This great site
Narayan
- gallery
- games
Under 'T' for example.
Beautifull posters. Check it, greatness.
p.s.
(Or as an acquintance once said: mmm, mmm, mmm, there will be lamb chops)
--+-- narayan --+--
Narayan
Back in 2004. there was a avi or mpeg on the CD of heres BUG papers with the animation of the game
Thunderbirds. Even then it seemed foul to expect it is a game for the PC, or *godforbid*, the PS. Amiga game,
right from the start, working 3D nonvga wonders on a pure 68010 Amiga 600, the games machine of sensible
choice.
The poster can be seen on the exotica.org. It seems that in the future or in my case more presumably in the
near future, there will be huge 3D, ecs and aga fun on the miggy.
--+-- narayan --+--
Angus Manwaring
>http://www.exotica.org.uk/frames.html
>- gallery
>- games
>Under 'T' for example.
>Beautifull posters. Check it, greatness.
So which is the best box cover? :)
All the best,
Angus Manwaring. (for e-mail remove ANTISPEM)
I need your memories for the Amiga Games Database: A collection of Amiga
Game reviews by Amiga players http://www.angusm.demon.co.uk/AGDB/AGDB.html
Nathan
> On 02-Jul-06 12:47:12, Narayan said
> >http://www.exotica.org.uk/frames.html
>
> >- gallery
> >- games
>
> >Under 'T' for example.
>
> >Beautifull posters. Check it, greatness.
>
>
> So which is the best box cover? :)
Well, obviously the Barbarian (palace) one! :) There's an element of
undeniable greatness (or is it just bigness) there. hehe. ...Was it
the days of bigness back then?: Maria Whittaker, Sam Fox (it would seem
good lungs can make anyone a great singer .. *cough* *cough*) :)
The cool thing about these covers is the lack if CG employed. Most of
them are the standard hand-painted stuff I'm used to seeing from the
8/16bit era. Nice. Though I realise now how much more effort is put
into a modern game boxes:
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000DG3RB.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V58553693_.jpg
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00009LW88.02._SS400_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1076063044_.jpg
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0001M0HE6.02._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1078412713_.jpg
But, with that last picture, I'm wondering how much is actually
painted, and how much is just CG models from the game? It's getting
harder and harder to tell these days. For Silent Storm and FarCry it
looks to me like they're probably painted, but I wouldn't be suprised
if the Unreal Tournament one is more CG than paint.
But back to the actual Amiga stuff. Zeewolf, cool. Super Stardust,
yeah cool, and funny that the most CG Amiga game is an entirely
hand-painted box. :) Skidmarks and Super Skidmarks .. ugh .. early,
bland, CG. Was probably distinctive at the time, but I can't forgive
them the pixellated areas on the front-hood of the Mini. Very amateur.
I think a professionally coloured version of the Skidmarks title pic
from the game would have looked much better. (that one had good
character, the pencil drawing that had been colourised.) ...and, am I
the only one who is sorely disappointed in the Virus boxes? Just
plain and boring, much like the title screen of the game itself.
That Settlers box was way different from the one I had .. mine looked
much better. Um, but I think I threw it out, so not sure if I can dig
it out for scanning. Same goes for my Stardust one.. I'm pretty sure
that one ended up at the dump. ..I was so disappointed to have bought
that one for my A1200, then Super Stardust comes out just a couple of
months later .. and it's the *same* *game* .. sure, the storyline is a
future one, but the levels and stuff were the same, just infinitely
more pretty. And it was HD installable. Most annoying.
I've also gotta mention the Bards Tale II box .. yeah, pitched battle,
and the bard has his harp in his hand. WTF? Yeah, waste those undead
with the harp. ..I'm sure it's only recently (like World of Warcraft
and Lord of the Rings times) that people finally worked out how to do
RPG/Fantasy stuff that didn't look gay (especially if elves or wizards
were involved.) I don't know why people had no clue back then on how
to make the scenes gritty .. maybe they were concentrating too hard on
showing the cleavage (Defender of the Crown) or just doing suitably
skimpy outfits (Sword of Sodan.)
And the final observation: Man, they really loved doing those metallic
reflecting-the-horizon" fonts for game titles in the early Amiga days.
eg: Battle Storm, Battle Squadron, Denaris, Dungeon Master (old
english font with futuristing metal? hmmm..), Ultima V, and finally
Quantox (a perfect example of overuse of the metallic font and effect
in general.) :)
Nathan.
Angus Manwaring
>Angus Manwaring wrote:
>> On 02-Jul-06 12:47:12, Narayan said
>> >http://www.exotica.org.uk/frames.html
>>
>Well, obviously the Barbarian (palace) one! :) There's an element of
>undeniable greatness (or is it just bigness) there. hehe. ...Was it
>the days of bigness back then?: Maria Whittaker, Sam Fox (it would seem
>good lungs can make anyone a great singer .. *cough* *cough*) :)
Lungs huh? :)
You know looking at just the B page, I think the Barbarian one is one of
the best. I've always liked the Birds of Prey design, but I think Black
Crypt is actually the best one for me.
Any takers? :)
>The cool thing about these covers is the lack if CG employed. Most of
>them are the standard hand-painted stuff I'm used to seeing from the
>8/16bit era. Nice. Though I realise now how much more effort is put
>into a modern game boxes:
>http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000DG3RB.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V58553693_.
>jpg
Didn't really rate that one. Garish and lacking in imagination I'd say.
>http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00009LW88.02._SS400_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1076063044
>_.jpg
That one's quite cool.
>http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0001M0HE6.02._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1078412713
>_.jpg
Not too impressed here.
>But, with that last picture, I'm wondering how much is actually
>painted, and how much is just CG models from the game?
I'm not qualified to say. Mind you, that's unlikely to stop me having an
opinion on the impact of the picture itself. :)
>But back to the actual Amiga stuff. Zeewolf, cool.
Zeewolf 2? Looks CGI to me...
but can we keep this restricted to say 3 letters at a time? How about
thoughts on the A, B, and C categories?
yeah cool, and funny that the most CG Amiga game is an entirely
>hand-painted box. :) Skidmarks and Super Skidmarks .. ugh .. early,
>bland, CG. Was probably distinctive at the time, but I can't forgive
>them the pixellated areas on the front-hood of the Mini.
You are so harsh..... but fair. :)
I liked those Skidmark covers myself.
>Very amateur.
> I think a professionally coloured version of the Skidmarks title pic
>from the game would have looked much better. (that one had good
>character, the pencil drawing that had been colourised.) ...and, am I
>the only one who is sorely disappointed in the Virus boxes? Just
>plain and boring, much like the title screen of the game itself.
BOGUS CALL, DUDE!
The Virus art (on the left) is great (IMO). I like the composition (I
mean, "whoosh!" and the hippy fantasy landscape. I would prefer more
colour saturation, but for me, this cover is a winner. Too small though,
it came in only a little plastic case at 19.95 UKP.
>That Settlers box was way different from the one I had .. mine looked
>much better. Um, but I think I threw it out, so not sure if I can dig
>it out for scanning.
I came to The Settlers late, and bought it in a compilation. I liked The
Settlers so much that I scaned somebody else's box, and redecorated my box
with a proper The Settlers covering. Now that, is pretty sad. :)
While we're on 'S' I will just briefly mention the box art for Space Rogue
which I think is AWFUL!
>I've also gotta mention the Bards Tale II box .. yeah, pitched battle,
>and the bard has his harp in his hand. WTF? Yeah, waste those undead
>with the harp.
....much chuckling. :)
>..I'm sure it's only recently (like World of Warcraft
>and Lord of the Rings times) that people finally worked out how to do
>RPG/Fantasy stuff that didn't look gay (especially if elves or wizards
>were involved.)
Black Crypt?
>I don't know why people had no clue back then on how
>to make the scenes gritty .. maybe they were concentrating too hard on
>showing the cleavage (Defender of the Crown)
Nothing wrong with that! :)
Angus Manwaring
Come on, give it a go. Go to the site below and choose the best (and the
worst) Amiga game box art. You know you love it. ;)
http://www.exotica.org.uk/gallery/games
To keep it focussed, let's start with from categories 0-9 and A, B, and C.
...and let's ignore Licenses.
Okay, loved:
A-10 Tank killer, up close and personal
A320 Air Bus USA edition, now that's a dramatic sky
Aquanaut, well slightly naff, but it reminds me of old magazine covers I
saw as a kid.
Birds of Prey, its just a cool design - might get a T-shirt made of this.
