Dungeons of Gomilandia (ZX Spectrum)

Gominolo suddenly realized that the invading army had withdrawn.

- "Perfect! I have won! I am an ace throwing stones!" 

Happy and proud, he ran down the stairs of the tower to speak to the King and wait for his reward. Upon arrival, everything looked calm and the monarch on his throne, quiet, very still. He went to speak to him but did not receive an answer. He got closer, and when he touched him he crumbled like a house of cards... but it was bones instead. 

Suddenly ropes appeared from all over, tied him up, and the enemy monarch appeared from the shadows.

- "You thought you had won and we were only keeping you entertained. You want a reward and you will have it. The best of all. Your own dungeon, the same one that no one has ever left alive." 

The ground opened under Gominolo, and he fell into an abyss. Upon reaching the ground he was in an infinite room dominated by a strange creature climbed on a column, with his eyes covered by a bandage, long white hair and a column on his back at the ends of which seemed to rest a raven and red monster blood.

- "I am the personification of this dungeon, created to be judgment and jail at the same time. Only the righteous, the innocent and those who show that they deserve it will come out of it. Find a key and open the door of each dungeon. Reach the end and get your freedom, but hurry up! Time is short and it will judge you himself if you stay still."

Gominolo ran to a key on the floor and opened the door at the end. What was behind it? Another room with another key and another door! How many would there be? No one knows, no one has EVER seen it.  

HOW TO PLAY

The Gomilandia dungeon is divided into rooms. Each room has a door that must be opened with a key. You have to take the key and go through the door to get to the next room. There is a time limit for solving the puzzle, after which you will lose a life and have to start again. The dungeon has 55 different rooms, each with a specific challenge. When you finish all of them, you will get your freedom. 

The room's structure is made up of different blocks with their own behaviors. In many cases, these blocks will have to be moved around to exit the room. You can take the block just below, automatically moving down one space. When releasing it bellow you will automatically raise a space. 

The different blocks that exist are:

• Normal blocks: They are common red, magenta, green, blue, yellow and white blocks. They can be picked up and released wherever we want.
• Jump blocks: They are blocks which you can jump vertically, and once at the highest point you can move left or right one space. They can be picked up and released wherever we want.
• Movile blocks: They can be picked up and dropped wherever we want. They have two arrows on it, which indicate the movements they are going to make, and their order. They are activated by releasing them and we will be transported on them until they stop their trajectory or we stop it ourselves, we get off or take them.
• Fragile blocks: When you step on them they will fall apart in a very short time. They cannot be manipulated, just step on them.
• Fixed blocks: They cannot be moved from their place.
• Deadly blocks: Al tocarlos nos matarán automáticamente.

The game system is as follows:

• You can move left and right.
• You can go up and down a block just by moving towards it.
• You can lower two blocks without damaging yourself, but you cannot step on them.
• If you fall more than two block heights, you will take damage and lose a life.
• You can take the block under your feet automatically lowering one height.
• You can drop the block under your feet by automatically going up one height. Some blocks are activated when released.
• You can jump on the jump blocks. It is only allowed on this type of blocks.

Reorder the blocks and use their characteristics to solve the challenge of each room before the time limit runs out. 

At the end of each room a score will be obtained based on the remaining time (see game modes for more information). 

When all lives are exhausted, a three letter code can be entered to store the score in the record table.

CONTROLS

The game is controlled by keyboard or joystick.Keyboard controls:

P: RIGHT
O: LEFT
Q: UP
A: DOWN
SPACE: FIRE
R: Reset level
G: Abort game

PASSWORDS

For each room in the dungeon there is a different password. This password is displayed at the beginning and in the "Game over" message. You can enter this password in the main menu to continue where you left off.

Also you can use the next special passwords:

• ROTIDE: On/Off the level editor.
• TEODOR: Play with Teodoro.
• GOMINL: Play with Gominolo.
• LEVEL PASSWORD BACKWARDS: Play in mirror mode.

GAME MODES

Because some rooms may require multiple attempts and skill to finish in time, two game modes are offered so as not to frustrate players:  

• ARCADE MODE: It is the default mode. You play with time and lives, receiving bonus score for the remaining time at the end of each room. Every 1000 points you get an extra life.
• RELAXED MODE: You play without time, lives or points.

CREDITS

Original idea, programming, graphics, art, design and music:   Francisco Javier Velasco Morales (Pagantipaco)  

Additional programming:   Francisco Javier Peña (Utopian)  

Presentation screen loading routine:   Rafael Pardo (Spirax)   Loader uses ZX7 compression.

Music engine:   Beepola.  

Tests:   Francisco Javier Peña (Utopian)   Rafael Pardo (Spirax)   Francisco Javier Loscos (Metr)   Paula   Equipo Retroworks.

THANKS

Thanks to all of you who support the retro scene from any of its perspectives, playing, writing, publishing videos, participating, creating or organizing events, everything contributes and is the main motivation of continuing to develop games. Thanks to Paula our youngest tester. Thank you Fran Gallego for your design tips. And thanks to all my colleagues at Retroworks for supporting me in this very personal project that comes at a very important time for me. (Pagantipaco)