|
name
|
planet
|
comment
|
date
|
reply?
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| |
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| Pedro |
Seville
City, Southern Spain |
Well,
I'm as happy as the little 5 year old boy I were when I played
my first round of Ant Attack... On that times I couldn't even
say my name in english, and I didn't understand that "congratulations"
... but music and some help made it... wew, it's been 19 years
since then... I just found out your web page, trying to remember
that so good game... well... I just spent last 2 hours playing...
ahh feels so good :). My deepest thanks :) BTW, did you know
that there was a spanish version of your game? (I found it
as soon as I could understand english one hehehe) |
*06/06/02 |
|
Gordon
Burford
|
Oxford(ish),
England.
|
You
B*stard. Do you realise how much damage you did to my education
by releasing Ant Attack? Actually you'd have done even more
if i'd been able to get Zombie Zombie as well. Unfortunately
at the time I was about 10 and my little sister was allowed
to choose the next game we got. Of course, since she was 8
at the time, she chose the only thing with teddy bears on
it - Imagine's dire "Ah, Diddums". Many months later
we were ready to buy the next game. Mum couldn't work out
why I was so upset when SHE decided to choose, and bought
a CALPAC educational tape for me to come home from school
to. She actually believed the inlay's cobblers about the games
being "fun and entertaining". Like hell they were.
It was shortly after this I decided to become a serial software
pirate! - Although no one I knew had Zombie Zombie, so I never
got to play it. Now i'm afraid to download it an play it in
case my illusions of perfection are shattered. I
actually came here looking for a good quality image of the
cover artwork to put on a t-shirt that I am making. I have
one of those T-shirt kits for inkjet printers, you see, and
wanted something geeky-funky to put on it. |
18/05/02 |
|
| Sandy
White |
Australia |
hello,
I keyed my name into Google and found i was a computer expert |
27/04/02 |
|
|
Manchester (24 hour party person)
|
Gareth |
Sandy
- I rember when you released the game you attempted to incorporate
some new type of copy protection, can you refresh my memory
as to what it was and how it worked. |
23/04/02 |
|
|
popey.com
|
Farnborough |
Hi
Sandy. Only recently found this site. Nice to know that some
speccy 'celebs' are still around! :) Ant Attack was the *first*
game I played on my Speccy. I had a 16K one and bought AA
only to find it was a 48K title. I scrimped and saved for
the memory upgrade from Video Vault. Once installed AA was
loaded and an excellent time was had by myself. Thanks so
much for an excellent bit of coding. Still to this day it's
one of those games which brings back a lot of wonderful nostalgic
memories for me, and I'm sure a lot of other people. Cheers,
popey. |
21/04/02 |
|
| rev_camus |
USA
|
POO! |
*17/04/02 |
|
| Geoff |
Tunbridge
Wells |
I
got here by accident and don't play games but I like the site
and will send my son the link--he is a games fan. |
*06/04/02 |
|
| William
H Blair, III |
White
House, Washington D.C. |
Hi,
Right, can you finally confirm or deny the existence of the
mythical second city in Ant Attack? Nice site by the way,
but the front page is too cluttered. And that annoying flicking
bit of light that follows your cursor is a mistake, IMHO.
Oh and the window randomly resizes every now and then. PRobably
my fault for using IE but too many webshites break under opera..
|
*06/04/02 |
|
| Cliff |
London |
Hello
Mr White Ant Attack - I don't ever remember completing your
masterpiece on the Spectrum, although I came pretty close
a few times. Fast forward 20 years... I discover a Spectrum
emulator for my Apple Mac, load up Ant Attack and manage to
rescue 10 damsels on my second attempt! Suddenly it feels
good to be a 30-year-old! Just thought I'd share that with
you. Cheers! |
*20/02/02 |
|
| Martha |
Bournemouth |
Hi
Sandy, I'm currently writing an open source java version of
ant attack/zombie zombie and was wondering (if it's not too
cheeky) whether you could give me a pointer on how you achieved
things. For authenticity and to get the version as near as
dammit the same as yours...this will make your brain itch...
1) What algorithm did you use to get the ants to follow the
people? 2) What algorithm did you use to get the zombies to
follow the person and the algorithm that is used when they
are being repelled? 3) What algorithm did you use to get the
found person to follow you? 4) What algorithm designates whether
the scanner is red or green in ant attack? 5) What algorithm
designates what ants are blown up with the grenades? Well
thats about the whole game, fancy coding it as well ;-) Cheers
Martha |
*15/02/02 |
|
Anthony
Tod
|
Ericsson
|
Ever
thought about making a version of ant attack for a mobile
phone? 4 colour grey scale or web safe 256 colour? |
*15/02/02 |
|
| bbulldog |
germany
(if its on this planet) |
Hi
Sandy, well i must say what a game....... being one of the
people who had a copy writen in handwriting on the label with
many other titles, but must admit i did have originals of
many a game, i have just got an original of ant attack through
ebay to add to my ever growing collection of only originals
now. once again what a game still keeps me up at night............. |
*14/02/02 |
|
| Luzie |
Germany |
Dear
Sandy! Above Mats Ranlind from Stockholm, Sweden posted about
playing Speccie Games even on Nokia´s mobile phones.
No this came true with the ZX9200 Spectrum-Emulator for the
Nokia 9210/9290 communicator from see: http://www.wildpalm.co.uk/zx9200.htm
Overall ANT ATTACK is one of my all-time favourites :-) Cheeris,
Luzie |
*13/02/02
(reply
27/05/03
tsk tsk!) |
Hi
Luzie, thanks for that info... I was very curious to know
how it could be done, and now I know! Glad you liked the
game! s :) |
| Zac
McAdam |
holywood
(one L !) |
Well,
Sandy, thanks for that class game, Ant Attack! I loved it,
even showed it to my first girlfriend. My, that lasted long.
