Silly Dabbles Demo

Oh no, I've been creating again...

I love finding Atari ST programs that do something silly or unexpectedly cool. There are lots already within our Software section, like Full Screen Construction Kit, MandelST and I even got to play in overscan. Yep, I love to dabble in hiSTory so I was pleasantly shocked to find an intro maker I had not heard of before.

It's by Deviant Designers, called Letter And Intro Maker (L.A.I.M.) and is simple to use. Just select the various fragments of what actually makes an intro - a picture, fonts, chip music and a text file used for the scroller. There are already lots of fonts on the disk and dozens of chiptunes to choose from - the hardest part is writing the text (read the docs) and finding a decent image to use - unless you're talented in NeoChrome?

Once you're happy, save your production to disk and then quit into GEM to load it up. Yep, you've created your first demo screen in mere seconds! This is what I've done and named it "Silly Dabbles". It features an image from Beastlord and music by An Cool. Try this program - I'd love to see what you guys create.

I've recorded a video and the disk image can be downloaded. It's good using an emulator but best when run on a real Atari ST. I hope you like my Silly Dabbles Demo and enjoy using the program?

Credits and Download Links:

Deviant Designers for Letters And Intro Maker (LAIM)
https://demozoo.org/groups/38004/

Picture was taken from Beastlord by WJS Design/Grandslam
http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-st-beastlord_8696.html

Music by An Cool used in The Death Demo for 2-Life Crew
http://sndhrecord.atari.org/mp3/AN_Cool/

- Screenshots from L.A.I.M -

Nothing flashy here but it works great and never crashed on me once!!

Oodles of fonts to choose from and a preview is shown before you decide, which is nice.

Dozens of awesome chiptunes to choose from but sadly no preview. Can't have it all...

Randomazer

Thomas has been busy again!

It's always exciting to hear of a new game in development for the Atari STe, and I have been given an early release of Randomazer, by Thomas Ilg. That's right, the fella who gave us a fantastic conversion of Frogs. The excellent graphics are designed by none other than STS, with sweet tunes by xFalcon.

Like those old Christmas presents, we guide colourful baubles around this maze, trying to guide them safely home. That sounds simple, and the idea is, but the gameplay isn't, especially when there are multiple balls! That's when things get frantic!! Randomazer features randomly generated isometric mazes, and there are four gameplay modes, tutorials, buckets of levels, and special actions. These can be used and applied to particular needs - like destroying walls or teleporting elsewhere on the (large) map.

Tilt-guide the ball home, it's that simple. Can you handle this?

These type of puzzlers aren't really my cuppa tea because I simply haven't got the patience for something like this!! However, I have surprisingly enjoyed Randomazer, which is something that both Thomas and I are probably shocked to hear!! Why, I hear you scream?

Well, after suffering through Marble Madness, I wasn't initially keen with Randomazer. At first, I struggled, and it destroyed what little patience I managed to muster! But the tutorials are helpful, so I managed to get a grip of this intriguing puzzler, which has elements of Lemmings in some respects. I still find it infuriating (sorry Thomas!) but it's unique and oddly very addictive!

It's incredible that a new Atari STe game was born from what was a maze generator only a couple of months ago. I wish Thomas much success with this, but please remember that it is currently a Work-In-Progress. Any feedback, help, or ideas will be appreciated. So click the link and get this playtested right now.

Update: the game is almost finished, albeit marked as a beta (as I write). You can freely download it from Thomas's website, and the final release is only hours away. Please note that the boxed version is available to pre-order!! Also, it's worth checking out Stickhead's fantastic new video showcasing the game. Enjoy!!

* UPDATE *
Buy the BOXED version!

Use those green arrows to safely guide your ball home (the green square)

I never thought I'd see "perfect" when I first started to play this tough game!!

Things are getting difficult now, and what are those buttons at the bottom? Hmm...

Hang on, I can blow up walls? Let's try that for starters!!! :D