tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69123658166862007992024-03-13T13:49:56.524-07:00Psytronik Software<center><big><b>All the latest news and info from Psytronik Software - the software label for classic computer systems!</b></big></center>Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-37264651361904493892015-12-17T04:46:00.005-08:002016-01-27T02:33:33.751-08:002015 - The end of Psytronik? Or just the beginning?<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Greetings Retro Chums!</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, it must be said it's been an embarrasingly long time since I put finger to keyboard in order to update the Psytronik blog - almost <i>TWO ENTIRE YEARS</i> in fact! Oh dear. Fear not my friends, I'm alive and well and the cogs of the mighty Psytronik machine continue to turn, albeit at a slightly slower pace nowadays. The reason for the lack of Blog posts and updates is all down to a lack of time on my part. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Basically, everything to do with Psytronik has to take place in my extremely limited spare time, so I'd rather dedicate that time to actually working on developing new Psytronik releases rather than spending time writing about them. Interestingly, these sentiments are mirrored in this interesting and RARE (heh!) <a href="http://www.develop-online.net/interview/return-of-a-legend-rare-co-founder-tim-stamper-on-the-past-present-and-future/0209651" target="_blank">interview with Tim Stamper</a> that appeared online in August 2015.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2015 has been an incredibly difficult year for Psytronik for one reason or another. I've been hit with setback after setback, each one seemingly more insurmountable than the last. But despite all this I've somehow managed to overcome each obstacle in turn and Psytronik still lives on as we march relentlessly on into 2016. So to bring you up to speed I'll detail the lows and highs of the last year along with a retrospective look at the Psytronik releases for 2015 and a look ahead to what will be happening in 2016!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's start things off with the low-lights before we get to the good stuff. The first massive obstacle that was thrown at me in 2015 was when the <b><a href="http://binaryzone.org/retrostore/" target="_blank">Binary Zone RetroStore</a></b> ground to a stop in January 2015. I suddenly started receiving a lot of worrying emails with the heading <i>ALERT: PayPal Express Checkout Error</i> which made me realise something had gone very wrong with the store. It turns out PayPal had implemented a change in their payment system that required me to update the store software. Not a huge problem you may think, just update the store and then business as usual ... But this was not to be. Despite all my best efforts and a LOT of headscratching the store software would NOT accept the update. Even though the store itself updated with no problems it just flatly refused to import the original store database with all the customer details, past order info etc. etc. After a while I then realised the only way to get around this would be to start again. From scratch. Completely. Aaaargh! So I duly installed the very latest store software and then began the arduous task of keying in every single Binary Zone / Psytronik product all over again. Despite this being a huge incovenience (thanks a bunch, PayPal) it did give me the opportunity to have a good old clearout in the store and to also ensure all the relevent pictures / links / videos were working. The store initially fell on it's ar*e on January 13th 2015 and I received the first order from the new store on Feb 5th 2015 so that's not a bad amount of down-time considering the size and complexity of the RetroStore.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With the Binary Zone store now up-and-running again it was the turn of the main Psytronik site to crash and burn in a scene reminiscent of the spectacular opening frames of the Terminal Man comic strip (Techno-Trivia: I actually own the original Oli Frey painting of this page which is currently hanging proudly on my lounge wall):-</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hi6oN66NjEE/VnKqO3dIb4I/AAAAAAAAA1c/SLLPF4xKl-M/s1600/terminalman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hi6oN66NjEE/VnKqO3dIb4I/AAAAAAAAA1c/SLLPF4xKl-M/s320/terminalman.jpg" width="238" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>The Arcadia crashes and burns in the Terminal Man comic</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>in a style similar to the Psytronik website in 2015!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It turned out the old Psytronik site framework I was using had "issues" and the only way to get around these problems was to rebuild the whole site. From scratch. Completely. Aaaargh Pt II! So yet again I had to laboriously recreate an entire website due to no fault of my own. And yet again I used the opportunity to tidy up all the code on the site and to make sure all the relevant pics / links / videos were all up-to-date and functional. This wasn't quite as urgent a task as the Binary Zone RetroStore as a placeholder page pointed people in the direction of all the Psytronik games in the BZ store so I took my time rebuilding the site. The new Psytronik site is now fully operational and can be reached via the original URL <b><a href="http://www.psytronik.net/">www.psytronik.net</a></b> or the new URL <b><a href="http://www.psytronik.website/">www.psytronik.website</a></b>.</span><br />
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<a href="http://psytronik.net/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Mb4D8oXVzEI/VnKtjZXhSTI/AAAAAAAAA1o/F_m0qNl_sps/s320/psysite.jpg" width="243" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The new, improved and fully operational Psytronik website</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Check out the snazzy fading banner / logo on the new site!)</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next spanner thrown in the works came in the form of the changes to the UK VAT laws regarding the purchase of digital downloads. Digital downloads have always been a bit of a problem for me as my store software can't handle digital purchases automatically - so each time I received an order for a download I had to manually send the purchaser a link with the download. Unfortunately, if I was away from my computer for whatever reason then there was a delay before the download link was sent out - which isn't good in this modern day and age when people are used to the download arriving straight away once they have made their purchase. So as soon as these new fangled VAT changes were announced I decided to not get involved in the resulting admin nightmare and scrapped the digital downloads completely. Ho hum.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fourth (and thankfully final) setback of 2015 was when I attempted to re-stock the 5.25" disk cases that I use for the Psytronik Premium Range. If you've followed the Psytronik blog in the past you will know what a struggle I had obtaining these cases (you can read the whole story <a href="http://psytronik.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/psytronik-premium-range-released.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>). So you can imagine my dismay when I discovered that the company that manufactured the cases I use for the C64 disk releases had gone into liquidation and was dissolved in October 2014! Aaaargh Pt III! As they were the ONLY suppliers of these cases it pretty much meant the end of the Premium range. As I had a limited amount of the cases remaining it meant I could keep Premium range running for a short time but now only a few Premium titles remain in stock and they won't be around for much longer. So an alternative way of packaging disks had to be found (yet again!) - and the solution came in the form of A5 sized plastic cases, that were quite similar to the Premium cases - only slightly thinner and a bit taller. This meant a redesign of the Psytronik disk artwork template to accommodate the new cases - and the result was the <b>Premium+</b> range. Three new releases are now available in the new style packaging, with another four to follow early in 2016. Click <b><a href="http://binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2_18" target="_blank">HERE</a> </b>for details about the new <b>Premium+</b> range.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Note for Premium Disk fans:</i> During the rebuild of the Psytronik site I bolted on a new <b><a href="http://psytronik.net/newsite/index.php/inlays" target="_blank">INLAYS</a></b> section that contains hi-res downloadable inlays for most of the original Premium Range titles. This means that if you buy the budget disk from the BZ store, supply your own 5.25" case and print out the inlay you can make your very own Premium Edition of the game!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite 2015 being an incredibly difficult year for Psytronik it wasn't all doom and gloom however. I still somehow managed to release five new titles for the Commodore 64 - which is the same number as releases I managed in the relatively trouble-free 2014. So now let's take a look back at the year that was 2015 ... !</span><br />
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<b><a href="http://binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=rocket+smash" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Rocket Smash EX</span></a></b></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Released on Feb 4th 2015)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Psytronik rocketed (heh!) into action in 2015 with some shooty fun in the form of Rocket Smash EX. Based on one of the ultimate jetpacking games known to man (if you know what I mean) the idea of the game is to assemble and fuel up your rocket ship while avoiding meanies that roam around each level. Featuring excellent detailed graphics, catchy soundtracks, digitised speech and super-smooth gameplay this was a nice way to start the year - and was also the debut release for the new and improved Binary Zone RetroStore (for techno-buffs who are listening) and also the last game to be released in the original Premium Range.</span><br />
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<a href="http://binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=psytronik44" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Kung-Fu Maniacs Trilogy</span></a></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Released 2nd June 2015)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm a big fan of the <b><a href="http://binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=kung+fu+maniacs" target="_blank">Kung-Fu Maniacs</a></b> games by Alf Yngve, they're packed with beat 'em up ACTION and a wry sense of humour to boot. I wanted to do something special with their release on the C64 and what better way than to make them one of the debut releases in the new <b>Premium+</b> range. The larger plastic cases were perfect to showcase the fantastic <a href="http://oliverfreyart.com/" target="_blank">Oliver Frey</a> artwork that adorned the cover. The compilation features all three <b>Kung-Fu Maniacs</b> games (the third of which is a two-parter complete with intro and end sequences!) Richard Bayliss and Jon Wells provide the suitably oriental tunes that accompany each game and bitmap loading pics were pixelled for this release by Carl 'Mase' Mason and little old me.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x1vDYPQ6Se8/VnfU62DZUoI/AAAAAAAAA2Q/5hekfVxcgHM/s1600/kfm_premiumplus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x1vDYPQ6Se8/VnfU62DZUoI/AAAAAAAAA2Q/5hekfVxcgHM/s320/kfm_premiumplus.jpg" width="218" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=gravitrix" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Gravitrix</span></b></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Released 2nd June 2015)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second in the June release triple-whammy was the super-slick puzzler <b>Gravitrix </b>from Nils Hammerich. Featuring a massive 120 levels to solve and some very smart visuals and sonics this was a very nice addition to the new Psytronik Premium+ range. The artwork produced for the RGCD cartridge release was re-worked for the disk release and worked very nicely in the new taller plastic disk cases.</span><br />
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<a href="http://binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=x-force" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">X-Force</span></a></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Released 2nd June 2015)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The third C64 release in a very prolific month for Psytronik came in the form of <b>X-Force</b> from Richard Bayliss. I was very impressed with this sideways scrolling shoot 'em up that from Richard and thought it was definitely worthy of a release on the Psytronik label. The final release actually features THREE different versions of the game - a version with atmospheric soundtracks by FeekZoid, a slightly revamped version with pumping trance soundtracks from Richard and a 'crazy hack' edition that allows you to muck around with the game 'til your heart's content. The cream on this particularly tasty cake came in the form of the stunning cover art from <a href="http://oliverfreyart.com/" target="_blank">Oliver Frey</a>. Originally</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">featured in the ZX Spectrum game <b>Delta Charge</b> the shooty sci-fi action depicted in the artwork was perfect for the game and rounded off the package very nicely. Carl Mason also supplied a new loading bitmap for the game based on the Oli Frey artwork and did a superb job converting the original pic into C64 pixels. Top stuff!</span><br />
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<a href="http://binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=psytronik12u" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Knight 'n' Grail Ultimate Edition</span></a></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Released 2nd November 2015)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2015 was rounded off in style with the release of the <b>Knight 'n' Grail Ultimate Edition</b> box set. <b>Knight 'n' Grail</b> is one of my favourite ever Psytronik releases and is a game I always thought was worthy of more than just the standard disk release. After a lot of work putting together the contents of the box set (it took a whole year to produce the huge map for the game alone!) I was very pleased with how the final package turned out. It includes a soundtrack CD that contains all the music by Hans Axelsson from the games Knight 'n' Grail and Fairy Well along with a selection of preview tracks and 'musical sketches' to show how the C64 soundtracks evolved. You also get some bonus tracks in the form of C64 demo tunes produced in the days when Hans was also known as TDM / Triad. The box set also contains a stunning super-glossy A3 poster of the amazing artwork by Hakon 'Archmage' Repstad, a selection stickers, a neat pin badge and a double-sided KnG key-ring. Packaged in a sturdy box with eye-catching front and rear stickers this is a must-have item for fans of Knight 'n' Grail. Don't worry if you already own the game, it's available as an <b>UPGRADE </b>kit that features all the box-set goodies minus the actual game itself! Only 100 of these <b>LIMITED EDITION</b> box sets have been produced so make sure you order yours before they are all snapped up!</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VA-CZZYUV-E/VnfU7PDMl_I/AAAAAAAAA2c/-hR7_9Mmco8/s1600/kng_ultimate_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VA-CZZYUV-E/VnfU7PDMl_I/AAAAAAAAA2c/-hR7_9Mmco8/s320/kng_ultimate_01.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=psytronik12u" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b style="background-color: #141414; color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Click HERE to order your K</span></b><b style="background-color: #141414; color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">night 'n' Grail Ultimate Edition Box Set!</span></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what does <b>2016 </b>have in store for Psytronik Software? Lots of great new releases, that's what! There were a few games that didn't quite make it out in 2015 so they will be available to order early in 2016 instead. The first four releases for 2016 will be <b><a href="http://psytronik.net/newsite/index.php/c64/55-supercarling" target="_blank">Super Carling the Spider</a></b>, <b><a href="http://psytronik.net/newsite/index.php/c64/61-jamit" target="_blank">Jam It</a></b> and <b><a href="http://psytronik.net/newsite/index.php/c64/69-honey" target="_blank">Honey Bee</a></b> for the C64, available on tape, budget disk and as Premium+ releases and <b><a href="http://psytronik.net/newsite/index.php/plus4/68-majesty" target="_blank">Majesty of Sprites</a></b> for the C16 + Plus/4 which will be available as a budget disk and Premium+ edition. You will also be able to order the Premium+ version of <b>Knight 'n' Grail</b> on it's own - which will increase the Premium+ range to 8 releases in total! I'm also pleased to announce the fantasic new C64 game <b>HESSIAN</b> by Cadaver (of Metal Warrior fame) will be getting a physical disk release from Psytronik in 2016. I was so impressed with this game I'm even considering giving it the <b>ULTIMATE EDITION</b> box set treatment. Trevor 'Smila' Storey has already produced some stunning artwork for the game which would look great as a poster - and as the game features some fantastic soundtracks then a soundtrack CD will definitely be happening. The nifty arcade adventure <b><a href="http://psytronik.net/newsite/index.php/c64/57-gods" target="_blank">EYE OF THE GODS</a></b> will also be released for the C64 in 2016, sporting great artwork once again by Smila. There's all this and MORE to look forward to in 2016 so please keep an eye on <b><a href="http://www.psytronik.website/">www.psytronik.website</a></b> for updates.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And that's it for now! A big thank you to everybody who has supported Psytronik in 2015 and for all your patience while waiting for the problems with the websites to be ironed out. I'll TRY to update this blog more regularly but I won't make any promises as, like I said at the beginning, I'd rather spend my time actually working on new Psytronik releases, rather than writing about them.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have fun, keep it RETRO and I'll see you all ... IN THE FUTURE!</span></b><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kenz / Psytronik 17/12/15</span></i>Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-69163942162533989212014-01-12T08:34:00.001-08:002015-12-14T01:30:37.955-08:00Psytronik Software - The 20 Year Celebration CDs!Firstly, <b>HAPPY NEW YEAR</b> to all you lovely retro people out there!<br />
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To mark the 20th anniversary of <b>Psytronik Software</b> in 2013 I decided to put together a soundtrack CD featuring music from various Psytronik releases spanning the 20 year history of the software label. While I was compiling a list of tracks to include on the CD I then had the idea to include the <b>One Man & His Mic</b> Psytronik Software Special podcast show on a second disk - which not only features tunes and remixes from various Psytronik titles but also includes waffle from little old me giving tasty titbits of info about each release.<br />
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Devoting the second CD to the 80 minute podcast show made choosing tracks for CD1 a little more difficult as I was determined not to replicate any tunes from CD2 on CD1 - which means you get 2 CDs filled with completely different tracks from lots of Psytronik titles. And now for your entertainment and enjoyment I will detail all the tracks I specially selected for CD1 and will regail you with facts and trivia about the recordings I did for this special CD set.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xgYWGGg3J_0/UtK0OOLenlI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/4sbWncpchQ4/s1600/psy20_disc1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xgYWGGg3J_0/UtK0OOLenlI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/4sbWncpchQ4/s1600/psy20_disc1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>01. Sceptre of Baghdad - In-Game (FeekZoid).</b><br />
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As CD2 features a superb REMIX of the Sceptre in-game tune I thought it would be nice to open CD1 with the original SID tune from the game. I originally made this recording for <b><a href="http://binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=11" target="_blank">The Epic Themes 2</a></b> CD (available from Binary Zone) but for this CD set I remastered the track and carefully went through the whole tune to eliminate any clicks, pops or filter clunks present in the original recording, leaving a smooth and crystal clear sounding recording.<br />
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<b>02. Archetype - In-Game (FeekZoid).</b><br />
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This is a brand-new recording made using an 8580 SID chip (present in the newer C64C models). I'm going through a phase of really liking the 8580 SID sound after hearing the recordings done by PVCF from his very own 8580 SID chip (I can heartily recommend his CD - <b><a href="http://binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=28" target="_blank">My number is C64</a></b> - available from Binary Zone!) Anyway, I listened to Archetype played through an 8580 chip and was impressed with the crisp, clean sound so that's the version I have featured on this CD.<br />
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<b>03. PsykoZone - In-Game (Matt Simmonds).</b><br />
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I decided to include the cool in-game theme from PsykoZone on this CD as I am a huge fan of the <b>Streethawk </b>theme (which this is a cover of). I also thought it would be nice to include this track as the (tricky!) game doesn't include a pause-mode so a lot of people may not have heard the track all the way through! <i>Techno-Trivia:</i> An early release version of PsykoZone contained a shorter version of this track but this CD features the complete extended version from the final version of the game.<br />
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<b>04. Sub Hunter - Loader (Maniacs of Noise).</b><br />
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The <i>Maniacs of Noise</i> produced a wonderful selection of soundtracks for this extremely popular C64 release so I was spoiled for choice for which tune to include. As the title-tune for the game is featured on CD2 I decided to feature the loading tune on CD1.<br />
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<b>05. Escape from Arth - Loader (Richard Bayliss).</b><br />
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<i>Richard Bayliss</i> has composed many fantastic tracks for Psytronik releases in the past so I wanted to highlight some of his work on this CD. I really like his pounding loader theme for this game and recorded the tune from an 8580 SID to really emphasize the cool throbbing bass in the track.<br />
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<b>06. Mayhem in Monsterland - Intro (Steve Rowlands).</b><br />
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Some classic bouncy SID music from <i>Steve Rowlands</i> here. I thought it would be nice to include some C64 music from the game on CD1 as CD2 contains a rare track from an unreleased PC version of the game.<br />
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<b>07. Joe Gunn - Title (Laxity).</b><br />
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This was an easy choice! As CD2 contains the in-game theme from the game I decided to record the title tune for CD1. I do like the Rob Hubbard-esque sounds that <i>Laxity </i>featured in the Joe Gunn C64 themes.<br />
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<b>08. The Last Amazon - Intro (Tonka).</b><br />
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Here we have another brand-new recording done using an 8580 SID chip. With this recording you can really here all the detail <i>Tonka </i>packed into his Matt Gray-esque intro theme - I love the sound effects in the atmospheric track that include jungle sounds, explosions and gunfire.<br />
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<b>09. Knight 'n' Grail - Title / End (Hans Axelsson).</b><br />
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This is another popular Psytronik release and for CD1 I wanted to include a medley of tracks recorded from a real SID chip. I decided to use the 8580 SID for these recordings as I figured a lot of people who had played the game on a real C64 would be used to hearing the soundtracks played from the more recent C64C model. The 8580 filters work really well with this track - I just love that squidgy <b>Ghosts 'n' Goblins</b> style bassline!<br />
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<b>10. The Wild Bunch - Title (Jon Wells).</b><br />
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<i>Jon Wells</i> delivered a superb suite of rootin' tootin' tunes for this release and did a great job in updating the beepy Spectrum music for the fantastic C64 release of this game. <i>The Wild Bunch</i> was actually one of the first ZX Spectrum games I owned so I get very nostalgic when I play this game - which is why I'm very proud that it is now part of the Psytronik range. I also had a great time making the cassette inlays for the C64 in authentic <i>Firebird Software</i> style. The resulting C64 tape inlay is reversible so you get the 'classic' style inlay along with the more 'modern' Firebird style!<br />
