Planet X2: An Ultima 4-Inspired Real-Time Strategy Game

The 8-Bit Guyhis website is a shrine to all things 8-bit, from gaming to music — wrote and released a game for the Commodore 64 a while ago: Planet X2.

A year in the making, Planet X2 is now finished and ready for sale. For those unfamiliar, it is a real-time strategy game developed for the Commodore 64.  It may very well be the only such game in existence on the platform.  It runs on any stock C64 and any compatible floppy drive.

Features include:

  • Control up to 10 units
  • Build up to 52 buildings
  • Multi-tasking system handles up to 128 total units (player + enemy) simultaneously
  • Similar onscreen appearance to old-style turn-based strategy games such as Ultima
  • Similar gameplay concepts, which should be familiar to players of StarCraft, Warcraft, or Dune II.
  • Original soundtrack for the SID chip, as well as an included cassette with Roland MT-32 and Adlib versions.

The full version of the game isn’t currently available — the store page at The 8-Bit Guy’s website says it’s out of stock. When available, it came in three versions: a Lite version that included the game on floppy diskette, the manual, and a digital download; the Standard version that included a game box and soundtrack cassette (in addition to everything in the Lite package); and an Autographed version of the Standard package. Prices ranged from $20 USD to $40 USD.

Evidently, the store will be restocked in the next few weeks, so be sure to check back with it. If you’re in Europe, you might be able to snag a copy of the game from EOX Studios. (Note that EOX does not ship outside Europe.)

1 Response

  1. I watched David’s video about the development of Planet X2 yesterday, and it was very cool. 😀 Being a gamedev myself, I love watching such development diaries-like videos. I might buy a copy sometime soon, as the concept alone got my attention.