Jeff Minter and Llamasoft

[Fingolfin]

'shit you can't get anymore' sounds really good!
Especially when it’ll be fine-tuned for contemporary consoles as per Atari 50th.

@ Lander, Polybius is an excellent example of the “playing in the moment takes precedence/priority over the end game/end goal” type of Minter’s mindset/approach to making games.

Though I don’t know the man I do know his work and this seems to fit his personality as a 40+ year game developer: make it simple, make it fun and make it…silly! In addition to tendency towards the psychedelic, humor reigns supreme in the “Minter aesthetic”: his body of work consists of games that are genuinely zany, bent and even a bit Mad Hatter mad by industry standards.

Would anyone know if Minter’s discussed his modeling/being heavily influenced by S.T.U.N. Runner in making Polybius? Influence of S.T.U.N. Runner is undeniable but wondering if ever discussed anywhere.
“It’s all in the tube/tubes baby!”

Off topic a bit but it’d be good to get Atari games like S.T.U.N. Runner, Roadblasters and Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters someday.

Edit for spelling

[Marc]

Yeah it's been a decade since I owned an Apple thing, but I'm pretty sure those games are all dead now. Gridrinner was ported to Android, that's about it i think.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Gridrinner was ported to Android, that's about it i think.

There are two versions on Steam (original and Gridrunner Revolution) alone with Goatup, Super Ox Wars, and maybe some others. Like I said, the only 'i' thing I ever owned was a pod back when it had a monochrome screen (and it was piece of shit. Afterwards I bought a Creative Zen for like half the price and it lasted like six years) so I'm really not super well-versed in the catalog, but some titles are still available in some form.

[bcass]

Android ports of the iOS games Caverns of Minos, Five a Day, Goat Up, Super Ox Wars, and Gridrunner all exist but were never officially released. If you ask Giles nicely he will probably send them to you.

[bcass]

Some of the iOS games were also released for OSX, but I don't think they are available any more either...

[Warp_Rattler]

Android ports of the iOS games Caverns of Minos, Five a Day, Goat Up, Super Ox Wars, and Gridrunner all exist but were never officially released. If you ask Giles nicely he will probably send them to you.

Even better: they're all available to download (though somewhat hidden--scroll to the bottom) from the Llamasoft website: http://minotaurproject.co.uk/Minotaur/donate.php. Free, but donations accepted.

[EDIT: Well, "even better" in the sense that they're already available, no questions necessary. Getting an email reply from Giles would actually be pretty cool, though.]

Caverns of Minos, Five a Day, Goat Up, and Super Ox Wars are all supposedly unfinished, but they seemed to play pretty solidly for the few minutes that I gave them. The quality actually seemed better than many supposedly-finished apps one finds sold for actual money.

Gridrunner is a lot of fun and works surprisingly well on a smartphone. I don't know whether/how well it runs on the latest Android OS versions, but it's been pretty consistent for me up through my now-ancient Android 9 phone.

[BrianC]

Annoying thing about the iOS stuff is that a couple games had things broken in updates that never got fixed. The classic Gridrunner was flipped upside down after an update. Minotaur Rescue got easier after an update and never went back to the original difficulty.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Annoying thing about the iOS stuff is that a couple games had things broken in updates that never got fixed.

Well, in my experience, throwing up one's hands and walking away while the software is in some sort of broken state is how most third-party development for Apple ends.

[Ms. Tea]

I really don't think I'd have called a Konix Multisystem emulator being added to this. Worth it for that alone.

Making of Karateka had some great interviews and making-of materials; looking forward to seeing what they do with that here.

[Fingolfin]

Off topic but rather than new thread figured it’d make it to the Atari freaks fastest if posted here:

Atari 50th has added Warbirds!!!!



Didn’t see this elsewhere so added here and Atari 50

check Atari 50th for more to reduce off topic factor: viewtopic.php?t=70770

[MJR]

Sorry if this has been posted already, I had no time to read the whole thread..

Llamasoft collection will come out in 2024
By digital eclipse..
https://www.digitaleclipse.com/games/llamasoft

[Sima Tuna]

Digital Eclipse usually does a shit job with emulation.

[Buffi]

Digital Eclipse usually does a shit job with emulation.

... and a pretty amazing job with the video production side of things.

I'm extremely excited for this collection due that that thing alone
The documentary side of things will probably be very good

[Marc]

Digital Eclipse usually does a shit job with emulation.

The Atari 50 seemed great?

[FunktionJCB]

The Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story collection is releasing on March 13th.

