Amiga PD Charityware

Amiga 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  / MARCUS JOHANSSON

INTERVIEW WITH MARCUS JOHANSSON

Amigapd would like to thank Marcus Johansson for for taking time to answer some questions about his wonderful Amiga platform games Fayoh and Fayoh 2.

We would also like to thank Lifeschool again from the Lemon Amiga forum for helping with research for this interview.

Was the Amiga the first computer you programmed on?

Yes it was. When I was 10 I wanted a C64 as a birthday present, but my parents bought me an A500 instead.

Which software tools did you use to create the Fayoh games (Amos Deluxe Paint e.t.c)

I used Blitz Basic 2, Personal Paint 4 and MED.

The Fayoh games seem similar to Mario and Great Giana Sisters - why did you prefer that type of platform game instead of the fast paced Sonic platform games?

I've always been a fan of Nintendo and especially Mario. Lately Nintendo and SEGA has become friends (Sonic and Mario have met in many games, like Super Smash Bro's Brawl), but back then they were archenemies - atleast in the eyes of most players.

Where did the inspiration come for the main character?

It was easier to draw blob with feet than a human like figure, so FaYoh became a spit out chewing gum. The name was invented by a friend who used to call himself Independence Dave. The German techno hard dance band Scooter made a song named Fire, but with H.P. Baxxter's accent my friend thought it sounded like he was singing "fayoh" rather than "fire".

How long did Fayoh and Fayoh 2 take to complete and were there any particular sections of code you were most proud of e.g. sprite collusion, scrolling ?

I made both games during my college years, so I could only work on them at night. I don't remember how much time I spent on the first game, but FaYoh 2 took me four months or so to finish. At the time I was most proud of the parallax scroll.

Which aspects of the game creation proved the most difficult (programming / graphics / sound / music / game testing)

Making the levels was the most difficult and time consuming part. Even if it's a platform game it contains some puzzle elements - keys and special "suits". It was difficult making it impossible for the player to "get stuck" in a level. It must be a nightmare to make a game with dungeons like those in Zelda!

Were there any additional features you wished you could have included in the games?

That would have been more levels.

Did you prefer being responsible for all aspects of the Fayoh games except the music. How did Goran Nilsson, Direiz and Twilight become involved with the games?

I prefered doing everything by myself, simply because I thought it was cool. Twilight made the music that plays when you finish FaYoh 2 and Direiz (still very active, www.myspace.com/matspaulsen) made one of the ingame tunes - I made the rest of the music. I don't remember what Göran did, but he was involved in many of the earlier games.

Did you ever start Fayoh 3 and were there any other finished or unfinished Amiga games you were involved with?

At the university I played a little with a 3D version of FaYoh for PC while developing a small game engine (there's a video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uFdjBzXYkw), but it was really nothing but a test. FaYoh 2 was the last game I made for Amiga. I did start working on something Kid Icarus like but then I sold my Amiga and gave up on computers completely for a couple of years.

Did you try to distribute the Fayoh games through commercial publishers or was it always going to be a shareware game?

A German company named Nordlicht sold them aswell, but I never did see any money so I assume it didn't work that well. But the money I made from shareware was enough to buy some games and pay my phone bills.

Fayoh and Fayoh 2 were both written for the Amiga 1200 - were there any attempts to make an Amiga 500 version?

No, A1200 was the one and only future!

Are you still involved in the computer industry today and if so are there any projects you want to share with our readers?

I work as game developer/programmer at a company that makes games for PC, MAC, iOS and Android. We've had quite a success with our latest game Bubble Bust! for iOS. As I've got three kids I don't have much spare time, but during late friday nights I develop a small programming language for retro games. It's called NaaLaa (Not An Advanced Language At All) and can be found at www.naalaa.com.

Download links for Fayoh and Fayoh 2

Both Fayoh and Fayoh 2 can be downloaded from Aminet.  Remember the game will only run on the Amiga 1200.

Thank you

AmigaPd would like to thank Marcus Johansson 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.