Black Crypt Unpretentious, big, dribbling, scary-bastard monster - in
atmospheric torchlight!
Bloodwych, See above.
Brigade Commander............hmmmmm, interesting approach.
Chaos Engine 1 & 2 Lots of style.
Colonization - always loved this one, sort of Pythonesque, it just sets
off my imagination.
Hated (well, disliked really...)
Captive dull and badly drawn.
Captain Blood, Cop out, I love galaxy shots but this is just lazy.
Castle Warrior CRAP!
Chariots of Wrath See above - same artist?
Other comments
Carrier Command, a vehicle ramp in the bow, at that speed? Is the nautical
equivalent of attacking the undead with a harp?!!!
Cruise for a Corpse Nearly great, but our hero ends up looking like a
dithering idiot. What a waste.
What??! No Cyber Empires???!!!!!!!
Nathan
Angus wrote:
> Nathan wrote:
> >it seems good lungs can make anyone a great singer.. :)
>
> Lungs huh? :)
Yeah .. I'm sure I remember hearing them described as having great
'lungs', 'eyes', or 'curvular wobblings' to put it in a more Kenny
Everett mode of speech (Kenny rocks .. um, sorry, that's a comment
about Kenny, not another suggestion for anatomical analogy.) :)
I recall I did actually have a full Barbarian poster (came with an
issue of Zzap64 or something?) ..for some strange reason my mum didn't
seem to approve of it. hehe.
> You know looking at just the B page, I think the Barbarian one is one of
> the best. I've always liked the Birds of Prey design, but I think Black
> Crypt is actually the best one for me.
>
> Any takers? :)
>
> >The cool thing about these covers is the lack if CG employed. Most of
> >them are the standard hand-painted stuff I'm used to seeing from the
> >8/16bit era. Nice. Though I realise now how much more effort is put
> >into a modern game boxes:
>
> >http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000DG3RB.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V58553693_.
> >jpg
>
> Didn't really rate that one. Garish and lacking in imagination I'd say.
Yeah? Ah, ok. I was just picking stuff out of the game boxes I happen
to have. But the American version has a completely different cover
(which is, naturally, more dramatic, as the Americans like it, but is
unfortunately less replresentative of the game.) :-| ..so I was stuck
with the crummy scan on amazon's UK site, which is definitely way too
dark.
I'm quite happy with it though, coz it's perfectly representative of
the game which, as an aside, is the best turn-based combat romp I've
had since UFO Enemy Unknown. Serious, take UFO, chuck it in a WWII
setting, and you have Silent Storm. Can take forever to play a single
mission just like UFO too. :) Ah, but the destructable environments
are so much fun, I just have to love it. (crap voice-acting though.)
>http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00009LW88.02._SS400_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1076063044_.jpg
> That one's quite cool.
Yeah. I keep hearing it's a good game too .. just too lazy to try it.
Oh and, minor detail, I have no PC to try it on anyway. :) Such a
shame. If a good game is going to come out right in the middle of my
GTA: Vice City addiction, it might as well not exist.
>http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0001M0HE6.02._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1078412713_.jpg
> Not too impressed here.
Ah, but doesn't it have that old Sci-Fi movie poster "show every aspect
of the movie" quality to it. :) hehe.
> >But back to the actual Amiga stuff. Zeewolf, cool.
>
> Zeewolf 2? Looks CGI to me...
Nope. Zeewolf 1. That metallic wolf logo is still awesome. Silly of
them not to try to include that prominently in the Zeewolf 2 box ..
that, the flames in front of it, and then the helicopter (but no so
prominent) could IMHO be a composition of awesomeness. ;)
> but can we keep this restricted to say 3 letters at a time? How about
> thoughts on the A, B, and C categories?
A always felt too angular to me. C had far better aerodynamics, so
I'll go with that one. ;)
Actually, I think you're right on the money with the A10: Tank Killer
box. That one was pretty good. Nice dramatic composition. ..I kinda
skipped over it last time, coz I already have the box at home, and I
just remember being immensely disappointed in the game. But, to be
fair, I had a moderately powerful AGA machine by that stage and the
darned thing just ran fast and looked ugly, so I couldn't get into it.
:(
I like the Action Fighter one too. Simple design, but looks nice 'n
dramatic. The car could maybe do with a bit of a redesign these days
for more of a badass look, but still a good pic.
Arnie II? Gay. No doubt about it. (are those pants leather?) :D
> You are so harsh..... but fair. :)
> I liked those Skidmark covers myself.
I don't think I ever saw them before, so I was just a bit disappointed.
The mini one just doesn't tell enough about the game IMHO (and how
could they not include the cows and caravans, eh?) :) But I guess I'm
pretty harsh on old CG stuff these days. Probably took them a full day
to render it, then bob says "hey, who didn't fix up the bonnet
texture?" hehe.
> >I think a professionally coloured version of the Skidmarks title pic
> >from the game would have looked much better.
>
> BOGUS CALL, DUDE!
Well, I thought it had character, and gave a better impression of the
fun nature of the game. Didn't the CG ones look a bit, erm.. cold?
Yes, it's a racing game. Personally I'd like a front box to tell a
little more than that.
> The Virus art (on the left) is great (IMO). I like the composition (I
> mean, "whoosh!" and the hippy fantasy landscape. I would prefer more
> colour saturation, but for me, this cover is a winner. Too small though,
> it came in only a little plastic case at 19.95 UKP.
Well, it had potential. But yeah, the orange surround was a mistake ..
remove/lessen it and make it more subdued. Whoever did the text layout
should be shot though. Someone needs to teach them where to use a dash
and an m-dash. By the author of Elite-Braben you say? :)
But god, that second cover. So Atari2600. :)
> I came to The Settlers late, and bought it in a compilation. I liked The
> Settlers so much that I scaned somebody else's box, and redecorated my box
> with a proper The Settlers covering. Now that, is pretty sad. :)
Oh, for any other game, yeah. But not for the super-awesome Settlers.
(I might rate that as the best Amiga game ever .. on my personal list
at least ..can always go back to that one.)
> While we're on 'S' I will just briefly mention the box art for Space Rogue
> which I think is AWFUL!
Haha. Well, at least he manages to look hard, unlike the gay Arnie II.
:)
> >I've also gotta mention the Bards Tale II box .. yeah, pitched battle,
> >and the bard has his harp in his hand. WTF? Yeah, waste those undead
> >with the harp.
>
> ....much chuckling. :)
I guess it's one of those "artistic license" things. :)
> >..I'm sure it's only recently (like World of Warcraft
> >and Lord of the Rings times) that people finally worked out how to do
> >RPG/Fantasy stuff that didn't look gay (especially if elves or wizards
> >were involved.)
>
> Black Crypt?
Good attempt, but the humans look a little stereotypical, and the
monster has a gay pendant (he loses fashion-points if he has a matching
man-ring.) :D
> >I don't know why people had no clue back then on how
> >to make the scenes gritty .. maybe they were concentrating too hard on
> >showing the cleavage (Defender of the Crown)
>
> Nothing wrong with that! :)
Oh, true. I knew that advert very well long before I knew or cared
about the game. ..Was a long time before I realised there were other
people in the scene though. :)
Nathan.
Angus Manwaring
>Angus wrote:
>> Nathan wrote:
>> >it seems good lungs can make anyone a great singer.. :)
>>
>> Lungs huh? :)
"Kenny rocks", huh? :)
>I recall I did actually have a full Barbarian poster (came with an
>issue of Zzap64 or something?) ..for some strange reason my mum didn't
>seem to approve of it. hehe.
Was this photo based or one of their artworks? In Maria's case, I don't
the latter would do her justice.
>I'm quite happy with it though, coz it's perfectly representative of
>the game which, as an aside, is the best turn-based combat romp I've
>had since UFO Enemy Unknown. Serious, take UFO, chuck it in a WWII
>setting, and you have Silent Storm. Can take forever to play a single
>mission just like UFO too. :) Ah, but the destructable environments
>are so much fun, I just have to love it. (crap voice-acting though.)
Sometimes, in a weird way, that can help. :)
>>
>> Zeewolf 2? Looks CGI to me...
>Nope. Zeewolf 1. That metallic wolf logo is still awesome. Silly of
>them not to try to include that prominently in the Zeewolf 2 box ..
>that, the flames in front of it, and then the helicopter (but no so
>prominent) could IMHO be a composition of awesomeness. ;)
Yeah, they established a good "corporate identity" with the Wolf's head
especially with the multi-directional scrolling one in the game intro
itself, you're right, a shame to lose it.
