Zap

= Zap by Jamie Woodhouse =

Licence
Freeware

Introduction
From the author of Qwak (which appeared on Superior Software's Play It Again Sam 10 compilation in 1989) comes a classic shoot 'em up inspired by Tekhan/Tecmo's Star Force and in the style of Namco's classic arcade game, Galaga.

Even though it actually pre-dates the BBC version of Qwak by roughly 1 or 2 years, Zap had never been published until it was released by Retro Software at the Retro Computer Museum Open Day on May 31st 2009.

Discuss Zap

Downloads
As of December 2018, Zap! is now freeware.

BBC Micro DFS Disc image (.ssd) BBC Micro UEF Tape image (.uef) BBC Master Compact ADFS Disc image (.adf)

Physical copies are no longer available however second hand copies occasionally appear on eBay.

Play Online
It is possible to [http://bbcmicro.co.uk//jsbeeb/play.php?autoboot&disc=http://bbcmicro.co.uk//gameimg/discs/1889/Disc105-Zap.ssd play Zap! online] in your browser via the Complete BBC Games Archive which uses the jsBeeb emulator (Firefox is recommended as there can be control issues under Chrome, Safari etc).

Storyline
The year is 2204 ...

The century-long wars between the Earth and the invading Dark Empire are coming to an end.

The Earth is almost certain to perish - you are the last resort.

It is your job to ZAP everything.

Keys
Z - Left X - Right : - Up ? - Down RETURN - Fire SPACE - Start Game

Credits
Programming: Jamie Woodhouse Cover Art/Loading Screen: Kecske Bak (Dave Jeffery)

History
From Jamie Woodhouse:

''I developed Zap maybe a year before the BBC version of Qwak, so I'd date it around 1987-88. It was the 2nd shoot-em-up I developed for the Beeb, the first being a sideways 'bulletfest-in-space' by the name of Darkside.''

''As far as I recall, I only submitted it to Superior Software, who for whatever reason didn't want to publish. The game would have been largely inspired by the arcade shoot-em-up, Star Force; which I used to play a lot back when I was in college.''

''Star Force had a scrolling background and you could shoot out buildings and installations, but I couldn't figure out how to do vertical scrolling on the Beeb; so in Zap, there's just a bunch of stars. Some of the attack patterns on the alien ships are very much inspired by Star Force, but a lot of them I made up myself, too.''

To read about the other games I’ve written (such as Qwak, Nitro and ATR) please visit the softography on my homepage: www.jamiewoodhouse.co.uk.

A new version of Qwak is now available for the PC, at www.qwak.co.uk.

Sample Video
Posted: Jan 11, 2019

Customer Comments
Feedback from Anthony Foulkes:

"The postie has just delivered a parcel from the super fast despatch office of Retro Software ... it took me right back to the long ago days when I would save my paper round money, swap the cash for one of my Dad's cheques, post it off and then wait and wait for the game to finally arrive.  Isn't it amazing that holding a real disc with real packaging feels a thousand times better than downloading an image file. True retro!

Zap is really very good indeed, so thanks again to all involved in its release."

Feedback from Greg Cook:

"I am now the proud owner of tape no. 10. I agree a physical copy to have and to hold is nicer. Especially for a SHMUP on tape, the loading is part of the experience! In this case I'm catching up on the games-buying I didn't get to do before!

'The graphics are rich and very smooth, a lot better than I was anticipating. You do have to watch that the enemies don't get level with you as they are fond of launching sideways mines that wipe you out!'

Thanks again [to] everyone involved!"