Comet 64

Marktplatz

Plattform: PC Veröffentlicht: 05.02.2021

14,79€

Preis Update 13.10.23

1984, february.
outside, it's dark. -and raining.
it might have started five minutes or five days ago.
hard to tell.
I've been coding.
if I stare at the screen long enough
answers come to me.
that's my super power.
outside, the city is sleeping.
but the caret is blinking at me.
and this new disk I got,
it's brutal.

Comet 64 is a programming puzzle game. The year is 1984. All you got is a Comet
64 home computer and the operator's manual it came with.

Read the documentation (exists both in-game, and as a pdf) and figure out how
to operate this 80s computer.
Learn its assembly-like (but not quite) programming language.
Solve 50+ input - output processing puzzles.
Improve your solution and minimize your instruction and cycle counts to compete in the Leaderboards.
Solve bonus visual grid-based puzzles.
Discover secrets? of the machine.

Deutsch (3)
Englisch (24)

110 Produkte im Account

17 Reviews

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556 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 30.05.21 11:59

77 Produkte im Account

96 Reviews

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1178 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 08.02.21 16:07

Wir schreiben das Jahr 1984 und sitzen an unserem Rechner mit sagenhaften 8 Megahertz und immerhin 64 Kilobyte Speicher. Es gilt Aufgaben zu lösen, wir haben dafür eine Übersicht der Befehle. Die Sprache ist C64-abgewandelt und ähnelt Assembler wirklich sehr, aber ist dann doch etwas eigen. Habe mal ein Bild der Befehlsbeispiele gemacht:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2388707512

Man braucht eigentlich keine Programmierkenntnisse (meine sind auch 15,16 Jahre schon veraltet), aber man muss gut mit Algorithmen umgehen können, ein mathematisches Grundverständnis haben und vor allem um die Ecke denken können. Zumindest dann, wenn man die Ziele des Entwicklers erreichen will und das bloße Lösen der Aufgaben einem zu wenig ist.

Man füllt also die verschiedenen Register mit Daten, bearbeitet sie mit Syntaxen, arbeitet mit Operanden und versucht halt immer, den Code so gering wie es geht, zu halten, muss dabei logische Schritte einhalten und sich ganz auf sein Hirn verlassen. Es gibt keine großen Hinweise oder Lösungen, aber sich nebenher etwas 8-bit Tunes anhören, hilft sehr.

Grafisch sehr authentisch gehalten, minimalistisch eben, die Rätsel werden immer komplexer, und man hat immer die Wahl, nur das Ergebnis hinzubekommen oder eben noch 2 Zusatzsterne zu erhalten. Die Community ist sehr aktiv, hilft sich gegenseitig, der Entwickler schreibt mit. Für Puzzle- und Mathefans genau das Richtige. Die 10€ (aktuell mit Rabatt) sind vielleicht leicht zu viel. Ansonsten volle Empfehlung!

580 Produkte im Account

20 Reviews

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1559 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 08.02.21 09:23

HOW DID YOU GUYS MANAGE TO DO THE ROUND ABOUT TASK IN ONLY TWO LINES OF CODE???????? :D SITTING THERE FOR HOURS TRYIN TO FIGURE THIS OUT. :D

if you need one line to output like output = int; you have to do the whole rounding step in just one line??? ARGH

btw great game <3

1561 Produkte im Account

25 Reviews

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88 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 22.03.22 20:23

In the best games in this genre, the manual is so more than just documentation... it's a source of intrigue. Best practices are left unsaid, special tricks left unknown. It should be just as much about what is said as what isn't said. As you play, you uncover these interactions, having epiphanies that make you feel like a god damn genius. That's what makes this genre so great.

This is not the case in Comet 64. If a command usage is not explicitly stated in the manual, it will not work. There are no shortcuts to find, no emergent interactions. Any attempt to find such a thing will be met with nothing but disappointment. And the commands that are available to you are woefully limited.

This is all compounded by the extremely strict typing of the Comet 64 registers.
You are given a string register of characters to use, but these characters are not ASCII bytes. They are literally letters of the alphabet, at the most fundamental level. You can do no logic with them besides use them in comparisons to generate booleans.
You are given a boolean register, but these booleans are incompatible with integers or floats. Like strings, they are not an abstraction of a number. Comet 64 booleans are literally the concepts of True and False. You can do no math or logic with them besides using them for jumps. They are single-purpose.

