Hellgate

Wait, what? Is this DOOM?

Hellgate is yet another first-person shooter for the Atari ST/e. Created in 1997 by David Walters of Smartsoft and is an impressive attempt to develop Doom using STOS. Of course, it'll take more than our humble 68000 processor to deliver decent framerates especially when I remember a friend's 25Mhz PC not being all that impressive.

Wait a moment... Hold your horses, Marine!! Did I just say that Hellgate was developed using STOS?? That is something else... Okay, don't get me wrong, this is a brilliant tool that has certainly proved itself more times than I care to mention, however, can it actually handle a 3D engine running at a decent framerate?

Please remember that this is shareware and I have only found an 'unregistered demo' which may not even be the completed product. This is also missing a few bits 'n' bobs like a rocket launcher and extra episodes. Sadly, after scouring the internet, I failed to find the registered version so I'm praying the full game isn't lost!

Okay, enough waffling for now because we have a couple of screenshots to view...

I'm liking the iWatch menu. Apple, you need to learn from this!

A familiar screen after romping through the first level and successfully killing everything!

I'm getting that Doom vibe!!

The year is 2196 and we plucky humans have somehow terraformed the ice giant Neptune. However, the planet's largest city is plagued with extremely high levels of crime, so our mission is to investigate that. Now, I'm no military expert, but I think that means we grab our weapons and kill everything in sight. Well, I'm sold so count me in!!

Firstly, we need identification so enter your name into a simple but sweet screen. The audio here is great but I'll say no more to risk spoiling it (but I thought it was cool). Next, there are three difficulty levels to choose from:

Dead Easy: which the documentation hilariously says is for kids and your granny!
Well 'Ard: which is kinda like an equivalent of Doom's "Hurt Me Plenty".
Suicide: is for those with Godlike skills but even the docs advise against this nightmare!

Hey, you... Pssst... fancy a couple more sexy screenshots of STOS Doom? Of course, you do...

The pistol is good and does its job as something just to get you started.

Nothing compares to the shotgun. Just ask Doomguy, he'll tell ya!

Let's play...

Once you begin, everything has a familiar feel to ID's iconic shooter (cough...cough...ripoff). The episode screen displays just where you are in Neptune's city complex and the in-game status bar shows health, armour, ammo, keys and even your ugly mug in the middle. Well, I guess, there's no shame in using a tried and trusted format? (I like it!!)

Controls are performed using the mouse: pushing upwards will walk forward and I'm sure you can guess what pulling back on your chunky grey tank will do? Moving left/right allows our marine to look around the city - unless you hold down the right button to enable strafe. Sadly, the keyboard is only used to flip between your weaponry and open doors.

Yup, you're stuck to using the mouse to get around which is incredibly frustrating at times, especially during your first few games. Well, nothing is perfect and it does work quite well but I cannot help but wonder why David didn't implement the alternative WASD. Anyhow, the mouse works well once you become familiar with using it.

Hardly a crushing blow is it? And that now means only one thing - Yep, it's time for some more screenshots...

Look out for medkits, armour, and ammo to help fight off the hoards.

What? No zombie guys or imps? No, we have these blocky robotic dudes to shoot at!

An honourable ripoff?

So almost everything feels similar to what you would expect. And so is the gameplay: we begin the mission with only a pistol but our personal armoury can ultimately include a Shotgun, Minigun, Rifle, and Rocket Launcher. However, I never got to see the Rifle as I lost my bearings, which you can see at the end of my video recording (scroll back up).

So, that takes me onto the automap: there isn't one. As much as I tried hitting the TAB key - it did nothing. Perhaps it was just me but I got lost and desperately needed to find out where to go, especially as I was recording a video. Sigh...

Look out for pickups to boost your health and so on, but there are a few hidden rooms just as in Doom and Wolfenstein! This is how I found the shotgun on the first level, a fantastic find! Also, some doors are locked and need a specific key to unlock them. Yup, there's nothing shockingly new in Hellgate but familiarity is no bad thing here whatsoever.

Righto, let's not get sarky and just introduce two more flourishingly-sexy screenshots. Ahem...

Always keep an eye out for secret rooms just like we did in ID's Doom and Wolfenstein.

Yep, that provided me armour, health and the shotgun. What a find!!

