 |
Amiga PD CharitywareAmiga PD is a charityware site - if you download any disk images you are encouraged to donate to our chosen charity - Mencap - at our justgiving page.
Suggested donations are £1 per disk image download as this was the cost of obtaining a disk back in the 1990s. Thank you. |
|
HOME / INTERVIEWS / DARREN ITHELL
|
|
INTERVIEW WITH DARREN ITHELL
Amigapd would like to thank Darren Ithell for for taking time to answer some questions about his wonderful Amiga platform games Dithell in Space, Dithell in Wonderland and Furball.
We would also like to thank Lifeschool again from the Lemon Amiga forum for helping with research for this interview. This interview was completed May 2012. |
|
How did you become involved with creating computer games on the Amiga? Was it the first computer you programmed for?
I started programming basic clones of classic arcade games with a
Commodore VIC-20 in 1981. I followed this with Amstrad CPC464 and Atari
ST.
Looking back at your Amiga games with hindsight is there anything you wish you had done differently (graphics / game play / level design / music )?
Probably not, I enjoyed the time I spent creating these games. If I knew
what I know now though, I would have put more time into the commercial
side of the business.
Were there any unfinished Amiga game projects you were involved with?
Yes, I created a game called Space Cadets which was the sequel to
Dithell in Space, it was a two-player split screen platform maze game.
Shame it was never finished as it was pretty good compared to its
prequel.
Plus a game called Furball which was launched into the public domain with 12 levels, there were going to be 48 levels.
Plus a game called Furball which was launched into the public domain with 12 levels, there were going to be 48 levels.
Furball - Video
Long Play video of Furball - Dithell Ithell - Video made by cubex55
You went on to work with Magnetic Fields' Shaun Southern and Andrew Morris (of Lotus fame) on their PC game: International Rally Championship (1997). What are your memories of this period?
I composed and produced the music and sound effects for several Rally
games with Magnetic Fields. It was some of my best work music-wise and
it was good to be working on a AAA title when previously I specialised
in children’s games such as Fun School.
Shaun and Andrew were very knowledgeable and talented, as were the whole team at Magnetic Fields. It was a privilege to work with them.
Shaun and Andrew were very knowledgeable and talented, as were the whole team at Magnetic Fields. It was a privilege to work with them.
Are you still in contact with any programmers from the Amiga scene?
I have a few old friends on Facebook and kept in touch with some people until about five years ago.
Am I correct in thinking Dithell in Wonderland (1992) was included with later versions of Amos – how did this come about?
Yes I think it was. I was an employee at Europress, they published AMOS.
Dithell in Wonderland
In Dithell in Space the jetpack has quite an amount of inertia in this game. Was it difficult to program this?
A lot of my previous games used inertia. It’s something I always thought
was important to add some extra realism and excitement to simplistic 2D
games, many of which at the time had no inertia. Once intertia was
understood it was fairly easy to programme.
The basic method would be to have an x and y speed variable and have input from the joystick or keyboard adjust the speed accordingly, rather than adjust the position of the player.
The basic method would be to have an x and y speed variable and have input from the joystick or keyboard adjust the speed accordingly, rather than adjust the position of the player.
Did the two player split screen option in Dithell cause any problems with coding or slowdowns?
No, the whole ‘level’ was set up as a single screen and then the 1 and 2
player windows would display a section of that screen. So the split
screen would be no slower than displaying a single player full screen.
Dithell in Space - Dareen Ithell
Are there any computer projects you are currently involved in which you would like to tell us about?
I’ve been developing and running price comparison web sites for the last
ten years, specialising in mobile phones and more recently, broadband
comparison.
DOWNLOADS
The links below are disk images of Darren's PD games for you to enjoy.
Dithell In Space Download
| dithellinspace.zip |
Dithell In Wonderland
| dithells_wonderland_19xxd._ithellpda2amos.zip |
Furball
| furball_1996dimensionspdamos.zip |
Thank you
AmigaPd would like to thank Darren for answering the questions and wish him all the best with his current projects.
AmigaPd Charityware
We hope you enjoyed reading the interview - remember AmigaPd is charityware - please visit our just giving page to support our chosen charity Mencap.
