SOTB [Atari STe]

Shadow of the Poop

I said I would never do it, but here we are. Yep, for years, I've told myself that this abomination was never worthy of appearing on this glorious website. Well, AtariCrypt anyhow. So what changed my mind? Of course, you've seen the title above and have come to the Claude conclusion. Good.

Long story short, it was never going to be perfect without complete rewrites. But the turd got polished as best it could and, you know what, it isn't that bad. So what's changed? Well, quite a bit, actually:

• Firstly, all credit to Psygnosis and Peter Putnik for his adaptation.
• Repackaged for hard drive and will work on an Atari STe with 2/4MB RAM.
• I've added a start screen: infinite energy option and details.
• Title and Game Over screens now play their music in stereo.
• In-game, press F2 to hear the original's boring sound effects instead of lovely chiptunes.
• The frame rate is now much sprightlier, running around 24fps.
• Improved player turning added.
• Fixed a few bugs and removed screen glitches.

Considering this is an STfm game, it was never going to truly shine on the STe (feel free to prove me wrong). At least not without a human developer working on it with Claude from the ground up. Surprisingly, I've come to respect The Beast, because the ST has no extra hardware, yet it still pumps out layers of parallax scrolling (kinda!). I think Mark McCubbin deserves a pat on the back for doing the impossible.

Of course, the game itself is terrible, but it runs better now! With that in mind, I hope you enjoy it...

• The download is considered a beta and is freely available at Atarimania.
• Wanna see more I've worked on over the years? Click here then!
• As this is now an enhanced game, it gets banged on this list.
• For the best comparison, I highly recommend playing the original game first.

Let us begin with lovely trees and nice skies. All downhill from here...

Watch out for unfair mechanics like spikes appearing from nowhere.

These eyeballs are probably the best enemies in the entire game!

Gotta hand it to the graphics artists. The loading screens are superb.

Terrible level design and ugly enemies hit from all angles.

Argh, what an annoying level. Shock, another one... Ugh.

Creatures [Atari STe]

Claudetastic

If you have followed AtariCrypt over the years, you might remember my mini review of Creatures. It's a platformer by WJS Design for Thalamus, with gorgeous aesthetics and incredibly sadistic baddies. This game is a lot of fun, but the push-scrolling ruined the overall experience for me. Anyhow, check out that old review before you carry on; I included a couple of videos worth watching for comparison.

So, as you've probably guessed, I've been working with my good mate Claude again. I asked him to look at a possible STe version with scrolling. Within a couple of hours, I had a playable build - which was shocking to get so quickly. Yes, there were lots of bugs, and many areas flickered and glitched, but it scrolled. A couple more builds, and presto, I had a decent port to play. So I figured I should share it with y'all.

As always, consider this a WIP and a free download. If anyone finds any bugs, please let me know...

• This first beta is now available at Atarimania.
• I'd like to thank and credit my friend Peter Putnik for his awesome hack.
• All credit for the official Creatures release goes to WJS Design and Thalamus.
• Check out the other things I have made for the Atari ST/e.

Hey, I just had to add an extra screen to the introduction :p

Weeee, let's go for a ride!

Creatures must be one of the cutest platformers there is.

Just look at all that colour. Shame it never scrolled... Until now!!

STicks and STones ...

Back to my roots

Without making this sound like a sob story, I didn't have a computer in 1983. Our family simply couldn't afford one. Of course, I was madly fascinated by everything I saw on a friend's 16Kb ZX Spectrum, and by games like Manic Miner in our local computer shop. Oh, how I wanted to play it for myself.

Anyhow, by the summer of 1984, my parents had started making monthly payments to the shop above, so I knew I'd be getting a ZX Spectrum for Christmas. Around November, with the big day getting closer, I bought a second-hand copy of Styx using my pocket money (many weeks of saving, I might add). As I recall, it cost about three pounds, a lot of cash back then, but certainly cheaper than a brand-new game!

I kept this safely in my bedside cabinet drawer as I eagerly awaited Christmas like never before. It was like new, and each night before bed I looked at the inlay and read its storyline. That wasn't much, but the image it portrayed of the dangers travelling down the River Styx captivated my imagination. I wondered what it would be like! I'd never been so excited about a game I hadn't even played. Crazy, right?

