Today I launch a game that is probably my biggest ever – Battleteria.
This project has been my game since the start of the year (with the exception of a month and a half where I worked on another project). I wanted to learn a few concepts in Pico-8. Sprite rotation, storing and retrieving levels, and highscore tables, and after a bit of work I’ve come up with this.
Space Replicants have taken over the galaxy, and the Solar System is the last stop. Guide your ship through 50 waves of enemies in 2 different distinct game modes. There are 10 bugs to fight, two different weapons, and the ability to turn the music off should you wish. Can you find all 4 of the endings? A fast and frantic rotational shooter.
You can play it here, as I’ve embedded it below. Sorry for your lack of lunch break!
Controls
– move spacecraft around the play area
(mapped to X/C on browser) – straight shot
(mapped to Z/V on browser) – spread shot
Hope you like it! If you do, I’d really like the following:-
Please share this post on social media, or mention it on your blog It really helps. Struggling with what to write about? Share your high score!
You can download the game for free on Itch.io for Raspberry Pi and the source code for you to build in Pico-8. If you donate £2 or more you get the Windows, Linux and Apple Mac executables. I have also a Ko-Fi page which I am using as a generic “support my endeavours in various things” page. You can make a one-off donation or memberships.
I’ve got a dev diary coming up where I share the challenges in making it, but how have you done? Here are my high scores and fastest times, to set the bar.
As part of my Scottish road trip I mentioned on the Now page, I headed to Dundee as my partner had one thing she wanted to do (The V&A Museum) and I had one thing I wanted to do.
The Lemmings Statue is a statue in a park close to the site of the home of DMA Design (now Rockstar North) and depicts three Lemmings climbing up one of the columns on the entry to the park.
Lemmings was probably the first computer game I ever really loved. I yearned for the Cartoon Classics Commodore Amiga box set, and I used to draw them on all my school notebooks. I even fancy dressed as one for a school Summer Fate.
Sadly the Commodore 64 version came rather late on, so I never got to play it much growing up, but eventually when my Grandparents inherited a Atari ST, one of the games was Lemmings – the box you see in the photos.
DMA Design – the programmers of Lemmings – eventually became Rockstar North and launched the whole Grand Theft Auto series. The rest is history.
Anyway, it is a very cool art installation in Dundee if you are ever in the area. We also had an amazing meal in Eastfield so recommend booking there if you go.
So as shared by somebody on the Amiga Addict Discord, today is the day that – if you play Championship Manager 97/98 for 30 seasons, on the 15th July 2026, you get an endgame screen, and encouragement to sign up as a play tester and a researcher for future games.1
I played Champ Man 97/98 loads growing up, and really got into the 97/98 version. I would have been 14 when it came out, the cusp of France 98, and me starting to follow Colwyn Bay Football Club, I was at probably my peak fandom. I used to scour the leagues and guides for hidden gem signings (waves at Rob Taylor from Brentford), dress up for cup finals in a shirt and tie, and believed it was bad luck to watch the final.
Anyway, with the universe death of the greatest football game of all time, it’s safe to assume that no football from this day forward counts. It’s true, not just me being a bitter Welshman. Sorry England.
Incidentally, I did this role myself when I was the social media manager for Colwyn Bay about 10 years later. Mainly it was confirming the club colours, crest and various elements were true. Very much a highlight of the season, though sadly I never got into the credits for it! ↩︎
So this is a bit of a regular feature – I’m going to share piece of tech that I’ve been enjoying that doesn’t suck. Because let’s be honest, technology sucks. Here’s something that’s good, fun, and doesn’t take the piss with their terms & conditions.
Late last year I’ve stuck in a new system in my house – the Evercade Alpha. I’ve always wanted an arcade machine in my house, and – whilst not an original – this in the office will do. It feels incredibly well made, and I’m able to pull off dragon punches and fireballs easily. But it’s also compatible with Evercade’s vast library of games of games, meaning within about 5 minutes of setting up I was playing Metal Slug 3 again, and once I died I switched to Bubble Bobble. Although I’ve focussed more on the arcade side of things, it also allows playing of non arcade games in Evercade’s library. Roguecraft DX – an Amiga title – works awfully well. Xeno Crisis is a Smash TV esque game that is an indie darling and my god it’s just as intense. I’ve also enjoyed Donut Dodo and Murtop using a control system that absolutely shows how it should be played.
Why Evercade Matters
Now you may ask “Why would you play Evercade when there’s an endless library of games that can be downloaded and emulated?”, but think of it like a vinyl collection. Not every game is a banger on these £20 cartridges, but you can feel the love in these curated quality products. With each game you you are able to spend more time with them because there isn’t as big a paralysis of choice. Each game has a manual (and – therefore – a new manual smell), which serves as a great introduction to the game. You often also get stickers or posters too.
WindjammersStreet Fighter 2Donut Dodo
And that’s why, by being a curated platform, the paralysis of choice isn’t there. Instead you pick up a few games, and are forced to play those games, as a few more games cost £20. I sat and played through the entire Creatures II a few years back, and also discovered the excellent The Curse of Illmoore Bay recently, which is “What happens if Mega Man came out on the Mega Drive and also had Zombies Ate My Neighbours Aesthethic?”. You’ll find your new favourite game with Evercade.
In it, it defined it’s legacy. For in a hundred years time on Bargain Hunt people will be selling Evercade cartridges, and David Dickinson’s great grandson will wax lyrical about the history of Boogerman on the Interplay Collection 1, due to it being discovered for £15 in a car boot in Hitchin. Will people be doing that with Sony’s latest AAA adventure? Or even GTA6? Well they can’t, can they. Download codes that are lost to the wind. A string of numbers, that offer nothing.
Speaking of legacy, only slightly frustrating thing is that due to licencing games can become “legacy” meaning they are removed from sale, but you’ve enough time (usually 2-3 months) to pick it up before it does. Which is fine, but it means I missed the cartridge that contained Sensible Soccer and a fair few Dizzy Games.
There is no real DLC (in fact you can get free and hidden games on a rotation), and everything just works. I love it. I wasn’t convinced at the start with Evercade, but I’m a total convert now.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, Guile is being an utter bastard and he needs a dragon punch to the face.
Web directories eh? Now that SEO spammers have stopped spamming them, they’re becoming cool again, and I was impressed with Warp Point: a web directory dedicated to one of my favourite subjects: video games.
Sadly, I don’t think I write enough on Retro Garden, nor write too many video game posts here (I’ve got like 3 Pico 8 ideas in my drafts) to justify my listings there, but I’m writing and sharing the site here to remember to come back and add a few sites to my RSS feeder. Maybe could be better with a random order of listings by default? Rather than “Aarons amazing website!” appearing top?
– move spacecraft around the play area
(mapped to X/C on browser) – straight shot
(mapped to Z/V on browser) – spread shot
