Bomb Squad (Atari 8 Bit) by Noah Burney
A downloadable game
For NOMAM's BASIC 10Liner contest
Platform: Atari 8-Bit
Author: Noah Burney
Language: FastBasic 4.7
Category: EXTREM-256
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BOMB SQUAD
(c) 2025 Noah Burney
Beep...beep...beep... Defuse the bomb before it explodes!
Consult your Bomb Defusal Manual to identify the correct bomb, and cut the wires in precisely the right order. One mistake and it's all over!
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REQUIREMENTS
- Atari 400/800/XL/XE computer or emulator (Altirra, Atari800MacX, etc.)
- Joystick
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HOW TO PLAY
1. Press fire button to start
2. Move joystick left or right to flip through the pages of the Bomb Defusal Manual
3. Find the page describing the bomb displayed at the top. Be sure to match exact number and colors of the wires.
4. Move the joystick up and down to select a wire
5. Referring to the manual, press the fire button to cut the wires according the specific order
6. Once you've cut all the correct wires, the light will flash green and beep, indicating it has been defused.
7. Press fire button to get a new bomb
8. If you cut the wrong wire, the bomb explodes and the game is over!
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GAME VERSIONS
The game is available in NTSC and PAL versions. The only real difference is the timing.
Also available in German and Polish. There are some minor visual and sound differences to still fit within 10 lines, but the gameplay is the same.
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SOURCE CODE
This game was developed using FastBasic 4.7. The full annotated, non-condensed, code is included here.
English / NTSC version:
[bomb-squad-src.png]
German / PAL version:
[bomb-squad-src-de.png]
Polish / PAL version:
[bomb-squad-src-pl.png]
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to Eric Carr for sharing his source code image generator, and also for providing very helpfully annotated FastBasic programs in previous years. Thank you to DjayBee and Peter Kaczorowski for checking my translations.
Download
Install instructions
Starting the game:
In emulator: drag-and-drop .xex file onto emulator window. Via FujiNet: mount .xex file in D1: and reboot. A8PicoCart or similar: select .xex file to boot.
Comments
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NOMAM's BASIC 10Liner contest has an exciting new game for Atari 8-Bit players. BOMB SQUAD requires players to consult a Bomb Defusal Manual to defuse the bomb before it explodes!
You look like the type of person who'd enjoy this jam: WOW JAM
They have a very interesting platform and are even offering prizes xD
I've been running into issues where after a while, the game turns into screensaver mode, and when I press the fire button to restart the game, the colours are still messed up (and the manual becomes unreadable too). The game even sometimes enters screensaver mode when you're playing.
Push the space button (or any other button) to deactivate screensaver mode.
Noah could add a Poke to the code to prevent the (built in) screensaver mode. (I don‘t know if there is any space left in the 10 lines)
Thanks for the workaround. If you do end up having an update with that I'll be happy to get it.
This is great! I wanted to play a simple defusing game for the Atari 2600 or Atari 8-bit and this is it!
Love this game! I like the way the difficulty ramps up slowly and the ticking of the bomb gets more and more stressful.
Fun game, and nice colorful graphics!
very good