Games galore #15: Luca Carminati games pack, Mutation Gold Compilation & Cyberpunks 2, Looty v2, Blask

In this issue we take a look at a very mixed set of titles: two compilations of arcade games, a little bit of a top-view shooter, a platformer, a first person shooter, and as a bonus the full free release of a strategy classic.

 

Amiga games pack by LC-Games

 

Luca "LC-Games" Carminati has released a set of games he has developed between 1995 and 1998 as an "Amiga games pack" - for free. Cool!

The games are: Croins (an Asteroids clone), Hyper Viper, Kangy, Marietto, and arcade sports game Slalom Speciale.

Hyper Viper, snake type game in a maze

Some of the games have previously been released as shareware titles. Now you can download the ADFs from LC-Games' itch.io page, and enjoy all full versions.

Kangy, a platformer

Arcade gaming with neat graphics and sound, and you get the full package, check this out: "Croins" is a well made Asteroids clone with pounding techno music on the title screen, "Hyper Viper" a snake-type game with a funny looking green worm and less pounding but equally enjoyable music, "Kangy" a platformer with cute looking animals and palm trees, "Marietto" is quite a unique blend of several classic game styles and can get pretty hectic, and finally "Slalom Speciale" is an unobtrusive skiing game.

Marietto - Pang meets Galaga meets Fury of the Furries

All included games are decent titles, no technical spectacle here, but pretty straightforward, and very Amiga-ish, arcade gaming. Very nice - Molto grazie, Luca!

Read more, and download "Amiga games pack" from LC-Games' website page:
https://lowcarb.itch.io/amiga-games-pack

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2020-11-00060-DE.html
http://www.indieretronews.com/2020/11/an-amiga-games-pack-released-by-luca.html

 

Mutation Gold Compilation & Cyberpunks 2

 

Support for the Amiga CD32 is always rare, and very much appreciated. Mutation Software has re-released it's "Mutation Gold Compilation" for Amiga CD32, a collection of five games. All games have received some fixes and updates, including adaptions to CD32 joypad.

The individual games are: Doodlebug, Cyberpunks, Tin Toy, Tommy Gun and Castle Kingdoms.

Doodlebug, included in the "Mutation Gold Compilation"

The current (minimum) price for the "Gold Compilation" is $13.49 - but note that for just a few bucks more you can make a bargain and buy the "CD32 Games Bundle" which includes the "Gold Compilation" plus "Wiz - Quest for the Magic Lantern" (CD32 version).

Go to Mutation Software's "Gold Compilation" website page for more information and purchase:
https://softamuse.itch.io/mgc-cd32

Mutation Software has also announced a new game: "Cyberpunks 2" for AGA Amigas, a sequel to top down shooter "Cyberpunks" from 1993 (for OCS/ECS Amigas). "Cyberpunks 2" is said to be for 1 or 2 players, have new levels and new gameplay, and a tentative release date in late 2021.

1993 game "Cyberpunks", sequel announced

Read more about Mutation Software's releases at:
https://mutationsoftware.uk

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2020-11-00044-EN.html
http://www.indieretronews.com/2020/11/mutation-gold-compilation-and.html
http://hol.abime.net/6231 ("Gold Compilation" original 1998 release)

 

Looty v2

"Looty v2" for all Amigas with 1MB ChipRAM is an updated version of 1993 public domain title "Looty", inspired by ZX Spectrum game "Booty".

It certainly still requires a little bit of polish, but it's quite fast paced, plays smoothly, and: it has a level editor! A platformer with a level editor - that sounds like hours and hours of creating challenging courses. The author has expressed interest in improving the game further, and he'd like a graphics artist to join in. Maybe this is your chance?

Here you can watch a video of "Looty v2" (2020-11-19):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3sBHOZ5F_Q

Read more, and purchase (you can name your own price!) the game at:
https://mixelsoftware.itch.io/looty-v2

Additional sources:
http://www.indieretronews.com/2020/11/looty-v2-amiga-game-inspired-by-classic.html
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2020-12-00001-DE.html
https://www.amigafuture.de/app.php/newsportal/?ulg=de&news_id=38424
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=104728

Blask, early first person shooter demo

Doom never stops. After "Dread" here's another 2020 low-spec Amiga first person shooter, called "Blask". Actually this project seems to have been around for quite a while, mostly under the name of "Alien Enemy: Dangerous", with occasional tech demos popping up - this one is the latest.

