Hints and Tips for videogames pioneers – the video!

When Andrew Hewson announced to GamesYouLoved.com he was going to bring the wisdom of the 80s and 90s game development experiences to life through a ‘hints and tips’ book – we were excited to say the least!

Not only had Team - GamesYouLoved.com grown up with playing the Hewson and 21^st Century Entertainment gaming classics across a range of different microcomputers - we had been fully aware of Andrew’s part in the UK’s gaming history which sprung up during the 80s and into the 90s.  

It was more than just making and publishing the games for Hewson. It was about a whole generation of kids like us at the time inspired to use a computer. The part Andrew played in providing articles and content for the gaming press as well as his own published books of the 80s is a testament to this cause.

There were the games too, Pinball Fantasies, Firelord Zynaps, Uridium and Nebulus –really fantastic games with amazing graphics and addictive gameplay.

The people involved with Hewson in the design, artwork and development of these games were our heroes. We wanted to know more and Andrew was there with the help of his son Rob to do the job for us.

Kickstarter provided a great forum for the project to live and really happen on a scale and was successful in its fundrasing and we at GamesYouLoved.com supported this thoroughly along with worldwide retrogaming community.

We were also privileged to hear first hand some of Andrew’s experience of Hewson in the 1980s at Play Expo Manchester - last October.

We heard about setting up the business and the early days, how Andrew marketed the business with investment in development rather than expensive advertising. Through the growth of gaming generally in the 80s, and Hewson with it into the years with 21^st Century Entertainment. This footage provided by GamesYouLoved.com in collaboration with Hewson will help formulate the bigger story to what is an amazing narrative of gaming history - which is due to be told with the forthcoming release of the book.

Part one: Hints & Tips for Videogame Pioneers - Part 1/3 - The Birth of Hewson Consultants - - part 2 and 3 to follow:

Jet Set Willy II - a love for this game - by Andy Pryer

Before we begin in ernest I think I should make clear that in I am unable to write a fair and balanced review of Jet Set Willy II as I am extremely bias towards this game.  You see, this was my ‘gateway game’, the first game I ever played (excluding my mindless fumblings as a toddler in the arcade) and the first game that I owned:  purchased on impulse from Superdrug no less back when everywhere sold games, and actually before I even owned a computer!  

Not only was it an immediate portal to a vast and surreal universe (once I’d secured my rubber-keyed spectrum a few days later), but in many ways it was a conduit to the gaming world at large, so I hope you’ll understand and forgive me my prejudices.

Jet Set Willy is the third outing for the character of Miner Willy of Manic Miner fame (Jet Set Willy II is kind of an expansion pack for the first JSW game adding more rooms and different music).  Flush with cash after his success in the mines, Willy decided swap his helmet for a topper and treat himself to a large country pile and celebrate with a party of biblical proportions.  Now, there’s a party I would like to have been at; although I would only have been seven at the time, so I may not have gotten the full benefit.  

To say this house is large is a ridiculous understatement.  It’s also very well appointed and comes equipped with all the conveniences you’d expect in a playboy gazillionair’s pad: Swimming pool, private beach with yacht mooring, a space rocket to transport you to the space station annex and of course all the young go-getter’s want the latest must-have gadget: a gateway to hell. 

As the previous resident, an eccentric professor, left the residence in mysterious circumstances, many of his experiments and contraptions are still running.  I can’t even begin to fathom what unholy experiments this crackpot must have been working on, but the resultant fallout seriously prevents ergonomic movement through the property.  One would imagine that being accosted on the stairs by a huge, flaming skull would play to the buyers favor at the negotiating table, so the house presumably came at a knock down price.

Somehow, Willy was able to convince guests to join him for a soiree at his death trap of a mansion, but we arrive on the scene after the final guest has either left or fallen victim to one of the many peculiar hazards.  We can only presume that the party was a success judging my the amount of glassware strew throughout the house.  Willy awakes in the bathroom where our hero has been purging his system of the excesses of the previous evening, as graphically illustrated on the cover.  But unfortunately for Willy, who’s understandably quite keen to hit the hay by this point, his housekeeper Maria doesn’t think risking her neck to gather the dirty glasses is in her job description, so she stands guard over his bed, denying him access until the last of the mess is cleared up.

Personally I’d have sacked her on the spot, but I guess Willy either loves a challenge or has matriarchal issues. And so Willy embarks upon the greatest adventure ever undertaken without leaving the house.