That's why so many reviews say the puzzles are easy or boring. They know that they're not enjoying the puzzles, but they don't seem to know why. The reason is simple.

The programming language of Comet 64 leaves zero room for epiphany or creativity.

195 Produkte im Account

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2014 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 25.11.21 20:15

Hello World

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18 Reviews

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664 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 26.09.21 23:42

If you enjoy programming games then I'll definitely recommend this one.
This game doesn't quite reach the quality of Zachtronics games like TIS-100 or Exapunks but it comes close. The manual is quite well made and even available as a PDF document. Gameplay is significantly shorter though.

The presented problems are usually quite well done and especially the later ones are challenging.
Syntax resembles C# but it's far more restrictive to the point where it sometimes feels like you're fighting against the game. Often times I tried to assign a variable only to be reminded that this sometimes requires 2-3 lines. At least the error messages are very useful.

1355 Produkte im Account

23 Reviews

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356 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 19.09.21 15:17

It's a good game (although not as good as TIS-100) but it's too short and easy for the price. If the price was around 5 EUR or if there were more challenging levels then I would definitely recommend it.

72 Produkte im Account

3 Reviews

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129 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 27.06.21 05:37

The puzzles are pretty bland. Optimizing your puzzles isn't much fun once you realize there is an element of randomness in how the game calculates the number of cycles. Want to improve your cycles score? Just re-run the exact same solution 10 times until you get a better outcome.

Also, who makes the label statement consume one cycle per loop? Do you even GOTO?

733 Produkte im Account

73 Reviews

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345 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 27.05.21 14:19

This was a hard call to make. I have been itching for a new programming game and patiently waiting and hoping for something from Zachtronics. So this game was right up my alley.

It falls short of my hopes, however. But given all the hate it seems to be getting I wanted to counterbalance that and say that it is still worth playing if you enjoy programming games. But its a let down compared to what you might be used to. It is no TIS-100 and doesnt even compare to the charm and mystery and purity of function of a game like that.

But with that said, there are some good puzzles in there and it does provide some unique challenges. It does have some value and is worth 15 bucks I paid for it I think. The language limitations are a bit odd, sometimes being brutally restrictive and then sometimes allowing for more leeway that is totally inconsistent with other cases so it lacks the purity of something like TIS 100. Its like playing Torchlight III when you are waiting to play Diablo IV. Its ok, but just isnt nearly as nice or well done.

If this was released a year before TIS-100 I think most the votes would be positive.

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5 Reviews

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579 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 23.05.21 11:56

tl;dr: Comet 64 is a game I really wanted to like. I wish it was better, but it fails to tell a compelling story.

Comet 64 follows in the mold of Zachtronics programming puzzle games like TIS-100, Shenzhen I/O and ExaPunks. It is, unfortunately, not nearly as compelling.

There are two major problems: First and foremost, there is no discernible story or thread to the puzzles. They feel like just constrained programming tasks from some textbook. The tasks in TIS-100 and Shenzhen I/O are, of course, also just programming/engineering tasks, but they are knitted together by just a little sliver of a story element, which is just so much more compelling to me. This seems like a narrowly missed opportunity in Comet 64; there are some small pieces of a mystery to discover, but they are just tacked on to the beginning of the end, while the actual puzzles have nothing to do with the story.

The reference games of the genre combine programming tasks with some design task: In TIS, the input must physically flow through tiny code modules; in Shenzhen, there are I/O boards and widgets to fit. This has the effect of changing the puzzles parameters around. In Comet, every puzzle feels very similar. There is some variation in Comet's floppy disk puzzles, but even here, Comet would have benefitted from more variation; the pattern puzzles in the floppy disk are _really_ similar to each other.

The constraints in the actual programming are themselves very odd, and out of touch with the story. So this is supposed to be an old home computer, but it has no RAM. It has just a few registers, each connected to a certain data type. They are basic data types: int, float, char and a test register - but then: a register for arbitrarily long strings. It is plainly absurd - how is that stored, and why is there no way to use that data store for ints, for instance? It does seem to at least require some explanation, but no.

The javascript-ish syntax of the code did also rub me the wrong way; it felt like someone who only knows BASIC has written the assembly syntax. I personally would prefer a more archaic, terse assembly syntax, but that's just preference. The BASIC stuff makes it feel more like Commodore 64, I guess.

