One Man & His NEW Mic

Greetings once again Retro Chums!

Now that Armalyte 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 Armalyte CD-ROM. As I will soon be doing a second series of One Man & His Mic retro music podcasts I decided to make a special show devoted to Psytronik Software that will be included on the CD-ROM.

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 Behringer 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!

Here's where the magic happens - in the recently re-painted Psytronik HQ!

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 One Man & His Mic 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:-

One Man & His Mic - Psytronik Software Special!

01. Sceptre of Baghdad Intro (DJ Skitz)
02. The Sceptre of Nu Baghdad (Kate Z).
03. Archetype - FZ vs JMJ Remix (FeekZoid).
04. Nukenin & The Ronin Title (TMR) [C64].
05. PsykoZone Intro (FeekZoid) [C64].
06. Sub Hunter Title (Maniacs of Noise) [C64]
07. Escape from Arth Title (FeekZoid) [C64].
08. Mayhem in Monsterland Title (Tonka) [PC]
09. Creatures Remix (Infamous)
10. Creatures 2 Redux (Infamous)
11. Joe Gunn in-game (Laxity) [C64]
12. Armalyte Loader (Martin Walker) [C64]
13. The Path Of Destiny - Knight 'n' Grail Subtune #2 (Project N.A.)
14. Knight 'n' Grail - Good Ending Orchestral Arrangement (Hans Axelsson)
15. The Last Amazon Title Tune (Richard Bayliss) [C64]
16. The Wild Bunch (Jon Wells) [C64]
17. Star Sabre in-game tune (Targhan) [Amstrad CPC]
18. Armalyte Title Tune (Infamous) [PC]

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.

My shiny new mic with the OMAHM show on the screen in the background.

Now the show is really taking shape! DJ Skitz delivered a very cool Sceptre of Baghdad 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 One Man & His Mic 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 Cool Edit.


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 Armalyte CD-ROM.

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 Knight 'n' Grail 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 Armalyte CD-ROM the show will also be released online later this year as part of series 2 of One Man & His Mic - so keep an eye on www.binaryzone.org/podcast for details about series 2!

And that's it for now. Thanks for reading and I'll see you ... IN THE FUTURE

Kenz / www.psytronik.com.

Retrovision 2010

Greetings Programs!

Firstly, an apology for the lack of blog updates recently. This has been due to various factors - some personal, some mundane (including repainting the Psytronik office which took a MONTH due to all the retro stuff that had to be moved around!) All this resulted in the Psytronik releases being put on hold for a while and, unfortunately, this meant the games I was hoping to release just before Christmas (Armalyte PC & Star Sabre 128) were not completed in time. But don't worry folks, work has now resumed on these releases and both games will soon be available.

So what has been happening with Psytronik Software recently I hear you cry. Well, I've just got back to the Psytronik HQ after attending the awesome Retrovision 2010 event and I thought I'd better type up a report of the event while it's all still fresh in my mind! So are you sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin ...

My epic voyage to RV2010 began on Friday February 5th 2010 with me pointing the Kenzmobile(tm) in the direction of Milton Keynes. I was being accompanied to the event by my good buddy DJ Skitz (of SlayRadio fame) and in order shorten the journey a tad I crashed at the SkitzHQ after some tasty pizza scoffage (a Dominos "big smoky" - for techno buffs who are listening).

Me & Skitz zzoomed off to Oxford on Saturday morning and arrived at the event venue (The Folly Bridge Inn) just before noon. We would have arrived a bit earlier had it not been for a slight navigational error. I noticed I already had "RV guesthouse" programmed into my TomTom but what I didn't realise was it was actually a different place we stayed at a couple of years ago - so I was expecting it to navigate me to the White House View Hotel opposite the Folly and we ended up somewhere else completely! Nyeeeeeuurrrrrr!

Dunnu-dunnu-dunnu-dunnu-BEERMAN!

Anyhoo, once at the Folly a quick recce revealed the main room to be pretty much set up and operational (and stuffed with an amazing amount of retro-tech, the most I'd ever seen at an RV event in fact!) Me & Skitz unloaded the car and got the Binary Zone / Psytronik stand set up and running. This was the first time I had taken three separate systems to an event so I had a bit more setting up to do than normal.

