Jet Pac: Full Spectrum Astronaut
A re-imagined version of the game Jet Pac from Ultimate Play the Game from 1983.
This game was the first that I had on our Spectrum ZX48 computer back in the day and I played it hours and hours with my sister. Such fond memories.
All 16 levels and their respective enemies are now in working order and the game is fully released.
I hope you like the game in all it's simplicity 
PS: When playing on browser press F11 for full screen.
As I am an unemployed small indie developer, I would appreciate a lot that if you feel like it, please donate a bit towards getting some newer hardware and software tools, so I can continue making more nice games.
Download
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Development log
- An update after a long while with quality of life and game experience upgrade.Mar 22, 2024
- New faster loadingDec 27, 2023
- Optimization and fixed some major bugsApr 21, 2023
- Happy 40th birthday ZX Spectrum <3Apr 23, 2022
- Some nasty bugs fixed that crept in the game last time.Apr 17, 2022
- Launching! Full 1.0 version with all the candy you could muster!Apr 14, 2022
- Level 6 with enemies finished + bugfixesApr 08, 2022
- Lots of progress 5 fully playable levels with 5 enemies.Apr 03, 2022
Comments
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Wonderful
How can we prevent the shield from getting destroyed? Seems like a random game-over timer.
Collect the atomic drops to regen 5 points of shields, maximum is 25.
Sehän oli hauska testattava, tosin meni jo ylivoimaiseks kun ei pystyny oikeen enää väistää droidi kärpäsiä vastaan. :D
Harjoitus tekee mestarin kuten alkuperäisessäkin muksuna pelatessa <3
Jet Pac Full Spectrum Astronaut Gameplay
Hm. There's a lot to like about this, and it's almost very good… but the whole business of the ship getting destroyed (and ending the game) really is INTENSELY irritating and unfair. The shield is often depleted and then the ship destroyed and there's just nothing you can do about it. Also, the need to position the ship sections together pretty precisely is also frustrating. The beauty of the original Jetpac is that it was so very easy to play. It could be annoying, but it didn't have these aspects of sheer frustration. Take away the possibility of the ship being destroyed and make the assembly less frustrating (i.e. make it more like the original) and this could become really fun
Those are some really valid arguments I have to say.
I just went with the shield as the game felt to be too easy, but it seems that I was blinded with playing it hundreds of times in a row myself when creating the game, as well as it being the first game I ever made public.
I'll be sure to address these issues in the upcoming update to ease up the placement of the rocket pieces as I kind of like the physics of it and will up the shield amount or the amount of shields the atomic drops provide back to the player to make it more playable.
Thank you for your feedback, it is really helpful <3
Thanks for the detailed and positive response!
New version is up.
Shield is now 25 from 10.
Shield regen from atomic pickup is now 5 from 1.
Enjoy ;)
Thanks – it's certainly very much less frustrating now!
OMG dude, I was going to do a quick remake of that game over the vacation, but this is great! (I'm old and played a ton of this back in the 80s)
Nice! So glad you liked our rendition of it as it was a first game I had on my Spectrum ZX48 back in the day as well as the first game I actually released.
Love the intro and the voice work! It's a very good game, but (like someone else mentioned) I was doing well and then my rocket got destroyed. Maybe make it more obvious how much damage it has incurred?
Glad that you like my game <3
On the top left there is a shield number that indicates the health of the shield from 10 to 0.
You can get more shield by collecting the radiation item.
Nice game, good fun, but: I´d love to have joypad control, plus I´m not a great fan of the fact that the rocket can get destroyed.
Thanks ^_^
Controller support is in the works next.
Collect the radiation block to replenish the shield and defend the bubble, makes the play a bit more varying since every enemy is acting differently
New version is up.
Shield is now 25 from 10.
Shield regen from atomic pickup is now 5 from 1.
Enjoy ;)
Good stuff, but in 2 of 2 tries the rocket was destroyed by the flying asteroids, so basically not much fun.
Maybe make rocket indestructible.
There is difficulty slider coming up.
The shield bubble takes 10 hits and can be recharged with atomic icons, also defending the rocket with lazers is highly recommended.
New version is up.
Shield is now 25 from 10.
Shield regen from atomic pickup is now 5 from 1.
Enjoy ;)