Hyperdrive II is a Microbee science-fiction text adventure written by John Hardy in 1982 and released in 1983. The BASIC listing's title screen credits Hardy and notes it is "based on an idea by Ken Stone," which ties it directly to the small circle of early-1980s collaborators who built Caverns and the original Hyperdrive.
That credit matters. Hyperdrive II can be read as a sequel in spirit to Ken Stone's VIC-20 Hyperdrive, carrying forward the core idea of a lone pilot drawn into a vast, abandoned ship. But the execution is new: a Microbee-only adventure with its own map, puzzles, and voice, built on the BASIC engine that powered Caverns.
The intro opens with a title card and a small burst of sound, then switches to high-resolution graphics and a starship profile. You are the lone pilot of a scout craft: a T Class ship registered as T8159417-1, named Hopscotch, driven by Davies Warp, and built as a GMH Sunblazer XZL. You are returning from a mapping mission in the Garth Beta system when your long-range scanners pick up a large stationary object in your path.
At first it reads like a moon, but it resolves into a vast, deserted spaceliner from an early era of hyperdrive technology. As you try to avoid it, you realize its tractor beam is still alive. The ship draws you in, jams your radio, and pulls you toward its open docking bay. You are trapped, and the only way out is through the ship itself.
Hyperdrive II is classic text adventure: short commands, careful mapping, and a constant sense of risk. The ship is immense and layered. You move through corridors and junctions, past crew quarters and observation decks, into labs, control rooms, and a central computer complex. The environment is physical and hazardous: sealed airlocks, zero-gravity sections, a minefield, and a chasm spanned by an electronic bridge. There is a teleport room, a reactor control space, and a power station whose status governs everything else.
The ship is not empty. Patrol robots still move in the background. Alien slugs have carved out their own presence, and there are hints of a broader ecology woven into the rooms and the ship's logs. The library holds magnetic disks that expand the lore in dry, official language: operational reports, species data, and the bureaucratic texture of a ship that once lived at full capacity.
The game expects practical thinking. You will come across utilitarian equipment like an oxygen mask, magnetic shoes, a torch, tools, and data disks. It rewards observation and patience and occasionally teases you for being reckless. The parser is direct and sometimes blunt, but it offers enough vocabulary to let you experiment and learn the ship's rules.
Hyperdrive II resurfaced on the B side of a cassette that otherwise contained Caverns for the 16K Microbee. That tape survived in hobbyist collections and was preserved through the Microbee Software Preservation Project. Alan Laughton (aka ChickenMan) was critical in compiling the preservation media and helping recover the original program text. His guidance and generosity made it possible to reconstruct the listing and restore the game to readable form.
In 2019, the preserved files were re-shared and the tokenized Microbee BASIC files were made available for conversion. In 2021, the Dreamcards DUO 3 tape was recorded, and the intro programs that framed the story and rules were recovered alongside scans of the tape insert. Those pieces complete the presentation layer that originally loaded the main game.
This repository exists to keep that recovery intact and to make sure Hyperdrive II is documented as its own Microbee title, distinct from the older VIC-20 game.
Caverns began life on the Sinclair ZX81, moved to the VIC-20, and ultimately found its most mature form on the Microbee. Hyperdrive II is a sibling to that Microbee version: a science-fiction adventure built with the same engine, but with a different setting, different puzzles, and a sharper sense of scope.
In 1983 the Dreamcards company distributed Caverns as part of a "DUO" pack, bundled alongside Hyperdrive II. That pairing links the two games in history, but not in identity. Hyperdrive II is John Hardy's Microbee work, while the original Hyperdrive on VIC-20 was Ken Stone's game based on the earlier Caverns lineage.
Because the name overlaps, it helps to be explicit: Hyperdrive II is not the VIC-20 game called Hyperdrive. It is a separate Microbee title within the Hyperdrive tradition, drawing on Ken Stone's original idea while standing as a distinct game with its own design and tone.
The surviving tape insert and catalogue text add period detail to Hyperdrive II's story.
The DUO 3 cassette insert labels the bundle as "Caverns & Hyperdrive - J. Hardy" and calls it "Two great Microbee adventures (16k)." The cover copy describes both games as "two superb adventures" and invites players to first uncover the force holding a ship frozen in space, then "swap sides" and hunt for hidden jewels. It closes with a confident sales line about value for money.
A Dreamcards catalogue entry describes "Duo 3 ("Hyperdrive" and "Caverns" by John Hardy)" and frames Hyperdrive as an adventure aboard a strange alien spacecraft, with the player's ship drawn in by a long-range tractor beam. It highlights the mystery of a deserted craft, contrasts Caverns as a traditional fantasy adventure, and notes that the package suits 16K or 32K Microbee systems with a listed price of $19.95.
A Talking Electronics advertisement (Issue 10) promoted Hyperdrive II (16k) under the "Brainfood for your Microbee" banner. Its blurb matches the in-game premise: your tiny space craft is drawn by a tractor beam to the docking bay of an enormous space liner, leaving you to discover why it is deserted and how to escape. The ad lists BeeHive Software House as the seller and advertises cassette prices at $12.00 each.
This project mirrors the layout of the Hyperdrive repository so the two can be understood side by side, while still staying clearly distinct.
Primary artifacts:
src/hypedrive2.bas: recovered BASIC source listingsrc/hypedrive2.mwb: tokenized Microbee BASIC versionsrc/hyperdrive2-intro.bas: title and story intro loadersrc/hyperdrive2-intro.mwb: tokenized intro programsrc/protected/: protected or obfuscated variants (if present)
Supporting material and notes:
- docs/recovery-notes.md: narrative of the recovery
- docs/peek-poke-notes.md: Microbee hardware notes
recovery/: scripts and intermediate outputs used during reconstructionassets/: scans and ads that document the eraassets/hyperdrive2.mp3: reconstructed victory tune audio
Caption: DUO 3 tape insert for "Caverns & Hyperdrive - J. Hardy" and "Two great
Microbee adventures (16k)."
Caption: Dreamcards catalogue entry describing DUO 3 and its 16K/32K system
requirements and price.
Caption: Talking Electronics Issue 10 advertisement listing Hyperdrive II (16k)
and its premise under the BeeHive Software House banner.