The Binary Zone table crammed with Psytronik goodies!
(Photo by VinnyM)

My table featured a Spectrum 128 +2 complete with audio CD loading system and supa-clear SCART TV lead, the Specadore 64 (I couldn't NOT bring that along as it always proves to be popular at these events!) along with my new addition to the Specadore family, the 1541 MK II Microdrive (okay, it's a 1541 drive sprayed black complete with Speccy stripes to match the Specadore!) I also took my PC with me in order to demonstrate the full PC version of Armalyte for the first time - and this proved to be VERY popular.

Armalyte on the PC complete with a packaging mockup next to the screen!
(Photo by VinnyM)

This was the first time the FULL version of Armalyte had been on show and it gave people the chance to play the later levels of the game - which caused some "ooo-ing" and "aah-ing" as the beautiful graphics by Smila went scrolling past. I also demonstrated some of the bonus goodies that will be featured with the game including the mix-e-load music demo, the artwork "making of" demo and the jukebox (although anything music-related was pretty much drowned out by all the other retro noises in the room!) The PC conversion of the game is now pretty much 100% complete, I just need to finish off some of the bonus items that will be featured on the CD-ROM. (The game will be officially released and shipped in April 2010 - in case you were wondering!)

Frank "Games That Weren't" Gasking blowing up stuff on Armalyte!

One of the great things about these retro events is that you meet various people from the retro scene and retro forums. It was great to see lots of familiar faces from the YakYak forum, some new faces from the Retro Gamer forum, people I've met at various events and people I've known for years thanks to my retro related shenanigans! The atmosphere at RV is always really friendly and there's always people you can chat too and play classic games with. The namebadges also help to put faces to forum ID's!

Alex Aris battles the H'siffian Empire

The rest of saturday was spent playing games (Trashman on the Speccy! Yayy!), drinking Guinness (double-yayy!), playing MORE games and drinking MORE Guinness! As well as being able to demonstrate the Psytronik releases on the screens I also took along some prototype artwork from forthcoming releases - some of which was exclusively unveiled at RV. The picture below shows the first ever Psytronik Compilation which was inspired by the famous They Sold A Million compilation released back in 1985. Despite not quite selling a million the Psytronik compilation features four cracking Psytronik games, will fill four disk-sides (or two tapes) and will be released in March 2010 - you heard it here folks!

The first Psytronik compilation COMING SOON!
(Photo by VinnyM)

A herd of us then ambled off for a curry at Chutneys (shouldn't that be "Chunteys", Speccy fans?) - who (after keeping us waiting for a yonk outside) managed to accomodate over 30 retro fiends and I was soon replete with a surprisingly hot madras curry which made me hiccup somewhat.

More Armalyte blastage - this time with Piku at the helm

The evening was rounded off back at the Folly with a bit more retro gaming before the racket from Rockband was starting to damage my brain (it was very hard trying to play Bugaboo the Flea with all that din!) so I ambled over the road to the hotel to entertain DJ Skitz with lots of curry induced windypops.

RV2010 - It was just a blur!
(Photo by VinnyM)

And then all of a sudden it was SUNDAY! The very nice people at the White House View Hotel (plug plug) laid on a scrummy cooked brekkie which energized me & Skitz for another day of gaming FUN! I always like Sundays at RV as it's a great chill-out type day. I spent Sunday alternating chatting with RV peeps downstairs in the pub and gaming upstairs. A deelish Sunday roast was then consumed before me & Skitz began dismantling the Zone for the long journey home.

The brill Armalyte artwork demo runs in the background while
the main game runs happily in Windows 7 on the laptop.

And so that was Retrovision 2010 - an excellent weekend! Before I go, I'd just like to do a few shout-outs to various peeps at the event. Due to brain addledness I can't remember everyone I chatted with but special menchies go to:- My most excellent travelling companion DJ "Zer0page" Skitz, Vinny "C64 Endings" Mainolfi (thanx for the photos!), Frank "Games that Weren't" Gasking (thanx for the VIC warez), StarshipUK, VintageMatt, PsychoRob (thanx for the great event!), Amy & Piku, Dungeon Dave & Dawn (I'll bump into you in Malvern ONE day!), the awesomely awesome Bog (good luck in the U.S of A, old friend), Markie (there was no way I was gonna let you miss an RV dude!), THE Jon (not just any Jon), Bane, Alex Aris, Beerman, Mayhem, Jools, MadHippo, Juice, Paul "RG" Drury, Rinoa, SirClive, Renegade Si, Dave Moore & the RS gang and the RCM posse (see you guys in May!) ... Special thanks also for the staff at the Folly Bridge Inn for looking after us (or should I say "putting up with us") and for filling us with copious amounts of lovely food and drink. Sorry to everyone I forgot to mention here - blame the guinness!

