Weird Science - Tales from the
Vectrex Academy Lab
Vectrex
Game Project Title
ROTOR
Project
Status
Release version 1.2
Physical cartridge release done
by Packrat Video games available here.
Synopsis
A number-sorting puzzle-type game for the Vectrex
How To
Play
Each level of the game shows a given set of
numbers arranged around a set of rotors.
Each number is attached to one or
more of the rotors.
The rotors then start turning for a couple of
seconds, and the numbers are scrambled.
The aim now is to sort all numbers again in
ascending order within a limited amount of time.
The player can rearrange the
numbers by controlling and turning the rotors.
Ascending order of the numbers on the screen goes
from left to right and top to bottom, just like
reading the lines on a page of a book.
The brightness of a number indicates whether it is
already in the correct position (bright) or not
(dark).
Control
The active rotor is selected by means of the
joystick and indicated by highlighting and a center
dot.
Buttons 1 and 2 cause the active rotor to turn
counter clockwise.
Buttons 2 and 4 cause the active rotor to turn
clockwise.
Modes
This is a single player game only.
There are two
different game modes (selected by
means of button 1 in the options
menu).
The
game can be
started at any
level
(selected by
means of
buttons 2 and
3 in the
options menu).
Pictures of
all
levels/puzzles
are shown in
the
screenshots
section below.
Game mode 1 is arcade
mode. Successful completion of a
level advances the game to the
next level. The player starts out
with 3 lives, and the time for
solving a level ranges between 1.5
minutes and 20 seconds.
Game mode 2 is
training mode. The selected level
is played as a single-level
exercise. The time for solving the
level is 4 minutes.
The training mode is
intended for developing specific
strategies for the individual
puzzles. In arcade mode, the
player can then go for the
highscore.
Scoring
At the beginning of
each level, the player gets an
advance of 100 points.
For each turn of a
rotor, 1 point is deducted from
the current score.
Thus, the less turns
are used for solving a level, the
higher the remaining score will
be.
If a level is
successfully solved within the
given time limit, then the
remaining number of seconds is
added to the current score.
Thus, the less time
is needed for solving a level, the
higher the remaining score will
be.
After each 4
subsequent levels solved, a bonus
life is awarded.
In training mode,
there is no score. Instead the
number of turns is counted.
Trivia
The game is written entirely in C, and it
exclusively uses the Vectrex BIOS routines for
interfacing with the console hardware (no low level
assembly).
The idea for this puzzle has been lurking at the
back of my mind for a very long time, but only
recently I finally found the time to implement a
first prototype.
The basic task of the puzzle is to sort a finite
set of objects by using just a restricted set of
elementary sorting operations.
The game principle is
based on cyclic permutations of
subsets of finite ranges of
natural numbers.
Each level requires a different algorithmic
strategy.
There are
rotors of sizes 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Level 1 is an
illustration of the application of
the well known Bubble-Sort
algorithm.
Author
Peer Johannsen
Screenshots
and Overview of all Levels
Demo
Videos
Some
Thoughts
Just
like the
Rubik's Cube,
this type of
puzzle game is
probably fun
for some
people, and
rather torture
for others. So
it might not
be enjoyable
for everyone.
Some
levels are
really simple,
some are
surprisingly
hard.
Let
me know which
levels you
like and which
you don't.
Your
opinions and
comments are
highly
appreciated!