486 Aesthetics?

Graphically, things are pretty poor and not only in comparison to Doom (which is understandable) but also to ST shooters, like Wolfenstein, Destruction Imminent and Substation. Everything looks crude, with a fairly sluggish framerate, and more than a few glitches too. Interestingly, the robotic enemies are made from polygons which is kinda cool and not what I was expecting. However, they are a bit thick and I would still have preferred demonic monsters!

Sound effects are sparse using fuzzy samples for firing, pickups, doors, etc/etc. What I did find odd were our robotic enemies who scream when dying, freak but cool!! Sadly, there's no music for ST dudes but lucky STe owners can enjoy gorgeous Mad Max chiptunes alongside the sound effects. This actually works incredibly well and suited the mood and style.

Two more screenshots before the much-anticipated opinion that I know you're eager to read...

Two missing episodes lost? I hope we find the registered game one day :(

Here ends my game... the screen turns red and I fall to the ground. DEAD!!

The CryptO'pinion?

Hellgate was an interesting download but sadly, it's not good enough in comparison to the other FPS shooters already on the Atari ST. A faster computer, like my Mega STe, compensated for the poor framerate but it couldn't fix the wonky mechanics, bugs, or the psychic robots who always seemed to know my movements before I did. Ultimately, the mouse controls are the real game killer because it desperately requires the use of a keyboard. What a shame.

Hellgate is fun for a few hours but I doubt I'll return to it anytime soon. However, let's remember this is probably unfinished and developed by one guy using STOS and that fact alone blows me away!! Play it and let me know what you think.

- Download Hellgate -

PC Ditto

Ugh, I hate Winblows PCs!!

I thought I'd have a quick play with PC-Ditto, an old emulator by Avant-Garde Systems. Now, please do note that I've never owned a PC in my life but I remember tinkering with the one (and only) Amstrad PC our college had in 1987. So, I figured this would be a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Well, who knows...

Okay, a stock Atari ST is more than capable of running this emulator and many DOS programs will run fine. However, you should probably forget it for games. I used my own Mega STe which barely had the horsepower to handle many titles. So, in my video recording, Hatari is running a 16Mhz to simulate the real machine on my desk.

Pah, DOS for gaming or home computer. Terrible idea but, read on...

I had little luck with Castle Wolfenstein (a bad copy?) but Serpentine ran pretty well.

How did it go with this DOS malarkey?

Surprisingly, I did have some success as you can see in the video which shows me booting DOS 3.3 and then loading a selection of rubbish games. The first is Serpentine, which was definitely the best of the bad bunch and I enjoyed eating the other slo-mo snakes. I then rebooted to try something called David's Kong. Ugh, this is absolutely laughable so please don't waste your time!

Next up was Bird-Brain which didn't seem to work very well because the keys specified on the main menu didn't work for me. Instead, I suffered rapid beeping sound which was rather annoying!! So yet another reboot was called for so I could try Castle Wolfenstein. Ohh, I had such high hopes for this game but alas it didn't appear to run properly and then oddly got itself caught in a loop?

I then loaded Space Commanders which slowed my Mega STe down to the speed of a Casio calculator for some insane reason. In the video recording, I could cheat by hitting CMD X to speed up Hatari but that didn't really help too much. No loss anyhow because this is a ludicrously bad shoot 'em up!!

I was now beginning to lose the will to live and only had one game left: Buck Rogers Planet Of Zoom which is one of my favourite ZX Spectrum games. Sadly, it wasn't (umm) too playable due to slow speeds but I managed a couple of minutes before PC-Ditto disappointly froze for some reason!

Oh boy, how did the PC win the computer war? The worst Kong and Invaders I've ever played!!

The CryptO'pinion?

This was fun and I enjoyed (temporarily) turning my ST into an Intel paperweight. Games will generally require more CPU grunt but I doubt anyone would abandon the ST's archive for any of these horrendous DOS equivalents? Of course, not being a hardware product meant overall performance was sluggish, even on my Mega STe.

