Sheep in Space

Sheep in Space
Developer(s) Llamasoft[1]
Publisher(s)
Programmer(s) Jeff Minter[1]
Platform(s) Commodore 64
Release
Genre(s) Horizontally scrolling shooter
Mode(s) Single player, Two player alternating

Sheep in Space is a surrealist computer game released for the Commodore 64 computer in the 1980s by Jeff Minter's Llamasoft. It is a horizontally scrolling shooter in the style of Defender.[2] The title screen appropriately features an arrangement of Bach's "Sheep May Safely Graze" by pianist James Lisney.

Gameplay

The player controls a small flying sheep and has the task of defending the planet by shooting down aliens, and preventing them from charging up their "planet buster" gun.[2]

Like Llamasoft's 1984 release Ancipital, the game makes use of multiple gravitational fields - there is a landscape across the bottom of the screen as per a normal shoot 'em up, but also an inverted one across the top. If the player is in the centre of the screen, the projectiles the sheep fires fly straight. Getting closer to the land at the top or the bottom of the screen will cause the projectiles to curve up or down respectively, allowing the shooting of aliens close to the surface. Proximity to the upper and lower surfaces also affects movement speed which becomes slower when near either surface.[3]

The player can land the sheep on areas of grass on either the top or bottom of the screen, in order to reduce its hunger. A stomach meter shows the player's current state of hunger - overfeeding or allowing the sheep to starve will result in the loss of a life. Feeding also replenishes the sheep's shields.[3]

Destroying all of the aliens advances the player to the next level, which has different topography and is slightly more difficult. There are 48 levels in total.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Sheep in Space Release Information for Commodore 64 - GameFAQs". Gamefaqs.com. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-19. Retrieved 2014-11-27.
  3. 1 2 3 "The Goatbuster". The-commodore-zone.com. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
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