Hey there, that's my game ;-) . Randomly vanity-googling myself. I makes me grin to see other people remembering this (ideally fondly but not always)...
You mention invade-a-load on the CPC, unfortunately the C64 was really the only platform you could do this on (ok there were a couple of heroic exceptions on the spectrum), the '64 had hardware timers and the tape was on an interrupt which made it realtively straightforward to do other stuff at the same time, all other 8-bit platforms required the CPU to count cycles to measure tape signals and that largely precluded doing anything else.
Is there a scanline interrupt on the CPC, if so, maybe it could have been to simulate a 15kHz timer? Another potential alternative would have been cycle counted code but yeah in the 80s there weren't any tools to help with that. In any case, great job Richard on those games! As a game dev myself, you certainly are an inspiration!
For a first effort by Richard Aplin, it's actually a very good game. The thought of having use the objects at the right time and not being stranded without oxygen after one teleport really does make you think about how to get around, and the Centipede mode is nice (but maybe one round instead of two might have been better?) There's a lot on offer here, even if it's quite difficult. Naturally of course Richard doing Load n Play, then Invad-a-Load on the C64 really did show his prowess even more but this is important too. I have to say I really like these single format only game reviews - more of this please Chinny.
The use of encumbrance in the form of weight dragging on your helicopter is a simple but effective addition to the item-shuffling platform game genre. But the thing that really gives Flyspy its character is the author messages scrawled everywhere throughout the map.
I hadn't heard of this game. It seems really inventive for a puzzle game, if I had this as a kid I probably wouldn't get far and end up only playing the centipede mini game.
I obtained _Flyspy_ when I was 11 years old and I loved it - and I still do. I particularly liked all the wacky messages scattered around the map. Yes, Richard Aplin laid some devious traps (you didn't bring a bomb with you when you teleported to station G (at 16:56)? Ha-ha! Go and lose a life - and good luck trying to obtain another telekey so you can teleport to station G again! 😡), but I persevered with it and eventually managed to complete it. It's a marvellous little gem with really nice graphics and animation, and all by one 15-year-old programmer! Something else that isn't mentioned in the video is that the oxygen counter applies to _all_ of the oxygen tanks, so if it reaches zero, then you won't be able to use another tank. This may well be another of Richard's nasty traps, as there is a fairly large maze in the map that is flooded, and you have to navigate your way through it at some point - so you'll have to conserve enough oxygen before you reach the flooded section in order to tackle it! Oh, and who is "Xyophee" at 13:33? 😆
I'm absolutely amazed people managed to finish it. To be honest I'm not sure I did without cheating. The whole thing was just this very odd thing I did in my bedroom in a year or so as a teenager. Thanks for sharing your enjoyment, makes me smile
There's some clever coding in there - but the multiple keypresses and logic are very frustrating. That sort of scroll was possible on the C64, games like Whirlinurd spring to mind. The strangest thing is that Centipede mini-game during teleportation. It doesn't really fit the theme of the game (helicopters/spies) and playing two rounds each time must be really annoying. Surely a better mini-game would have been a "warp" game, or piloting your helicopter through "obstacles"? I did like that swirling pixel effect when the helicopter first assembles, though.
I was at a friend's house in Bristol when Rich came round to show us the C64 version in progress. It was playable, but woeful, and AFAIK just abandoned. 73 de Biggles.
I bet the speech program was a type-in that was in Amstrad Action..it was brilliant, i used to sample chart music (only a few seconds due to memory restraints)
I also typed in this program and made a couple of (now long-lost) games that included speech samples, "aarghh!" when you die etc. It let you sample directly from the cassette drive, very cool.
I played this a bit at the time but it was far too convoluted for a kid in the before internet times, I don't think I even got as far as you did, I do remember it fondly though. Aplin mentions GWR in the scroller, was he from the west country? Because that was the local radio station at the time, listened to it and Red Dragon all the time myself.
I love the sound design in this, its pure 80`s arcade. The game looks a bit of a chore and not much fun to play despite the brilliant coding. Killing yourself to advance is a horrible gameplay mechanic and would put me off playing further into the game tbh.
Hey there, that's my game ;-) . Randomly vanity-googling myself. I makes me grin to see other people remembering this (ideally fondly but not always)...
You mention invade-a-load on the CPC, unfortunately the C64 was really the only platform you could do this on (ok there were a couple of heroic exceptions on the spectrum), the '64 had hardware timers and the tape was on an interrupt which made it realtively straightforward to do other stuff at the same time, all other 8-bit platforms required the CPU to count cycles to measure tape signals and that largely precluded doing anything else.
If anyone could have done it on the CPC..... :-)
Is there a scanline interrupt on the CPC, if so, maybe it could have been to simulate a 15kHz timer?