Launch trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uIW8Qd-7rE

List of included titles:

Sinclair ZX81
3D3D
Centipede

Commodore VIC-20
Abductor
Andes Attack
Deflex V
Gridrunner
Hellgate
Laser Zone
Matrix: Gridrunner 2
Metagalactic Llamas Battle at the Edge of Time
Ratman

Commodore 64
Ancipital
Attack of the Mutant Camels
Batalyx
Gridrunner
Hellgate
Hover Bovver
Iridis Alpha
Laser Zone
Mama Llama
Matrix: Gridrunner 2
Metagalactic Llamas Battle at the Edge of Time
Psychedelia
Revenge of the Mutant Camels
Revenge of the Mutant Camels II
Rox 64
Sheep In Space
Voidrunner

Sinclair Spectrum
City Bomb
Headbangers Heaven
Rox III
Superdeflex

Atari 8-bit
Attack of the Mutant Camels
Colourspace
Gridrunner
Hover Bovver
Turboflex

Konix Multi-System
Attack of the Mutant Camels '89

Atari ST
Llamatron: 2112
Revenge of the Mutant Camels
Super Gridrunner

Atari Jaguar
Tempest 2000

Reimagined
Gridrunner Remastered

[m.sniffles.esq]

Holy crap! Usually when something moves from a 'tbd' release date to something concrete, the concrete date isn't in two weeks.

edit: I'm guessing no physical? Unless amazon didn't get the press release...

[Bear78]

Holy crap! Usually when something moves from a 'tbd' release date to something concrete, the concrete date isn't in two weeks.

edit: I'm guessing no physical? Unless amazon didn't get the press release...

Physical is planned at some point.

https://x.com/DigitalEclipse/status/176 ... 08904?s=20

[Fingolfin]

Great news!

Thank you very much for the update FunktionJCB!

Glad to know the release date and all of the Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story software included; I’d been running weekly google searches/checking the Steam listing since mid December to see when this might be released.

Will be interested to see about pricing now we have March 13 as the release date.

Digital Eclipse official site for Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story https://www.digitaleclipse.com/games/llamasoft

[gray117]

Never really been too into any of the games ... But like them... and I think that's probably about what they're supposed to be.

And as far as I know (?) There really isn't anything not to like about minter and llamasoft - a good guy, doing it his way, and successfully so. Not always to everyone's exact taste - but upfront and is what it is.

[m.sniffles.esq]

I mean, I seriously doubt anyone under the age of 40 will bother even looking at this collection -- that said -- in the days of 'indie studios' funded by microsoft, I think it's nice to give some viability to someone who's been doing it since 1981, and whose 'distribution' was literally self-addressed-stamped-envelops, as an object lesson in integrity. Even if it gets in front of very few of the eyeballs that actually need it.

[Sima Tuna]

I mean, I seriously doubt anyone under the age of 40 will bother even looking at this collection -- that said -- in the days of 'indie studios' funded by microsoft, I think it's nice to give some viability to someone who's been doing it since 1981, and whose 'distribution' was literally self-addressed-stamped-envelops, as an object lesson in integrity. Even if it gets in front of very few of the eyeballs that actually need it.

I dunno. I don't care about the whole history aspect of the games. But if they're still fun, still solid, trippy experiences, then I'd buy in. Assuming the porting work is alright. I'm a big fan of games like REZ that try to communicate nonverbally. That's the sort of experience you really can't get from other media. I don't suppose we've ever had a "Dark Side of the Moon" of video games. Well, other than REZ. But Jeff Minter's stuff reminds me of that. I like it.

I just don't give any shits about the history of Llamasoft.

[bcass]

Space Giraffe goes way deeper than Rez ever did, and I say that as someone who loves Rez.

[sharak]

He is no longer on twitter?

I’d like Polybius to be updated for PSVR2

[Ms. Tea]

I mean, I seriously doubt anyone under the age of 40 will bother even looking at this collection

Hey, I'm 38! That's still young, right? ...right?

He is no longer on twitter?

Yeah, he's on Mastodon these days: https://toot.wales/@llamasoft_ox

[Fingolfin]

It would appear that Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story will cost $29.99 @ launch on March 13: Nintendo Switch and Xbox/MS have this price already listed; PS4/5, Steam & GOG don’t have official prices listed yet (not at all unusual at least for PSN listings: PSN often doesn’t list prices prior to release).

[Sima Tuna]

Did the full game list get published yet? $30 is fine if the emulation is good and all the latter-era Jeff Minter games are included. I'd especially like to see Space Giraffe, considering that one is not available on Switch or Sony systems. I kinda doubt that the newer games will be included, but I hope I'm wrong. Polybius is not available for Xbox or Switch. The minotaur arcade stuff is likewise not available on consoles.

I'll probably still get it if they include all the tempests, I suppose.

Edit: found the game list

Full game list by platform:

Sinclair ZX81

3D3D
Centipede

Commodore VIC-20

Abductor
Andes Attack
Deflex V
Gridrunner
Hellgate
Laser Zone
Matrix: Gridrunner 2
Metagalactic Llamas Battle at the Edge of Time
Ratman

Commodore 64

Ancipital
Attack of the Mutant Camels
Batalyx
Gridrunner
Hellgate
Hover Bovver
Iridis Alpha
Laser Zone
Mama Llama
Matrix: Gridrunner 2
Metagalactic Llamas Battle at the Edge of Time
Psychedelia
Revenge of the Mutant Camels
Revenge of the Mutant Camels II
Rox 64
Sheep In Space
Voidrunner

