by Papi & shon
Have you ever wondered what would happen if mom or a friend wanted to join in the amazing new ZX Spectrum game they see you play with dad? Wonder no more, dear friend—Space Trolls of Mahlsdorf is here to address that exact eventuality!
Space Trolls is a fully-featured shoot ’em up: different types of aliens, falling comets, pursuing Jetmen, weapon boosts, extra lives, and, of course, a big boss at the end!
Unlike our first exploratory project, there is a genuine novelty here that makes us especially enthusiastic to share it with the community. This isn’t just a typical single-player or two-player game, but a fully-fledged three-player game! This is quite rare for a ZX Spectrum title (and shoot ’em ups in general), filling what we saw as a major gap in the scene.
Players 1 and 2 use Sinclair joysticks, while Player 3 uses the keyboard. Each player has distinct advantages and disadvantages, making cooperation essential—another rarity in multiplayer shoot ’em ups. Success or failure depends entirely on how the team performs together. This is not to say that a single player cannot finish the game, yet it is a highly challenging endeavour!
Space Trolls of Mahlsdorf is the second project completed with my 11-year-old son, built to explore MPAGD by Jonathan Cauldwell and the Shmupkit by Bruce (https://minilop.itch.io/shmupkit). We are grateful not only for these great tools, but also for their instructive videos and guidance!
You are welcome to open the .tap file in MPAGD and modify it as you see fit. We tried to comment (REM) all implemented functions so you can study and experiment with them in any way you like. (Credit is always appreciated! :-))
And speaking of credit… we would be grateful if you were willing to buy us an ice cream as a token of appreciation!
Beyond MPAGD and Shmupkit, we used ZX-Paintbrush, SjASMPlus, and MPAGD Musicizer 2.1 by David Saphier to build the game. Music tracks are by DJ SerG, Nik-O, DJ Max, Bell, and Wally.
Download, here