Another potential alternative would have been cycle counted code but yeah in the 80s there weren't any tools to help with that.
In any case, great job Richard on those games! As a game dev myself, you certainly are an inspiration!
For a first effort by Richard Aplin, it's actually a very good game. The thought of having use the objects at the right time and not being stranded without oxygen after one teleport really does make you think about how to get around, and the Centipede mode is nice (but maybe one round instead of two might have been better?) There's a lot on offer here, even if it's quite difficult. Naturally of course Richard doing Load n Play, then Invad-a-Load on the C64 really did show his prowess even more but this is important too.
I have to say I really like these single format only game reviews - more of this please Chinny.
The use of encumbrance in the form of weight dragging on your helicopter is a simple but effective addition to the item-shuffling platform game genre. But the thing that really gives Flyspy its character is the author messages scrawled everywhere throughout the map.
Ohhhh, Flyspy, I loved this back in the day, I used to play it for hours... Never completed it mind, but, I thought it was a great little game! :)
First game? Amazing!
I hadn't heard of this game. It seems really inventive for a puzzle game, if I had this as a kid I probably wouldn't get far and end up only playing the centipede mini game.
I obtained _Flyspy_ when I was 11 years old and I loved it - and I still do. I particularly liked all the wacky messages scattered around the map. Yes, Richard Aplin laid some devious traps (you didn't bring a bomb with you when you teleported to station G (at 16:56)? Ha-ha! Go and lose a life - and good luck trying to obtain another telekey so you can teleport to station G again! 😡), but I persevered with it and eventually managed to complete it. It's a marvellous little gem with really nice graphics and animation, and all by one 15-year-old programmer!
Something else that isn't mentioned in the video is that the oxygen counter applies to _all_ of the oxygen tanks, so if it reaches zero, then you won't be able to use another tank. This may well be another of Richard's nasty traps, as there is a fairly large maze in the map that is flooded, and you have to navigate your way through it at some point - so you'll have to conserve enough oxygen before you reach the flooded section in order to tackle it!
Oh, and who is "Xyophee" at 13:33? 😆
I'm absolutely amazed people managed to finish it. To be honest I'm not sure I did without cheating. The whole thing was just this very odd thing I did in my bedroom in a year or so as a teenager. Thanks for sharing your enjoyment, makes me smile
There's some clever coding in there - but the multiple keypresses and logic are very frustrating. That sort of scroll was possible on the C64, games like Whirlinurd spring to mind. The strangest thing is that Centipede mini-game during teleportation. It doesn't really fit the theme of the game (helicopters/spies) and playing two rounds each time must be really annoying. Surely a better mini-game would have been a "warp" game, or piloting your helicopter through "obstacles"? I did like that swirling pixel effect when the helicopter first assembles, though.
I was at a friend's house in Bristol when Rich came round to show us the C64 version in progress. It was playable, but woeful, and AFAIK just abandoned. 73 de Biggles.
From this game i liked the most music theme with keyboard playing and that mini game
Is it me or was the title music a drunken sounding rendition of halleluliah by milk and honey? Ie a winner of the Eurovision song contest
haha not based on anything as far as I know - my sister did it
I bet the speech program was a type-in that was in Amstrad Action..it was brilliant, i used to sample chart music (only a few seconds due to memory restraints)
Did they give that away on a covertape one Christmas? The same tape that had The Duct on it? If so I also used it and it was great!
@@chinnyvision I don't know but I remember typing it in. The only other type in I remember was the spinning ball like in the amiga demo
I also typed in this program and made a couple of (now long-lost) games that included speech samples, "aarghh!" when you die etc. It let you sample directly from the cassette drive, very cool.
@@AnthonyFlack shame you still don't have the games.
Was the centipede game you're thinking of Killapede by players software. That also had sampled speech and used panda sprites I think.
Almost certainly.
Seems a nice little game. Shame it wasn't on the Speccy. Richard Aplin seems a very clever guy, shame he wasn't used more!.
I did a number of different games; mostly on CPC, Amiga, a couple on the C64 - up until the late 90's when I got out of doing games
I played this a bit at the time but it was far too convoluted for a kid in the before internet times, I don't think I even got as far as you did, I do remember it fondly though.
Aplin mentions GWR in the scroller, was he from the west country? Because that was the local radio station at the time, listened to it and Red Dragon all the time myself.
I love the sound design in this, its pure 80`s arcade.
The game looks a bit of a chore and not much fun to play despite the brilliant coding. Killing yourself to advance is a horrible gameplay mechanic and would put me off playing further into the game tbh.
Yep. It's a great coding feat but blimey it's unforgiving. The coder forgetting that while he knows how to play it, the player won't. Common mistake.
i prefer "the last mission"