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<b>11. Oracle III - Perplexed Oracle (Tufan Uysal).</b><br />
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I love the soundtracks for this game - a great selection of ambient and atmospheric tracks that suit this puzzle game perfectly. This is one of the tunes recorded by <i>Tufan Uysal </i>directly from his very own 8580 SID chip - so you can hear the tune exactly how the original musician intended it to be heard!<br />
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<b>12. 2,000 Kung Fu Maniacs - Loader (Richard Bayliss).</b><br />
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I was really pleased with the quality of the games featured on the second <b>Shoot 'Em Up Destruction Set </b>compilation. Once again <i>Alf Yngve</i> pushed the SEUCK editor way above and beyond it's usual constraints and <i>Richard Bayliss</i> delivered a belting selection of soundtracks for the releases featured in the pack. For this CD I chose to record the loading tune from <b>2,000 Kung Fu Maniacs</b> as I really like this catchy and bouncy oriental track.<br />
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<b>13. Super Tau Zeta - Title (Richard Bayliss).</b><br />
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I couldn't resist sneaking another tune from <b>SEUDS2</b> onto this CD as I love this massive powerhouse of a title tune from Richard. <i>Matt Gray</i>-esque wibbles feature in this soundscape that evokes classic shoot 'em ups from yesteryear!<br />
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<b>14. Soulless - In-Game (Mikkel Hastrup).</b><br />
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This track was originally recorded for the Soulless companion CD-ROM (and a rare promo audio CD) and is the FULL in-game tune from the game. Mikkel composed an excellent selection of soundtracks for Soulless and for this CD I chose the in-game tune that accompanies you on your quest. It's a catchy, playful and atmospheric tune that drives you on while remaining unobtrusive while you play. Great stuff!<br />
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<b>15. Redrunner - Title (Glenn Rune Gallefoss).</b><br />
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As this tune begins with sampled speech I had to record this old-skool stylie from an original 6581 SID chip. The tune is a superb swirly echoey piece from Glenn with a really catchy hook to it - but don't take my word for it, listen to it with your ears!<br />
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<b>16. Assembloids - Title (Owen Crowley).</b><br />
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There was only one way to record the quirky title track from this game - only the 8580 SID can clearly perform the intricate sounds featured in the title tune! I was very pleased with the resulting recording which successfully captures the original theme in all it's detail. <i>Techno-Trivia:-</i> This unusual title tune is actually a very accurate conversion of the music from the original PC game 'Quartet' - which you can play online <a href="http://www.gimme5games.com/play-game/quartet" target="_blank">HERE</a>.<br />
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<b>17. Guns 'n' Ghosts - Loader (Richard Bayliss).</b><br />
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Once again <i>Richard Bayliss</i> has donned his <i>Matt Gray</i> hat for this fabulous loading theme from the tape version of the game. I decided to include this track as it's not featured on the disk version so a lot of people may have missed hearing this one.<br />
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<b>18. Sir Ababol - Loader (Linus).</b><br />
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I really like the <b>Mojon Twins</b> compilation that was released by Psytronik, it was a fun release to work on (I designed the tape / disk / cartridge artwork) and the games featured in the pack are great quality. For this CD I chose to record one of the loader tunes from <b>Sir Ababol</b>, a medieval tune featuring soft bass and pleasant harpsichord style sounds.<br />
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<b>19. Cops - The Final Chapter - Title (Richard Bayliss).</b><br />
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Yet another belting title track from <i>Richard Bayliss</i> here. The punchy tune jumps straight into action with police sirens and dynamic sounds with a propulsive main theme. The <i>Ultimate Cops</i> compilation was one of my favourite releases for 2013 as it featured stunning artwork by <i>Oliver Frey</i> - and it has always been one of my ambitions to feature Oli Frey artwork in a Psytronik release!<br />
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<b>20. Super Carling the Spider - In-Game (Joe Dixon).</b><br />
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Here's your chance to hear a sneaky peek from a 2014 Psytronik Release. <i>Joe Dixon</i> has been busy updating his popular VIC-20 release Carling the Spider for the C64 and has not only retained all the playability from the original release but has improved on the original game as well! Joe has composed the soundtracks for the game himself and this is the impressive in-game theme from the as-yet-unreleased C64 version of the game.<br />
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<b>21. The Vice Squad - Montage (Linus).</b><br />
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I love the <i>Tim Follin</i>-esque soundtracks that <i>Linus </i>composed for <b>The Vice Squad</b>! So much so I couldn't decide which track to include on the CD, so I went for a montage instead. The resulting track includes the title, in-game and game over tunes from the game - a great way to round off the CD!<br />
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<b>CD2 - One Man & His Mic - The Psytronik Software Special.</b><br />
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This CD features the full 80 minute podcast show that I devoted to Psytronik Software and produced in January 2011. The CD contains music from various Psytronik releases from <b>Sceptre of Baghdad</b> up to and and including <b>Hyper Viper</b>. This CD is different to CD1 as it contains a number of cool Psytronik game music remixes, tunes inspired by Psytronik games along with music recorded from various computer systems including the C64, Commodore Plus/4, Amstrad CPC and PC!<br />
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The CD has been pressed using the original WAV recording I made of the show so it is actually better quality than the original mp3 podcast show. I have also added CD track indexes so you can now skip straight to each tune featured in the show.<br />
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There's no need for me to detail the tunes on this CD as you can hear me talk about each track on the CD itself using my actual voice!! Here's a list of the tracks featured on CD2:-<br />
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01. <b>Sceptre of Baghdad Intro</b> (DJ Skitz)<br />
02. <b>The Sceptre of Nu Baghdad</b> (Kate Z)<br />
03. <b>Archetype - FZ vs JMJ Remix</b> (FeekZoid)<br />
04. <b>Nukenin & The Ronin Title</b> (TMR) [C64]<br />
05. <b>PsykoZone Intro</b> (FeekZoid) [C64]<br />
06. <b>Sub Hunter Title</b> (Maniacs of Noise) [C64]<br />
07. <b>Escape from Arth Title</b> (FeekZoid) [C64]<br />
08. <b>Mayhem in Monsterland Title </b>(Tonka) [PC]<br />
09. <b>Creatures Remix</b> (Infamous)<br />
10. <b>Creatures 2 Redux</b> (Infamous)<br />
11. <b>Joe Gunn in-game</b> (Laxity) [C64]<br />
12. <b>Armalyte Loader</b> (Martin Walker) [C64]<br />
13. <b>The Path Of Destiny - Knight 'n' Grail Subtune #2</b> (Project N.A.)<br />
14. <b>Knight 'n' Grail - Good Ending Orchestral Mix</b> (Hans Axelsson)<br />
15. <b>The Last Amazon Title Tune</b> (Richard Bayliss) [C64]<br />
16. <b>The Wild Bunch</b> (Jon Wells) [C64]<br />
17. <b>Star Sabre In-Game Tune</b> (Targhan) [Amstrad CPC]<br />
18. <b>Armalyte PC Title Tune</b> (Infamous) [PC]<br />
19. <b>Adventures in Time</b> (Luca / Fire) [Plus/4]<br />
20. <b>City Bomber</b> - KateZoid Fusion Mix (Kate Z)<br />
21. <b>Sub Hunter CPC</b> (Herve Monchatre) [Amstrad CPC]<br />
22. <b>HyperViper</b> (Jamie Howard) [C64]<br />
23.<b> Sceptre of Baghdad Outro</b> (DJ Skitz)
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The 2CD set is presented with professionally printed full colour artwork featuring a montage I designed to celebrate 20 years of Psytronik releases (with a nice '20 Years' logo by <i>Smila</i>!) The CD contains a reversible front inlay containing game artwork on one side and loading screens from various Psytronik releases on the reverse. The CDs feature full-colour on-body artwork and the packaging is rounded off with a card obi-strip.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O3kjdseQzis/UtLCJPyRdXI/AAAAAAAAA0w/Fy5u92Rinsk/s1600/psy20_cds2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O3kjdseQzis/UtLCJPyRdXI/AAAAAAAAA0w/Fy5u92Rinsk/s1600/psy20_cds2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The <b>Psytronik Software 20 Years</b> 2CD set is now available in the <a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=614" target="_blank"><b>Binary Zone Retro Store</b></a>.<br />
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Thanks for reading, see you <b>IN THE FUTURE</b>!<br />
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Kenz / Psytronik 9/1/2014<br />
<br />Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-23791934307701121142013-08-26T10:21:00.002-07:002013-08-26T10:25:14.957-07:00Flubble & Squij - Scratching a 20-year old itch!<b>Greetings fellow Retronauts!</b><br />
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As part of the Psytronik Software 20 Year celebrations I have recently dusted off and released a game that has been languishing in the not-quite-properly-released void since around 1994. The game is a C64 title called <b>Flubble & Squij</b> - a cutesy arcade platformer that was originally produced by Damian Steele & Kevin Murphy back in the day - and then a modified version was produced by Jon Wells for the Psytronik release - which never quite happened. Want to know how come? Then read on!<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RqOjb8HuEY0/UhuDUnAtTqI/AAAAAAAAAo8/1XHfpmq4XiY/s1600/flub_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RqOjb8HuEY0/UhuDUnAtTqI/AAAAAAAAAo8/1XHfpmq4XiY/s320/flub_logo.png" width="320" /></a></div>
When <b>Flubble & Squij</b> was initially submitted to <b>Psytronik Software</b> I was impressed with the game with it's fast, smooth gameplay and cute graphics. The only problem with this version was that the music for the game was made up of the demo songs from the Ubik's Music editor - which may have caused problems with them being featured in a commercial release.<br />
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<a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/merch2013/flub_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/merch2013/flub_02.jpg" /></a></div>
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To get around this problem I asked Jon Wells if he could install soundtracks by FeekZoid into the game. This led to the idea of enhancing the game slightly for the Psytronik release. Jon added some raster splits to the game to give the levels more colours, altered the main Flubble sprite to make him look more like a dragon and changed some of the in-game sprites.<br />
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<a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/merch2013/flub_04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/merch2013/flub_04.jpg" /></a></div>
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The problem with the revised version of the game is that some of the cuteness of the original was lost somewhere along the way. This wasn't helped by the choice of in-game tune which was a tad surreal sounding! I ended up being torn as which version I actually preferred as I liked the overall cleaner look of the original version, but Jon had also done some nice work with the enhanced version - and had also produced artwork for the Psytronik release of the game featuring the new dragon style Flubble character.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CEWf197kx2o/UhuGLp8LntI/AAAAAAAAApI/UoDUNQ-RkZY/s1600/flub_artwork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CEWf197kx2o/UhuGLp8LntI/AAAAAAAAApI/UoDUNQ-RkZY/s320/flub_artwork.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">The unused Flubble & Squij artwork by Jon Wells</span></b></div>
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The result of this dilemma left poor little Flubble in limbo - and while all this to-ing and fro-ing was happening back in 1994 all wasn't going well for Psytronik. The release of the third Psytronik title <b>The Shoot 'Em Destruction Set</b> was, to be quite honest, pretty disastrous. Despite an excellent review in <b>Commodore Format</b> (earning the release a very respectable 90%) the compilation literally only sold a handful of copies. In fact, I can remember giving away more copies as compo prizes for a CF compo than I sold in the end. As a result of this, coupled with the uncertainty of which version of Flubble to go with, Psytronik Software was laid to rest until it rose once again, like a great fiery Phoenix in 2008!<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H2RTaJliLtY/UhuJn2-Hg_I/AAAAAAAAApU/OAdP43n6UQc/s1600/flub_mockup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H2RTaJliLtY/UhuJn2-Hg_I/AAAAAAAAApU/OAdP43n6UQc/s320/flub_mockup.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">A mockup of how Flubble & Squij may have looked</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">if it was released by Psytronik in 1994</span></b></div>
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So where did this leave poor old Flubble? I think by this time the game creators had given up on the game having a proper commercial release so instead the original version was released into the public domain as a Shareware title. The enhanced version kind of vanished into obscurity ... But for all these years Flubble has been niggling at the back of my mind. In my opinion the game was definitely worthy of a proper release - and that's a fact I had not forgotten until ...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Flash forward to 2013!!</b></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iGEKlc_vUkQ/UhuLUwB4tUI/AAAAAAAAApg/Dd7l6Nnmc_M/s1600/the_future.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iGEKlc_vUkQ/UhuLUwB4tUI/AAAAAAAAApg/Dd7l6Nnmc_M/s320/the_future.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Behold ... THE FUTURE! This is where we live now ... (kinda)</span></b></div>
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And so here we are ... <b>IN THE FUTURE!</b> After realising the Psytronik label has been kicking around for the last 20 years I had a think about things to do for the anniversary. And that's when Flubble popped into my mind. Now that I am able to do nice glossy colour artwork for Psytronik releases I thought it would be a cool idea to FINALLY give the game the properly packaged release it always deserved. So I dug out the original two versions of the game and puzzled over which version should be released - and that's when I had a brainwave! Why not release BOTH versions in the same package?! So simple it's brilliant! I sent the original version off to Richard Bayliss who concocted suitably jolly soundtracks for the game - replacing the old Ubik's Music that hampered the original release. I also found the original artwork that Jon Wells produced for the Psytronik release. I began work digitally restoring the artwork and produced a vectorized version to use for the packaging.<br />
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But that's when Flubble's journey took ANOTHER unexpected turn!
Realizing the original artwork was now looking a bit dated when compared
to the more recent Psytronik releases I sent the pic to Trevor 'Smila'
Storey to see if he could come up with something new. The image he sent
back was so darned cute it just HAD to be used!! The only problem now
was that I had already sent the original artwork to Carl 'Mase' Mason
for him to base the loading bitmap on - and he had already almost
finished the pic! Luckily, he very kindly agreed to do a second bitmap
screen, this time based on the new Smila design. And this meant I had
two lovely loading bitmaps, one for each version of the game!! <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PypD5mQMqPc/UhuM4cRTNFI/AAAAAAAAAps/RkdzXvq1GL0/s1600/flub_oldnew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PypD5mQMqPc/UhuM4cRTNFI/AAAAAAAAAps/RkdzXvq1GL0/s320/flub_oldnew.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">The never-released 1994 version of Flubble & Squij with the</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">'ermagherd, it has finally been released' 2013 version! </span></b></div>
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So with new artwork, new music, new loading screens and new tape masters + disk menu (expertly handled by Richard Bayliss)<b> Flubble & Squij</b> was FINALLY ready for a proper release after all these years - and the niggling itch at the back of my mind about not releasing it in the first place is now gone!<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RHM3A4fJWTY/UhuOEMYHQjI/AAAAAAAAAp0/_s516PlU2YA/s1600/psy_tapes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RHM3A4fJWTY/UhuOEMYHQjI/AAAAAAAAAp0/_s516PlU2YA/s320/psy_tapes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">The original 1993 - 1994 Psytronik tape releases</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">along with the 2008 - 2013 new versions.</span></b></div>
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<b>Flubble & Squij</b> is now available in the <a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=flubble" target="_blank"><b>Binary Zone RetroStore</b></a> on C64 tape and disk!<br />
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Thanks for reading!<br />
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Kenz / www.psytronik.net (29/7/13)<br />
<br />Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-69900412989616252502013-07-24T00:24:00.000-07:002013-07-24T00:32:16.433-07:00Psytronik Software supports 'Made in Creative UK'<br />
An interesting initiative has recently been launched by <a href="http://www.blitzgamesstudios.com/" target="_blank"><b>Blitz Games Studios</b></a> designed to raise awareness of the economic and cultural
contribution of the UK games sector to the global games
industry.<br />
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As both <a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/" target="_blank"><b>Binary Zone Interactive</b></a> and <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/" target="_blank"><b>Psytronik Software</b></a> have been supporting the UK gaming scene for 20 years now we are more than happy to support this idea and have joined a growing number of software developers and publishers in this scheme.<br />
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You will see the <a href="http://madeincreativeuk.com/" target="_blank"><b>Made in Creative UK</b></a> logo appearing on various Psytronik releases in the future. For more information and to see who else is supporting the scheme head on over to the <a href="http://madeincreativeuk.com/" target="_blank"><b>Made in Creative UK</b></a> website.<b></b><br />
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<b><span id="goog_2099934997"></span><span id="goog_2099934998"></span><br /></b>Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-79972965040564696422013-07-09T11:15:00.001-07:002013-07-09T11:39:12.042-07:00Psytronik @ Revival 2013<b>Greetings Retro Chums!</b><br />
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The first Retro event that I attended this year was the rather marvellous <b>REVIVAL 2013</b>, a two day Retrothon organised by my good chum Chris 'Boyo' Wilkins and Craig Turner from <a href="http://www.turnarcades.com/" target="_blank"><b>Turnarcades Custom Arcade Machines</b></a>. I had previously attended the 'Retro Ball' that was also organised by Chris which I thoroughly enjoyed so I was looking forward to seeing what Chris & Craig had cooked up for Revival 2013.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ffHY7hEZsg0/UdxQIbeOY7I/AAAAAAAAAn4/gCioSQHIypQ/s1600/Revival_Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="96" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ffHY7hEZsg0/UdxQIbeOY7I/AAAAAAAAAn4/gCioSQHIypQ/s320/Revival_Logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>For more deets head over to <a href="http://www.revivalretroevents.com/">www.revivalretroevents.com</a></b></span></div>
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For the event I decided to take two complete systems to display on the <b>Binary Zone / Psytronik</b> stand. The first of which is the much photographed / slightly controversial / often commented on <b>SPECADORE 64</b> - Which is basically a C64C with a custom paint-job to make it look like a Sinclair machine. The simple story behind this beastie is that the keys and case on my old C64C went a horrible yellow colour over time so I gave it a black re-spray, swapped over the keyboard for an original Breadbin C64 keyboard and even added a little raised 'Sinclair' logo (+ Speccy style colour stripes) to the case using a craft-knife and oodles of patience.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KzD9OG4M58U/UdxQvQyyWfI/AAAAAAAAAoA/zLG4vecc-qk/s1600/Revival_Specadore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KzD9OG4M58U/UdxQvQyyWfI/AAAAAAAAAoA/zLG4vecc-qk/s320/Revival_Specadore.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>The mighty SPECADORE 64 - Behold its beauty!</b></span></div>
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The second machine I took along was the <b>Commodore 64X</b> - Which is one of those PC's-in-a-C64 style case courtesy of the now defunct Commodore USA. As it's basically an all-in-one PC it's handy for running emulators along with PC remakes of retro games. Playing the PC remake of Armalyte on a remake of the Commodore 64 using a USB remake of the Competition Pro joystick is a bit of a treat, I can tell ya!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hNb_1u0FW2I/UdxRIIR1wkI/AAAAAAAAAoI/e6CFtpz8OUQ/s1600/Revival_C64x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hNb_1u0FW2I/UdxRIIR1wkI/AAAAAAAAAoI/e6CFtpz8OUQ/s320/Revival_C64x.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Roll up! Roll up! Get yer retro goodies here!!</b></span></div>
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With the Kenzimobile loaded up with my kit and a box of Binary Zone / Psytronik stock I zzoomed along the M6 to sunny Wolverhampton. It's actually quite a short journey from the Zone to the venue so I made good time getting there and was soon setting up my bits and bytes on the table that Chris had allocated for me. The venue itself was great - lots of room and different areas to explore. There were literally TONS of retro machines, arcade cabs and pinball machines already set up so I had some fun checking them out before the event properly began.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oT0KY6TUSwI/UdxRbMu6poI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/5VfY1rQkJas/s1600/Revival_Cabs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oT0KY6TUSwI/UdxRbMu6poI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/5VfY1rQkJas/s320/Revival_Cabs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>So many awesome arcade cabs to play!</b></span></div>
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One of the (many) highlights of Revival 2013 was seeing the <b>Fix It Felix Jnr</b> arcade cab that was right opposite my stand. In fact, one of my favourite memories from <b>Revival 2013</b> was watching a guy playing the game who was obviously completely smitten by the machine. He was on it for AGES, then he was taking photos of it, and then he was on his phone to somebody excitedly telling them about it. Bless!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ziy7MBiehrw/UdxRreg-jfI/AAAAAAAAAoY/mZiqm0oUnSU/s1600/Revival_Felix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ziy7MBiehrw/UdxRreg-jfI/AAAAAAAAAoY/mZiqm0oUnSU/s320/Revival_Felix.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>I'm gonna WRECK IT!!</b></span></div>
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Other highlights of the weekend include chatting with various chums from the homebrew & retro scene including Boyo, Chris Abbott & Tanya (with their adopted Thing on a Spring), Steve 'STE'86' Day, Richard Bayliss, Jason Kelk, Andy from RCM, Stu from Ovine, Oliver Frey & Roger Kean, Max Hall & Jackie, the RV gang (including nudie Bane o_O!), the guys from OCEAN, the Cosplay girls (Amy & Georgie) and of course, everyone who came up to my stand to talk RETRO!<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MkYlCMLPxuY/UdxSCeVn3LI/AAAAAAAAAog/1wKGiADDUxw/s1600/Revival_Cosplay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MkYlCMLPxuY/UdxSCeVn3LI/AAAAAAAAAog/1wKGiADDUxw/s320/Revival_Cosplay.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Some more of the attractions at Revival 2013! ;)</b></span></div>
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All in all, I really enjoyed my weekend at <b>Revival</b>. It was well organised, the <b>Retro Lords</b> did a fine job compering and a nice touch was Craig going around asking the exhibitors if everything was okay and if they needed anything - it's the little things like that which make a difference! The only slight downer was when I discovered my ZipStick joystick was missing from my stand on Sunday morning which meant nobody would be able to play on the Specadore that day - but the <b>RCM</b> chaps stepped in a lent me a joystick which solved that problem - and then, my joystick was actually returned to me later that day thanks to it having my name and details on a sticker on the bottom - nice one!<br />
