8bit Boulder Dash

[Retrogamer_ST]

I was a big Boulder Dash addict in the 80's, and still is today. The 8bit versions was by far the best and the atari version was a bit better then the C64 version me think.

Just imagine to bring up the idea for a game that works like that, pure genious. The best part of Boulder Dash, besides being one of the best looking games on the 8bit machines, you can finish a screen in many different ways.

The construction kit made Boulder Dash Immortal and it will be plenty of new Boulder Dash games made. I have some myself on my old Atari 130 XE, and if i can find a cable that let's me transfer them to images, i will certanly upload them for anyone to play. Still today the sheer game idea amazes me, what clever and fun game Boulder Dash really is.

It must be one of the greatest game ideas ever, no matter what time.

Martijn's Boulder Dash Fan Site
http://www.bd-fans.com/
Arno's Boulder Dash Site
http://www.boulder-dash.nl/

Any more Boulder Dash addicts in this form?

My Boulder Dash collection for Atari 8bit in a self extracting 7zip archive inside the zip archive (to cut down size) (about 300 different Boulder Dash). Try "Exploding Dash II" for real explosive and fun action.

[RetroGamerUK]

This was one of my favourites on the speccy, some levels were tricky with the baddies, another classic from the good old days.

[leglod]

Boulder Dash clone for ST !

http://www.mobygames.com/game/rockfall

[Retrogamer_ST]

The closest you can come to play 8bit Boulder Dash on the ST is to boot with Skulldiggery. Works in medium and high resolution. The feeling from the 8bit BD is there.
http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-st ... 11234.html

The first Boulder Dash i ever played on the ST was this one
http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-st ... 20923.html

TERRIBLE BAD and almost unplayable.

Then we have Boulder Dash CK (the official BD on the ST)
http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-st ... _8796.html

What's a bit weird is that Skulldiggery is more similar to the real 8bit Boulder Dash then this one.

Then we have Rockford
http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-st ... _8796.html

Boulder Dash was so great that it was converted to the arcade machines, the result was Rockford. Not bad, but it won't touch Skulldiggery for the best Boulder Dash on Atari ST.

[nativ]

Boulder Dash clone for ST !

http://www.mobygames.com/game/rockfall

http://www.sossoftware.co.uk/ He's still going! 12 level demo available for Mac PC and DX

I did like Earth Shaker on the Spectrum.... I must see if that works on the ST Spectrum emulator!

Dug a little deeper in the website and there are several versions of ROCKFALL available for d/l

[Retrogamer_ST]

I have played Boulder Dash on 4 different computers right now to see how it work and the difference between the versions.

Boulder Dash on A8, C64 and ZX Spectrum and Boulder Dash Construction Kit on ST.

Atari 800 - Works great, smooth scrolling and awesome graphics. The sound is top notch too.

C64 - Works great too, smooth scrolling and almost as great graphics as on A8. The sound is better on A8.

ZX Spectrum - Choppy scrolling destroys much of the feeling of Boulder Dash on this computer. The graphics isn't up to par with the A8 and C64 versions. The sound is less good in this version. In fact, ZX Spectrum suffers very much in scrolling.

Atari ST - ST handles the scrolling much better then ZX Spectrum but it's still a bit choppy compared to the A8 and C64 version of the game because of lack of hardware scrolling. Else the sound is good in this version, the graphics too.

[Retrogamer_ST]

I think that this fits well on this thread.
http://kiwi6.com/file/e3oo8m2855

[Clark Kent]

I was a big Boulder Dash addict in the 80's, and still is today. The 8bit versions was by far the best and the atari version was a bit better then the C64 version me think.

Just imagine to bring up the idea for a game that works like that, pure genious. The best part of Boulder Dash, besides being one of the best looking games on the 8bit machines, you can finish a screen in many different ways.

The construction kit made Boulder Dash Immortal and it will be plenty of new Boulder Dash games made. I have some myself on my old Atari 130 XE, and if i can find a cable that let's me transfer them to images, i will certanly upload them for anyone to play. Still today the sheer game idea amazes me, what clever and fun game Boulder Dash really is.

It must be one of the greatest game ideas ever, no matter what time.

Martijn's Boulder Dash Fan Site
http://www.bd-fans.com/
Arno's Boulder Dash Site
http://www.boulder-dash.nl/

Any more Boulder Dash addicts in this form?

My Boulder Dash collection for Atari 8bit in a self extracting 7zip archive inside the zip archive (to cut down size) (about 300 different Boulder Dash). Try "Exploding Dash II" for real explosive and fun action.

great, Great, GREAT, double GREAT!

As a lifetime Boulder Dash fan I was really excited to find your Atari 800 Boulder Dash collection!

I never had an Atari 800. But in these days of good working emulators I had a look at the Atari version of Boulder Dash. Colors are nicer because of the bigger palette but I personally think that sound effects are nicer on the C64. It would be very interesting to have contact to some Boulder Dash fans in the Atari scene. Please visit us at http://www.boulder-dash.nl/forum/

Up to now I only knew the very big collection for the C64 but I never had anything for the Atari 800 (except Bandit Boulder Dashes). I think I have everything that could be found today for the C64 - a veeeery large collection. Still missing some but I think there are a lot of disks that are lost forever or they have not been transfered from the very very few people still having them (like Professor Knibble who still does have this collection but he is not into that "business" anymore so I think we won't see his archive anymore).

