Stone Raider II
Stone Raider II is a game for the
Dragon 32/64 home computer. I wrote the game in my spare time during the spring
of 1986. At that time I had seen (and played!) Boulder
Dash on the C64, and I was deeply fascinated with the game and started playing around with the idea of writing something
similar for the Dragon.
The game is the result of 2-3 months of after-hours coding, creativity and learning. Stone Raider II is far from perfect, but I am still reasonably satisfied with the result. Most importantly, I found the game fun and challenging to play myself. I was very pleased when Microdeal decided to license the game and included it in their catalogue. Dragon User reviewed the game in the May 1987 issue and gave it a 4 out of 5 rating.
I am now making the game and its assembler source code available to Dragon enthusiasts and others under friendly licensing conditions. The source code is for a pre-release of the game but is otherwise complete and unmodified. I have yet to recover the source code for the final release of the game. I have tested the game both under the xroar and MESS Dragon emulators. Have fun!
Playing the game
The objective of the game is to help your man to the exit in a series of caves, collecting points along the way. You score points primarily by collecting diamonds, and you also have to collect a certain number of diamonds for the exit to become visible. You must reach the exit before the bonus countdown reaches zero. Watch out for the many hazards that can kill your man. There are falling boulders and monsters that can mean instant death to your man. Your man can also easily be trapped behind a rock slide without the ability to get out.
There are a total of 25 caves in the game. Each cave requires a different approach to escape. Some caves are relatively straight forward, while some require significantly more planning and coordinated movement. You will find that some objects can be used to reach your goal. For instance, some monsters will turn into diamonds when killed by a falling boulder.
Only joystick control is supported.
Downloads
| Cassette image | Download ZIP | PGP Signature |
| Source code | Download ZIP | PGP Signature |
| Ring tone | Download MP3 |
Game trivia
The game has a cheat mode that can be activated by pressing "STONE" on the title screen. The cheat mote allows you to set the number of lives, the starting cave and the bonus speed. The cheat mode was inteded for debugging during development of the game, and I was quite surprised at how fast it was discovered after release. This was a real eye-opener with regards to reverse engineering for me.
The original name of the game was Dig-it. This name was amended to Stone Raider II for Microdeal to be able reuse artwork and other material for a similar game released for a different platform and thus be able to release the game in time for the Christmas shopping season. It is still possible to see the original name in the game. Just have a look at cave number 4.