tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post2925260345137872381..comments2023-08-20T08:15:54.368+00:00Comments on The Jumbled Box: My Year As A Video Games ProgrammerAllan Ogghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02465243862081926217noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-81229338449472060532015-02-16T11:49:35.106+00:002015-02-16T11:49:35.106+00:00Hi Stuart,
Nice to see Martin's legacy (and g...Hi Stuart,<br /><br />Nice to see Martin's legacy (and genes) lives on. I never met you as you were only a glint in your parent's eyes the last time I spoke to Martin.<br /><br />Good to think that, in you and Scott, he's still with us. Glad you enjoyed the story.<br /><br />AllanAllan Ogghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02465243862081926217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-48353637277757379202015-02-15T03:09:16.926+00:002015-02-15T03:09:16.926+00:00Hi,
I'm Stuart Gannon, Martin's youngest ...Hi,<br /><br />I'm Stuart Gannon, Martin's youngest son.<br /><br />I know I stumbled onto this very late (9 years late) and I don't know if you still look at comments here/this blog but I just want to say thanks for posting all of this.<br /><br />It's an interesting look at some stuff I haven't seen before (though I was shown a VHS of Pac-land which was fun to watch) about my Dad.<br /><br />I don't have much else to say other than Thanks really. This was a good read.<br /><br />- StuAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17122210762088374383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-51782888006710740972014-03-08T10:07:28.637+00:002014-03-08T10:07:28.637+00:00I'm sorry to hear that Jane. He was liked by t...I'm sorry to hear that Jane. He was liked by the team and a magician with 8-bit computer graphics.Allan Ogghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02465243862081926217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-37526508978837464742014-03-08T02:18:57.392+00:002014-03-08T02:18:57.392+00:00The Graphic Artist's full name is Mick Donnell...The Graphic Artist's full name is Mick Donnelly. Mick was also a firefighter, artist, photographer and musician. And my brother. Sadly he passed away in 1990. Jane D.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-3926259673681599822014-02-03T23:30:49.867+00:002014-02-03T23:30:49.867+00:00Yeah, you think it's that dream job, being a g...Yeah, you think it's that dream job, being a games programmer, and for a while it was but reality and the dreaded cash-flow gremlins (publishers) inevitably crept in and crapped all over it. Still I can look back on the time fondly nowadays and I'm still amazed at the number of people out there that remember Pac-Land.Allan Ogghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02465243862081926217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-223708253053514842014-02-03T21:56:36.557+00:002014-02-03T21:56:36.557+00:00I just wanted to chime in and mention how fascinat...I just wanted to chime in and mention how fascinating I found this. I'm a photographer and I'm putting together a photodocumentary from images I took following a small game dev studio around for a period of about 16 months.<br /><br />I felt a connection to this for that reason but also because I remember the C64 version of Pac-Land very fondly. I can't have been older than six, but I would never have considered how much strain you lot were under making this. From the time I've spent with my dev lot, it seems that not much has changed. Thanks for posting this.Gareth Dutton Photographyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01607703246357174724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-73164929291284745932014-01-16T23:43:39.657+00:002014-01-16T23:43:39.657+00:00Leaving that standing on ghosts, cars and buses fe...Leaving that standing on ghosts, cars and buses feature out was a decision Martin made because of time but we were all pretty burnt out at the end and we really just wanted to get it out by then.<br />Thinking about it now, I reckon we could've done it quite easily as long as the extra positional check didn't fudge up the screen scroll timings.Allan Ogghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02465243862081926217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-32757455466081876452014-01-16T22:31:10.706+00:002014-01-16T22:31:10.706+00:00What a story! Behind these conversions there are t...What a story! Behind these conversions there are tears, sweat and blood ...<br />Pac-land on the C64 is a masterpiece ... Just a shame that lacks the ability to jump on the heads of enemies without dying!Robertonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-85053881198150640132014-01-13T13:55:23.894+00:002014-01-13T13:55:23.894+00:00I didn't get that much involved with the Spect...I didn't get that much involved with the Spectrum version, other than to overhear the cussing about how difficult it was to code around the limitations of the ULA chip timings and the scrolling was pretty glitchy. Bear in mind that the Spectrum version was released post collapse of Gannon Designs so it would have been a rush to get it out job by whoever finished it off. To be honest, I can't remember but I've had a look at the videos of it online and those looks like ours did and it does flip screen and not scroll.