@5NAME @1: @5Dave Kirk @5AGE @1: @520 @5LIVES @1: @5Goldthorpe, South Yorkshire @5LANGUAGE @1: @5AMOS Professional @4 AZ: When did you start programming? @3 DK: I first started about nine years ago, typing in listings from magazines. I know it sounds daft, but it helps you to understand how programs are structured. @4 AZ: Which language did you use initially? @3 DK: I started out with BASIC, on an Amstrad CPC464. @4 AZ: Did you write any games on this? @3 DK: Eventually, yes. You can't say "Right! I'm going to start programming today" - you have to start out with the most basic of commands and work upwards. When you think you know enough to have a go at writing a game, go for it. If you aren't as knowledgable as you thought you were, you can always go back to the drawing board. @4AZ: What games did you write? @3 DK: Hmmm. The first one I wrote was called "War Visions". It was a multiple choice adventure game. Very very crap, really. Another one I remember was one where you were flying a UFO. You had to collect fuel from the bottom of the screen and take it up to the mother ship without getting hit by meteors etc... God! What WAS it called? @4 AZ: Which other computers have you also owned? @3 DK: The evolutionary process! I actually first got involved with computers when I was about 8 or 9. I got an Atari 2600 for Christmas, and that was it! Hooked! A few years later, I got an Amstrad CPC464 which sparked off my programming addiction. I then owned a C64, Megadrive, SNES, A500, A1200 and a Jaguar. At present, I still own a Megadrive, Jaguar, A1200, and I'm toying with the idea of a PlayStation. Not enough software support yet, though. Let's wait for Syndicate Wars... @4 AZ: When did you start programming in AMOS? @3 DK: I think it was around the end of 1991. I started using a "borrowed" copy of AMOS Clasic, which you really shouldn't do because it's illegal. After a while I thought "Hey! this is easy!" and lashed out £75 for AMOS Professional and the compiler. @4 AZ: Why did you buy an Amiga and not a PC? @3 DK: PC's are great, as long as you don't mind farting about installing everything from CD to hard-drive, finding the appropriate directory, locating the executable file etc... You also need an almost endless supply of cash to keep up with the latest hardware. Amigas, on the other hand, are relatively cheap, easily upgradeable, run at a reasonable speed, and don't require 8Mb of memory before you can even switch it on. AMOS Pro is a positive point as well, although I understand there's something called Click & Play on the PC, which works something like AMOS, but I haven't seen it yet. @4 AZ: What programs have you written with AMOS? @3 DK: The first program I wrote was an address book, and complete crap it was, too! Since then, I've had loads of my progs released as PD, Licenceware, Shareware etc. The second game I wrote in AMOS, International Golf, was actually a commercial product. That's not to say that AMOS is easy. Compared to Assembler, it's relatively easy. But my 9-year programming experience gave me a bit of a boost, because BASIC languages are much the same from one platform to the next. AMOS is faster than your standard BASIC, because of the compiler mainly, but it also gives extra commands. I also have five programs in 5D Licenceware, namely Catalogue 3, National Lottery System 2, Disk System, Blox and Bouncer. @4 AZ: Which scheme do you prefer - Licenceware, Shareware or PD? @3 DK: PD (or do you mean freeware?) is good because although you don't get any money from it, it will get you recognition as a programmer because any PD library will take almost anything. 17 Bit seem to be getting a bit choosy recently though. Shareware is, for me, bottom of the list. Catalogue 3 used to be a Shareware product, and is now Licenceware. It only ever sold about three copies as shareware. @3 Licenceware has to be the best plan. Everybody treats your products as commercial titles, and magazines review them as such. Most of my titles now go straight into 5D Licenceware, a company founded by Phil Wilkinson at Saddle Tramps PD. I would only go for a commercial release if my product was of exceptional quality. International Golf was a big mistake. It was never meant to be a commercial game. Maybe if I'd released it into Licenceware it would have done a lot better. Sadly though, I only met up with Saddle Tramps PD a few weeks after International Golf went on sale. Life's a bitch! @4 AZ: What are your plans for the future? @3 DK: As some people are probably aware, I'm setting up my own software house called "Apex Systems". Primarily a mail order only service, I will be aiming to produce top quality software at a price that everybody can afford ie. under £15. @4 AZ: What projects are you working on at the moment? @3 DK: A number of programs actually. I've just completed Disk System 3 (5D Licenceware) but that's done with for the moment. @3 New projects are International Golf 2 which will NOT be published by Alternative Software after the pantomime I had with the first version. IG2 will probably be renamed to something else - "World of Golf" seems like a good option. This may actually be Apex Systems' first publication! Another couple of bits in progress are World Darts if Andy Cashmore ever bothers to send me the GFX for it (Hey! Are you reading this, Mr. Cashmore?), and an intriguing little game called "Gophers". God! I sound like Patrick Moore off Gamesmaster! @4 AZ: Do you have any advice for our would-be programmers? @3 DK: Tread very carefully, particularly if you are releasing your game as a commercial product. Insist on a contractual agreement, and have it looked over by a Solicitor, or, if you can't afford one, contact your local advice centre. Also, don't expect to become an expert overnight. It takes a lot of effort to get where you want to be. I've been programming for 9 years, and even I haven't quite got there yet. It's not too far away, though. @3Learn by your mistakes. When I started International Golf in February 1994, My knowledge was very limited. Looking back at it, I often think "What the hell was I doing publishing a game like this?". International Golf 2 will hopefully be a stormer. @4 AZ: Would you ever move to another platform? @3 DK: Definitely not. If Escom are good to us, and somebody gets their finger out and writes a GOOD AGA extension for AMOS, what's the point of moving? I'll stay with the Amiga for as long as they're around, which will probably be a long time. @4 AZ: Finally, you seem to be referring to International Golf 2 quite alot. What's it all about? @3 DK: It's a golf simulator. International Golf got fairly low scores when it was reviewed (AF 43%, AUI 66%, AC 52%, ONE 65%). The interesting point is that on reading the reviews, with the exception of Amiga Format, I totally agreed with them. International Golf 2 will feature a minimum of five famous courses from around the world. @3It looks set to come on two disks, whereas IG1 had only two courses and came on three disks. The graphics will also be much better than the first one, with 32 colour 360 degree scrolling. I've drawn up some example screenshots and they look quite nice. Another improvement is that it looks like it might even run on a 1Mb A500 with 512K Chip, 512K Fast. InterGolf 1 wouldn't work on that configuration because it needed 1Mb of Chip RAM. Any Fast RAM present meant that the sound effects went crazy. @1 End. @5 Thanx for your time Dave and good luck with your future products too. I personally think that is the Amiga is to survive, we need plenty of mail order only companies. So I really do hope it all goes well for you m8. I'm a loyal F1 contributor/purchaser (obviously) and think Steve offers the BEST service EVER! However, I do seek that famous commercial release and I'll keep you in mind and support you in any way I can. There are 1000's of great PD titles that should be released commercially I think! - AG.