Clever And Smart

Fancy playing something weird?

Magic Bytes released Clever & Smart back in 1987, a peculiar puzzler based on an original Spanish comic strip. I've never heard of that comic strip before, nor have I ever played this Atari ST game. I'm hoping that being new to something will be a good thing. I can but hope! Let's see and take this weird game for a spin.

So, we begin at an odd city and are two special agents - who are controlled at the same time (yeah, I don't get it either, but let's crack on). Okay, they're hardly Mulder and Scully, but these guys have been informed about a gifted scientist, Dr Bakterius. He is being held prisoner by a terrorist organisation called OMP. Yup, I guess it's our job to free him, but why is there always an evil scientist on the loose?

Brace yourself. This is going to be a bumpy ride, so let's take a look at a couple of screenshots...

Terrorists are causing trouble again, so let's plod through the city looking for clues... I think?

I must admit, the graphics are quite shocking, but the character sprites are kinda cool.

Let's play something different, you said?

The city is viewed from above, and exploring that is quite a weird and very confusing experience, if I'm brutally honest. Watch out for odd characters lurking in the streets - contact usually ends in a brawl for some insane reason I cannot figure out. Finding a cop won't help because they just disappear (like in real life). I wandered around for a while until a car suddenly appeared, seemingly there to run us down (and it will).

By chance, I entered the sewers through a manhole and found myself in a place that reminded me of an old ZX Spectrum game, Maziacs. I pottered about, dodging rats and silly cats, but there wasn't much else of interest other than to seek out an exit. At this point I was wondering WTH. Anyhow, bumping into the walls displays a menu with two useless options, so I assumed I needed to previously hunt down items from the city above? However, I found nothing in the three games I recorded. Yes, three.

Aesthetically, this game sucks. It's almost like my Atari ST has been transformed into an Amstrad because of the poor visuals made from amateur artwork. Also, the animations are really suspect, and whoever created their shuffling walk (during the sewers scenes) should be shot!! That said, some of the sprites are kinda cute, and those brawls are a neat, cartoon-like touch. However, this isn't a game you'll boot up to show your friends (lol). Sadly, the YM2149 blurts out little more than the odd scratchy effect and footsteps. Very poor.

This now leads me to a couple more screenshots with humorous sprites like this cat...

The sewers are bad but not as much as our shuffling walk, which is odd.

Hey, look, is that a baby trapped in the wall or just hilarious graffiti? Love it!!

The CryptO'pinion?

Well, that was certainly one of the most unusual Atari ST games that I have ever attempted to play. It's quite confusing with lots of careless walking about. Little makes any sense, so you basically wonder, wondering what to do and where to go. Whilst you attempt to figure it out, a car appears to run you down!

Nah, this game didn't give a good vibe. Pretty much a terrible game.

• Those willing to torture themselves can grab the floppy and HDD versions.

Another World

Delphine Desires!

Another World was released by Delphine Software back in 1991 and is nothing less than a legendary 16-bit game. In fact, it was groundbreaking! The gameplay feels like a cross between Prince of Persia with dollops of Dragon's Lair thrown in. This creation is a unique combination that Eric Chahi should be proud of.

Everyone already knows this game well. I have wanted to feature Another World for ages but, it's kinda like trying to review Dungeon Master or Captain Blood. What's the point? So I figured I'd base this feature on its aesthetics to, hopefully, persuade you ST Nutters to replay it :)

Our adventure begins with an intro depicting how our unfortunate hero, Lester Chaykin, managed to find himself in a strange world. The intro is good, but we're not talking Race Drivin' standards - as the elevator scene is boring! However, it's definitely worth watching. I like the sound effects, especially on the Atari STe!!

Let's check out a few photos to prove why you should consider replaying this...

We start in deep waters, so hurry!! Before something reaches up to get you!

You made it!! Hang on, what's that in the background?



You know you're in for a great adventure the moment this beast appears!!

