 |
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. |
|
|
|
Interview with Dave ParsonsAmigaPD are very excited to have had the opportunity to interview Dave Parsons who produced some wonderful 2D platform games on the Amiga. On with the interview.
Were you a traditional bedroom coder or did you have a team working on the games?
From the beginning I was very much a bedroom coder. When I was about 13, my parents bought us a home computer (an Acorn Electron) and it quickly became apparent to me that the best thing to do with it was to play (and later make) games
Which software packages did you use to create the games?
On the Amiga I used Deluxe Paint for the graphics (and on the ST I think Degas Elite). I wrote my own tools for map editing (I may have used one of the versions of BASIC for these - I can't remember). All my game code was written in 68000 assembler in HiSoft DevPac (I think I also used to write all my code in one enormous file - the problems of being self-taught!).
How easy was it to port Eric from the ST to the Amiga?
Erik was actually the only game I wrote on the ST before getting an Amiga, so I hadn't become too set in my ways. I don't remember it being too difficult - since the Amiga also had a 68000 processor and everything was written in assembler, it was mostly just a bit of re-writing for graphics, sound and input. Of course, being my first Amiga game, I had to get to grips with the basics, and I remember some confusion in my first encounter with the Copper chip.
Self publishing, licenceware or commercial publishing companies, which format did you prefer as a means to publish your games?
When I started out, I didn't have any idea about self-publishing or licenseware (there probably wasn't any at that point), so I was looking to get my games published commercially. At one stage I sent a few games I had made (on the Electron) to various companies, and got a publishing deal with Atlantis Software for "Hobgoblin" - my first commercial game. Commercial publishing was always my goal.
When Atlantis Software collapsed how easy was it to regain the publishing rights for Eric so that you could publish it on F1 Licenceware?
As I recall, they owed me a little money when they went under, and returned me the rights in lieu of payment
How supportive were the Amiga magazines - I seem to remember that Morton started as a demo in Amiga Format?
I don't remember how things started off, but by the time I was trying to self-publish the AGA version of "Morton", the magazines were pretty cool about things. I went in to visit some of them (the guys at Future publishing, and at least one other publisher) and they were really nice and supportive.
On your website you mention coding for Pixel perfect collision detection routines and screen fades - what piece of coding routine where you most proud of?
Thinking back, there were a couple of things. Smidge/Morton evolved from an experiment with getting parallax scrolling running at 50/60fps (I always liked a bit of parallax scrolling). There were plenty of other people doing it, but I was quite proud that I managed it. The best bit for me was due to the AGA chipset, I was able to double the number of colours used, and (this is the best bit) get quarter-pixel scrolling on the parallax backgrounds
On Og!I used the Blitter chip to do the collision detection, and this is what enabled me to get the pixel perfect collision. The Blitter had a mode which allowed for this, but I don't know what other games used it And which one caused you the most nightmares?
Funnily enough, I don't remember having any particularly awful problems. I designed the games as I went along, and just avoided anything too difficult (unless I had a handy trick for it). Drawing the graphics was always difficult for me though.
Why did 2d platform games appeal to you as a genre?
That was mostly down to what I was able to draw. Drawing things side-on was at least possible for me through trial and error, as long as I didn't try to make things look like anything real. So, platform games were the natural choice.
What games inspired you at the time?
I loved Gauntlet in the arcade, and I was always planning to do my own version (I've made several starts over the years, but things have always fizzled out).
I loved scrolling shooters such as Gradius & R-Type, and was very jealous of the consoles' ability to do so many sprites at once, and run so smoothly. The Amiga games at the time which impressed me were the technically proficient ones - gameplay was usually so much better when the games ran smoothly. Of the platform games at the time, James Pond II was one of the best. With Sonic and Mario making returns to a 2d format on the current generation of consoles do you think the 2d genre could return to popularity?
For me, the 2D genere has never really gone away. I've still got a lot of projects in mind I'd like to do in 2D. One of which came to fruition recently, when my personal indie project got picked up by Sony, and became "Gravity Crash" on the PS3 (I couldn't do all that on my own though, and had to enlist some help!).
Have you ever considered updating Eric or Morton as a mobile phone download game?
To be quite honest, I'd never thought about it before. It would likely be easier to do a game from scratch than try and convert those, and I'd probably do things rather differently now. Also, with so many games available on phones, I don't think anyone would notice if I did!
|
Eric  Morton Strikes Back Again  Morton Strikes Back Again - AGA Version Screen Shot from Confused Pelican Website.
Disk image available to download from Confused Pelican Website. Og! (Trog!) Screen Shot from Confused Pelican Website.
Disk image available to download from Confused Pelican Website. Hobgoblin - Writen for the Electron Fingers crossed we have found the correct screen image of one of Dave's earlier games, Hobgoblin which was written on the 8 Bit Electron.
The screen shot is taken from Stink Biscuit Gravity Crash - PS3 Gravity Crash is Dave Parsons' latest game - unfortunately not for the Amiga but the PS3.
|
Are there any game development projects you are involved with currently?
Yes. I've been working professionally in games ever since I left University. I had the opportunity of a lifetime working on Dune 2000 (since I had sunk many an hour into Dune 2 on the Amiga) with a small team in 1998, which was hard work, but great to do. But I realised at some point that working for someone else would never scratch the creative itch I have for making games the way I want to make them. So, over the years I've started a few little independent projects with colleagues/friends. None of them ever got finished until Gravity Crash (which I was able to do entirely on my own until it got to the PS3 point).
So, now I'm a freelance programmer, and working on something which unfortunately I can't talk about (usual contractual reasons). I am also working on a side project called "StarLit" with some friends. And, I have a side-side project which involves making an engine for 2D games so I can explore some of the ideas I've had over the years.
So, now I'm a freelance programmer, and working on something which unfortunately I can't talk about (usual contractual reasons). I am also working on a side project called "StarLit" with some friends. And, I have a side-side project which involves making an engine for 2D games so I can explore some of the ideas I've had over the years.
Finally, is the AGA version of Og! lost forever, or should we all check our disk boxes to see if a forgotten version is lurking there?
For me, it's totally lost, sadly. If anyone has got a copy lying around, I'd love to get hold of it (naturally I'd put it on my website so anyone could download it). So, please - do check your disk-boxes!
Thank you for your questions - I am amazed there is still interest in my games, so it was a pleasure to answer them.
Thank you for your questions - I am amazed there is still interest in my games, so it was a pleasure to answer them.
AmigaPd Charityware
We hope you enjoyed reading the interview - remember AmigaPd is charity ware - please visit our just giving page to support our chosen charity Mencap.
