To boldy go ... Sub Hunting!

Greetings, Programs!

Here's an interesting little Psytronik related tidbit for ya ... I recently discovered that an "Enterprising" individual (pun intended) had ported Sub Hunter onto the somewhat obscure Elan Enterprise 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?


In order to get the Enterprise version of Sub Hunter running on my PC I downloaded a copy of the ep32 emulator. Once the disk image containing the game had been dropped into the emulator I was ready for some Enterprise Sub Hunting ACTION!


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.


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.


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).


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!


If you would like to play Sub Hunter on the Enterprise you can get the ep32 emulator HERE and here's a link to a .zip file that contains the disk image of the game:- Sub Hunter Enterprise Version. The .zip file also includes a ReadMe.txt file that contains instructions for loading the game into the ep32 Enterprise Emulator.


Thanks for reading!

Kenz / www.psytronik.net

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

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