C64 Basic Dungeon Crawler: Goblin Attack (C64 Basic Part 8)
This article details the development of a dungeon crawler game for the Commodore 64, focusing on implementing enemy AI and debugging memory issues. It serves as a practical tutorial for retro-computing enthusiasts using an online IDE.
Why it matters
It preserves interest in legacy hardware programming and provides educational resources for understanding low-level memory management and game logic.
Redefinable keys, goblins that chase you, d20 combat, and the memory bug that had the game silently overwriting itself.
In part seven the dungeon was full of goblins that were about as threatening as garden gnomes. They stayed exactly where the map generator dropped them. You could walk up, poke them, take five points of damage and stroll away, and they’d still be standing there in the same spot when you came back.
This time they chase you . A small change in code but big step forward in feel, and getting there dragged me into a weird and nasty memory bug that corrupted my character set while I watched. The bug is probably the most useful lesson in this whole part, so if you skim, don’t miss the memory section.
Open the full program and edit it in your browser here: part8d.bas in the RGC online IDE .
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