PC Ditto did a grand job at running DOS and many programs and other utilities. However, I wouldn't bother using this for games - unless I had something beefy like a TT or Falcon. Overall, this is a pretty good product depending on your needs. But I'll stick with my Atari ST... so that just leaves one last thing to do: del *.*  😇

You can find PC-Ditto on the great AtariMania or using Old Games Finder. You'll also need the operating system and DOS 3.3 is downloadable from Atari-Forum thanks to Jake/Depression. I found many compatible DOS games on lots of websites - I really liked My Abandonware. Enjoy yourself!

Enhanced Games

New game updates!

Everyone knows that Peter Putnik has adapted hundreds of games for hard disk installation. These often include extras like bug fixes, TOS compatibility, 4MB patching, and so on. However, some are also super-charged with cool coding that utilises the Blitter coprocessor and other hidden chips lurking inside the Atari STe.

I thought it would be nice to offer a brief round-up of these enhanced games as a compilation here on AtariCrypt. Oids and Uridium are particularly impressive as both updates improve tremendously upon their original counterparts. I also enjoyed playing my own music during a game of Xenon 2 (read the docs and convert music from your library). There's something here for everyone and I hope you find this useful. Let me know what you think!

Let's play...

Okay, let's take a look at some of these enhanced games that you can download and play right now...

 + Xenon II - updated for the Atari STe and features DMA streamed music. Turn up the volume!
 + Cannon Fodder - enhance this lame port with your chosen DMA streamed music.
 + Prince Of Persia - allow the DMA hardware lurking inside the Atari STe to replay the game's sounds.

  

Did you enjoy that? Well, here are three enhanced FTL games that are nicely improved...

 + Dungeon Master - far cleaner samples are heard thanks to the DMA hardware within the Atari STe.
 + Chaos Strikes Back - Again, the DMA hardware allows cleaner sample playback for this awesome sequel.
 + Oids - the potential for double framerates deliver a smoother experience when rescuing the stickmen.

  

Right, let's take a peek at three more which aren't exactly favoured well by the average ST gamer...

 + Jinks - this jerky game is weird but at least it now uses the smoother STe scrolling [original disks still required]
 + Menace - I cannot thank Peter enough for replacing that horrendous yellow ship with a white one!
 + Uridium - Blitter-boost that sluggish ship and add DMA-streamed background music while you're at it!

  

Now let's take a little run-around with these three you might never have expected to boot up...

 + Giana Sisters - this Zamuel_a enhanced game now also comes with optional DMA streamed music!!
 + Hard 'n' Heavy - gone is that embarrassing flip-screen gameplay, all thanks to cool Blitter programming.
 + Road Runner - Improved and also Blitterized for faster scrolling - but it's still a rubbish game (sorry!)

  

Okay, let's end in style! Here are two ST classics and (wait for it) a PC classic too! Ooh, nice...

 + Goldrunner - Some might not like this, but I love hitting the F3 key to disable that fuzzy speech!
 + Gauntlet - this sluggish hack 'n slash arcade game gets big improvements but still needs extra CPU grunt.
 + Wolfenstein 3D - Ray's jaw-dropping FPS now has bugs removed with decent save game support.

  

KillThings

It's killing time!

KillThings, by Orm of Digi Tallis, is a 3D first-person shoot 'em up in a similar vein to something like Wolfenstein. Alas, it was never finished, but it is still very playable and I'm impressed by the speed of its 3D engine which is both fast and fluent. What's more, is the mapping screen which works just like the one seen in Doom - love it!!

Sadly, it's unfinished and there is no audio effects and also little to do other than wander stark corridors looking for a bug-eyed stickman to kill. Still, the potential is staggering when you think about what's completed for this development release. I wonder how it might have ended? Oh, there is a level editor if you're feeling bravely creative? Go on, I dare 'ya.

Whilst the gameplay is whizzing about above, let's check out a couple of screenshots of the map and editor...

The mapping tool works like a dream, much like we saw in Doom!

Why not design your own levels using the editor?

The CryptO'pinion?

KillThings was never going to replace Wolfenstein or Substation but I'm fascinated by oddities like this lurking within our archives. Plus I'm impressed with the hopes and dreams of what this developer wanted to create back in the day. But that makes it worse when these ideas die before getting completed. The 'readme' explains a great deal.

But fear not, at least we have this demo which is rather neat and certainly shows what might have been if completed. It's rather cool and can be downloaded from their website, along with the level editor and much more.

