he game was released in 1981 actually thinking about it
without the rose tinted glasses I think I received this with 3 other games in
a pack, maybe for a birthday or Christmas present, anyway lets just say I received it soon after launch!

If you want to see it played in the flesh then look here www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq0CTYotM08

Playing the game was hypnotizing for me because of the speed the alien robots moved. It was amazing that the VIC was capable of making them zoom so smoothly over the screen with such speed. Such a great game.

Loading the game from tape

Well it does give the instructions, Function key 8 starts the game while the other function keys cycle through the difficulty levels.

It's basically the same game as BEZERK for the c64, and of course, both were based on the arcade game. The game is simple. You need to escape from a maze full of robots that you are trapped in. You can shoot them, and move in all directions while shooting in the direction you move. The Robots will come towards you and try to shoot you. If you touch them then you will die. All walls are electrified and will kill you on first touch. You must kill all the aliens in the room and then escape through one of the exits.

You will encounter a number of different coloured robots. Each colour reflects their difficulty or skill. The robots can shoot multiple bullets, but you can only shoot one at a time, and will have to wait for it to disappear before firing again. The game has some colour clashing, and yep, looking at it now, it's not exactly perfect, but I think it's stood the test of time really well.

SCORES

Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 5/10 just blips
Gameplay: 8/10
Overall: 8/10

It's a great game simple but good


*************************************
Q & A WITH LENARD ROACH
Part 2: Programs
*************************************

blip.tv/bios/lenard-roach-and-his-programs-at-commvex-2012-6565396

At the Commodore Vegas Expo v8 2012, Lenard Roach speaks of his book, Run/Stop-Restore; book publishing, using a UPS, and his C64 BASIC programs for home accounting. Filmed by Robert Bernardo

Commodore Free continued their chat with Lenard, and turned the questioning to his programming on the Commodore 64 --

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Q: Lenard, this is too cool for you to sit down again and give us some of your time to talk shop about the Commodore.

A: The pleasure is all mine, I assure you. The Commodore is a great machine both for general as well as recreational use.

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Q: What got you into the business of writing Commodore programs?

A: I can thank my Commodore teacher, Carl Zuel, and various Commodore publications for that. I started with type-in programs and noticed that they were written in English, and what I mean by English is that you could actually read the code like a story. I started fooling around with the text of the programs, changing PRINT statements first, and later, with the help of Carl, I started to learn the algebraic expressions and what they mean. Later, I
started writing small coded text with my twist of comedy, then progressed to full-blown BASIC coded programs.

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Q: I see from your website, lenardroach.com, that you have some programs for sale. What are they, how did they come into bring, and what do they do? Let's start with "Check it Out."

A: "Check it Out" was my first ever major programming effort, which got the attention of the editor at RUN magazine. "Check it Out," in short, allows you to print into the face of a wallet size check all the necessary information. All you have to do is sign it.

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Q: Why did you write this program?

A: At the time I was writing about 15 to 20 checks each week to various bills and organizations. What I needed was a way to print off a check like a payroll check, only smaller, so I could save my wrists (carpel tunnel was just
starting to set in), and also speed up the process of bill paying. I started off with just a simple printing program formatted for a Commodore MPS 802 printer. From there it grew to its present functionality. This is where RUN bought the work for $150 and published it in the November/December 1992 issue.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q: Where does the program stand now? Have you done anything more to it since its 1992 release?

A: Since RUN owns the legal copyright to the work, I can do very little to it and publish it again. I have to get permission from the present owners of the copyright before I can do a re-release, but to answer your question, I've done some code re-arranging so that reading the code as text is easier. I've also updated the code to accept information from "Check Mate" whenever the user wishes to access that data.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q: Let's talk a little bit about "Check Mate." What's the story behind it?

A: "Check it Out" and "Check Mate" go hand in hand. After making a successful hit with my first ever for-profit publication, I sat down at my Commodore 128 every night after work and started coding, but it was aimless typing with no central direction. Each week, as I worked with "Check it Out" I was noticing something missing. A lot of my bills, like rent, had a steady amount behind them. Wouldn't it be neat, I thought, to create a database-style program that "Check it Out" could access so that all users needed to do was call up the
data file, print the check, and then sign? With a little help from the disk-drive users' guide, I wrote the code for "Check Mate". The program worked great, but then "Check it Out" needed to be revamped to accept the incoming "Check Mate"-created data, so a new version of "Check it Out" was written to gave access to said data. However, there was no publication due to RUN owning the copyright to "Check it Out."

- - - - - - - - - -

Q: But "Check Mate" can be sold since it is a stand-alone work?

A: Yes. I usually sell both programs as a set. The purchaser is buying "Check Mate" and getting the new version of "Check it Out" for free.

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Q: Okay, now we come to the program named "TEA." Obviously this is an acronym for something larger Care to elaborate?

A: TEA is short for "The Envelope Addressor." This is a short, 54 block
program that creates, stores, edits, and calls off from disk the name,
address, and zip code of an individual or organization and then prints both
the "to" and "from" addresses onto the face of a #10 size envelope. The
program was published in an issue of Loadstar magazine some time back.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q: What's the origin behind this Commodore work?

A: I was editor, publisher, and distributor of the Commodore Users Group of Kansas City's newsletter, "Ryte Bytes." Just like writing checks, my carpel tunnel started acting up when it came to addressing the envelopes to all the members, as well as those clubs where we do newsletter swaps. I decided that a database and print routine needed to be created on my Commodore, so once
again, necessity became the mother of invention, and TEA was written. Later,
as the need arose, I revamped TEA to include formats for #7 and dual windowed envelopes, too. For the upgraded version I renamed the program TEA 4 2. I was going to revamp the program a third and final time to let it work on the Commodore 128, but a simple load of TEA 4 2 in 40 column mode on the 128 gives you the same desired effects as if it were in the 64 version.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q: Moving on to the last program in the bunch, the simply named "The Ledger." Where did this one come from?

A: I tried writing a program based on my ex-wife's budgeting book, which was simply a ledger that followed the spending on household bills, loans, credit cards, medical expenses, stuff like that. My first attempt, "The Obligator Coordinator," was a dismal failure, full of bugs and hard to follow for the user. After a couple of years passed under the bridge, I sat down at my Commodore and re-wrote the entire program, basically scrapping the old code

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