Not too much to show here, but this already looks quite enjoyable. Written in AMOS, it has what appears to be pretty smooth 3D graphics, proper graphics and color palette, and this simple, but quite convincing light source effect.

Certainly a welcome addition to the set of first-person shooters available for the Amiga, make sure you stay up to date on this one.

You can watch the latest tech demo of "Blask" on YouTube (2020-11-09):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIZMbPKN4o4

You can download the demo here:
https://chomikuj.pl/marowu/blaskscr,7450164853.adf

Additional sources:
https://www.ppa.pl/forum/programowanie/36707/alien-enemy-dangerous/14#m702587
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2020-11-00021-DE.html
http://www.indieretronews.com/2020/11/blask-first-person-shooter-amiga-tech.html

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...and again some bonus gaming news:

Archon and Archon 2 full versions for free

In November 2020 printmag "Amiga Future" continued their efforts of releasing full Amiga software titles for free with the addition of two highly regarded classics: "action-chess"-type games "Archon" and "Archon 2"!

"Archon" from 1985 (Amiga release)

"Archon" (Greek for "ruler") by Electronic Arts was first released for Atari 8-bit computers in 1983, received rave reviews, and was ported to many other platforms, including Amiga. It's a fast-paced mixture of chess-type strategy, and realtime combat action sequences deciding the outcome of individual attacks.

"Archon" combat section

"Archon 2: Adept" from 1984 was the first sequel, released for Amiga in 1988. In later years, more sequels would follow: "Archon Ultra" for MS-DOS in 1994, "Archon: Evolution" around 2007 using some of the original 8-bit code, "Archon" remakes for mobile devices, "Archon Classic" in 2010 available on Steam, and there seems to be another new version in development since 2017.

"Archon 2: Adept" from 1988 (Amiga release)

The games' disk files are available in ADF, IPF (Archon and Archon 2) and WHD (Archon 2 only) format, plus a manual in PDF.

Go to Amiga Future magazine's website to download "Archon" and "Archon 2":
https://www.amigafuture.de/app.php/dlext/search?search_keywords=archon

Additional sources:
https://www.amigafuture.de/app.php/newsportal/?ulg=de&news_id=38388
http://www.amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2020-11-00040-EN.html
https://www.facebook.com/playArchon/
https://archive.org/details/ArchonEvolution
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archon_Ultra

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Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for "Games galore #16"!

Check out "Games galore" main page with all articles -
click here!

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Support Amiga game development! Buy a game!

Games galore #5: R.E.R.O., Stalker, Dread, and the return of Mutation Software!

Still more 2019 games! And some 2020 gaming news, too! Yes, we're transitioning into 2020, but in many cases development dates back to 2019, or even further. Either way, more awesomeness here.

R.E.R.O. - Amiga H.E.R.O. remake

"R.E.R.O. - Rocket driven Emergency Rescue Operation" is a remake of cave exploration and rescue game "H.E.R.O. - Helicopter Emergency Rescue Operation", originally released in 1984 for Atari 2600 and ported to many 8-bit platforms.

Cave rescue teams use rocket engineering these days.

In November 2019, a nine level preview of R.E.R.O was released. It runs on a standard Amiga 500, but utilizes more RAM if present. The game looks great, it's tastefully colorful, detailed, and moves smoothly! It also sounds great, with a nice minimalistic in-game soundtrack and lots of oldskool soundeffects!

The original "H.E.R.O." had a certain flow to it - you could fly around quite swifly if you knew your way. "R.E.R.O." seems to do a very good job at capturing the original game's pacing and precision.

Bombs open paths, but get away from that explosion!

A possible Christmas 2019 release was tentatively mentioned, but has passed without further news. We're still happily looking forward to a final release.

Here's a video of the game demo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA-Y3ecIXcM

Go to Hall Of Light games database for download links:

http://hol.abime.net/6326

Additional sources:
http://www.indieretronews.com/2019/11/rero-amiga-hero-remake-gets-early-demo.html
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=97073
http://flashtro.com/r-e-r-o-9-level-preview/

Previously unreleased: Stalker

"Stalker" was rediscovered and restored after members of English Amiga Board (EAB) had found the game in 2013, and wondered what it could be. After some investigation it turned out the game was created in 1993 by Jozsef Punk, Viktor Dara, and Ferenc Bardos. Jozsef and Ferenc had been coding Amiga demos since 1989 as a group called "FI-RE Crew". Jozsef was contacted by the members of EAB, and gave them the full game in its latest development version plus assembler sourcecode and permission to publish both publicly. Cool. :-)

So far this is rather old "news", but in January 2020 some more work was put into the game by adding improved title screens from various previous versions, creating the latest, previously unavailable release 0.778.