The visuals and general feel of the interface is really well done, and the many monochrome color themes are a nice touch, though.

I realise that this is a very critical review of a personal project, and that it may come across at harsh. In the end I think it is fantastic that people sit down to make stuff like this. It is truly a great thing that niche products like this can reach the tiny audience it has. This game has perhaps not brought the genre any new ideas, but I am happy to purchase this game in the hope that Onur Ayas is able to make more games. It is, after all, very cheap, and it entertained me for a few hours. There is definitely potential here!

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5 Reviews

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579 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 23.05.21 11:56

66 Produkte im Account

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763 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 16.05.21 18:46

As a fan of Zachtronics, with little gems like Shenzhen I/O and Exapunks, this game really appealed to me on the surface.

Low-level programming, retro-cool looks, some brain-teasing? Sounds alright. However, while I have not played a lot, it seems like there's not much more than that surface.

It's nice that you can change the look of your interface, but other than cosmetic, it doesn't seem to serve any other purpose. The puzzles are pretty straight-forward (so far).

What's lacking, is a sense of purpose to the game. Why am I solving these puzzles? I've noticed neither a narrative, nor a sense of that the skills I'm learning are slowly preparing me for bigger challenges, or giving hints for later puzzles.

All-in-all, even though it's a neat little excercise in programming principles, I'm underwhelmed.

2419 Produkte im Account

2 Reviews

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36 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 14.05.21 11:12

Derivative and flat. Feels like a poor, hastily cobbled knockoff of TIS-100, while lacking its originality and challenge. The optimization goals ripped from Human Resource Machine, but it lacks the humor and cohesive story of that game. Comet64 is not awful, but there's better programming games available.

102 Produkte im Account

3 Reviews

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424 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 20.04.21 13:28

This game made me realize the number of lines i use vs how much i actually need for the same results are WAY OFF. It is really fun seeing how I can slim it down:)

102 Produkte im Account

3 Reviews

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424 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 20.04.21 13:28

This game made me realize the number of lines i use vs how much i actually need for the same results are WAY OFF. It is really fun seeing how I can slim it down:)

94 Produkte im Account

1 Reviews

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408 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 09.04.21 23:11

I like programming games, but this is awful. The language has no interesting aspects to it, the puzzles are uninteresting, the execution underwhelming. You are much better of playing Exapunks

94 Produkte im Account

1 Reviews

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408 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 09.04.21 23:11

I like programming games, but this is awful. The language has no interesting aspects to it, the puzzles are uninteresting, the execution underwhelming. You are much better of playing Exapunks

332 Produkte im Account

7 Reviews

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354 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 24.03.21 18:44

Coming from someone with no programming experience, this is an incredibly fun puzzle game. The puzzles are challenging enough that finishing them feels satisfying, while not being too difficult and becoming frustrating.

Highly recommend!

63 Produkte im Account

1 Reviews

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3612 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 24.03.21 14:42

No. Just no. Arbitrarily restricting arithmetic operations just to suit a certain kind of pointless puzzles (really guys, are you even old enough to have worked on a 6502 or anything like it?) just becomes tedious.
The issue here isn't the complexity of the puzzles, it's the fact that you are pretending there are datatypes that are somehow magically different as if asm ever bothered with types in that sense?

So no. Go home, read Zachtronics book on puzzle design. Play through TIS-100 a million times and figure out why it is good and yours isn't.

451 Produkte im Account

69 Reviews

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2943 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 21.03.21 01:08

Comet 64 is a great title for those looking to scratch that Zachtronics itch. The game approximates the feel of early 80s computer programming. Throughout the game, you're given a limited set of tools (less than in TIS-100, for those who'll get the comparison) to solve various puzzles. For the most part, some problems took me back to my days in Math class--only this time, I had a blast. Other puzzles involve concepts like binary numbers or sorting.

The charm of the game comes from making using of your limited toolset to come up with clever approaches to solve these puzzles. You're given different metrics to judge how effective your puzzles are, based off of their speed or how few commands you needed.

There are some undocumented aspects of the syntax that I found annoying, and discovering the ending was a little obtuse. Don't be afraid to consult the forums if something isn't clicking. That aside, Comet 64 was a deeply rewarding game that I devoured. Strong recommend from me.