It would also be great to have your own Boulder Dash caves/games! I really hope that you find a way to transfer the disks!

[krupkaj]

There are more than 100 variants of Boulder Dash for Atari 8bit at Fandal's site:
http://atari.fandal.cz/search.php?name= ... der&from=0

[Clark Kent]

There are more than 100 variants of Boulder Dash for Atari 8bit at Fandal's site:
http://atari.fandal.cz/search.php?name= ... der&from=0

Thank you!

It seems that there are some Boulder Dashes on this site that are not included in the zip-file from Retrogamer_ST!

If you find anything else in future please post here!

[Nyh]

I was a big Boulder Dash addict in the 80's, and still is today. The 8bit versions was by far the best and the atari version was a bit better then the C64 version me think.

I was more charmed of Repton:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repton_%28video_game%29

Hans Wessels

[Clark Kent]

I was always a Boulder Dash fan, most clones are not really good (only GDash and Coblyn for modern systems are really good ones). I find it very interesting that Peter Liepa, father of Boulder Dash, has only written this single game in his whole career - and this single game had the most influence on the video game industry.

[Retrogamer_ST]

I was a big Boulder Dash addict in the 80's, and still is today. The 8bit versions was by far the best and the atari version was a bit better then the C64 version me think.

Just imagine to bring up the idea for a game that works like that, pure genious. The best part of Boulder Dash, besides being one of the best looking games on the 8bit machines, you can finish a screen in many different ways.

The construction kit made Boulder Dash Immortal and it will be plenty of new Boulder Dash games made. I have some myself on my old Atari 130 XE, and if i can find a cable that let's me transfer them to images, i will certanly upload them for anyone to play. Still today the sheer game idea amazes me, what clever and fun game Boulder Dash really is.

It must be one of the greatest game ideas ever, no matter what time.

Martijn's Boulder Dash Fan Site
http://www.bd-fans.com/
Arno's Boulder Dash Site
http://www.boulder-dash.nl/

Any more Boulder Dash addicts in this form?

My Boulder Dash collection for Atari 8bit in a self extracting 7zip archive inside the zip archive (to cut down size) (about 300 different Boulder Dash). Try "Exploding Dash II" for real explosive and fun action.

great, Great, GREAT, double GREAT!

As a lifetime Boulder Dash fan I was really excited to find your Atari 800 Boulder Dash collection!

I never had an Atari 800. But in these days of good working emulators I had a look at the Atari version of Boulder Dash. Colors are nicer because of the bigger palette but I personally think that sound effects are nicer on the C64. It would be very interesting to have contact to some Boulder Dash fans in the Atari scene. Please visit us at http://www.boulder-dash.nl/forum/

Up to now I only knew the very big collection for the C64 but I never had anything for the Atari 800 (except Bandit Boulder Dashes). I think I have everything that could be found today for the C64 - a veeeery large collection. Still missing some but I think there are a lot of disks that are lost forever or they have not been transfered from the very very few people still having them (like Professor Knibble who still does have this collection but he is not into that "business" anymore so I think we won't see his archive anymore).

It would also be great to have your own Boulder Dash caves/games! I really hope that you find a way to transfer the disks!

My honest opinion without being biased is that A8 version has the better sound. The explosions sound much heavier in the A8 version. Falling rocks sound much better too in the A8 version. The sound from magic walls and the amoeba sounds better too. C64 version sounds like you listen through a door while the A8 version has a much more open and crisp sound.

I found several new Boulder Dash in Homesofts collection and added them to my Atari BD collection. Most of them is certanly conversions of C64 games.

One question.

Is Boulder Dash Contruction Kit compatible among the different versions?

If you make a CK game on the C64, can you play it on A8 too within the contruction kit?

Boulder Dash is a very demanding game and hardware scrolling is practically nessesary. The whole screen scrolls in all directions while there's lots of movements and animations going on. Not even the ST can handle Boulder Dash like it should look and play and the only great versions of BD is on A8 and C64.

If i find a way to transfer my discs to the PC i shall certanly share my CK games. I made about 20 different Boulder Dash in the 80's.

I add the NES version to my Boulder Dash review thread.

[Retrogamer_ST]

There are more than 100 variants of Boulder Dash for Atari 8bit at Fandal's site:
http://atari.fandal.cz/search.php?name= ... der&from=0

I added Boulder Dash games from Homesofts disks, not found anywhere else.

Dotter Dash 6-7
MJR Boulder Dash 1-2
RTA Dash 1-7
Schaik Dash 1-8
Schaik Dash 9-14

And about 300 more

It's a 7zip file inside a zip archive (to cut down size)

[Clark Kent]

Thank you for posting new Atari Dashes! Most of them seem to be regular C64 conversions I already have for the C64.

I cleared up you collection as there were a lot of doubles and more versions of the same game, even in different directories. I think it is not necessary to keep different versions that only differ in the way they are packed!? I'll assimilate the new Dashes in collection and then I'll post it here.

