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Galencia Tribute Page

Updated 14 November 2020

Galencia is often called the Galaga clone we had to have for the Commodore C64. We look at the how and why this game is so amazing. One thing that promises to be more exciting than Galencia will be the long-awaited sequel that the fans have been screaming for, Galencia Khaos Sphere.

Introducing Galencia

Galencia was the hands-down 2017 smash hit for the Commodore C64. And do you know what? We believe that this game will be an eternal shoot'em up classic for this 8-bit platform. This is the fast-paced, button-mash till you drop, shooter that you have been looking for. It will feel like endless swarms of wasps coming down to stop you. You and loyal dog are Earth's last hope to keep our way of life going. Keep shooting, there are more swarms coming.

Galencia Officia Mascot title

The success of the game continues to grow with a port, of sorts, to the STEAM gaming platform. We say of sorts because the game is running in an in-build C64 emulator on the STEAM platform. The brilliant thing about this approach is that all the emulation settings are already optimized for your machine. Just plug in your usual PC mouse and start saving the galaxy.

I was also very pleased to see that Galencia is one of the pre-loaded games on TheC64 Maxi. Now I can just load and play Galencia and fight swarms of baddies within a few seconds of turning the machine on. Retro-gamaing has never been so convenient and fun.

TheC64 running Galencia

Written in 100% machine code
used to be a mark of programming quality.

Can you believe that there is a clothing line to go with this game? Well, that part isn't true. But, Galaga is a retro gaming Galaga clone. In that way, Galaga apparel can be of interest to the Galencia gamer. We take a look at the UniQlo Twin Fighter t-shirt. This fantastic t-shit will surely bring out the Galenia fan in you.

Galencia hot links

UniQlo Dual Fighter t-shirt

Retro-gaming Galaga
dual fighter t-shirt

Offical Protovision Galaencia shop

Official Galencia Store
(itch.io)

STEAM game page for Galencia

Galencia Gamepage
(STEAM)

Galencia Screenshots

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Galencia Level 39 atack screenshot
Level 39 attack
Galencia high score screenshot
high score table
Galencia completion screenshot
final screen accolades

Galencia Game Reviews

K&A Plus No. 9

Commodore & Amiga Plus
Magazine Issue 9

Commodore C64 disk magazine Digital Talk 101

Digital Talk
no. 101 hackerzine

Galencia Khaos Sphere, the sequel to Galencia

The current plan builds three distinct game types into the overall challenge, (1) vertical scroller, (2) a Gyruss like stage, and (3) a static stage similar to Galaga 88. There is likely to be a new enemy, tentatively called, the Summoner.

Developments in Gameplay

Details continue to leak from the developer on how the gameplay has evolved. The technical limitations of the Commodore C64 continue to stretch the boundaries of this retro-platform. Aparently, the boss battles feature the maximum 12 sprites. In order to reduce delays, the enemy will spawn one sprite at a time. This may actually benefit gameplay by building tension.

Obviously the game play will stay with the winning formula of relentless waves of attacks. In order to keep the pressure on the enemy, the game engine may spawn popcorn enemies to keep the player under pressure until the next wave arrives. These attackers definitely bent on suicide missions.

Plenty of animated screenshots have laeked onto the Internet showing how well development is progressing on the sequel. Jason Aldred (wayback) has released screens showing a mighty battle across an industrial space complex and it looks just fantastic. We had no idea that any 8-bit machine would have this capability.

"Written in 100% machine code" used to be a mark of programming quality. And Galencia Khaos Sphere oozes quality. Jason Aldred (wayback) has reveled that having an intimate knowledge of assembler is only the start to programming a fast-paced arcade game. A knowledge of the dark arts of illegal 6502 opcodes is also required to really squeeze more cycles out of the code to get a smoother framerate.

The last update on the development of Khaos Sphere was on Boxing Day 2018 (wayback). The developer says that they are taking a break from development and is putting off going through his backlog of emails. Is this a prelude to further delays or a much needed break before the final development push. Only time will tell.

Galencia Khaos Sphere Attract mode

Jason Aldred has said in social media forums that he had to take a break from development and has returned. As a development teaser, he has released an early video of the Attract Mode. This is a work in progress. Apparently, most of the assets are finished but there may be substantial changes, particularly in code optimization, before the commerial release.

Please note that youtube and the video publisher have not endorsed this article. The video is served directly by YouTube. Please read YouTube's privacy and copyright policy. The opinions expressed may not reflect the opinion of this site.

The Attract Mode is an interesting retro-gaming feature. For example, the Attract mode is one of five key modes of the 1983 coin-op hit, Star Wars.

Article tags: Computers Commodore C64 retro-gaming

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