Unlike Manic Miner, the individually named screens can be attempted in any order, which delivers an amazing sense of scale and encourages epic exploration whether you decide to collect the items or not (I usually didn’t).  Just navigating through the game world can while away hours and there is always something more to see.  Collecting all the crockery is a somewhat daunting task to say the least, many of the room layouts will leave you scratching your head or thumping it raw with frustration, and the Prof.’s experiments certainly don’t make it any easier.  Whether your head is smashed in by a large rotating lemon, or your jaxi is being speared by a levitating rooftop guard, death is instantaneous and with only seven lives it's often not long before you’re crushed under the naked foot of failure in a Monty Pythonesqe scene signaling that your final life as been depleted.  

You certainly can’t blame the controls for you failure, with just Left, Right and Jump you aren’t going to get confused.  I prefer to use keyboard over joystick, but that may be because I didn’t have a joystick when I first had the game.

The music is simple, but like everything else is perfectly judged.  The title screen treats you to a superb 8-bit rendition of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, while the scale of the actual adventure is enhanced no-end by looping In the Hall of the Mountain King (or If I Were a Rich Man from Fiddler on the Roof in the case of the original JSW)

A game with this much character can only have been made at this magical time of bedroom coders, where one person’s wonderful eccentricity could be tapped and converted to code. The game was and is immensely popular and elevated it’s author Matthew Smith, already idolised for Manic Miner, to legendary status.  

I feel rather lucky that my first game was one which was bound to strike such a chord with me.  The sense of humour coupled with the spirit of exploration and discovery still wows me to this day, almost as if the game was aimed especially at me to entice me off my bike and into games.  Intentional or not, it worked.  I know not all games can be like this, but it would be nice if there was a little something of the spirit of JSW in games today.

Thanks to Guest Blogger - Andy Pryer

You can also follow Andy on Twitter @ClammyLizard

EXCLUSIVE Bluetooth ZX SPECTRUM KICKSTARTER Interview with Elite Systems Managing Director, Steve Wilcox

So Steve - thanks for taking time out at the beginning of this exciting time with the launch of your new Kickstarter. But this isn't something new for you creating new technologies and games for the industry.

Firstly lets talk about Elite and its History....

Q. Tell us about your role at Elite - Steve from the beginning and to now?

Steve Wilcox

Well, I’m a de facto co-founder of the company, having been a Director since it’s formation on 14^th August, 1984. Consequently, I’ve been involved – in some way - with every glorious (and every inglorious) moment of Elite’s 29 year history.

Q. How and why was elite founded?

Steve Wilcox.

Although I’m a co-founder, that’s really less than half of the story. The real source of Elite’s foundation was my much younger and somewhat smarter brother – Richard. In 1982/3, at the age of 14/15 he wrote – first for the Atari 400 and subsequently for the ZX Spectrum – a TV-series inspired game, featuring a helicopter. It was called ‘Blue Thunder’ and was marketed using the label ‘Richard Wilcox Software’. Our father, Brian, backed Richard’s work with full-colour, full, page advertisments in Computer & Video Games magazine, amongst others. At that time, I’d just left my one and only post-University employment to set up and independent retail outlet specialising in the sale of ZX Spectrum software and hardware. It traded as “Bowies: The ZX Spectrum Specialists”. Richard’s game needed selling into the retail channel, in those days that meant Boots, WH Smith et al. So, between serving customers in our “mom and pop” store, I doubled as Richard’s telesales team, eventually selling around 40,000 copies ohf his game. A little later, four young guys set up camp in the store room of our shop and began working on a ZX Spectrum game to follow Richard’s (and the first to be published using the label ‘Elite’). That game was called ‘Kokotoni Wilf’.

Q. What were the highlights of the 80s and gaming for you personally?

Steve Wilcox.

Those very early days, ‘83 to ’87, were a blizzard. 7 days a week. 12 hours a days. Phones. Planes. People. Products … and several million games sold. Looking back it’s hard to recall how we crammed so much in to such a short period. Half a dozen UK and European #1-selling games, Game of the Year, Software House of the Year, zero to one hundred staff.

Q. What was the process of developing and publishing games like in the 1980s?

Steve Wilcox.

A lot like developing and publishing apps today (… and absolutely nothing like publishing console games today). ‘Have an idea in the morning, be working on it in the afternoon, start marketing it the following day, have it in players’ hands the following month, (sometimes). A fantastically liberating, exciting and enjoyable way to earn a very good living, (if you were very lucky).