>> but can we keep this restricted to say 3 letters at a time? How about
>> thoughts on the A, B, and C categories?
>A always felt too angular to me. C had far better aerodynamics, so
>I'll go with that one. ;)
Not if you progress is vertical or if you have asteroid like directional
control with the A, it then kicks the C's butt in the aerodynamics states!
>Actually, I think you're right on the money with the A10: Tank Killer
>box. That one was pretty good. Nice dramatic composition. ..I kinda
>skipped over it last time, coz I already have the box at home, and I
>just remember being immensely disappointed in the game. But, to be
>fair, I had a moderately powerful AGA machine by that stage and the
>darned thing just ran fast and looked ugly, so I couldn't get into it.
>:(
It was always horribly slow on the 500, and in my view the patched version
(WHDLoad) is great. Right Seppo? :)
>I like the Action Fighter one too. Simple design, but looks nice 'n
>dramatic. The car could maybe do with a bit of a redesign these days
>for more of a badass look, but still a good pic.
>Arnie II? Gay. No doubt about it. (are those pants leather?) :D
Agreed, and Arnie one is nearly as bad with the "I'm looking over there,
and firing up there for...... no particular reason, apparently".
There was a Bond poster in recent years where the dark lady from the X-Men
movies (forgotten her name) and Piers Brosnan are each pointing their
pistols almost to camera, but their weapons are going in different
directions. To me that's crap, because its a missed opportunity to
highlight the precision of two top agents, and don't talk to me about
different proiority targets - I'm not interested.
>> The Virus art (on the left) is great (IMO). I like the composition (I
>> mean, "whoosh!" and the hippy fantasy landscape. I would prefer more
>> colour saturation, but for me, this cover is a winner. Too small though,
>> it came in only a little plastic case at 19.95 UKP.
>Well, it had potential. But yeah, the orange surround was a mistake ..
>remove/lessen it and make it more subdued.
I don't know.... the white lines suggest a "V" and the graduated orange
is like the infected landscape in the game. I'd prefer a big box version
of th artwork though, something to get your retinas into.
>Whoever did the text layout
>should be shot though. Someone needs to teach them where to use a dash
>and an m-dash. By the author of Elite-Braben you say? :)
I think you are being too subtle for my tiny brain here.....
>But god, that second cover. So Atari2600. :)
Yup. :)
>> The Settlers covering. Now that, is pretty sad. :)
>Oh, for any other game, yeah. But not for the super-awesome Settlers.
Thanks for letting me off the hook there, dude. :)
>(I might rate that as the best Amiga game ever .. on my personal list
>at least ..can always go back to that one.)
True enough.
>> While we're on 'S' I will just briefly mention the box art for Space Rogue
>> which I think is AWFUL!
>Haha. Well, at least he manages to look hard, unlike the gay Arnie II.
>:)
That's not hard! And I'm a softie kitten lover. That's a male model with a
bit of stubble!
>>
>> Black Crypt?
>Good attempt, but the humans look a little stereotypical, and the
>monster has a gay pendant (he loses fashion-points if he has a matching
>man-ring.) :D
Even so, for me it has some serious atmosphere.
>>
>> >showing the cleavage (Defender of the Crown)
>>
>> Nothing wrong with that! :)
>Oh, true. I knew that advert very well long before I knew or cared
>about the game. ..Was a long time before I realised there were other
>people in the scene though. :)
Rocket Ranger is also excellent, and if I was the guy featured on the
Rising Sun box art, I'd be thinking less about making war. :)
D, E, and F?
Any thoughts on the Dark Century CGI?
You may disagree, but I warm towards the Darkmere cover. It just looks
cool to me.
Darkside looks like rubbish to me.
Ah, there's Defender of the Crown - My God, its blatant, isn't it. :)
Now how about Dennis?
It works for me, its lush, in your face, FUN. And I look the bark detail
on the catapault too! What would you call this style, neo-realistic
pop-art? :)
And sorry, but Dungeon Master works for me. What do you reckon?
and Elite, deservedly a classic design?
Falcon is tasty and full of brooding atmosphere, and not just 'cos I'm a
fan of the game. :)
Nathan
> Nathan wrote:
> > I did actually have a full Barbarian poster (came with an
> > issue of Zzap64 or something?)
>
> Was this photo based or one of their artworks? In Maria's case, I don't
> the latter would do her justice.
It was almost exactly the same as the box-art shown on exotica:
http://www.exotica.org.uk/gallery/games/images/b/Barbarian.jpg
Possibly slightly different. I remember seeing that my poster was very
similar to the adverts in the computer magazines at the time, just a
slightly different pose .. so it was taken from the same sequence of
photos. ..Ms. Whittaker does look a teeny bit '80's medievil' though,
I must say. ;)
Now I remember where the poster came from. It wasn't an issue of Zzap!
64, it was Computer and Videogames - there was a C+VG logo in the
corner of it. Don't remember how I got it though, coz that's not a
magazine we ever subscribed to. ...Could I have bought that issue just
for the poster? ..actually, I think I scored it from a guy at school.
I know some of them had questionable taste in computer magazines.
Um, am I the only one concerned with the "ten star, 3 pack" logo down
by Maria? Yeah, sure I can believe it's a ten star package .. but the
thought of a 3 pack concerns me. If I was Zaphod Beeblebrox I'd
probably have the necessary hands a weirdness to be down with it. But
as it is, I'm just concerned for the poor lass. :)
[Silent Storm: Crap voice-acting]
> Sometimes, in a weird way, that can help. :)
Possibly .. but I turned it off right away. Trust me, it was a good
thing. Those guys really didn't have many different things they said.
And when each mission lasts for hours and hours like in UFO, they wear
thin pretty quick. ..Between Silent Storm and UFO: Enemy Unknown, what
wth the inordinate amount of time they take up, I think it's safe to
say I have enough turn-based strategy games to last me for the rest of
my life. I haven't even bothered to check out the UFO sequels on the
PC.
Well, I was keen on UFO: Aftermath, until a friend (and fellow UFO: EU
fan) bought it and I got to see what they'd done with out beloved
franchise. It wasn't even possible to enter/destroy the buildings -
what's the point in that? ..I hear the last UFO: Aftershock was
better, but they screwed around with the movement system (not
energy-point based ..paused real-time instead.) So now I'm basically
"meh" about future UFO games.
[Zeewolf]
> Yeah, they established a good "corporate identity" with the Wolf's head
> especially with the multi-directional scrolling one in the game intro
> itself, you're right, a shame to lose it.
Yes.. I'm quite suprised they abandoned that on the Zeewolf 2 box.
The wolf's head was definitely a cool piece of branding there. At
least they had the good sense to keep it on the title-screen of the
game itself. (10 minutes later after playing some Zeewolf 2)
...aaaah. Nice. :D
[A vs C]
> Not if you progress is vertical or if you have asteroid like directional
> control with the A, it then kicks the C's butt in the aerodynamics states!
Ah, that's a very good point. I hadn't given it due consideration.
And, of course, if you go for the vertically scrolling games in the
other direction, A's counterpart, V, is hard to beat. Yes, those
"death valley" basic games that would just print " I V I "
onto the screen, and let you control the V. I spent a lot of time on
that one on the old Vic-20. (Um, probably more time typing it in than
playing it.) :)
[A10 Tank Killer]
> It was always horribly slow on the 500, and in my view the patched version
> (WHDLoad) is great. Right Seppo? :)
I've got the WHDLoad installed version of it here (I just brought that
.. left the weighty manuals and maps back at home) I might go back and
take a look, since I've never really spent any time on it. I must
admit, I don't have so much patience for hardcore flight simulators
these days. Have been seduced by those easy flight 'sims' on the
consoles. hehe. None of that boring take-off or landing .. just kill
kill kill (what, my plane has 150 missiles? doesn't seem
unreasonable.) :)
> >Arnie II? Gay. No doubt about it. (are those pants leather?) :D
>
> Agreed, and Arnie one is nearly as bad with the "I'm looking over there,
> and firing up there for...... no particular reason, apparently".
Oh, that's another artistic licence thing, obviously .. probably like
the leather pants. The lead designer probably thought they'd look
"fabulous darling." :D
> There was a Bond poster in recent years where the dark lady from the X-Men
> movies (forgotten her name) and Piers Brosnan are each pointing their
> pistols almost to camera, but their weapons are going in different
> directions. To me that's crap, because its a missed opportunity to
> highlight the precision of two top agents, and don't talk to me about
> different proiority targets - I'm not interested.
