Ultimate games and modes used

Captain Scarlet · Post by **Captain Scarlet** » Wed May 07, 2008 8:37 am

Hi All,

I'm currently writing a book about Ultimate Play the Game and there are a few questions I've got regarding the BBC Micro releases of Ultimate's games.

1) What mode does Alien 8 in-game screens use? Mode 4?
2) What mode does Alien 8 loading screen use?
3) What mode does Knight Lore in-game screens use? Mode 4?
4) What mode does Knight Lore loading screen use?
5) What mode does Sabre Wulf use?
6) What mode does Atic Atac use?
7) What mode does Jet Pac use?

Any help would be appreciated. In fact, anything related to BBC and Ultimate would be useful.

Thanks,

Adrian

Post by **Rich Talbot-Watkins** » Wed May 07, 2008 9:10 am

Sounds intriguing....

Here you go:

1) Mode 4, shrunk to 256x192 I think (which would be the same size screen as the Spectrum)
2) Mode 1, also shrunk, though I'm not sure of the dimensions - something like 128x224.
3) Mode 4, shrunk to the same size as in Alien8.
4) can't remember the loading screen offhand - but Mode 1, same as Alien8 would be likely
5) Mode 2
6) Mode 2
7) Mode 2, with Mode 7 highscore screen.

Neil · Post by **Neil** » Wed May 07, 2008 9:19 am

Errmmm a book hey!!!

Well, I'm also interested - I have to say I so remember Ultimate game releases, such as Jetpack (hmm was it me, or was it twice as hard as the spectrum version!!!)... At the time, one of the best software houses in the early to mid 80s.

- Would love to have a read once you're finished, LOL don't worry I'll be happy to buy a copy, just incase you're on royalites!

- Neil

Dave Footitt · Post by **Dave Footitt** » Wed May 07, 2008 9:49 am

And don't forget Nightshade

Post by **Arcadian** » Wed May 07, 2008 10:20 am

... or Cookie!

Neil · Post by **Neil** » Wed May 07, 2008 11:39 am

hahaha Lunar Jetman!

Hmmm I've been reading up on the Stamper family (via the Wikipedia) - Certainly going to be an interesting read...

I vote Jetpack as their best game! - Played that to death on the speccy as well as the BBC- then PC! Hmmm I even wrote a half finished verson under directx9... I wish I kept these projects!

- Right, I'll stop that running on I keep doing!

PS - XBox360 live - I just miss so much! LOL Better grab a copy later!

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=73956

Kecske Bak · Post by **Kecske Bak** » Wed May 07, 2008 1:56 pm

One of the most interesting aspects of Ultimate's games for the BBC is the Kevin Edwards protection used on the Paul Proctor games. You should have a look on the thread on here about that - it's really interesting how hard this protection was to crack.

jon28 · Post by **jon28** » Wed May 07, 2008 5:26 pm

I'm still hoping that Rare have got the code for Mire Mare somewhere safe and that it will see the light of day at some point.

I'm surprised they haven't knocked something together (if it wasn't already completed) for release on Xbox Live Arcade - I reckon they'd sell a fair few just on the hype surrounding it.

My favourite bit of Ultimate trivia is that Knight Lore was written and ready for release before Sabre Wulf, but they held on to it as they were concerned that as it was so far ahead of everything else it would hit sales of their other games.

Captain Scarlet · Post by **Captain Scarlet** » Thu May 08, 2008 2:00 am

First off, thanks for all the replies.

I'll just go through a few comments raised in those replies.

Rich Talbot-Watkins - Thanks for the modes! Do you know the mode for Nightshade?

Dave Footitt - I've not forgotten Nightshade, just didn't remember to include it in my questions

stairwaytohell - Yep, I've already got some stuff on Cookie, so no worries there.

