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Lemmings early screens (C64)

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

Flicking through the last issue of Zzap!64 back in late 1992, I rediscovered an early screenshot and the first to be shown of the Commodore 64 version of Lemmings. It would be a year until the final game saw release.

Scan courtesy of Stephen (Mort) Stuttard (Click for full size)

Looking at the constructed screenshot, it seems this was a test level, as I think there are more lemmings on the screen than the C64 version eventually allowed, plus usually you only get the floater icon on this level. Also at this stage the shading is quite simple, and the graphics may have been quickly wired at this stage from the Amiga. Or is it even just a quick mock up?

Continue reading →

Posted in Commodore 64 (C64), GTW64 news, Prototype | Leave a comment

The Sporting News Baseball (C64) – Early screen

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

Contributor Mathew Chakko flagged up that “The Sporting News Baseball” game by Epyx Software in 1988 was advertised with a panel area that had a number of differences compared to the final game. Here it is:

Now compare to the screenshot from Gamebase64:

There is a MPH meter and also what seems to be a wind direction line too? Very minor differences from what was probably just a slightly earlier build used to screenshot. Interesting though to see :) Continue reading →

Posted in Commodore 64 (C64) | Tagged | 10 Comments

GTW64 update for March

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

Another month and another update at GTW64, with a number of new entries and updates that we’ve been adding since the last. Hope everyone is well, and keep safe in these strange times.

8 new entries added

Bugs in buggyland, Civilization, Elevator, King Of The Air, Labyrinth, Milliways: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Sagan om ringen, Warcraft 64

29 updates added

3 Days In Carpathia, Andromeda 3, Anteater, Beavers, Bomber Clot, Cargo run, Catch 23, Chelsea of the South Sea, Club Jr’s, Dr Who and the Warlord, Dragonstone 2, Dune Buggy, Gauntlet 3, Ground Zero, Hard Drivin’ V1, Lauren of the 25th Century, Old Scores, Pony Express, Populous, Quest for Eternity, Snow Bros, Super Scramble, The Greedy Dwarf, The Search For Sharla, The Tripods, Toby’s Rescue, White Feather Cloak, Worms

Posted in Commodore 64 (C64), GTW64 news | Leave a comment

Games That Weren’t book sneak peak + update

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

Our publisher Bitmap Books have just released a bit more detail in their latest newsletter about the upcoming Games That Weren’t book, including a sneak peak at how its shaping up, so here is a bit of a preview for you:

Giving an illustrated snapshot of a wide range of unreleased games from 1975 to 2015, The Games That Weren’t includes titles across a variety of arcade, home computer, console, handheld and mobile platforms spread across 644 pages. Many games are expanded upon in detail, with those involved sharing their untold stories and recollections, as well as attempting to solve some mysteries along the way. Assets and screenshots are shown for most titles, some never seen until now. In the case of games that don’t have anything to show, there are specially created artist’s impressions, giving a unique visual interpretation of what could have been.

For more updates, you can subscribe to Bitmap Books’ newsletter here.

 

Posted in General, GTW64 news, News | 1 Comment

First update of 2020

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

In hoping to bring back more regular updates now the book nears conclusion and publication in a few months, here is the first GTW update of 2020, including a new Vic 20 section. This update includes a bunch of new entries highlighted by Peter Weighill, which I had stupidly missed for the Christmas update.

12 new entries added

Advanced Arcadeware 4 Pack, Anteater, Cargo run, Creepy Corridors, Double Dragon V1, Geister, Monkeybuilder, Phoenix Lair, Sphinx, Typo, Wheeler Dealers, “‹Stratos

12 updates added

Adam Caveman, Albedo, Amazon Tales, Capitaly, Escape From Colditz, Guardians Of Time, Hangman, Joust, Megatree, Mumbles – Superspy, Super Scramble, Unnamed helecopter game

New Commodore Vic 20 page

Something i’ve wanted to do for a while, and got prompted again after a discussion with Mat Allen and seeing news that a Hungry Horace game existed for the Vic 20. Something that will hopefully grow into more in the future:

Vic 20 Games That Weren’t

Posted in GTW64 news | Leave a comment

Games That Weren’t Christmas update 2019

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

Well, another year has passed and when preparing for this update, I realised that it had been almost 12 months since the last full update. Sorry about that! Hopefully reasons are now a lot clearer as to why that was! :)

Once the dust settles a bit, then we will be back in full trying to recover and preserve more lost C64 titles and make up for lost time. We are also starting to create and add videos to some of the entries as something a bit extra.

