Steve Wetherill4d ago

I was told I was “on the chopping block” in my first job in games.

Chapter 5 of my memoir is now live.

This continues my time at Software Projects in 1984, with no real idea what I was doing and nobody there to tell me otherwise, learning fast as I went.

It includes a wiped Tatung Einstein boot disk and porting *Manic Miner* and *Jet Set Willy* without the original source code.

It also marks a turning point. Getting those first games shipped, and realizing I could actually do this.

Posting on a Saturday this time instead of the usual Monday. We’ll see how that goes.

https://stevewetherill.substack.com/p/chapter-5-the-caveman-and-the-pirate

#GameDev #RetroGaming #SoftwareDevelopment #Programming #80sComputing #ZXSpectrum #Amstrad #ComputingHistory #VideoGames #Memoir #Writing #Substack

Chapter 5: The Caveman and the Pirate Ship

"The cavemen didn't need paintbrushes." Tommy Barton, 1984

Steve Wetherill
Show threadQuazar1d ago

@stevewetherill Another great read Steve!

I can remember vividly my birthday in 1985. With a fresh tenner in hand I went to John Menzies and bought JSW2 and the current issue of Your Spectrum which had hacked the game to bits with a variety of POKEs and room teleporter, plus the full map of the game.

Later, I had to rebuy JSW2 on its budget re-release as I'd lost the inlay with the massive code card!

MM/JSW/JSW2, some of the best games on the ZX Spectrum. While we had a port of Manic Miner for the SAM Coupe in 1992 (with 60 caverns!), but JSW was never licensed/ported over. I filled the platforming gap with my 'Money Bags' Trilogy of games, originally releasing them between 1996-2004. (1 and 1.5 have since been re-released on the coverdisks with SAM Revival magazine and I'll shortly be re-releasing 2 as an updated edition)

Show threadSteve Wetherill
@quazarsamcoupe the Sam Coupe was very colorful! What is it, 16 colors from 128?
Apr 14 at 4:26pmWeb
Show threadQuazar1d ago
@stevewetherill Yeap, that's right.
Show threadQuazar1d ago

@stevewetherill Although a lot of tricks to get more colours on screen at once, changing the palette registers at specific scan lines to suit your needs, which a lot of demos and games did.

Just as an example here is the Flash art software that was bundled with the SAM showing the entire palette as well as having it's own tool colours separate from the screen being edited...