Zedex Tanks - ZX Spectrum 128K
A downloadable game
This game is designed to be played on a retro ZX Spectrum 128K computer or emulator. You can also play it online in your browser.
Disclamer: This game is created as a fanfic and has no relation to the original game or its developer. We claim no rights to the original game and do not infringe on the copyrights of the original game or its creators.
Playable Demo
Press SPACE to PLAY, use ⛶ icon to play fullscreen!
PLAY ONLINE
History
By the end of the third decade of the 21st century, it had become apparent that in the future all major processes on Earth would be replaced by artificial intelligence. In the meantime, the theft of personal data and intellectual knowledge bases of corporations has reached unimaginable proportions.
Zedex, a highly secretive company, trains neural networks based on data obtained from experienced professionals in various fields and professions. To protect against data theft, the company uses clusters of servers built with advanced Z80 processors and no access to the World Wide Web.
You’ve been hired by Zedex to train neural networks of combat vehicles that will in the future operate in high-risk areas and secure strategic facilities. Your job is to drive a tank to defend an important facility (designated by the symbol of an eagle) from attacking enemy vehicles.
And remember – the first rule at Zedex is not to tell anyone that you work here. This is top secret information.
Technical Features
This game for classic ZX Spectrum models is most exact functional de-make of Battle City, developed in 1985 for NES by Namco.
The first ZX Spectrum version was developed in 1996, then in 2016 it was polished (a few dozens of bugs were fixed, control and platform type selection screen was added) thanks to help from zx-pk.ru forum users, and finally in 2023 it was released on ZX Online platform.
The game contains all 35 classic levels, the only difference is that they are decreased in vertical direction (by 2 blocks), as the screen of Spectrum has 24 blocks in height, while in the original NES game the size of the playing area is 26×26 blocks.
The authors tried to transfer the atmosphere and dynamics of the original game as much as possible, but the difficulty of the game was slightly reduced. Also added is the ability to choose a control device and a set of buttons (when playing on the keys), the ability to choose the border colour (you can choose black for maximum comfort of eyes, or white for authenticity, or any other of 8 possible colours).
Controls
Player 1 can choose:
1. W, S, A, D, Symbol Shift keys
2. Q, A, O, P, M keys.
3. Cursor + Space keys (“fire”)
4. Kempston joystick.
5. Sinclair Joystick 1 (keys 6-0)
Player 2 can select:
6. W, S, A, D, Symbol Shift keys
7. Q, A, O, P, M keys
8. Cursor Keys + Space (Fire)
9. Kempston joystick.
0. Sinclair joystick 2 (keys 1-5)
Movement through the menu is carried out by player 1 with his selected control keys “up”, “down”, “fire”.
Key A in control selection menu allows setting boarder colour in the game, key B allows selecting timings of other ZX Spectrum model (game tries to detect your ZX Spectrum model automatically on start-up).
Play with a Friend
You can play two people on one computer, both of you play on the defensive side, helping each other out.
Level Builder
The game has a level builder where you can draw your own level and then play it.
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Comments
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Hi, I’m contacting you because I want to make a homebrew tribute USB. I’m collecting as many content creators as possible. I also want to include a profile for each one, with a few details, such as their logo, avatar, name, work completed, projects, etc., so you can see who’s behind their creations.
That profile, along with any material you allow me to upload, will be placed on a USB drive. This will act as a database of creators and their creations, and will be updated as I connect with new people.
The USB I’m thinking of creating will be one of those rubber-type USBs, shaped like a Spectrum computer, something that looks really nice. The idea is that those who contribute material, and if they want to buy one or more, will get it at cost price, and those who just want to buy one, it will cost a little more.
The idea is that if enough are sold, enough to recover the initial investment, the profits that the rest of the USBs could generate will be distributed among the people who have contributed material to the project, via transfer, PayPal, or however possible, even if possible, that the USB will be free. Obviously, you can buy more than one, but only one of them can be free.
