Deep Zone, an (almost) lost Spectrum classic

The 80s Spectrum classic you’ve never heard of is finally here!

Deep Zone, a game made by Azimut Soft in 1988 and of which there was little to none information until now, has finally been found and yours truly has been busy preserving it in its entirety for all of you to enjoy. But is it really enjoyable? The answer is… “Yes, but requires some previous knowledge“.

“DEEP ZONE” is a program from AZIMUT SOFT, written by Fco. López Juan.

Cover illustration: Alberto Adsuara

Produced by José Vte. Lázaro

Some of you may have already seen it from start to finish at TheRealPatete’s special live stream, where the game mechanics were explained and all its secrets (as well as some bugs) were shown:

Finalmente el misterioso juego perdido de Spectrum que acaba de ser preservado resultó ser… el Deep Zone, de Azimut Soft! 🤯Muchas gracias a la buena gente de @retrolel.bsky.social por preservarlo para disfrute del mundo entero y a vosotros por asistir al directo!www.twitch.tv/videos/23318…

— TheRealPatete (@patete.bsky.social) 2024-12-22T22:44:02.765Z

Preserved files

For those who dare to experience it first hand, here is the long-awaited link with the TZX files for Spectrum emulators (it will likely self-destruct after some time): https://www.mediafire.com/file/uu35cljs15byz3l/Deep_Zone_%2528ZX_Spectrum%2529.zip/file

And at archive.org you can also check the high-quality scans, which show all details of its cassette and case from all angles: https://archive.org/details/deepzone

Since the included instructions explain so very little, here’s some tips on how to play it.

What’s it about

Submerged in the depths of the ocean lies the Temple of Pac-Orro. Your mission is to reach him with the magical objects scattered around the Temple and bring them as an offering. But be careful, you are not alone.

The goal of the game is to guide diver Ataulfo ​​through Pac-Orro’s underwater temple and get the five magical objects before reaching the final door, since it will only open once he is in possession of them all. The map is not linear and, except for the last object which is in an area with no possibility of turning back, the rest can be obtained in a different order depending on the chosen route (although the order of appearance on the hud indicates the most direct one).

These items display the following messages when obtained (some have peculiar names a bit along the lines of those in Dinamic’s Camelot Warriors):

• The Diamond of a Thousand Faces
• The Moon, Mistress of the Night
• The Sacred Serpent
• You have drunk the magic potion*
• The Falcon Will Make You Strong

*The potion replenishes your oxygen when you drink it, I’m not sure if any of the others have any other use beyond opening the last door.

How to play

Controls are redefinable and a Kempston joystick can be used. The default key mappings are:

K: Left
L: Right
Q: Jump
A: Crouch
M: Shoot
Z: Pause

You start the game with 12 lives and 18 harpoons, as well as a limited amount of oxygen that gradually decreases.

Oxygen is generally not a big problem, as it can be refilled by staying for a few seconds over any places where you see bubbles coming out:

Unlike in many games of the time, our hero is able to perform jumps whose height depends on how long the button is held. But be careful not to jump too high! If he hits the ceiling, he’ll plummet downwards losing any momentum.

He also has an arsenal of harpoons that he can shoot at his enemies, but these can’t be refilled so you’ll have to choose wisely where to use them. Be careful not to hit the scenery or they’ll break before they reach their destination.

If you encounter any white enemies… don’t even bother attacking them, they are invulnerable.

And the most essential skill you should know before playing: Ataúlfo is able to crawl through narrow passages:

And this will also help us find some secret screens, literally going through some apparently solid walls.

Taking these mechanics into account, it will be a bit easier for us to get through the screens (and not get stuck on the first one). Is it possible to finish the game with the imposed limitations? Judging from what happened in the live streaming and having played a couple of games with cheats enabled, I would say maybe yes.

Cheats

In case that, like me, you are not able to achieve such thing yet, here’s some cheats so that you can adjust the game rules to your liking:

Invincible
POKE 43510,0

Number of harpoons
POKE 54225,n

Infinite air
POKE 43513,255
POKE 44537,0

If you are using MAME, the cheats in xml (seen in the live) would be:

<mamecheat version="1">

  <cheat desc="Invincible">
    <script state="on">
      <action>temp0=maincpu.pb@A9F6</action>
    </script>
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.pb@A9F6=0</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.pb@A9F6=temp0</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

  <cheat desc="Number of harpoons">
    <parameter min="0" max="255" step="1"/>
    <script state="on">
      <action>temp0=maincpu.pb@D3D1</action>
    </script>
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.pb@D3D1=param</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.pb@D3D1=temp0</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

  <cheat desc="Infinite air">
    <script state="on">
      <action>temp0=maincpu.pb@A9F9</action>
      <action>temp1=maincpu.pb@ADF9</action>
    </script>
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.pb@A9F9=255</action>
      <action>maincpu.pb@ADF9=0</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.pb@A9F9=temp0</action>
      <action>maincpu.pb@ADF9=temp1</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