If you would like to see the complete set of photos that I took at RV2010 CLICK HERE!

And that's yer lot for now. In the next blog entry I'll be detailing the making of one of the extras that will be featured on the Armalyte CD-ROM. And just to whet your appetite I can tell you that a certain One Man will be setting up his NEW Mic in order to record something very special for the Armalyte CD!

See you ... IN THE FUTURE!

Kenz / www.psytronik.com

More Psytronik goodies on the way!

Hiya gang!

Things have been busier than the Mayor of Busyville on a busy day at the Psytronik HQ recently. I've actually been working on FOUR Psytronik releases simultaneously (eep!) which I'm trying to have finished and released by the end of 2009. The good news is two of the releases are now ready and are now available in the BZ retro store. They are The Wild Bunch (which I talked about in the last blog entry) and the superb VIC-20 RPG package Realms of Quest.

Realms of Quest for the VIC-20 - featuring swords, scorcery, dungeons AND dragons!

And on the subject of Realms of Quest, congratulations from the Psytronik team go to Peter Hamilton from Midlothian who has won himself a rather smart Commodore Computer Club polo-shirt as he was the first person to order the game. Well done to Peter for winning the shirt and our thanks go to the excellent guys at the Commodore Computer Club for donating the shirt.

There was a bit of a delay with the release of the disk version of The Wild bunch as some eagle-eyed gamers spotted a couple of minor bugs in the tape version of the game. These bugs were duly squished by Jon and I'm pleased to say the disk version of the game is now being shipped and the disk features the full and final bug-free version of the game. While Jon was busy fixing the game it gave me a bit of extra time to work on the game artwork. In the end I decided to have the Premium inlays professionally printed in full colour and the inlays also feature the game instructions printed on the inside in full colour too - coooool!

A still from the cool Wild Bunch intro sequence (exclusive to the C64 disk version)

A lot of progress has been made on the stunning PC conversion of Armalyte which is being handled by the heroes known as S-A-S Designs. I'm very pleased to announce that the main game itself has now been finished and is now in the hands of the beta-testers who will be giving the game a serious thrashing (oo-er) before it's unleashed into the universe at large. Smila has sent over a bundle of new screenshots from the PC version of the game for you to drool over:-

Firing some serious weaponry on the Alien-esque second level

Snaffling some power-ups while walkers stomp around beneath

Unleashing some laser-death torpedoes on an end-of-level baddie

Check out those gorgeous background graphics by Smila!

Rampaging through the shiny sparkling crystalline level

Not only will the CD-ROM contain the full PC version of the game but it will also contain some rather tasy bonus extras too. These will include a stunning MIX-E-LOAD demo (inspired by the famous C64 Delta mix-e-load), an Armalyte MUSIC JUKEBOX featuring the fab music from the PC version of the game and a really neat executable slideshow showing the development of the new game artwork.

The brill Armalyte PC Jukebox - just one of the bonus extras included with the game

The CD-ROM will also contain the original C64 version of the game in emulator-friendly form along with assorted other bonus goodies carefully compiled for your entertainment and enjoyment. To pre-order your Armalyte PC CD-ROM head on over to the BZ store.

The final Psytronik Software release for 2009 will be the awesome Amstrad CPC shoot 'em Star Sabre. The game itself is now finished and I've also produced the inlay for the Premium disk version of the game which you can see below:

At long last an Amstrad CPC title has been added to the Psytronik range!

The game will be available on original Amstrad 3" disks and will be compatible with the Amstrad CPC 6128 along with the CPC 464 (as long as you have a disk-drive and memory expansion!) Hopefully the game will be available in the BZ store some time in December 2009.

The Star Sabre loading screen complete with Psytronik logo - groovy!

One final tasty titbit of news for ya. Since I released the Psytronik Premium Range earlier this year I've been literally swamped with a couple of requests (heh!) from people asking if they can buy the plastic 5.25" disk cases from me. The answer to that question is now YES as I've made the replacement cases available in the BZ store (click here for ordering info!)

At last you can replace those busted C64 game cases!

And that's yer lot for now. Keep an eye on www.psytronik.com for more news and info on the latest Psytronik Software releases.

See you ... IN THE FUTURE!

Kenz / www.psytronik.com

There's a snake in my boot!

For a long time now my coding chum Jon Wells has been working on a C64 conversion of the Western adventure game The Wild Bunch. This was originally released waaaay back in 1984 by Firebird Software on the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad. I'm particularly fond of this game as it was one of the first budget titles I bought for my Speccy and I remember having great fun trying to round up members of the Wild Bunch, drinking and gambling in the Saloon and taking part in deadly gunfights (as you do).