It’s not necessary or mandatory to buy the USB, only if you like it or want it.
If you’re interested in this project, you can contact me at this email, flopping@gmail.com. If you have any questions or concerns, let me know and I’ll answer them. Do you think the idea is a good one? Would you like to participate in the project? Let me know. Best regards.
Juan.
Hi Juan
Your idea looks interesting and unusual, but I have doubts about who would be interested in it. In fact, the data on this flash drive will almost always be outdated, because you do not assume any online method to update it after the user has received this flash drive, is that correct?
Probably, any of the known online databases of products for ZX (for example, WoS, Zxart, etc.) already contain such a database, and their databases are periodically automatically updated.
Please explain why you think that your product will be in demand?
Hi, my idea is to create a USB drive featuring content creators and the games they want to share. I know there are databases with many games and creators that will be on my USB drive, and in fact, anyone can create their own USB drive with their compilations. My idea is to create a file for each creator, showing their logo, name, avatar, creations, etc. The idea is to give visibility to the creator, not to make yet another game compilation, and to try to keep it updated as new creators emerge. The USB drive will be created specifically for this project. My idea is to include a ZX Spectrum and make it something very representative. Everything would be in a printed box, with the files and maybe something else, a poster or something like that. I have the basic layout, but new ideas can be added to make it something everyone will like. I don’t know if you think it’s a good idea, I hope there are enough of us to be able to carry out the project, at the moment we are 35 people involved in the project and we continue to grow, that’s why I’m getting in touch with anyone who might be interested or think it’s a good idea, since in the end, this is also advertising for content creators and they can have some free games and some paid ones, and it’s a way for more people to know about them and perhaps increase their sales or downloads, that’s also a bit of the idea, let me know something or what you think.
You know, I am the owner of the ZXOnline portal, where many developers publish their developments for the ZX Spectrum platform. The main concept of the portal is to give developers the opportunity to make a profit (or monetary support - call it what you want) when selling copies of their products. To do this, we take various actions, not only direct sales of copies of games, but also all sorts of other methods.
Your method of distributing games is interesting, and this could certainly become another source of income for my developers, but tell me - does your distribution model imply any royalties for game developers? How do you plan to solve this issue? Or do you propose that authors be granted the right to distribute their games free of charge?
Please explain.
Hello, yes I know you have the ZX Online portal and I know it, the idea as I say is to make a database of creators and make themselves known, for this the USB will have a file of each creator, with some data, such as their logo, avatar, project name, website, email, twitter, etc … they can put whatever they want in that file and I want it to be updated every few months, with new creators and other creations, I am not asking for them to give me a game either, it can be a demo, the idea is that for the creators, the USB comes out at cost price and if there is a lot of demand and I recover the initial investment, that this possible benefit is a discount on the cost of the USB, so that it can be free, obviously, no one is forced to buy the USB, it is just in case they want one, or as many as they need, it would be left at cost price, and the users who buy it, would be sold a little more expensive, in order to report that benefit to the creators, I don’t know if you understand the idea a little.
Yes, I understand the idea better now. It turns out that you want to make some database of game developers for Speccy on this USB drive, which will be periodically updated with new data (the mechanism is not yet clear - how this will be done on flash drives that have already been sold, but that's another question). This database will probably not include games that developers are still distributing for a fee, but it may include some other data, like photos of developers' faces and the like.
But I still don't fully understand the value of this information, what will be the key motivation for users to buy this database on flash drives? Could you explain in more detail? How will this information differ from the freely available information that is on WoS, Zxart, and other online resources? Perhaps this information will be a little more "personal", that is, include personal contacts of developers, which would allow you to contact them directly?
Or will this device with developer data be something like a souvenir for a retro collection?
Please explain.
Thank you for this game - enjoyed this. This is my tribute and for anyone that is viewing, a subscribe would be most welcome...