Maybe. Anyway... i never finished it either, and never played
Zombie Zombie, must get an emulator. Sorry i didnt read the
site cover to cover before starting this but why did you stop
coding? and have you ever thought of game design even if the
programing has movedr on slightly :) ? btw thanks for the
link to the ritman site - its class too. All the best Zac
|
*13/02/02
(reply
26/05/03
tsk tsk!) |
Hi
Zac, showing it to your first girlfriend must have been
a real "rite of passage"! I am chuffed you liked
AA too ;) I don't think anyone has asked me why I stopped
coding before... Actually.. I never have, though I did
stop writing Speccy games - I suppose at the point where
successful Speccy games were so big in terms of gameplay
content that I felt I could no longer compete. It is technical
innovation that has always dragged me into things - and
after "I of the Mask" with it's filled polygon
3D graphics I felt like I'd pushed the old Speccy, bless
it's heart, as far as I could without going bonkers. There's
no doubt that programming has moved on a lot since 1983,
it's become much easier! ;) High level languages like
C++ have seen to that, together with the colossal processing
power available. A great deal of the effort and long hours
that went into making those oldie puters do stuff was
torturing the op-codes - shunting binary numbers around
and coming up with algorithmic fudges and mathematical
bodges to make things execute quickly... usually by not
quite doing them properly. Programming for a modern machine
is a joy, 'cos you can concentrate on the algorithms themselves...
write it all in floating point if you like.. something
that was impossible in Speccy days. As for designing games...
well, I'm always daydreaming about the next great game
I could write... I guess if inspiration strikes I might
drop everything and give it another go! The idea, however,
of working in the games industry as a designer fills me
with dread! Looks far too much like a 9 to 5 desk job
for my liking! s :)
|
| David
Morgan |
Northampton,
UK |
I
was looking at an article on Gamespy.com about how the most
innovative games don't make as much money as the copies. I
remembered Ant Attack and although it was a great success
though I guess not as big as you would have liked - financially.
Looking from the outside - Gamespy technology for me represents
another big change in gaming -in that games are being played
live around the world against real people and not semi-intelligent
'ants'. |
*09/02/02
(reply
13/05/03
tsk tsk!)
|
Hi
David, I'm interested to hear that they think that about
innovative games - I wonder if they managed to put their
finger on why? Maybe the companies who are innovating are
thinking less about being commercial than companies who
are copying their ideas... hmmnn.. food for thought. I think
it would have been hard to have much bigger a success than
Ant Attack at that point in time, and for a first time programmer
coming into the industry I could have done a lot worse for
myself in terms of royalties than I did. Sure it would have
been nice to have made more money (it's always nice to make
more money), but I think the only way I could have done
that would have been to have pulled more top selling titles
out of my magicians hat... or to have become involved in
publishing and/or developing in the sense of employing others,
something I was never interested in. I agree online multiplayer
gaming is all looking very exciting and beats the proverbial
out of playing against dumb synthsects! s:)
|
| JOANN |
GRAMAJOANN |
WAS
THERE ANOTHER ANT ATTACK GAME WITH A PICNIC BASKET AND ANT
TRYING TO GET TO IT? MY LITTLE GRANDSON LOVED IT AND I LOST
THE HARD DRIVE ON MY COMUTOR AND IT WASNT BACKED UP. I AM
TRYING SO HARD TO FIND THAT GAME HE IS SO DISAPOINTED ANYONE
OUT THERE WHO CAN HELP |
*09/02/02
(reply
08/05/03
tsk tsk!) |
Hi
GRAMAJOANN, I'm sorry, I haven't heard of the other Ant
Attack you are looking for... I am sure I did once come
accross a US published game called Ant Attack, but I can't
find it now on Google... if anyone reading this has seen
such a thing, perhaps they would be good enough to drop
us a line... I wish you success, and hope it turns up before
your grandson isn't little any longer! best wishes :) |
| col
p |
walsall |
There
was a fair size piece in last Octobers PC ZONE (#107)about
3D Ant Attack (in the Retro Zone section). The other games
they mentioned that were around at the same time were Cookie,
Snowball (level 9) and the original Castle Wolfenstein (C64),
these games really take me back to my youth. Many thanks for
continuing to dedicate so much time to your site. |
*01/02/02
(reply
08/05/03
tsk tsk!) |
Hi
col p... wish I'd seen it... and now I'm a year too late!
Still nice to know it was mentioned with such classics...
I feel like a fraud accepting your thanks for devoting so
much time to the site... when effectively I've had a year
off! You're right though, it takes time... more than ever
I thought... cheeersz s :) |
| sashmaister |
london
nightmare |
Hi
Sandy I love the website and after blowing myself up so many
times I have managed to really enjoy the game! It is so great
to hear the music as well, so cool. That Halloween green outfit
will certainly always be remembered. :-) S. |
*31/01/02
(reply
08/05/03
tsk tsk!) |
Hi
Sasha! London Nightmare - how true! Sorry taking so long
to answer... yours was one of a whole batch (marked now
with asterisks) that got stored up at my old site's POP3..
and I only just found! Silly of me not to have killed the
old site and done a re-direct. You are the Sasha I know
from London? That's the trouble with these cryptic names...
but who else would know about the halloween green outfit!
Glad you found the site and played the game! If you read
this, drop me an email... I don't have your email address
- wishes s :) |
|
Jacky Moore
|
- |
Hi
Sandy, I work with your wee s***e
of a brother. He's OK really, but I was wondering if your
manners were as bad as his? Love your ant game, by the way.
Bye Jacky |
04/04/02 |
Hi
Jacky, glad you like the game. Mine are much better naturally!.
s ;) |
|
Knight Rider
|
knightrider
@hot-shot
.com
|
BRILLIANT!!
