Friday, December 06, 2019

Summer Olympiad





A sports game? Me? Sporty? Yeah right...

Who'd have thunk it? Yet another sports game here on the Crypt - a website by the least sporty guy on the planet! (Hang on, I enjoy watching NASCAR. Well, from the comfort of my sofa!). Okay, here we have TyneSoft's 1988 hit Summer Olympiad with five Olympic events to compete in - either solo or with friends.

Firstly, you're probably thinking the same as me? Five events! Yep, 1988 must have been a poor year or maybe the TyneSoft guys got bored? Anyhow, up to six players can compete against each other through a selection of athletic events and they are Skeet Shooting, Diving, Triple Jump, Hurdles and Fencing.

Before any of that malarkey, we should first find a busty girl to light that Olympic flame...



Well, that's how my mind works!!


I love the billboard screen showing each event!!





- THE EVENTS -

Skeet Shooting can be controlled using either the joystick or the mouse - but please chose the mouse! The left button launches a clay pigeon(s) and your right button fires one desperate blast into that direction. Quick reactions and accurate movements are required otherwise you begin shooting at the empty sky. And I did that more times than I care to admit. It's quite difficult... ahem!

Wow, my aim is terrible!! Still, it's really good fun trying to shoot the discs.




Diving is really silly yet brilliant. Never have I seen someone fall in slo-mo and from such a massive height! Moving left/right rotates the diver as he falls, whereas up/down tucks him up. A well-timed splosh produces the best scrores, somehow... But I really enjoyed this event. It's great fun!

After falling 50 miles you think the crowd would be more enthusiastic!




Triple Jump is a joystick destroyer so get waggling to make our little athelete run like the clappers. However, that fun soon ends because I think TyneSoft deliberately did everything they could to sabotage any enjoyment thanks to the stupid controls: fire-button alters the controls to change your runner's angle by pushing up/down. It's pretty weird and ruined the event for me.
Waggle Waggle Waggle... Joystick breaks... Thanks, TyneSoft!!




Hurdles was a pleasant surprise because I expected more 2D but we're viewing the event using a third-person perspective. Joystick waggling is still the order of the day with the fire-button used to perform a flawless leap over the hurdles. Well, if you practise because it's quite hard to judge. Personally, I think having a simple shadow at the runner's feet would have helped - and save him from lots of leg bruises... Finally, don't forget to lean forward when crossing the finishing line!

I'd be great at this if the objective was to kick down each and every hurdle!!




Fencing sounded like it was going to be good but controlling my dude felt somewhat disconnected from what I saw on the screen. So was pure luck if I made a hit but then I fell asleep!! Yeah, this is a bit rubbish if I'm honest and I didn't care for it. So definitely the weakest of all five events.

Boring... It's time to whip out a shotgun and blast your opponent!!





- GRAPHICS & SOUNDS -

The visuals are by Paul Drummond and I must say that I liked what I saw. The sprites are good with acceptable (wooden) animations with smooth scrolling. The 3D Hurdles is impressive so get waggling that joystick. It's all good but oddly, I liked the event's loading screens the most - especially Skeet Shooting!

Chipmusic is by Wally Beben and is superb, especially between each event. Sadly, I only wish I could say the same for the sound effects which fail to show us what the YM2149 is capable of. I'm sure there must have been enough spare clock cycles for a few rough samples? That would have been so much better.

Let's take a look at those loading screens...



This image is my favourite. Brilliantly drawn and I think he looks like Chuck Norris!


Fencing is awesome and I love the palette.



Tripple Jump is weird - that guy looks somewhat deranged!!





- THE CRYPTO'PINION -

There might be only five but each event has something for everyone. However, it's a mixed bag with Skeet Shooting being the best, closely followed by Diving and Hurdles. Sadly, the Tripple Jump is awkward and Fencing is boring. If you are going to feature so few games they need to be fantastic to compensate.

This is a cracking family game we have enjoyed - even if my daughter completely fails to grasp the concept of waggling a joystick! (Kids!). Summer Olympiad is definitely at its best when competing against family/friends otherwise it's all over too soon. Good, but could have been better with more content/events.

Remember to do warm-up stretches before downloading for floppy or hard drive.

Monday, December 02, 2019

Frogs





Kermit would be proud!

I've been given an opportunity to playtest the latest alpha v1.2 update of Frogs by Thomas Ilg. I previously got to play this cute game of strategic hopping which feels like a lifetime ago. Thankfully, Thomas didn't stop tinkering and made improvements: faster code, additional Atari STe features, and other interesting ideas (some I didn't like).

For those who don't know, our game is based on the Commodore 64 original by Dr. Wuro Industries. Thomas is using the Blitter and DMA Audio plus the gameplay is faster with up to 4-players. Anyhow, I've had a play with the latest release and reported back my thoughts. That's always a worrying time but it was long before I was given an update.

Okay, before we carry on, let's take a look at the first screenshot using Atari ST graphics. What? Look...



It's crazy with four froggies hopping around the screen but have you that many friends?




Uh, a Froggy game?

Yep, and frogs love ponds so each screen is a giant pond of rocks/lilypads that stay floating on the water's surface - for a short time. Hop around the screen, look for bugs, and then press fire to stick out your tongue to feed your belly. Be quick and beat the other players but watch out because the computer AI is actually quite superb - plus it's fun watching them brawl amongst themselves!! Oh, tongues have more than one use so don't be a pushover, okay?

Numerous ponds are available with three different gameplay modes and support for 2-4 players. Controls are unique featuring support for the keyboard, joystick, Jagpad, or ST4PLAYER via the parallel port. Players can either be human or computer-controlled and there's even the option for a Midi link-up. Come on, tell me you're not impressed!!

Wanna see another screenshot? How about one using C64 graphics? Yes, on the Atari ST...



The C64 graphics are superb and add something extra retro to the game.




Yeah, Commodore!

Our Atari version features various enhancements, one being scrolling. Yup, the playfield (umm, pond) now scrolls and, in my recording, you can see how great this works. It's a treat and I (mostly) loved it. However, I thought that the single-player mode needed to scroll "more" because it felt somehow short or restricted (to me). So a new "Single Frog Scrolling" option has been implemented for one-player and this also includes the C64 mode. Incredible support!

Of course, purists will be relieved to hear that scrolling will be an option selectable from within the game's menu. Yup, it won't be forced which I personally think will please folk from all corners of the scene? Well, I hope so!

The graphic modes are going to shine alongside the recent (and staggering) framerate improvements when running on the Atari STe - we're talking 2VBL / 25fps. I'm also happy to announce other improvements in the pipeline, like the decals which I thought desperately needed changing!! Wow, I can moan about stuff, right?


Steve the frog always wins because he's the greatest!! :o)




The CryptO'pinion?

Frogs is a brilliant game and my sneak peek is proving to be extremely fascinating. For me, the option to scroll the screen is a fantastic idea and is implemented very well. Additionally, I'm happy to see Thomas is not restricting the Atari STe with the limitations of the older Atari ST or the Commodore 64. I'm excited to see what comes next - watch this space folks!


* Update: Frogs v1.2 is now available to download *


If you've been living on another planet and missed out on this amphibious wonder, I suggest you head over to AtariMania and download it right away. Sorry, but you will have to wait a little longer to play v1.2 :-)

Consider buying Frogs boxed w/ its multiplayer adapter!!

More random ATARI ST articles from the archives