Crossroads (Steve Harter)

Title – Crossroads
System – Commodore 64
Author – Steve Harter
Publication – Compute!’s Gazette, Issue 54, December 1987
Page Scans – 1 2 3 4 5 6
Preserved by – eboy71
Recommended Emulator – VICE

Download ROM

Loading the Game –

Mount the disk image (G054-Dec 1987-Crossroads.d64) in your emulator. In VICE, this is done by selecting File → Attach Disk Image
Load the app by typing LOAD”CROSSROADS”,8
Once loaded, type RUN to start

Article Text

In this arcade-style game, one of the best we’ve ever published, you battle a host of hostile, mutant creatures. The fight takes place in a maze — which is different at each level. You progress by capturing “spars” — whirling fans with magical properties. On each level, you’ll encounter new hordes of monsters. For the 64, one or two players. Joystick(s) required.

Carefully, you lean out into the hallway. Looks clear. Eerie, how there’s no sound. With so many creatures near, you’d think you would hear something. They’re just waiting for you, probably, hunched over an illegal dice game, or digging through a garbage can for scraps of food.

You need to catch one more spar to move on to the next level. Now you can hear one whirling down the hall. Well, no choice really— better move. You run down the hall, looking down each hallway you pass. Trouble. One hall harbors a group of dangerous monkeys. A particularly nasty one looks up and stares right into your eyes. You see him reach for his gun. Panicked, but trying to look cool, you fire a few blind shots and move on, sweating. They’re on your tail now, no doubt about it.

Just when you think you’ve got them licked, you run almost head-on into a blue rubberhead. It bellows in anger. No time to shoot. You duck down a hall. There’s the spar. You can hear the rubberhead screaming behind you as it starts to shoot. But you’ve won this round – on to the next level of “Crossroads.” Crossroads is a game that features nine different types of enemies. You — alone or with a friend — must battle these frenzied, aggressive creatures in a series of different mazes.

Getting Started

Crossroads is written entirely in machine language. Type it in using “MLX,” the machine language entry program found elsewhere in this issue. When you run MLX, you’ll be asked for the starting and ending addresses for the data you’U be entering. For Crossroads, respond with the following values;

Starting address: 0801
Ending address: 1F30

Be sure to save a copy of the program to tape or disk before exiting MLX.

Crossroads loads and runs like a BASIC program. When you’re ready to play, plug a joystick into port 1 (or plug in two joysticks for a two-player game), load the program, and type RUN,

An Enemy At Every Turn

When Crossroads starts, several monsters are transported into the maze. This is your opportunity to see how various species interact; for example, monkeys and rubberheads are bitter enemies. Here’s a list of all the mutants and their point values;

Blue Flea – 50

Red Human Mutant – 150

Cyan Mashed Potato – 300

Orange Lion – 400

Green Mashed Potato – 600

Yellow Lemonshark – 1000

Blue Rubberhead – 1000

Brown Monkey – 1100

Purple Rubberhead – 1500

Each type of animal has its own personality. For a closer look at each species, the demo screen lets you bring any animal out into the maze. Use the keys 1-9 to bring out the creatures. For example, press 1 for a blue flea, 2 for a red human mutant, and so on. Hold down the key to bring out several creatures of the same kind.

At the top of the screen is the status area. You’ll see your score, your opponent’s score (if you have an opponent), the current high score, the number of shields you have (S), and the number of lives remaining (L).

Choose between 1 and 2 players by moving the joystick up or down. When you’re ready to begin the battle, press the fire button. The first maze appears. Into the maze, monsters appear, eight at a time. Finally, you (and your opponent, in the two-player game) appear, player 1 in the lower left corner, player 2 in the lower right.

You acquire shields by picking up the whirling, fan-like spars. Shields protect you from being destroyed by shots. You lose a shield each time you are shot. If you’re hit without a shield, you lose a life. You’ll move on to the next maze when you have collected five spars. You receive 500 bonus points for each shield you have left at the end of the level. Every 10,000 points, you get a new life. You are limited to a maximum of 9 lives and 9 shields at one time.

Move around the maze and shoot the mutants. Note that the mutants also become more powerful when they pick up spars.

You can pause the game by pressing F5. While the game is paused, you can change the color of your player. Press f1 to cycle through and change the color of player 1; press f3 to change player 2.

Warnings And Tips

Be careful when attacking blue or purple rubberheads. If you shoot a rubberhead in the back, your bullet will bounce back and hit you. However, if you keep your distance when firing, you’ll be able to shoot the bullets that bounce back until the rubberhead turns toward you. Rubberheads are also dangerous because they shoot special guided missiles that can shoot bullets at you. It’s best to destroy these missiles as quickly as possible.

Beware of shooting in hallways that run the entire length of the screen — since shots wrap around from one side of the screen to the other, you may end up shooting yourself. If you fire a few bullets down an unblocked passageway and then quickly get out of the way, the bullets will continue moving until something walks into them. These traps become good defensive strategy.

Your gun has unlimited fire-power. Hold down the fire button for continuous firing.

Finally, as each new maze appears, pay close attention to the types of mutants that show up. If one species is over-represented, try not to kill off the enemies of that species – they’ll need your help.

Editor’s Notes:

As advertised, this is one of the best games I’ve ever seen as a type-in. It’s extremely fast paced, and the number of enemies on the screen at one time is extremely impressive.
Steve Harter is credited with multiple games, including a sequel to Crossroads (Crossroads II: Pandemonium) and Bastion. All were published in either COMPUTE! or COMPUTE!’s Gazette.
If you are planning on typing this game in, you will need to use COMPUTE!’s machine language editor, MLX II.