Hehe.. That would be Halley Berry (how could you forget her name, eh?
..that's Storm from X-Men you're talking about there. Ya don't want to
get on the wrong side of her.) :) Maybe one of them was going for some
cool ricochet-off-the-wall trick. Y'know, coz they're so hard and
expert and all that, they don't even need to aim directly at the perp
..they just hit. It's like that Hollywood thing where 100 enemies of
any description (usually some elite force, naturally) can't hit the
star of the film ..even when they're a behemoth of a target like Arnie
Schwarzenegger. Yet Arnie can despatch them with a few well placed
rounds from his submachine gun. :) (That Commando film was so
realistic.) ;)
But I like that "View to a Kill" poster:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_View_to_a_Kill
Yeah, they could really be standing up a the span of the Golden Gate
like that, in their best *dress* shoes. I hear those give real good
grip. Oh yeah, Mr. Bond .. the bad guy, yeah, he's not where you're
pointing. He's *behind* you. :D hehe. (80's movies really had a bias
towards blond-haird, blue-eyed damsels, didn't they?)
[The ghastly Virus box]
> I don't know.... the white lines suggest a "V" and the graduated orange
> is like the infected landscape in the game. I'd prefer a big box version
> of th artwork though, something to get your retinas into.
Yeah.. wonderful subliminal messages .. but it still looks like crap.
:) (no Nathan, tell us what you really think) ..I spotted the
v-shaping to the pattern. I don't think we'd be any worse off without
it. I'm betting the graduated orange was just coz the artist had to
empty his airbrush of his orange paint so he could go onto something
more important. hehe.
> >Whoever did the text layout
> >should be shot though. Someone needs to teach them where to use a dash
> >and an m-dash. By the author of Elite-Braben you say? :)
>
> I think you are being too subtle for my tiny brain here.....
It says up the top (which you can only read if you zoom-in on the
image):
from the co-author of elite-david braben
So we have two hyphens, both being used in very different ways (the
second should be an m-dash really.) So, at a glance it reads either:
From the co (author of Elite) David Braben.
..or that it's from the co-author of Elite-David. Yeah, great work.
Now, anyone who has graduated high-school should be able to see the
crap ambiguity of the sentence. As a major selling-point of the game
you want the basic message "from the author of Elite" to hit home.
They could have put: "From the co-author of Elite: David Braben", or
"From David Braben, co-author of Elite!", or "From the co-author of
Elite -- David Braben" if they insisted on sticking with their strange
use of dash-y things. (consider the double-dash an M-dash.)
I can understand how things weren't so professional back then. But
when you want a message on there that this game is from someone
involved in one of the biggest games in the history of 8-bit and 16-bit
computers, I would have thought someone might take the time to get it
right. (or, at least, half right.) :)
> >But god, that second cover. So Atari2600. :)
>
> Yup. :)
Ah, the good old Atari. Anyone remember being *so* impressed by the
flickering mess that was Pacman on that console? My brother and I
laughed so much at those adverts on the telly. I mean, c'mon. It's
Pacman. How difficult is it to get *that* right?
[The Settlers box-art saga]
> Thanks for letting me off the hook there, dude. :)
Hey, it's The Settlers. Any form of worship for that game is
justified. :)
> >(I might rate that as the best Amiga game ever .. on my personal list
> >at least ..can always go back to that one.)
>
> True enough.
Yeah.. I even rate it above Hired Guns and Fire and Ice. (Though not
*much* above Fire and Ice.) :) I suspect The Chaos Engine would get
placed somewhere up there between Settlers and the Coyote. But where
to rate all the Pinball games? I was quite addicted to them. *sigh*
That's why I don't often make best-of lists.
[Arnie II]
> That's not hard! And I'm a softie kitten lover. That's a male model with a
> bit of stubble!
Hey, stubble makes the world of difference. Remember Miami Vice? :)
..oh yeah, did anyone see that that's going to be remade. A modern
Miami Vice? Who are they going to use for the Cheif? He's commanding
the Galactica right now. How could this possibly work? ;)
[Black Crypt]
> Even so, for me it has some serious atmosphere.
I think I was being a little over-critical that day. It is quite a
good poster.
> Rocket Ranger is also excellent, and if I was the guy featured on the
> Rising Sun box art, I'd be thinking less about making war. :)
>
> D, E, and F?
I'll do those (and the rest) in a seperate post, I think. :)
> and Elite, deservedly a classic design?
But since there's already been Braben discussion in here: Elite is
definitely a classic design. I do still like the old c64 loading
screen for that one:
http://www.lemon64.com/games/details.php?ID=818
The addition of the ship and the space background adds a bit of life to
it, yeah?
I remember watching that screen for a while .. many many times.
Loading screens on the Amiga don't have so much nostalgia, probably coz
I never saw them for very long. But on the c64, when they're there for
a few minutes, you don't forget them in a hurry. :)
Note that I haven't commented that that one was better on the c64. But
that is, of course, because it's best on the Mac, in the reauthored
form of Oolite. :D hehe.
Nathan.
Angus Manwaring
>Angus wrote:
>> Nathan wrote:
>> > I did actually have a full Barbarian poster (came with an
>> > issue of Zzap64 or something?)
>>
>> Was this photo based or one of their artworks? In Maria's case, I don't
>> the latter would do her justice.
>It was almost exactly the same as the box-art shown on exotica:
> http://www.exotica.org.uk/gallery/games/images/b/Barbarian.jpg
Ah yes, the confusingly mislabelled "Ten Star Double Pack" shot.
>Possibly slightly different. I remember seeing that my poster was very
>similar to the adverts in the computer magazines at the time, just a
>slightly different pose ..
Interesting that your mam.. sorry, memory should be so clear on this
point.
>Now I remember where the poster came from. It wasn't an issue of Zzap!
>64, it was Computer and Videogames - there was a C+VG logo in the
>corner of it. Don't remember how I got it though, coz that's not a
>magazine we ever subscribed to. ...Could I have bought that issue just
>for the poster? ..actually, I think I scored it from a guy at school.
>I know some of them had questionable taste in computer magazines.
Yes, for me there'd be the odd bit of game news that made it worth a quick
browse while still on the shop's shelf, but not one for buying.
>Um, am I the only one concerned with the "ten star, 3 pack" logo down
>by Maria? Yeah, sure I can believe it's a ten star package .. but the
>thought of a 3 pack concerns me. If I was Zaphod Beeblebrox I'd
>probably have the necessary hands a weirdness to be down with it. But
>as it is, I'm just concerned for the poor lass. :)
Ah, that'll teach me to respond without fully reading through a post. :)
>And when each mission lasts for hours and hours like in UFO, they wear
>thin pretty quick. ..Between Silent Storm and UFO: Enemy Unknown, what
>wth the inordinate amount of time they take up, I think it's safe to
>say I have enough turn-based strategy games to last me for the rest of
>my life. I haven't even bothered to check out the UFO sequels on the
>PC.
Laser Squad fan? It has that magical 2 player option.... and dare I say
it, a certain C64 stle to the graphics. :)
>what's the point in that? ..I hear the last UFO: Aftershock was
>better, but they screwed around with the movement system (not
>energy-point based ..paused real-time instead.) So now I'm basically
>"meh" about future UFO games.
Very different, but did you ever try Full Metal Planette? You had a user
definable time limit for each player's move. We used to use 2 minutes I
think, and that genuinely kept it pretty tense.
>onto the screen, and let you control the V. I spent a lot of time on
>that one on the old Vic-20. (Um, probably more time typing it in than
>playing it.) :)
The Vic-20 was your first home micro?
>[A10 Tank Killer]
>> It was always horribly slow on the 500, and in my view the patched version
>> (WHDLoad) is great. Right Seppo? :)
>I've got the WHDLoad installed version of it here (I just brought that
>.. left the weighty manuals and maps back at home) I might go back and
>take a look, since I've never really spent any time on it.
Check Seppo's superb review - you want the Version 1.5 of the game.
>Hehe.. That would be Halley Berry (how could you forget her name, eh?
I am a bit rubbish with names, it has to be said.
>But I like that "View to a Kill" poster:
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_View_to_a_Kill
>Yeah, they could really be standing up a the span of the Golden Gate
>like that, in their best *dress* shoes. I hear those give real good
>grip. Oh yeah, Mr. Bond .. the bad guy, yeah, he's not where you're
>pointing. He's *behind* you. :D hehe. (80's movies really had a bias
>towards blond-haird, blue-eyed damsels, didn't they?)