451 Produkte im Account

69 Reviews

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2943 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 21.03.21 01:08

354 Produkte im Account

10 Reviews

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756 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 10.02.21 01:11

I'm not a programmer, in fact I've never even looked into it and just thought that this looked pretty good. The trailers got me hooked with the presentation so I decided to give it a go. It certainly is something new for me and really challenges me. (I know it says 12 hours, but I'm barely on like the 5th or 6th puzzle from the 1st disk)

It's kinda shown me how scuffed at math I am, but nonetheless, I've actually been enjoying finding out why I'm wrong 'n' then fixing up on it or reviewing with other players' progress. One of the best sounds you will hear from this game is the small two-beep thing after solving one of the puzzles or the little click you get from opening up the input 'n' output bar(s).
The game doesn't hold your hand at all but provides a manual which is pretty alright on giving you the info on your tools, so if you're like me who's never dived into something like this, it quickly becomes your best friend.

I'm enjoying it a lot and plan on playing it more whether I'm relaxing or having it open with a stream. I totally recommend it if you're looking for something out of the norm or want to try something new!

556 Produkte im Account

9 Reviews

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546 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 09.02.21 02:15

The presentation is nice, but compared to games like Shenzen I/O, TIS-100, Silicon Zeroes, Human Resource Machine, etc. it's just not that good:

Puzzles are quite computer sciency (modulo, sqrt, converting between binary and decimal...)
The language is fairly limited, doesn't allow for as much creative optimization
Easy to cheese a lot of puzzles so leaderboards are silly for those
The language is really verbose: check int = 0; jump if true: label;... and why even require a ; after each line if you can't put multiple statements on one line?
(Not much discernible story, but I don't mind)

But most annoyingly, the editor experience is below par: only one solution per puzzle, no breakpoints, [strike]errors (which are often not very helpful) can't be dismissed with the keyboard[/strike], the screen regularly gets out of sync with the underlying text (the cursor is on one line, but you're editing another for example), selecting text makes it invisible, the registers/in/out are hidden by default for unclear reasons, empty lines are counted against you, can't comment after a statement, desired output is only revealed after you made the correct number of (wrong) outputs...

Honestly, I think if the editor issues got fixed, the rest wouldn't be a problem.
As it is now, I can't recommend this game: computer scientists will be bored (or annoyed), people without programming experience will be baffled. You're better off starting out with the titles I mentioned above.

584 Produkte im Account

2 Reviews

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365 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 07.02.21 23:33

Bottles that feeling you had when you first started to learn how to code with a dash of magic and nostalgia of time now long gone

224 Produkte im Account

1 Reviews

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619 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 06.02.21 20:53

My first computer was a hand-me-down Comet 64 that had been collecting dust in a spare room of the family home for years. I was just eight years old when I unearthed the Comet from the pile of forgotten wares and set it up on my little student desk. From the moment I first heard the whirring of the disk drives on power up, and the beep of the POST message from the little internal speaker, I was hooked.

Using only the light from the monochrome monitor, I pored over the manual’s code examples, learning every instruction, completing every program to specifications scribbled at the top of each file, obsessing over optimizing each line as best I could. The Comet was the first step toward a lifetime of engineering, and to this day, I can still hear the pleasant clicking sounds of a running program, as the registers toggle and the Comet processes my instructions, watching the values go by on the input and output ports, as I eagerly await the confirmation beep and generated Optimization Report. Did it pass? Did it fail? How many steps and cycles did I consume? Could I do it with fewer lines?

I’d give anything to have that dusty old computer back, to plug it in for the very first time, to witness the boot up sequence from the eyes of my eight-year-old self, wide with wonder and amazement at the magic unfolding before me.

2 Produkte im Account

1 Reviews

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4598 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 06.02.21 06:55

Having played Comet 64 since demo release, I have been wanting to write a review, yet anything I attempt to write fails to portray the significant experience I have had playing this game..apart from it's like meeting an old friend I didn't know I had.

857 Produkte im Account

13 Reviews

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550 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 05.02.21 22:30

I do have a soft spot for programming puzzle games like EXAPUNKS, MHRD, etc.
Very interesting and fun to take a break from my regular programming job!

Interesting puzzles that make you think. And like I always say - people are more scared of programming than they should be - try it out :)

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