From GI: In Gargoule's Lair

Om ram, All! :) In connection with the passage of the game from Gargoule in the echo, I’m posting a story about this legendary company. :) ===cut=== (C) CHRIS BURN (C) SPIDER/Olive-Branch, translation from English. (R) Voyager #2 IN THE GARGOYLE LAIR We enter Gargoyle's lair and find ourselves in a mystical world Cuchulain and Celtic folklore... How adventure games are written - six of the most striking examples in the process of development. "We wrote software for others, but they were bad distributed," says Greg. "We wrote an integrated database for the microsystem and sold it to Steel Stockholders Association. God knows why. We received our salary and that's it. This did not inspire further growth. "Remember how these guys f- zil with wealth. Royston smiles as these memories. “You were a little interested in dirty sex,” reproached says Greg, “and couldn’t afford anything. And I couldn’t be able to do this." There was a time when millions of lasers flashed... cherami from Spectrum owners from all over Britain. It was 1983 year, year of "shoot 'em all" and games like Time-Gate, Arcadia, Zzoom, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and many, many others fashionable at the time. Greg and Roy are no exception, they decided to do your own game, keeping the work on the task master in your owntheir "scientific developments". So they wrote Ad Astra. The game had large graphics, which later became identified with brand Gargoyle. It is designed in the style of repelling invaders rocks, with asteroids trying to harm you and crowds of Sheltsev. She was very good, at least until that month... the one that reached, with a bit of humor. For example, star the Enterprise ship appears briefly. It sold out quite well - xo. "We had a very arrogant view of the games market," explains Greg. Naturally, everything changed over time, after nine months - people, after thinking about it, everyone is a fan of Jet Set Willy clones - multi-screen jump and dodge games. Greg and Roy tried to guess the demand and did something in return yours. They took a journey into the world of Celtic mythology and... released two of the best games ever released on Spec trome - Tir na Nog and Dun Darach. It all started with a "walking man" century" - a 14-frame animation written by Greg, presenting Show yourself a cartoon: a man walking across the entire screen. It became the basis for Tir na Nog. To explain where Cuchulain came from, we need to go back to the early life of Greg and Roy. TIR NA NOG (1984) "First I, and then Roy, were obsessed with science fiction and fantasy. I gave Roy a list of books to read and that afternoonwe went to lower London for Dark They Were and Golden-eyed, bookshops on Tottenham Court Road. Now there are more of them no." They were also ardent Tolkien fans. They didn't speak Elvish, but you can bet they read all the Ru- us. "... and Thomas Cavent, and the Black Cauldron, and Katerina's books Curtz..." continues Greg. "I even played Castles and Dragons and in Tunnels and Trolls. And, of course, real life mythology, and - ok, I admit it! - I still read Imagine magazine." That's just part of that brand of fantasy, ideal for a walking cha- catcher. "At first we decided it would be Gilgamesh..." Greg here demonstrated his subtle literary taste. Epic poems about Gilgamesh is the first known example of fantasy recorded on Samerian tablets, which are thousands of years old. "To the non- Luckily, Gilgamesh is a bit secluded if you put the pieces together the dark side of his life is not much that remains. And we became look for something more interesting." During their search, they drank to the Irish myths about the mighty warrior Cuchulain. "We decided that this is not just an Irish, but a completely Celtic myth that has bypassed Europe." Then they looked filled with Celtic magic and... nasty television series "Robin of Sherwood", directed by Mary White- house. "It was great. There was also a super soundtrack writtenClannad, which was quite suitable for a Celtic game. "In Tir na Nog Cuchulain seeks Calum's seal in the land of the dead. Graphic the system is simply super and slightly different from those already seen on computer. At Gargoyle games, Greg plans and draws all the pictures, and Roy programs. "We both started out as programmers, but Roy is semi- it was better. I'm more of a designer. I remember the day when Roy had trouble drawing a duck. He looked up and asked: "Do ducks have big ears?" From then on he never drew again." They are a little modest about their programming skills, but at the same time At the same time, they do not admire others. Their strength lies in the enormous experience. "Looking back," Greg says, "I don't know why we didn't write Dun Darach four years ago. We would have mastered it, but then it would be easier to sell. We'd make a million..." DUN DARACH (1985) Dun Darach was started on February 10, 1985. "We are very lazy in December and January," admits Greg. Although Dun Darach looks very similar, they both swear the code is completely different, only the central character and scrolling procedures are the same. Dun Darach is located in the Celtic metropolis, a charming city, where the sorcerer Scar imprisoned Loeg, a friend of Cuchulain. You have to explore the city, open a number of secret doors, collect pre-metas and solve visual puns and puzzles to use hit them in the right place, pick the lock and deal with their behavior there are at least a dozen independent characters, such as gentleman Mhor, hopelessly in love with the bard Dane or Ryde, who acts like a cop but actually wants to go back go to sea and return to his home in Golicia. Dun Darach in the original contained more than 55 streets. Unfortunately, this is difficult It's hard to find a character when you need one - although the street is low takes up only 30 or 40 bytes in memory, but the character itself takes up there is a lot of space, and therefore the addition of new characters has elk is prohibited. Censorship has also reared its ugly head. If you have drawn a map of Dun Darach then you must have noticed empty space in the city center. Closed location, at Lady's Ku, Iomein pleasure quarter, brothel, and originally open the area is one