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To get a taste of <b>Revival 2013</b> have a look at the video below - you can see me at 2:53 giving a little wave to the camera and again at 4:23 having some fun with the Cosplay girls - *grin!*!<br />
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Thanks for reading! See you ... At a future Retro event, hopefully!<br />
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<b>Kenz / www.psytronik.net</b>Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-20306435168352370882013-05-27T00:49:00.000-07:002013-05-27T00:55:07.597-07:00ULTIMATE COPS - A new games compilation for the C64!<b>Greetings fellow Retronauts!</b><br />
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For this blog entry I will be focusing on a new game compilation for the C64 that is now almost ready for release. <b>ULTIMATE COPS</b> will feature four complete <b>COPS</b> games by Alf Yngve - along with two bonus <b>COPS</b> games - one of which is a brand new release and one is a previously unreleased game. Here's how this collection of games came about ...<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3dyB1CFpbww/UaKSjIqnG2I/AAAAAAAAAno/TZuQD_W_DME/s1600/Cops_Badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3dyB1CFpbww/UaKSjIqnG2I/AAAAAAAAAno/TZuQD_W_DME/s320/Cops_Badge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>They are the LAAAAW!</b></span></div>
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Back in the early 1990's Alf Yngve released a game for the C64 called <b>COPS</b>. A slightly modified and improved version of the game <b>(Cops V.2)</b> followed soon after. This game caught the attention of a lot of people with it's detailed and superbly animated sprites and nicely designed backgrounds. After the release of <b>Cops V.2</b>, Alf was definitely 'one to watch' and he did not disappoint with his subsequent games that proved to be very popular and he was constatntly impressing gamers with his ability to think outside the confines of the SEUCK editor.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LdyK2lgePV8/UaKG2xijBwI/AAAAAAAAAmQ/GT4kj338FbE/s1600/cops1_title.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LdyK2lgePV8/UaKG2xijBwI/AAAAAAAAAmQ/GT4kj338FbE/s1600/cops1_title.gif" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>The original classic - now with a slick new front-end</b></span>!</div>
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A sequel to <b>COPS</b> soon followed and continued the adventures of Mike 'Mad Dog' Mctavish and Singh 'Big Bang' Kapoor. This time the Cops were taking a well earned vacation from all the crime in Euro-City - but crime never takes a holiday and soon our heroes found themselves battling villains at their holiday resort! <b>Holiday Cops</b> features a slightly different graphical style to the original (including more nicely drawn locations) and some dangerous situations for the Cops including a tricky boat section!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZQvREKvACag/UaKG_pVXXHI/AAAAAAAAAmY/IRTJVl89lFo/s1600/Holiday+Cops.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZQvREKvACag/UaKG_pVXXHI/AAAAAAAAAmY/IRTJVl89lFo/s1600/Holiday+Cops.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Crime never takes a vacation - but fortunately,</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>neither do the COPS!</b></span></div>
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The third <b>COPS </b>game was produced at around the same time the first <b>Jurassic Park</b> movie was released. In order to grab a slice of the dino-mania the movie generated at the time the game features a 'Dino-Land' section in the the game with assorted dinosaurs giving chase to the Cops! Other locations include a bank vault and airport section. This game was originally bundled with the Psytronik release of the Alf Yngve game<b> Archetype</b> and featured a new front added by the C64 demo crew Xentrix.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gQ8S1LWwo5s/UaKJg_taKXI/AAAAAAAAAnA/wx1eVsEnKKg/s1600/Cops3_Montage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gQ8S1LWwo5s/UaKJg_taKXI/AAAAAAAAAnA/wx1eVsEnKKg/s320/Cops3_Montage.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>The previously unseen Cops III artwork - how much action in one pic?!</b></span></div>
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In 2012 Alf decided to produce his biggest and most ambitious<b> COPS</b> game yet. <b>COPS: The Final Chapter </b>concludes the story of Mike 'Mad Dog' Mctavish and Singh 'Big Bang' Kapoor. For the final part of the saga the Cops are brought out of retirement in order to rescue the kidnapped Pope (!) and take on a multitude of baddies along the way. Alf really pulled out all the stops for this game which features separate (pseudo-interactive) intro and end sequences and some clever level designs including an amazing exploding bridge section!<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cruHth0slMw/UaKPLWIxeYI/AAAAAAAAAnY/LxwhoVFGNtM/s1600/cops4_ingame.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cruHth0slMw/UaKPLWIxeYI/AAAAAAAAAnY/LxwhoVFGNtM/s1600/cops4_ingame.gif" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Get to the CHOPPAH!</span></b></div>
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When Alf told me he was working on a fourth Cops game I thought it would be a nice idea to bundle all the Cops games together into one compilation - and that's when I came up with the idea for <b>ULTIMATE COPS</b>. Rather than release the games in their original form the games have all been specially enhanced for this 2013 release. The first two Cops games now feature brand-new front-end designs coded by Richard Bayliss with graphics by Steve 'STE'86' Day. I decided to tackle the redesign for <b>Cops III</b> myself in order to move away from the (still impressive) demo-style front-end of the original release to a design that more closely matches the other games in the pack.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q353adioNMY/UaKHfqrLYaI/AAAAAAAAAmw/RETmyUx_lec/s1600/cops3_title.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q353adioNMY/UaKHfqrLYaI/AAAAAAAAAmw/RETmyUx_lec/s1600/cops3_title.gif" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>COPS III - Complete with new front-end and new soundtracks! Rarr!</b></span></div>
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The artwork for the <b>ULTIMATE COPS</b> compilation is rather special - and there's a little story to how this came about. A while ago I decided to digitally restore the cover of Zzap!64 issue 1 so I could hang a big print of the cover on my wall. As part of this restoration process I managed to remove the text and Zzap! logo from the cover and painted in the missing sections on the picture underneath - which left a fully restored version of the Oliver Frey 'Elite' painting. A few years later Oliver Frey and Roger Kean got to see my restored Elite picture and they were so impressed with my work they asked if they could sell it on <a href="http://www.oliverfreyart.com/" target="_blank"><b>www.oliverfreyart.com</b></a> in return for a royalty payment. Rather than receive royalties I asked if I could use an existing Oliver Frey design as the artwork for a Psytronik release - and they agreed!<br />
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I was working on <b>ULTIMATE COPS</b> at the time and while I was perusing the various designs on Oliver's site I spotted the painting he had created for <b>Chase HQ II</b> (featured as the cover for Zzap! 64 issue #68). I figured this would be PERFECT for <b>ULTIMATE COPS </b>as the game begins with you in the back of a red car shooting at motorbikes - and there's a helicopter later in the game. Oliver & Roger sent me a gorgeous hi-res print to work with and I set to work fitting the artwork into the Psytronik template. The pressure was on to create a logo that would compliment the amazing artwork, but I was happy with the first design I came up with and that's the one I went with in the end.<br />
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<a href="http://binaryzone.org/psytronik/UltimateCops.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://binaryzone.org/psytronik/UltimateCops.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Oli Frey artwork on a Psytronik release! Awesome!!</b></span></div>
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To round off the compilation brand new bitmap loading screens have been produced for the games. Carl 'Mase' Mason has done a superb job with the new loading screens for <b>Holiday Cops</b>, <b>Cops III</b> and <b>Cops:The Final Chapter</b> - which is a stunning conversion of the Oli Frey cover artwork.<br />
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<b>ULTIMATE COPS</b> will be released on C64 tape, disk and as a DELUXE download in June 2013.<br />
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Thanks for reading, and remember, <b>WINNERS DON'T DO DRUGS!</b> (Er, unless you are Charlie Sheen).<b><br /></b><br />
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<b>Kenz / <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/" target="_blank">www.psytronik.net</a></b>Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-23909385399316183392013-05-15T12:21:00.001-07:002013-05-15T12:36:31.560-07:00Jon Wells - C64 Classix available on tape, disk + digital download!<b>Greetings retro chums!</b><br />
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To tie in with the first bundle of Psytronik games to be released on the iPhone I also released a C64 disk version of the pack designed to be played on real C64 hardware. <b><a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=jon+wells+classix" target="_blank">Jon Wells C64 Classix (Volume 1)</a> </b>contains the full versions of <b>Sceptre of Baghdad</b>, <b>Escape from Arth</b> (the 2008 Special Edition),<b> Blitz 2000</b>, <b>Blitz 3000</b> and a specially enhanced version of <b>Shaolin</b> (now entitled <b>Shaolin+</b>, with revamped controls and a new end sequence).<br />
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The compilation was originally designed to be a <b>DISK ONLY</b> release as I didn't have bitmap loading screens for the tape versions. That was until <b>Carl Mason</b> stepped in and offered to produce new loading screens for the games - and he did a stunning job with them too!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XaYFyort18M/UZPgBujiasI/AAAAAAAAAlo/Q9CYVmh-hM8/s1600/shaolin_pic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XaYFyort18M/UZPgBujiasI/AAAAAAAAAlo/Q9CYVmh-hM8/s1600/shaolin_pic.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Hiyaa! Bruise Le<span style="font-size: x-small;">i</span> prepares to open a can of whupass on the C64!</b></span></div>
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Having bitmap screens for all the games meant I could go ahead with a tape release as well and, thanks to the mastering skills of <b>Richard Bayliss</b>, the tape versions are now available! <b>Shaolin+</b> and the <b>Blitz </b>games also feature cool loading tunes plucked from the SID archives of <b>FeekZoid</b>.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UduFl46mqmY/UZPgIY-ZqEI/AAAAAAAAAlw/qNG1gu47Wtw/s1600/blitz_pic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UduFl46mqmY/UZPgIY-ZqEI/AAAAAAAAAlw/qNG1gu47Wtw/s1600/blitz_pic.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>The chances of anything coming from <span style="font-size: x-small;">Mars ...</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">... Are NIL - if you bomb their colonies into oblivion!</span></b></span></div>
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And that's not all! I'm also pleased to announce that the C64 version of the compilation is also now available as a <b>DIGITAL DOWNLOAD</b>! The special download bundle includes the <b>.tap</b> (tape) versions (complete with the splendid new loading bitmaps and funky FeekZoid choons), <b>.d64</b> (disk) versions and, due to popular demand, <b>.prg</b> versions of all the main game files - these can be run in devices like the <b>IDE64</b> and other similar devices.<br />
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The tape, budget + premium disk and digital download versions of <a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=jon+wells+classix" target="_blank"><b>Jon Wells C64 Classix Vol.1</b></a> are <b>NOW AVAILABLE</b> from the <a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=jon+wells+classix" target="_blank"><b>Binary Zone RetroStore</b></a> and will soon also be available for the <b>C64 emulator</b> on iOS devices courtesy of our friends at <a href="http://c64.manomio.com/" target="_blank"><b>Manomio</b></a>.<br />
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Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-76439637560796827352013-02-10T01:38:00.003-08:002013-02-10T07:39:33.967-08:00The latest Psytronik news for February 2013<span style="font-size: large;"><b>GREETINGS BLOG-O-NAUTS!</b></span><br />
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Firstly, a mahoosive apology for the lack of blog updates since March
(!) 2012. I must have fallen through a time / space / beer vortex to
suddenly end up in 2013 without having put finger to keyboard to
update all you awesome beings on what has been happening in the world of
Psytronik Software. Sorry about that chums & chumettes - life
managed to get in the way of my retro shenanigans for a while, but fear
not, there has been plenty of cool stuff happening on the Psytronik
front recently, so without further agadoo, here's what's been going down
in my retrotown!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>No news is good news!</b></span><br />
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Well, kind of! The first main change for the Psytronik website in 2013 is that I've decided to remove the news section from the site. The reason for this decision is that from now on I will be featuring all the latest Psytronik news in this here blog. This means that you will get a lot more blog updates from now on and the main site will no longer feature an oft-neglected news page. So it's a win-win for all you lovely retro people out there (and a bit less work for little old me - *grin!*)<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Psytronik C64 releases now on iPhone / iPad!</b></span><br />
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The good news for all you owners of new-fangled iPhone / iPad devices is that you can now enjoy Psytronik C64 goodliness on your shiny tech thanks to our friends at <a href="http://c64.manomio.com/" target="_blank"><b>Manomio</b></a>. All you need to do is grab yourself a copy of the <b>C64 Emulator</b> from the App Store and you will straight away be able to play <b>Psytronik / RGCD</b> releases like <b>Sub Hunter</b>, <b>Get 'Em Deluxe</b> and <b>Green / Redrunner</b> for FREE! A brand-new <b>Jon Wells</b> Psytronik bundle is also available to buy featuring FIVE full games! The pack contains <b>Sceptre of Baghdad,</b> <b>Blitz 2000</b>, <b>Shaolin+</b>, <b>Blitz 3000</b> and <b>Escape from Arth (2008 Special Edition)</b> - all for just 69p in total! BARG!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GojofZ6L5dU/URdm_QHJk_I/AAAAAAAAAj4/sQxZC-gS7MM/s1600/Sceptre_iPad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GojofZ6L5dU/URdm_QHJk_I/AAAAAAAAAj4/sQxZC-gS7MM/s320/Sceptre_iPad.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Sceptre of Baghdad running on the iPad? You betcha!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Three new C64 releases for February 2013!</b></span><br />
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The New Year has got off to a great start here at the Psytronik HQ as there are THREE new C64 releases available to order in the <a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/" target="_blank"><b>RetroStore</b></a>. First up is a C64 version of the Jon Wells compilation I mentioned above. To tie-in with the release of the first Psytronik iPhone / iPad bundle I have also made the same games available on C64 floppy disk presented in the usual high-quality glossy Psytronik packaging that you know and love. <b>Jon Wells C64 Classix Vol.1</b> features <b>Sceptre of Baghdad,</b> <b>Blitz 2000</b>, <b>Shaolin+</b>, <b>Blitz 3000</b> and <b>Escape from Arth (2008 Special Edition)</b> and is <b>NOW AVAILABLE</b> from the <b>Binary Zone RetroStore!</b> <br />
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<a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=jon+wells+classix" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/images/jon_premium.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Clicky the piccy above to order yourself some Jon Wells C64 Classix!</b></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">And that's not all! <b>Georg Rottensteiner</b> & <b>Trevor Storey</b> (the <span style="font-size: small;">heroes that brought you the 2012 mega-hit <a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=soulless" target="_blank"><b>SOULLESS</b></a><span style="font-size: small;">)</span> have been busy beavering away on another great C64 game. <span style="font-size: small;"><b>GUNS 'N' GHOSTS</b> is a spooky arcade platform shooter for one o<span style="font-size: small;">r two players<span style="font-size: small;"> (it's kind o<span style="font-size: small;">f a cross b<span style="font-size: small;">etween <i>Ghosts 'n' Goblins</i> & <i><span style="font-size: small;">B</span>ubble Bobble</i> with a bit of <i>Nemesis the Warlock</i> thrown in the mix!)</span></span></span></span> With 72 screens to clear there's plenty of zombie blasting action </span></span>to be had<span style="font-size: small;"> and the game features the usual excellent <span style="font-size: small;">high-quality coding and graphics<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>from Tre</span></span>v & Georg with thumping soundtracks courtesy of Ric<span style="font-size: small;">hard Bayliss</span>. You can now <a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=guns+ghosts" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Pre-order Guns 'n' Ghosts</span></b></a><span style="font-size: small;"> the game on<span style="font-size: small;"> C64</span> tape and <span style="font-size: small;">disk<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span>from the<b> </b><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=guns+ghosts" target="_blank"><b>BZ RetroStore</b></a><span style="font-size: small;">,</span> a digital download version will be<span style="font-size: small;">c<span style="font-size: small;">o</span></span>me available <span style="font-size: small;">when the game is released in February<span style="font-size: small;"> and the C64 cartridge version is being <span style="font-size: small;">handled by our friends over at <a href="http://www.rgcd.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>RCGD</b></a>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>If there's something strange, in your neighbourhood .. Shoot it!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">And to round off our hat-trick of releases for February we have one more treat for all you C64 <span style="font-size: small;">gamers out there.</span> T<span style="font-size: small;">he superbly crafted <span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=87_82&products_id=591" target="_blank">ASSEMBLOIDS</a> </b>is now available from <b>Psytronik </b><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b>(as an exclusive tape-only release) and <b>RGCD</b> on C64 cartridge!</span></span></span> The game is an excellent conversion of the PC flash game 'Quarte<span style="font-size: small;">t'<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span>and features polished presentation, gorgeous graphics and splendid sonics. Head on over to the <a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=87_82&products_id=591" target="_blank"><b>BZ Retrostore</b></a> to grab the tape version or over to<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.rgcd.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>RGCD</b></a> for the cartridge <span style="font-size: small;">version<span style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Darn fine puzzling fun to be had with ASSEMBLOIDS!</b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">That all for now, thanks for reading<span style="font-size: small;"> - see you, <b>IN THE FUTURE</b></span>!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Kenz / <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/">www.psytronik.net</a> (24/01/2013)</b></span></span>Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-70129597974086255302012-03-22T04:50:00.024-07:002012-03-24T11:32:08.419-07:00SOULLESS - Unleash the beast from your C64!<span style="font-weight: bold;">Greetings Retro Chums!</span><br /><br />With the release of the amazing new Commodore 64 title <span style="font-weight: bold;">SOULLESS</span> now imminent I thought I would treat you guys & gals to some more details about the game, previously unreleased screenshots and some sneaky peeks at the lush new packaging that we are working on.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uYOIGAPZp7k/T23BC-0kgkI/AAAAAAAAAh8/4uUI1l9myGU/s1600/soul_logo.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uYOIGAPZp7k/T23BC-0kgkI/AAAAAAAAAh8/4uUI1l9myGU/s400/soul_logo.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723442958425162306" border="0" /></a><br />Firstly, a bit about the game itself. <span style="font-weight: bold;">SOULLESS</span> tells the story of <span style="font-weight:bold;">Rizek</span>, the ruler of a war-torn land who grew weary of battle. He declared a time of peace but was betrayed by his bloodthirsty Generals who wanted the wars to continue. The Generals plotted against Rizek and enlisted the help of Kalen, an evil Wizard who cast a spell on Rizek, transforming him into a grotesque beast, robbing him of his soul and casting him into a dungeon for all time. Rizek was locked away and forgotten for a thousand years - until a great quake shattered the walls of his cell. Rizek was at last FREE and began his quest to reclaim both his soul and his kingdom. And that is where the game begins.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6hugwYlPpEE/T24D0tdvkFI/AAAAAAAAAiU/feLWYIhT3LE/s1600/soul_intro.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6hugwYlPpEE/T24D0tdvkFI/AAAAAAAAAiU/feLWYIhT3LE/s400/soul_intro.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723516380526907474" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A still from the superb animated intro!</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div><br />You start off in the dungeons and must find your way from the deep dungeon into the nearby temple. The dungeon area is inhabited with a few guards and there are no objects to search - so this is a good way to familiarize yourself with the controls and to learn how to avoid the guards and other monsters that inhabit the game.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6GWwOqJKCdc/T24EVix3OQI/AAAAAAAAAig/rUd9XVQvwMA/s1600/soul_01.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6GWwOqJKCdc/T24EVix3OQI/AAAAAAAAAig/rUd9XVQvwMA/s400/soul_01.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723516944594188546" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rizek begins his quest deep in the dungeons</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div><br />As you enter the main temple you will encounter searchable objects. Hidden away throughout the game are twelve randomly placed <span style="font-weight: bold;">SPIRIT STONES</span> - you will need to find all 12 of these and then take them to the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Soul Chamber</span> and place them in the correct order in order to reclaim your imprisoned soul. This gameplay dynamic is similar to Impossible Mission - but, thankfully, is much simpler. The correct order in which you have to place the Spirit Stones is shown in the form of clues that are displayed on the walls of 12 rooms in the game. Each time you encounter one of these clues all you have to do is make of note of the Spirit Stone and which slot you must place it in the Soul Chamber. One of the clues is shown in the screenshot below.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9HA4cp6J-8c/T24Hz8ZSfYI/AAAAAAAAAjE/JizAIByPR8Y/s1600/soul_04.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9HA4cp6J-8c/T24Hz8ZSfYI/AAAAAAAAAjE/JizAIByPR8Y/s400/soul_04.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723520765401398658" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The red clue on the wall shows where to place one of the Spirit Stones<br />It will help if you keep a note of these as you play the game<br /></span></span></div><br />The game will even include a printable Spirit Stone sheet in which you can record the position of the Spirit Stones each time you play it. So don't worry if you are are put off by the puzzle aspect of the game, it's very easy to pick up and makes for a very enjoyable part of the game. The searchable objects in the game also contain other things as well as the vital Spirit Stones. Some contain different magic spells that will either slow down, freeze or destroy all the enemies on the screen. You will also find gold & rubies that will increase your score along with potions that will restore your life energy or give you extra lives.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6lBSuG93cLk/T24GwDB2XwI/AAAAAAAAAi4/91Sqyk2Z0FA/s1600/soul_03.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6lBSuG93cLk/T24GwDB2XwI/AAAAAAAAAi4/91Sqyk2Z0FA/s400/soul_03.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723519598951030530" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Boom! Rizek has just destroyed all the enemies on</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">screen by finding Red Magic hidden in an object!