The Now...2013

Q. What has inspired you with this new Kickstarter?

Steve Wilcox.

The inspiration for the development of the Bluetooth ZX Spectrum device was a series of conversations with a national journalist in the Spring of 2011. At the time, the journalist was the Consumer Technology Editor for a British National Newspaper and called to talk to us about the range of original 1980s ZX Spectrum games which we’d relatively recently launched as apps for iOS devices. During the conversations he enquired whether we thought there was any possibility that the ZX Spectrum home computer might be recreated. At the time we spoke about how another 1980s home computer, the Commodore C64, had had a re-launch of sort in the form of a dedicated joystick (you can read about that device here) and that got us thinking. After talking about it in the office for a few minutes, our vision for how the ZX Spectrum could be recreated began to take shape. We called the journalist 30 minutes later and two days after, his account of our vision appeared in the article which he wrote. You can read that article, which created quite a stir at the time, here.

Q. How important was the keyboard to the ZX Spectrum - both in design and functionality?

Steve Wilcox.

I think Rick Dickinson, Industrial Designer at Sinclair Research in the 1980s and the man credited with the external look of the ZX Spectrum, best explained the importance of the keyboard to the design and functionality of the ZX Spectrum in the video which he recorded for our Kickstarter appeal. It lasts 5 or 6 minutes but is incredibly insightful. I’d recommend anyone interested in the device to watch the video.

Q Tell us about the existing games that can be played in unison with hardware?

Steve Wilcox.

Well, in the first instance and as we’ve recently confirmed, we’ll be updating the ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection / HD apps so that they’re compatible with the Bluetooth ZX Spectrum. For iOS device owners who’ve already invested in these app, that means that they’ll be able to play the 200 or so ZX Spectrum games which they may already own using the Bluetooth ZX Spectrum. Optionally, the Bluetooth ZX Spectrum can be used as a Bluetooth keyboard not only for iOS but also for Android and Windows phones and tablets (as well as for PCs and Macs). That throws up a whole host of additional possibilities.

Q Will there be any new games coming out in 2014 to working in unison with the hardware?

Steve Wilcox.That’s a great question. As you may know, we announced earlier this year that we’re working with Matthew Smith (‘Manic Miner’, ‘Jet Set Willy’ for the ZX Spectrum) on a new project. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if the launch of the Bluetooth ZX Spectrum coincided with such a project? Also, since the announcement of the Bluetooth ZX Spectrum a few days ago, we’ve been approached by developers with proposals that we work with them on the development and publication of new games for the device. It’s still very early days but there are clearly many opportunities for developers to launch new games to coincide with the launch of the Bluetooth ZX Spectrum.

Q. Have you been in contact with any 80s developers and creative pioneers from the 80s in this new project or as part of developing mobile games?

Steve Wilcox.

It’s remarkable but the answer to your question is yes. In addition to Matthew Smith, Keith Burkhill (‘Commando’, ‘Ghosts n Goblins’, ‘Space Harrier’ for the ZX Spectrum has worked with us on the ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection / HD apps for iOS devices. He’s still very local to us, in the suburbs of Birmingham. Nigel Alderton, (‘Chuckie Egg’ for the ZX Spectrum) is still in contact too. We’ve been publishing ‘Chuckie Egg’ for mobile phone for almost 10 years and will do so again for the Bluetooth ZX Spectrum.
 

Q How has the games industry changed since 1984 - the good and the bad?

Steve Wilcox.

For the good - scale an certainty. When we first became involved in the games industry in the first half of the 80s there was still much comparison with “the Skateboard business”. At that time “the Skateboard business” was seen to have risen and fallen (it hadn’t yet risen again) and in some circles there was a fear/ expectation that a games industry “built on kids who had no disposable income” was just a flash in the pan. Thankfully, that’s no longer so. I’m struggling to think of ways in which the games industry has changed for the bad. If I was forced to pick on one then I’d say that the somewhat predatory way in which some developers / publishers elicit (sometimes large chunks of) cash from the young and the vulnerable, though in-app purchases, is a step in the wrong direction. Elite has not nor will it ever be involved in such activities.

Q. What are your favourite Spectrum games with keyboard play?

Steve Wilcox. 

‘Manic Miner’.

You can back the Elite Systems Kickstarter here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/952953995/bluetooth-zx-spectrum-recreating-the-sinclair-zx-s?ref=live