Reach for your guns, you blue-faced varmint! (ZX Spectrum)

Jon is also a fan of the game and one of his early coding projects was a C64 conversion of the game. Work on the C64 version ground to a stop and for a long while it looked like the game would never appear on the C64. This was until Jon unearthed some disks in 2008 that contained his unfinished C64 conversion of The Wild Bunch. After an enthusiastic response from Frank 'Games that Weren't' Gasking, Jon decided to continue working on the game. A development diary was put online (which you can read HERE) and after another year of development the C64 version of The Wild Bunch was finally completed in September 2009.

Aaaarrgh! He got me! (C64)

So what does this have to do with Psytronik Software I hear you cry? Well, when Jon decided to finish off his C64 conversion of the game he sent me an email to ask if I would like to help out with the packaging of the game. As I'd had an excellent time working with Jon on various projects back in the 90s I jumped at the chance of working with him again. I produced a full colour tape inlay for the game along with authentic Firebird-style tape labels to go with it. I also put together a Wild Bunch soundtrack CD which contained music from the game (digitally recorded from my C64) along with various other C64 Western style tunes. 25 copies of the CD were then given away in a prize draw to people who pre-ordered the game from Jon.

An early pic of my Wild Bunch C64 inlay.

Once I had produced the tape inlay for Jon I then had an idea. As a bit of an experiment I used the tape inlay template and designed a full colour Psytronik Software inlay for Jon's game Sceptre of Baghdad (which was also the first Psytronik release). I was never happy with the black and white photocopied inlay that the game was presented with back in 1994 so it was really nice to see the game with a proper full colour inlay. When my C64 chums Frank Gasking and Vinny 'C64 Endings' Mainolfi saw the new inlay for Sceptre of Baghdad they urged me to properly re-release the game with the new artwork - and so I did! This led onto the re-release of ALL the Psytronik titles along, the re-release of classic C64 games like Mayhem in Monsterland, Creatures 1 & 2 and Armalyte and of the release of new C64 titles like Sub Hunter and Knight 'n' Grail! So it was the creation of the tape inlay for the C64 version of The Wild Bunch that led to the relaunch of Psytronik Software!

But our story doesn't end there. For the last few weeks I've been secretly beavering away on a special top secret release for Psytronik Software ... I'm very pleased to announce that a Premium Disk Edition of The Wild Bunch will be released by Psytronik in October 2009. Renamed slightly to Wanted: The Wild Bunch the Psytronik disk version will feature a new animated intro and end sequence (not included on the tape version) along with the complete game itself and a brand new bitmap loading screen (drawn in dynamic Kenz-o-Vision)! The game will be presented with full colour glossy artwork and the Premium Edition will also contain FREE copy of the The Wild Bunch soundtrack CD that I mentioned earlier!

The lovely PREMIUM Disk Edition of Wanted:The Wild Bunch!

You can pre-order the tape and Psytronik disk version of the game NOW from the Binary Zone Retrostore. You also order the tape and (very soon) a DIGITAL DOWNLOAD version directly from Jon Wells - click the banner below for details:



And that's yer lot for now, thanks for reading, pardners!

Kenz / www.psytronik.com

VIC, VIC, Hooray!

I've always been intrigued by the VIC-20 computer but had never really used one properly until recently. It was during the release of the VIC-20 game Carling the Spider on the Psytronik label that I finally fired up the XVIC emulator and started dabbling with VIC-20 games. And you know what, I was impressed! A bit of YouTube searching also revealed some fantastic VIC-20 demo releases - many of which were designed to run on an unexpanded 5K VIC! Check out these babies:-


We are the robots, doo doo dee doo!


It's not possible - it's Impossiblator!

WOW! I hadn't realised there was such an active demo scene on the VIC and as I just lurve demos I rapidly became a new fan of the machine. Emulation and YouTube videos are one thing - experiencing them on a REAL machine are another! So I recently took the plunge and bought a complete VIC-20 setup from eBay. As well as being able to experience games and demos on the real deal it also means I can properly playtest forthcoming VIC-20 Psytronik releases (and play Carling the Spider on a proper machine - yay!) :)

Hi-ho, Vic, hi-ho, hi-ho!

And talking of our little spidery chum Carling, I'm pleased to announce the game will be available on TAPE from Psytronik.com VERY soon (budget / premium disk & digital download versions are now available). Here's a pic of the tape version for you to drool over:-

Along came a Spider (being chased by BALLS OF STEEL!)