That's a hell of a machine.

According to the author, "Stalker"'s main feature is the rearrangeable playfield:
"The player controls a [...] robot in a scene that is built by same sized blocks. These blocks are moveable in rearrange mode." That sounds very interesting!

Jozsef has a little homepage for "Stalker" on his website:

http://www.intuitivecomputers.eu/works/stalker.html

For news, latest release, download links, etc. browse and follow the thread at English Amiga Board:

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=68110

Additional sources:
http://www.intuitivecomputers.eu/works/amiga.html
https://nexus23.com/warfare2/amigas-stalker-unreleased-game-gets-reloaded/
http://hol.abime.net/6007

New Doom clone: "Dread" for Amiga 500

They said Doom can't be done on an Amiga.
They said Alien Breed 3D was the best an Amiga could do.
They said you need a 68030 (at least).

Now we're getting actual "Doom" for an unexpanded, 7MHz Amiga 500. Well, kind of, and it goes by the name of "Dread". When this popped up about a week ago it caused quite some excitement, for obvious reasons. Actually this is from 2019, a highly optimized and specialized 2.5D FPS engine by KK/Altair (from Altair demo group) that was first shown at the Xenium developer conference in Poland in Aug./Sep. 2019, but it's the "making-of" video that gets people's attention these days.

Currently this is nowhere near completion, but it very much looks as if the author is working towards a full "Dread" game release. Stay tuned, and in the meantime enjoy the video:

Watch "Dread Ep 01 - making "Doom" clone for Amiga 500" (2020-02-23)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeaNb5QzoU0

Additional sources:
https://xenium.rocks/en/timetable
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wu66Qs579o
https://scenesat.com/videoarchive/138 (from ~1:35:00)
http://www.indieretronews.com/2020/02/doom-could-doom-clone-run-on-7mhz-amiga.html

Mutation Software back in business

Very welcome news from the commercial side of Amiga gaming: In February 2020, Adrian Cummings announced the return of his software label "Mutation Software"!

Currently planned releases are a "Micro Series Collectors Signature edition" of remastered games "Tin Toy", "Tommy Gun", and "Castle Kingdoms" in early 2020, and a new game called "Wiz" towards the end of the year.

http://hol.abime.net/1441/screenshot

"Tin Toy" requires an AGA Amiga, as will the new game "Wiz" do, while "Tommy Gun" and "Castle Kingdoms" run on 1MB OCS/ECS Amiga.

http://hol.abime.net/1455/screenshot

Note that these screenshots are from the original game versions - the new editions will be remastered.

http://hol.abime.net/2944/screenshot

All games will be available in digital and physical form. The "Micro Series Collectors Signature edition" (physical, boxed) will contain the game on floppy disc, and a free drinks coaster, and should be available in March - that's pretty much right now!

Go to "Mutation Software" website for more information, and place your order!

http://www.mutationsoftware.uk

Sources:
http://hol.abime.net/1441
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2020-02-00021-EN.html
http://softwareamusements.com/MutationSoftware/index.html

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Again, we have some...

...Bonus gaming news:

dA JoRMaS "Bonus Stage #75": Super Hang-On?

"This proof of concept for arcade perfectness on the Amiga was inspired by the various not so stellar Amiga ports from back in the day. 50FPS should have been possible on the original hardware but as long as it hasn't been implemented it doesn't exist so there was only one way to be sure." (www.jormas.com)

Yeah, super smooth "Super Hang-On" style motorcycle racing on any Amiga with 1MB! Ok, not really, but a video released in February 2020 shows a demo that could potentially turn into a great clone, potentially better than the official port the Amiga got back in the day.

Author vesuri, from artist/demo group dA JoRMaS, doesn't have any plans to turn this into a game, but he's considering to release the source code - maybe someone will pick this up and...?

Ready, set, go: "dA JoRMaS: Bonus Stage #75" video (2020-02-15)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlZCjHGtSkw

If you want to see it running on your own Amiga, you can download the demo from AmiNet:

http://aminet.net/package/demo/sound/jrm-bs75.lha

Sources: 
https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=84875
http://www.jormas.com/

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Thanks for reading!

Check out "Games galore" main page with all articles - click here!