As it turned out, Styx is an incredibly (ahem) simple game even for 1983. And I'm being kind there because it has only one screen, split into three segments: a spider-filled maze, the river itself, and a rather feeble showdown with the Grim Reaper. Once you kill him, the game loops back to the beginning! Yeah, a humble game, but I fondly remember it as my first Speccy game. Happy memories :)

Wait!! We've reached that point where the internet's weirdos will want to leave their nasty comments. Why? Because I've discovered Claude, which compensates for my lack of coding skills. I have used this to convert my childhood memory into an Atari ST/e reality. It's a straight conversion, not bloated with unnecessary changes. That's right: I wanted it to feel authentic, with the same graphics, sounds, and gameplay.

Okay, okay, you've caught me out, as there are a few enhancements! Our game features high scores, which the original lacked. The limited gameplay might loop after you defeat the Grim Reaper, but we changed it so the number of baddies and their speed increase with each new round, making it a little harder. Additionally, on an Atari STe, you can press the "S" key to toggle between the original ZX Spectrum sounds (via DMA) and the Atari's native YM effects. On a standard ST, the game defaults to the YM effects.

Of course, the obvious question is: why not just run the original game in a Spectrum emulator? Well, I'm an ST guy, and that's where my passion is. Plus, I was bored and thought, why not! All credit for this cool game goes to the legend Matthew Smith. I hope he likes what Claude.ai has created. I do.

• I made this for myself, but I decided to share, so it's at Atarimania for all to download.
• You can find the original ZX Spectrum game at World of Spectrum.
• I recorded a quick video! Check it out here.
• I've made many other Atari ST programs that you can check out here.

The first part takes us through a spider-filled maze.

He might shoot a laser from his hip (ahem), but use that to kill all the piranhas.

Death moves quick so be ready! Nah, he doesn't, and he's dead easy to kill. lol

Darklyte and Darklyte II

Mech Massacre

Released in 1993 by Howard Tilley, the Darklyte games are turn-based tactical affairs that will feel right at home for fans of classics like Space Crusade or Hero Quest. You're in control of a squad of four droids, battling a rival enemy team on an isometric grid reminiscent of Shadow Sorcerer. Your squad starts at the top of the screen, with the enemy team at the bottom, and your primary goal is straightforward: destroy them.

You control each droid one at a time, indicated by a white arrow pointing to the active unit. Right-clicking cycles through your droids (you can click them directly in the second game). Each droid has a set number of action points (displayed as a green number) and an energy bar representing its health. Movement around the board is simple: click the arrow buttons to step around the grid, but remember that different terrain, obstacles, and other droids might block your path. A secondary challenge is to safeguard your Commander droid. Losing this unit means game over, regardless of the status of your other droids - so protect him!

When it's time for a fight, position your droid next to your opponent, then click the attack icon. Combat is resolved using specific stats for the current action: your droid's attack number versus the enemy's defending number. The difference is dealt as damage, chipping away at their energy bar until "kaboom!!". I do have one minor gripe: sometimes your droid isn't facing the enemy. To successfully attack, you *must* first tap the correct directional arrow before choosing attack. Your robot's stance doesn't visually change, but he can now successfully strike his opponent. It's a minor gripe, alright, but still rather peculiar.

There are power-ups, such as gloves for stronger attacks, shields for extra defence, and injections to restore energy. Darklyte II even adds a super-strong lightning attack, amongst other new additions. You can also scan enemies to reveal their stats, which is invaluable for planning your next move. Gold and experience are earned with each kill, which can be spent at shops and repair stations. You can transfer gold between droids to support a weaker unit, though I feel a pooled wealth system would have made more sense.

The Darklyte games are tremendous fun for fans of turn-based combat. Each game is similar, but different enough to warrant playing both. I love their interesting battlegrounds and balanced gameplay that progressively gets harder as you gain experience. Both games are absolute gems and must-plays for turn-based nutters. However, Darklyte II feels like the completed product, so it scores a Metal Mickey rating of 90%.

Stop what you're doing, and play Darklyte II. Yes, right now. It's blummin' great!!

• The official disks for both games are at Atarimania.
• If you prefer a menu disk, then Atari Legend has a couple of great disks.
• I've become a fan of turn-based games <~~click here to see some more.

Darklyte (1) is excellent, but it feels like an early release?

Yep, Darklyte II feels like the finished product.

[Darklyte 1] Strategically position yourself and check your equipment for goodies.

[Darklyte II] The interface has transformed with a spanky new design!

Sooner or later, my robots die... Plus, the game (Darklyte II) insults you!

You knew this was coming, right? Darklyte II scores an AtariCrypt SMASH!!