You're talking about Walken now? :)
As for the young lady, judging by the position of her left foot she
appears to have clenched on to 007's knee. :0
>Yeah.. wonderful subliminal messages .. but it still looks like crap.
>:) (no Nathan, tell us what you really think) ..I spotted the
>v-shaping to the pattern. I don't think we'd be any worse off without
>it. I'm betting the graduated orange was just coz the artist had to
>empty his airbrush of his orange paint so he could go onto something
>more important. hehe.
Dude, I love that box! More important?! As if!
> from the co-author of elite-david braben
>So we have two hyphens, both being used in very different ways (the
>second should be an m-dash really.) So, at a glance it reads either:
> From the co (author of Elite) David Braben.
> ..or that it's from the co-author of Elite-David. Yeah, great work.
Unable to argue the point convincingly, I will say only....
DAHHHHH!
>[The Settlers box-art saga]
>> Thanks for letting me off the hook there, dude. :)
>Hey, it's The Settlers. Any form of worship for that game is
>justified. :)
Good point, well made.
>[Black Crypt]
>> Even so, for me it has some serious atmosphere.
>I think I was being a little over-critical that day. It is quite a
>good poster.
KLONK!!!! :)
>> D, E, and F?
>I'll do those (and the rest) in a seperate post, I think. :)
Bring it on!
Well, maybe not all the rest! :)
>> and Elite, deservedly a classic design?
>But since there's already been Braben discussion in here: Elite is
>definitely a classic design. I do still like the old c64 loading
>screen for that one:
> http://www.lemon64.com/games/details.php?ID=818
>The addition of the ship and the space background adds a bit of life to
>it, yeah?
Ah..... magic memories. :) Was the Beeb version the same but with less
colour?
>Loading screens on the Amiga don't have so much nostalgia, probably coz
>I never saw them for very long. But on the c64, when they're there for
>a few minutes, you don't forget them in a hurry. :)
True, "Come on you barsteward, LOAD dammit!".
Paradroid with the gradually more detailed laoding screen comes to mind.
>Note that I haven't commented that that one was better on the c64. But
>that is, of course, because it's best on the Mac, in the reauthored
>form of Oolite. :D hehe.
What version is Oolite based on or does it have a load of enhancements?
Seppo
> >Angus wrote:
> >I recall I did actually have a full Barbarian poster (came with an
> >issue of Zzap64 or something?) ..for some strange reason my mum didn't
> >seem to approve of it. hehe.
>
> Was this photo based or one of their artworks? In Maria's case, I don't
> the latter would do her justice.
I think I had the same poster, and it was photo based :)
> >Actually, I think you're right on the money with the A10: Tank Killer
> >box. That one was pretty good. Nice dramatic composition. ..I kinda
> >skipped over it last time, coz I already have the box at home, and I
> >just remember being immensely disappointed in the game. But, to be
> >fair, I had a moderately powerful AGA machine by that stage and the
> >darned thing just ran fast and looked ugly, so I couldn't get into it.
> >:(
>
> It was always horribly slow on the 500, and in my view the patched version
> (WHDLoad) is great. Right Seppo? :)
Yup :)
bye,
Seppo
Nathan
Angus wrote:
> Nathan wrote:
[Barbarian Poster]
> >Possibly slightly different. I remember seeing that my poster was very
> >similar to the adverts in the computer magazines at the time, just a
> >slightly different pose ..
>
> Interesting that your mam.. sorry, memory should be so clear on this
> point.
:) <innocent excuse to follow .. believe it if you dare>
I just remember because I thought they were the same, but then, in one
of the Zzap! 64 issues I saw the advert again and was "hold on..
that's different." And, indeed, when I checked it against the poster,
I was right. Which then got me thinking "damn, there's some lucky
photographer person with a whole roll of snaps like these." ..nowadays
though, when I look at it I tend to just think "she looks very 80's"
..then I think "are they real? Probably not." :) ..I didn't consider
such points as a lad.
Has anyone seen the "Aviator" movie with Leonardo di Caprio? The
mammaries scene in that one is priceless. (Poor Mr. Bagginses.) :)
</aside>
[C+VG magazine]
> Yes, for me there'd be the odd bit of game news that made it worth a quick
> browse while still on the shop's shelf, but not one for buying.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. Couldn't understand how anyone
could seriously consider a game review that takes up half a column and
has marks out of 5 or 10. I mean, after we'd become spoiled with the
Zzap64 way of doing things: three reviewers and usually a page or more
for each game (though I suspect group-think tended to skew opinions
sometimes, like panning Enigma Force, or all loving Gauntlet ..but
generally they were on the ball)
> >Um, am I the only one concerned with the "ten star, 3 pack" logo down
> >by Maria? Yeah, sure I can believe it's a ten star package .. but the
> >thought of a 3 pack concerns me. If I was Zaphod Beeblebrox I'd
> >probably have the necessary hands a weirdness to be down with it. But
> >as it is, I'm just concerned for the poor lass. :)
>
> Ah, that'll teach me to respond without fully reading through a post. :)
Yes, it will. :) ..poor girl. With a three-pack she'd just fall over.
;)
> >I think it's safe to say I have enough turn-based
> >strategy games to last me for the rest of my life. I haven't
> > even bothered to check out the UFO sequels on the PC.
>
> Laser Squad fan? It has that magical 2 player option.... and dare I say
> it, a certain C64 stle to the graphics. :)
Ah yes .. I remember all these good reviews about that one. Another
one I must spend some quality time on one of these days. (Who knows
when that'll be then .. I only just got into Conquerer today.) :)
> >what's the point in that? ..I hear the last UFO: Aftershock was
> >better, but they screwed around with the movement system (not
> >energy-point based ..paused real-time instead.) So now I'm basically
> >"meh" about future UFO games.
>
> Very different, but did you ever try Full Metal Planette? You had a user
> definable time limit for each player's move. We used to use 2 minutes I
> think, and that genuinely kept it pretty tense.
No, I never saw that. Sounds intriguing. For some reason, this
reminds me of "They Stole a Million" (was it c64 only? or did an Amiga
port ever surface?) You have to plan the whole robbery in advance ..I
think you get to control one guy live on the night (and pause everyone
when there are cops/security nearby), but boy that was a fun one.
> The Vic-20 was your first home micro?
Yup. My brother and I went halves in buying one. Actually, he was the
one that wanted the computer, and tried to convince the other brother
to pitch in, but he wasn't so gullable, so he approached me next. Good
job too.. coz I pretty much took over that pasttime. Nowadays he's
gone more for the console side. *sigh* Poor lad. ;)
Fortunately, through my Vic-20 and c64 days I had a few friends with
the same machine, and one with an Apple II (which we also had at
school), and another friend with a classic 48k rubber-keyed ZX-Spectrum
so, I rekon, I got to see the best that 8-bit machines had to offer in
the day.
> >[A10 Tank Killer]
> Check Seppo's superb review - you want the Version 1.5 of the game.
Really? Cool. Thanks for the tip. Rekon I'll have to at least check
it out. Since I payed good money for it long after it was worth as
much as I paid. :)
[Bond: "View to a Kill"]
> You're talking about Walken now? :)
Possibly, but you've lost me there. :)
> As for the young lady, judging by the position of her left foot she
> appears to have clenched on to 007's knee. :0
I rekon there's artistic license all over that poster, never mind their
kinky position. But hell, this is bond, why wouldn't he use the
opportunity to be getting a bit of knee-action atop the golden gate (as
she was once known) ;)
[Virus]
> Dude, I love that box! More important?! As if!
Okay, you're fully allowed to have positive feelings towards the box.
..Was a damn fine game besides, so I'll let it pass. (I'll maintian my
objection to the typographical amateurness tho.) ;)
> > So we have two hyphens, both being used in very different ways (the
> > second should be an m-dash really.) So, at a glance it reads either:
> > From the co (author of Elite) David Braben.
> > ..or that it's from the co-author of Elite-David. Yeah, great work.
>
> Unable to argue the point convincingly, I will say only....
> DAHHHHH!
Haha! Fallen into my trap! But hey, at least it has character, right?
:)
> >[Black Crypt]
> >I think I was being a little over-critical that day. It is quite a
> >good poster.
>
> KLONK!!!! :)
Nope sorry .. changed my mind. It's crap again. ;)
[Elite]
> >I do still like the old c64 loading screen for that one:
> > http://www.lemon64.com/games/details.php?ID=818
>
> Ah..... magic memories. :) Was the Beeb version the same but with less
> colour?
