Aranym is a piece of software by Petr Stehlik to create a virtual Atari computer capable of running GEM software at lightning speeds. Most find Aranym rather awkward to set up from scratch, so a fella called Philippe Noble has developed something called EasyAraMint. This is a "ready-to-go" installation using EasyMint 1.18, which provides an incredible multitasking environment using the power of the host, be that a Mac or PC.
As you can see in my "expertly recorded" video, I'm using an old Mac Mini that was donated to me (thanks Mum!). My video shows me using unix 'scp', viewing images/PDF, listen to tunes, and playing Doom before ending with web browsing. Yes, this is as geeky as it gets. Love it!! :-)
EasyAraMint can be installed in minutes. It also comes pre-installed with many Atari programs. Philippe has done an outstanding job with this ready-to-go multitasking OS. I cannot recommend it highly enough!
Aranym and EasyAraMiNT can be downloaded and tinkered with, so let me know what you create!
I accessed another Mac via FTP and chatted online with a friend. What a geek!!
The command line might not look much fun, so I jazzed up my screen with PixArt...
Not all websites display perfectly, but what do you expect for free? :o)
Why not read a PDF document and listen to some background tunes too!
This is a scrolling shooter by one of my favourite companies, Microdeal. It's set in the future, and we are tasked to save Spiraeus, a living planet suffering from a nasty tumour that urgently needs to be eliminated. However, the autoimmune system thinks you're a threat, so it unleashes its defences, intent on your demise!!
This sounds really silly, but stick with me because Jug was programmed by Paul Hunter (Armour-Geddon) and is no lazy Amiga port. In fact, quite the opposite and certainly pushes our old STFM to the limit in terms of the visuals. Playing Jug is a strange and frantic affair, as it combines elements from games like Blood Money, Droid, and Return To Genesis. Sometimes combinations like this fail, and sometimes they work.
Check out this screenshot...
Some eye candy is ghastly, whereas others are great examples of beautiful pixel art.
One smooth shooter
Our ship can move left and right and even fly, but this is affected by gravity like in Alien World and requires fuel top-ups. The controls are responsive, but the movements are a bit sluggish, making it hard to dodge the nasties without depleting precious energy. The action is relentless with baddies constantly zipping across the screen in waves of attack; it’s a frantic, never-ending hell. If you crave excitement, you've got it!
However, they aren't the brightest bulbs and appear to move/shoot blindly with little AI, thus it's like they aren't aware of our presence. Weaponry is an upgradeable mixed bag; however, the plasma gun is mounted far too low to be fully effective. How did that happen? Anyhow, replacing that with a laser cannon is lots of fun!!
Playing Jug is never dull, because the action is near-constant and challenging. It will take practice to beat, as the map layout is quite confusing. The enemies increase gameplay to a crazy pace, and this makes the whole journey thrilling. Or at least try to - this is a tough game that will eat away your spare hours.
Well, I'm sick of typing and wanna show off a screenshot...
Look out for teleporters... And when death comes, it's pretty demoscene-y. Which I love!
Aesthetics
The best thing about Jug isn't its humorous name (based on the ship's barrel-chested assets!!) but its visuals, gorgeously designed by Martin Kenwright. It boasts ultra-smooth parallax scrolling with a metallic palette - so you should use a real Atari ST to fully appreciate the graphics breezing across your screen.
The music is a masterpiece by Paul Shields, so leave the main menu be, to enjoy its chiptune. In comparison, the sound effects are overshadowed, but they do their job well enough compared to the stunning music.
Let's see a screenshot of my successful gaming skill...
Arghh, not again? Is it me? Am I actually this bad at games? How could this be? O_o
The CryptO'pinion?
Jug has all the makings of a brilliant shoot 'em up, but some strange mechanics dampened my enthusiasm. Instead, I recommend any of the above-mentioned games along with Uridium, Cybernoid, or Sideways!! The difficulty is overwhelming thanks to a confusing map and the constant enemy onslaught.
Technically superb, but I'm on the fence because it's left me with mixed feelings. Plus, the need to use a trainer. Or am I wrong?? What do you guys think about this game? Well, let me know in the comments.
If you have a hard drive or Ultrasatan, then grab this superb download.
Floppy disk addicts can find Jug on the Atari Legend website.
Finally, and untested by me, here is how to get infinite energy and extra lives: Press and hold down the ESC key on the title screen and then use the mouse to click on the right-hand edge of the screen. This should help the game be a little more achievable. You'll need it!!
A few months ago, I conceived the idea of a slideshow based on a zombie or horror theme. I love George A. Romero and movies like Evil Dead and Resident Evil. Not to mention Milla Jovovich!!
I used Imagecopy 4 to convert several JPGs from various movies, but that's where my artistic skills ended! So I asked a few friends if they'd like to donate some gruesome pics of their own. My thanks to the boys listed below for their images and Peter Jørgensen for his awesome slideshow. This program removes the lower border for a cool scroller, plays fantastic YMT music, and can be launched from a floppy or hard drive.
I've enjoyed working on this project, and I hope you ST nutters download it. Let me know :^)
- The Credits -
Production ideas and childishly drawn images are by Meeeee!! :D
Artistic skills: Stuart Johns / Peter Jørgensen / Karim Mezaouri / Aurélien Vaillant
Also, credit to the "unknown" for the images I nabbed off the web!
Slideshow programmed by Peter Jørgensen.
Addams Family theme tune by Vic Wizzy (converted Peter)