</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div><br />You will also encounter <span style="font-weight: bold;">spawn points</span> scattered throughout the map. Once you have activated a spawn point you will return to that point if you lose a life. You can also replenish your life energy from a spawn point as well. You will find that some areas of the map are blocked by locked doors. You will need to find keys to open these doors in order to access more parts of the map. Once you have correctly placed all 12 Spirit Stones in the Soul Chamber Rizek will reclaim his soul and your quest will be complete!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XeANw9ltOYg/T24FULLTeyI/AAAAAAAAAis/Xdo93A6I_o8/s1600/soul_02.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XeANw9ltOYg/T24FULLTeyI/AAAAAAAAAis/Xdo93A6I_o8/s400/soul_02.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723518020590205730" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rizek poses for a photo near to a spawn point</span><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SOULLESS</span> was designed by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Trevor 'Smila' Story</span> who also produced the amazingly detailed graphics for the game. The game was programmed by<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Georg 'Endurion' Rottensteiner</span> (author of the hugely popular C64 game <span style="font-weight: bold;">Joe Gunn</span>) and should prove popular with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Joe Gunn</span> fans as it does share a few similarities (I.E. It's a huge flick-screen adventure!) - although the main character sprite in <span style="font-weight: bold;">SOULLESS</span> is much bigger (think <span style="font-weight: bold;">Draconus</span>, crossed with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Impossible Mission</span> with a hint of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Shadow of the Beast</span>!) Amazingly, the main game and its lavishly detailed 70+ screen map has been crammed into a single load - with the animated intro and end sequence included as separate files (the end sequence can only be accessed once you have completed the game of course). The atmospheric soundtracks for the game were composed by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mikkel 'Encore' Hastrup</span>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gfOg03K7Zhw/T23BUA-piZI/AAAAAAAAAiI/C0_Ii3xZNA8/s1600/soul_box.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 373px; height: 389px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gfOg03K7Zhw/T23BUA-piZI/AAAAAAAAAiI/C0_Ii3xZNA8/s400/soul_box.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723443251062081938" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The awesome Premium Disk cover artwork by Smila</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div><br />To make <span style="font-weight: bold;">SOULLESS </span>an extra special release for C64 fans we have really gone to town with the packaging on this one. The game will include a stunning full colour A3 print that features a complete map of the game on one side and a poster of the game artwork on the other. The game will also include a superb 16 page comic booklet showing the game back-story along with a companion CD that features an emulator compatible version of the game, bonus 'making of' materials, a printable Spirit Stone sheet to help you with your quest, the game soundtracks digitally recorded from a real C64 and much more!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X7nkPVPMpk0/T24SMtC3MGI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/xLhWpDlQmt0/s1600/soul_bundle.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 351px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X7nkPVPMpk0/T24SMtC3MGI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/xLhWpDlQmt0/s400/soul_bundle.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723532185893810274" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A sneaky peek at the Soulless goodies - including the A3 poster / map,</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">compantion CD, tape & disk versions of the game and the comic book!</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SOULLESS</span> will be released in May 2012 and you will be able to buy the game on C64 tape, 5.25" disk and as a digital download from <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.psytronik.net</span></a> and on C64 cartridge from <a href="http://www.rgcd.co.uk/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.rgcd.co.uk</span></a>.<br /><br />Thanks for reading!<br /><br />Kenz / <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.psytronik.net</span></a>Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-59365339907469296632012-02-29T03:39:00.011-08:002012-03-10T02:30:29.581-08:00SEUDS 2 scoops a SIZZLER!Greetings fellow Retroids,<br /><br />After the last rather lengthy and somewhat ranty blog entry (!) I'll keep it short and sweet this time. I was recently more than a little chuffed to see that the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Shoot 'Em Up Destruction 2</span> managed to scoop a sizzler in issue 99 of <a href="http://www.retrogamer.net/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Retro Gamer</span></a> magazine.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/gfx/press78_big.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 282px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-afTqk5F2Oqc/T1ssMWary5I/AAAAAAAAAhw/lwIy6EDAyj0/s400/seuds2review.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5718212742564531090" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The sizzling SEUDS 2 review (clicky the piccy to embiggen)</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div><br />I was particularly pleased about this as a lot of work went into the compilation and everyone involved went the extra mile to make this an extra special C64 release. It's also great to see Alf Yngve's work getting the recognition it deserves. To celebrate the new-found Sizzlerdom all future copies of the game will be shipped will now proudly adorn the Sizzler stamp on the cover.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZwvOo4KH23U/T1sjyv3oQII/AAAAAAAAAhk/P_7mNOy12ZI/s1600/seuds2sizzler.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 376px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZwvOo4KH23U/T1sjyv3oQII/AAAAAAAAAhk/P_7mNOy12ZI/s400/seuds2sizzler.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5718203506627199106" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The SEUDS 2 box - now with the RG stamp of approval!</span><br /></span></div><br />If you haven't snapped up a copy of <a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=psytronik25"><span style="font-weight: bold;">SEUDS 2</span></a> yet then head on over to the <a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=psytronik25"><span style="font-weight: bold;">BZ RetroStore</span></a> and treat yourself to some retro fun for the Commodore 64. As a little bonus, everyone who orders <a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=psytronik25"><span style="font-weight: bold;">SEUDS 2</span></a> will also receive a free download link for the original <span style="font-weight: bold;">SEUDS </span>compilation too. Bonus!<br /><br />And that's almost yer lot now. Tune in next time for an update on one of the BIG Psytronik releases for 2012 - <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.psytronik.net/main/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=97:soulless&catid=34:commodore-64&Itemid=57">SOULLESS</a> </span>(and a sneaky peek at the gorgeous packaging!)<br /><br />Thanks for reading!<br /><br />Kenz / <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/">www.psytronik.net</a>Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-81184190017572422622012-01-26T06:13:00.006-08:002012-02-21T15:56:20.619-08:00The start of a new year - and a new ERA!Greetings fellow carbon units,<br /><br />2012 didn't start off very well for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik </span>& <span style="font-weight: bold;">Binary Zone</span> I'm afraid. If you've visited the<span style="font-weight: bold;"> BZ RetroStore</span> in the last month or so you will see I posted a notice on the front page to say there was a delay with orders being processed. In actual fact, I came THIS close to shutting up shop on both <span style="font-weight: bold;">Binary Zone</span> & <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik</span> at the start of the year:-<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RD76NzUNg7o/T0QtrE8Yk9I/AAAAAAAAAhY/cjVZ94vQUKA/s1600/game_over.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RD76NzUNg7o/T0QtrE8Yk9I/AAAAAAAAAhY/cjVZ94vQUKA/s400/game_over.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711740445497267154" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >This is how close it came to being GAME OVER for Psytronik!</span><br /></div><br />So what almost caused the untimely demise of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Binary Zone Interactive</span> after over 20 years? A series of <span style="font-weight: bold;">INEPT INK-JET PRINTERS</span>, that's what! During the last few years I have got through a LOT of ink-jet printers - several in fact. This is probably due to me being a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to presentation and with the re-launch of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik</span> in 2008 it meant doing a lot of glossy prints ... And I mean, a LOT! A result of this meant the average lifespan of a printer in the BZ HQ is approximately 12 months. Or in the case of my last printer, 11.999999 months. One of the last ink-jet printers I bought was a <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kodak ESP 5250</span> - I was hooked into this purchase by the promise of cheaper ink (a massive selling point after my previous ink-guzzling HP printer - two of which I owned and were duly flown apart by my glossy printing japes).<br /><br />Anyhoo, all was going well with the Kodak printer until about the 11th month when I noticed a bit of striping appearing on the black parts of prints. I ran every possible print-head clean and maintenance procedure but to no avail. The quality of prints continued to decline to the point where I was not satisfied they were good enough to be used for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik </span>releases. As I was off work for a week for the Christmas break and my in-tray was bulging with unprocessed BZ orders I decided to get the printer situation sorted ASAP and so I dug out the receipt for the printer ... It turned out I bought the printer on December 29th 2010 - and I was sat there looking at the receipt on December 28th 2011 - One day before the 12 month guarantee expired!! After a few minutes of running around in a circle gibbering and waving my arms around* I decided to pack the printer back in its box (which I had luckily kept "just in case") and zoomed in my Silver Mondeo of speedliness to Comet - which is a bit of a 10 mile jaunt from my home town of Malvernium.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">* My reaction to the imminent expiry of the printer guarantee may have been exaggerated slightly.</span><br /><br />I arrived at the Comet store at precisely the wrong moment as it was packed with shoppers taking advantage of their Christmas sale. I huffed my way to the counter and was served by an everso nice girl with intense bottle-red hair and cheekily short / tight skirt. But I digress. Instead of being rewarded with a replacement printer and no hassle it turns out that after 3 months a product is no longer the responsibility of the store and it's down to the manufacturer. The girl kindly rang Kodak for me and I tried to speak to a woman in Outer Mongolia (or quite possibly Outer Space) with one finger in my ear to drown out the store din. I just about managed to convey my make of printer and address to the mongol(ian) at the end of the phone and was promised a replacement in 3 working days. Result!<br /><br />So the Christmas holiday came and went and my liver was Jagerbombed into submission over the New Year - but still no printer. I then returned to work (in the real world) while the Binary Zone orders continued to pile up - much to my concern. And then ... What was waiting for me when I got home around 10 days after my voyage to Comet? An alarmingly SMALL package from Kodak - far too small to contain the replacement printer that I was eagerly awaiting. Ripping into the package revealed a replacement print-head for my printer. Not what I was expecting but it would get me out of a fix - and hey, it was free. So I purchased a full set of ink (not wanting to risk putting old dried-up ink cartridges into a new print-head) and at long last prepared to process orders - some of which were around 3 weeks old! My face fell off when instead of seeing a glossy Psytronik inlay emerge from my printer I was in fact rewarded with a <span style="font-weight: bold;">BLANK PAGE</span>. Things had gotten WORSE with the new print-head and my printer was now only capable of spewing out blank pages.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-07yyoiNifvE/TzrBpPSMllI/AAAAAAAAAgc/_Fc3HibeBQ4/s1600/fry_aaargh.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 395px; height: 360px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-07yyoiNifvE/TzrBpPSMllI/AAAAAAAAAgc/_Fc3HibeBQ4/s400/fry_aaargh.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709088391867176530" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Aaaaaargh! I just want a working printer - dammit!</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div><br />I was climbing the walls at this point as I really needed to process some orders - <span style="font-weight: bold;">IMMEDIATELY </span>- so I decided to abandon that printer for now and invest in a replacement printer to get me out of a pickle. After all, actual ink-jet printers are pretty cheap, it's the INK that's expensive. But then another disaster stuck. Another trip to Comet revealed my printer had been discontinued (after 1 year!) - and the nearest equivalent was the cheaper <span style="font-weight: bold;">ESP C315</span> model. I plumbed for that one as I was desperate at this point so I rushed home with it, set it up, faffed around finding an extra file that wasn't included on the installation disk - (I'm looking at you .ini file), and out emerged a glossy inlay print ... that ... looked ... shite! For some reason the black parts of the image looked all blotchy - totally different to the crisp black images the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kodak 5250 </span>used to emit. Further investigation revealed that I couldn't use the BEST quality printer setting unless I fed the printer <span style="font-weight: bold;">branded</span> Kodak photo paper - but that was no use to me as I cut up my prints to use as tape inlays and disk sleeves etc. so it would be no good me printing those on glossy Kodak paper. So the printer was all packed up and returned to the store for a full refund (that took about a week to reach my card, I might add). This meant I <span style="font-weight: bold;">STILL </span>had no printer and the weeks were creeping by - so I decided to sort out my original printer. I rang up Kodak and the bloke working in a call center on the planet Venus told me there was nothing they could do as it was more than 12 months old. I then explained (in a slightly louder voice) that the printer stopped working BEFORE it was a year old, and the replacement part they sent me did not fix the problem - it in fact made it WORSE. The bloke went off to speak to a more important Venusian who took pity on my poor burbling self and said they would send me a replacement printer. Wikkid!!<br /><br />So with trembling anticipation I awaited the replacement <span style="font-weight: bold;">5250 </span>printer - and sure enough, a nice hefty package arrived by courier from Kodak. Now imagine the expression on my face when I opened the package only to see a<span style="font-weight: bold;"> C315</span> printer grinning back at me ... They had sent me the same make of printer that I had recently returned as that one had replaced my model!!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j0JkuVc_paw/TzrB43GTnBI/AAAAAAAAAgo/W3vExZh-bZU/s1600/noooo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 274px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j0JkuVc_paw/TzrB43GTnBI/AAAAAAAAAgo/W3vExZh-bZU/s400/noooo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709088660252761106" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kodak you imbeciles! You made me go and break my lab!</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div><br />That was the last straw. Over a month had now passed since I was able to process a <span style="font-weight: bold;">Binary Zone</span> or <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik</span> order and there seemed to be no end to my printer woes ... I just wanted a printer that <span style="font-weight: bold;">WORKED</span>, dammit!! I'd really had enough at this point and it was time to make a pretty important decision ... Should I actually call it a day with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Binary Zone</span>?!?! Something else to bear in mind is that over Christmas & New Year I was unable to process orders - so instead of doing that I played video games, watched movies and generally sat around on my ARSE enjoying not being at work - just like a normal person!! But after a while my little creative mind started going into overdrive and I started to miss doing BZ stuff (I have been running BZ for over 20 years after all, it's what I do!) - and that's when I had a brainwave - one of those zen-like moments of clarity that solved everything. Why not ditch ink-jet printers and buy a gorramn <span style="font-weight: bold;">LASER PRINTER</span>!! No more having to fork out for expensive ink cartridges, no more clearing gunk out of clogged printer innards, no more having to chuck away sheets of paper after one of the inks decides to run out midway through a print. So after doing some cyber-research one of these babies was delivered to the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Binary Zone HQ</span> (in supa-quick time with NO hassle - thanx <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Amazon.co.uk</span></a>!):-<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hWbg4duOxhs/T0KusIrSE7I/AAAAAAAAAhA/qC_LKv97G6Y/s1600/Samsung_CLP_320.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 363px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hWbg4duOxhs/T0KusIrSE7I/AAAAAAAAAhA/qC_LKv97G6Y/s400/Samsung_CLP_320.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711319350725710770" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Oooh, so shiny and new and lasery!</span><br style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div><br />And by golly it's FAB! I have never owned a laser printer before so I was already excited by the prospect - and I was VERY impressed with the quality of colour prints - they don't actually look like photos, more importantly, everything that comes out the printer looks like it has been <span style="font-weight: bold;">PROFESSIONALLY PRINTED</span> - which is very important when it comes to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik </span>stuff. So I was more than happy with that. And the actual printer itself didn't cost much more than an ink-jet printer and came fully loaded with colour toner. Yes, I know the toner will cost a lot more to replace when it runs out - but I will get gazillions more prints than an ink-jet was capable of. The main thing is it's <span style="font-weight: bold;">RELIABLE</span>, it's fast, it's quiet, the quality is consistently very good and there's no worry of dried up print heads or clogging. Also, and this is probably the most important thing of all, it has made me excited about doing <span style="font-weight: bold;">Binary Zone</span> & <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik</span> stuff again. So you can expect great things in 2012 from the Zone - as we enter a new ERA of releases presented in glorious full-colour glossy <span style="font-weight: bold;">LAZORVISION</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">(tm)!</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nkdNxPrecAs/T0Ktss1J2JI/AAAAAAAAAg0/s2gU3gGHE6k/s1600/RoQ.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nkdNxPrecAs/T0Ktss1J2JI/AAAAAAAAAg0/s2gU3gGHE6k/s400/RoQ.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711318260919163026" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Yes, this is laser-printed - and the 36 page<br />booklet looks superb in LazorVision(tm)</span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>Thanks for reading!<br /><br />Kenz / <span style="font-weight: bold;">www.psytronik.net</span>Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-54889584656351479342011-12-21T04:43:00.001-08:002012-02-17T02:13:43.465-08:00That was the year that was ... 2011!Greetings Programs!<br /><br />Well, now that 2011 has been stuffed into the bin with all the Chrissy wrapping paper and turkey leftovers and I'd like to start this blog entry by sending a massive<span style="font-weight: bold;"> THANK YOU</span> to everyone who has helped and supported Psytronik Software in 2011. I'm hugely grateful to everyone who has written or helped out with a Psytronik release, and of course, to everyone who bought a Psytronik game this year ... It takes a whopping amount of my (very limited!) spare time to run Psytronik Software but I don't mind as it's just so darned satisfying to see a release come together and appear in the BZ store in all it's lovingly packaged glory. It's also great fun putting together packages for eager retro fans as I know how cool it is to receive a shiny new game for your fave computer, rip off the shrink-wrapping and load it for some retro gaming fun!<br /><br />Anyway, that's quite enough back-slapping and hugging for now. Now lets take a look at the Psytronik releases from 2011 complete with thoughts and musings about each one plucked directly from my addled brain type device:-<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=psytronik20"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >1,000 Kung-Fu Maniacs</span></a> (C64) (12th Feb)<br /></div><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fj40zSg9uc4/Tx_edBrZZeI/AAAAAAAAAfc/DJr33q7RwqM/s1600/kung_fu_maniacs.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fj40zSg9uc4/Tx_edBrZZeI/AAAAAAAAAfc/DJr33q7RwqM/s400/kung_fu_maniacs.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701520243522364898" border="0" /></a><br />The first Psytronik release to bolt out of the starting gate for 2011 was the amusing Alf Yngve beat 'em up romp <span style="font-weight: bold;">1,000 Kung-Fu Maniacs</span>. Once again Alf managed to push SEUCK in all sorts of directions that it wasn't designed to go and using cunning design and some ingenius tricks he actually managed to coax a scrolling beat 'em up out of an editor designed for shoot 'em ups! The combination of wacky storyline, tongue in cheek humour and cartoony graphics resulted in a pretty darned nifty release. Richard Bayliss also assisted by bolting on a new front-end and plumbing in some in-game power-ups and the cream on this particularly yummy cake were the oriental soundtracks that were specially composed for the game by Jon Wells. My only teeny niggly regret with this release is I didn't have the chance at the time to do a loading bitmap for the game - but I made up for this when the sequel to this game came along, but more about that later in this blog entry!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=87_99&products_id=529"><span style="font-size:130%;">Sub Hunter</span></a> </span>(Amstrad CPC) (13th Feb)<br /></div><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VQAlKCz2ogU/Tx_eJvjkAPI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/V4sWRinAu08/s1600/sub_cpc.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 340px; height: 220px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VQAlKCz2ogU/Tx_eJvjkAPI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/V4sWRinAu08/s400/sub_cpc.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701519912240152818" border="0" /></a><br />The incredible Amstrad CPC conversion of <span style="font-weight:bold;">Sub Hunter</span> was one of my favourite Psytronik releases in 2011. I've always had a soft spot for the Amstrad CPC computer so I was really pleased to be able to release some Amstrad games thanks to the awesome skills of CPC programmer Paul Kooistra. I had a great time working with Paul during the development of Sub Hunter and was absolutely blown away by the quality of the completed game. Paul had managed to squeeze almost every single feature from the C64 game into the Amstrad version (including that stunning parallax scrolling) - and in some places he even managed to IMPROVE on the original C64 game! Herve Monchatre also did a superb job in converting the music from the C64 version onto the Amstrad. And the amazing thing about the CPC version of Sub Hunter? It was all crammed into just 64K!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=autocross"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >AutoCross Racing</span></a> (PC) (13th Feb)<br /></div><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rfCvw8KH1gA/Tx_d2Hvc1MI/AAAAAAAAAfE/LIagRm1GocU/s1600/acr.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 370px; height: 278px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rfCvw8KH1gA/Tx_d2Hvc1MI/AAAAAAAAAfE/LIagRm1GocU/s400/acr.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701519575135081666" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">AutoCross Racing</span> is a fun PC release for Psytronik that came together REALLY quickly! I'm a huge fan of top-down racing games (I used to play loads of them on the Amiga) and as soon as I saw footage of the game in action I knew it would make a great Psytronik release - and I wasn't wrong, the actual game itself is a total hoot to play and is jam-packed with neat options. The game was produced for the PC by Kevin Murphy who I already knew from the C64 game <span style="font-weight: bold;">Flubble & Squij</span> - that very nearly got a Psytronik release back in the 1990s. Anyway, it took just over a week from seeing a video of the game to having a fully packaged Psytronik version of the game ready to go! Mat '<a href="http://preferredimage.co.uk/">Preferred Image</a>' Recardo also helped out with this release by rendering some action-packed artwork that was used for the packaging.