Many thanks to all our contributors for this update, including in particular Fabrizio Bartoloni, Csaba Virag, Hedning/GP and Jazzcat who contributed a lot to this update and for Vinny Mainolfi for all his support. All the best for 2020 and hope you enjoy the update! Continue reading →

Posted in Commodore 64 (C64), GTW64 news | Leave a comment

Derick Boorman disks

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

Just a very short post to host some demo/hack disks that I found in Level Up games in Canterbury on some old C64 disks.

They seem to be credited to a Derick Boorman who lived in Kent and hacked around a bit with some old C64 demos, changing scrolltexts etc.

Please note, these were probably done when the author was very young – so the credit changes to themselves can be ignored. I did similar lame things when I was probably around their same age!

We managed to find Derick thanks to Gerard Sweeney, and they confirmed that it was them and their work. They didn’t recall much, but remember passing on their C64 to their nephew when moving over to the Amiga around 1990/1991. Derick also used to frequent in Computer World in Canterbury, and suggests we should bin any other disks we find ;-)

In case you want to see something a bit different, here are the disk images for posterity:

DerickBoormanDownload

 

Posted in Commodore 64 (C64), GTW64 news | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Games That Weren’t book – coming soon!

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

After 5 years of work (give or take), we’re pleased to announce The Games That Weren’t book coming soon in May 2020 from Bitmap Books, covering unreleased games since the dawn of the industry.

More details coming soon, but very excited to finally share the news after keeping quiet for so long.

Official details from Bitmap Books: https://mailchi.mp/6f0f8bd57e2e/bitmap-books-crpg-1703525?fbclid=IwAR2MjfMZqmIE0GP1Ea6nygOryTX3fDT0UawaoK2VLqF5No9xM_kxeLDWEmU

Posted in GTW64 news, News | 3 Comments

Daley Thompson’s Decathlon early version

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

A short post thanks to contributor Daniel Meléndez, who spotted Daley Thompson playing a slightly different looking Daley Thompson’s Decathlon game on the Commodore 64:

Not massive differences it has to be said, apart from the panel boards and the score display section. Here is the released version as a comparison (Screenshot taken from Lemon64)

Often early builds would change their panels/layouts slightly over time. Would be interesting to know if there were any other major differences between what Daley was playing above and what we got to see in the end.

Posted in Commodore 64 (C64), GTW64 news | Tagged | 3 Comments

Basic Tools, Creators Revenge and Math Flash preserved

Posted: , last updated: by Frank Gasking

Thanks to Allan Pinkerton, who has very kindly preserved missing copies of Basic Tools, Creators Revenge (Already out there as Metamorphosis III – The Creators Revenge), Math Pack and Math Flash.

They are not strictly ‘Games That Weren’t’, but we want to try and share any preservation work where possible for titles that had been missing – so here we go:

Math-Flash-Game-1_Directions_Paralle-SystemsDownload
Math-Flash-Game-1_Box-Tape_Paralle-SystemsDownload
mathflashDownload
Creators-Revenge_Box-Disk_Victory-Software-CorporationDownload
creators-revengeDownload
basictoolsDownload
Basic-Tools_Manual-Addendum-Tape_Comm-Data-Computer-House-IncDownload
multilanchDownload
gotcha-mathDownload
edupac-mathpack-2Download
Edupac-Mathpack-1_Box-Instruction-Card-Tapes_Comm-Data-Computer-House-IncDownload
Edupac-Mathpack-2_Box-Instruction-Card-Disk_Comm-Data-Computer-House-IncDownload
MathPackTAPSDownload
edupac-mathpack-1Download
Posted in Commodore, Commodore 64 (C64) | Tagged | Leave a comment