I can't believe I stumbled over this site. Firstly, excellent
job on Ant Attack. Secondly, I can't BELIEVE you didn't receive
much more recognition for your insights and ACTUALLY applied
them to the ZX Spectrum with such GREAT results.... The ONLY
comparison would be Knight Lore and the like - but then, we
are talking Ultimate. Thirdly, i'm going to contact EVERY
Speccy Site out there (and to a lesser extent), the C64 following
- and direct them to this place. You never know, page FIVE
will soon be full on your Guestbook. *Runs off to spread the
word* Knight Rider. |
01/04/02 |
Hi Knight Rider! I'm very cheered
you enjoyed the site so much, spurs me on to do more, and
I guess it means that the new javascript menus are working
ok too (phew!). Many thanks for your generous comments -
and for spreading the word :) - yip, page 5 has already
been hand crafted, and is hanging out to dry in readiness
for any potential influx. s :)
|
|
Dr Bob
|
Northampton,
UK |
Hi
Sandy! I remember when Ant Attack first came out, me and my
mates thought it was awesome (once the 'unique' keyboard controls
were mastered)... One of the finest pieces of 8-bit software
ever made. Also, to answer a question posed by Andreas Sauer,
one of the best Speccy emulators is ZX32, and can be found
at: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/9932/main.html
Finally, on your Ant Attack page, you state: "QUICKSILVA
present... (why oh why did I not put presents?)" Well,
worry not, as present (without the 's') is actually grammatically
correct, as Quicksilva is a singular entity, therefore not
requiring the plural form of the verb. So the game IS perfect
after all... :-) Take care |
27/03/02 |
Hi
Dr Bob... many thanks! ahem... yes I know... those "unique"
keyboard controls ;) ahhh... with the benefit of hindsight
they could have been so much better... I mean so much more
normal... Cheers for the link, I hope Andreas Sauer has either
found something, or tunes in here again. Regards grammar...
well I was convinced at the time that it was correct... but
then someone told me it was wrong; but at last I am vindicated!
Good man! s ;) |
|
John Dow
|
Edinburgh,
Scotland |
Teehee - hello lovely man! You're
a very shiny chap indeed. So, at the end of my first day
of work on a new freeware remake of the fantabulous Ant
Attack, I thought it only fair and write to post a link
to the first screenshots here :) http://www.nelefa.org
(nicked from John's web-page-
go visit to see more & big)
|
26/03/02 |
Hi
John.. I thank you sir... and I do polish myself regularly
with beeswax. I'm not permanently in a good mood by the way,
it's just that I only reply when I'm in the mood for writing.
I'm chuffed that you've thought to do an AA rewrite, I can
see you've done many others. Love the screenshots, especially
the way you have rendered sand on the desert floor... Looking
forward to seeing more. s :) |
|
bbulldog
|
here
there and Germany
|
hi
Sandy, just a quick one, anyone looking for the original Ant
Attack there is one for sale in ebay at http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2008616582
not bad at 1,50 for the time |
13/03/02 |
Hi
again bbulldog, thanks for that... sorry I didn't get your
message up here in time for it to be any use to anyone. £1.50
eh? a bargain! ;).... hmnn.. wonder if I still get royalties.... |
|
bbulldog
|
Germany
it is somewhere on this planet :-) |
thought
i would give you another message, as i have just had a big
achievement. I have just got an original copy of Ant Attack!!
after so many years, but dont tell everyone as they will all
want one. Got this through the online auction ebay.. it fills
a big gap in my collection of speccy games. am just putting
together a homepage with info on speccy's and of course games
including online playing of all games i have, only if these
games have been given to use by the copyright owner (Ultimate
dissallow this).. will bring you up to date when i have finished. |
28/02/02 |
Hi
bbulldog, I'm amazed to hear that you got hold of a copy of
AA after all these years, and glad to hear that it is still
cause for celebration! I know how you feel though, emulations
are one thing, but there is something special about owning
an original of something. I still treasure old copies of games,
and indeed computers. I recently bought a complete Amiga 500
and a big bag of original games from a second hand shop for
£10... I've aready got a couple of Amigas, but I just
couldn't resist! Good luck with the homepage! s :) |
|
|
Planet Honeybug
|
Hello Sandy, You don't know me,
I'm Ni's girly :¬) Noticed that Ni's
site has had a few visitors from here, so thought
I would pop in and say 'hello'. Looking around the site
and then looking around our spare room I notice Ni's got
an old KV1400 Trinitron Telly, an old rubber keyed 48k
speccy and a Casio VL-tone mini synth lying around. Is
it a family trait to collect retro gear? :¬) While
I'm here, let it never be forgotten that Ant Attack was
the first game to allow the player the choice of being
a hero or a heroine. Without Sandy White would there have
been a Lara Croft? xJenna PS. I love your molecules, especially
the colours!
(ed: note for the perplexed, Ni is Sandy's cousin, his
site links from the music
page)
(sandy: who is this 'ed' person?)
|
22/02/02 |
Hi Jenna, what
a pleasure to have you drop in! I don't know about retro
gear being a family trait... but quite possible hoarding
is! I think it's really funny that Ni's got the exact same
bits lying around as I do... mind you, many who have left
messages here probably have the same sort of stuff kicking
around too. Yep, AA may have let you be a girly or a boyy,
but apparently this didn't mean that many girls actually
played, judging by the overwhelmingly male response to this
site ... So it's especially nice to hear a female voice
around here! As for Lara, well it was probably inevitable
that as soon as computers gained the ability to render breasts
in real time that there would be a female action heroine!
It's purely the result of the male desire to ogle at women...
In fact, given that Tomb Raider won't let you choose to
be a bloke, it might be considered to be rather sexist...
I have to say that the molecules
are my own favourite part of this site... esp with the bgnd
sound (you installed the koan plugin?) I'm really glad you
like them! :) I intend to add some more stuff like that
around here.. for no reason other than the aesthetic! Anyway
- I hope we shall meet eventually - can you not get that
bloke of yours to set up a gig in Southampton? xSandy PS
I thought I was doing ok with my site designing 'til I saw
Ni's... sigh... ;)
|
|
Steven Knock
|
Essex, UK
|
Hi Sandy, It's great to see this
site and the tremendous response to it. For me, Ant Attack
was one of the Spectrum's finest moments, and it seems
plenty of people agree with me. The main reason I'm writing
is to tell you and your disciples that I've written a
3d renderer / map editor based on the game, which you
can find at: www.encho.demon.co.uk/aa3d.