<br />Smooth scrolling was pretty difficult in those days and we even had to do some coding trickery on the C64 to get it right so I'm not surprised that the Speccy couldn't manage it.Allan Ogghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02465243862081926217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-65450298057818778462014-01-12T22:04:56.736+00:002014-01-12T22:04:56.736+00:00Hi there, can you confirm that the ZX Spectrum ver...Hi there, can you confirm that the ZX Spectrum version that was eventually released was in fact the same version that you guys were working on? The version that was released looked very different to the version that was previewed and used a flick screen system rather than a scrolling screen.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10419009870136414016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-8062689088700883742012-09-12T11:27:22.224+00:002012-09-12T11:27:22.224+00:00Martin was a great coder, very passionate about hi...Martin was a great coder, very passionate about his work. I was working with him on a project before he passed called "Bazooka Joe". <br /><br />It was going to be a Commando style shooter and all proceeds from the sale of the game were to go to the MND Association.<br /><br />I was working on the levels and general design and Martin was doing the coding on 16 bit platforms IIRC. <br /><br />Sadly we didn't get to finish it but the legacy of the work that Gannon Designs created lives on!Dave C.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-90563922629144327072012-07-21T19:25:15.069+00:002012-07-21T19:25:15.069+00:00Rob,
I never heard any mention of a BBC Micro ver...Rob,<br /><br />I never heard any mention of a BBC Micro version nor even of one for the Acorn Electron.<br />I suspect that there just wasn't a large enough market to make it worth doing for those machines.<br />Maybe if we hadn't gone under and the game had done exceptionally well, it'd have been looked at but hey, it's history now.<br /><br />AllanAllan Ogghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02465243862081926217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-84656064907558599062012-07-21T17:18:34.484+00:002012-07-21T17:18:34.484+00:00I've only just come across this but it makes f...I've only just come across this but it makes for a fascinating read. Do you know whether there was ever any intention of making a BBC version as I remember one of the Acorn magazines mentioning it. Maybe they were just confused because you were using a BBC Master for the C64 development?RobCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-4701718212543460392011-04-06T11:15:19.200+00:002011-04-06T11:15:19.200+00:00Gerard,
Yes, Gannon did the Speccy version and ye...Gerard,<br /><br />Yes, Gannon did the Speccy version and yes, it did take a bit longer so could that could have been why it was released under the Grandslam label. Grandslam and Quiksilva were both labels of the same publisher.<br />I'm reasonably sure MD was Mick Donnelly (I think - it was a long time ago)<br />We were prohibited from using credits by Namco.<br /><br />AllanAllan Ogghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02465243862081926217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-45033356641217694082011-04-06T08:17:10.023+00:002011-04-06T08:17:10.023+00:00Alan..
I help out with World of Spectrum - a site...Alan..<br /><br />I help out with World of Spectrum - a site dedicated to the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.<br /><br />I was greatly interested to read this post as while it was primarily about the C64, there were details which related to the Spectrum.<br /><br />I was wondering if you would be able to help solve a few puzzles for us?<br /><br />Do you know if the ZX Spectrum version of PacLand was ever released by Quicksilva, or was there a delay with the Speccy version which saw it released by Grandslam?<br /><br />Did Gannon Designs do the Spectrum version of Pacland? I ask because it's not mentioned (then again, it appears to be largely uncredited).<br /><br />Still on credits - could you tell me the full name of "Mick" (or MD), as we currently just have him as MD.<br /><br />It may be easier to reply to this by email: <br /><br />gerardDELETETHISBITsweeneyATntlworlddotcom <br /><br />:)<br /><br />Kind regards,<br />Gerard<br />(A fellow Glasgow-based ICT Tech)Gerard Sweeneyhttp://www.the-tipshop.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-64673360503706278362008-12-05T13:35:00.000+00:002008-12-05T13:35:00.000+00:00Anon,When I said the C64 is dead, I meant my own p...Anon,<BR/><BR/>When I said the C64 is dead, I meant my own physical one :P.<BR/><BR/>Thanks to the lovely thing called emulators, they will never really die.