Q. Why on earth are you called "Team 17"?

A. It`s a long story... In early 1988, Martyn Brown founded the "17Bit Public Domain library" for Atari ST and Amiga computers. The name came from the fact that the machines were using 16-bit technology and the library aimed to be "That bit better" thus the name 17Bit was formed. After 2 years of growth, 17Bit was one of the best known and most respected PD companies in the UK and Europe, with thousands of members enjoying the regular update disks and games/demos/utilities imported from around the world. Through 17Bit's contacts - mainly demo group coders and Amiga wizards - the idea was bandied around to develop our own software. This didn`t really kickstart until December 1990 when Team17 (then a subsidary of 17Bit) was formed. Team17 was a development team formed from 17Bit contacts - and that is how we get the name!

Q. Is it true that you are all demo coders and hackers?

A. Not really, but a sizeable percentage of our development staff can be classed as hackers - we do have a high proportion of guys who were involved in what was the "Euro-scene".

Q. How on earth do you manage to compete with the "big boys" of the industry?

A. Through hard work, enthusiasm and sheer love for what we do. We have a company atmosphere second to none and this ensures that we develop quality - and quality only - software. We`ve been very lucky in that the Amiga market recognised what we had achieved and what we stood for, and gave us tremendous support.

Q. How do you feel about the Amiga now, seeming as though it`s darkest days lie ahead?

A. Sad. We have had tremendous times with the Amiga and owe it an awful lot. All of us. It`s a shame that the market seems to want to force it out, but it has been around 10 years. No other machine has ever dominated the market so strongly for such a long period. It`ll be interesting to see how it fares under Escom.

Q. How many people work at Team17 ?

A. Now, it`s somewhere in the region of 40-45 in-house with another 15 or so out of house. That figure will rise to about 60 in-house by the end of the 1995.

Q. What`s it like working at a software company?

A. For us, it`s brilliant. I could not imagine a better job, nor a better industry to be involved in, working with such a great bunch of people. The creative aspects are everything. Although there is a lot of work!

Q. How can I get into the software industry?

A. These days it`s becoming more and more difficult to get a foothold in the industry. With virtually all companies, even ourselves, becoming more in-house based, freelance work is drying up. The wave of next generation consoles limits the ability of 'bedroom programmers' to get involved because the development systems are so expensive. The Amiga was a great tool for creative people in that there was an outlet and a way for other people to see your work. Now, it's becoming a closed industry. The best advice we can give is "get in at the bottom, work hard and cross your fingers".

Q. I`m at school, I want to work in the software industry, which qualifications do I need?

A. To be honest, we seldom look at qualifications. We are interested in raw talent and creativity. A zest for design and an instinctive passion for great games. You cannot take examinations in this. Technical ability and specific qualifications are useful depending upon the task (ie. Maths/Physics for 3D programming) but creativity and a love for the project are absolutely the be-all and end-all.

Q. How easy was it to set-up your own software company?

A. Quite easy. But we were very lucky and spotted a specific type of game that the Amiga games buying public wanted. They wanted arcade-like games, games that ran slickly, utilising their machines capacities to the limit, games that looked like they were made for the Amiga. We gave those games to the Amiga public. The time was perfect for us. I wouldn`t like to try now!

Q. How come you never advertised your games?

A. We let the games speak for themselves. We let people tell their friends how good they were. We believed in being completely honest. We also believed it was rather cool seeing games top the charts with ZERO marketing spend.
Now we have signed a big distribution agreement with Ocean Software, you will probably begin to see a few more adverts for Team 17 games.

Q. How long does it take to develop a game?

A. An Amiga game took 6-9 months, a PC game now takes 12-16 months and Console games about the same. These days it`s all more or less depends on the amount of people working on the games, which is many more than it used to be.

Q. What has been the most successful and/or popular game to date?

A. The most successful game in terms of actual unit sales is "Alien Breed Special Edition" which was released for the Amiga in late 1992. It topped the budget charts for 33weeks (a Uk Gallup record). "Body Blows" comes close behind it, when the Amiga users had "Streetfighter 2 fever" and "Arcade Pool" did very well last year.
In terms of popularity, "Superfrog" and "Project-X" also did extremely well.

Q. Will you continue to support the Amiga now?

A. We will, as we have always maintained, support the Amiga while ever there continues to be a viable market. In laymans terms, if we release software and enough sales are not made to pay adequate salaries to the programmers working on the games, then we will cease to support the platform. Why spend eight months to a year writing for a platform which might not offer you any security? At the moment, the situation is pretty much borderline and the sales of "Alien Breed 3D" will more or less convince us either way. At the end of the day, if people are playing our games but not paying for them, we cannot support the machine. A lot of Amiga users have just been taking and now it`s time to give.

Q. Who are the coolest guys around Team 17?

A. There are many "characters" around the office. Many oddballs and silly sods. This is what makes Team17. To pick out anyone in particular would be difficult.

Q. When is Alien Breed 3D coming out?

A. Soon! (They screamed in unison)

Q. Why do Amiga Power hate Team17?

A. We cannot really say that they "hate us" but we do feel rather aggreived at some of the stuff they have written. It does tend to smell of the typical English tabloid mentality of building someone up and then knocking them down. Nowadays we are incommunicado with AP, it's not an ideal situation, but we feel it`s our only option.

Q. Who designed the logo and when are you going to change your name to "Team17 Interactive"?

A. Firstly, Rico Holmes designed the logo in 1990 (artist behind the first T17 games) and secondly, if we called ourselves Team17 Interactive, we would be just another white fluffy animal queuing up behind the others waiting to use a Silicon Graphics machine only to discover that it doesn`t improve the way games play.

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