Amiga demos/shareware article - What would you like to see?

[kaladron]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of preparing an article on the demo and shareware scene for Retro Gamer magazine. I've already got a few people I aim to talk to and topics I'd like to cover but I thought I'd check in here and see if there's anything you guys would particularly like to see. These articles are at their best when they appeal to both newcomers and fans, so I aim to please.

Are there any particular demos or shareware games you'd like to see discussed? Anyone you'd like to see interviewed? Let me know.

Also: I'm trying to track down the founders of Aminet for the article but none of the contact details on the website are working. Anyone have any idea how I can get in touch with them?

[Acid]

Try to highlight some of the newer demos from The Black Lotus for example which require 060 processors, people seem to think the A500 was the limit of the Amiga when it clearly was well ahead of it's time. Also later games releases such as Xtreme Racing and Super Stardust that show off what more power did for games if people had of been prepared to spend money on the system back then like they do now on pc's thinking it's normal to buy new cards every 6 month. You could even mention Doom, Quake and even PPC tech and the fact Wipeout was released for the Amiga.

[Graham Humphrey]

Not sure what Super Stardust et al have to do with the PD scene...

Anyway, I look forward to seeing an article on this in Retro Gamer, it's long overdue. I was thinking about trying to write something myself but finding the right angle can be tricky (and the demo scene has never really been my bag - it's all about the games for me).

As I'm sure you know, the big strength is the sheer number and variety of games stretching from the Amiga's birth right up to the present day. There were a lot of games given away on magazine coverdisks; I do wonder how popular they were and if the authors got a lot of feedback/registrations etc. And maybe if some of them ended up in the games industry

Also, I think looking at games that were released at around the point where the Amiga sunk as a commercial machine, from about 1995-97 or so, would be a great idea as it was a real golden age for PD software (in my opinion) and a lot of people probably missed them at the time for obvious reasons - games like Alien Fish Finger, Super Foul Egg, Knockout 2, Breed 96, Deluxe Galaga 2.6, FaYoh, Jet Set Willy '97, Space Taxi 3, Superballz, Speed Racer FX, WITNESS, Hilt 2... er, probably some others I've probably gone a bit overboard there but I hope you get my drift!

As for interviews... maybe try and get hold of the people behind the Assassins compilations, they compiled loads of disks and CDs full of games and ask what inspired them to do the disks and how popular they were etc. Perhaps the people involved on magazines at the time and how they chose what games appeared on the disks? Did they genuinely like them themselves?

As for the Aminet contact addresses... just had a look myself and I'm not sure actually. Maybe go and ask over at the English Amiga Board.
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[kaladron]

It sounds like we're thinking along the same lines, Graham. Variety is definitely the key, as you mention. The shareware scene, for me, is the ancestor of today's indie scene and is what made the Amiga stand out from other systems.

For interviews so far I've got developers, magazine editors and PD distributors. Missing demoscene people, though, as the codenames make them harder to find.

Would love to interview someone who was involved with the Assassins discs. On a personal level they were really important to me as I spent a lot of my school years playing through those discs on a CD32. Good times! I like the idea of looking at who made into the games industry too. Nice one.

Oh and good call on Alien Fish Finger. That's a great little game. Lovely pixel art.

[Acid]

Ah ye I got carried away there and forgot the PD bit lol, Doom still stands though that was shareware!

[MIK UK]

Could add a bit on how commercial devs gave kindly with xmas special Demo's as one off's with content not found in the final releases of their retail games such as Rick Dangerous II½, ATR: All Terrain Racing Christmas Demo, Connon Fodder christmas edition...
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[Acid]

Team 17 gave away a full game on a cover disk too... Arcade Snooker