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=psytronik22"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Sheepoid</span></a> (C64) (1st June)<br /></div><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hAl8u2OgwIU/Tx_cl3KdjyI/AAAAAAAAAe4/kW8AZDYcv50/s1600/sheepoid.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hAl8u2OgwIU/Tx_cl3KdjyI/AAAAAAAAAe4/kW8AZDYcv50/s400/sheepoid.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701518196295438114" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sheepoid</span> is a psychedelic shooter from Richard Bayliss in which you control two Sheepoid units defending the universe from a variety of weird and wonderful attackers from the beyond the Neon Vortex ... Or something! The game was inspired by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Lazer Zone</span> - by the hairy hero Jeff Minter and I thought it would be good fun to release the game in some rather colourful Psytronik packaging at the <span style="font-weight: bold;">RetroVision</span> event ... And it was at RV that I finally got to meet Richard in person for the first time ever - and a jolly nice chap he is too. STE'86 (Steve Day) delivered a gorgeous loading bitmap and <a href="http://preferredimage.co.uk/">Mat Recardo</a> produced the superb cover design. This was based on artwork by Alf Yngve that was originally produced for a Jeff Minter themed edition of my old <span style="font-weight: bold;">Commodore Zone</span> mag that was never produced in the end. It was just a shame Jeff himself didn't turn up to the event to see the game ... Baaa!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=hyper+viper"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Hyper Viper</span></a> (C64) (24th June)<br /></div><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cWzIIqjIvjc/Tx_bqQCMQEI/AAAAAAAAAeU/qofAncOxfX0/s1600/hyper_viper.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cWzIIqjIvjc/Tx_bqQCMQEI/AAAAAAAAAeU/qofAncOxfX0/s400/hyper_viper.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701517172179484738" border="0" /></a><br />This was the debut release from programmer Jamie Howard. The game is a nice conversion of the original MSX version and not only featured everything from the original game but also included additional features as well. This was an interesting release for Psytronik as it was the first game to feature properly licensed music (the title tune is a cover of <span style="font-weight: bold;">AM180</span> - as featured in the movie 28 Days Later). STE'86 produced a jolly loading screen for the game and Smila produced the eye-catching box art. All in all, a fun retro-style release and a great debut title from Jamie. I just hope he gets around to completing his C64 conversion of the MSX game <span style="font-weight: bold;">Polar Star</span> as that looked absolutely belting!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=psytronik25"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Shoot 'Em Up Destruction Set 2</span></a> (C64) (9th November)<br /></div><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Us4cA7vJOas/Tx_b7pLZm9I/AAAAAAAAAeg/OGdU0HvHJw8/s1600/super_tau_zeta.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Us4cA7vJOas/Tx_b7pLZm9I/AAAAAAAAAeg/OGdU0HvHJw8/s400/super_tau_zeta.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701517470986771410" border="0" /></a><br />Here's another of my fave Psytronik releases from 2011. As Alf Yngve is so darned prolific it can be tricky keeping up with all the cool C64 titles he keeps producing so I came up with the idea of releasing another compilation of his games - which is a great way to quickly get a bevy of his titles into the Psytronik range (and to offer extra value for money for all you lovely retro fiends!) I then thought it would be cool to make the compilation a sequel to the first <span style="font-weight: bold;">SEUDS</span> compilation - and to present the games with similar artwork to the original. For SEUDS 2 I chose two unreleased games from the Psytronik back-catalogue (<span style="font-weight: bold;">Bloodwheels</span> & <span style="font-weight: bold;">Trojahn</span>), a recent side-ways scrolling shooter (<span style="font-weight: bold;">Super Tau-Zeta</span>) and the brand new game <span style="font-weight: bold;">2,000 Kung-Fu Maniacs</span>. Richard Bayliss did an absolutely superb job enhancing the games with power-ups, special effects, new front-end presentation and music etc., I worked with STE'86 on the loading screens (we produced two bitmaps each) and I also produced logos for <span style="font-weight: bold;">2,000 KFM</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bloodwheel</span>s & <span style="font-weight: bold;">Trojahn</span>. Interestingly, Alf was so impressed with the bitmap that Steve produced for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Trojahn </span>that he revamped the game completely to bring it up to a similar standard. I'm also very pleased that I got to make up for my lack of input on <span style="font-weight: bold;">1,000 Kung-Fu Maniacs</span> by producing the loading screen and front-end logo for its sequel. As well as handling all the tape masters for<span style="font-weight: bold;"> SEUDS 2</span>, Richard also worked wonders with the disk menu - which was done in the same style as the original <span style="font-weight: bold;">SEUDS </span>menu but with a re-worked bitmap screen ... And if all that wasn't enough, <span style="font-weight: bold;">SEUDS 2</span> also featured a complete extra game as well - the excellent <span style="font-weight: bold;">Forbidden Fores</span>t inspired game <span style="font-weight: bold;">Forgotten Forest</span> ... Bonus!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=psytronik24"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Oracle III</span></a> (C64) (18th December)<br /></div><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IJvGLHwLpCo/Tx_cMmEF_II/AAAAAAAAAes/ad0P4BL2fIg/s1600/oracle.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 193px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IJvGLHwLpCo/Tx_cMmEF_II/AAAAAAAAAes/ad0P4BL2fIg/s400/oracle.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701517762208595074" border="0" /></a><br />The final Psytronik release for 2011 which just managed to get into the BZ store before the end of the year (albeit on a pre-order basis) was<span style="font-weight: bold;"> ORACLE III</span>. This was one of those releases that started off simply enough with the idea to release a previously unreleased - but completed - puzzle game on the Psytronik label. It then got totally more elaborate with brand new ambient soundtracks being composed for the game, a soundtrack CD being bundled in with it (featuring recordings done from the composers own SID chip) and the whole thing being re-compressed to use less disk-space (oh, and the Psytronik logo was bolted onto the loading screen as well). <a href="http://preferredimage.co.uk/">Mat Recardo</a> once again came up trumps (chortle!) with some excellent rendered cover-art that nicely depicted the in-game action. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Oracle II</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">I </span>was a great way to round off 2011 and it was great to add a different style of game to the Psytronik catalogue.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Yv2Q3Lbv-4/TyCW79sQn0I/AAAAAAAAAfo/yDmqk-xOp44/s1600/replaylogo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 125px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Yv2Q3Lbv-4/TyCW79sQn0I/AAAAAAAAAfo/yDmqk-xOp44/s400/replaylogo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701723085167697730" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">REPLAY EXPO 2011</span><br /></div><br />In last blog entry I mentioned that Psytronik was going to be exhibiting at the <span style="font-weight: bold;">REPLAY EXPO</span> in Blackpool ... I bet you are all BUSTING to know how I got on at the show aren't you? Well, here's how it all went ... I was initially unsure as to whether I would attend the 2011 show as it would involve a 300 mile round-trip and it was all a bit of an unknown for me as I missed the first <span style="font-weight: bold;">REPLAY </span>show in 2010. I received a nice call from Dave Moore (one of the show organisers) that convinced me I should come along and everything else seemed to click into place at just the right time. On the Friday before the event I loaded up my mighty silver Mondeo and set a course for Blackpool. The Journey to the event was actually easy-peasy. I'm not usually a fan of the M6 but once you get past Birmingham it's plain-sailing all the way to Blackpool. 157 miles later (I know it was that far as I reset my mileometer just as I set off) I was standing outside the Norbreck Castle - the venue for <span style="font-weight: bold;">REPLAY!</span> I had a quick recce of the place to get my bearings and chatted to a few familar faces before I checked in at my hotel - the lovely Poldhu - which is literally 100 yards away from the venue. I then headed back to the Norbreck and bumped into Vintage Matt from <span style="font-weight: bold;">RetroVision </span>and somehow accidentally (heh!) ended up in a pub type environment with lots of the RV peeps - and a very nice evening of stout imbibing and pub japes ensued followed by a tasty CURRY. I had arrived!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GkdtynKSvTQ/TyCX6tQ5V7I/AAAAAAAAAf0/COILD69Uan4/s1600/replay1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GkdtynKSvTQ/TyCX6tQ5V7I/AAAAAAAAAf0/COILD69Uan4/s400/replay1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701724163089717170" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Specadore 64 got a lot of attention at REPLAY!</span><br /></span></div><br />Saturday!! After nomming a tasty cooked brekkie at the Poldhu Hotel (served up by the Yoda-esque lady there) I headed to the Norbreck to set up my Psytronik table. I was situated next to my good chum Jason 'TMR' Kelk (he of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Retro Gamer</span> Homebrew section fame) so it was great to be able to have a natter with him. I took a slightly scaled-down setup to REPLAY as I wasn't sure how much room I would have - so I only had two systems to set up. The first of which was the crowd-pleasing<span style="font-weight: bold;"> SPECADORE 64</span> - which is always popular at these events - and the second system was my shiny new <span style="font-weight: bold;">COMMODORE 64x</span> - which is the new PC-in-a-C64-style-case ... I planned to run emulators and Psytronik promo videos on the <span style="font-weight: bold;">C64x</span>, as well as the PC remake of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Armalyte</span> - which is awesome being played with a retro style joystick (a USB Competition Pro) running on a C64 style PC! The Specadore 64 featured the recently-released conversion of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Prince of Persi</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">a</span> running from an EasyFlash cart that I had literally received a few days before the event. This gave people the chance to play the stunning C64 conversion of the game on REAL hardware. I also demonstrated some new Psytronik releases including <span style="font-weight: bold;">SEUDS 2</span> - with<span style="font-weight: bold;"> 2,000 Kung-Fu Maniacs</span> being a highlight as it caused much mirth with its amusing power-ups (poodle attack!) The Psytronik stand was in the entrance area of the event (not in the main hall) so everyone attending <span style="font-weight: bold;">REPLAY </span>would have to pass me at some point! This meant there were plenty of people throughout the day going past so I had lots of interest in the Psytronik goodies that were on display. I ventured into the main hall at various times throughout the day and was blown away by the size of the event. It ... was ... HUGE! I've attended a LOT of retro events in the past but this was easily the biggest I've ever seen - a mindscrambling array of arcade cabs, retro & modern systems and pinball machines were available to be played on (if you could figure out how to get the freeplay arcade cabs to start!), there were impressive stands set up by various sponsors and retro selling peeps, HUGE screens showing what was going on, lots of Cosplayers, boothbabes and various heroes from the retro scene (<span style="font-weight: bold;">Jeff Minter!! Oli Frey!!</span>), it really was an incredible sight - it wasn't like any other retro event I'd been to, it was a proper EXPO! In the evening I headed along to an aftershow gig at another hotel that featured <span style="font-weight: bold;">SID 80's</span> (minus MadFiddler, sadly). Unfortunately, this was hampered by a massively overlong quiz, hugely expensive drinks and awful acoustics. The day was rounded off with a bazillion mile walk into town with various peeps to a restaurant that didn't exist. So an emergency kebab was duly purchased while we were amused at the shouty drunken antics of the skimpily dressed girls in the middle of Blackpool on a freezing Saturday night in November. And a classy bunch they certainly were! ;)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LwsY4UJxvRU/TyCYKcUTysI/AAAAAAAAAgA/OH5JbTUogtw/s1600/replay2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LwsY4UJxvRU/TyCYKcUTysI/AAAAAAAAAgA/OH5JbTUogtw/s400/replay2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701724433418537666" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Me 'n' Yak!</span><br /></span></div><br />Sunday!! Hangover part 2, and a room smelling of cold kebab (it was cold when I ate the bloody thing!) Another lovely cooked brekkie was served up by Mrs Yoda - I loved the way I came down to brekkie and she shuffled next door to bring it to me, already prepared! And as it was beautifully sunny outside I had a nice walk along the sea-front to clear my head and enjoyed some moments of zen-like calm before heading over to the Norbreck for <span style="font-weight: bold;">REPLAY DAY 2</span>! My second day at <span style="font-weight: bold;"> REPLAY </span>started out pretty much the same as the first - but I was determined to PLAY MORE GAMES so did spend a lot more time in the main hall on Sunday. I also recruited Vintage Matt to be my camera co-pilot at one point and we went on a most excellent mission to get photographed with as many cosplayers and girls on the stands as possible. Our mission was very successful I'm pleased to say! All in all, I really enjoyed my time at <span style="font-weight: bold;">REPLAY</span>. As well as being a cracking event I knew loads of people there so there was always someone I could chat to and everyone else I met was friendly and seemed to be having a good time. One thing that amused me about the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik </span>stand was that a lot of people didn't actually notice the <span style="font-weight: bold;">C64x</span> as at a glance it looks just like and old breadbin style C64 - the<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Specadore 64</span> got a LOT more attention than the latest addition to the Commodore range ... ! There wasn't really much about <span style="font-weight: bold;">REPLAY </span>that I *didn't* like. I did notice an odd musty pong in one of the side-rooms near to where the talks were being held (a few people noticed this, apparently), the after-show gig on Saturday was a bit naff - although we did our best to liven that up with some incredible "free-form darncing" - Ben Daglish was most impressed with our efforts! I couldn't get a look-in on the Pinball machines - they were in constant use each time I went past them - and quite a few of the arcade machines seem to require some magical trickery to get them going, but these are minor niggles only and didn't spoil my enjoyment of the event one iota.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ESAUfIDKqQE/TyCYe51s2gI/AAAAAAAAAgM/o2x6sfwL3kI/s1600/replay3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ESAUfIDKqQE/TyCYe51s2gI/AAAAAAAAAgM/o2x6sfwL3kI/s400/replay3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701724784940603906" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Me - In my natural environment. :)<br /></span></div><br />And that pretty much sums it up for <span style="font-weight: bold;">REPLAY</span>. Would I go again? Definitely! I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and it was definitely worth the 300 mile round-trip. A massive YO! to all the people I met and spoke to at the event (far too many to list here), I look forward to seeing you all again in 2012! You can view a selection of photos I took at the event by clicking the link below:-<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150921118965637.762150.503900636&type=3&l=492ed6ce93"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >MY PHOTOS FROM REPLAY 2011!</span></a><br /></div><br />Thanks for reading!<br /><br />Kenz / www.psytronik.netKenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-89078973132480649152011-10-22T06:39:00.000-07:002011-10-23T09:30:26.934-07:00Psytronik to exhibit at the REPLAY EXPO 2011!<span style="font-weight: bold;">Greetings Programs!</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.replayexpo.com/"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 232px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9UEgLU9RO-w/TqQ7bCmkanI/AAAAAAAAAdk/TLLBqNbU7ik/s400/replayexpo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5666719566880074354" border="0" /></a><br />I'm pleased to announce that <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik Software</span> will attending the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.replayexpo.com/">REPLAY EXPO 2011</a> and will be exhibiting at the show. The <span style="font-weight: bold;">REPLAY EXPO</span> is the largest retro event to be held in the UK and takes place on November 5th & 6th at the Norbreck Castle in Blackpool.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v6EXv7OxgWs/TqLJh3n9h-I/AAAAAAAAAdM/mxmVhmKyI7M/s1600/ReplayGirls.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v6EXv7OxgWs/TqLJh3n9h-I/AAAAAAAAAdM/mxmVhmKyI7M/s400/ReplayGirls.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5666312864889931746" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hopefully there will be some of THIS happening at the event!</span><br /></span></div><br />I will be releasing TWO new Psytronik Commodore 64 titles at <span style="font-weight: bold;">REPLAY</span> - Firstly there's the sliding block puzzle game <span style="font-weight:bold;">ORACLE III</span> and secondly there's the fab <span style="font-weight:bold;">SHOOT 'EM UP DESTRUCTION SET 2</span> compilation - both of which have been featured in previous blog entries. To celebrate Psytronik being at <span style="font-weight: bold;">REPLAY</span> I've updated the artwork on both releases to feature the <span style="font-weight: bold;">REPLAY </span>logo on the front!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FyvMwV6NjaE/TqLMUipbvII/AAAAAAAAAdY/6315x8tNbdE/s1600/PsytronikReplay.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 276px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FyvMwV6NjaE/TqLMUipbvII/AAAAAAAAAdY/6315x8tNbdE/s400/PsytronikReplay.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5666315934455544962" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Two new Psytronik titles to be released exclusively at the REPLAY 2011!</span></span><br /></div><br />As well as showing off the latest Psytronik releases I will also be demonstrating the new <span style="font-weight: bold;">Commodore 64x</span> system - which is basically a full PC system crammed into a gorgeous Commodore 64 style keyboard. There has been a bit of a mixed reception to this system from die-hard C64 fans, but trust me, when you play the PC remake of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Armalyte </span>running on a PC remake of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Commodore 64</span> with a USB remake of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Competition Pro</span> joystick you're gonna love it, it really is a beautiful thang!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wUHF84qbnAk/TqQ8BBVh5lI/AAAAAAAAAdw/q-afJ5U-c-4/s1600/c64x.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wUHF84qbnAk/TqQ8BBVh5lI/AAAAAAAAAdw/q-afJ5U-c-4/s400/c64x.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5666720219375199826" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The super-sexy Commodore 64x - see it in action at REPLAY 2011!</span></span><br /></div><br />Of course the mighty<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Specadore 64 </span>will also be accompanying me to the event which will be used to demonstrate the latest <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik</span> releases. I will also be running the stunning new C64 conversion of <a href="http://popc64.blogspot.com/2011/10/prince-of-persia-for-commodore-64128.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Prince of Persia</span></a> which you will be able to play on REAL C64 hardware at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Replay</span>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8y1Szq2YId4/TqQ9wL4iTPI/AAAAAAAAAd8/rAbuwRoMsK0/s1600/PoP_Easyflash.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8y1Szq2YId4/TqQ9wL4iTPI/AAAAAAAAAd8/rAbuwRoMsK0/s400/PoP_Easyflash.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5666722129171860722" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">I never thought I would get to play THIS on the C64!</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>I will also be running some hi-score competitions during the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Replay </span>weekend with bundles of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Binary Zone</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik</span> goodies up for grabs for the winner. So if you plan on attending the event come and visit the homebrew section and we'll have a natter about all things RETRO - you will also be able to pick up some Binary Zone BARGAINS from my stand while you are there!<br /><br />See you there!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kenz / <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/">www.psytronik.net</a></span>Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-34611908078779468822011-08-30T09:05:00.000-07:002011-09-21T01:38:01.013-07:00Psytronik gets all puzzled!Greetings Psytronikoids!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://psytronik.net/gfx/oracle_logo.png" /></div><br />An interesting release has recently been added to the Psytronik Software C64 line-up which came to us literally as a bolt from the blue ... Well, kinda! The game is called <span style="font-weight: bold;">Oracle III - The Final Chapter</span> and was originally produced in 1995 by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Art Project Studios</span>. Unfortunately, the game was never commercially released on the C64 due to problems with the publisher at the time. Our chum Jazzcat suggested Psytronik as a possible publisher and after seeing the game in action I decided it would make a nice addition to the Psytronik range.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://binaryzone.org/merch2011/oracle_01.gif" /></div><br />Psytronik has not actually released a puzzle game before and I was immediately impressed with the quality of the graphics and overall presentation of the game. I got in touch with the author in order to start the ball rolling on making this an official Psytronik release. The actual game itself was complete and the version I received to test already had been updated to include messages to say it was a Psytronik release so it was literally ready to be released straight away on the Psytronik label - but then things started to get even more interesting!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://binaryzone.org/merch2011/oracle_02.gif" /></div><br /><br />In of the message exchanges between myself and the game author <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tufan 'SoNiC' Uysal</span>, he sent along an example of one his SID tunes - a superb ambient track. He mentioned that back in 1996 he was thinking of changing the game music to his own compositions and would be interested in making new music for the game. I was so impressed with the music he sent me we decided to delay the Psytronik release of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Oracle III</span> slightly so that the game could include brand new soundtracks for the 2011 Psytronik release.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://binaryzone.org/merch2011/oracle_03.gif" /></div><br /><br />But then things got even better! Tufan had been sending me mp3 recordings of the soundtracks for the game recorded from his very own SID chip. This gave me the idea of bundling a free soundtrack CD in with the game that features all the music from the game. Tufan had also been thinking along the same lines and so we decided to run with that idea and include a CD with the Premium version of the game - that way people will hear the music with the filters as intended (the music was produced on the 8510 SID chip and so may sound different on the older 6581 chip).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://binaryzone.org/merch2011/oracle_04.gif" /></div><br /><br />Another problem that had to be solved was what to do for artwork for the game. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Oracle III</span> is a puzzle game that features blocks that are moved around the screen by your character that looks like a frog (or <span style="font-weight: bold;">F.REE R.OAMING O.BJECT G.RAPPLER</span> - as I decided to call it). The object of the game is to move two or more matching blocks next to each other in order to remove them. Once all the matching blocks are cleared you move onto the next screen. Anyway, for the artwork I called on the assistance of my chum Mat 'CGI' Recardo (he of <a href="http://www.preferredimage.co.uk/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.preferredimage.co.uk</span></a> fame) and sent him details about the game. Mat designed an excellent cover picture featuring a cool robotic-frog moving blocks around on a spacey backdrop. Perfect! I dropped in elements from the game as a border around the artwork to complete the cover design - you can see the completed artwork below.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://binaryzone.org/merch2011/oracle_box.jpg" /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Oracle III - The Final Chapter</span> will be available for the C64 as a Premium & Budget disk release and as a digital download in October 2011. You will be able to pick up your copy exclusively from the <a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Binary Zone Interactive Retro Store</span></a>.<br /><br />Thanks for reading!<br /><br />Kenz / <a href="http://psytronik.net/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.psytronik.net</span></a>.Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-89952966263541264692011-07-29T03:40:00.000-07:002011-09-06T16:09:51.782-07:00SEUDS STRIKES BACK!<span style="font-weight: bold;">Greetings Psytronikeers!</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://psytronik.net/gfx/seuds2_logo.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 450px; height: 135px;" src="http://psytronik.net/gfx/seuds2_logo.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>For a while now I've had the idea of doing another <span style="font-weight: bold;">SEUDS</span> (<span style="font-style: italic;">Shoot 'Em Up Destruction Set</span>) compilation for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik</span> and now at long last <span style="font-weight: bold;">SEUDS 2</span> is fast becoming a reality! This is thanks to the ever productive <span style="font-weight: bold;">Alf Yngve</span> who not only still has some great unreleased SEUCK games tucked away but is also still churning them out to this day, ably assisted by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Richard 'TND' Bayliss</span>, who is doing sterling work adding new front-end presentation to each game along with power-ups, extra graphical effects and fantastic music etc. Lets take a closer look at the four games I have chosen for <span style="font-weight: bold;">SEUDS 2</span>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Super Tau Zeta</span><br /></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pjONPAXzQKk/TlSbYeZNNVI/AAAAAAAAAaY/4vHBrjQKo9w/s1600/SuperTauZeta.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pjONPAXzQKk/TlSbYeZNNVI/AAAAAAAAAaY/4vHBrjQKo9w/s400/SuperTauZeta.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644307077780026706" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">"By Your Command!"</span> </span></div><br />This is a recent Alf Yngve production that was originally produced for the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sideways SEUCK competition</span> organised by Richard Bayliss. In this game you control a mini-fleet of ships doing battle in space and on alien planets. Alf has incorporated some very clever effects into this game including a cool space-warp effect, a black hole encounter, asteroid field, parallax scrolling when you are on the alien planets and much more!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://binaryzone.org/merch2011/supertau_02.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 306px; height: 237px;" src="http://binaryzone.org/merch2011/supertau_02.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Flying over a lovely alien vista in Super Tau-Zeta</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Super Tau Zeta</span> has been specially enhanced and now features a snazzy new front-end, superb soundtracks (the in-game tune is a real belter!) and weapon power-ups that have been added by Richard Bayliss and a stunning bitmap loading screen has been produced for the game by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Steve 'STE'86' Day</span> (inspired by a certain popular 80s sci-fi show).<br /></div><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Bloodwheels</span><br /></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sJTydA8Rxo0/TlSboGH28fI/AAAAAAAAAao/_mAnFC45j7M/s1600/Bloodwheels.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sJTydA8Rxo0/TlSboGH28fI/AAAAAAAAAao/_mAnFC45j7M/s400/Bloodwheels.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644307346142720498" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">How much action can I cram into one loading screen? Answer: All of it!</span></span><br /></div><br />This game was part of the original 1994 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik</span> release line-up but is now being dusted off after 17 years for release as part of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">SEUDS 2</span> compilation. The game is an exciting driving-shooter where you (and an optional player 2) battle your way through various locations in an army vehicle blasting enemy tanks, planes, helicopters and soldiers etc. The game features some very nicely detailed tiny sprites (the enemy soldiers are particularly ee-wee!) destructible background objects (you can level houses!) and there's blasting action aplenty to be had.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://binaryzone.org/merch2011/blood_02.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 322px; height: 232px;" src="http://binaryzone.org/merch2011/blood_02.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Once again Richard Bayliss has coded an eye-catching front-end the game and has added new effects to the game itself including multi-sprite explosions for when you blast those pesky bosses and animated water effects. Richard has also delivered some suitably thumping tunes for you to blast along to (the in-game tune has a nice Matt Gray flavour to it). For the loading screen I decided to transfer the original artwork for this game (drawn by Alf) onto the C64 and have drawn the screen in a similar style to the one I did for the SEUDS 1 game <span style="font-weight: bold;">Silverfish</span> (I.E. Lots of explodey action!)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">2,000 Kung Fu Maniacs:<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The Way Of The Exploding Fish</span><br /></span></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_zDrto04SQ/Tman3JO0beI/AAAAAAAAAco/A39zKFwhj_0/s1600/2000_kfm.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_zDrto04SQ/Tman3JO0beI/AAAAAAAAAco/A39zKFwhj_0/s400/2000_kfm.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649387348395584994" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:78%;" >The other 1,995 Kung-Fu Maniacs are right behind you!</span><br /></div><br />The sequel to <span style="font-weight: bold;">1,000 Kung-Fu Maniacs</span> continues after your epic battle in Blapsville in the first game and once again features the ongoing adventures of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Master of Awesome</span>! This time our hero is tasked with a dangerous quest to find the sacred scrolls that have been stolen by some nefarious Ninjas - and, also, to buy some pickled herring (as you do).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://binaryzone.org/merch2011/kfm2_02.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 306px; height: 202px;" src="http://binaryzone.org/merch2011/kfm2_02.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />In the game you must battle assorted adversaries in various unusual locations - like on-stage at the "Lord of the Bland" concert (featuring a familiar-looking river-dancing baddie!), at the International Arms Fair, a corrupt art gallery and even at the "Happy Moose Megamart!" Various weapon power-ups can be collected during the game including shuriken, nunchucks, a deadly knife, a garden gnome (?!) and, best of all, the way of the exploding fish!<br /><br />Once again Richard Bayliss has added extra enhancements to this game including a new front-end, funky Oriental soundtracks, the weapon power-ups I mentioned above and he has even coded a special end-sequence for the game! For the loading screen I decided to make up for the fact that I didn't have the time to contribute any pixels to the first game - so for the sequel I pixelled an eye-catching loader pic featuring Ninjas - cos Ninjas are COOL!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Trojahn</span><br /></span></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gryVhdgDY1w/TlSbtK4nTqI/AAAAAAAAAaw/6RlQWHgHY_E/s1600/Trojahn.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gryVhdgDY1w/TlSbtK4nTqI/AAAAAAAAAaw/6RlQWHgHY_E/s400/Trojahn.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644307433320304290" border="0" /></a><br />The fourth game in the <span style="font-weight: bold;">SEUDS 2</span> pack is another Alf Yngve classic that has been stomping around for approximately the last 5,000 years (well, since the early 1990s!) The game features the titular Trojahn hero on a mission to rescue his beloved Elena who has been kidnapped by an evil Minotaur. The game uses an interesting arcade style vertical screen with all the action being viewed on the left half of the screen. The right half of the screen is used for occasional interlude screens showing the plight of Elena and her cries for help in comic-book style.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://binaryzone.org/merch2011/trojahn_01.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 322px; height: 230px;" src="http://binaryzone.org/merch2011/trojahn_01.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Ste'86 has provided the stunning loading screen for the game, Richard Bayliss will be producing the music and coding the front-end - which will feature additional graphics by little old me!<br /><br />The <span style="font-weight: bold;">Shoot 'Em Up Destruction Set 2</span> will be released for the C64 on tape, disk and as a digital download by Psytronik Software later this year (exact release date to be confirmed). For more details head on over to <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.psytronik.net</span></a> ...<br /><br />Thanks for reading!<br /><br />Kenz / <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/">www.psytronik.net</a> (29/07/11)Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-31611213549526333112011-06-06T02:32:00.000-07:002011-07-03T13:47:14.826-07:00To boldy go ... Sub Hunting!Greetings, Programs!<br /><br />Here's an interesting little Psytronik related tidbit for ya ... I recently discovered that an "Enterprising" individual (pun intended) had ported <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sub Hunter</span> onto the somewhat obscure <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_%28computer%29"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Elan Enterprise</span></a> computer! This rather unexpected conversion is based on the amazing Amstrad CPC conversion by Paul Kooistra but has been tweaked for the Enterprise to include elements from the C64 version. So lets fire it up and have a looksee, shall we?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oE3KZLiUbmA/ThDTemx5CqI/AAAAAAAAAW8/tJcnxnc3usA/s1600/epscr000.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 368px; height: 285px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oE3KZLiUbmA/ThDTemx5CqI/AAAAAAAAAW8/tJcnxnc3usA/s400/epscr000.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625228457345092258" border="0" /></a><br />In order to get the Enterprise version of Sub Hunter running on my PC I downloaded a copy of the <a href="http://web.axelero.hu/egzo/ep/epemu.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">ep32</span></a> emulator. Once the disk image containing the game had been dropped into the emulator I was ready for some Enterprise Sub Hunting ACTION!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yT7-fytYmNc/ThDTmxsKvYI/AAAAAAAAAXE/ojPPYQJ2adg/s1600/epscr001.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 368px; height: 285px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yT7-fytYmNc/ThDTmxsKvYI/AAAAAAAAAXE/ojPPYQJ2adg/s400/epscr001.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625228597712829826" border="0" /></a><br />As you can see from the picture above the colours on the loading screen are based on the Commodore 64 version. The intro begins with the hi-res Psytronik logo from the CPC version and features an identical intro to the CPC - although the colours of the intro pics have been changed from the CPC sepia shades back to the monochrome C64 style. The nice parallaxed section of the intro is also present and correct and the marvellous intro theme from the CPC version can also be heard in all its glory.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--nLVeZWR4b0/ThDTssnfJXI/AAAAAAAAAXM/3EyjoKWRPcY/s1600/epscr002.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 368px; height: 285px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--nLVeZWR4b0/ThDTssnfJXI/AAAAAAAAAXM/3EyjoKWRPcY/s400/epscr002.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625228699430233458" border="0" /></a><br />Once the main game has loaded you will see the front-page once again contains elements from the C64 version (the animated bubbles) and the rippling logo reflection is also present. Unfortunately, although the credits for the original Sub Hunter authors (Frank Gasking & Richard Bayliss) are visible there is no mention of the author of the CPC version (Paul Kooistra) on the title page of the game. This is a very annoying oversight as the Enterprise conversion is based on the CPC code! Tut-tut.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xQp1oiYgyvE/ThDT5RVakaI/AAAAAAAAAXc/mZVoBeoLd0I/s1600/epscr004.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 368px; height: 285px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xQp1oiYgyvE/ThDT5RVakaI/AAAAAAAAAXc/mZVoBeoLd0I/s400/epscr004.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625228915444978082" border="0" /></a><br />Anyhoo, hitting fire launches your Sub into action and you will see straight away that the actual game is almost identical to the Amstrad CPC version of the game. The colours seem to have been toned down slightly which makes seeing the swimmers you have to rescue a bit easier but everything else is pretty much the same as the CPC version (although this version of the game does suffer from slow-down at times).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LEyzeP9VSuE/ThDUH7CayOI/AAAAAAAAAXk/8M6NUpNfI4M/s1600/epscr005.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 368px; height: 285px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LEyzeP9VSuE/ThDUH7CayOI/AAAAAAAAAXk/8M6NUpNfI4M/s400/epscr005.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625229167157758178" border="0" /></a><br />Aside from a few technical issues and the annoying lack of credit for all the hard work Paul Kooistra put into his CPC version of the game this is a pleasing conversion of Sub Hunter and it's nice to see the game running on another system. It would have been nice if the person responsible for the Enterprise port had contacted Psytronik first as at least I could have ensured that the game contained the correct credits - but apart from that, the Enterprise conversion of Sub Hunter is well worth a look. It's also worth noting that Hervé Monchatre has been helping out with this version of the game and produced specially modified versions of his amazing CPC tunes for the Enterprise version. These sound much better than the glitchy tunes that were present in earlier versions of this port. He also requested that Paul Kooistra was reinstated into the credits scroll in this game - which was duly done. Nice work Hervé!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-exsWv16dn-Q/ThDUSbMERQI/AAAAAAAAAXs/VH50Zos9d54/s1600/epscr007.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 368px; height: 285px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-exsWv16dn-Q/ThDUSbMERQI/AAAAAAAAAXs/VH50Zos9d54/s400/epscr007.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625229347586852098" border="0" /></a><br />If you would like to play Sub Hunter on the Enterprise you can get the ep32 emulator <a href="http://web.axelero.hu/egzo/ep/epemu.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">HERE</span></a> and here's a link to a .zip file that contains the disk image of the game:- <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/games/SubHunter_Enterprise.zip"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sub Hunter Enterprise Version</span></a>. The .zip file also includes a ReadMe.txt file that contains instructions for loading the game into the ep32 Enterprise Emulator.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nRxKVNhV5IY/ThDUYjf6bJI/AAAAAAAAAX0/Lx-EvzjPhUM/s1600/epscr008.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 368px; height: 285px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nRxKVNhV5IY/ThDUYjf6bJI/AAAAAAAAAX0/Lx-EvzjPhUM/s400/epscr008.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625229452896791698" border="0" /></a><br />Thanks for reading!<br /><br />Kenz / www.psytronik.netKenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-50377417303300504002011-04-07T05:43:00.000-07:002011-06-05T14:39:29.192-07:00Sheepoid - The making of the artworkI've been following the progress of the latest Richard Bayliss C64 production <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sheepoid</span> since it began and as the project took shape my Psytronik senses started tingling. The game is an homage to the classic Jeff Minter game <span style="font-weight: bold;">Laser Zone</span> which was released on the VIC-20 and C64 in 1983 and later on the C16 and Plus/4 in 1986.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UC18S11ZL3A/TevxNfJhEsI/AAAAAAAAAWE/mtIq2ObJdyQ/s1600/laserzone_plus4.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UC18S11ZL3A/TevxNfJhEsI/AAAAAAAAAWE/mtIq2ObJdyQ/s400/laserzone_plus4.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614846574449464002" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-size:85%;">Laser Zone on the Commodore Plus/4</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>For <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sheepoid</span>, Richard has taken the basic concept of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Laser Zone</span> (control a horizontal and vertical gun turret, blast weirdy meanies, avoid blasting goodies) and has improved the graphics, presentation and music for his C64 remake / tribute "Sheepoid".<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JPX7gUxKVqo/Tevxx8KriYI/AAAAAAAAAWM/gJgKk9qZuRE/s1600/sheepoid_c64.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JPX7gUxKVqo/Tevxx8KriYI/AAAAAAAAAWM/gJgKk9qZuRE/s400/sheepoid_c64.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614847200714262914" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-size:85%;">Sheepoid on the C64</span></span><br /></div><br />As Richard was planning on releasing <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sheepoid</span> at the 2011 <span style="font-weight: bold;">Retrovision</span> event I asked him if he would be interested in doing a Psytronik release so we could present the game at the event as a fully packaged <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik</span> release. Richard gave this idea the thumbs-up so my next thoughts turned to the game artwork. Seeing as the game featured a level called <span style="font-style: italic;">The Mutant Camels Are Back</span> this suddenly reminded me of a picture that Alf Yngve drew many years ago for a Jeff Minter issue of my <span style="font-weight: bold;">Commodore Zone</span> mag that never materialised:-<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xBQHZ-OBm3w/Tevyip5a2ZI/AAAAAAAAAWU/11XjlNVzgIk/s1600/LlamasAttack.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xBQHZ-OBm3w/Tevyip5a2ZI/AAAAAAAAAWU/11XjlNVzgIk/s400/LlamasAttack.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614848037623617938" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Llamas Attack! Previously unseen artwork for an<br />issue of Commodore Zone that was never made.<br /></span></span></div><br />I always liked this image of Llamas attacking from space and thought this would make a cool cover for Sheepoid. I sent Alfs pic to my chum <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mat '</span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.preferredimage.co.uk/">Preferred Image</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">' Recardo</span> to see if a 3D rendered version was possible - and as luck would have it, Mat had a Llama object that he could use! So some swift rendering work later and Mat sent over the splendid design you see below:-<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j-pwZBPkbYY/TevzotZEYBI/AAAAAAAAAWc/q_MjaBgBUrQ/s1600/sheepoid_render.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j-pwZBPkbYY/TevzotZEYBI/AAAAAAAAAWc/q_MjaBgBUrQ/s400/sheepoid_render.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614849241152512018" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Llamas attack - in 3D rendered-o-vision!</span></span><br /></div><br />The next thing needed was a logo for the game. I initially dabbled with a B-Movie style logo (similar to the "LLamas Attack!") logo in the Alf pic but in the end decided to use the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sheepoid</span> logo from the front-end of the actual game - which I recreated in hi-res, tilted at a jaunty angle and then coloured in retro-arcade logo stylee.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QR7y6qL03Ec/Tev0jDot6jI/AAAAAAAAAWk/LjukaCB1Drk/s1600/sheepoid_logo.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 143px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QR7y6qL03Ec/Tev0jDot6jI/AAAAAAAAAWk/LjukaCB1Drk/s400/sheepoid_logo.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614850243556141618" border="0" /></a>The nice colours in the logo made me decide to go one step further and give the artwork more Yak-appeal by continuing the colours around the edges. After the the addition of game screenshots and extra text blurb the official Sheepoid Retrovision poster was born!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x5yvuvxszXI/Tev1AAkfC7I/AAAAAAAAAWs/aZly0H_7dOs/s1600/sheepoid_poster.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x5yvuvxszXI/Tev1AAkfC7I/AAAAAAAAAWs/aZly0H_7dOs/s400/sheepoid_poster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614850740949289906" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The yaktastic Sheepoid promo poster!</span></span><br /></div><br />Now that all the artwork elements had been produced the next step was to the adapt the design for the Psytronik packaging. Using the premium disk edition artwork template I tweaked the artwork to fit on the packaging and you can see the end result below:-<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7up4Dvh6gqk/Tev1VT0CWMI/AAAAAAAAAW0/5-jb3go4QoI/s1600/sheepoid_disk.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 376px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7up4Dvh6gqk/Tev1VT0CWMI/AAAAAAAAAW0/5-jb3go4QoI/s400/sheepoid_disk.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614851106892044482" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Ta-daaa! The finished Sheepoid disk packaging.<br /></span></div><br />And there you have it! That's how you go about creating the box artwork for a Psytronik release (for techno-buffs who are listening). The game was officially released at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Retrovision</span> in May 2011 and is now available on tape and disk for the Commodore 64 exclusively from the <a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&zenid=5ca16cf4b9874768552fc26c59912c22&keyword=sheepoid"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Binary Zone Interactive Retro Store</span></a>.<br /><br />Thanks for reading!<br /><br />Kenz / <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.psytronik.net</span></a>Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-85975974631684408402011-03-09T03:25:00.000-08:002011-03-11T14:48:33.680-08:00Some good news, some sad news<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Firstly, the good news ...</span><br /><br />In February last year I recorded a special <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik Software</span> episode of my retro game music podcast <a href="http://binaryzone.org/podcast/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">One Man & His Mic</span></a>. The 1 hour show featured music from almost all of the Psytronik releases available at the time from <span style="font-style: italic;">Sceptre of Baghdad</span> right up to the PC version of <span style="font-style: italic;">Armalyte</span>. The show was included as a bonus extra on the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=503">Armalyte CD-ROM</a> and you can read all about the making of the show in this Psytronik blog entry <a href="http://psytronik.blogspot.com/2010/02/one-man-his-new-mic.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">HERE</span></a>.<br /><br />As over a year has now passed I've now made the show freely available to listen to and download on the <a href="http://binaryzone.org/podcast/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">One Man & His Mic</span></a> webpage. And that's not all! Rather than just plonk the existing 1 hour show online I've completely remastered and extended the show by an additional 20 minutes. It now features FIVE extra tracks including the superb in-game theme from the C16 / Plus/4 title <span style="font-style: italic;">Adventures in Time</span>, a remix of the theme from the C64 game <span style="font-style: italic;">City Bomber</span> (which will hopefully be released on the Psytronik label at some point!), the sublime intro theme from the Amstrad CPC version of <span style="font-style: italic;">Sub Hunter</span> and MORE! To listen to the show scoot on over to the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://binaryzone.org/series2.php">OMAHM Series 2 webpage</a> and fill your boots ... er, or your ears.