I believe it was about as good in most respects, given that the c64
version wasn't exactly resplendent in its use of saturated goodness.
..I also have it on good authority that the beeb was capable of running
at some pretty crazy-fast speeds (a course-mate at university had one
that was running at some crazy speed like 8MHz) ..would have loved to
have seen Elite and Revs running on that beast. So, quite possibly
Elite could have looked very very nice on the BBC. The advantages the
c64 version had was a few bugfixes, the addition of the missions, and
the trumbles ..oh, and all of the game being resident in memory.
> >Loading screens on the Amiga don't have so much nostalgia, probably coz
> >I never saw them for very long. But on the c64, when they're there for
> >a few minutes, you don't forget them in a hurry. :)
>
> True, "Come on you barsteward, LOAD dammit!".
I believe I was one of the few people to play the original Epyx (pre
US-Gold) version of Pitstop II ..well, we made a copy of it, which made
it even more fun. *No* turbo loader whatsoever. Damn thing would load
for 20 minutes. No indication if the crap copy had failed loading
except, it would keep loading. Oh commodore and your crazy slow
loading schemes. :)
> Paradroid with the gradually more detailed laoding screen comes to mind.
No, my version of that was the simple burner turbo-loader (maybe an
earlier version again? or just the Australasian release?) ..just the
normal flashing screen+border while it loaded. That one was actually
quite a quick loader too. I've since seen the cool screen, with the
"Remember" group including all of the experience on their modern
cracks. Nice.
> >Note that I haven't commented that that one was better on the c64. But
> >that is, of course, because it's best on the Mac, in the reauthored
> >form of Oolite. :D hehe.
>
> What version is Oolite based on or does it have a load of enhancements?
Um, I think it was based on the BBC or Atari 8-bit version of Elite.
(which only really c64/Amiga people with respect to some of the keys
used. Almost all of the enhancements they've made to the game are
purely cosmetic. It's modular too, so you can add things like the
funky intro-ship from Frontier, or the spaceship graveyard from the
Novella (people have made them for oolite already.) So I strongly
suggest anyone who loves the original Elite should check it out. (It's
available for Mac, Linux, and PC these days .. so no excuses.) :)
You also get cool things like genuine groups of ships: Boas or
Anacondas escorted by Cobras and Mambas and stuff. And it's possible
to indepently target ships too, so the tactical possibilities for such
battles are quite fun. But yeah, this is one of the few Elite inspired
projects I've seen where they've kept the gameplay so original. No
X-Wing/Freespace or Frontier style combat model thankyouverymuch ...you
do this one with the keyboard, and bank and roll like in the good old
days. Sod this new-fangled realistic combat. ;)
I noticed the PC version is now in beta, and up to speed with the Mac
one. Gonna have to check that out (I might be stuck with using a PC
sometime soon, so this is good timing.)
Nathan.
Angus Manwaring
>Angus wrote:
>> Nathan wrote:
>[Barbarian Poster]
>> >Possibly slightly different. I remember seeing that my poster was very
>> >similar to the adverts in the computer magazines at the time, just a
>> >slightly different pose ..
>>
>> Interesting that your mam.. sorry, memory should be so clear on this
>> point.
>:) <innocent excuse to follow .. believe it if you dare>
-------SNIP--------
You've got ....................NO CHANCE! :)
>Has anyone seen the "Aviator" movie with Leonardo di Caprio? The
>mammaries scene in that one is priceless. (Poor Mr. Bagginses.) :)
></aside>
Not seen, one to watch out for?
>[C+VG magazine]
>Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. Couldn't understand how anyone
>could seriously consider a game review that takes up half a column and
>has marks out of 5 or 10. I mean, after we'd become spoiled with the
>Zzap64 way of doing things: three reviewers and usually a page or more
>for each game (though I suspect group-think tended to skew opinions
>sometimes, like panning Enigma Force, or all loving Gauntlet ..but
>generally they were on the ball)
I stilll remember how years later "Jaz" was still cross that "Chris" had
reviewed Elite on his own. "This should never have been allowed to
happen!"
I just read a couple of old AP reviews that irritated me. Stuart
Campbell interviews the team behind CyberCon 3 and completely wastes the
opportunity of shedding light on the team and it s work and chooses rather
to focus on his wacky gift for comedy interviewing. Presumably under the
impression its satire. Sorry Stuart, I thought it was shite. :(
Still at least there was aplayer's guide for Rainbow Islands. YAWN.
The other one was a review of Operation Combat, that I read on the web and
credited to AP. Basically the guy could not be arsed to do his job because
it was "strategy" and more of the wacky humour was forthcoming in place of
competent reviewing.
They did some darned good work, but this is the stuff that wound me up
about them, the wannabe celebrity factor.
Okay, its hot - I'm sorry.
>Yes, it will. :) ..poor girl. With a three-pack she'd just fall over.
> ;)
I'm going to be grown-up and show restraint here.
>>
>> Laser Squad fan? It has that magical 2 player option.... and dare I say
>> it, a certain C64 stle to the graphics. :)
>Ah yes .. I remember all these good reviews about that one. Another
>one I must spend some quality time on one of these days. (Who knows
>when that'll be then .. I only just got into Conquerer today.) :)
And what do you make of it dude? Initially unfirgiving, but with some
familiarity.....?
>>
>> Very different, but did you ever try Full Metal Planette? You had a user
>> definable time limit for each player's move. We used to use 2 minutes I
>> think, and that genuinely kept it pretty tense.
>No, I never saw that. Sounds intriguing.
You should check it out, I think you'd like those metallic sound effects,
and the French weirdness, with things like the Weather Hen vehicle which
can predict the tide (and make tanks) somehow coming together into a
blinder of playability.
>For some reason, this
>reminds me of "They Stole a Million" (was it c64 only? or did an Amiga
>port ever surface?) You have to plan the whole robbery in advance ..I
>think you get to control one guy live on the night (and pause everyone
>when there are cops/security nearby), but boy that was a fun one.
I'm familiar with the name, but I don't remember an Amiga version...
Where's good old Peter Olafson when you need him? :)
>> The Vic-20
>Yup. My brother and I went halves in buying one. Actually, he was the
>one that wanted the computer, and tried to convince the other brother
>to pitch in, but he wasn't so gullable, so he approached me next. Good
>job too.. coz I pretty much took over that pasttime. Nowadays he's
>gone more for the console side. *sigh* Poor lad. ;)
But at least you got the Vic-20 as consolation.
...sorry.
>Fortunately, through my Vic-20 and c64 days I had a few friends with
>the same machine, and one with an Apple II (which we also had at
>school), and another friend with a classic 48k rubber-keyed ZX-Spectrum
>so, I rekon, I got to see the best that 8-bit machines had to offer in
>the day.
WHAT??? No BBC???!!!! The home micro (love that term) that Elite was
made for??!!!
>> >[A10 Tank Killer]
>Really? Cool. Thanks for the tip. Rekon I'll have to at least check
>it out. Since I payed good money for it long after it was worth as
>much as I paid. :)
I've not played it properly yet, but apart from Seppo-San's
recommendation, it seems pretty cool to me. I like the screen at the
beginning where all the vehicles come on one at a time, fire a shot, and
trundle off. :)
>[Bond: "View to a Kill"]
>> You're talking about Walken now? :)
>Possibly, but you've lost me there. :)
Christoper Walken was the blonde haired super villain of the piece I
believe. Famous for his roles in the Deerhunter, Dogs of War, The Dead
Zone, and a favourite of mine, The Prophesy.
>> >[Black Crypt]
>> >I think I was being a little over-critical that day. It is quite a
>> >good poster.
>>
>> KLONK!!!! :)
>Nope sorry .. changed my mind. It's crap again. ;)
Nooooooooooooooooooooo!
>[Elite]
>>
>> What version is Oolite based on or does it have a load of enhancements?
>Um, I think it was based on the BBC or Atari 8-bit version of Elite.
>(which only really c64/Amiga people with respect to some of the keys
>used. Almost all of the enhancements they've made to the game are
>purely cosmetic. It's modular too, so you can add things like the
>funky intro-ship from Frontier, or the spaceship graveyard from the
>Novella (people have made them for oolite already.) So I strongly
>suggest anyone who loves the original Elite should check it out. (It's
>available for Mac, Linux, and PC these days .. so no excuses.) :)
I got one for you.
No Amiga version. Would that be feasible do you reckon? Is it more
cpu hungry than Quake?