If you deem it worthy, feel free to link to it on your
AA page. Thanks for such an inspirational game, Steve
(nicked from Steve's web-page)
|
20/02/02 |
Hi Steve, many
thanks! Worthy? What a question! ;) Your Map Editor, and
the renders on your web-page are truly excellent! It's fascinating
to see such perspective views of Antesher... familiar, yet
unfamiliar if you know what I mean. I love the textures
and the fog effect, which makes it look quite eerie. I captured
this shot of the gates of Antescher, then started modifying
it in Photoshop... this 'night view' is the result:
The possibilities are endless! You mention (in your map
editor) that it's probably a lot quicker than anything I
used when I wrote the game... You are quite right, it is
much faster than squared paper and a pen! ;) It's
a very nice scheme you've come up with, I wish I had
had it in 1983. (mind you, I'd have had nothing to run it
on) Disciples... hmmmnn... I don't know if I'm quite ready
to be worshipped yet ;) ... need to perform a few
miracles first ... meanwhile I suggest that we might
all be disciples of the one true god,
the ZX Speccy <sound of thunder>. I very nearly said
Sir Clive Sinclair <lightening strikes close by>,
but remembered the C5, proof if any were needed, that Sir
Clive is only human <ahh.. sun comes out again>. Thank
you Steve for such an inspirational bit o programming!
Yes.. let's see those sunsets and shadows... I can wait
a year or two (if I have to) s :)
So what are you waiting for?
Follow this
link to see Steve's own full colour renders, download
his map editor and get building / rendering yourself!
|
|
Rick Peck
|
Yesod (Nodes of)
|
Hi Sandy, What a
pleasure it was to stumble upon your site! I have been into
video games since the early dawn and owned just about every
machine you can imagine. But for me the golden age of video
games will always be the era of the spectrum whith fantastic
games such as your Ant Attack, a game which was way ahead
of its time and paved the way for other ground breaking
games. I suppose you have been asked this question thousands
of times, but how about programming a new Ant Attack for
the PC? I don't mean a version with updated and fancy graphics,
but one with a new city (maybe cities). I think the graphics
and gameplay could remain the same as they were in the original
(why mess with perfection). Anyway a pleasure to meet you,
I bow down before you Spectrum Guru!
|
28/01/02 |
Hi Rick, very glad
you have enjoyed visiting the site... and I hope you didn't
hurt yourself... ;) re New version of the game... well it's
all about finding time innit... mind you with Steve's editor
(above) at my disposal, perhaps I'd be daft not to give
doing a new city a go at least... mind you, now you can
do your own! Many thanks for the nice words about AA, I
agree that there was something special about the Speccy
era... I think it was because it really was the dawn of
a new age - the age of personal computing. Arise Sir Rick!
s ;)
|
|
bbulldog
|
if Germany is on
this planet
|
Hi, another of many
comment about a fabulous game, it certainly had me up until
the early hours of many a morning....i still dream about
the good old days on a rubber keyed speccy.
|
21/01/02 |
Hi bbuldog, many
thanks! don't know about Germany being on this planet...
I have been there, but I think I had to go in some
kind of space vehicle... Do you remember the old story about
the guy who dreamed he was eating marshmallow, and woke
up chewing his pillow? Take care if you are dreaming about
playing with rubbery keys... you just don't know what you
might find yourself doing when you wake... s :)
|
|
Bah Humbug
|
Edinburgh (Gilmerton)
|
IT CANNAE BE !!
- MY programming IDOL is writing software that SELLS INSURANCE
online ??!! *howl* Come back to the DARK SIDE, (pretty please
?) comon, SS Java stinks anyway, COME TO THE DARK SIDE LUKE!
Ah well... I was in fourth year at secondary (Firhill high)
when AA came out - I am now a sad old programmer and still
marvel at how you managed to squeeze so much game into such
a small space (without an assembler too). Its a bit like
trying to comprehend how DNA can build a human being! (Same
can be said for Ritman's 'Batman'). By the way I liked the
game so much that I will be buying the T-shirt ! I am also
hoping I can get AA to run on a speccy emulator for a PDA
i will be buying soon.
|
20/01/02 |
Hi Bah, ahhh..
Edinburgh... the eighties... the memories... thank you!
well - at least I was an IDOL for a bit! ;) *Aaaahhhhrrrrr..
kraakkk*... that's the sound of one falling... Whaddaya
mean the DARK SIDE... you think insurance isn't DARK? ;)
INSURANCE is so dark it's almost black. Really really it
is! Insurance is evil... I repeat that into the mirror every
morning. Well, if the games *business* wasn't just as boring
as the insurance business, I would probably still be writing
games... If the games business ever gets less boring...well...
I like your DNA analogy... I always liked the idea of writing
small code that expanded or generated data... that's how
I'd do it on today's machines too. Yip these games were
small.. they really had to be... and you got me thinking...
the rotating question mark at the top of this page, on it's
own at 33k, would almost have filled up an entire 48k Speccy!
Drop us another note, if you can, if you get AA to run on
your PDA... I'm quite interested in that meeself... s :)
|
|
|
Las Palmas, Canary
Islands, Spain
|
I just wanted to
thank you for one of the greastest games in history. "I
of the Mask" was one of the brightest moments in videogames
and completely ahead of their time, but for me was awesome
then as it is now and forever. Thank you very much for writing
it, I´ll always remember your name. Antonio Guerra.-
|
22/12/01
|
Hi Antonio, many
thanks for those nice thoughts! :) Funnily enough there
is quite a connection in my own mind between my own Speccy
coding days and your part of the world. Not long after writing
Ant Attack (and receiving the first royalty cheque!) I took
a two week holiday on Lanzarote, a good proportion of which
I spent thinking about what to do next on the Spectrum.
