the game's development thread on Spectrum Computing for these (though I will also check back here periodically)
Cheers!
Presh
Mr Creosote
If you entered it into a competition, I seriously hope you wonThanks for the background & the outlook. I'll give the extended edition a spin for sure!
Presh
Me again!The extended edition Rival Gangs EXT was released yesterday to mark the ZX Spectrum's 40th anniversary.
Hope you can find time to give it a go!
https://zxpresh.itch.io/rival-gangs-ext
Mr Creosote
Congratulations for getting it out! As it's now a commercial release, I doubt I'll play it, personally.