---
title: "Aliens"
id: 63157
type: "computer_media"
slug: "aliens-2"
url: "http://localhost/computer_media/aliens-2/"
markdown_url: "http://localhost/computer_media/aliens-2.md"
published_at: "2026-01-30T17:36:44+00:00"
modified_at: "2026-03-31T16:50:23+00:00"
author: "David Anderson"
featured_image:
  url: "http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/aliens-1.png"
excerpt: "Pilot a lone spaceship over a jagged alien landscape and blast ground-based enemies in this horizontally scrolling shoot-'em-up from Canadian tape magazine Byte Power."
category:
  - name: "Archived Media"
    slug: "archived-media"
    taxonomy: "category"
    url: "http://localhost/category/archived-media/"
post_tag:
  - name: "Downloadable"
    slug: "downloadable"
    taxonomy: "post_tag"
    url: "http://localhost/tag/downloadable/"
  - name: "TS 2068"
    slug: "ts2068"
    taxonomy: "post_tag"
    url: "http://localhost/tag/ts2068/"
model:
  - name: "Timex/Sinclair 2068"
    slug: "ts-2068"
    taxonomy: "model"
    url: "http://localhost/model/ts-2068/"
indiv:
  - name: "Kristian Boisvert"
    slug: "boisvert-kristian"
    taxonomy: "indiv"
    url: "http://localhost/indiv/boisvert-kristian/"
genre:
  - name: "Arcade"
    slug: "arcade"
    taxonomy: "genre"
    url: "http://localhost/type/arcade/"
  - name: "Game"
    slug: "game"
    taxonomy: "genre"
    url: "http://localhost/type/game/"
media_contents:
  - id: 63045
    title: "Byte Power September 1986"
    type: "computer_media"
    url: "http://localhost/computer_media/byte-power-september-1986/"
media_type: "Program"
programmers:
  - name: "Kristian Boisvert"
    slug: "boisvert-kristian"
    taxonomy: "indiv"
    url: "http://localhost/indiv/boisvert-kristian/"
mediadate: "1986"
producer_company:
  - id: 25181
    title: "Byte Power"
    type: "company"
    url: "http://localhost/company/byte-power/"
images:
  - url: "http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/aliens-1.png"
  - url: "http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/aliens-2.png"
article_media:
  - id: 63038
    title: "Aliens"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/aliens/"
media_type_tags: "Arcade, Game"
---

Aliens is a horizontally scrolling shoot-’em-up arcade game written by Kristian Boisvert and published by Byte Power in 1986, targeting the TS2068. The player pilots a spaceship across a procedurally-rendered, jagged green terrain while engaging red alien enemies that emerge from the ground. The game features a scrolling starfield window at the top of the screen — a common split-screen technique used to suggest depth and motion — alongside a HUD displaying a six-digit score and a row of ship icons representing remaining lives. The title screen uses large custom-drawn block lettering rendered via PRINT statements or user-defined graphics, typical of BASIC or compiled BASIC titles of the era. Byte Power was a Canadian TS2068-oriented tape magazine that distributed original software and games to the North American Sinclair/Timex community.

***

## Program Analysis

### Overview

*Aliens* is a horizontally scrolling shoot-’em-up arcade game written by Kristian Boisvert and released in 1986 under the Byte Power label. Byte Power was a Canadian tape-based magazine that distributed original software — games, utilities, and applications — to the North American TS2068 community. The game’s title screen credits “© 1986 BYTE POWER” and identifies Boisvert as the sole author.

### Gameplay

The player controls a spaceship that flies horizontally across a landscape. Key gameplay elements visible in the screenshots include:

- A jagged, mountainous green terrain rendered along the bottom of the play area, which the player must navigate without collision.
- Red alien enemies positioned on or just above the terrain surface, acting as ground targets to be destroyed.
- A scrolling starfield rendered in a bordered window at the top of the screen, providing a sense of motion and depth.
- A HUD at the bottom of the screen displaying a six-digit `SCORE` counter and a `SHIPS` indicator showing remaining lives as small spaceship icons.

### Technical Details

The split-screen layout — a starfield panel at the top separated from the main play area by a horizontal dividing line — suggests the use of either display file manipulation or careful PRINT/PLOT positioning to create distinct rendering zones. The terrain is drawn as a filled polygon-style green mass, likely generated using PLOT and DRAW commands or a machine code routine to achieve smooth scrolling. The player sprite and alien sprites are rendered using user-defined graphics (UDGs), a standard technique for character-cell sprite work on this platform.

The title screen’s oversized “ALIENS” lettering is constructed from custom block characters, a technique frequently employed by BASIC programmers to simulate large display fonts without a dedicated font engine.