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.binaryzone.org/series2.php"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WACr6HWWYP4/TXnUHMc7TKI/AAAAAAAAAVo/nGOtNSNOeIU/s400/omahm_episode17.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5582726433169165474" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">One Man & His Mic - Psytronik Software Special</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">01. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sceptre of Baghdad Intro</span> (DJ Skitz)<br />02. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Sceptre of Nu Baghdad </span>(Kate Z)<br />03. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Archetype - FZ vs JMJ Remix</span> (FeekZoid)<br />04. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Nukenin & The Ronin Title</span> (TMR) [C64]<br />05. <span style="font-weight: bold;">PsykoZone Intro</span> (FeekZoid) [C64]<br />06. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sub Hunter Title</span> (Maniacs of Noise) [C64]<br />07. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Escape from Arth Title</span> (FeekZoid) [C64]<br />08. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mayhem in Monsterland Title</span> (Tonka) [PC]<br />09. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Creatures Remix</span> (Infamous)<br />10. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Creatures 2 Redux</span> (Infamous)<br />11. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Joe Gunn in-game</span> (Laxity) [C64]<br />12. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Armalyte Loader</span> (Martin Walker) [C64]<br />13. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Path Of Destiny - Knight 'n' Grail Subtune #2</span> (Project N.A.)<br />14. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Knight 'n' Grail - Good Ending Orchestral Mix</span> (Hans Axelsson)<br />15. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Last Amazon Title Tune</span> (Richard Bayliss) [C64]<br />16. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Wild Bunch</span> (Jon Wells) [C64]<br />17. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Star Sabre In-Game Tune</span> (Targhan) [Amstrad CPC]<br />18. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Armalyte PC Title Tune</span> (Infamous) [PC]<br />19. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Adventures in Time</span> (Luca / Fire) [Plus/4]<br />20. <span style="font-weight: bold;">City Bomber</span> - KateZoid Fusion Mix (Kate Z)<br />21. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sub Hunter</span> CPC (Herve Monchatre) [Amstrad CPC]<br />22. <span style="font-weight: bold;">HyperViper</span> (Jamie Howard) [C64]<br />23. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sceptre of Baghdad Outro</span> (DJ Skitz) </span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >And now the sad news ...</span><br /><br />I'm very sorry to have to report that my good friend Paul Hadrill (aka <span style="font-weight: bold;">DJ Skitz</span>) passed away peacefully on February 16th 2011 after an incredibly brave five year battle with a brain tumour. Paul was a very popular member of the C64 remix community and as well as producing many fine C64 remixes he also regularly hosted live radio shows on <a href="http://www.slayradio.org/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">SLAYRadio</span></a> and attended many retro computer events and gatherings. He also contributed the opening and ending tracks for the <span style="font-weight: bold;">OMAHM Psytronik Special</span> mentioned above. Paul was a close personal friend of mine and will be missed by myself and many people who got to know Paul through his radio show and contributions to the C64 scene. He may be no longer with us but his memory and excellent remixes will live on. Farewell to my most excellent friend, <span style="font-weight: bold;">DJ Skitz</span>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mhJWpSdErNE/TXnXSFE5sMI/AAAAAAAAAV4/IJzJGR7Yy1M/s1600/DJSkitz.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mhJWpSdErNE/TXnXSFE5sMI/AAAAAAAAAV4/IJzJGR7Yy1M/s400/DJSkitz.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5582729918702792898" border="0" /></a><br />Thanks for reading,<br /><br />Kenz / <a href="http://psytronik.net/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.psytronik.net</span></a> (09/03/2011)Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-63346300129346794662011-02-06T00:24:00.000-08:002011-02-06T01:34:14.937-08:00Gentlemen, start your engines ... !<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TU5hvklc0_I/AAAAAAAAAU4/q5LMQxcE8ik/s1600/autocross_logo.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 120px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TU5hvklc0_I/AAAAAAAAAU4/q5LMQxcE8ik/s400/autocross_logo.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570497259006383090" border="0" /></a>At the end of last month I received details about a PC game that the author asked me to evaluate for possible inclusion in the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik Software</span> range. The game was a top-down racing game called <span style="font-weight: bold;">AutoCross Racing</span>, programmed by Kevin Murphy. Kevin had included some screenshots of the game with his initial email and as soon as I saw the screens I just knew I would like this game!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TU5eCxCdZGI/AAAAAAAAAUw/qZxor2erOnw/s1600/4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TU5eCxCdZGI/AAAAAAAAAUw/qZxor2erOnw/s400/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570493190720283746" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Vrooom, whizz - now, this looks like FUN!</span><br /></div><br />I'm a big fan of retro style top-down racing games and used to spend hours playing games like <span style="font-weight: bold;">Super Cars 2</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Roadkill</span> & <span style="font-weight: bold;">Micro Machines</span> on the Amiga. So as soon as I saw the screenshots of the game and the video of the game in action I was already won over - and this was before I had even PLAYED it! I just had a good feeling about it.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TU5ildaTVcI/AAAAAAAAAVA/qdMAjZl5wl0/s1600/6.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TU5ildaTVcI/AAAAAAAAAVA/qdMAjZl5wl0/s400/6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570498184793511362" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">It came from the desert!</span> </span></div><br />A few days later the game arrived at the Psytronik HQ on CD-ROM and after a quick and easy installation I was ready to roll. And the good news is the game played just as well as I had hoped! I was instantly hooked on AutoCross Racing - it has a really cool retro racing vibe to it. It's really quick and easy to get into, it plays like a DREAM and, most importantly of all, it's FUN!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TU5jpSgFsPI/AAAAAAAAAVI/cdX2icwevLA/s1600/9.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TU5jpSgFsPI/AAAAAAAAAVI/cdX2icwevLA/s400/9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570499350096097522" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Some serious peddle being put to the metal!</span> </span></div><br />Everything about this game just seems to WORK. You can adjust the camera height to view your car from a comfortable distance, you can even switch the camera to the other cars in the race if you wish. The music by Dafunk is great - and as another nice touch you can also add your own music to the game by simply adding mp3 files to the Music folder! So I was soon whizzing around the tracks with remixes of classic C64 tunes like <span style="font-weight: bold;">Formula 1 Simulator</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Miami Vice</span> playing. Fab!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TU5kcwIB_8I/AAAAAAAAAVQ/7J4czzQT-b4/s1600/14.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TU5kcwIB_8I/AAAAAAAAAVQ/7J4czzQT-b4/s400/14.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570500234221584322" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Beep! Beep! Coming through! *CRASH* Sorry Mister!</span><br /></span></div><br />As the game would be getting a release on CD-ROM as well as a digital download the next thing I would need is some ARTWORK. The game didn't actually have any cover art at this time so I contacted my good chum <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mat '<a href="http://www.preferredimage.co.uk/">Preferred Image</a>' Recardo</span> to see if he wanted to help out with this release (as I know he is a bit of a fan of driving games). I sent the game to Mat and he very quickly delivered a beautiful 3D rendered image that very nicely captured the feel of the game (in fact, it looked just like the game - but in 3D!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TU5lf92IWoI/AAAAAAAAAVY/4BPzC1k44BE/s1600/acr_render.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 358px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TU5lf92IWoI/AAAAAAAAAVY/4BPzC1k44BE/s400/acr_render.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570501388955835010" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Mats rendered cover image for AutoCross Racing</span><br /></div><br />I then took Mats cover image and, using the Armalyte CD-ROM box as a template, created the final box artwork for the game which you can see below. I was very pleased with how the artwork turned out as it matches Armalyte very nicely - especially when you put them side by side on your games shelf! I think this has got to be one of the fastest Psytronik releases ever - it went from the initial email from Kevin to being a pretty much ready for release in approx two weeks!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TU5oCX5_R9I/AAAAAAAAAVg/seKS0tCcmvU/s1600/acr_box.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TU5oCX5_R9I/AAAAAAAAAVg/seKS0tCcmvU/s400/acr_box.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570504179090147282" border="0" /></a>The full game will be released by Psytronik Software later on this month - but you can try it out <span style="font-weight: bold;">RIGHT NOW</span> by downloading the excellent playable demo which is now available on the Psytronik Software <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/main/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68&Itemid=56"><span style="font-weight: bold;">DOWNLOADS</span></a> page. And you can also find more information about the game on the main Psytronik site (click <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/main/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=91:autocross&catid=37:pc&Itemid=60"><span style="font-weight: bold;">HERE</span></a>).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" id="viddler_d0f6ab4b" width="437" height="392"><param name="movie" value="http://www.viddler.com/player/d0f6ab4b/"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.viddler.com/player/d0f6ab4b/" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" name="viddler_d0f6ab4b" width="437" height="392"></embed></object><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And finally, a bit of techno-trivia for you. Kevin Murphy was a name already familiar to me as he co-wrote the C64 title <span style="font-weight: bold;">Flubble & Squij</span> that was ALMOST released by Psytronik Software back in the 1990s! So with <span style="font-weight: bold;">AutoCross Racing</span> it's nice to see a game by Kevin getting a proper Psytronik release at long last. :)<br /><br />Thanks for reading!<br /><br />Kenz / <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.psytronik.net</span></a> (06/02/2011)<br /><br /></div></div>Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-13416024693513334482011-01-24T03:00:00.000-08:002011-01-31T23:03:25.944-08:00Does whatever a Spider can ... !<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.binaryzone.org/psytronik/gfx/carling_logo.png" border="0" /><br /></div>Greetings fellow blogonauts!<br /><br />Back in 2009 Psytronik Software published a very jolly platform romp for the VIC-20 called <span style="font-weight: bold;">Carling the Spider</span> ... The idea of the game was to manoeuvre weeny little Carling the Spider around several screens collecting glittering diamonds - just like real spiders, er, don't. Out to thwart Carlings jewel grabbing expoits are the diabolical <span style="font-weight: bold;">BALLS OF STEEL</span> who like nothing better than squishing little spiders.<br /><br />The game was produced by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Joe Dixon</span> who managed to cram the whole kaboodle into an unexpanded 4K VIC-20. The game proved to be popular with VIC fans as it featured excellent Chuckie Egg style gameplay, responsive controls and was nicely presented to boot.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TUcdGUrxJoI/AAAAAAAAAUc/hF0PtxCCYQE/s1600/carling.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 383px; height: 230px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TUcdGUrxJoI/AAAAAAAAAUc/hF0PtxCCYQE/s400/carling.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568451458735613570" border="0" /></a><br />So why am I enthusing about this 2009 release? Because the game can now be downloaded for <span style="font-weight: bold;">FREE</span>! Simply head on over to the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik website</span> and grab yourself a copy of this nifty little platformer (<a href="http://psytronik.net/main/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=90:carling-the-spider-now-available-for-free&catid=40:news&Itemid=18" target="_blank">click here to visit the download page</a>). The free package includes both the PAL and NTSC versions of the game in .D64 format along with a text file that contains the game instructions along with info about how to run it in an emulator.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Carling the Spider 2!</span><br /></span></div><br />And more good news for Carling fans - Carling WILL be returning for another adventure at some point - but this time on the VIC's bigger brother, the C64. We can't give away too much info about <span style="font-weight: bold;">Carling 2</span> yet as the game is still being developed - but the work-in-progress screenshot below shows it's definitely something to look forward to! Keep an eye on <a href="http://psytronik.net/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.psytronik.net</span></a> for more info about the game.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TUccSskmWvI/AAAAAAAAAUU/jSuOS2uqnQY/s1600/carling2.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 383px; height: 270px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TUccSskmWvI/AAAAAAAAAUU/jSuOS2uqnQY/s400/carling2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568450571794799346" border="0" /></a><br />Thanks for reading!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kenz / <a href="http://psytronik.net/">www.psytronik.net</a></span>Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-42030337964064365052011-01-02T04:30:00.000-08:002011-01-02T04:46:59.706-08:00Psytronik Software in 2011!<span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">HAPPY NEW YEAR!!</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">(Cue fireworks, clinking glasses, much dancing around and one big mother-hubbard of a hangover!)</span><br /><br />Yep, here I am at last with a long overdue blog update to bring you all the latest news from <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.psytronik.net/">Psytronik Software</a></span>. Apologies for the huuuge delay since the last blog update, it was caused by a combination of various real-life issues which meant the development of new Psytronik releases had to slow down for a while ... But just because I haven't been able to update this blog for a while doesn't mean nothing has been happening with Psytronik - quite the opposite in fact! There's lots of exciting releases in development at the moment, I just haven't had the chance to sit down and type up the info about them all - until now! One of the first New Years Resolutions I made was to update this blog at least once a month from now on - so here's your January update from <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.psytronik.net</span></a>!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >1,000 Kung-Fu Maniacs NOW AVAILABLE!</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TSBOiywFrkI/AAAAAAAAATc/J08FHQL9Acg/s1600/kungfu_logo.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 180px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TSBOiywFrkI/AAAAAAAAATc/J08FHQL9Acg/s400/kungfu_logo.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557528299821182530" border="0" /></a>So lets get this New Year off to a very good start with a brand new release from Psytronik Software! The creative genius that is Alf Yngve never ceases to amaze us with his incredibly inventive C64 games and his latest offering is no different. 1,000 Kung-Fu Maniacs is a crazy side-scrolling beat 'em up set in the Ninja infested town of Blapsville. You are the <span style="font-weight: bold;">MASTER OF AWESOME</span> and are on a mission to find a missing toy robot - the only thing that stands in your way is a city filled with creeps, hoodlums, Ninjas and ... erm, MIMES?! The game features enhancements added by Richard 'Sub Hunter' Bayliss and superb soundtracks by Jon 'Sceptre Of Baghdad' Wells. And the good news is you can now download the complete game for FREE from <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/main/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=88:kungfu&catid=34:commodore-64&Itemid=57"><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.psytronik.net</span></a> and you will also be able to buy fully packaged Psytronik versions of the game on tape and disk later in January 2011. <span style="font-weight: bold;">PREPARE FOR AWESOME!</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TSBwE3rl2XI/AAAAAAAAAUE/GLgZ5qy6gzY/s1600/kungfu_03.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TSBwE3rl2XI/AAAAAAAAAUE/GLgZ5qy6gzY/s400/kungfu_03.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557565169143765362" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Adventures in Time - Now Available for C16 / PLUS4!</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TSBq-AMPSTI/AAAAAAAAAT0/8cmMW_Gopws/s1600/ait_logo.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 124px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TSBq-AMPSTI/AAAAAAAAAT0/8cmMW_Gopws/s400/ait_logo.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557559553610959154" border="0" /></a>The Psytronik disk version of this great game just managed to sneak into the <a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=87_101"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Binary Zone Retrostore</span></a> right at the end of 2010. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Adventures in Time</span> is a brilliant platform romp for the expanded C16 and Commodore Plus/4 that features a cute snorkel-headed hero who gets zzapped through time. The game features an intro sequence, excellent background graphics, nicely animated sprites and a simply wonderful soundtrack!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TSBtghaXvOI/AAAAAAAAAT8/EWAL7JByli0/s1600/ait_03.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TSBtghaXvOI/AAAAAAAAAT8/EWAL7JByli0/s400/ait_03.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557562345667411170" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">HYPER VIPER - Coming Soon! (C64)</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TSBq2IknC4I/AAAAAAAAATs/ZpzuCH-k8sk/s1600/hyper_logo.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 90px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TSBq2IknC4I/AAAAAAAAATs/ZpzuCH-k8sk/s400/hyper_logo.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557559418421709698" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hyper Viper</span> is a C64 conversion of a game released on the MSX way back in 1985. Jamie Howard has done a fine job converting the game onto the C64 which looks and plays just like the original - but now has improved presentation and music! The game features an officially licensed version of the track <span style="font-style: italic;">AM180</span> (you may remember it from the movie 28 Days Later) - You can hear the original version of the tune in the video below:-<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hvmCuosF0Xo?fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hvmCuosF0Xo?fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hyper Viper</span> will be released on tape and disk for the Commodore 64 early in 2011. Keep an eye on the <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/main/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=85:hyper&catid=34:commodore-64&Itemid=57"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik website</span></a> for more details!<br /><br /></div></div><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">SUB HUNTER (AMSTRAD CPC)</span></span><br /><br />Another Psytronik release for 2011 that I'm very excited about is <span style="font-weight: bold;">SUB HUNTER</span> for the Amstrad CPC. The CPC version of the game has been produced by Paul 'Star Sabre' Kooistra and he has done an absolutely incredible job in converting the C64 game onto the Amstrad CPC. All the features and levels from the C64 version of the game are present in the CPC conversion (including the gorgeous parallax scrolling) and the game also features a selection of fantastic soundtracks by Herve Monchatre. The Amstrad CPC version of the main game itself is now complete and Paul is currently working on a separate intro sequence for the game which will be released later this year on tape, disk and as a FREE DOWNLOAD for the Amstrad CPC. More info about Sub Hunter CPC can be found on the <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/main/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86:subhuntercpc&catid=41:cpc&Itemid=63"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik website</span></a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TSBWi_sa4qI/AAAAAAAAATk/KARjJZ7_VkE/s1600/sub_cpc.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 340px; height: 220px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TSBWi_sa4qI/AAAAAAAAATk/KARjJZ7_VkE/s400/sub_cpc.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557537099388478114" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">AND THAT'S NOT ALL!</span></span><br /><br />Those are only a few of the new releases currently in development here at the Psytronik HQ. I'm also hoping to release another game for the PC later this year, a follow-up to the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Shoot 'Em Up Destruction Set</span> for the C64 and there will hopefully be a Psytronik release of a sequel to a very famous C64 game ... Keep your peepers peeled on the <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik site</span></a> and this blog for more info!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TSByaV9eiuI/AAAAAAAAAUM/CG1cou3PpTk/s1600/hawkeye2.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 384px; height: 272px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TSByaV9eiuI/AAAAAAAAAUM/CG1cou3PpTk/s400/hawkeye2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557567737072356066" border="0" /></a><br />Thanks for reading, see you IN THE FUTURE!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kenz / <a href="http://www.psytronik.net/">www.psytronik.net</a> (02/01/11)<br /></span>Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-21296253332673885142010-06-18T00:24:00.000-07:002010-06-18T00:31:34.968-07:00Psytronik website down but not out!You may have noticed the Psytronik Software website has not been working recently. Don't worry Psytronik fans, we currently have a team of boffins working on the problem and normal service will be resumed very soon. The actual website itself is fine, the bit that has broken is the all-important part that joins the domain to the website. As a temporary fix you can access the fully armed and operational Psytronik Software website by heading along to:-<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><a href="http://www.psytronik.net/">www.psytronik.net</a><br /></span></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.psytronik.net/"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 332px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/TBsgQP5rwNI/AAAAAAAAATI/jSErjI8gBu8/s400/psy_site.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484012434772181202" border="0" /></a>Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-73377233329831600652010-05-25T23:12:00.000-07:002010-05-27T14:04:41.231-07:00It's time for a Plus/4 adventure!Greetings fellow carbon units,<br /><br />In the last blog entry I was talking about how exciting it was to add a new game to the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik</span> range - especially if it's for a system that I haven't supported before ... Well, it has happened again! Literally the same day that I had finished shipping all the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Armalyte</span> PC pre-orders an email pinged into my in-box with details about a new release for the Commodore Plus/4 called <span style="font-weight: bold;">Adventures in Time</span>. I duly fired up the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Vice Plus4</span> emulator to give the game a whirl ... I was not prepared for what happened next ... !