Discussion Many C64 games were crap, but held promisse

[Sudo_Radish]

When I was a kid I would use my pocket money to buy C64 games. I would think they were brilliant. Played them to death. Now, thanks to modern computers and the ability to emulate anything from that era, I have realized that the majority of them were pure crap. However some held some really cool game design ideas.

On that springs to mind was a game called Jammin. It was a maze style game where you needed to navigate around the screen using conveyors, collect musical instruments and get them back to the center of the screen. While avoiding the enemies and time limit.

The execution was a bit naff. It is enjoyable for the first 5 minutes then it falls flat. Mainly because of clunky controls. However the way that picking up instruments changes the background music, the way you could only step onto certain colored slots on the conveyor depending on the room; were really clever.

Another was Aliens. Now I am meaning the UK 3D maze game. Rather than the arcade style US game.

The controls were clunky and just functional. However the atmosphere was brilliant. You had 4 playable characters and each could be controlled and walk around independent from the rest.

 

[Galladhan]

One of the most inventive games for Commodore 64, in my opinion, was David Crane's Little Computer People.

Games like The Sims and Animal Crossing owe something to it.


Also pretty fresh, for me, was Sam Manthorpe's The Detective Game.



You had a fixed time to solve a crime, interrogating the suspects and collecting evidences. There were a couple of thrilling "coup de théâtre" which gave to the atmosphere a bit of "And then there were none" by Agatha Christie. I wanted to make a game taking inspiration from here, but then i realized i'm not able to draw lol

Another C=64 game that comes to my mind is Alter Ego, a "life simulator":



Or Geoff Crammond's The Sentinel. Or Project Firestart. Or David Braben's Elite! There are so many...

 

[heyimdandan]

Same, I used to go down the road, buy my £2.99 tapes that the shop keeper had kindly put to one side whilst I spent my after school hours eyeing them up.

I remember Wizball in particular, as being a stand out game and I've played it today and I gave up after five minutes! The controls were horrendous - I've no idea how I managed to stick with it at the age of 12! Creatures was brilliant, I was always playing that - the Dizzy games always had longevity and were the kind of RPG games I'd still aspire to making now. I always wondered what a 3D Dizzy game might look like.

The unfortunate thing about the computers of the day is that clunky controls were simply down to the limitations of the C64, Speccy, Amstrad etc. I wonder if the appeal of so many pixel based games made with GameMaker is because nowadays it's possible to have the funky retro graphics but with the computing power to make the game play a bit less... shambolic, I suppose!

Where the mind boggles is the appeal of sandbox games like Minecraft running on XB1 and PS4 - and to me it just looks dreadful, but my eight year old nephew can't get enough of it. And then you see some of the real life graphics that have been modded into Minecraft for PC... the elegant textures, the beautiful shading, lighting, realistic water, reflections, you name it... I can't imagine the game somehow having the same appeal if it were applied to this generation of consoles, which is a damn shame!

 

[Galladhan]

I remember Wizball in particular

Wizball was a great game! But yeh, controls haven't aged very gracefully :\

 

[Sudo_Radish]

Where the mind boggles is the appeal of sandbox games like Minecraft running on XB1 and PS4 - and to me it just looks dreadful, but my eight year old nephew can't get enough of it. And then you see some of the real life graphics that have been modded into Minecraft for PC... the elegant textures, the beautiful shading, lighting, realistic water, reflections, you name it... I can't imagine the game somehow having the same appeal if it were applied to this generation of consoles, which is a damn shame!

I love Minecraft lol. Like playing with Lego without the plastic blocks everywhere.

the Dizzy games always had longevity and were the kind of RPG games I'd still aspire to making now. I always wondered what a 3D Dizzy game might look like.

My long term goal is to make a dizzy style game.

The unfortunate thing about the computers of the day is that clunky controls were simply down to the limitations of the C64, Speccy, Amstrad etc. I wonder if the appeal of so many pixel based games made with GameMaker is because nowadays it's possible to have the funky retro graphics but with the computing power to make the game play a bit less... shambolic, I suppose!

I don't think it helped that there wasn't a unified way of handling controllers. Not like today where you have XInput. There are some games the handled nicely. What I can't remember off the top of my head lol.

Wizball was a great game! But yeh, controls haven't aged very gracefully :\

The joystick waggle was annoying.

 

[Roa]

Yeah, once you experience modern age polish in things like controls, things you normally take for granted, it can be hard to imagine enjoying the past things. A lot of classics are still really good. You just have to be in the mindset to appreciate them. I didn't even grow up at the time of a lot of these games and I'm fascinated by them. The limitations, the art directions, the designs to accommodate. The simplicity of the games, but the complexity of how its given life.

 

[Gamer (ex-Cantavanda)]

old games are boring and gay, you waste you're time with them, like ing angry birde or something... go play some games like LEGO STAR WARS THE COMPLETE SAGA or POSTAL 2 if you want a true gaming experienc'e

 

[roytheshort]

old games are boring and gay

Pretty sure you can't have sexual relations with game carts.

 

[Mike]

Look.... it was late.... I was drunk..... I thought it was smiling at me, and one thing lead to another...

 

[Roa]

Pretty sure you can't have sexual relations with game carts.

I see you've never given...the blow..

 

[Sudo_Radish]

I see you've never given...the blow..

I have blown so many dirty carts I don't know what is right anymore.