Sinclair Spectrum

City Bomb
Headbangers Heaven
Rox III
Superdeflex

Atari 8-bit

Attack of the Mutant Camels
Colourspace
Gridrunner
Hover Bovver
Turboflex

Konix Multi-System

Attack of the Mutant Camels '89

Atari ST

Llamatron: 2112
Revenge of the Mutant Camels
Super Gridrunner

Atari Jaguar

Tempest 2000

Reimagined

Gridrunner Remastered

So, nothing beyond Jaguar Tempest 2k. Think I'll take a pass. If he won't even post up a port of space giraffe to modern systems then whatever. Once again, digital eclipse are pulling the old gimmick of counting multiple versions of the same game across different consoles as different games. The old "technically correct, which is the best kind of correct" move. Awful lot of repeated versions of Gridrunner and attack of the mutant camels.

[m.sniffles.esq]

So, nothing beyond Jaguar Tempest 2k. Think I'll take a pass. If he won't even post up a port of space giraffe to modern systems then whatever.

This is like the third time I've read this, and it continues to confound me.

You want Space Giraffe? Buy Space Giraffe

Hey, I have five different games that I sell for $5 apiece. You know what would be a great idea? Bundling them all together, then selling the bundle for $10
-No One Ever

[Fingolfin]

I would admit a slightly lower price would’ve been welcome but if the emulation’s as spot on/not a whit of lag as the Atari 50 collection (which launched @$39.99 IIRC) then this is reasonably priced.

Not trying to persuade you SimaTuna (or anyone else) but the differences between C64 and Atari 8 bit computer Attack of The Mutant Camels are pretty noticeable/significant given the strengths and weakness of those machines — not to mention the Konix Multi System, which some die hard Minter fans’d prolly pay $10 standalone.

I don’t know all the games and specific differences for Vic20 vs C64 vs Atari 8 bits/400/800, etc but the same versions/different machines quite likely are substantially different for whatever that’s worth.

In addition to all the games, I personally cannot wait to check out Psychedelia and Colourspace!

As m.sniffles is indicating, Minter has several games for PC including Minotaur Arcade Collection Vol. 1 @$6.99, Moose Life @$6.99, Gridrunner Revolution @$9.99 and Space Giraffe @$9.99 on Steam (both have regular Steam sale discounts). There’s also a Steam bundle o 5 Minter games @$24.99.

Unless Big N, Sony or MS come to him/at least offer some decent compensation up front, what’s the motivation for Jeff? What’s his incentive?

Have no clue how much time converting to those platforms would be (vs taking Xbox 360 code for Space Giraffe and making a PC version) but given Jeff’s personality/nature and history with large gaming companies…not really “fair” to expect that or criticize Jeff for not doing it on his own/taking initiative to convince Big N, Sony or MS for contemporary consoles @2024.


Regarding Digital Eclipse’s emulation, both Atari 50 and this Llamasoft collection should be considerably easier to nail vs SNK 40th Anniversary Collection (ooof!): the majority of games are 8 bit.

But restating, the Atari 50 was excellent and this should be as well: mostly emulating 8 bit hardware/software except for a few titles. Tempest 2000 on Atari 50 was/is very close to original Jag hardware. Not selling my Jag anytime soon but nice to not have to take it out and set up just to play Tempest 2000.

Very much looking forward to Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story.

[Sima Tuna]

So, nothing beyond Jaguar Tempest 2k. Think I'll take a pass. If he won't even post up a port of space giraffe to modern systems then whatever.

This is like the third time I've read this, and it continues to confound me.

You want Space Giraffe? Buy Space Giraffe

Hey, I have five different games that I sell for $5 apiece. You know what would be a great idea? Bundling them all together, then selling the bundle for $10
-No One Ever

I guess I was just hoping that an ultimate Jeff Minter collection would include a lot of the more recent games which, I must repeat, are not available on many modern consoles. It would have been convenient and nice to play space giraffe or polybius on my switch in portable mode. You telling me to go buy space giraffe for a different console entirely is fine, but maybe I don't want to buy it for a PC (my pc sucks) or a console from the very beginning of the HD era.

I don't personally think $30 for a bunch of different versions of Gridrunner and Mutant Camels is a good use of my money.

Your "no one ever" response is also a bit silly, considering video game developers do that kind of thing with bundles all the time. They'll take a bunch of old games that released for $40, slap them all into a big collection and release the collection for $40 or less. Very, very common. Space Giraffe is a 2007 game and even Polybius is from 2017.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Your "no one ever" response is also a bit silly, considering video game developers do that kind of thing with bundles all the time.

The only ones that do it with permanence (which is what you're suggesting. Not a sale or promotional bundle) are people like ea, ubi, take-two, etc attempting to squeeze the sponge to tickle the bottom line.

Let's put this another way

A giant commercial is about to be released for my extremely niche product, now's the time to start forever selling it for pennies on the dollar
-No One Ever

Besides all that --as mentioned-- the entire raison d'être of Digital Eclipse's "Gold Master Series" is historical posterity, not bundling or porting readily available titles