I hope that one day, Orm gets back to this project because it's funky cool with massive potential. Enjoyed this!

Wolfenstein 3D

I had an hour to spare before the boss was due home from work, so I fancied a game of Wolfenstein 3D. Sadly, it didn't go as well as I'd hoped!! But, I must admit, it makes a funny video recording. Well, it made me laugh! ;^)

Here ends my silliness......

Legends Of Valour

Swashbuckle in first person!

Legends Of Valour is one of the last Atari ST games that I bought. It received relatively favourable reviews as I remember with its first-person engine getting lots of praise for a 16-bit computer. Personally, I loved it and was smitten by its storyline, depth and longevity not to mention playing in what felt like a cross between Wolfenstein and Dungeon Master!

Our journey begins in the city of Mitteldorf as we are in search of our missing cousin, Sven. He previously set out to find his fortune and is now missing - what an idiot. Anyhow, it's been far too long since anybody heard from him and thus, our adventure begins. Yes, that storyline is a little lame but it leads you into a world fresh and full of strife.

Firstly, you should design your character's appearance that includes clothing and armament. This means you can choose to be human, dwarf or elf and each type offers a different gameplay style and alternative outcomes. Select hair, eyes, nose and so on to create your demi-god or perhaps your character will end up looking like a freak?

Before we begin, ignore my poor capture above as this game is smooth. Right then, let's see a screenshot...

It isn't long until somebody nice and welcoming pops up to greet us, as a new traveller.

Get lost ...in an amazing world!

Once you're dandy, enter the city and heed the advice from the friendly local who pops up for a chat. I would first advise you to take the time to explore and familiarise yourself with your surroundings because this is such a massive place and you will need necessary amenities, like safe lodgings, income, beer to sup, and grub to nosh. It's pen & paper time!

Mitteldorf is a fortress city, populated with interesting characters, secretive guilds, curious places, and even a labyrinth of dungeons hidden deep underground. Of course, these are waiting to be explored, but be careful because you might not like what you find down there. Your cousin wrote a letter which nicely explains his story, why not take a read? Perhaps that might feature hidden clues that could help you out along this quest. Heck, you never know?

All exploration is through a first-person engine not too dissimilar to a shooter like Wolfenstein with fully texture-mapped graphics - a testament to what our 16-bit computer can knock out. This can be configured in three sizes, small, medium and large. Any ST will perform well but the largest setting requires a 16MHz computer or an upgrade.

Initially, the interface is scary due to the huge number of icons but soon becomes intuitive and easy to use. Wandering the city is feasible using the GUI's icons but it can become a little laborious due to the immense size of the play area so a right-click will activate mouse control to unlock its full potential. Which is a tremendous way to explore.

Only some people you meet are nice and helpful. Many are nasty, like this guy in the next screenshot...

Wow, there is no need to take that attitude with me. A festering sore? lol excellent!

Chill, relax, chat with the yocals

Legends Of Valour isn't something you simply play for a few short moments - you live it. Life here is completely open-world, a "sandbox" adventure if you like? Yes, you are free to roam and do almost anything you want, day or night. This genre has always been a fascinating concept for me and, although it's an early example, it works extremely well.

Exploring Mitteldorf is exciting and bursting with fun characters, monsters, temples, stores, taverns, employment and more. I love the Olde English medieval setting which is portrayed and experienced in real-time, so day and night pass by with their own consequence. All the requirements we have in life exist here: eating, sleeping, health and personal safety when in dodgy locations - especially late at night. I find refuge (and a few ales) at The Hanged Man tavern is a good idea, but perhaps that's me? Just don't get too tipsy and end up in lockup. Ohhh, yes this is a game offering massive potential!

Mitteldorf is bursting with places to eat, shop, trade and read messages...

  

Mitteldorf has many interesting places to explore so don't rush and miss a thing.

Explore and turn over every stone

This game is humungous and not something to play on one boring afternoon for an hour. Learning the city of Mitteldorf alone can be overwhelming, so make notes and a basic key to complement the official map. So much can be understood by communicating with your fellow citizens - so get chatting with them over a beer. Don't forget those strange folk who appear to aimlessly wander the streets. Remember, you're living inside this 'RPG' so experience its weird world.