We didn't last long before getting captured and banged up with another fella. I hope he's friendly!!

B-movie aesthetics

Eric created incredible backgrounds for each area using abstract artistry with a bleak, futuristic style, which is very eerie. Characters use chunky polygons - superbly animated. Just watch Lester run and jump. However, he's a gullible chap, so I dare you not to smile as he holds up his hand at the end of the first stage!!

Attention to detail like that is impressive. Like on the first screen with the beast on a distant ledge. It's rather ominous - especially when it sees you and turns around!! Also, watching the prisoners working in the background when you're trapped in jail is amazing. And what about when Lester flops to the ground after a slug slashes his leg? Brilliant stuff that proves Another World is one of the best-animated games of the era?

Consider the lower resolution and limitations of older computers. Now check out the artwork...

Sadly, there is no obvious way to escape. Or is there...

Okay, we're out, and I've lost my hands! What's going on?

Another World is full of frustrating traps, so watch where you walk - and how you jump.

Gunfights are fun but tough to master. It took me a while to beat this lug, easier than it looks!

CryptO'pinion

This is a classic adventure that I have loved and hated in equal measure. Sure, I marvel at the aesthetics, but it's the gameplay that matters. That can be cruel and unforgiving, making you scream out loud. I mean something as simple as the droopy slugs on the first level - yet they killed me many times. Furious, yet addictive!!

However, there can be no denying that it ranks high in the Hall of Fame. I hope you enjoyed this short recap, and I hope you guys download and have a few games. This is a truly wonderful game in every respect.

Grab some of Eric Chahi's cartoon-style adventure on a floppy disk or for your hard drive.

AtariMania has a great walk-through, which is helpful for frustrated gamers (like me!)

Jason C. Brooke

Many of us still enjoy the gorgeous chip music from games like OutRun, Flying Shark, Vixen, Starquake and Overlander. Well, all these and others were created by Jason C. Brooke and are also some of my favourite tunes from the 80s era.

Jason is online, and I found him lurking on Twitter. It wasn't long before I began stalking him for a mini-interview. Well, you know me!! Back in the day, I didn't realise that the same guy created all of the above tunes. So our chat was certainly fascinating to discover that he made the YM2149 perform better than Atari ever hoped.

I'd like to thank Jason for taking the time out of his busy schedule to go back in time 30+ years. Bless him for racking his brain trying to remember stories and the jobs he worked on. He's a cracking fella and one I found to be extremely modest about his achievements. I fear he doesn't appreciate just how memorable he helped make certain games, like Ikari Warriors!

Well, I hope you guys enjoy this interview, and if you wanna hear some of his works, then head over to SNDH Records [an awesome digital recording of the SNDH Archive]. Now you can continue to scroll...

Jas C. Brooke - The Interview

How did you get started with computers?

As a kid, I was blown away by seeing a ZX81 obey a list of instructions: I'd encountered another 'computer' so began frantically saving up my paper round money to buy a ZX Spectrum. At the paper shop, there were magazines about these computers and I was hooked on the whole idea of programming.

I imagined game programmers lived in a "software house" and spent their lives making machines do clever things. But before I met 'computers', I used to spend my teenage years writing music. So, when I was asked by a careers officer what I saw myself doing for a living, I naively replied that I wanted to be a music composer.

In response, I was informed that there were only probably two people in the whole country who earned a living from writing music and one of them was Andrew Lloyd Webber. OK - think again! 

 

What 8-bit software did you create?

I knew of a lad at school who was called "Boffy" and he did weird stuff and it turns out that what he did was 'computing'. I ended up teaming up with him to write some Music Composing software for the Spectrum in 1984. He sent it to Melbourne House and they gave us £300 in advance because they wanted to market it. So that was my first encounter of the Games Industry, just around the time I was starting my A' Levels.

Melbourne House stepped back from the deal a few months later, but Boffy and I had spent our sixth form days on many projects. By the end of my A' Levels, I'd started on my own - a Spectrum game called Plum Duff.

