This is a homebrew game for 1980's era Atari 8-bit XL/XE (NTSC/PAL) computers.
cc65
Atari FontMaker
RASTER Music Tracker
Altirra
AtariAge
Atari 8-bit XL/XE, 64KB RAM, NTSC or PAL
Single and/or Double Paddles in Port 1 and/or Port 2
FarmSquad is a 2-4 Player cooperative paddle game. It can be played with 1 Player!
The goal is to harvest and protect your crops from a remotely operated, electrolytic energy drink spraying Drone and achieve a high score for your team.
Make sure your paddle pots are clean for the best experience.
FarmSquad's Hero song and music is played at startup.
Pressing the button on any paddle will skip the Introduction screen.
When the Introduction ends the Attract screen is displayed.
Players can be selected on the Attract screen.
By default all Players are disabled.
Game instructions cycle periodically to help Players get ready.
Briefly press the paddle button to enable or disable a Player.
Each Player is uniquely identified by a 1 to 4 dot pattern below the combine tractor.
Press and hold down any enabled Player's paddle button for ~3 seconds to start a game.
Each Player operates a combine tractor near the bottom of the screen.
The rectangular steering indicator at the front of the combine tractor indictes the Player's direction; left, straight, or right. The paddle acts as a steering wheel to change direction. Turning speed is proportional to how far the paddle is turned off center. To turn left or right faster turn the paddle further towards the left or right extremes. To turn left or right slower turn the paddle closer to the center.
A remotely operated Drone kills Crops in its path with an electrolyic energy drink spray. It sometimes turns up Rocks, Repairs and EMPs buried in the field. Occasionally the Drone Rages and kills an entire field of Crops. The Drone's Rage level is indicated by the it's center color (green, yellow, or red for NTSC).
Each Player harvests Crops and must dodge Rocks to avoid damage. If a Player hits a Rock they change color to indicate damage, a second Rock hit will end the game for ALL Players. Collecting a Repair or EMP fixes a damaged Player.
If an EMP is collected the Player changes color. If a Player collects a Repair or hits a Rock they lose their EMP. When ALL Players have an EMP they can simultaneously hold down their paddle buttons to destroy the Drone. Be careful, Players activating their EMPs when the Drone is out of range (no blade spinning sounds can be heard) will lose their EMPs and the Drone will not be affected. When the drone is successfully destroyed the day immediately ends and the next day begins.
Players must destroy the Drone before the end of day otherwise the game ends for ALL Players. The Drone's shadow moves from left to right during the day indicating how much daylight is left. As dusk decends only a little time remains for the Players to destroy the Drone.
As the days progress, gameplay gets more difficult. The Drone turns up more Rocks and fewer Repairs and EMPs.
Each Player scores 1 point for every cell of Crop harvested.
On the Attract screen the score for the last game played is displayed to the left of the HI score.
Stay near the middle of the screen to maximize the the ability of the tractor to reach Repairs and EMPs in time.
Be considerate of your fellow Players, try to stay out of their way if you have an EMP.
If an EMP is behind a Rock and the Player is not damaged then the Player can take the Rock hit and then be repaired by the EMP.
Under the steering indicator and blades of the combine tractor are where Crops, Rocks, Repairs, and EMPs affect the Player. A Player can pass over a Rock with the body of the tractor behind the blades. This can help when navigating difficult terrain.
Player's combine blades process 2 cells of the field left to right. For example, if a Rock (left) and a Repair (right) are processed then the Player gets damaged, but is immeditely repaired.
When Players are stacked, lower numbered Players will consume Crops, Repairs, and EMPs first and none will be left for higher numbered Players. Rocks however remain in the field and will damage all stacked Players.
To maximize point accumulation, don't stack on top of other Players, stay to the far left or right of the field, or harvest where the Drone has killed Crops.
Since scoring is solely based on harvesting crops and gameplay is more difficult as the days progress it can be advantageous to "hold fire" of EMPs until dusk arrives. But it comes at the risk that a Player loses their EMP at the last minute and the Drone is not destroyed before the day ends.
Designate a Player to decide when to unleash the EMP. The other Players hold down their buttons, and the designated Player presses their button when the Drone is in range.
Split Players into two teams and alternate play between teams. The team holding the HI score after X rounds wins.