And I've got some MORE great news for VIC fans. The big Summer Psytronik VIC-20 release REALMS OF QUEST is nearing completion. Here's how the premium disk version is currently looking:-

"Let me tell you of the days of high adventure"

The complete Realms of Quest trilogy along with a host of
bonus games - all on one flippy-floppy!

If you look closely at the pictures above you'll see there's a Commodore Computer Club logo on there. This is because the heroes at the Commodore Club club have very kindly offered to sponsor this release! Many thanks guys. :)



The disk will contain the complete REALMS OF QUEST Trilogy of RPG games - including a special 16K DUNJON CRAWLER version of REALMS OF QUEST III. You also get the choice to play the new REALMS games with the original graphics designed by the games author Ghislain - or a special enhanced edition with fantastic graphics by Saehn of Style Designs. Check out the screenies below:-

Aaiieee! A skeletal warriour attacks!

Have at ye Kobold!

The REALMS OF QUEST disk also contains a fantastic selection of bonus games on the flip-side of the disk. These will all run happily on an unexpanded VIC-20 and the compilation includes conversions of classic arcade games + much more. The disk-only release will be presented with glossy full colour inlay art and a whopping 36 page manual!

REALMS OF QUEST will be available to order from Psytronik Software in September 2009. Keep an eye on www.psytronik.com for details.

Thanks for reading, keep it RETRO!

Kenz / www.psytronik.com

New Psytronik website now online!

Greetings blogonauts!

Since the relaunch of Psytronik Software things have gone a bit barmy - so much so in fact it got to the point there simply wasn't room on the Psytronik webpage to include all the info about the new releases. This is probably down to the fact that the Psytronik site began merely as a "history of Psytronik" page hiding within the Binary Zone Interactive website.

Anyhoo, rather than try to cobble info about new releases onto the history page I've been busy working on a shiny new website for Psytronik Software. The end result is now online and is hopefully a bit of an improvement on the old site! At the moment the new site contains all the info from the old Psytronik page - but this time neatly arranged with separate sections devoted to news, releases, history, and press etc. Some sections are still incomplete at the moment but the site will soon be bulging with retro gaming goodliness. Head along to www.psytronik.com to check out the new site.

The new Psytronik site - slicker than the mess dumped in the sea by the Exxon Valdez

So what else has been happening in the weird and wonderful world of Psytronik recently? Firstly, our Summer mega-game Knight 'n' Grail is now ready to be shipped at long last! The final version of the game has been approved by various reviewers and testers and I'll be busy bundling the K'n'G disks in the post in the next week or so. To promote the launch of the game I've put together a brand new promo video for the game which will be unveilled at the LCP party in Sweden later this month. Here's a picture from the promo vid for you to drool over!

Wok-wok-bligga-blogga! There's dungeon capers aplenty in Knight 'n' Grail!

I'm also very pleased to announce the first Psytronik release for the Amstrad CPC range has now been confirmed. It's the stunning 128K version of STAR SABRE which will be available as a premium 3" disk release soon. The game is an excellent sideways scrolling shoot 'em up in which you control a Sabre scout craft on a mission to defend a Xeno-archaeological site that is being attacked by vessels of unknown origin. Featuring excellent presentation, gripping shoot 'em action and funky 128K music this is yet another Psytronik release you should not miss!

Eat laser death you big blobbling red ... er, space thing!

And that's yer lot for now. Thanks for reading!

Kenz / www.psytronik.com

Psytronik PREMIUM Range Released!

Greetings once again Retro Chums!

One of the most difficult things I've had to do since relaunching Psytronik Software is to find a good way to package C64 disks. The tapes were easy to do as people still use tapes and you can quite easily buy blank tapes and empty cases. Disks on the other hand were an entirely different matter. As soon as the first couple of Psytronik tape games appeared I received emails asking if disk versions would be available so it was obvious I needed to release the games on disk as well ... but how? I couldn't exactly walk into my local stationary shop and ask for some 5.25" floppy disk cases - I would have gotten some funny looks doing that in 2008!