<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S_zJ3R7bXiI/AAAAAAAAAR4/6FG7fLIC0YU/s1600/ait_01.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S_zJ3R7bXiI/AAAAAAAAAR4/6FG7fLIC0YU/s400/ait_01.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475473198518328866" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">If you go down to the woods today ...</span><br /></span></div><br />The first thing that appeared was a neat comic-style intro with slick graphics and a seriously jolly tune - an intro sequence? On a Plus/4 game? NICE! The intro set the scene for the game nicely and told the story of our hero - a cute little yellow blob - who got lost in the woods while taking a stroll one day. He discovered some ruins that held something unexpected - a <span style="font-weight: bold;">TIME SCRAMBLING MACHINE</span>! Our hero pressed a red button on the machine that activated it and that is where his adventure begins. The game credits are then displayed before the music tails off with an almost Follin-esque flourish. All I could utter at this point was a rather Neo style "woah" ...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S_7JKs7bs2I/AAAAAAAAASg/lf1OMgxNhuw/s1600/ait_02.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S_7JKs7bs2I/AAAAAAAAASg/lf1OMgxNhuw/s400/ait_02.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476035382625416034" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The title screen - complete with roaming Robin Hood & fireblobs!(tm)</span><br /></span></div><br />The colourful game title screen then appeared and an appropriately jolly title tune began playing. The game beckoned me to hit SPACE to start playing and so I did just that. I was immediately impressed by the colourful bitmap graphics. But there was something else ... the music ... who had let Martin Galway into the room? The more I listened to it the more I fell in love with the music in this game - A ticking clock at the start, Galway style wibbles and nifty "tschak" type drums along with a darned catchy lead - is this REALLY coming from a Commodore Plus/4? You betcha!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S_7MaW_-A8I/AAAAAAAAAS4/vakPac-iufM/s1600/ait_03.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S_7MaW_-A8I/AAAAAAAAAS4/vakPac-iufM/s400/ait_03.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476038950151652290" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Our hero leaps into the air - watch out for that goo!</span></span><br /></div><br />The idea of the game is to safely guide your little yellow blobby chum through the screens while avoiding the assorted nicely animated baddies that inhabit them. The nasties include blinking eye-monsters, flamey fire-imps, ghoulish ghosties and, er, Robin Hood! The controls are nice and precise and the character-based movement helps you to land on tricky ledges. You can also move your character in mid-air when he jumps which allows you to steer around the roaming nasties in the game.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S_zSzv8FFSI/AAAAAAAAASQ/jGFvYuF1tc8/s1600/ait_04.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S_zSzv8FFSI/AAAAAAAAASQ/jGFvYuF1tc8/s400/ait_04.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475483033459299618" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">There's creepy caverns to explore - complete with eyeballs!</span><br /></span></div><br />The game also features some neat animated touches. If you don't move your character for a while he goes to sleep (cute!) and if you get hit by a nasty our yellow chum keels over dizzily. He also sinks to his doom if you drop him into any of the pools of goo that can be found on some screens.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S_7JPkACWYI/AAAAAAAAASo/7Sdtdfq6uOE/s1600/ait_05.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S_7JPkACWYI/AAAAAAAAASo/7Sdtdfq6uOE/s400/ait_05.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476035466128152962" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The title page again - but wait a sec, that logo looks familiar!</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span>As you can probably tell I was rather impressed by this little platform romp and immediately responded to the email sent from the game authors about doing a Psytronik release. Work on the Psytronik release has already started and a version of the game has already been produced that features the Psytronik logo in the intro and on the title screen. Trevor 'Smila' Storey has also produced some excellent artwork for the Psytronik release of the game that captures the cartoony style of the game perfectly.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S_7c2xvnVDI/AAAAAAAAATA/fgJg3qqlPcw/s1600/ait_cover.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 380px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S_7c2xvnVDI/AAAAAAAAATA/fgJg3qqlPcw/s400/ait_cover.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476057030553195570" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A sneaky peek at the cool Smila artwork!</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Adventures in Time</span> will be released as a special collectors edition on disk (and hopefully tape) by Psytronik Software for the Commodore Plus/4 (and expanded C16) in June 2010. If you would like to try the game you can download a free version from <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://plus4world.powweb.com/software/Adventures_In_Time">HERE</a>. You can also see the game in action in the YouTube video below.<br /><br /><br /><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9ngdbOyjcT0&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9ngdbOyjcT0&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /></center><br />Thanks for reading, see you ... <span style="font-weight: bold;">IN THE FUTURE</span>! (Hey, that's kind of appropriate for this blog entry!)<br /><br />Kenz / <a href="http://www.psytronik.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.psytronik.com</span></a>Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-23466733445626944542010-04-16T07:36:00.000-07:002010-04-19T13:24:41.685-07:00Amstrad ACTION!<span style="font-weight: bold;">Greetings Humanoids!</span><br /><br />It's always exciting when new releases get added to the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik</span> catalogue (well, I get excited about it anyway!) and it's even MORE exciting when it's releases for a new format that I haven't supported before. I was particularly pleased to add two titles for the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Amstrad CPC</span> to the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik</span> range this month as I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the Amstrad (and I'm not talking about the marsh at the bottom of the garden - Badum-tish!)<br /><br />Anyway, I actually got into the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Amstrad CPC</span> kind of by mistake originally. Before I owned an Amstrad I was an avid<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">ZX Spectru</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">m</span> user. I LOVED playing games on my Speccy and I can't imagine how many HOURS I used to wile away playing classic <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ultimate</span> games and various other Speccy related goodies - until one fateful day I went round to my friends house and played on his <span style="font-weight: bold;">Commodore 64</span>. My little computer-mad mind was blown apart by the beige wonderbox. I had NEVER seen a C64 in action until that moment. One of the games he showed me was Uridium and I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. Stunning bas-relief arcade style graphics, absolutely silky smooth scrolling and THAT music. And so started my love affair with the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Commodore 64</span> and its awesome SID sound chip. From that moment on I was certain of just one thing ... <span style="font-weight: bold;">I WANTED A COMMODORE 64</span>! I lived and DREAMED about C64 games, I listened to C90 tapes filled with the latest <span style="font-weight: bold;">Commodore 64</span> tunes that my friend compiled me and spent many a happy Saturday round at my friends house playing on his C64.<br /><br />And then my Dad decided to buy me a new computer to upgrade my ageing Speccy. He obviously sought advice from Mr Computer Store bloke as to what computer to get me - and I can just picture the bloke in the store saying THIS computer comes with a colour monitor, a built-in tape deck, a better version of BASIC, stereo sound and MORE colours. You don't want to buy your son a Commodore 64, you want to buy him THIS computer ... Which was an <span style="font-weight: bold;">Amstrad CPC 464</span> ... And so he did. Instead of zooming around in my <span style="font-weight: bold;">Manta class starfighter</span> blowing up dreadnoughts in <span style="font-weight: bold;">Uridium </span>what did I get instead? <span style="font-weight: bold;">Roland on the sodding ropes</span>!!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S8y1SynPwJI/AAAAAAAAARY/mIhmVxIse9A/s400/stopeatingbunsroland.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461939782522224786" border="0" /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:78%;" >This is NOT Uridium!</span><br /></div><br />BUT, before all you Amstrad fans start typing angry emails, fear not my retro chums. I stuck with this strange machine that my Dad had given me and after a while I discovered some real gaming gems were available for the Amstrad. I have many happy memories of playing delights such as <span style="font-weight: bold;">Get Dexter</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tempest</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mercenary</span> (faster than the C64 and higher-res too!), <span style="font-weight: bold;">Feud</span> (with THAT tune that blows away the C64 version), <span style="font-weight: bold;">Knight Lore</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Alien 8</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Head Over Heels</span> (4 colour bitmap screens - NICE!) I even began to appreciate the <span style="font-weight: bold;">AY-3-8912</span> sound chip thanks to the likes of <span style="font-weight: bold;">David Whittaker</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dave Rogers</span> who churned out some great tunes. It was those years spent dabbling with the Amstrad that game me a certain amount of fondness for the machine.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S8y57qfSOyI/AAAAAAAAARw/ICkTtSDDpGw/s1600/464sugar.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 261px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S8y57qfSOyI/AAAAAAAAARw/ICkTtSDDpGw/s400/464sugar.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461944882762496802" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:78%;" >This computer is NOT s**t with sugar on top.<br />(see what I did there?)<br /></span></div><br />Of course, all that came to an abrupt end when I eventually bought myself a C64 and sold my Amstrad, but the Amstrad love still remains to this day. :)<br /><br />Now flash forward to 2010 and my little <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psytronik Software</span> label is churning out releases like billy'o. I received an email from <span style="font-weight: bold;">Paul Koositra</span>, an Australian programmer who was looking for a publisher for the 128K version of his awesome <span style="font-weight: bold;">Star Sabre</span> shoot 'em up and forthcoming title <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dead on Time</span> - both for the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Amstrad CPC</span>. I naturally jumped at the chance to support the Amstrad CPC once again and so we worked together on the Psytronik release of the games. Thanks to the wonders of email it was easy for Paul to send me Beta versions of the games but things got a bit more tricky when it came to actually mastering the games. The first obvious problem is that Paul lives over 8000 miles away from me. The second problem is getting hold of a supply of blank 3" disks - which ended up with me fighting in my PANTS on eBay over a box of the mythical (and rather pricey) 3" disks. The disks I received then had to have gooey labels removed (not a result of my pant-fighting, I might add), shiny new Psytronik labels added and then the disks had to be shipped all the way to Australia for Paul to copy the game onto them. The disks then had to be shipped all the back to the UK (a round-trip of over 16000 miles!) before I could add the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Star Sabre</span> disks to the Binary Zone store.<br /><br />Only one other problem remained. I always like to test any Psytronik games before they go in the post. This wasn't a problem for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dead on Time</span> becuase, in a moment of retro weakness, I had actually obtained an <span style="font-weight: bold;">Amstrad CPC 464</span> with a colour monitor, and although it had been languishing in my shed for a while, it was nice to set it up once again so I could test the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dead on Time</span> tapes.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S8y2SfxJ32I/AAAAAAAAARg/w86eJc80O4c/s1600/cpc464.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S8y2SfxJ32I/AAAAAAAAARg/w86eJc80O4c/s400/cpc464.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461940876975136610" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">My CPC 464 - no longer based in the shed!</span></span><br /></div><br />BUT ...<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Star Sabre</span> is a DISK game - and it's 128K only. So, in ANOTHER moment of retro weakness, I managed to win a <span style="font-weight: bold;">CPC 6128</span> on eBay. A bit of a risky purchase I might add as it was an untested machine (and it cost me a tad more than I expected!) Luckily for me, the Amstrad itself worked fine. The built-in disk-drive didn't work however - but Paul warned me that the CPC drives were prone to the drive belts breaking. I followed the <a href="http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Changing_the_drive_belt"><span style="font-weight: bold;">CPC Wiki</span></a> guide to opening up a CPC in order to replace the drive belt, and sure enough, the belt had completely disintegrated! So after an hour of faffing about I managed to clear out all the bits of broken belt-belt, removed the gooey bits that were stuck to the spindle (what IS it with Amstrad disks and goo?) and I managed to fit a new drive belt. I reassembled the Amstrad, fired it up, inserted a <span style="font-weight: bold;">Star Sabre</span> disk and you know what happened? It only bloody worked!! This meant I could test the disks before they went in the post. Yay!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S8y4NFZpmsI/AAAAAAAAARo/-w-MEt0hOB0/s1600/cpc6128.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S8y4NFZpmsI/AAAAAAAAARo/-w-MEt0hOB0/s400/cpc6128.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461942983021140674" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Red-hot CPC disk loading ACTION!</span></span><br /></div><br />BUT, the CPC game saga didn't end there! <span style="font-weight: bold;">Star Sabre</span> was originally meant to be packaged in a 5.25" disk case - and I actually produced an inlay to fit inside one of these cases. As <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dead on Time</span> was a tape game Paul asked me if the game could be packaged in one of those clear twin-tape boxes that were popular with 8-bit games back in the day (I'm not quite sure why exactly so many single-tape games were released in double tape boxes, but I'm pretty sure it's just because they looked cooler on the shop-shelves). Anyway, when I put the two Amstrad games together it looked a bit strange having them in mis-matched packaging - but as a 3" disk will easily fit into a twin-tape box I decided at the very last minute to re-package the game so it would match <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dead on Time</span>. Phew!!<br /><br />And that, my friends, is how the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Amstrad CPC</span> titles were added to the Psytronik range. It involved a heck of a lot of time, a lot of faffing (that's my word of the day) and a lot of cash outlay which I totally don't expect to get back with the sales of the games. But hey, that's not what Psytronik is about. It's putting those nice packages containing shiny Psytronik releases into the hands of retro gamers that makes it all worthwhile. :)<br /><br />One last thing ... If there's anyone based in the UK who would be willing to duplicate some <span style="font-weight: bold;">Star Sabre</span> disks for me, please get in touch - <span style="font-weight: bold;">kenz@binaryzone.org</span> ... It would sure make things easier than sending the disks 16000 miles to be duplicated! The first batch of Star Sabre disks have now sold out but as soon as I sort out a way of getting more disks duplicated I shall make the game available in the <a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Binary Zone Retro Store</span></a> once again.<br /><br />Thanks for reading, see you ... <span style="font-weight: bold;">IN THE FUTURE</span>!<br /><br />Kenz / <a href="http://www.psytronik.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.psytronik.com</span></a> (16/04/10)Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912365816686200799.post-35199727671634176972010-02-24T02:35:00.000-08:002010-02-26T04:32:34.404-08:00One Man & His NEW Mic<span style="font-weight: bold;">Greetings once again Retro Chums!</span><br /><br />Now that <span style="font-weight: bold;">Armalyte</span> is almost ready to be released for the PC I've been spending time working on some extra bonus goodies that will be included on the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Armalyte CD-ROM</span>. As I will soon be doing a second series of <span style="font-weight: bold;">One Man & His Mic</span> retro music podcasts I decided to make a special show devoted to Psytronik Software that will be included on the CD-ROM.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.binaryzone.org/podcast/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 56px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S4eQupbAZJI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/QDEA-_NT3pw/s400/omahm_logo.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442477805768041618" border="0" /></a>It has been over a year since I last did a podcast so my first job was to set up all my recording gear once again. One of the reasons that I haven't actually done a podcast in a while is because my old mic broke! This gave me the chance to try out my shiny new gold <span style="font-weight: bold;">Behringer</span> mic that I received as a Chrimbo prezzie (thanks Nan!) After a bit of crawling around under my desk to plug in various leads I was ready to rock and roll. But straight away a strange problem reared its head. I couldn't record any sounds internally on my PC! For some reason any internal recordings were really, REALLY faint and for a while I couldn't figure out why. But then I found the problem. My new mic is actually a USB device and when it's plugged in it takes over ALL the recording settings on my PC. Not really a problem - I only actually need the Mic when I'm recording my talky bits for the show so I unplugged it and I could then record stuff internally. Sorted!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S4ebAJVVm1I/AAAAAAAAARI/wQAJqV5eZDo/s1600-h/omahm_01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S4ebAJVVm1I/AAAAAAAAARI/wQAJqV5eZDo/s400/omahm_01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442489101508254546" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Here's where the magic happens - in the recently re-painted Psytronik HQ!</span><br /></span></div><br />My next task was decide what tracks to feature in the show. As the show is going to be about the history of Psytronik software I arranged the Psytronik releases chronologically and then chose two tracks from each game - one for the main track and one to use as a sound bed behind my talky bits. Once I had selected the tracks for the show I then recorded any of the tunes that I hadn't already recorded previously. I then dropped the tracks onto the multi-track editor in Cool Edit leaving a 30 second gap between each one for my talky bits. Each <span style="font-weight: bold;">One Man & His Mic </span>show is 1 hour long and luckily enough the tracks I had chosen from all the Psytronik games perfectly fitted into 1 hour! Here's the tracklist for the show:-<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">One Man & His Mic - Psytronik Software Special!</span><br /></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:78%;">01. Sceptre of Baghdad Intro (DJ Skitz)<br />02. The Sceptre of Nu Baghdad (Kate Z).<br />03. Archetype - FZ vs JMJ Remix (FeekZoid).<br />04. Nukenin & The Ronin Title (TMR) [C64].<br />05. PsykoZone Intro (FeekZoid) [C64].<br />06. Sub Hunter Title (Maniacs of Noise) [C64]<br />07. Escape from Arth Title (FeekZoid) [C64].<br />08. Mayhem in Monsterland Title (Tonka) [PC]<br />09. Creatures Remix (Infamous)<br />10. Creatures 2 Redux (Infamous)<br />11. Joe Gunn in-game (Laxity) [C64]<br />12. Armalyte Loader (Martin Walker) [C64]<br />13. The Path Of Destiny - Knight 'n' Grail Subtune #2 (Project N.A.)<br />14. Knight 'n' Grail - Good Ending Orchestral Arrangement (Hans Axelsson)<br />15. The Last Amazon Title Tune (Richard Bayliss) [C64]<br />16. The Wild Bunch (Jon Wells) [C64]<br />17. Star Sabre in-game tune (Targhan) [Amstrad CPC]<br />18. Armalyte Title Tune (Infamous) [PC]<br /></span></div><br />The next step was to jot down any notes and bits of trivia that I want to mention about each game and then record my links. I plugged in my new Mic and set to work waffling about each Psytronik game in turn. The sound quality of the mic was excellent - much better than my old mic - nice one Behringer! I always try to keep my talky-bits to around 30 seconds so you never have to wait for too long for the next tune to play when you listen to the show. I also try to record each link in one pass to give the show a kind of "live" feel - although some links took a few attempts when my tongue got tied in knots or when I remembered something else I wanted to mention. The links are then normalized and hard-limited to make them nice and clear and are then dropped into the editor between each main track. The soundbeds are then tweaked and arranged in the editor to play behind my talky-bits at a low volume.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S4ebXlY7isI/AAAAAAAAARQ/YtRNdxc6lno/s1600-h/omahm_02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S4ebXlY7isI/AAAAAAAAARQ/YtRNdxc6lno/s400/omahm_02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442489504176507586" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">My shiny new mic with the OMAHM show on the screen in the background.</span></span><br /></div><br />Now the show is really taking shape! DJ Skitz delivered a very cool <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sceptre of Baghdad</span> intro jingle (complete with a loud mother-hubbard of a breakbeat) which I slotted into place at the start of the show. When I'm using the multi-track editor I can usually edit a complete <span style="font-weight: bold;">One Man & His Mic</span> episode using just four separate tracks. One for the main tracks, one for the sound beds, one for my talky bits and a spare track for any twiddly stuff or crossfades. The picture below shows how the edited show looks in <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cool Edit</span>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S4eTv-tPSnI/AAAAAAAAARA/jeQ57PQSl7A/s1600-h/cooledit.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 310px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oiAlVf4DoYw/S4eTv-tPSnI/AAAAAAAAARA/jeQ57PQSl7A/s400/cooledit.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442481127196412530" border="0" /></a><br />With everything in place I then created a mixdown of the show which I test out in my mp3 player while I'm travelling to work. While I'm listening to the show I make mental notes of any sound levels I need to change or if I have any ideas for gags or extra audio snippets I can sneak into each show. The show is then finished off with me adding or changing any bits that I thought about when I tested the show. A final mixdown is then created along with a high-quality mp3 which will be included on the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Armalyte</span> CD-ROM.<br /><br />I'm really pleased with how this show has turned out. It's nice and varied as it contains some cool remixes of music from Psytronik games (there's some real treats on there for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Knight 'n' Grail</span> fans!), a nice selection of Commodore 64 tunes (recorded from a REAL Commodore 64 of course) and I'm also happy that there's an Amstrad CPC tune included in the show which adds to the variety. As well as being included on the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Armalyte</span> CD-ROM the show will also be released online later this year as part of series 2 of <span style="font-weight: bold;">One Man & His Mic</span> - so keep an eye on <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.binaryzone.org/podcast/" target="_blank">www.binaryzone.org/podcast</a></span> for details about series 2!<br /><br />And that's it for now. Thanks for reading and I'll see you ... <span style="font-weight: bold;">IN THE FUTURE</span><br /><br />Kenz / <span style="font-weight: bold;">www.psytronik.com</span>.Kenzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17822861297408849073noreply@blogger.com2