[TAS] C64 Boulder Dash by nymx in

This is a tool-assisted speedrun. For more information, see tasvideos.org/4550M
TAS originally published on 2021-11-14
You are Rockford, and you have to dig through monster infested caves in search of diamonds. In each level, you must collect a certain number of these diamonds in order to open a portal to the next stage. Enemies can be squashed by falling boulders, which are released when the ground below them is removed or they are pushed onto empty ground. Be careful, though, because these can also squash you. In later levels, difficulty is increased by many puzzle elements and shorter time limits.
There are 16 levels to be completed and five different skill levels available, which affect the number of jewels which must be collected and the time limit.
nymx ( tasvideos.org/Users/Profile/nymx ) plays through the 16 levels on the highest skill set (Difficulty 5) in record time.

[@sarcasticguy4311]

A friend of mine and I used to play this a lot. We had more fun playing "incorrectly" by using a version that had no timer. We'd try to get every stone turned to a diamond and we'd try to fill the whole screen with the slime and then try not to get pulverized by falling diamonds. Good times.

[@thejackal007]

I played the hell out of the one on Atari growing up. Neat to see the C64 version is very similar.

[@KitoBallard]

God, my childhood right here. This game I remember fondly and think about every now and then.

[@sarcasticguy4311]

There was always something strangely hypnotic about the sound of dozens of falling diamonds

[@KitoBallard]

@@sarcasticguy4311 indeed. I was so impressed by the "physics" back then when I was so young. Used to make stages that had a lot of falling elements to it, just to watch and listen~

[@XanthinZarda]

Funny thing, I never played actual Boulder Dash until the Wii Virtual Console. But I did play a lot of _weird knockoffs_ like Joshua, Rockford, and countless shareware games.

[@derekhoward3188]

8:30 is so satisfying from a TAS point of view. Listening to the audio dip further than the developers had planned for is just a chef's kiss.

[@nymx_]

You are the first person to make note of that...even with the submission that I made. When I first heard it, I didn't know what happened...until I realized the same thing you did. The Developer obviously did think it would ever be that high. Speaking of, I've been trying to track down Peter Liepa to let him know what I did with his game.

[@derekhoward3188]

"Dear sir,
I utterly decimated your game.
Lovingly yours,
A fan.

[@nymx_]

@@derekhoward3188 lol

[@interesting_output]

@@nymx_ The warping between lowest pitch and highest pitch is actually pretty standard programming on the SID chip, so there was really nothing wrong with the audio here. Getting out of K-5 with ~210 on the clock, however...

[@nymx_]

@@interesting_output Right...agreed.

[@NunofYerbizness]

This was the only Commodore 64 game that I bought and played on the Wii Shop Channel; Only difference was that it played in 60fps instead of 50

[@JeremyMYG]

I remember playing one of the Boulder Dash games as a kid with my mom. Good times.

[@CSmyth-]

2:08 to skip to gameplay, there's a lot of flashing lights at the beginning which may be hard to watch for some people....

[@borandiUK]

That's standard C64 loading. Bubble Bobble on tape took around 7 mins to load

[@sarcasticguy4311]

@@borandiUK Got that right. Took a long time to load a lot of these games. Suck it up and watch the strobing.

hahahah what a worthless individual you are

[@pluvius9265]

6:08 Surprise CrazyBus theme

[@stevenpavelish6017]

XD

[@YYFFZZ]

i have it on MSX
good old days.

[@ocioman]

Interesting game never heard of it.

[@interesting_output]

Boulder Dash is either one of the most remembered or one of the most obscure, depending on where you were at. There were only 3 official versions, the first one in '83, Boulder Dash 2 afterward, and then "Boulder Dash III" which was designed outside Liepa/Gray's creations. A construction kit was officially released, and it didn't take long for crackers to create unofficial spinoffs based on BD1, and these people were responsible for the unofficial releases from BD4-11.
To this day a small group of people are still working on creating cave sets using interpreters, and many "modern" official releases are still being published by the original authors.

[@jess648]

@@interesting_output the nes version is pretty decent

[@stevenpavelish6017]

Long loading times

[@interesting_output]

2:09 to skip the loading animation which is flashing lights.

[@nymx_]

I'm trying to understand what you are getting at. Are you talking about the extended display time for the title screen? If so...I'm selecting the level, which takes an annoying amount of time to set.

[@interesting_output]

@@nymx_ I was referring to the loader being skipped, the bookmark goes straight for the title screen.

[@nymx_]

@@interesting_output Oh...sorry. I think I may have crossed your comment with someone else. Somebody was talking about the flashing lights on the trails being made and how it was an indicator.
Sorry.

[@DanielChico09]

Is this a game about Matt Jarbo?

[@user-st8gf2dq9d]

Czy gra jest za darmo?