Tomb Raiding with a ZX81
It's coming to the end of 1921's digging season in Egypt. Your excavations have not gone so well this year, failing to find any trace of the legendary and as yet undiscovered Pharaohs tomb. Then in your final weeks wild stories recounting the wrath of vengeful mummies strangling would be tomb local raiders filter back to base camp.
At last some concrete leads worth looking into, and opportunities to good to pass up. Oculist tales of curses be dammed, you're an Egyptologist and grand adventurer, such nonsense can't possibly hurt you. Or can it?
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| How far into the tomb of the Pharaoh can you make it? |
Playing the Game
Tut-Tut is one part puzzle, two parts arcade action. The game is comprised of 28 levels, plus a hidden treasure chamber which may only be opened if you are deemed worthy.
Collect gems, amulets and bracelets for points, you'll need 5000 before the end of "Sutekh's Eye" (level 28) for the treasure chamber to open. Amulets and Bracelets will freeze the player or halt mummies respectively.
To complete each level the player will need to collect keys, open doors, move blocks before finding exits to lower crypt levels. Keep an eye out for Pharaohs roaming guardians, they're not the smartest of the undead but they are relentless.
To complete each level the player will need to collect keys, open doors, move blocks before finding exits to lower crypt levels. Keep an eye out for Pharaohs roaming guardians, they're not the smartest of the undead but they are relentless.
Keys are: ‘O’ left, ‘P’ right, ‘Q’ up, ‘A’ for down and ‘R’ to reset the level (at a cost).
Details on where and how to acquire a copy of TuT-Tut are listed at the end of this blog entry.
The reMaking of TuT-TuT
The original version of Tut-Tut was written as a type-in game for the ZX Spectrum and published in Paleotronic Magazine. The game was entirely constructed in BASIC, this presented numerous challenges, the the greatest being the problem of speed and squeezing enough of it out of the machine. The trials and tribulations of undertaking that task on the ZX Spectrum is pretty well documented in the magazine.
I had considered re-pointing the BASIC game to the ZX81, but the challenge of writing a good game in BASIC had kind of been dealt with. The greater challenge on the ZX81 is in presenting an atmospheric game that transcends the limits imposed by the machines most obvious shortcomings; black and white predefined chunky graphics. To that end the ZX81 version of Tut-Tut has been written in C, targeted towards Z88dk for compilation.
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| TuT-TuT: ZX Spectrum vs ZX81 Version |
Despite remaining essentially the same game, opportunities have been taken to add additional elements. The size and scope of TuT-TuT has increased, there are now 28 normal levels, plus 1 special level. Extra levels necessitated the creation of a couple of additional items to hold player interest; Amulets and Bracelets provide chances for scoring extra points alongside the potential disadvantage of actually interacting with the items.
That's about it, be sure to check out the article in Paleotronic and enjoy both the original and especially this ZX81 enhancements. Special thanks to Paleotronic for both suggesting and providing the space the Spectrum game and a shout out to Rod Bell for supporting the project.
Be sure to check out Rods video review of the ZX81 TuT-TuT Demo Version
Getting a Copy of TuT-TuT
- A Digital copy at Itch.io
- Get the Cassette from Cronosoft.
- Play it on you iPad or iPhone, get a copy of ZX81 for IOS
ZX Spectrum Versions
- Physical Paper Type in release and Digital Copies will be available from Paleotronic Magazine
Love the Game?
- Why not buy me a Coffee, I needed quite a few writing it, and with more there could be a TuT-TuT II.