Stonix
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: INTV
Genre: Strategy
Gametype: Homebrew
Release Year: 2004
Developer: Arnauld C
Publisher: Arnauld C
Players: 1
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Cntains updated levels. Similar to cart release.

You have come head-to-head with the enemy, STONIX! His goal is to exhaust your life energy; yours is to destroy his power source! It will take time to reach it because he has laid many barriers that you need to penetrate. Lucky for you, your power balls mix with his shields to give you zapping deflectors, larger deflectors and even extra life power! Stay sharp, you have a long journey ahead of you! 

You control the reflector located at the bottom of the screen. You start with a ball on the paddle and use it to destroy the shields above. Bonuses will randomly fall from the shields so be quick and collect the ones you need. Clear the screen and advance through the levels.


History:

The title STONIX was first used for a breakout game that Arnauld Chevallier started to write on the Atari ST many years ago; it was never completed. When he decided to write a breakout game for the Intellivision he recalled this old title, so STONIX for the Intellivision? was conceived. 

The very first Stonix demo, Beta 1, was written in a couple of days and was posted on the Intvprog discussion group on the 3rd of March, 2003. Feedback from the Intvprog gang was given allowing Arnauld to fix some bugs. Beta 1.1 was then released which was playable and contained 3 levels. 

Wanting to move on, Arnauld started to work on other projects such as INTYOS and MAD DRIVIN'. An editor for game levels was designed for STONIX, but no other effort was put towards the game play. Arnauld always had big dreams for it though. 

In early September of 2003, David Harley contacted Arnauld. They discussed a plan for the development of a brand new Intellivision cartridge which would be packaged with a manual and overlays. When Arnauld was asked whether he would be interested in finishing STONIX for that purpose, he said "Yeah, sure! That's a great idea!". 

It was time for Arnauld to make all his dreams for STONIX a reality. Graphics, music, and a lot of code were still missing from the game. Arnauld was undecided how many levels the game would have. Wanting Arnauld to focus on the game, David offered to assist with designing levels. Arnauld wrapped up the editor and translated it to English. With David busy on the levels, Arnauld was able to make CP-1610 assembly programming his primary focus. Heather Harley took over the editor at times, making some of her own levels. This allowed David to move on to other aspects of the project such as the manual and graphics. 

As the manual was being made and a storyline developed, it was pitched to Arnauld. He liked the storyline and knew how he wanted to end the game. This required more time for programming. Lucky that the cart could support a 32k game because space was running out quickly. While Arnauld was waiting for testing to finish, he wanted to add more features such as the multi-ball and a zapper bonus. 

The manual was coming together and it was not clear if overlays would actually be produced. David decided to give the graphics a shot, but Heather ended up making them. They put together an overlay and looked for a source to make them.

Testing results returned with positive feedback. Arnauld realized the game did not reach the 32k maximum size, so he decided STONIX needed some Easter Eggs. After cleaning up some code, squeezing in the Easter Eggs and over 100 levels of play, and more testing, the game was done.

In early May of 2004, the final game code was finalized.

http://www.beeslife.com/intvgames/stonix/stonix.php
