Gardenquest A&B Computing Oct 85 EUG 45 etc.

[DaveHoskins]

Just like to add my comments on Ghouls, an excellent game, easily one my favourite BBC games , just a shame there were only 4 levels, otherwise thanks for a brilliant game.

Thanks, I'm not sure why only four level designs, I think it was the influence of the four level Donkey Kong type of games back then.


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[Dave Footitt]

Alright Dave, long time no see

Last time we crossed paths you were at Acclaim Cheltenham? Are you still in the biz?

[DaveHoskins]

Alright Dave, long time no see

Last time we crossed paths you were at Acclaim Cheltenham? Are you still in the biz?

Hiya, I wanted to do mobile games on my own, but back then it was a fractured market with thousands of different java compatibilty issues. I missed the boat on the 'app' trend as I started doing audio plug-ins by myself at http://www.quikquak.com
I've heard that many ex-Acclaim people have lost their jobs as much as 3 times since, as various studios have shut down. It sounds really tough at the moment in the industry. How about you?
Cheers,
Dave.

[Rich Talbot-Watkins]

Yeah it was always a favourite of mine too, even though it was just so difficult! It'd be one of my few Beeb games whose use of sound really stands out for me - it really managed to create a great atmosphere.

Also really loved Spy Hunter, and obviously Speech! was a brilliant utility. How did you ever figure out how to do sampled playback on the Beeb (I think it was about the first time it'd been done), before the days that this kind of info was just a Google away?

[Dave Footitt]

It sounds really tough at the moment in the industry. How about you?

Yeah I moved up to Sheffield and worked for Kuju for a few years. After that I gave up games altogether and still do C++ but in a more traditional IT environment. Sometimes I miss the old games days but most of the time I'm happy to work 9-5

[DaveHoskins]

Yeah it was always a favourite of mine too, even though it was just so difficult! It'd be one of my few Beeb games whose use of sound really stands out for me - it really managed to create a great atmosphere.

Also really loved Spy Hunter, and obviously Speech! was a brilliant utility. How did you ever figure out how to do sampled playback on the Beeb (I think it was about the first time it'd been done), before the days that this kind of info was just a Google away?

It's amazing what you can achieve without the procrastination and misdirection of Google!
I borrowed a mobile VELA device from school http://www.retro-kit.co.uk/VELA/ to do the sampling.
And I'd heard a c64 demo doing sample playback and wondered if the BBC could do the same. I may have hacked into the C64 demo, I really can't remember, but they change the volume to make the speakers move. That didn't work on the BBC, so I found that if you play a normal sound at really high frequencies it won't be audible, but if you then change the volume of the channel, the speaker will click into that position. So if you change volume at the sample rate you can simulate a waveform. Something like that anyhoo.
This thread's now unfortunately hijacked.

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[DaveHoskins]

It sounds really tough at the moment in the industry. How about you?

Yeah I moved up to Sheffield and worked for Kuju for a few years. After that I gave up games altogether and still do C++ but in a more traditional IT environment. Sometimes I miss the old games days but most of the time I'm happy to work 9-5

Oh yeah, I forgot about those 80 hour weeks. *shudders*

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[MatthewThompson]

Spy Hunter was another great game, really enjoyed playing that, thought that Retro Gamer magazine were rather harsh saying the BBC version was the worst version.