>You also get cool things like genuine groups of ships: Boas or
>Anacondas escorted by Cobras and Mambas and stuff. And it's possible
>to indepently target ships too, so the tactical possibilities for such
>battles are quite fun. But yeah, this is one of the few Elite inspired
>projects I've seen where they've kept the gameplay so original. No
>X-Wing/Freespace or Frontier style combat model thankyouverymuch ...you
>do this one with the keyboard, and bank and roll like in the good old
>days. Sod this new-fangled realistic combat. ;)
You need to replay Warhead my friend. :) I just rescued a convoy in the
Black Cloud Nebula, it was reminiscent of Babylon 5 when a ship in
hyperspace has lost the beacon. Very cool.
You can imagine the rapturous welcome I received on returning triumphantly
to Solbase. :)
Nathan
[movie: Aviator]
> Not seen, one to watch out for?
Definitely. Both Mr di Caprio and Ms Winslett put on amazing
performances (Leonardo likes to play odd characters, and he does a
fine job of this one), and, of course there's Ian Holme (aka Bilbo
Baggins, the father in Garden State, etc) who is brilliant in anything
he does. There's even Hawkeye from M*A*S*H, so what's there not to
like? (Apart from yet another one of the Baldwin Bros. in it, but yer
supposed to hate his character, so he was a logical choice.) :) ..Good
storyline (it's one of those true-story things that makes a great
film), some nice visuals, and generally not much to fault about it at
all. ..It's one of those films that collected a ton of Academy awards,
and actually seemed to deserve them. :)
[Zzap64 magazine]
> I stilll remember how years later "Jaz" was still cross that "Chris" had
> reviewed Elite on his own. "This should never have been allowed to
> happen!"
Hehe. He was only saying that because he only likes shoot-em-ups. :D
Well, I must admit the review probably did over-rate the game a little.
Generally it was a stirling title, but it did end up becomming a tad
repetitive, no? I understand though how landmark games and
first-issues of magazines can cause staff to bend their values. The
review wasn't as good as it could have been, but I think I would have
done the same in their position.
> I just read a couple of old AP reviews that irritated me. Stuart
> Campbell interviews the team behind CyberCon 3 and completely wastes the
> opportunity of shedding light on the team and it s work and chooses rather
> to focus on his wacky gift for comedy interviewing. Presumably under the
> impression its satire. Sorry Stuart, I thought it was shite. :(
Well, Stewart was a bit of a memorable character, wasn't he? Hehe. I
remember some of his posts here ..strangely enough i can't for the life
of me if I had a positivie opinion of the dude, I just remember he made
quite an impression. Um, if that makes any sense. ..I don't mind if a
review ends up being a bit of a puff-piece, just give us a few details
at least.
The internet has certainly made game reviews a different beast these
days. I don't even consider picking up games magazines now. Why
bother when there are so many reviews of equally questionable quality
online?
> Still at least there was aplayer's guide for Rainbow Islands. YAWN.
Really? Wow, I always wanted one of those. (Erm, not really.) :)
> The other one was a review of Operation Combat, that I read on the web and
> credited to AP. Basically the guy could not be arsed to do his job because
> it was "strategy" and more of the wacky humour was forthcoming in place of
> competent reviewing.
IMHO, when you're a professional reviewer you should at least make the
effort to put your personal opinions aside for long enough to give some
kind of estimation of what strategy buffs might think of it. That's
what I liked about the Zzap64 stuff .. the opinions and the description
were clearly defined. They seemed a little susceptable to considering
things too arty to be games at times. I wouldn't have found it hard at
all to review Deus Ex Machina or The Sentinel. Though they were
groundbreaking in their day, they were undeniably games. I don't see
how they could consider them to be anything else.
> They did some darned good work, but this is the stuff that wound me up
> about them, the wannabe celebrity factor.
I never read any of the Amiga publications (unless Amiga Report
counts), so I'll pass on giving any kind of opinion here. :)
> Okay, its hot - I'm sorry.
That's ok. You should try the subtropics. I've been permanently
grouchy for a good month or more now. Man, if it's muggy weather when
I get home I'm gonna be *so* kicking a puppy, or random innocent
creature. ;)
> >Yes, it will. :) ..poor girl. With a three-pack she'd just fall over.
> > ;)
>
> I'm going to be grown-up and show restraint here.
Well, with restraint she might be fine .. but I wouldnt' guarantee it.
(Especially if she's got small feet.) ..so how's that restraint going
there? ;)
[Conquerer]
> And what do you make of it dude? Initially unfirgiving, but with some
> familiarity.....?
Well, it was certainly faster than I remember (so maybe it was mostly
the speed of the tanks that was getting to me?) ..on my second game I
managed to kill around four german tanks .. the next, higher class,
tank was a bit much for me tho. So I now upgrade my opinion of it to
"fun" .. but still not fun enough. I'm sure I'll tinker with it on
occasion though. hehe.
Maybe I'm just bitter at tank games in general because we got a crap
version of Stellar 7. (Boss characters that don't fit and crappy
voice-acting? yes please .. *sigh* ..better on the c64 and Apple II.)
;)
[Full Metal Planette]
> You should check it out, I think you'd like those metallic sound effects,
> and the French weirdness, with things like the Weather Hen vehicle which
> can predict the tide (and make tanks) somehow coming together into a
> blinder of playability.
Okey dokey. Added to my list of things to play. (French weirdness
always appeals .. should I be playing it with Jean Michel Jarre in the
background?) :)
[computers]
> >Good job too.. coz I pretty much took over that pasttime. Nowadays
> >he's gone more for the console side. *sigh* Poor lad. ;)
>
> But at least you got the Vic-20 as consolation. ...sorry.
So you should be. But hey, we traded it on a shiny nice c64. Yum. I
ended up buying 100% ownership of that. A good deal IMHO. (oh yes.)
..lasted many years, until I fried it by plugging one of my home-made
gadgets into the user-port badly. *sniff* Poor c64. All I wanted was
a link-up game of Twin Tornado.
[friends with various computers]
> WHAT??? No BBC???!!!! The home micro (love that term) that Elite was
> made for??!!!
I met the only ex-BBC dude I know at University. ..they just weren't
that popular here. They were popular in schools or sumthink in the UK,
yeah? Here it was almost always Apples ..and, of course, everyone
recognised the coolness of the c64 in the home. :) Besides, we all
know the c64 version of Elite was the coolest. :D
[A10 Tank Killer]
> I've not played it properly yet, but apart from Seppo-San's
> recommendation, it seems pretty cool to me. I like the screen at the
> beginning where all the vehicles come on one at a time, fire a shot, and
> trundle off. :)
Hmmm... I only vaguely remember that. I'll have to look at it again
then.
> >[Bond: "View to a Kill"]
> Christoper Walken was the blonde haired super villain of the piece I
> believe. Famous for his roles in the Deerhunter, Dogs of War, The Dead
> Zone, and a favourite of mine, The Prophesy.
Ah yes, him. I remember seeing him in a lot of stuff back then. I
also recall that Grace Jones had claims to be some kind of singer, but
that might have just been a drunken nightmare. ;)
[Oolite]
> >anyone who loves the original Elite should check it out. (It's
> >available for Mac, Linux, and PC these days .. so no excuses.) :)
>
> I got one for you.
>
> No Amiga version. Would that be feasible do you reckon? Is it more
> cpu hungry than Quake?
Oh, it could definitely be done for the Amiga. I'd say it's less
CPU-hungry than Quake. But, not being familiar with the lanugage it's
written in, or the GFX/Sound API's used, I'm not sure just how easy the
port would be. The only thing that seems to tax this poor wee Mac is
the explosions sometimes, and those could always be toned down.
(besides, I think it's the combination of the excessive antialiasing I
use on the GFX-card and the transparent textures used in the explosions
that are causing the slow-down.)
I just like its overall faithfulness to Elite tho. Nice and retro.
Just to my liking. ..the new version for the PC (originally it was a
Mac project) works very well now too. A little bit of glitching on the
space-station detail, but other than that it seems perfect.
> You need to replay Warhead my friend. :) I just rescued a convoy in the
> Black Cloud Nebula, it was reminiscent of Babylon 5 when a ship in
> hyperspace has lost the beacon. Very cool.
Neat. Ok, I'll have to see if I can get past my newfound
3d-graphics-snobbery and get with it.
