A short entry for a shoot-em-up game called The Sanctuary, which was being advertised in Zzap 64 issue 49 by Radical Software (A Swedish-based company). Described by the advert as “Well playing, graphically and sonically superb shoot-em-up for the Commodore 64.”
The advert was not selling the game, but was trying to pitch to publishers. It seems that no-one sadly picked up the game – or was it perhaps released under a different name?
All we know at this stage was that the game was likely written by a Johan Rosenlind. It isn’t known who was involved on the graphics and music side of things. If you know anything more about the title or have any leads, please do get in touch.
Thanks to Anonymous Contributor (of which we’re using most of their text directly), we learn that the game is mentioned in the limited edition 2016 book “Svensk videospelsutveckling. Från 50-tal till 90-tal” (Swedish video game development. ’50s to ’90s) by Sunhede and Lindell.
The following passage is actually about Swedish software developer Saicon from the city of Borlänge in mid-Sweden. The company released a number of games for the Spectrum and Amiga, among those the Amiga game Take’em Out:
“[Saicon] comes in contact with English publisher Cascade Games via [Saicon employee] Michel’s cousin’s classmate. He is also from Borlänge and his name is Johan Rosenlind (born 1970). He is trying to sell his C64 shoot’em up The Sanctuary to publishers. Johan puts ads in both English magazine Zzap!64 as well as Swedish magazines. He is contacted by Cascade who will soon change their name to Artronic Products, they are however not interested in his game either, but are looking for other exciting genres and asks if he has any connections. Johan asks Saicon to throw a demo together of [Saicon Amiga game] Take’em Out which he can send over.
Rosenlind starts the company Radical Software in 1989. The aim is to offer computer programme agency services, i.e. helping developers find publishers. […] Rosenlind’s company never releases a single game nor makes any money, but is still registered as a dormant company.”
The text also mentions that Rosenlind starts a short-lived mobile phone game company called Port 42 in 2000, releasing a game called WalletStreet.
We managed to get hold of Johan, who revealed that his Dad had smuggled a C64 in when on a business trip to Germany after his Acorn Electron had given up. A friend knew how to program and crack games, and Johan spent time over his shoulder, figuring out how the C64 worked.
Uridium and Armalyte were the inspirations amongst other games. Eventually Johan could code and reverse engineer/copy from other games and create all the different elements. He couldn’t do sound, so his classmate Peter Karlsson did all the music and sound effects. The game was sideways scrolling from right to left, and he recalls stages with mountains and with forest.
The main ship was grey metalic with rotation that was “gravity-like”. There was wave after wave of increasingly difficult enemies in variations of sinus curves and rolling about. Johan recalls doing border hacks, where a part/full version was incorporated – based from a lot of reverse engineering of demos.
The game was finished during high school, so around 1986-88 time. Johan started looking for publishers and the UK was the starting point, where copies were sent out and eventually he also spent some summer work money on adverts. Unfortunately Johan feels he was a bit late to the party, as the Amiga had started to rise. There was no interest in The Sanctuary, and so friends doing Amiga development asked Johan to help sell the game Take ‘Em Out game.
Johan has offered to hopefully find something of the game, and so watch this space!
Contributions: Iain Black, Anonymous Contributor, Johan Rosenlind
You forgot to add the scan of the advert? https://www.zzap64.co.uk/cgi-bin/displaypage.pl?issue=49&page=49
Whoops! Not sure how I did that, but all fixed – thanks Iain!