However, be prepared to defend yourself when set on by anyone from the King's faithful knights in shining armour. Even a little old lady can throw a barrage of humorous insults before giving you a good slap which is rather unexpected, I can say. There's only one thing left to do - slap her back!! (tell me you're not tempted?). That's right, why not hit an old lady? Yes, you are limited only by your own imagination and fiendish desires. Explore and live the game.

That is great advice for such a wondrous place. Also, it's a good time to pause for a couple of screenshots...

Arghh!! I've been caught again. I guess I look too dodgy?

 This means I've been thrown down before the King's mercy. Sigh...

The CryptO'pinion?

Legends Of Valour is something special and offers a vibrant and exciting place to live a life of intrigue. So many cool characters, taverns to frequent, secret guilds to master, monster-infested dungeons to plunder, and then jobs or missions are always on offer. This game has it all and, as you begin to make progress, and delve deeper, you soon realise just how much more potential there is just waiting to be discovered. Heck, I had almost forgotten to search for Sven!

Oh yes, I love wandering Mitteldorf but, nothing is perfect and I feel Legends Of Valour lacks in a couple of areas: the battles could have been executed better and it's disappointing to discover most buildings are (visually) empty. Also, audio is limited to spot effects which is a shame considering the number of disks in the box - a few ambient samples or more varied chippy fx could have tremendously improved the atmosphere, especially during the night scenes.

Legends Of Valour is incredible and massively enthralling. Allow yourself to get lost in this advantageous world because there is so much to see and do. This is certainly one of my favourite Atari ST RPG/Adventure games, ever. Play it.

This is best ran from a hard drive so use 8BitChip.
Those stuck with the floppy should try Old Games Finder.

A city map and clue book ... and I had fun in October!!

Substation

You'll need a 25MHz PC for this one...

I remember the days when the ST was getting on a bit and, ahem, the Falcon didn't quite cut it. Not only that, but all my mates had left behind their Atari STs and Amigas for overly expensive PCs. They were bulky and incredibly ugly but I also remember how gutted I felt when I saw Wolfenstein (I almost died of shock the first time I saw Doom!!).

Anyhow, we still had our moments, and the Atari ST had a decent selection of first-person shooters by the mid-90s. In 1995 along came a company called Unique Development Sweden, who decided that our old 16-bit computer wasn't quite dead yet. They graced us with Substation which was about to change everything we thought possible. Read on...

The story goes that Mitushi Industries has developed a type of new energy that can be extracted from under the seas. All seemed well until communication was lost with their underwater substation base. Oh no... So, they contracted the help of a Multi-Environment Marine from the American government. In case you are wondering - yes, this is you!

Righto, that's the basic storyline that wasn't really needed so let's take a gander at the first screenshot...

The mission update screens are superb with tons of information.

When a 1989 computer blows you away!

Upon starting your first game, it's a good idea to ditch the knife - hit key "2" which switches to a rather effective pistol. Now, collect all the goodies you see lying on the floor and open the door; outside, is access to more goodies but there's also a couple of ghouls lurking! Will you risk a fight or run away scared down that seemingly empty corridor?

Movement is actioned with the keyboard: arrow keys are used to walk/turn around with Insert and Clr Home keys for convenient sidestepping - this works so brilliantly using a real computer!! Control key fires any weapon, the Spacebar opens doors, and punching the TAB key drops a bomb. Don't forget to make use of the map located at the bottom of your screen: this automatically tracks your movements and the keypad can be used to examine the explored areas.

The baddies are an intelligent bunch who won't stupidly head straight for you. Nope, expect some to use evasive tactics as they shoot a few rounds and then run away and take cover! So use that pistol to protect yourself, remembering to sidestep oncoming fire! Other weapons can be found and the chain gun is absolutely amazing - Arnold Schwarzenegger would be proud to carry it. In fact, each of the weapons is superb - I only wish it didn't take so long to find them all.

Tell me you aren't excited to stop reading and play this baby for yourself? Wait, come back I've not finished...

I know what you're thinking and no, there isn't anything wrong with the colour!