Although it would be a couple of years before I wrote IOTM,
I was already trying to figure out how to do perspective
3D... So... it might be fair to say that the seeds of IOTM
were sown right on your own doorstep! s :)
|
|
|
Stockholm, Sweden
|
Hello Sandy! Great
site - I´ve always remembered Ant Attack & Zombie
Zombie as some of the best games for the Spectrum. Nowdays
when I play some ZX games on a emulator it comes down to
just a few titles which stands the test of time - your games
are among those. :) I think you should contact NOKIA, It
would be a great to be able to play Ant Attack on the cellular
phone someday. :)
|
18/12/01
|
Hi Mats, many thanks,
great that you like the site, and that you reckon AA has
stood the test of time! Hmmm... AA on a Nokia... I think
I'll go and have a look at the Nokia site see what they
are up to! I suspect that probably not too long from now,
even if I don't do it myself, it's likely to happen... as
phones and PDAs get more and more alike, someone's going
to put a Speccy emulator on a phone! It also seems sure
that phones will soon be able to download and play games
over the network - I know of at least one company working
on that right now. If such a standard does come along, I'll
definitely look into it! ;)
|
|
|
Manchester, The
Arsehole of England
|
Howdo Chief, nice
to see you've got a page documenting one of the greatest
8 bit releases on any format '3D Ant Attack'. I wonder
what you would have thought back then about a website
and remakes dedicated to your 48K's worth of 0's and 1's
:o) btw you can check out my site if you wish, there are
a few remakes of your game online http://www.remakes.org/
- I recommend Tyrone Cartwrights DOS remake, it's the
dogs testes even if it is unfinished. <arselick>Just
goes to show how good the original was</arselick>
=o) As you do replies I'd like to ask a question. Name
your top 10 of all-time, in no particular order of course
as that would be pointless! Nice to see you around..........
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16/12/01
|
Howdo JJ Thanks
for the link, nice site. :) What would I have made of the
www etc... i still think the whole thing is pretty extrodinary
- back then it would have seemed like a science fiction
dream - I think I'd have been very frustrated waiting for
it all to come along. I have seen Tyrone C's remake as he
wrote to these very pages some time back... but I see he's
now added water!
Hmmn... my top 10 of all time... that's a difficult one..
Believe it or not I'm not much of a games player... I'll
have a go tho... errr. I suppose this is going to sound
like a history of video games... Pong, Space Invaders, Marble
Madness, Doom, Half-Life, rally driving games in general,
errr.. and a flight simulator I played this Xmas that does
helicopters very well... um... and go out and buy a Bop-It
Extreme (any good toy shop or toys'r'us) immediately (an
actual reality toy)!! err... is that 10? err.. can
I 'phone a friend? s :)
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|
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-
|
Sandy, sorry for
using your message board for personal reasons, but once
again I’m out of touch with your little bro. If he’s
in Ed for Xmas tell him to get in touch through the cameo.
It would be good to catch up, I’ll buy the drinks.
Brill website by the way, can’t believe it all happened
nearly 20 yrs ago. Cheers Kenny G
|
16/12/01 |
Hi Kenny, no probs,
I'm only sorry I'm so late doing this, I've been way behind
with this site. I have forwarded this to the man, so he
should get in touch! Hope u are well.. and Happy Xmas and
New Year to you dude! s :)
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|
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Llaggerub
|
Hi Sandy, I recently
came across my old copy of Your Spectrum issue 2, the one
with the famous Ant Attack competition and map. Just out
of curiosity; what was the origin of the odd names of the
locations; Droxtrap, Argon's Leap, Oxymine and the like?
Somehow knowing those made the game even eerier than it
already was...
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10/12/01 |
Hi Bad Horsey, good
question! Most of the names were made up specially for the
competition & map, some with a serious view to finding
descriptive names for places, and some with a bit of a sense
of humour - ahem - careful how you say Droxtrap! :)
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|
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Italy
|
Hi, I'm an Italian
Ant Attack & Msx Fan. I'm searching Ant Attack for Msx,
if someone have notice about it, please send me. This is
my address: stest@tiscalinet.it Thanks a lot, Stefano
|
04/12/01 |
Hi Stefano, sorry,
I don't think there is an MSX Ant Attack. Unless my memory
is playing tricks on me (it might be!), AA was never released
as an MSX title, which might explain why you have not been
able to find it! I seem to remember that there was some
talk of converting it for MSX, but the format never seemed
to take off and it never happened - a shame 'cos I liked
the idea of MSX, an open platform for games that was independent
of any particular manufacturer. I still have my Sony "Hit
Bit"... and a light pen cartridge... remember those?
If Santa brings me a digital camera for Xmas, I'll post
a pic in the new year... Merry Xmas :) PS he
did!
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|
|
peniciuk
|
hi how aru love
the game you shoud ask sky if the wold put it on open games
see you later mark and ferdi ps get windoes XP
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01/12/01 |
Hi Mark!! Good to
hear from you again! I hope you are still annoying Joe as
much as when you last left a message ;) I don't have Sky
TV, but I guess that "Open Games" is an online/set-top
gaming thang... I doubt if AA would stand up very well these
days beside contemporary games.... well, unless thay had
a retro spot.... hmmmnnn... well, ya never know! Meanwhile,
you'll have to make do with playing it on my web-site!!
;) Oh... and there's no way I'm going to get Windows XP
ever ever ever... and especially now that I can see it doesn't
have a built in spell checker! ;) Merry Xmas All! :))
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London
|
Ant Attack! MY GOD!
What can I say?! Did anyone ever complete that damn game?!
I tried my damnest for 4 years and couldnt do it. Am I crap?
Or was it just damn tricky. Mr White, you truly are/were/am/
a genius. Cheers mate!
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16/11/01
|
Daniel... ahhhemmm...
how can I put this delicately.... ermmm.. you're
crap! (only joking !! ;) But seriously, I think even
my Aunt Fanny finished it, and bless her soul, she had passed
away before I even wrote it! (bad joke, sorry auntie Fan!)