step away from the area shaded in red. Now all you see is a sign that says "prohibited" - and the moral- The foundations of distributors and sellers are intact. They even reduced the speed of the central character, Cuchulain. Its slowness, which seems depressing, is compensated by the complexity animation, and because for other characters the same ones are used the very procedures of movement, then Cuchulain walks along with them, and no time for subterfuge.In the new game, Marsport, the central character moves a little faster than the rest. “The codes for Marsport were written from scratch,” - Greg states, and he wilts when Royston says that people may notice that the games look the same. Pure coincidence of course. "Look, when you buy an adventure game, you are buying used theory, not a text interpreter," says Roy. And he came It seems that Tir na Nog and Dun Darach are adventures that they seem understandable, unless, of course, you are a neat freak overgrown with fur, who thinks Scott Adams is the best man boo-boo-boo. (Kate Campbell, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985...) "Honestly, I I hate it," Greg says. Marsport is much larger than its predecessor tvenniki, and with a sci-fi theme - unusual for Gar- goyle. By the way, with two fantasy and a science fiction trilogy - hey, Gargoyle seems to be following in the footsteps of Level 9, who started from the famous trilogy Middle Earth [Jewels of Darkness], and Volume released a whole series of text adventures Snowball. Level 9 - one of the few companies Greg and Roy admire. MARSPORT (1986) In Marsport, you play the role of John Marsh, sent to the departed a collapsed dome on Mars to bring back plans to strengthen the earth- th domes from the insect race Sept. Purely Gargoyle style, scene-ry is supported by a grandiose fantastic prehistory. Booklet with instructions consists of five pages: everything about the development of effective Craig's active army and about the enemy of man - the Sept race. Main- The hero is surrounded by enemies in the form of droids, which automatically The Septs themselves patrol the dome. You can shoot them if own the appropriate weapons, and although you have problems with orientation same as in the early games, yet there are 800 paths and 200 locations with objects and puzzles. The city is divided into lvl 10 ovs connected by elevators, this is just a godsend for For those who like to make maps, it's very, very easy to get lost. "Puns are even more disgusting," Greg says of visual problems. "Our games represent the development of technology gee," he adds. "Alien 8 was a step away from Knight Lore. I don't want to offend Ultimate - I think they're a little arrogant. We could be the same." “We could get rich,” blurted Roy. "I'll agree with that," Greg says. Regardless of the atmosphere phere devoid of vital importance, Celtic games have two keys - cha to success. “First of all, the animation,” he says, “which catches your eye - there was nothing like it back then. Secondly, depth - there are more than enough explanations. Impression of the game very big. "There's only one thing they didn't touch on in their games.- these are sound effects, not counting the strange blips. "We are courage- “We really sat down and started criticizing,” admits Greg. "We want- whether to apply Holst's suite of planets to Marsport." "Nice melody for the background," says Roy. "If you want sounds in Dun Darach, then put on Clannad or Mike Oldfield on the tape recorder," he suggests. Greg, “we won’t object.” Next game - Sweevo's World, which Greg called a Gargoyle special Games - just for fun. "We made it very carefully, like an art every adventure. And if she doesn't make you roll on the floor, then what do you want?" Sweevo stands for Original Professional Organization nism in an extreme environment, behind which hides a very stupid robot This is a jump and dodge style game. Greg says - she is very eccentric, with a hero who looks like a "frightened jumping- the little girl who hit you on the head with a hammer." For- nax, the second installment in the Marsport series, takes us back to serious things, and Greg says that the graphics system is completely different he does, but doesn’t want to say what. "We're thinking about black ink on black paper," he says, "there is one thing for those who loves fantasy - it will be as good for you as for someone else. I admire Level 9 because they enjoy with my games - I thought that Return to Eden was just..."You can't blame Roy and Greg for not being funny. They love games even if they don't have time to play them. "I see many reasons why children should be encouraged to games - unless they are afraid of the computer at 10 years old grow. We grew up in a system where 250,000 cars weren't sold. because the businessman thought he looked stupid sitting in front of computer." "We've seen it at trade shows," adds Roy. "We have always sought to combine games with window dressing, because the consumer feels better if he can touch the product." "If possible, Unfortunately, we will return to development," says Greg, "but in our own company. Deep inside, programmers-developers and analysts want to be God and create life. Over time, we let's go holographic and tangible television, and it will be for game score. Oh, we'll write them. And finally... What do I really- but what I wanted was to become an astronaut. I hope I will. UV- Let's go to the moon," Greg finished. * * * Softography Ad Astra (Spectrum) - Gargoyle, 1984 Tir na Nog (Spectrum, C64) - Gargoyle, 1984 Dun Darach (Spectrum, C64) - Gargoyle, 1985 Sweevo's World (Spectrum, C64) - Gargoyle, 1985 Sweevo's Whirled (Spectrum 128) - Gargoyle, 1986 Marsport (Spectrum, C64) - Gargoyle, 1986Heavy on the Magic (Spectrum, C64) - Gargoyle, 1986 Scooby Doo (Spectrum, C64) - Elite, 1986 Light Force (Spectrum, C64) - FTL, 1986 Shockway Rider (Spectrum, C64) - FTL, 1987 Thundercats (Spectrum, C64, Atari ST) - Elite, 1987 Hydrofool (Spectrum) - FTL, 1987 An updated version of Tir na Nog was written in 1985 and was to be released by Psygnosis for the IBM PC. However, her appearance was cancelled. ===cut=== Sincerely, Arthur/JEDI █▓▒░ [ZX-News][Stonehendge] e-mail: Artur_Podtelkoff.sp0899@zxnet.spb.ru (DISCOVERY)