  

Plum Duff is not only a game I'd never played but I had never heard of it until this interview!! O_o

It was time to get a job, and my parents were suggesting things that sounded really boring. On the other hand, I'd heard there was a company in Manchester called Binary Design that was looking for Games Programmers - so I moved to Manchester in 1986 and started writing games, eventually selling Plum Duff to Bug-Byte. That was my first 8-bit game and my last was Feud. I asked Jason for more information because Feud was a favourite of mine: 

[Feud] I was the sole programmer for the Amstrad version. We used to program all versions at the same time (I was working at Binary Design) and there was no organised sharing of code even though the CPC and Spectrum were both Z80. However, the Spectrum programmer adopted some of my code but only parts of the AI would have been the same, so I doubt they played very similarly.

  
I remember buying Feud. A couple of mates and I loved it. In fact, we played it to death - almost!!

Wait for it... Jason and Dave Whittaker join forces!

Binary Design's musician was David Whittaker and I loved hearing his music while games were being developed. Max Headroom was being written when I started there but people complained about how much processing time the music driver ate up. In 1987, Dave (who preferred 'David' I seem to recall, but we all called him Dave anyway!) had a conversation with me about writing a new driver. I'd done that sort of thing myself years before but somehow hadn't connected my experience with what I was currently doing. So I wrote a new, more optimised driver, with a few extra features. I think the first music to benefit from this was Dave's Glider Rider.

Then, Dave decided he was leaving Binary and I was offered his old job. But it wasn't long until I was also offered a joint Directorship by Dave who'd set up Musicon Design alongside the games company Icon Design - which was Binary's rival. Around this time, the Atari ST and Amiga were steadily joining the 8-bits as target machines for game development. In my own time, I wrote the driver that Dave used, then wrote conversions for Spectrum, C64, Amstrad, MSX, Atari 800, Atari ST, Amiga and PC. At one point, I recall noting that we'd written the music for 8 of the top 10 games. (I think days had more hours in them back in the 80s?)

When I worked alongside Dave at Musicon, if we got an arcade conversion, it was often me who ended up doing it. Dave preferred to do originals. Conversions like Outrun were done by the company sending an audio cassette tape with the music on, often taped from the arcade machine actually in an arcade. So there'd be lots of muffle, lots of background noise and lots of chance of the tape playing at the wrong speed so that the tempo I ended up with was not at all the same as the arcade original. Unfortunately, I didn't realise this at the time!

My job was to play a short part of the music and listen for the bass, the backing and the main tune. I might also have to make decisions about what to miss out on because the arcade machine's hardware was far more sophisticated than the 3-channels of square waves and the white noise produced by the Atari ST's AY chip. But for games like Buggy Boy and Pacland, the original sound wasn't overly complex.

How was multi-platform music created?

All programmers at both Binary and Icon Design used a Tatung Einstein as a development system that had links to output the compiled code to Spectrum, C64, Amstrad and Atari 800. The ST and Amiga were different so, if I was writing music on the ST that I'd already composed for other AY-sound-chip-based systems, then I would port the musical data over to the Atari ST and work on it directly there.

We didn't have MIDI or any fancy hardware or software. My drivers were written in the relevant assembler language for each target machine and the code was compiled and tested time and time again with music being typed in as "defined bytes". I gave each musical note a label like "c3" for 'c' on the third octave and "fs2" for 'f#' an octave down. Then there'd be labels for extra features to create chords and different 'instruments'.

I would then send the music to the programmers to help them implement the music. I've just found the instructions for the Atari ST game Savage which is typical of the information I'd have sent for other games. The only thing I've changed in the following text is to * out the phone numbers because I don't know who'd own them now. [download]. 

 

Which tunes are you most fond of?

