,_S,_S,_S,
_S,_S,_S,_S,_S,_S,_S,_S,_S,_S,_S,
_S,_S,_S,_S,_S,_S,_E};

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. Do you think the Vic still has secrets that can be uncovered for programmers

A: I think that every hardware has own secrets and always somebody will
make something new.

My opinion is that if you finish a project and start a new one, the new one
is always going to be better; and you can always push your own limits and
the machine further.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. is your intention to always release games for the unexpanded machine,
and do you feel adding extra memory is cheating in some way or less
challenging

Well yes, As I said, my first goal was to make a game for unexpanded VIC.
I made it, and my next goal is make something more complex. Unexpanded VIC
is a nice challenge, but extra memory gives you different challenge to
beat.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. do you have any question you think I didn't ask or would you like to
add anything more

Are you a proud member of KISS Army Finland : Yes! I Am.

Thanks for the interview and your time



*************************************
REVIEW: POOYAN FOR THE VIC 20
By Commodore Free
*************************************

Programmer: beamrider (Adrian F)
Requirements: VIC-20 + 16K + Joystick

VIC version download docs.google.com/file/d/0BypVxYomFCZfTHRCTVpNTnhyTVE/edit?pli=1

Discussion on denial gator3293.hostgator.com/~sleeping/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?f=10&t =6780

Or if that doesn't work the main link for the Denail forum is here sleepingelephant.com/denial/

HISTORY

An original arcade game manufactured by Stern Electronics, under license
from Konami; and was released in 1982. The game was so popular, it was
ported to many home computers of the time, including The Commodore 64 and recently the playstation and Xbox. However no Vic 20 version was ever
released until now.

In the game You are "Mama", a pig whose babies have been kidnapped by a
group of horrible wolves. "mama" pig has to defend her home; and rescues
her "Pooyan" (these are the piglets that the wolves have kidnapped).
"mama" has an elevator car; this car can move up and down (by pushing the joystick up and down) "mama" has access to a bow and arrow (as do all pigs)
she uses this to Fire at the wolves by pressing the fire button (no
surprises there then). Also At the top of your rope; is a piece of meat
that appears, at what seems to be random intervals. But by Collecting this meat; it gives "mama" a special shot that will descend in an arc; and knock
out any wolves it hits. The wolves seem to have also developed some sort
of shield for their balloons and can deflect arrows (some times) by putting
a shield up in front of the balloon.

It's a game of two halves in 3 parts.

IN THE FIRST

the wolves are floating down to the bottom of the screen after jumping out
of the Trees; they do this floating by means of balloons, As "Mama" you
need to shoot the wolves down by popping the balloons, with your bow and
arrow (not shooting the Wolves) although the wolves also have the ability
to throw rocks that can knock "mama" out of her elevator; and of course she will then hit the ground and Die. If you don't kill the wolves; then they
will start to steal more pigs; resulting in you loosing bonus points, after this; the wolves will slowly start to climb up the ladders, blocking
"mamas" movements and eventually they will eat her.

IN THE SECOND

(occurring after an "intermission" sequence), the wolves are floating to
the top of screen, and if enough get there, then they push a boulder on top
of Mama and kill her, though in the second stage the boss must be shot
down.

AND IN THE 3RD HALF

The game also features a bonus stage, Oh that's three stages then (well technically)

Of course most people will like the game because it contains the word Poo
in the name of the game, and you can laugh and joke about it in a school
yard way, should you like to.

GAMPLAY

On loading the game, just like the arcade version; the balloons appear
float midway up the screen and then pop and for the letters pooyan. To see this screen again you have to die; so you will get used to it! After the
main title screen; we are treated to an animation of the pigs being chased
by the wolves, this then clears and we start the first stage.

The vic conversion works well; and is very fluid in its controls, All the elements are here; and have been well implemented within the restraints of
the hardware. I found the game quite hard to play, but my attempts sat in
a smoky arcade; while I should have been sitting in maths lessons at
school; were just as pathetic. The game seems very much like the original;
the Vic version actually looks remarkably like the commodore 64 version.
Sounds are good for the Vic; with a nice tune playing during the game, and
spot in game sounds, the graphics are large and colourful.

One thing that did strike me; and I don't know if the original was the
same, but when you throw the meat it doesn't seem to shoot out very far,
but then I am not an expert on shooting meat from a suspended cradle you understand, but the wolves do seem to have to be quite close to you for the meat to hit them!

SCORES

Gameplay: 7/10
ok it's a remake, but its a good
conversion
Graphics: 7/10
very accurate to the original
Sounds: 8/10
nice version of the music plays in
the game
Overall: 7.5/10
very nice conversion for the VIC

COMMENTS

Not much to add really; a very competent conversion for the Vic 20, quite
slick and well executed, great animations and graphics and in game music.



*************************************
INTERVIEW WITH ADRIAN FOX
Creator of Pooyan Clone for the
VIC 20
*************************************

Q. Can you please introduce yourself to our readers

Sure. My name is Adrian Fox. Originally from the North of England; and
now living in Swindon in the South-West. I am married with a
step-daughter; I also have two sons all in their mid/late teens. Work wise
I'm a freelance software engineer; currently I am on contract in London.
When not on the Vic; I enjoy messing around with gadgets, hiking and motorcycling.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. Can you give our readers a brief history of how you became involved
with the Vic; and how you started coding on the Machine

I received a Vic as my first computer at the age of 13, after the machine
was recommended to me by my Maths teacher; as a cut-down version of the Commodore Pet; that I had been using at school. Initially, I had no tape
deck; and so had to retype in the programs from the user guide at every power-on. When I finally obtained a datasette, I wrote a couple of games
in basic myself, but they were nothing special. I always wanted to write machine code, but when I tried it seemed too difficult, especially using
the vic itself as a development platform. I eventually moved onto the C64
and Amiga but never did any coding.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. What prompted you to code a port of Pooyan for the vic and how long did
the conversion take

I started getting back into the vic about 10 years ago, acquiring hardware
from E-Bay; and following the scene on and off. I was impressed by some of
the recent excellent releases for the vic; [Frogger-07, Quick-Man 2008 etc]
and my attention turned to some of the games I'd enjoyed on the C64 in my
youth that were missing ports onto the vic. Pooyan being one of my
favourites came to mind. I began to wonder if I could finally master 6502 coding. I had several attempts but the effort seemed too much until a
couple of tools became available, [VIC-SSS and CBM-Prg Studio] and these
were the catalyst that got me started. The game took about six months from start to finish.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. Are you still developing the title or is this now a "finished release"

No, I've finished it really, unless anyone finds any critical issues that
need addressing

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