Oh... sorry.. I hadn't read to the end of your message,
genius eh? That changes everything! Daniel, you're a gentleman...
actually I admit that I never finished it myself, I had
to use debugging cheats to get me there! There's a confession...
don't tell anyone!! Go on, give it another go!! s :))
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Guildford, Surrey
|
Hi Sandy, just want
to say what a privelige it is to be able to leave a message
to someone who - and let's be honest here - made one of
the most influential games for the Spectrum - nay, the industry!
I had a Spectrum from Day One and Ant Attack is easily in
my top ten all-time best Speccy games. I completed Ant Attack
many times, and have found your website on the game really
fascinating. Maybe you have, I can't remember, but did you
do anything else on the Spectrum? ...And where on earth
was that plane used in AA? I found the Ammo dump, but was
the plane just an unused sprite, or does it actually appear
in the game? Thanks again, it's been an honour communicating
with one of the gurus of the Spectrum! Gaz
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15/11/01
|
Hi Gaz, thanks for
all that praise! what can I say? definitely don't feel worthy..
still - influential guru does have a certain ring to it!
;) I shall make hay while the sun shines! Mr Warom above
should take note that you finished it so many times!! ;))
I've probably said this before in this site, the plane is
indeed an unused sprite, but was at one point used as a
kind of cursor during the development of the city, and marked
the spot where bricks could be dropped in order to build
things. Nice to talk to you too dude! s :)
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Carlisle, Cumbria
(UK)
|
Hello Mr White ^_^
Have to say that I've enjoyed looking through your site,
and all the memories it brought back for me. Many were the
evenings I'd be crowded around either my own C64 or a friend's
Spectrum (we appreciated all machines for their own abilities....
most of the time ;) playing our favourites as challenges...
who could get furthest. AA was a favourite because it was
so difficult and funny to watch someone shriek as they tried
to run away to high ground to escape a hissing ant ^_~ I
think you should take a look at this webpage: http://www.l8night.co.uk/mwynn/gbadev/
It has a screenshot from a Gameboy Advance engine someone's
working on... for some reason I thought I'd point you towards
it as it definately reminds me of something. Fancy trying
your hand at some GBA homebrew? ^_~ Oh, and I agree that
you should do a section of your site devoted to "I
of the Mask".... that game was revolutionary. A mate
of mine still pops it into conversation every now and again;
you can tell we're a sad lot, can't you! ^_^;;; ...and yes,
someone's working on a Spectrum emu for the GBA. It's that
& Mario Kart Advance which makes me desperately want
one of those things! All the best, and thanks for revealing
what happened to "Dick Special"... I loved the
look of it, and was really looking forward to it appearing
all those years ago.
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12/11/01
|
Hi Paul, I'm glad you enjoyed the
site. It's fun for me to hear how you played the old games!
I see what you mean about the screenshot... it reminds
me of something too... namely a certain game!! ;) As for
a section on IOTM... I have been quite tempted to write
something about the programming techniques used, but actually
I'm not very proud of the game-play at all, so perhaps
the less said about that part of it the better! Really
it's a question of finding the time... esp. if I'm going
to have a go at some GBA home-brew! I hope Santa brought
you a GBA and MKA for Xmas! All the best s :)
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Cologne, Germany
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Dear Sandy, Yesterday
I had a few beers with my best friend and we remembered
the good old times (where we also had a few beers, I guess).
I don´t know why, but at a certain point we talked
about a very nice old game: Ant Attack. I would like to
play it on my PC, so I need an emulator. Do you know where
to get a good one (and the game)? Thanks a lot! Andreas
email: andrss3@aol.com
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08/11/01
|
Hi Andreas. Thank
you! There are lots of emulators out there, though I don't
have enough experience of them to be able to recommend one
in particular. (I still use a real Speccy if I want to look
at a Speccy game!) I'd suggest a quick search with Google.
Alternatively you can play it on this very site in a Java
applet on the Ant Ant
Attack Page ! S :)
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Somewhere to right
of here.
|
I don't believe
it! It's true all true! Somebody I know from a BB discovered
this place and mentioned it in a thread. Ant Attack! I bought
that way back when to play on my Spectrum 48k (the posh
one). To me it was the ultimate in game play. Passion, heroism,
deduction...it was all there. Then I lost my tape. By then
it was out of production, Spectrum had folded in the way
C5 went and I couldn't get another copy for love no money.
As time passed I got over the loss but bored everyone I
knew instead about the game. "What about...",
they'd begin, but I'd leap in, "Nothing like Ant Attack.
You youngsters don't know what a real game is like."
Eventually I lost my friends as well. I really thought I
would never see the game again, let alone play it so: Thank
you Sandy, thank you...thank you...thank you! Ant baby,
come to Dada!!!
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01/11/01
|
Hi !Leo ... :))
True all true! Thank you for being such an ardent supporter
of AA and hanging on in there! I'm only sorry that you didn't
come across an emulation before you lost all your friends.
Still who needs friends like that anyway! ;) 25 points out
of 20 for a cracking roller-coaster of a hard luck story...
er... with a happy ending!! Ant baby will always
love you! :))
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Ireland
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Hi Sandy I found
the Edge article about AA very interesting, I love reading
stories about the trials and tribulations of game programmers
in the old days when computers were young, won't find many
of those these days. Although I was around the time of the
spectrum I never had one, my first computer was an amiga
600 which was my "spectrum" and I can understand
people getting reminisent remembering the old days. Would
love to read more about the making AA and what you got up
to after it.
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25/10/01
|
Hi Rich, I think
you must be talking about last Xmas's Edge -As it happens
I like reading these kind of articles too and, like you,
have enjoyed reading the Edge "Making Of" series.
It was fun to participate, and to see AA there! I was very
fond of the Amiga myself, and wrote quite a lot of code
for it (Dick Special) though it never saw the light of day...
Hmmmn.. There probably is more to tell regards the
making of AA, it's just such an effort writing! I'll try
and add more about it on the AA page if I can... may take
a wee while tho! s ;)
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Javier Santos.
