A downloadable game

Please note: The 2021 update fixes some bugs, but also reduces the strobing effect from the original. Take care to download the correct version, as the original version retains the strobe effect, so play with caution if necessary.

Headcase Hotel is an arcade adventure maze game written for the BBC Micro.

Most of the game was written over various periods of time between 1992 and 1995, with much of the development work taking place in 1995, in preparation for an end of year graphic design show.

The idea is to collect a number of items from each hotel level, before the lift door opens at the top of the screen to give you access to the next. There are 10 levels in total. Within each level are a number of collectable items, some are useful, while others are... not so useful :-)

Written predominantly in BBC Basic, with some elements of 6502 assembly language for sprite plotting, the game runs in four colour MODE 5, a low resolution (640 x 256 pixel) display which used 10k of the BBC Micro's memory.

StatusReleased
Rating
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
(1 total ratings)
AuthorStephen Scott
Tags8-Bit, bbc, bbc-micro, maze, Retro, Singleplayer
Code licenseMIT License
Average sessionA few minutes
LanguagesEnglish
InputsKeyboard
LinksPlay online, Homepage, Source code

Download

Download
Headcase Hotel (bugfixed) 29 kB
Download
Headcase Hotel (original version) 200 kB

Install instructions

Download the .ssd file for the game below. You'll need access to an emulator that can open such files. Options include Beebem (http://www.mkw.me.uk/beebem/), or the JSBeeb Javascript BBC Micro emulator at https://bbc.godbolt.org/

If you have a real BBC Microcomputer, good on yer!

More information about the game can be found at the following sites:

Development log

Comments

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This game is beautifully programmed. Very clever sprite plotting routines. Would you consider making a version for the Electron? I have a real Elk, but not a BBC Micro, so I'm resorting to BeebEm. Great work Stephen. :-)

Sorry, it actually works GREAT on the Electron!!! Only VERY minor issue is the instructions (MODE 7) don't display correctly, but that's being picky!

(+1)

Thanks Greg for your comments, they are really appreciated. I can't take credit really, I cobbled bits and pieces from other games, notably ones authored by Mike Goldberg that were published in The Micro User. I certainly recall drawing the title screen as being great fun to do. I should revisit it for further inspiration for any other projects I have in mind!