It was interesting to take a peep back at what I've done on Atari ST. Outrun was an arcade classic and a relatively early conversion for me (from one of those audiotapes!). So I'm fairly fond of that one, though it is basically a port from Spectrum 128k. By the time I was asked to write some music for Overlander on the Atari ST, I had noticed that companies seemed to be asking me to do the music for games in the racing genre. I think this probably had something to do with Outrun so Overlander is one of my 'Outrun'-esque pieces.

Doing the bulk of the arcade conversions in the early days meant I had little chance to create my own tunes. Vixen was an early exception and so I'm fond of that, though I do think it's overly twee in the middle! And Savage was one I was fond of because it was all original music and I was given it over a number of platforms so I was able to spend more time on it than usual. When I look back at much of the music, it's with a knowledge that they could have been better: if I'd had two days instead of one or one full day instead of a half!

As for Resolution 101, that was just a basic "12 bar blues". We hardly ever knew what the style of a game was, merely guessing from the title. I'm not convinced that the music here fits the game and I don't think it was what the developers were quite after - but they went with it!

Any free time left to play?

At Binary Design in 1987, we had some arcade machines in the office, mainly because was being asked to convert them to home computers. I played Pacland quite a lot but at that point, I wasn't being asked to write the music, but the game (though that didn't happen). If a game looked like you had to spend time on it, I'd avoid it because I didn't have the time. I guess there were some puzzle games too but in short, I don't think I ever did much gaming!

 

   

Are there any long-lost unreleased tunes?

Yes, there was one piece I wrote called Dreadnaught but I haven't seen of that since. Also, I have this other note of a game "Chainsaw Warrior" which I must have written music for it as the two pieces both have how long they last - and NO music would last 0s! Sadly, these ST tunes are now long lost.

;Chainsaw
;Title tune "The chain"    1m 19s
;Game tune  "With Caution" 2m 08s

 

Do you listen to chiptunes?

I rarely listen to music. I don't find it particularly restful, which may well be because I find myself listening out for the bass line, the main tune and whatever might be appropriate for that third channel!

Are you proud of your achievements?

I don't look back with pride at what I did because I was fortunate to be able to encounter those early days of Computer Games, especially from the mid to late 80s. From around '89, I was back into programming and did little music as I had moved into writing 3D games: F29 Retaliator (PC - DID/Ocean - and I wrote my own music for that one) and Darker (PC, Psygnosis/Sony). Then I joined Perfect Entertainment. I wrote some sound and video compression code for the Discworld games but otherwise, I moved away from music.

When I look back at my music-writing days, I smile at how the careers officers had told me I couldn't write music for a living and yet, by heading in the direction of Computer Games Programming, I ended up doing just that without even seeking it out. By 21 I had achieved my childhood dreams and got bored of it so the challenge of writing 3D games on a 12MHz 286 PC was my next goal.

Jason "at work" with Brian Beuken during the development of Ken Griffey's Slugfest in the late 90s.

So what is Jas up to these days?

As the games industry developed, it became less creative and less technically challenging. By the 2000s, programmers had become 'coders' just making the computer do what somebody ELSE said it should do. I'd moved on to Gameboy in '98 but when I ended up on XBox/Playstation II in 2002, there was little left that interested me.

I'd become a Christian in the 90s and my evaluation of life had changed. I knew that one day 'soon' I would step away from the industry, but it wasn't until 2003 that the day arrived. Personal circumstances, coupled with the unethical direction of the company in which I was working caused me to jump into something new.

I'd been studying Biblical texts from a 'programmers' perspective, noting how they interrelate, and observing certain structures which are part of ancient orality. Some of these structures are very like ones found in musical forms. I'd started to dig into this, effectively reverse-engineering the texts and working out how they developed. One thing has led to another, with new languages to deal with - Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic instead of Z80, 6502, 68000 etc.