> You can imagine the rapturous welcome I received on returning triumphantly
> to Solbase. :)
Did they stick their hands to their ears and go "na-noo na-noo!", while
there trendy red body-suits glinted resplendently? Or was there just
some strange bald alien creature telling you "you have a hole in your
mind".. :) (I must revisit Babylon 5 one of these days.. the
relationship between G'kar and, um, Valeeri? became so layered and
complex over time ..quite endeared me to them.)
Nathan.
John Burns
> Angus wrote:
> > I just read a couple of old AP reviews that irritated me. Stuart
> > Campbell interviews the team behind CyberCon 3 and completely wastes the
> > opportunity of shedding light on the team and it s work and chooses rather
> > to focus on his wacky gift for comedy interviewing. Presumably under the
> > impression its satire. Sorry Stuart, I thought it was shite. :(
>
> Well, Stewart was a bit of a memorable character, wasn't he? Hehe. I
> remember some of his posts here ..strangely enough i can't for the life of
> me if I had a positivie opinion of the dude, I just remember he made quite
> an impression. Um, if that makes any sense. ..I don't mind if a review
> ends up being a bit of a puff-piece, just give us a few details at least.
When I last conversed with Stewart (just over a year ago) he signed his email
"Rev Stewart Campbell"? Not sure if he was taking the piss or if he has "found"
religion.
Nathan
> When I last conversed with Stewart (just over a year ago) he signed his email
> "Rev Stewart Campbell"? Not sure if he was taking the piss or if he has "found"
> religion.
Found religion? Wasn't that what the Amiga was supposed to be? By
'eck, if we need to be going off and finding spiritual religion that
surely has to be a sign that Amiga owners are losing their faith.
(Hmmm... well, maybe that's not such an unreasonable thing, after all
these years after the demise of Commodore.)
Well, we can only hope he found his new religion as enlightening as his
old one. Me, I'm sticking with the Amiga as the *only* religion.
(That would be monotheism, yeah?) ;) Though I'm considering that the
Mac might at least be worthy of a sainthood in its latest incarnation..
:D
Nathan.
Angus Manwaring
>Angus wrote:
>[movie: Aviator]
>> Not seen, one to watch out for?
>Definitely. Both Mr di Caprio and Ms Winslett put on amazing
>performances (Leonardo likes to play odd characters, and he does a
>fine job of this one), and, of course there's Ian Holme (aka Bilbo
>Baggins,
.....and Frodo in the Eighties BBC Radio series. :)
>[Zzap64 magazine]
Jaz Rignall
>Hehe. He was only saying that because he only likes shoot-em-ups. :D
>Well, I must admit the review probably did over-rate the game a little.
> Generally it was a stirling title, but it did end up becomming a tad
>repetitive, no? I understand though how landmark games and
>first-issues of magazines can cause staff to bend their values. The
>review wasn't as good as it could have been, but I think I would have
>done the same in their position.
No, no, no, no, no, nooooooooooo. (etc.) I think it was a good review, of
the ultimate home computer game. I still remember seeing issue Number 1 of
Zzap!! 64 on the shelf at W.H.Smith's (before they totally lost the plot)
at Charing Cross station in London. It was kind of, hey.... wait a minute,
that's Elite!! The game I've been waiting for!!! I bought the mag and as a
result was hooked for ages. I think part of Jaz's problem with it was that
a review should be a committee effort (a bit unfair of me) which was the
policy for Zzap. But like you say it wasn't his kind of game, and I
remember his reservations (the fool!) over The Sentinel, which, fair
enough, didn't light his fire.
>Well, Stewart was a bit of a memorable character,
..I don't mind if a
>review ends up being a bit of a puff-piece, just give us a few details
>at least.
But when ypu look back and find a review of a pretty serious game in terms
of originality and approach, and find the guy has just wasted the
opportunity because of "personality" priorities, I'm sorry, but it strikes
me as a shame.
>The internet has certainly made game reviews a different beast these
>days. I don't even consider picking up games magazines now. Why
>bother when there are so many reviews of equally questionable quality
>online?
Hey, if that's a pop at the AGDB, why I'll, and then I'll, and after
that..... :)
>IMHO, when you're a professional reviewer you should at least make the
>effort to put your personal opinions aside for long enough to give some
>kind of estimation of what strategy buffs might think of it.
That would just be doing your job, right? If you have the soul of an
entertainer and need to express that, hmmmm..... eighties.... let me
think.... get a guest part in Miami Vice! Right?
> That's
>what I liked about the Zzap64 stuff .. the opinions and the description
>were clearly defined. They seemed a little susceptable to considering
>things too arty to be games at times. I wouldn't have found it hard at
>all to review Deus Ex Machina or The Sentinel. Though they were
>groundbreaking in their day, they were undeniably games. I don't see
>how they could consider them to be anything else.
Well as mentioned above, my recollection is that The Sentinel got a very
posiitive review, but of the 3 opinions Riggers was saying, hold on, it
might not actually be your thing.
>> They did some darned good work, but this is the stuff that wound me up
>> about them, the wannabe celebrity factor.
>I never read any of the Amiga publications (unless Amiga Report
>counts), so I'll pass on giving any kind of opinion here. :)
FENCE SITTER! ;)
>[Conquerer]
>> And what do you make of it dude? Initially unfirgiving, but with some
>> familiarity.....?
>Well, it was certainly faster than I remember (so maybe it was mostly
>the speed of the tanks that was getting to me?) ..on my second game I
>managed to kill around four german tanks .. the next, higher class,
>tank was a bit much for me tho. So I now upgrade my opinion of it to
>"fun" .. but still not fun enough. I'm sure I'll tinker with it on
>occasion though. hehe.
Did you try any of the different game types? There's the basic action
game, plus a so called "strategy" to name but two. I was always a bit
unsure of the control. I reckon the turret could have been controled by
holding down the fire button, and then using the stick. with fring
achieved with a quick tap. If you could have got the control down to just
one joystick, the game might have really rocked.
>Maybe I'm just bitter at tank games in general because we got a crap
>version of Stellar 7. (Boss characters that don't fit and crappy
>voice-acting? yes please .. *sigh* ..better on the c64 and Apple II.)
>;)
Okay then :) But what was the other one they did later? Nova 9, I
believe, any better? From what I've seen though, Arctic Fox, their first,
and a very early Amiga game, may have actually been the best they did.
Bloody awful frame rate on an A500 though.... I remember seeing missiles
going right past my tank, frame update.... frame update..... frame
update.... much better on JFF's patch these days though.
M1 Tank Platoon was actually a very cool game if you like more of a tank
sim. You should have proper 3D terrain for a tank game, although Campaign
manges pretty well without it.
>[Full Metal Planette]
>Okey dokey. Added to my list of things to play. (French weirdness
>always appeals .. should I be playing it with Jean Michel Jarre in the
>background?) :)
Possibly.... just don't try Plasique Bertrand, okay? and don't drown out
the game's SFX, as they are pretty good, in a clanky kind of way.
>[friends with various computers]
>I met the only ex-BBC dude I know at University. ..they just weren't
>that popular here. They were popular in schools or sumthink in the UK,
>yeah?
Thaa'ts right, but we had them at work too, and later on Amigas for video
titling.
>Here it was almost always Apples ..and, of course, everyone
>recognised the coolness of the c64 in the home. :) Besides, we all
>know the c64 version of Elite was the coolest. :D
Re-read that Zzap review! :)
>[A10 Tank Killer]
More Dynamix suff, we're almost in context!
>Hmmm... I only vaguely remember that. I'll have to look at it again
>then.
You have your work cut out at the moment. :)
>> You need to replay Warhead my friend. :) I just rescued a convoy in the
>> Black Cloud Nebula, it was reminiscent of Babylon 5 when a ship in
>> hyperspace has lost the beacon. Very cool.
>Neat. Ok, I'll have to see if I can get past my newfound
>3d-graphics-snobbery and get with it.
Come on, if you can handle Conqueror you can handle Warhead - and my
mistake that was the Black _Veil_ Nebula.
>> You can imagine the rapturous welcome I received on returning triumphantly
>> to Solbase. :)
>Did they stick their hands to their ears and go "na-noo na-noo!", while
>there trendy red body-suits glinted resplendently? Or was there just
>some strange bald alien creature telling you "you have a hole in your
>mind".. :) (I must revisit Babylon 5 one of these days.. the
>relationship between G'kar and, um, Valeeri? became so layered and
>complex over time ..quite endeared me to them.)
Londo Molari, or 'im with the 'air, I reckon you mean. Yeah, they were a
classic pair. A lot of good writing and excellent acting there.