Kecske Bak - I've already read that thread. Very interesting. I Just need to figure out how to fit that into the book. Does anyone know how to get hold of Paul Proctor or Kevin Edwards? What about David Rhys Jones? (author of Jet Pac and Atic Atac)

Some more questions I'm afraid (plus things I know, but would like to double-check)

I read a while back that on Alien 8 for the BBC is known as Alien8. Is this right?

Rich Talbot-Watkins - Do you know the mode for Nightshade?

Lunar Jetman was only released for Cosmic Battlezones. Correct?

Sabre Wulf (extended) is the same as the first release, but has a redefine keys feature. Correct?

What year was each game released. I'm having trouble tracking this down for the BBC.

Other info:

I will probably have more questions over the next few weeks/months, so keep up the good work! The book will - dare I say it - be more biased to the ZX Spectrum, but only where necessary.

I want to make the book an interesting read for all people, whether their machine of choice is Spectrum, BBC, Amstrad, C64, VIC-20 or MSX. To expand on that, I will be including screenshots for each game for each machine format, differences between machine releases that might include game differences or packaging differences etc.

I do have a sample page that I can send out to you if you are interested. The page is not complete (it's still draft), but it will give you an idea of what to expect. PM me with your email address if you want a copy.

I'm open to ideas and suggestions, so feel free to voice your opinion. I might not like it, but you never know

The book is about 60% complete and I aim to make this the definitive book regarding Ultimate Play the Game. I'll keep you all informed of the progress.

Cheers,

Adrian

Post by **Arcadian** » Thu May 08, 2008 10:40 am

Captain Scarlet wrote:Does anyone know how to get hold of Paul Proctor or Kevin Edwards? What about David Rhys Jones? (author of Jet Pac and Atic Atac)

I can forward your contact details onto Kevin.

I actually asked him if he was still in touch with Paul a couple of weeks ago, but he lost contact many years ago.

Jeremy Grayson · Post by **Jeremy Grayson** » Thu May 08, 2008 4:52 pm

Captain Scarlet,

I can't speak for all of the Ultimate titles, but the trio of isometric 3D games were all released during 1985.

I don't have the dates any more specific than that, though a glance at the games charts in Acorn User (all three titles were hits, if memory serves) may help narrow it down a bit.

Are you needing to know which Ultimate titles were re-released as budget games by Ricochet? I'm sure someone will be able to provide a complete list, though anecdotally I know I have handled Ricochet tapes of Nightshade and Jetpac over the years.

Short of copying it off a mate, I think I'm right in saying the compilation Cosmic Battlezones was the only means one had of getting hold of Lunar Jetman for the Beeb. It may certainly help explain why that particular package can still command stonking prices on eBay.

Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)

ghbearman · Post by **ghbearman** » Fri May 09, 2008 3:45 am

I think (Rich T-W can correct me if I'm wrong) that Lunar Jetman and Nightshade are mixed modes - interrupt driven combinations of (say) modes 4 & 5.

Captain Scarlet · Post by **Captain Scarlet** » Fri May 09, 2008 5:33 am

Sorry, but I have some more questions!

I don't have access to BBC Micro magazines, but I'm also interested in the release price of Cosmic Battlezones and Nightshade. Anyone also know the release year of Sabre Wulf?

I have release prices for:

Jet Pac (7.95)
Atic Atac (7.95)
Sabre Wulf (7.95)
Knight Lore (9.95)
Alien 8 (9.95)

but I need the other two.

I'm not interested in the budget releases at this point.

Dave Footitt · Post by **Dave Footitt** » Fri May 09, 2008 8:05 am

Wasn't there also some rumour that Knight Lore was written before Sabre Wulf but was delayed to help Sabre Wulf sell or something?

Did I dream that?

Post by **Rich Talbot-Watkins** » Fri May 09, 2008 8:14 am

ghbearman wrote:I think (Rich T-W can correct me if I'm wrong) that Lunar Jetman and Nightshade are mixed modes - interrupt driven combinations of (say) modes 4 & 5.