The end result will be a piece of software that enables people to explore Scripture from a structural and developmental viewpoint rather than just linear words. The research has been immense, but I've never been involved in a project which has so great a potential for a valuable and long-term impact. Life has not just been an experience, but a development - to something that would have been off the radar and impossible for me to aim towards when I mentioned being a "music composer" back in my teenage years. It seems to me that God's plans were not my plans, just as my plans were not the plans of that career officer.

Robotz

Chicken, fight like a robot!

Robotz is a game I got on a cover disk; it was developed by P Fox of ProjectX and feels somewhat like a tactical version of Berzerk. Once again, we find ourselves in deep space on board a ship that has been invaded by robots. As the last surviving crew member, we must eliminate them before they take over.

That won't be easy because each room has electrified walls - instant death! Each room is different and populated by randomly placed robots who follow your movements in their own specific order (use that to your advantage). We are armed with a one-shot gun, but the robots are protected by a shield. However, you can stun them for a few seconds. If only there were a shield generator we could blast into smithereens...

For a homebrew game, I love the visuals that remind me of a cross between Xenon and Leavin' Teramis. The palette is gorgeously metallic, and I adore the shadows that add depth to the scenario. All sprites are simple but nicely detailed and animated, and I always giggle at our protagonist's legs as he walks. It's funny, but nowhere near as entertaining as his "ouch" scream when losing a life! Why didn't he wear rubber gloves?

Robotz is a cracking example of what lurks inside the ST's public domain library. A stunningly stressful game with bundles of tension and anxiety. Yeah, Robotz is tough but tremendously addictive.

I rate Robotz 85%, so stop what you're doing and play it. Yes, now!!

Each level has a design that demands lots of time to master the tighter areas.

Those robots are indestructible! Surely there's a way to kill them?

Some levels have more freedom to move, but that doesn't mean they're easy!

This level is extremely tricky. When I say tricky, I mean agonisingly difficult!!

Hmm, this appears easy? One generator... but... three droids!

Oh no, this level features TWO generators to destroy BEFORE the robots are killable.

MANIC MINER

We're going back to 1983

Manic Miner has been in development by my mate Peter Jørgensen throughout the year. It's a brand-new remake with redesigned graphics and incredibly funky music (sound effects are still in progress). Each and every one of the twenty screens is included, but there will also be a few surprising extras (which the retro gaming geek in me is excited about). However, we are wickedly keeping these under wraps for the time being!

Those who have played the original on their old 8-bit computers, such as the ZX Spectrum or MSX, will instantly feel at home. The game's control mechanics and physics are perfectly replicated; it feels just as it should, with authentic gameplay that hasn't been altered (or spoiled, as we saw with Chuckie Egg II).

Note: this is a WIP, as there are some niggles to iron out. Each level faithfully follows the original's gameplay mechanics, but don't think this means we have a boring ripoff. Willy's adventure has received a makeover with YMT audio, and each screen has been designed with painstaking attention to detail.

Peter has kept the keys familiar and included extra keys for a few additional features...

• During the title intro, press 1, 2, 3 to change the music.
• Pressing R will display a CPU usage raster for the geeks.
• In-game, use the cursor keys to walk and he jumps by slapping the spacebar.
• You can quit and kill poor Willy anytime by hitting the K key.
• Need a wee? Just pause the game by hitting the P key.
• Crazy fools who don't love the gorgeous thumping tunes can hit M to mute.

Without cheating, I have reached level 14 - Skylab Landing Bay. However, I've never beaten this terrible screen in 40 years on my ZX Spectrum. It's a killer room that blows my mind. Let me know how you do!

Keeping this project quiet has been tough - months of beta testing have been an absolute joy. It's impressive how development progressed into a playable game. The final version is near completion, so you know where to come when it's ready. Genuinely, one of the most exciting Atari ST games released in recent years.

I'd like to take a moment to thank Peter for creating this Atari ST version of Manic Miner. It originally started as a joke, a playful teaser, but it wasn't long before he began programming a playable demo. From there, we created and tested what was nothing less than a crisp clone of the original - with spanky new aesthetics. To think that we now have a (near) complete version of Manic Miner is mindblowing. So, I'd like to thank Peter for all his hard work and kindness. 

