I'm going to end 2016 with a brand new release by a good friend of mine - Bionic Nerd - aka Peter Jørgensen. It is the Outrun New Year Music Demo which has just been released so I've recorded a little sample from each track as a teaser for you all. Clickety click to grab this cool music disk right now and enjoy it. :-) Here is a little background by Peter:
"Hi all, I made this little new year music demo because I always loved the music from outrun and I always felt that we Atari ST guys were cheated on. Firstly, there was a track missing. Secondly, it kept shifting between the two other tune every time one would die. Lastly, I do not think that David Whittaker did his best. The music files are YMT format running at 300hz and the reason the program file is so big. In the new year I will make a new sound format, still as fast, but be taking less space but you will need a 2mb Atari to run this. Thanks to everyone for listening and I hope you like this? Thanks, Peter."
It's got to that time of year when I post something Christmassy! Here we have SantaFly by the awesome Reservoir Gods and regular readers will remember its sister game. Yes, SantaFly is every bit as frustratingly addictive but with a peculiar Christmassy theme. It's great fun and I advise you clickety click and download it.
Thank you to everyone who visited AtariCrypt throughout the year. I wish you all a Merry Christmas †
Luke 2:11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!
I love it when I find something new - new to me. After decades of using an Atari ST, I stumbled upon a program that I'd never heard of - an emulator called Artemis. This is a Z80/ZX Spectrum emulator by Jörg Tochtenhagen and Ralf Hemsing and features numerous options for the technically minded - not me then lol. Thankfully, it seems to perform very well indeed on my own Atari (the video above is via emulation).
Feel free to tinker with the configuration but the performance -as is- is more than acceptable on the stock ST. That's a relief because Artemis doesn't work properly on faster computers! Plus there is no support for colour, meaning your game is in black and white. Even more peculiar is that we only have one game - Jetpac.
The game uses a format I've not heard of before --> .PRO
Can anyone help with more information or other games in .PRO format?
Playing Jetpac is never a bad thing and even though it's not as good as the real machine (or indeed the Speccy emulator) it is great to find something new. Note: Artemis comes with no documentation, lacks colour support, and doesn't work properly with computers other than the stock 8MHz Atari ST/e.
Needs other games but I have enjoyed finding this gem deep within the ST archives.
Unheart is something I've been meaning to feature for far too long. It's pretty new and was only released in 2014 at Silly Venture by Masters of Electric City. It's based on the original PC game, Heartlight which happily mixes Sokoban with a dollop of Boulder Dash to produce a riveting and refreshing brain-teasing challenge.
Boulder Dash fans should look elsewhere because this is a Sokoban game and a brilliant take on that idea. We are a dwarf who enjoys digging his way through caves looking for love hearts. Watch out for falling rocks that might block your path or worse, a head-crushing blow. You might even come upon a bomb as you crawl through the soft soil but be careful, because these will detonate when impacting something hard, like a wall or rock. Heck, there are even balloons that will float upwards potentially pushing whatever gets in their way...
Don't worry if you get stuck, hit ESC will humorously explode our dwarf so we can restart. Also, a level-skip function is used to bypass those brain-destroying levels with the option of coming back later. The difficulty remains a constant throughout with cunning map designs causing the most intense problems!
The graphics are simple yet superbly detailed using a gorgeous C64-like palette. The status bar is displayed using overscan, which is always going to be a great thing for obvious reasons. The chip music is on another level. It is breathtaking and perfectly suits the gameplay - I just wish there was more.
Unheart is good fun and pushes you to think differently. Its difficulty remains a constant throughout with shrewd map designs causing the most intense problems to overcome. Thankfully, with unlimited retries - and the ability to skip troublesome levels - you aren't distracted and will keep coming back.
Unheart is challenging, distinctively brilliant and one of the beST puzzlers on the Atari ST.
- SCREENSHOTS & DOWNLOAD -
Some levels look so simple yet they are not. Perhaps well-placed explosions will help here?
I spent ages on this level and yet it is so easy to complete!! Sometimes physics helps a bunch.
Another level that appears so simple - and is - but that didn't stop me from pulling out my hair!!
I can imagine Boulder Dash fans loving the first level, but not so much the others!
