GRIDFALL is a new puzzle game for the Tandy Color Computer 3, written from scratch in 6809 assembly by Tequestafarian Games.
About the game
Waves of cubes roll down a narrow platform toward you. Capture the grey cubes before they fall off the edge. Use the green cubes to set off 3×3 blast zones. Let the black cubes roll past, because capturing one costs you a row of floor. Clear a puzzle cleanly and under par to earn stars and win back floor rows. Run out of floor and the game is over.
- Grey cubes: capture every one before it rolls off the edge.
- Green cubes: capture one to leave a marker, then fire the markers to clear the 3×3 zone around each.
- Black cubes: let them go. Capturing one costs a row of floor.
Features
- 9 stages, each with its own floor colour, getting wider and deeper up to a final stage
- 1,792 generated puzzles, each with a par score
- Music streamed live from the SD card, with sound effects mixed over it
- 320×192, 16-colour graphics with smooth rolling cubes and a scrolling board
- Joystick or keyboard: hold both buttons to hurry the cubes along
- Pause menu with music and sound-effect volume controls
Download the demo
- CoCoSDC version GRIDFALL-DEMO.zip · with music
- Floppy disk version GRIDFALL-DEMO-FLOPPY.zip · no CoCoSDC needed
The free demo has the first 2 stages. Clear stage 2 and it says END OF DEMO, then fire takes you back to the title. The full game has 9 stages and is still in development.
There are two versions. Both need a Tandy Color Computer 3 with 512K.
CoCoSDC version
The full experience, with music streamed from the SD card. The download has three files: GRIDDEMO.DSK (the boot disk), GRIDDEMO.DAT (the graphics, puzzles, music and sound, which stream from the SD card) and STARTUP.CFG (boots the game at power-on). GRIDDEMO.DSK and GRIDDEMO.DAT must come from the same download.
Option 1: Boot it at power-on
- Copy GRIDDEMO.DSK, GRIDDEMO.DAT and STARTUP.CFG to the root folder of the SD card (not a subfolder).
- Power on the CoCo 3. The game boots by itself.
- STARTUP.CFG replaces any STARTUP.CFG already on the card (for example one that boots another game). Back it up or rename it first if you want to keep it.
Option 2: Boot it from SDC Explorer (SDCX)
- Copy GRIDDEMO.DSK and GRIDDEMO.DAT to the root of the SD card. STARTUP.CFG isn't needed.
- In SDC Explorer, open GRIDDEMO.DSK and select LOADER.BAS.
If the screen border turns red when it starts, it can’t find GRIDDEMO.DAT. Check that it is in the root of the SD card.
Floppy disk version
No CoCoSDC? This version runs from a single disk, GRIDDEMO.DSK. It has all the sound effects but no music, since the music streams from the SD card.
- Write GRIDDEMO.DSK to a 35-track single-sided floppy, or mount it in drive 0 of a floppy emulator.
- Type
RUN"GRIDFALL"and press ENTER. - It loads for a while, printing a dot for each part, then the game starts.
Screenshots
Captured from the game running in MAME's CoCo 3 (512K) driver with an emulated CoCoSDC and an RGB monitor. Click any screenshot to enlarge it, then use the arrows (or your arrow keys, or swipe) to flip through the rest.
Requirements
- Tandy Color Computer 3 with 512K
- CoCoSDC, or a floppy drive for the floppy demo (sound effects, no music)
- Joystick recommended (right port)
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Joystick |
|---|---|---|
| Move | Arrows | Stick |
| Mark a cube, then capture it | Z | Button 1 |
| Fire the green markers | X | Button 2 |
| Roll the cubes faster | Space | Buttons 1 + 2 |
| Pause (any button resumes) | P | – |
| Music / sound on and off | M / N | – |
GRIDFALL is an original game by Tequestafarian Games.