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Madrid, Spain.
|
Congratulations
for the music of Zombie Zombie, above all the melody you
created. Also congratulations for all your videogames. Some
years I have been looking for the music of Zombie convinced
that it was from a famous composer. It was a surprise you
were the composer. Have a nice day.
|
15/10/01
|
Hi Javier, I'm very
pleased you like the Zombie music, and especially that you
thought it was by a famous composer! ClassicSpeccy.mp3 has
been downloaded 170 times so far by the way... almost a
No 1 hit! Barry's remix has been downloaded 125 times, which
is good going as it's a lot bigger. Just for a bit of fun
I have been working on some re-mixes of my own which I may
post if I get up the nerve! .. Thanks for writing - &
have a nice day from me! :) STOP PRESS: 17/01/2002 New remix
on music page!
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|
)Raimondo "hutt"
Jacksonio
|
tattoine near bannokburn,
third planet
|
can anyone bloody
help me?.......... Im a bit thick.......... I am trying
to contact philip Vaughn he worked at DMA and VIS in Dumpdee
I want his e-mail address(im his lil cos) also im trying
to contact Darren he works at vis in Dundee. he looks a
lil like penfold from danger mouse, you know the type. small
glasses and a ridicoulous fanny of a beard an english punter.
if anyone please knows the whereabouts of these techno freaks
email me at rmjackson2001@bushinternet.com or raijackson@hotmail.com
help me obi wan your my only hope!!!!!!!!!
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12/10/01
|
Hi Raimondo, you
paint such a vivid picture! Always keen to help - I hope
someone will be able to answer your queries about
Mr Vaughn and the steriotypical one with the novel facial
hair - unfortunately neither are known to me personally.
Your message did make me laugh... it's the first time I've
heard "Dumpdee"... and you brought back memories
of a school trip to Bannockburn (from Falkirk) to see a
field. I always wondered why we bothered... I mean.. there
was a field near where I lived.... Good luck with the quest,
I hope the force finds you.... :)
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-
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-
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lazy jones was a
c64 game... wasnt it ? Barry
|
07/10/01
|
I found this review
of a C64 version... but I beleive it was also on the Speccy...
I wonder however whether the music the remix was done from
Speccy or the C64 version tho?!? Perhaps we could be saved
by a technicalityl?!? Anyone interested in C64 remixes could
launch from http://www.c64audio.com
!
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Adge
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Plymouth
|
Hi Sandy, I just
bought one of your splendid T-Shirts from cybercandy and
very proud I am to wear it. I remember playing ant attack
for hours on end as a kid, I was born in 1973 so I was 10
when it came out. I don't think any games now really have
the magic and excitment of those first games on the spectrum.
Anyway, it's a pleasure to visit your website and to say
hi to you.
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06/10/01
|
Hi Adge, it's nice
to hear you bought and like da shirt (Geekstyle's &
Modesty B Catt's cool design) I confess to having worn my
own from time to time over the summer, half hoping someone
would ask me about it so I could proudly announce that I
wrote the game! (yes, how sad is that!) Naturally no-one
did! Cooincidentally, Dave Green at Geekstyle just wrote
to me to say they have sold 84 shirts to date and that a
cheque for £168 has been sent
to "Sightsavers" !!... so cheers all you who
have bought one... I agree the early days were exciting....
and it wasn't just the games, it was the very fact that
we were being introduced to a brand new technology... I
bet that when TV and radio were new people had that same
feeling of excitement. So what do we have to wait for to
get our next excitement 'fix'.... Home time-travel machines
perhaps... or anti-gravity... Hi from me too! :)
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Padraig
|
Germany
|
Hi sandy, it's
me again the irish fan in Germany. I just want to let you
know that I now link to your page from my website http://www.padraig.de/Mo_Riomhairi/spectrum.html
(Just click on the screen shot). The blurb reads roughly
translated: Games were also available for the spectrum.
for example the game "Ant Attack" which was the
first 3-D game i ever saw on a home computer. you played
the role of a boy or girl depending on the sex you chose
at the beginning of the game. you had a, and you had to
rescue your girl/boy friend from a city infested with giant
ants. Your character had a few grenades to kill the giant
ants. There was a time limit too to make the game more dificult.
A person called Sandy white wrote this game. The picture
is linked to his website where you can actually play the
game if you have Javascript activated in your browser.The
game is well worth playing even though it looks crude compared
to some modern 3D games. If you do play a game, let me know
your score, maybe i'll put up an "ant attack"
high score section at the end of this page sometime. Should
you have any objections or problems with that, just drop
me a note and i'll take the link away.
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27/09/01
|
Hi Padraig, excellent
dude, no probs with that, in fact it's great to get linked
to! + it helps makes the web more... er... webby !! I've
linked back to you! Thanks for the translation I definately
needed it!... I confess that I don't even know for sure
which language your site is written in!! It's not German...
is it Irish? Gaelic? ('scuse my ignorance!) atb :)
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Pillock
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"Sunny"
Sheffield
|
I blame my wasted
childhood on you. And my wasted aduldhood on the Virtual
AA on the website. Darn you! Will I get no work done??
|
26/09/01
|
Hi Pillock.. heh
heh, it must all be part of some devilishly evil plan...
er.. that I haven't figured out yet.. Cheers ! ;)
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Daniel Bancroft
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Notts - UK
|
WOW what a blast
into the past , i remember getting Ant Attack for christmas
the year it came out , and i found it a week or so before
christmas so i sneaked a few goes on it...lol... i was hooked..
:o)... 3d graphics like that were soooooo good for there
day and i still love the game even though there are loads
of new games with better graphics etc.. you still cant beat
playing good old Ant Attack.. thankyou for making it
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23/09/01
|
Hi Daniel, tsk tsk...
sneaking open pressies before xmas... I'll tell Santa! glad
it turned out to be a good 'un tho. I hope you made a convincing
job of pretending you hadn't seen it before when you opened
it up! Many thanks for the kind words, you're most welcome!
