Mire Mare

The last chapter of the Sabreman saga, never officially released, imagined for the 48K ZX Spectrum.

THE STORY BEHIND A HOMEBREW TRIBUTE

In 2014 "Land of Mire Mare" was released and included as a perk for the Kickstarter campaign "The Story of ZX Spectrum in Pixels" book by Chris Wilkins. The game was also distributed for free in the AGD Forum.

As known, Mire Mare was never released by Ultimate Play The Game. The inspiration for this homebrew work was originally seeded by Jarrod Bentley‘s graphic mockups released for a Retro Gamer article "On the trail of Mire Mare".

Jarrod helped making a cool 16x16px sprite for Sabreman and other graphics, included an awesome loading screen.

This version, released in 2020, was rewritten from scratch, including a wider map, new mechanics, new story (based on the Land of Ultimatum map and the known details recovered in any available related document and magazine) and, by popular demand, the redefineable keys option.

A NEW EXPLORING ADVENTURE

Sabreman must find three gems hidden in magic bags, and throw them (one by one) into the volcano, in order to stop the curse and save the land.

Remember that the magic bags can only be opened using a spell weapon, which in turn is hidden in one of the trunks scattered in the rocky labyrinth.

To win, after throwing all three gems into the crater, Sabreman will have to walk up to the wolf sculpture and enter its mouth.

Good luck Sabreman!

CONTROLS

Default keyboard option uses cursors, key "0" for fire and key "1" for the inventory.
Kempston joystick and a redefine keys option are available as well.
Click the inventory key to select the desired weapon (saber/spell/harpoon).
Picklocks can be automatically used without any keypress.

GAMEPLAY INDICATORS

Score, water bar, evil bar, items, lives:

- the water bar will decrease by a notch after a while even without colliding with enemies, representing a time limit to complete the mission;

- the evil bar will decrease every time Sabreman finds a gem and again when it's thrown into the lava;

- while carrying a gem, the relative icon starts to blink; the gem icon will remain fixed after throwing it into the volcano.

TIPS FOR INEXPERIENCED EXPLORERS

Items scattered around the map (warning - spoilers):

- a saber (hidden in a trunk, used to kill enemies);

- a harpoon (hidden in a trunk, used to climb down the volcano);

- a spell (hidden in a trunk, used to kill enemies and to open magic bags);

- picklocks (open the doors);

- magic bags (contain diamonds, open them using the spell);

- bonus items (water glasses and bottles restore energy, gold bags increase the score).

Tips:

- to open a trunk, just move over it placing the player in its same position;

- the volcano is located at the bottom-left of the map, while the wulf's exit is at the top-right;

- to descend into the volcano, just walk in front of it, select the harpoon and press fire;

- once lowered inside the volcano, Sabreman hangs from the harpoon rope, he can continue to use other weapons pressing the inventory key;

- to throw a gem, Sabreman must climb down at the end of the rope and press fire;

- the map loops from a side to the opposite, this will help at the end, letting to move quickly to the exit room.

CREDITS

- Luca Bordoni - Game program
- Jarrod Bentley - Loading screen & graphics support
- Rich Hollins - Music & tunes
- Jonathan Cauldwell - AGD
- Jurij Ricotti - for the article in the book "Commodore 64 vs ZX Spectrum"
- Ultimate Play The Game - for the joy and inspiration

The zip package includes:
- TZX & TAP files
- TXT & PDF instructions
- Map
- Box label

Distribution denied without author's permission.

Due to copyright issues, a commercial release was never planned, even if few physical copies were made (at my own expense), following the idea of a rare Sabre Wulf leather package.