Who Needs Floppies?

Who Needs Floppies? is a cheeky platform race for 1 to 4 NABUs.

In 1984 every other home computer loaded its programs from floppy disks. Insert disk 1. Wait. Grind, grind. Insert disk 2. Wait some more. The NABU got its software from the cloud, straight down the cable.

So every round, a floppy computer sits on its desk and starts loading a program from disk. It might be a TRASH-80, a COMMODORK 64, a LEMON ][E, an ATARRGH 800 or some other beige box that definitely isn't a real computer. Meanwhile the NABU NETWORK cloud rains that same program down as packets of data.

Beat the floppy

• You're a little walking NABU. Run, jump and climb the shelves to catch the packets.
• The first NABU to catch 12 blocks has loaded the program and wins the round. Gold stars are worth 3 blocks.
• Keep an eye on the loading bar and the floppy computer's monitor. If it ever finishes first, the floppy wins the round. How embarrassing.
• It has to stop and swap disks ("INSERT DISK 2!"), and now and then it gets a READ ERROR.

Floppies are for throwing

The floppy computer is a sore loser and flings its disks across the room. Get hit and your NABU is dazed (ABORT, RETRY, FAIL?) and drops 2 blocks.

Floppies that land stay on the floor for a while. Walk over one to pick it up, then throw it at the other NABUs. A NABU doesn't need them, after all.

Players

• Play alone against the floppy computer, or with up to 3 friends.
• More players means more packets, but you're all racing each other and the floppy.
• Drop in any time, leave whenever you like. If the host leaves, someone else takes over.

Controls

• Joystick or arrow keys: walk.
• UP: jump.
• DOWN: drop off a shelf.
• FIRE or SPACE: throw a floppy.
• ESC: leave.

Scoring

The top row shows everyone's round wins and the floppy's. Every block you catch counts toward your total data loaded, which goes on the nabu.ca leaderboard when you leave.

Network play

Your NABU moves on your screen with no delay. The host's NABU runs the cloud and the floppy computer, and every packet and floppy flies the same way on every NABU. Your own NABU decides what you catch and what hits you, so what you see is what counts for you. Needs an Internet Adapter with multiplayer support.