Gobliins 2

Funny creatures with funny expressions

My latest addition to my collection is Coktel Vision’s Gobliins 2. The cover is cheesy, as intended, with their silly faces and creepy expressions. I only wish the sticker on the left wasn’t there; I can see eyes watching me! (I hate it when they put stickers on boxes.) Overall, the box art is absolutely superb.

I’ve never played a "Goblins" game, so this is new to me. In this sequel, a demon king has kidnapped The Prince (a bit of a buffoon), but the gruesome duo, Fingus and Winkle, will save the day. This is a unique "co-op" adventure, and I’m eager to play it later. [Grab the floppy or hard drive downloads]

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I booted it up. It’s different and comical, but also shares characteristics with other point-and-click adventures like Lure Of The Temptress. I wish I had bought both Goblin games so I could play the original. Ah well, one day... For now, a download will suffice! ;-)

This looks incredible, though, and I'm excited to play it. Let's view some box/screenshots...

Can you imagine seeing the back of this in a shop? It's so "buy me!"

The manual is short but straight to the point with information and lots of tips.

Ah, the previous owner marked his possession!! I wonder who S Scott is?

Codes to stop crackers? Well, maybe not, but definitely to annoy legit buyers!

Well, I think he's choking a chicken while a giant sleeps under a tree. Nice scene!



LOL Just look at the old dude in the window. Awesome artwork.



This game is certainly living up to my expectations. I'm having a blast!!

Retro Image Tool

Argh, why are there so many different formats?

I recently found a video by Sascha Springer, aka Anima, who has created a tool to convert any type of picture into the Spectrum 512 format. This can then be loaded on your Atari ST/e with astounding results!!

These 3 pictures I created for my Atari STe are now in Spectrum format (extended palette). Fantastic results, I'm sure you'll agree. Give this extraordinary tool a playtest to see what you can create/convert.

Check out the other two images below that look ace on my Atari STe. Enjoy experimenting!!

Watch the tutorial video before using Retro Image Tool (use Chrome).

View any 'SPU' image using his slideshow program (any Atari ST/e computer)

  

Pommitus

Pomm...what?

I recently read a post on social media by Tatu Salmela, the creator of Pommitus, which he developed back in 1996. It turns out he learned programming by reading ST Format, and he’s still actively working on and improving Pommitus to this day. Since then, it has been converted from Finnish into English.

Pommitus is a multiplayer strategy game where you use calculated tactics to bomb your opponent. Initially, I wasn’t impressed with the user interface as I often clicked outside the control box and accidentally fired. However, it quickly became second nature and was a blast blowing up my neighbour with great ease. The sound effects are minimal but effective, and the monochrome graphics are sharp and detailed. Of course, you’ll need a monochrome monitor for the best experience. Being GEM-based, it should work on all Atari computers and even supports those fortunate enough to have a maths coprocessor.

Oddly, an emulator like Hatari might run Pommitus slower than a real Atari ST, but that is easily fixed by flipping the CPU setting to 16 or 32MHz. Erm, nothing ever beats the real hardware...!

I’m incredibly impressed with Pommitus and so grateful Tatu shared his work with me. Here’s a bit of exciting news: he’s developing a new Atari ST game similar to Pommitus that will run on ST Low. It’s still in the early stages, but I’m thrilled to see another Atari ST game in development. Watch this space, folks. :-)

• Grab the download over at AtariMania

Spontaneous Compression

A brand new album

Say hello to the third album by YM-Digital, Spontaneous Compression, released yesterday, featuring nine tracks of awesome audio for us to enjoy. Of course, each track was created using Atari ST computers!!

01. AdraSTea Orbit (16,61 kHz)

02. Cell Synthesis (16,40 kHz)

03. The Lost Confidence (50 kHz)

04. Aomi - The ST Version (16,40 kHz)

05. Yellow Leaves Are Falling (16,40 kHz)

06. Neutralizer II (16,40 kHz) / original composer: Rudolf Stember

07. Digiloo Digiley (50 kHz) / original composer: Kemal Ezcan

08. Draconus - The ST Cover (22,75 kHz) BONUS TRACK / original composer: Adam Gilmore

09. Aomi - The STE Version (50 kHz) BONUS TRACK

Total Time: 32:33 min.

All songs (except "Aomi - the STE version") were recorded using an ATARI 520ST computer (YM2149).