Well this is glorious news for an early morning heads up, as the classic ZX Spectrum 3D forest chase game Deathchase has been successfully ported to the Commodore VIC-20 (8K RAM expansion) by Kweepa, the talented creator behind the VIC-20 Jet Set Willy port. To overcome the VIC-20's lack of per-cell background colours, Kweepa implemented a clever raster split technique to dynamically change the background from sky to ground colour mid-frame. Furthermore, the game optimizes performance by ditching the original Spectrum version's slow two- or three-pass rendering system. Instead, it utilizes a custom lookup table that scans ahead in the map to pull trees forward and outward. This mathematical approach speeds up gameplay significantly while ensuring highly accurate 3D perspective scaling.
Deathchase for VIC-20 complete!
— Steve 🇺🇦 McCrea (@Kweepa) July 12, 2026
Source and download here: https://t.co/ozeYYH1cfw
Let me know if you complete all eight sectors... pic.twitter.com/tI6Z9hJCYO
Players will notice a slightly modified 23x22 screen layout. While incredibly close to the VIC-20's standard 22x23 display, this specific configuration places a distinct line directly down the center to establish perfect visual symmetry. Though the core gameplay remains delightfully simple, the developer notes that roughly 2K of memory remains entirely free. This open space provides a perfect opportunity for the community to tweak mechanics, optimize code, or introduce brand-new features.
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Wow, outstanding. The Vic-20 was the first computer my family had. This game would have blown our minds! Actual 3-D gameplay!!! Just unheard of at the time.
ReplyDeleteI have one suggestion. At the moment it is very clear when you've hit one of the other bikers, as there is a large explosion animation and loud explosion sound effect. However, it is not clear when or if the tank has been hit. I suggest at least using the explosion sound effect to make that clear.
Great to see this on the VIC, but the change to the firing system, with shots now not guided, is hard to get to grips with.
ReplyDeleteplayed that one on my british penpal in summer 1985 on his speccy. This computer had great games.
ReplyDelete