A.I. Invaders - ZX Spectrum 48k/128k

Hello everyone,

I know how some people feel about A.I., and I completely understand where they’re coming from. In this case, though, it was really just curiosity — I wanted to see what could actually be achieved without having any machine-code knowledge.

So please don’t hate me for using A.I. (although, judging  by the past, a few of you already did before this!)

What started as a bit of fun suddenly made me realise just how far A.I. has come, and the potential impact it could have both good and bad, particularly when it comes to coding.

As I’ve mentioned, I have no knowledge of machine code. I do, however, have some BASIC experience, which I learned back in 1983 when I first got my computer.

Anyway, this is a little game that I directed. I didn’t actually make it — Claude did — but I guided it through the process and decided what I wanted it to do.

It’s a simple Space Invaders-style game featuring:

• A loading screen
• A high-score table
• 48K sound effects
• 128K music, including The Blue Danube
• Different control methods

Everything was created using Claude. There are still a few bugs that I’ll try to fix, but the main game is there and, considering how it came about, I’m pretty amazed by the result.

Controls

If you’re using the keyboard:

• O — Left
• P — Right
• M — Fire

I tested this game using Fuse emulator, but any real ZX Spectrum should work.

Fuse emulator is free to use and the links are down below

Windows

• Download the emulator here

 https://sourceforge.net/projects/fuse-emulator/files/fuse/1.9.1/fuse-1.9.1-win32...

• Unarchive it into a folder and run the file
  Run Fuse.exe
• To run the 48k version, click on File -- Open and select the game
• To run the 128k version with music, click on Machine -- Select and pick Spectrum 128k, then click on OK. Once that's done, click on Open and then select the game file ending in .tap

Linux

Most Linux distributions should have Fuse available through their software repository. If it isn’t available, head over to the Flatpak website and follow their setup guide to install Flatpak first.

Once that’s set up, search for Fuse and install it.

For me, the most interesting part of this experiment isn’t necessarily the game itself, but seeing what is now possible with A.I. when someone with very little coding knowledge can still have an idea, direct the process, and end up with something that actually works.

Whatever bugs you find, please report them, and I will see if we can fix them

Version 1.1 is out now

Here is what's new in this version.

1.1 Fixes and Additions

Fixed an issue where killed invaders were respawning on the left and right sides of the invader block. However, Claude seems to think we may not be able to widen the invader spread after this fix without the bug returning.

Added 3 bunkers to the bottom of the playing area, giving you some extra protection.