Friday 9 December 2016

The Unofficial Zombo's Christmas Capers (ZX Spectrum Game)


He's back, and this time it's Christmas! Zombo returns in this brand new completely unofficial game for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum! Now featuring 76% less game-breaking bugs than the first game in the series!

What's that you say? You can't be bothered fiddling with emulators? Now you don't have to, as it comes bundled with a version that'll run on your PC without having to set anything up!


THE PLOT

Centuries of overwork and stress have finally taken their toll - Santa™ has suffered a psychotic break and gone missing from his workshop in North Renfrewshire. The Government™ have tasked Zombo™ with tracking down Mr. Claus™ and retrieving the gifts for all the good little boys and girls™. Luckily, the naughty list is rather long these days, so he only needs to find a total of six presents.


GAMEPLAY

You must retrieve 6 presents and defeat the end of game baddy to win. Colour coded keys are scattered around, as are several other items, some of which are useful, others of which are not, but there's a Shootybang 2000™ somewhere which'll probably come in handy, (please bear in mind that the Shootybang 2000™ can only fire horizontally).

CONTROLS
  • Kempston Joystick
  • Sinclair Joystick
  • Keyboard 
Q - Up
A - Down
O - Left
P - Right
SPACE - Fire
H - St. Bernard's Watch (Pause)
3 - Instantaneous Death Button (Quit Game)

ALT and F4 - Exit bundled emulator

BADDIES

Killer Sprout - Bounces, requires 1 shot to kill.

Yellow Snowman - Moves erratically, requires 1 shot to kill.

Nutcracker Soldier - Moves vertically, unkillable.

Scrooge-Elf - Moves horizontally, unkillable.

Killer Xmas Tree - Follows player, requires multiple shots to kill.


Zip file includes the instructions and mock inlay shown above, tzx, tap, z80 and sna files, PLUS a version you can run straight away without setting anything up! Just extract the files, click on "Zombo's Xmas Capers.bat", (or "Capers.exe" in the 'PC' folder), and you'll be up and running. You can even use your favourite control pad by selecting 'Kempston' from the options. However, please note that this version does away with the loader, (but if you want to see what that looks like, click here).


But that's not all! I've also updated the original Zombo game to include a new Mint Choc Chip flavour! What's that I hear you say again, (thus confirming I'm either psychic, insane, or have surreptitiously bugged your home)? What the hell am I talking about? I'll tell you what the hell I'm talking about... It now comes with a built in emulator just like Christmas Capers, and the 'teleportation' bug feature has been removed for ease of play. How d'ya like them artichokes?

The original Vanilla version is also still there for the masochistic among you.


Zombo and Zombo's Christmas Capers are completely unofficial, not-for-profit fan-games by Malcolm Kirk.
Programmed in Jonathan Cauldwell's Arcade Game Designer.
Zombo™ Rebellion A/S, © Rebellion A/S.

Created in conjunction with the 2000AD MESSAGEBOARD ADVENT CALENDAR 2016™.

Friday 18 November 2016

The Trumps


This bizarre pilot episode for a 1970s British children's television programme in which strange bloated creatures roamed a post-apocalyptic landscape, occasionally shouting at foreigners, was never broadcast, as it was deemed too frightening for younger viewers.

Monday 31 October 2016

Back From The Depths Presents : Hallowscream! Hallowe'en Special 2016

What's the time, Mr. Wolf? Really? Hallowe'en again already?


The evil eighth edition of the Hallowscream! Hallowe'en Special has arrived! 48 pages packed with peculiar and paranormal perils!

Here Are The Download Links (right click and 'save as') :

Lo-res Version (file size = 20.2mb) :       MEDIAFIRE     DROPBOX

Hi-res Version (file size = 60.3mb) :       MEDIAFIRE     DROPBOX

You can also read the issue online at :      ISSUU

 These are the full contents behind the leering loathsome lupine cover by Malcolm Kirk...

Page 3 : Beauty  Script by Kim Roberts,  Art by Nathan Walkington, Letters by
Nikki Sherman
Page 9 : God Takes Care of His Own  Script by Tim West, Art by Glenn McPartlin
Page 11 : Jump Fright  Story & Art by Gordon Innes
Page 13 : Terrorvision Guide  by Malcolm Kirk
Page 14 : Real Life Ghost Caught On Camera  Story & Art by BP Johnson
Page 18 : Uncle Jack's Puzzle Page  by Malcolm Kirk
Page 19 : Endless Love  Script by Chris Redfern, Art by Davy Francis
Page 20 : Killer Weed  Story & Art by Gordon Innes
Page 23 : Rudolph Saves Christmas  Story by Tim West, Art by Carol Kewley
Page 25 : Self Harm  Story by Jason D. Brawn, Art by Glenn McPartlin
Page 27 : Grim Gallery Pin-up  Minotaur by Nicolas Krizan
Page 28 : Tombworld  Story by Paul Penna, Art by Dave Peloe
Page 35 : Warbots  Story & Art by Gordon Innes
Page 36 : The Forest  Story by Troy Vevasis, Art & Letters by Joseba Morales
Page 39 : The Scrying Mirror  Story & Art by Philip Sneyd         
Page 41 : Neighbours From Mars  Story & Art by Gordon Innes 
Page 43 : Claws of The Werewolf  Story & Art by Malcolm Kirk
Page 47 : The Fallen  Written by Paul Bradford, Art by Allen Byrns
...and...      
Page 48 : Back Cover Skull  by Malcolm Kirk

Previous issues of Hallowscream are available to download from
backfromthedepths.co.uk/hallowscream or you can buy real-life monochrome paperback versions from Lulu.comHAPPY HALLOWE'EN!

Monday 25 April 2016

Hallowscream! Evil Eighth Issue Submission Guidelines


Slightly later than usual, but we at Back From The Depths are once again looking for contributors for our freaky free, annual pdf horror comic, HALLOWSCREAM, so here are the submission guidelines...

Submissions should be horror orientated and must be weird or spooky to make the final cut.

We are mainly looking for completed comic strips between 1-7 pages in length. Anything already completed is far more likely to make it into the comic.

Script submissions should also preferably be around 1-7 pages in length.

Eerie illustrations and artwork along with interesting horror/comic articles, scary short stories, petrifying poems or anything just plain creepy will also be considered.

To get an idea of the sort of stuff we're after, you can download previous issues of Hallowscream here.

If you're looking to illustrate something, get in contact and we'll give you details of available scripts to see if anything suits your fancy.

We'll also consider material previously published elsewhere, as long as the contributors own the copyright.

Completed artwork can be either colour or black and white, and should preferably be A4 (21cm x 29.7cm) 300 dpi jpeg or png.

Submissions can be sent to merjeagles@yahoo.co.uk or ghastlymcnasty@backfromthedepths.co.uk

As this is a non-profit, small press publication, contributors will not be paid but they will retain copyright on any material submitted.

DEADLINES :

Scripts, articles and text submissions : Sunday 31st July 2016

Artwork : Monday 17th October 2016

Completed strips : Monday 24th October 2016.

The finished issue will be available online as a free pdf by October 31st, with a physical copy becoming available via Lulu.com, shortly afterwards. You can also keep up to date with Hallowscream news via the Facebook Page.