Just had a quick look - Lunar Jetman is Mode 4 game with a Mode 4 + Mode 5 status area at the top. Interestingly, the title screen is Mode 1 but employs a colour interrupt to get 8 colours on screen at once.

Nightshade runs entirely in Mode 4, again with a colour interrupt to allow game and status to use different colours.

Captain Scarlet · Post by **Captain Scarlet** » Fri May 09, 2008 10:02 am

Hi Rich T-W,

How do you get this information? Are you also saying that the BEEB is capable of switching modes whilst the game is running?

Fri May 09, 2008 12:52 pm

Yes, there are a good few games (e.g. Elite) which do this on the Beeb. In essence, if the modes have the same memory requirements (e.g. Modes 4 and 5), it's possible to switch to one while the screen is in the process of being rasterised, and then switch back to the original a little later on, and the display will appear as a true mixed mode.

Here's an example of Elite on the BBC, with 2-colour Mode 4 at the top, and 4-colour Mode 5 at the bottom.

You can also use similar tricks to just change palette colours in portions of the screen, which is what Nightshade does to produce the different coloured sections. In reality it's just a 2 colour mode - you'll see there's never more than 2 colours on any given row of the screen.

ghbearman · Post by **ghbearman** » Fri May 09, 2008 10:30 pm

It was twenty years ago I bought Cosmic Battlezones - maybe more, but IIRC I spent £9.95 on mine.

And it is no rumour that Knight Lore was coded before Sabre Wulf - the Ultimate brothers Stamper have said this themselves in those few interviews they gave. (I'll go find a link brb)

Captain Scarlet · Post by **Captain Scarlet** » Tue May 13, 2008 6:34 am

Hi Rich T-W,

Very interesting stuff. I do have a question about Mode 2. The pixel width is 160 and pixel height is 256. How come when I see screenshots of the Sabre Wulf and Jet Pac, they appear short in height and quite wide?

ghbearman - yes, you are correct. The price of Cosmic Battlezones was 9.95.

Kevin Edwards · Post by **Kevin Edwards** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:00 pm

I was also told by a very reliable source that the technology ( 2D isometric ) used by Knight Lore was indeed written before Sabre Wulf. It was decided that the game, that was to become KL, was 'too good' to release at the time ( and needed a lot more time spent on it ) and Sabre Wulf was released first. After this, KL was resumed and polished before being released.

Captain Scarlet · Post by **Captain Scarlet** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 6:09 am

Does anyone know what happens at the end of Knight Lore, Alien 8, Jet Pac (I assume loops around), Atic Atic and Nightshade?

I want to include the endings in the book, but so far I'm not having much luck.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Kevin - I've sent you a PM. Hope you can reply.

Cheers,

Adrian

ghbearman · Post by **ghbearman** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:36 am

I know there are youtube videos for Knight Lore & Nightshade - but for the Spectrum, don't know if they're any different than the BBC re: their ending.

Captain Scarlet · Post by **Captain Scarlet** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:42 am

Yeah, that is what I am trying to find out. I know the Speccy version displays the next game as Mire Mare at the end, so was wondering if the BBC version was the same.

Kevin Edwards · Post by **Kevin Edwards** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 11:29 pm

BBC versions simply print a text message on the screen:-

Alien 8:-

WELL DONE YOU HAVE FULFILLED YOUR PROGRAMMING

Knight Lore:-

THE SPELL HAS BROKEN YOU ARE FREE

NightShade ( something like this ):-

GAME OVER XX PERCENTAGE OF GAME COMPLETED

Not a great reward for hours of game-play!

Captain Scarlet · Post by **Captain Scarlet** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 1:59 am

Thanks for that Kevin.

I decided to try and complete the games in question, to see for myself what happens at the end. I've finished Knight Lore (with cheat, I might add!) and yes the ending is pretty dull. Having said that, I marvel at the work that was put in to create this game on the BBC Micro, because cramming this all into 48K for the ZX Spectrum must have been tough, but to do it in 32K is the work of a very talented person(s).