This is something I shall always appreciate beyond my meager words.

The latest version is now available to download via the Demozoo website. Go on, grab it now!!

A few words by Peter...

I wrote Manic Miner because I have a friend that was very sad that this platformer didn’t exist for the ST. So I thought that I would make him happy and began drawing the title picture which soon lead me onto designing the intro screen - but I only wanted to make a prant screenshot for April 1st. Sadly, I did not finish in time. But then the idea started to continue on with the programming to see what happens. However, I’ve not made a game in decades because life always got in the way but I wanted to do this remake just to stop my friend from crying.

So you could say that this is a Manic Miner AtariCrypt Edition! (I love that -Steve)

My goal was to make the gameplay feel as close to the original as I could but still take advanced of the Atari ST's hardware. Thus, this is a remake rather than a conversion because I have not used a single piece of the original code. I have spent many hours analysing each level, and I’ve used the original sprites and recoloured them but some needed minor changes to work. The map graphics were changed in a big way, to what I think was the idea was behind each level. I played the MSX version so I could see how the game acts and I also think this is close to the Speccy original.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with the results and I hope people enjoy playing Manic Miner :-)

Atari ST Music and Game Map

The famous menu screen with its funky music. It's also (kinda) used in the final level.

The first room everyone knows so well and brilliantly reconstructed for the ST!

A confusing level which is actually easier than you think.

Perhaps my favourite level in the entire game. And I've no idea why!

This is the erm, I forget... Oh yes, the 16th level :o)

You cannot tell, but what Peter did with this final screen is legendary!!

This is the level to prove how authentic the game is. Faithfully reconstructed!!

An iconic room and so much fun without being overly difficult.

He's back and dying to be slaughtered once again!

I could never complete this screen as a kid, but it is doable!

Ugh, what is this??? It's a map of our Atari ST game, which you can now download :)

MaxYMiser

An Atari ST YM2149 chip tracker

MaxYMiser is the premier tracker for chip music on the Atari ST. Of course, I cannot pretend to know anything about being a musician, but I have it running on my Atari STe right now - as a player. Once I loaded it up, I even realised how superbly well-designed it is, and it's obvious why our community loves it: it transforms the YM2149 sound chip into this surprisingly powerful sound system capable of incredible tunes.

Using a tracker-based interface, composers build songs from patterns and sequences, combining melodies, percussion and effects across the chip's three audio channels. Beyond simple square-wave beeps, MaxYMiser employs a range of clever techniques to create richer, more dynamic sounds you'll love.

The Atari STe benefits even further, as the software can utilise the machine's DMA audio hardware to blend samples with the YM synthesis. The result is a versatile music package capable of producing everything from retro arcade-style tunes to impressively complex chiptune soundtracks, making it one of the most popular tools in the modern Atari ST music scene. And that's why every musician loves it!

Give it a playtest - MaxYMiser is a babe, and here is a series of tutorial videos!! Check out the blurb...

" maxYMiser is the best and most up-to-date chip tracker for the Atari ST, and is still under constant development. To hear the sounds this tracker is capable of, visit The Phatt Demo and the maxYMiser online compo. maxYMiser is free, features a full MIDI implementation, and easy-to-use FastTracker II-style editing. maxYMiser is a gwEm production.

Subscribe for the latest maxYMiser information. You're really encouraged to join this list. I won't spread your email address to anyone, and the list is inactive. You can expect me to send an email every few months or so to let you know about the latest improvements.

Most importantly, you register an interest in the program, which strongly encourages future developments - if you don't subscribe to the list, don't wonder why new versions take a long time to arrive. "

Credits

---

• maxYMiser was created by Atari chip music freak Gareth Morris, aka gwEm.
• Co-designed by Dma-Sc.
• The beautiful logos were by ST Survivor.