Anduril is a PD game by Markus Dheus that features a flying hero. Like the ZX Spectrum game, Kokotoni Wilf, this is a flick-screener with cunning rooms to explore. Unfortunately, unlike Kokotoni Wilf, our guy cannot walk or even touch the landscape scenery. If he does, it results in an instant loss of life. Thankfully, he can fly like a flappy bird using simple controls: use the SHIFT key to fly with H + J turning left/right.
I imagine Anduril is beginning to sound rather easy? You couldn't be more wrong as anyone who loves a challenge will get just that - the first screens are easy but it isn't too long before the game's true sadistic nature is exposed. Most of the map is made up of tight spaces with which to guide our man. If that wasn't tough enough, once gravity is factored in, Anduril becomes distressing for all but the patient gamer.
The graphics are crisp and detailed but I sometimes had collision detection, which often worked in my favour so I shouldn't complain. Sounds are almost void with only a low-volume spot effect for item pickup.
Very difficult, so not for everyone but I found it an enjoyable change.
Download Anduril from AtariMania and this program will help those without a high-res monitor.
Pung is an old Atari STe game which has been released after years of lurking in software purgatory. It's obviously based upon the 1972 classic and currently stands at v0.30 which means it suffers a few bugs that might lead to those infamous bombs across your screen. Just reset and keep on playing! I'm glad this got a release as we have enjoyed playing it over the weekend - it's different with a few neat ideas and I recommend you take a look. Let me know what you think...
* Demozoo website has a download with all the credits and more.
* I nabbed the MOD music file off Demozoo and made a recording. Love it!
Potsworth & Co is a cutesy platformer developed by Ben Walshaw for Hi-Tec Software (1992) and is based on a Hanna-Barbera cartoon (which I'd never heard of). I've just learnt that Potsworth is a dog who happens to have a group of kiddy mates - The Midnight Patrol. The story is that someone stole a sleep potion and broke it up throughout five worlds. It's up to the kids to return it to a Grand Dozer (whatever that is).
As different members of the Midnight Patrol (depending on the level, each has different mechanics for powers and abilities). For example, in the first, we are a stroppy girl who begins underground in a place Rick Dangerous would love. It appears this heroine only has to open her mouth to kill most of her foes.
Sounds weird? You betcha! But I think you're gonna love it. Read on...
Each level is different and uses the other characters, who come with their own skills.
Developers who care!
Potsworth & Co offers a style similar to Doodlebug or Magic Boy but, don't let the comical visuals trick you, this game is not easy and very challenging. Each world features many hazards and, of course, a wide range of baddies who aimlessly walk back and forth doing their best to make life troublesome. There are also puzzles but these won't have you stumped, it's more like moving a block onto a switch panel (or a teddy bear!).
This isn't an easy-to-pick-up-and-play platformer, if I'm honest. I think it has a testing learning curve thanks to a difficulty level famous throughout the 8 and 16-bit era. Personally, I think a lot more lives should have been given by default and there are some parts of the later levels that are quite irritating. But all this is solved by having more lives or (cough) a trainer which means you're then able to enjoy this game fully.
The joystick controls are superbly responsive so exploring is a breeze without any sluggishness. When you move onto a new level, the game changes your character which is unusual. I especially liked the third world where we play as a dog in a candy land - this is bursting with cool mechanics and is brilliant fun to explore.
Let's see a screenshot of that stroppy-looking girl level I mentioned...
No lame port here but there are... walking guns in a Ricky Dangerous world!
Model looks!
The visuals are stunning and it certainly proves what a developer can do when they care about their product. This looks the business alright and feels quite console-y with fantastic environments, awesome sprites, and bundles of colour throughout each and every level. The scrolling is both fast and fluent which means we're being treated, rather than enduring a jerky lame Amiga port. Amazing, just amazing.
Sadly, the audio is the mirror opposite of those lovely pixels and appears to be an afterthought. There are only a few spot sound effects and, even worse, no background chiptune which would have been perfect. Oh, and don't even ask about a title theme. That is absolutely terrible and should be skipped - quickly!!
Why is that? So much effort was spent on the visuals and gameplay yet little on the audio...
Another new level and another different character to master.
The CryptO'pinion?
This is superb and provides a fantastic venture through several interesting worlds. Each is a vibrant and charming experience and, not only that but, a testament to the power of the Atari ST when in the hands of a talented programmer. Prepare thyself for a game that is as challenging as it is beautiful.
This is one of the best platformers there is. I've loved every second with The Midnight Patrol. If I can pass on a piece of advice, it would be this: Don't be a knob and download this game right now. There ya go.
