BOULDER DASH CAVE FILE FORMAT (BDCFF)
This was a general file format that was used
to render cavesets using a BDCFF interpreter. The interpreter
essentially allows you to play custom Boulder Dash cavesets without
needing to chase packers, constructions kits, etc. Some interpreters do
come with their own editors, which do allow you to create your own
cavesets, and which do also save as BDCFF files.
So what is a BDCFF? It's a plaintext file that defines many parameters,
such as caveset title, cave names, whether caves are intermissions,
which timing method each cave uses (BD1? BD2? Pretty Light? 1st
Boulder?), lives, etc. Essentially, it's everything that is needed to
render a caveset, that can be edited using a text editor.
Fortunately, BDCFFs are portable, since they are plaintext; because
they are plaintext, there's no extra wizardry except the use of
a BDCFF interpreter, such as Boulder Rocks! or GDash, in order to read
them.
You can get all of these from the Boulder Dash Game Base. I strongly recommend
GDash since this was what the cavesets were developed on.
ALCHEMYST DIG!
The five cavesets in this series was more or less
getting my feet wet in how to design caves in the BDCFF. Some of it is
experimental in nature, and most rely on BD1 timings, so things tend to
get jank when there were a lot of objects in the playfield. In
Alchemyst Dig 1, I didn't even know that InitialFill existed to serve
my needs! But it did establish a general lore premise, about being a
miner for a greedy alchemist, whose job is to brave dangers so the lab
has a surplus of shiny crystals to experiment on.
Alchemyst Dig 1
The first one that started it all. I went plain on most of these,
trying to call back to some designs from earlier moments.
Alchemyst Dig 2: A Demand For More Crystals
This was explicitly GDash and very experimental. Honestly, I had fun
dorking with the parameters; especially "Flutterprint" where dropping
the boulders into the magic wall, formed diamonds, which then formed
butterflies -- something a magic wall shouldn't do.
Alchemyst Dig 3: A Seasonal Desire of Gemcrafting
This levelset was based on seasons! And the seasons was also based on
the elements. Winter was water, Spring was wind, Summer was fire, and
Autumn was earth.
Alchemyst Dig 4: Trouble in Moonspiral Caverns
This was a memorial levelset. One of my dearest colleagues wound up
perishing before this caveset's release. It also further cemented the
lore of Peril Peak, where the Dig series is based at, with a personal
request -- and a reward.
Alchemyst Dig 5: The Secret of Vennhurst's Vault
Sometimes ambiguity has its own rewards. The esteemed Mathak Vennhurst
was a venerable individual who was also an alchemist of his own renown.
However, not only did he perish ages ago, he also had one of the
sturdiest vaults in the depths of Peril Peak! I tasked the player with
tackling the caveset's four cardinal wards, before finally going into
the depths which got harder and harder as the levels went up. This was
also the last entry in the Dig series.
This was followed immediately by...
ALCHEMYST DANGERDASH
Can you handle the DANGER?
Alchemyst DangerDash has become the better staple of the series since
it has relied on a uniform consistency of using the BD2 timings. It
also continued the tradition of the "Wait, there's more!" trope of
having extra caves outside the selectable that served as an outro
margin. The series involves the Myriads of Mt. Itsel, special vaults
that were home to various notable individuals, including some notorious
ones, like Duke Venndyke of Rutherholm (no relation to Vennhurst!) in
Dangerdash 2.
Alchemyst DangerDash Vol.1 (a.k.a. Dangerdash Classic*)
This started a new chapter, and a new series. The premise of the series
was "if you want to score big, you must flirt with disaster". This had
serveral subname homages, including one from Autechre (Outro 3, "Lentic
Catachresis") and one for a caveset producer (Outro 1, "Hey Pedro!",
referring to Don Pedro's unofficial BD5-10).
(*A slightly altered version of this caveset, built and
score-targeted for the modern engine, exists as an inclusion in BOULDER
DASH 40th ANNIVERSARY. Therefore, Dangerdash Classic does not play the
same as the BD40 version, and remains available.)
Alchemyst DangerDash Vol.2 ("The Damnable Duke's Undeserved
Riches")
Another set, this time in the Second Myriad, based around Duke
Venndyke's hoarded riches. A greedy ruler who subjected his citizens to
austerity and anxiety of high taxes, it was up to the player to deprive
the dead Duke of his dishonorable claim.
Alchemyst DangerDash Vol.3 ("A Brand New Dilemma")
This is the only set that doesn't use the C64 or Atari colors! This was
based on research to see if I could pull off a "Gemstones A-Z", after
having two prior ones, "Autechre A-Z" and "The NATO Phonetic Alphabet".
(Yes, you can indeed pull a A-Z of Autechre track titles.) So why not
task the player with a new task from yours truly -- the mad alchemist
of Peril Peak? I learned the existence of such gems as Zoisite,
Xonotlite, Ussingite, Indicolite and Forsterite! Goshenite!
Alchemyst DangerDash Vol.4 ("Triple Threat")
There was no story for this one, but it occurs in the Third Myriad, and
this vault was owned by Ma'vael Flintlock, the Prodigial.
Alchemyst DangerDash Vol.5 ("BD40 hype is growing.. oh, and
here's a new caveset.")
Literally. There was downtime, and I had managed to cobble together
some new caves, and I dropped it without so much of a fanfare. I didn't
even think about lore.