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-82172285538982123042008-11-27T18:00:00.000+00:002008-11-27T18:00:00.000+00:00Scott,the c64 is not quite deadScott,<BR/><BR/>the c64 is not quite deadAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-24952728343072267942008-11-25T17:54:00.000+00:002008-11-25T17:54:00.000+00:00AllanOne thing I should say is that article answer...Allan<BR/><BR/>One thing I should say is that article answers a mindboggling question ever since I reacquired the old Pac-Land C64 game and (Yes C64 is dead too) and actually understood the words on the screen that were publisher etc related. Namely where the credits were for who worked on the game, those licensing deals were real tight back then and nowadays I can't imagine ANYONE getting away with not crediting people who worked on the game at a time (I imagine Duke Nukem Forever's credits are going to be a small novel right now).<BR/><BR/>ScottAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-74218400403864600202008-11-25T17:45:00.000+00:002008-11-25T17:45:00.000+00:00Scott,Last time I saw you were only about two-feet...Scott,<BR/><BR/>Last time I saw you were only about two-feet high and toddling about, bouncing off the furniture.<BR/><BR/>You were pretty much the team mascot back then as we were all up at the house quite a lot of the time.<BR/><BR/>AllanAllan Ogghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02465243862081926217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-34167375193749238912008-11-25T17:18:00.000+00:002008-11-25T17:18:00.000+00:00AllanWell I am 22 now but I still have vague memor...Allan<BR/><BR/>Well I am 22 now but I still have vague memories of the industrial estate building. Quite an insight some of the article was too. Must be a shock to the system to find me coming across this, I know finding this was for me.<BR/><BR/>Oh, you know that A500? It's motherboard packed in, now it lives on in whatever computer I have active most, in this case a netbook while my other comp is being fixed, as WinUAE.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Oh and Thomas the Tank? I almost forgot that funnily enough.<BR/><BR/>ScottAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-49732247872935095092008-11-25T17:13:00.000+00:002008-11-25T17:13:00.000+00:00Scott,Well I suppose it was inevitable that you'd ...Scott,<BR/><BR/>Well I suppose it was inevitable that you'd grow up and read some of this stuff. As for the testing, possibly although I think you were more interested in Thomas the Tank Engine at the time.<BR/><BR/>AllanAllan Ogghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02465243862081926217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-19503986434695364472008-11-25T16:19:00.000+00:002008-11-25T16:19:00.000+00:00The things you never knew way back then.To think I...The things you never knew way back then.<BR/><BR/>To think I found the link here through a C64 nostalgia forum.<BR/><BR/>Is true I was a heavy part of the ol testing process?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-55262498973185834652008-07-01T15:37:00.000+00:002008-07-01T15:37:00.000+00:00It's a great story Allan, a thoroughly absorbing r...It's a great story Allan, a thoroughly absorbing read. Being from this era I remember this time of video games too and remember dreaming of what is must be like to work on them. As with everything else I guess the reality was not the same as the fantasy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-60121827040143481742008-05-16T00:41:00.000+00:002008-05-16T00:41:00.000+00:00You sell yourself short Steve. I remember you givi...You sell yourself short Steve. I remember you giving me some excellent help with the gravity simulation for Pac's jumps and I'm sure you did the algorithm for working out the saucer riding ghost movement. That and lots of encouragement even if you did freak me out by putting water on your cornflakes.<BR/><BR/>I do seem to remember finding that decimal mode fault myself though. I'm sure it was something Martin set in a routine and then didn't reset and when the code jumped into the interrupt it screwed some of the arithmetic used. Still, it was a long time ago so maybe you're right.<BR/><BR/>I have other horrible memories of listening to Frank Zappa all day, every day though if you really want to relive the nightmare.Allan Ogghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02465243862081926217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17047529.post-9322557802710365062008-05-15T11:33:00.000+00:002008-05-15T11:33:00.000+00:00Amazing what you remember and what you don't and w...Amazing what you remember and what you don't and what you didn't know. <BR/>I didn't know Martin had ever used a Vic-20. He had a larger than life ego and personality to match. Very confident man. <BR/><BR/>Allan remembers a lot more than I do from back then. The only contribution I remember making to Pacland was identifying the cause of the crash in the sideways scroll code and what the fix was (add a "CLD" instruction at the start of the interrupt routine).<BR/><BR/>I remember watching Allan fall asleep in front of his BBC master and his head landing on the keyboard and lots of letters typing up on the screen. I didn't bother to wake him, he was knackered. Just like you see in a comedy sketch, except for real.<BR/><BR/>Stephen KellettAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com