My initial idea for the Psytronik disks was to package them in plastic wallets - the same as the ones US Gold and Melbourne House used back in the day. I thought as the packaging was quite generic something similar still may be on the market today ... I was wrong. After much trawling through the web and stationary catalogues I couldn't find anything even resembling the wallets. So I then moved onto plan B. I contacted a plastic manufacturing company and told them what I was after. They seemed to think they could help so I sent them a US Gold game case to examine. Good news! They had the equipment to produce similar wallets and sent me a sample which, although not perfect (their equipment would have to be calibrated to produce the proper sleeves) it was close enough. Enclosed with the sample was a price quote for supplying 200 of the wallets - it was almost 900 pounds!! This meant the disk wallets alone would cost almost £5.00 each (and that doesn't include the artwork, floppy disk, disk sleeve, disk label and instruction sheet).

C64 disk wallets - it's not cheap to produce these in 2009!

I abandoned that idea and resumed my search. As I had no luck finding plastic cases or wallets my helpful chum Dave (from Retro Software) pointed me to a site that sold cardboard packaging. I rather liked their white boxes and the internal measurements were just right to hold a C64 floppy disk. As the boxes were rectangular it meant I could use the same artwork that I used for the Psytronik tapes. With the boxes bookmarked I then searched for glossy labels I could stick to the boxes. I found some A4 glossy labels online but they were a tad pricey. As I was really keen on getting the disk range launched I took the plunge and ordered 200 labels. Fortunately, the labels were excellent quality. I designed templates that could be cut out and folded around the white boxes. There was enough room on an A4 page to also include a label for the back of the box, a Psytronik logo and the disk label! The Psytronik Deluxe Disk Range was born.

The Deluxe Range meant I could make disk games available at last.

The Deluxe range wasn't without its problems however. I hadn't taken into consideration how long it would take to produce each box. Every single box had to assembled, the artwork printed, cut out and applied to the front and back. Fiddly! The boxes were also a pain to package and post. They had to be reinforced inside so they didn't get squashed during transit - and I also had to include extra packing inside (along with loads of bubble-wrap) to protect them from the wrath of the Royal Mail. Still, the boxes looked cool though so I was willing to put up with the hassle of producing them ... but then disaster struck! In April 2009 the place where I bought the A4 glossy labels stopped trading. Aargh! A search for alternative glossy labels immediately ensued and I managed to find some A4 glossy vinyl labels. These were excellent quality, really nice to work with but were REALLY expensive. So now I had a decision to make ... do I increase the price of deluxe games or try one last time to find alternative packaging. I opted for the latter ...

With time (and glossy labels) rapidly running out I went back to searching for plastic cases. This was actually inspired by my office job in the "real world". We received an update for the accounting package we use and the CD came in a 5.25" plastic case just like C64 games used to use. "Aha!" I thought. If this company is using them then you must still be able to buy them. A more intensive search ensued along with emails to suppliers I used in my previous job ... One of my old contacts replied saying he could supply cases the size I required. I tentatively ordered a box of cases from him and waited for them to arrive. Not quite knowing what to expect I ripped into the package that arrived a few days later and my heart jumped when I saw what was inside. The cases I received were almost *identical* to the ones that C64 games were packaged in back in the day ... but these were brand new!!! Using measurements from an original C64 game sleeve as a guide I produced a template that I could use to adapt the existing Psytronik game artwork to fit on the new sleeve. A test inlay was printed and I was gobsmacked ... I has holding in my hand a *proper* C64 disk game in a plastic case! The Psytronik Software Premium Range was born.

You have no idea how long it has taken me to find these cases!

The last few weeks have been spent producing new artwork for ALL the Psytronik Premium titles. The good thing about re-doing all the artwork is I was able to *improve* on the game artwork in places ... It was fun adding little things like having the catalogue number on the spine, moving the Psytronik slab logo to BELOW the fist logo (I have no idea why it was above on the tape spines!), fitting FOUR screenshots on the back of the disk inlay and for the final embellishment - a nice gold (or silver) PREMIUM EDITION logo now proudly adorns the front of each inlay.

Psytronik Premium Disk Releases - Now that's what I'm talking about!

I'm really pleased (and relieved!) to have finally solved the problem with the disk packaging. The Premium Psytronik releases look exactly how I wanted the Psytronik disks to look originally - just like proper C64 games from back in the C64's heyday! You can now order ALL the Psytronik disk games in the Premium packaging (CLICK HERE) and don't worry if you've already bought budget or deluxe versions, you can upgrade your existing versions to Premium Versions! (CLICK HERE).

The new Premium range - it's all spiralling out of control! :)

Please note that I will be discontinuing the Deluxe Range as soon as I've used up my last few labels and cardboard boxes - so if you want any Deluxe titles for your collection you'd better be quick! :)

Thanks for reading!

Kenz / www.psytronik.com