</mamecheat>

Extras

Finally, in case you’re curious to have a look at the full script included in the game, first there’s a block with the intro:

 AZIMUT SOFT PRESENTS:

**** DEEP ZONE ****

THE MISADVENTURES

OF ATAULFO THE DIVER

IN THE TEMPLE OF PAC-ORRO

PROGRAM AND GRAPHICS:

FRANCISCO LOPEZ @ 1988

Then there’s another block with the rest of the messages (includes spoilers for the puzzling ending of the game):

 1 KEYBOARD
2 REDEFINE KEYS
3 KEMPSTON
4 PLAY
RIGHT
LEFT
JUMP
CROUCH
SHOOT
PAUSE
THE DIAMOND OF A THOUSAND FACES
THE MOON MISTRESS OF
THE NIGHT
THE SACRED
SERPENT
YOU HAVE DRUNK THE
MAGIC POTION
THE HAWK WILL MAKE YOU
STRONG
YOU HAVE ALREADY EXHAUSTED THE
O2 BE CAREFUL
YOU HAVE DIED, YOUR
BODY RESTS
KNEEL
TOMB ROBBER
AND PLACE YOUR
OFFERINGS IN ME
YOU HAVE DARED
TO STEP ON MY TOMB
YOUR COURAGE HAS
ITS REWARD
THE TREASURE OF
PAC-ORRO
THE PASSWORD IS
ALEA JACTA EST

And further on… there is the which appears to be part of the assembly code:

	RUT9
	RET
SIGL	XOR	A
	LD	(MODE),A
	LD	(MOIZ),A
	CALL	BRILAD
	RET
BRIABA	LD	HL,(DIRCOL)
	LD	DE,30
	ADD	HL,DE
BRIARR	CALL	BRICAI
	LD	A,(BR2)
	CP	1
	JP	Z,NOCAE
	LD	A,(FLAG)
	BIT	0,A
	JR	Z,BRIIZ
	LD	A,(POS)
	CP	6
	JR	C,BRIS2
	JP	BRIS68
BRIS2	LD	A,(BR1)
	CP	1
	JP	Z,NOCAE
	JP	SICAE
BRIS68	LD	A,(BR3)
	CP	1
	JP	Z,NOCAE
	JP	SICAE
BRIIZ	LD	A,(POS)
	CP	6
	JR	C,BRIS68
	JP	BRIS2
SICAE	LD	A,2
	LD	(MOD),A
	RET
NOCAE	LD	A,0
	LD	(MOD),A
	RET
BRILAD	LD	A,(FLAG)
	BIT	0,A
	JR	Z,LADIZ
	LD	HL,(DIRCOL)
	LD	A,(POS)
	CP	8
	JR	NC,COND
	DEC	HL
COND	LD	DE,95
	XOR	A
	SBC	HL,DE
B3	LD	B,4
	LD	DE,32
	LD	A,(FLAG)
	BIT	5,A
	JR	Z,B1
	LD	B,3
	ADD	HL,DE
B1	LD	A,(HL)
	ADD	HL,DE
	CP	71
	JR	Z,B6
	BIT	6,A
	JR	NZ,SALE
	DJNZ	B1
	XOR	A
	LD	(MODE),A
	LD	(MOIZ),A
	RET
SALE	LD	A,(FLAG)
	BIT	0,A
	JR	Z,INMOIZ
	LD	A,1
	LD	(MODE),A
	XOR	A
	LD	(MOIZ),A
	RET
INMOIZ	LD	A,1
	LD	(MOIZ),A
	XOR	A
	LD	(MODE),A
	RET
LADIZ	LD	HL,(DIRCOL)
	LD	A,(POS)
	CP	8
	JR	NC,CONI
	INC	HL
CONI	LD	DE,99
	XOR	A
	SBC	HL,DE
	JR	B3
BRIAJO	LD	HL,(DIRCOL)
	LD	DE,98
	XOR	A
	SBC	HL,DE
	CALL	BRIARR
	RET
BRICAI	PUSH	HL
	LD	HL,BR1
	XOR	A
	LD	(HL),A
	INC	HL
	LD	(HL),A
	INC	HL
	LD	(HL),A
	POP	HL
	LD	A,(HL)
	CP	71
	JR	Z,SBR1
	BIT	6,A
	JR	Z,SBR1
	LD	A,1
	LD	(BR1),A
SBR1	INC	HL
	LD	A,(HL)
	CP	71
	JR	Z,SBR2
	BIT	6,A
	JR	Z,

Special thanks

• Psy
• Hopper
• AlesteDX
• Kurt_ag
• ZjoyKiLer

That’s all for now, enjoy!