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haMES
|
EARTH
|
|
22/09/01
|
Hi haMES, thanks
for the picture of the Polar Bear in the snow... ;)
|
|
!Greg Duddle Again
|
-
|
Sandy If you can't
sort out the cocktails I should at least get a free t-shirt
:-)
|
12/09/01
|
Hi Steve (don't
think you can hide behind that phoney !Greg Duddle routine!)
Hmmmn... you might well have a point... but I'd have to
buy one and send it to you... How many Strawberry Daquaris
dya reckon that's worth ? ;)
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Alex Ross
|
near Ross-on-Wye,
UK
|
Hi Sandy...I am
very sorry to say that I didn't live earlier enough in time
to be a part of the Spectrum craze...I was born the year
Ant Attack came out, so that whole 'age' completley passed
by unnoticed. I have experienced it recently though..a few
years ago I bought a CD-rom with thousands of spectrumn
games and some emulators..which keeps me occupied to this
day... The reason I'm contacting you is because I have two
things to say... a)You say you think Barry Leitch's zombie
remix is the possible first Spectrum song remix...I'm afraid
it isn't. The hit UK number one single 'Kernkraft 2000'
by 'Zombie Nation' sampled the music from one of the levels
on the game Lazy Jones (how I learned that I don't know...but
I checked it out on an emulator and tis indeed the case.
But I'm sure you're a close second..) b) I am a producer
of all music electronic and I'd love to have a go at doing
something to the music from your games...have a look at
my website to hear stuff I've done: http://www.muzikid.co.uk/flash
(I've just got a record deal too, so I cant be all that
bad)..If youre interested get in touch..contact details
on the site. Danke
|
04/09/01
|
Hi Alex, sorry you
missed out on the Speccy years... at least you can, as you
say, catch up now with an emulation or two! Thanks for the
info regards Barry's remix... Boo Hoo! I'll be updating
the relevant pages! I have had a listen to your music..
and it's excellent stuff, though some of it is so high energy
in terms of BPM that I almost had a heart attack trying
to keep up! I'd be delighted (quite excited in fact!) if
you want to have a bash at doing something with the ol'
games music.. if you do do something I'll post it on the
music page .. I reckon I better jump at the chance before
you get rich and famous! ;) bst wshs s :)
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Mark Hewitt
|
Birmingham
|
Hi Sandy! Second
message from me! Good to see the word spreading about your
website! Wondered if you are interested in me making a cool
FLASH Ant Attack Intro for visitors to your website? Let
me know if you are and I'll hook you up! All the best, Mark
mark@digital-business-card.com
|
03/09/01
|
Hi Mark, excellent
offer.. you might notice a distinct lack of Flash on this
site... that's 'cos I worrry that until most people have
high bandwith connections there's a potential for irritation
waiting for Flash loading times. Having said that, your
offer sounds like grrrreat fun, if you're still into doing
something I'd certianly host and or link to it.... ;)
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Crowley
|
Llaggerub
|
Great site... I
remember seeing Zombie Zombie for the first time at a computer
fair with a synth plugged into the back of a Spectrum, and
a crowd of gaping onlookers who obviously couldn't BELIEVE
that a Spectrum could participate in that sort of sound
generation... How about a bit on I Of The Mask? That was
the first time I'd ever seen that sort of texture mapping,
and in some ways could be the precursor to Doom et al. Out
of interest; there was a game on (I think) 16/48 magazine
called Pyramania that nicked the "pitter-patter"
sound routine from AA, along with code from Manic Miner...
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31/08/01
|
Hi Crowley, it is
very interesting to me to hear that someone actually got
the MIDI interface to work, and especially that it was almost
a public performance (I always wanted to be a pop star!)...
The reason I'm so interested is that although the MIDI interface
worked on my own Speccy, I discovered shortly after it was
published, that it didn't work on anyone else's! Embarrassing!
Your story is the first time I've heard of it actually working
on someone else's Speccy believe it or not... I've often
wondered if there is some slight variation in clock speed
between Speccys... or, more likely, if there was something
I wasn't doing properly with regards to initialising Interface1...
Will probably never know. Anyway, it has warmed the cockles
of my heart to hear that at least one person got it working!
I may get round to doing a bit on IoTM at some point...
The pitter patter sound would be hard not to nick - it's
practically the only sound you can make in the very limited
time available between rendering frames... kind of flipping
the speaker bit a few times. s :)
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-
|
-
|
Boys... how much
i loved that game!
|
28/08/01
|
cheers! :)
|
|
Z80 was my dad
|
Surrey
|
This was a kicking
game, and is still fun today. I loved the way you could
be the man or the women!! Da Da DaDa Da Da Daaa Daaa Da
Da I'm no good at music and I haven't heard the tune for
years but I rememeber it like yesterday!
|
27/08/01
|
Hi son of Z80 ;)
cheers! aharrr.. you've obviously bin looking at the music
page! Specially for you, and anyone else who might have
a yen to do a bit of Da Da Da karaoke I have sampled the
appropriate drum pattern (called "ROCK-1") from
said VL-Tone.. click
here and sing along! Happy memories! Da Da Da... ;)
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Pep
|
Spain (Galicia)
|
hi Sandy, thanks
a lot for this piece of art!! the game you've programmed
is the my all time favourite game, for me you are a hero!!
I'd like to know about your future plans and background...
what games have you coded? what are your working today?
really thanks a lot to you and all that cool people like
you who gave us the magic of those brand cute 8bit games.
No better game was made even with new psx2 stuff ;)
|
27/08/01
|
Hi Pep. Thanks
for the great compliment! I could not wish for better. I
don't know if everyone would agree with you about 8bit games
being better even than psx2 stuff... but OK, twist my arm...&
I'll agree that maybe a good Speccy game is better than
a crap PS2 one ;) Which is still pretty good going! I do
think current games designers really have their work cut
out... I think that it was much easier to impress in the
8bit days as people expected less... perhaps the basic principals
of gaming were established early on though. Games I've coded...
only 3... Ant Attack, Zombie Zombie, I of the Mask (all
Speccy). Regards the future, my interest in games persists,
despite the fact that I no longer earn a living in that
industry.... I will write more about this when I find a
mo ;)
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