@4   MATTHEW SMITH
                                                @3
      Any one who grew up  with  the Spectrum will instantly remember
      such classic games as Manic Miner and  Jet Set Willy, and a few
      of you will probably remember  their creator, Matthew Smith. In
      todays hi-tech 90's, there  are  very  few personalities in the
      game industry who are  as  adored  as their 8-bit counterparts,
      and most of them are  artists  who  grew up and perfected their
      art during the heady days of  the  8-bit machines. So it was of
      some surprise that when  trying  to  find any information about
      the genius who gave us Eugene's  Lair,  and had thousands of us
      pulling our hair out, that I was able to find very little about
      the  man  in  question.  After   looking  through  hundreds  of
      magazines and fanzines I was  able  to  find very little. Other
      than an interview given in the  July '87 issue of Sinclair User
      all that I know of the  man  is  from  memory. And if my memory
      serves me correct he co-wrote JSW2 and also wrote the ill fated
      Attack Of The Mutant  Flesh  Eating  Zombies  From Mars, which,
      though heavily advertised, never saw  the  light of day because
      Software Projects didn't think it was of high enough quality. I
      think Matthew went away to  rewrite  it  and was never heard of
      again. If anybody knows anything  else,  or  any mistakes I may
      have wrote, then please let  me  know,  and  if you are reading
      this Matthew Smith, we salute you!
                   @4
      
                   CODE TALK (Sinclair User, July 1987)
                                                          @3
      Matthew Smith  is  a  very  funny  sort  of  person.  He's very
      difficult to describe. After Jet Set Willy established him as a
      major programming  talent,  he  disappeared  for  nearly  three
      years without a trace.  Among  (wholly unqualified) accusations
      of chemically induced  '60s  psychedelia  and  general physical
      collapse, the notorious coder  responsible  for the creation of
      moderately warped concepts such as Eugene's Lair in Manic Miner
      vanished. Nothing was heard or seen  of Smith for years. Attack
      Of The Mutant Zombie Flesh  Eating  Chickens From Mars has been
      three years - on and off - in  the making and it's every bit as
      weird as the  other  Smith  creations.  Sitting  in a Liverpool
      eaterie, he talked about his decidedly shady initial encounters
      with computers, and his unexpectedly refined eating tastes.
      
      
                   @4
      WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING SINCE JSW IN '84?   @3
      I've been working on Chickens and also a mega-project. I've got
      the plot worked out  and  so   far   I'm   up to  chapter  3 in
      the novella that's going to  come   with  it.  It's  set in the
      24th century and you'll be able  to   play  the  part of anyone
      in the town  where  the  action  takes   place.   Basically the
      machines and bombs  and  things  have  become intelligent,  and
      don't want to be used for war any more.
                                        @4
      WHICH OTHER PROGRAMMERS DO YOU ADMIRE?  @3
      Bill Hogue from California.  He  works  for  Big 5 Software. He
      wrote Miner 2049'er which  inspired  Manic  Miner  to a certain
      extent, but he also did  some  fantastic  things on the TRS 80,
      proving you can still have great games on a computer with lousy
      graphics. The Spectrum was a dream  compared with the TRS. Mike
      Singleton and Jeff Minter have to get a mention too.
                              @4
      FAVOURITE PROGRAMS?          @3
      An  old  favourite  is  Ultima   II  from  Microprose.  It's  a
      traditional hack and slash  role-playing  game. Buried Bucks is
      great too, it was printed in  a magazine ages ago, and involves
      a little helicopter. It's a  bit  difficult  to explain, but it
      was great.
                     @4
      WHAT ARCADE GAMES DO YOU SCORE HIGHEST ON?  @3
      I don't really play them all that  often. I like to watch other
      people play, as they're often better at them than I am.
                               @4
      FAVOURITE FOOD AND DRINK?        @3
      I like Italian Food -  all  herbs  and  spices. Chinese is good
      too. I can't stand American. I'd like to become vegetarian, but
      haven't quite made it yet.
                                @4
      WHAT PROGRAM WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO HAVE WRITTEN?  @3
      Cyberrun. It's terribly  dull,  I  know,  but  the graphics are
      great.
                             @4
      PROGRAMMING AMBITION?           @3
      I really want to get this  mega-game sorted out. After that I'd
      like to program the orbit details into my spaceship computer. I
      want to become a starship captain.
                                      @4
      FAVOURITE TV SHOW/RECORDS/BOOKS.      @3
      I like things with spaceships in  them. All romantic novels are
      just soft porn so I don't bother  with them. I like Moody Blues
      and Pink Floyd's music,  anything  that's  a bit psychedelic. I
      like Genesis too.
                  @4
      HOBBIES?            @3
      Reading, boogying and riding my bike.
                        @4
      WORST SUBJECT AT SCHOOL? @3
      English Lit. It was the only exam I turned up for and failed.
                            @4
      WHO DID YOU VOTE FOR?         @3
      Labour (although I'm a Liberal).
                                    @4
      BEST THING ABOUT THE SPECTRUM?        @3
      It's cheap and it's got better graphics than the ZX81.
      
      
      
                              @6
                                 SOFTOLOGY
      @5
      Styx@6 (Bug Byte, 1983)
      @5Manic Miner@6 (Bug Byte, 1983)
      @5Jet Set Willy@6 (Software Projects, 1984)
      @5Attack of the Mutant  Zombie  Flesh  Eating  Chickens From Mars
      @6(Software Projects, 1987)