A downloadable game

BASIL THE BASSET

Basil has a very busy day ahead of him. He has a nose for sausages, a soft spot for socks, and one dream: to fall asleep on the Big Comfy Sofa. First, though, he has to sniff out every treat in the house and well beyond it.

Guide Basil through eight screens:

  1. The Kitchen: dodge hoovers and wasps, and keep his ears clear of the hob flames while he grabs the sausages.
  2. The Back Garden: dig up the bones while the cat prowls and the wasps buzz around the thistles and roses.
  3. Bath Time!: gather the socks, steering clear of rubber ducks, soap and rising bubbles.
  4. The Park: fetch the balls while squirrels and pigeons try to stop him, and nettles lurk in the grass.
  5. The Supermarket: collect the bangers, avoiding runaway trolleys, a robovac, mousetraps and broken glass.
  6. Postman's Round: reclaim the slippers from a postman with his flying parcels, a nemesis older than time.
  7. The Vet's: grab the treats, steering clear of fleas, syringes and pills.
  8. The Big Comfy Sofa: gather the biscuits, past the cat, the Lego and the cactus, to reach the sofa at last.

A basset's legs are short, but his ears are magnificent. Hold jump while falling and Basil flaps them to glide gently down. Crumbling floors give way under him, conveyors carry him along, and a long fall will leave him in a heap.

Keep an eye on the AWAKE bar. Bassets need a lot of naps, and if the bar runs out, Basil nods off and loses a life. Collect everything on a screen to open the exit, and whatever is left of the bar is added to your score.

Gather every sausage, sock and bone, and Basil finally gets his snooze on the Big Comfy Sofa. Good boy!

More information
Published 9 days ago
StatusReleased
AuthorReallySmall
GenrePlatformer
TagsIsometric, Super Nintendo, ZX Spectrum
AI DisclosureAI Assisted, Code, Graphics, Sounds, Text

Download

Download
ZX Spectrum 26 kB
Download
SNES 256 kB
Download
SNES isometric 256 kB

Install instructions

ZX Spectrum 48K

In an emulator

  • Fuse (Linux, Mac, Windows): File → Open → basil.tap. It loads by itself.
  • Spectaculator or ZEsarUX (Windows/Mac), Speccy (Android), or browser emulators such as JSSpeccy or Qaop: open or drag in basil.tap.
  • If the emulator doesn't start the tape for you, type LOAD "" as above. If it asks for a machine type, pick 48K.

On a real Spectrum

  • DivMMC, DivIDE or esxDOS: copy basil.tap to the SD card, open the browser with NMI, select the file and press ENTER.
  • TZXDuino, CASDuino or a similar tape player: copy basil.tap to its SD card and press play once LOAD "" is waiting.
  • Audio from a phone or PC: convert the file with tape2wav basil.tap basil.wav (it comes with Fuse's utilities). Plug the headphone output into the Spectrum's EAR socket, set the volume near maximum and play the WAV once LOAD "" is waiting. If it fails, adjust the volume and try again.

Notes

  • The game is written for the 48K Spectrum and I tested it on the Fuse emulator's 48K model. It should also run on 128K machines, but I haven't tested that.
  • Keys: O and P to move, SPACE to jump (hold it while falling to glide). K switches the Kempston joystick on or off, S switches the music, and H pauses.

SNES

There are two SNES ROMs: basil.sfc (the side-view game) and basil_iso.sfc (the isometric one). Each is a standard 256 KB LoROM file with no header or patching needed, so it should run in any SNES emulator.

Controls (SNES pad)

  • Side-view: D-pad walks, and B, Y, A or Up jumps (hold it in the air to glide). Start pauses, Select toggles music, and L+R quits to the title.
  • Isometric: the D-pad walks diagonally across the floor (Up = away to the right, Left = away to the left), and B, Y or A jumps (hold to glide). Start pauses, Select toggles music, and L+R quits to the title.

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