From the author, Richard Soberka:
Hi everyone, I just wanted to let the Apple II community know that I’ve made my game Zephyr available for download as a disk image (.DSK). It’s available for free on my personal website:
https://www.soberka.com/games/
Zephyr is an action game — a combat flight simulator in double hi-res monochrome (DHGR, 560 × 192 pixels), designed for Apple IIe (128K), Apple IIc, or Apple IIgs computers. I wrote Zephyr in 1987 for the French publisher Froggy Software. The game was scheduled for release at the end of that year, but sadly Froggy Software shut down before it could be published. Zephyr never enjoyed the same success as my previous game, Pleins Gaz, which was sold in 1986 and 1987 in many retail outlets across France.
In 2013, however, Zephyr was re-released by Brutal Deluxe — on real floppy disks with vintage-style packaging. – https://www.brutaldeluxe.fr/2013/
On the technical side, I believe I reached the absolute limits of what an Apple II could deliver in double hi-res monochrome graphics (DHGR, 560 × 192 pixels).
I pushed thousands of lines of 6502 assembly code to the extreme, just to get the smoothest possible animation in double hi-res. As a result, Zephyr runs at around 8 to 10 frames per second on an Apple //e or //c — and up to 20 to 25 frames per second on an Apple IIgs. Loading through ProDOS is admittedly a bit slow, but the game loads in one go and takes up nearly all 128K of memory, with no further disk access needed during play.
Looking back — and to be self-critical — I spent too much time optimizing the code, at the expense of gameplay, graphics, and story. My earlier game, Pleins Gaz, ended up being much more fun to play.
Instructions:
At the controls of your fighter, the Zephyr, your mission is to defend a human colony established on planet Katerra 560. Patrol the skies above the colony while avoiding all ground obstacles… all except those marked with a large letter “K” — they allow you to refuel with kerosene. From time to time, squadrons of invading ships attack: dodge their fire and fight back by trying to shoot them down.
Your fighter moves at a constant speed, but you control left/right direction and altitude using the joystick or the mouse (just like with an aircraft control stick). The goal is to repel the enemy attacks over several levels and save the colony.
Have fun
Richard