16 Colours are enough!

Graphically, I'm both impressed and unimpressed - in equal measure. Firstly, let me say that Substation has a freakish amount of atmosphere! This game is scary with something nasty around most corners. Anxiety levels will be high thanks to its superb design using amazing visual effects - like the use of light-sourced sprites. The frame rate needed to be smooth for a game like this to be playable and the basic 8MHz Atari STe zooms along at 25fps - which is outstanding!!

Sadly, the walls lack texture mapping because UDS opted for Gouraud shading to maintain the smooth framerate. This is understandable but also disappointing because games like Destruction Imminent and Wolfenstein 3D prove the ST is actually capable. I feel UDS missed an opportunity to allow for optional textures on faster computers.

The audio is spot-on perfect. And I do mean perfect. Substation utilises the enhanced hardware so we're able to hear distance and directional effects. This helps to identify where the baddies are lurking surprisingly well. Equally impressive are the tunes played at 25Khz - excellent quality. You're gonna love it so crank up the volume!

LOL I love this screenshot that I managed to take just as he was getting blasted!!

The CryptO'pinion?

Technically speaking this is one of the most impressive games for ye olde Atari STe. Think about it, an 8MHz computer capable of running a first-person engine that maintains a brisk 25fps. Not only that but it features distance and directional stereo sounds! There are 30 on-screen colours, light source sprites, and intelligent enemy AI. Heck, you can even play against others over a network and those with faster Atari computers will support smoother framerates.

Substation is superb - a fantastic shooter with great weapons, challenging AI, and interesting maps. It's not an easy game but each mission is as tough as they are enjoyable. However, if you're expecting Substation to be "our" Doom then you will be disappointed because it's more like Wolfenstein. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a criticism. Just understand that fact.

Oh yeah, this is one seriously awesome first-person shooter so pick up your guns and have yourself some fun!!

- ESSENTIAL SUBSTATION LINKS -

Download on floppy or best of all for your hard drive.

ST Format featured a basic preview level on cover disk #72.
They also held a competition and the winning game is on cover disk #75.
Fancy a trainer? ST Format cover disk #76 has all the answers!
[ all ST Format coverdisks can be downloaded off Exxos ]

Substation tips and maps can be found in ST Format issues #74 / #75 / #76 / #77.

We all love cheat codes and to get all weapons just type "PUNK"
"NIRVANA" gets you extra health and "PFLOYD" unlocks doors.
"SKRAPAN" credits extra bombs and "FALUKORV" allows extra time.

Wolfenstein 3D

Brace yourself...

We are B.J. Blazkowicz, an all-American hero battling his way through the dreaded Castle Wolfenstein killing every evil Nazi baddie along the way. No, you're not dreaming. Rub your eyes in disbelief all you want because it really is happening - Wolfenstein 3D is running on the 8Mhz Atari ST and enhanced for the STe too. Staggering!!

Yes, this classic ID game has been converted to the Atari ST/e by Reimund Dratwa (The Sirius Cybernetics Corporation) and just in case you're wondering, the gameplay is authentic using controls that are excellent and ultra-responsive without any lag. This old computer is running this classic first-person shooter as well as I could hope. It feels like the same game we remember playing with levels, enemies, sounds and more just like in the PC game.

It features 32 on-screen colours, authentic texture mapping, and a high-detail mode (activated by hitting the asterisk key on the numerical keypad). Chipmusic is by Mathieu Stempell and thus truly outstanding as you would expect. Sound effects are fantastic and played using the DMA hardware on the Atari STe. I'm drooling here...

Everyone knows Wolfenstein helped change the gaming world back in the early 90s - in favour of the PC. Our version is incomplete but what we have is polished and every bit as good as you'd hope. In fact, there's a part of me that still cannot believe this is real and I can only imagine what witchcraft was used for its development! Reimund stayed up most nights coding until 5am and I'm positive he scraped together every last droplet of Atari ST power.

We have Wolfenstein 3D for the Atari ST. Take a moment to think about that. Now, get it downloaded right away!

Download Wolf 3D via 8BitChip.

Update: I've recorded a silly video ;-)

The menu system is clear and concise with incredible details and colour.

Sadly, some of the scenarios aren't available to play.

I love those hands coming out from the barrel, killer pixel artwork!

Please do remember that Wolf 3D is unfinished and stop moaning!

I had to laugh at these drawings which are truly superb, especially the first one!!