Boulder Dash

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Boulder Dash, aka Rockford, originally released in 1984, is a classic series of computer games for the Apple II, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Atari 400/800 home computers, and later ported to the NES, Acorn Electron, PC, Amstrad CPC, and many other platforms. It was created by Peter Liepa and Chris Gray and published by First Star Software, which still owns the rights to the game. Image:C64 Boulder Dash.png

The hero of the game, whom the player has to control, is the brave prospector "Rockford". He has to dig through caves collecting gems and diamonds, while avoiding dangerous creatures of various types as well as obstacles like falling rocks and the problem of being trapped behind mountains of gems or piles of rock.

Boulder Dash is one of the very few computer games ever to be ported from home computers to arcades (contrary to the other way around). At least four arcade versions of Boulder Dash have been released by various companies:

Contents

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Official game titles

The titles of the home computer versions.

  • Boulder Dash (1984), the original, published by First Star
  • Boulder Dash 2 – Rockford's Revenge (1986), published by Electronic Arts (EA)
  • Super Boulder Dash (1986), EA (combo pack incl. the first two games)
  • Boulder Dash Construction Kit (1987), published by Epyx (also sold as Boulder Dash IV)
  • Rockford (1988), published by Mastertronic ('MAD-X' and 'Arcadia' labels)
  • Boulder Dash - M.E., published by First Star, developed by InstantCom [1]
  • Boulder Dash - M.E. 2, published by First Star, developed by InstantCom

Rockford is a home conversion of the officially-licensed arcade game.

This list is not exhaustive; in recent years First Star Software and their official licensees have produced a large number of variants on different platforms (including mobile devices). See First Star's Boulder Dash page for more details.

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Game objects

(commonly referred to as "entities")

  • Rockford is the hero of the game, the character controlled by the player. His goal is to collect diamonds and avoid contact with monsters and falling rocks. (Interesting note is that the game allows more than one entry point, thus allowing multiple characters moving simultaneously.)
  • Dirt and Space are the two basic components of the playfield. Dirt can serve for blocking objects, while space allows them to move freely. Rockford clears dirt as he moves, creating space.
  • Walls are the delimiters of the level. Two basic types exist, destructible (which can be removed with explosions) and indestructible (from which is the edge of the level is usually made). Destructible walls have a special version called magic walls, which allows the player to turn rocks into diamonds (and vice versa).
  • The exit is the final goal Rockford must reach after collecting enough diamonds. The exit is normally hidden, disguising itself as an indestructible wall, but starts to blink after it is opened. It is, however, opposed to its disguise, destructible by explosions. A level can have multiple exits. Hidden exits also exist - these behave the same way as normal ones, except the blinking.
  • Rocks are probably the most often used elements of the game. Upon removing the dirt under them, they start falling down until they reach a solid ground again. A falling rock can crush enemies, but also Rockford. When a rock lands on the top of another rock or diamond, it slides off sideways. Rocks also slide off the edge of destructible walls. Rocks can be destroyed by explosions.
  • Diamonds are the items Rockford must collect in order to open the exit on a level. Otherwise they act the same way as rocks do, including their ability to crush Rockford.
  • Fireflies are one of the enemies in the game. They always try to follow the wall on their left. Upon contact with a falling rock they explode in a 3x3 radius, creating space. Contacting Rockford also makes them explode - alas this explosion always involves Rockford as well.
  • Butterflies differ from fireflies in two important things. They follow the wall to their right and when they explode, they leave behind 3x3 diamonds.
  • Amoeba is one of the most unpredictable elements of the game. Amoeba can grow by occupying spaces and dirt (the grow rate is not constant but can be defined in the level settings), and it causes enemies to explode upon contact. If it reaches a specific percent of the area available on the level, it turns into rocks. However, if the player manages to enclose it into a smaller area and the amoeba cannot grow more, it turns into diamonds. (An amoeba enclosed on start of the level does not start to grow or turn into diamonds before being "let loose".) Amoeba, while growing, makes a distinctive sound during the game.
  • Slime is the lookalike of amoeba, but it works completely differently. Slime does not grow, eventhough it does cause enemies to explode. Its functionality can be revealed when dropping a rock or a diamond on top of it; slime has a permeability rate which defines how fast will it allow the item on top of it to go through it. This happens in quite a sudden and random manner, making the game rely on improvising even more.
  • Horizontal and vertical expanding walls look and act just like destructible ones with one difference: when possible, they expand in their given direction, often trapping the player or the monsters. Expanding walls are made out of themselves - blowing a hole in the middle of a row causes it to close in again almost immediately.
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Clones

Several clones have been made of Boulder Dash. Many clones which have copied the name or appearance of the original game have been shut down by cease and desist order from First Star over the years (such as Boulderoid); only a few video game companies have shown this level of diligence towards their intellectual property, and despite these efforts, the basic gameplay has been reused many times.

In the rocks-and-diamonds genre, the Repton series originating on the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron, offers superficially similar gameplay arrived at independently.

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External links

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