Shovel Duck II : Dig Duck!

AVAILABLE NOW! Shovel Duck II : Dig Duck!
ALSO AVAILABLE! Bonus Game 1: Shovel Duck II: A Minor Panic!
ALSO AVAILABLE! Bonus Game 3: Shove Duck II: A Mousive Panic!

Updated 2024-06-14

Dollar Bill is back, and they've brought their shovel with them. At least, I think they remembered the shovel... it's around here somewhere!

After a successful BBQ with their friend, Money Mouse, Bill receives a mysterious letter informing them that they have inherited their late Uncle's gold mine (We knew poor timekeeping would be the death of him). Bill didn't mind; everyone knows that pretty things that sparkle and shine can bring joy and happiness to the bank manager in these crazy and finanically insecure times...

Getting to the mine is one thing though. Getting into the mine is another. And where did all these worms come from? And how is it that rocks burn? And where are all the diamonds and gold Bill is expecting to find?

Shovel duck II: Dig Duck is a platforming puzzle-adventure with problems to solve, puzzles to puzzle, and worms to avoid. Also skulls. Remember, if it moves it probably can kill you. Also, if it's red, it probably can kill you too. Because red things mean, "ouch that hurt!" ... Sometimes it's not easy being a duck.

It should run on all good ZX Spectrum emulators; I'm a fan of FUSE and ZXDS but most shouldn't have a problem with it. 

Controls are redefinable, and Kempston and Sinclair joysticks are supported.

LEFT = O
RIGHT = P
JUMP = M

You have some "special skills" - as you're a duck, you can bounce (flap) your way up walls. Just stand between a pair of walls, press jump and a direction and then release the direction key and you'll bounce (flap) to the top of the wall.

If you want to stop bouncing (flapping) hold a directional key and you'll slide down the wall to the bottom.

Because Bill is a bird, and birds fly, you can control Bill a little in the air. Jumping right and intended to jump left? No problem, just hit left and Bill will turn mid-jump and flap off the other way. Similar with falling. Some of the platforming needs you to drop left and turn right or vice versa.

Once you have the shovel, you can dig BLUE rocks. Press and hold the jump button and you'll dig on landing. In the mine there are some blue rocks that take two hits. Don't hang around though, the ground is approaching fast... and so is the ceiling... (not a problem in real life, but when you've only got limited resolution, there's only so much we can show you on screen. Plus that constant impending doom. It creates a sense of danger and tension. Will you make it? Can you survive? Will you have another go and try again? Will you use snapshots or rewind features in modern emulators? All questions I cannot answer.

As there appear to be a lot of games involving miners... for some reason... a number make cameos within Shovel Duck II. Usually in awkward, forward-motion preventing places.

The puzzling shouldn't be too hard. The platforming though, hopefully it's a little challenging. If it's too challenging... practice a little more and you'll get it. Most of it is just timing. Except the worms. The worms and the fire. You'll need your wits about you with them.

Full game released 12th May 2024.

Extra Bonus Content will follow. (Namely extra and extended games that would have formed part of the main game, had there been 'just a little more memory available'...)

BONUS GAME 1 released 28th May 2024.

Shovel Duck II: A minor Panic is a single screen, arcade platformer for the ZX Spectrum 48K. 40 Levels of worm roasting play. Same controls as the main game, (O = left, P = right, M = jump (or redefine))

Enjoy!

BONUS GAME 2 : Coming soon.

BONUS GAME 3 : Released 14th June 2024

Shovel Duck II: Shovel Mouse One: A Mousive Panic is a single screen, arcade platformer for the ZX Spectrum 48K. Influenced heavily by the classic Space Panic game from Universal (although I never got to the play the original arcade game back in the day, I played a few "Spectrum games that were similar"). 
Releasing this bonus game out of sequence because of R-Tape's comments on the Spectrum Computing forum made me think, "yes, I could write that using MPAGD" and that is where my focus has been... I'll be getting back to game 2 shortly.

Classic platforms and ladders acction. O = Left, P = Right, Q = Up, A = Down, M = Dig, H = Pause.

Three types of nasties. Basic skulls die falling one floor. Pirate skulls need two, and regal skulls need three. Good luck! Enjoy!

Noon 30 Shovel Duck II is a game for the 48K ZX Spectrum and was been created with MPAGD. This is my third game created in MPAGD so I have a feeling I know a little more about what I'm doing... Whether it's any good or not though, that's for you to decide. I've used Beepola to create/ interpret a couple of tunes... if you can call them that... 

Additional tools used include ZX-Editor, ZX-Blockeditor and ZX-Paintbrush.

I'm still aiming for that budget £1.99-£2.50 feel. I might be a little biased but I feel if I picked this up in WHSmiths back in the day, I would have been happy. Hopefully I'm not the only one who feels that way.