Because of the differences between A800 and C64 versions of Boulder Dash: I still think that at least some of the C64 sound effects are nicer. Especially the digging/walking sound sounds not that good compared to the C64 version. Same with explosions. All other sounds are almost identical with the only difference that the A800 sounds are a little bit "softer". But it could be the reason that was raised with the C64 version...

If the CK caves/games are compatible would be an interesting thing to investigate. At least colortable should be a problem as the C64 does not have that much colors. Maybe if I have the time for that I'll try it. But I know that the GDash (Unix clone) author converted Atari games (Bandit Dashes) to the BDCFF without any problems.

Please transfer your games!

[Retrogamer_ST]

Even after 28 years Boulder Dash is an awesome good game that can be completed in almost countless of ways. No risk of getting tired. This game alone is reason enough to get yourself an Atari 800 or C64.

A good compliment to Boulder Dash is the "Robbo" games that shares some elements to the Boulder Dash games. The creator of "Robbo" must have been a Boulder Dash fan as well.

When i created those games i was a kind of Boulder Dash fanatic and worked very hard to get them both fun and tricky. I shall talk to a friend about the ability to transfer Atari diskettes to a PC and then make disk images of it.

[Clark Kent]

You really shall! We Boulder Dash fans need your fan work!

I remember that I even contacted Peter Liepa about 10 years ago. We chatted a little bit about Boulder Dash. I really had to laugh that he was here in Austria for skiing 20 years ago. Man, if I knew that I would have had the opportunity to meet him...

It's sad that told me back then that he had scruple to do anything (like making some new levels with the CK or similar) regarding Boulder Dash as FSS is very aggressive concerning its property. Would be nice to see something new from Peter. But because of this we won't. On the other hand FSS never released a Boulder Dash version that can keep up with the original one from Peter Liepa. They are almost like Microsoft - they simply have no taste. No taste for esthetic, appropriate design with the ghost of the original game. I think they never realized what makes Boulder Dash they way it is, they never realized how important the mechanics are and how all little things should play together. I do not want to get on the wrong side of this - but I almost think FSS is like Microsoft and Peter Liepa is like Apple...

[Clark Kent]

Here my Atari 800 Boulder Dash collection with all clones like Robbo (about 40 different Robbo-games!).

Retrogamer_ST's collection included; cleared up and checked.

Two parts as files are not allowed to have more than 3 MB here...

[Retrogamer_ST]

Thanks for sharing that.

Downloading...

[Clark Kent]

Here is part 2.

Edit: Can not upload at the moment - it seems that the server here does not accept uploads at the moment. I'll upload later...

[Retrogamer_ST]

You really shall! We Boulder Dash fans need your fan work!

I remember that I even contacted Peter Liepa about 10 years ago. We chatted a little bit about Boulder Dash. I really had to laugh that he was here in Austria for skiing 20 years ago. Man, if I knew that I would have had the opportunity to meet him...

It's sad that told me back then that he had scruple to do anything (like making some new levels with the CK or similar) regarding Boulder Dash as FSS is very aggressive concerning its property. Would be nice to see something new from Peter. But because of this we won't. On the other hand FSS never released a Boulder Dash version that can keep up with the original one from Peter Liepa. They are almost like Microsoft - they simply have no taste. No taste for esthetic, appropriate design with the ghost of the original game. I think they never realized what makes Boulder Dash they way it is, they never realized how important the mechanics are and how all little things should play together. I do not want to get on the wrong side of this - but I almost think FSS is like Microsoft and Peter Liepa is like Apple...

What a coincidence, i talked to another classic game programmer via mail 2 years ago. Gray Chang, the guy behind Claimjumper, Bumpomovs Dogs, Dog Daze and Dog Daze DeLuxe. Claimjumper was one of my favourite games in the old days on Atari 800. Me and my brother played it often. Dog Daze was another simple but very fun game.

Back to Boulder Dash...

You're right, when looking at Boulder Dash the commercial way on NES and Gameboy Advance for exemple, the whole Boulder Dash experience is ruined and the game mechanics completly wrong. That's why i gave them such low score in my review thread.

If we look at it...

Boulder Dash was a brilliant idea for a game and completly unique. Just to bring up the idea for falling rocks, magical walls, amobea, moving walls, butterflies and so on is pure genius.

Even more impressing to make everything work that well.

Both the graphics and the sound was top notch for it's time.

Then to release a construction kit that was easy to use was the ice of the cake.

My regards to Peter Liepa, one of the best game designers of all time.

[Clark Kent]

2nd try of the 2nd part...

[Clark Kent]

The best construction kit and the best clone ever written until now is GDash. You should try it. http://jutas.eet.bme.hu/~cirix/gdash/

[Retrogamer_ST]

Thanks for the second part and a real good link.

I always look for new versions of Boulder Dash on the net and if i find any new i will share them in this thread.

[Clark Kent]

Here some new Boulder Dashes I found in the Homesoft collection. And some extracted .xex from .atr images (just to to be in line with the rest of the collection which consists all of .xex files).