Sacred Armour of Antiriad - any questions for the devs?

[Szczepaniak]

I've noticed some writers accepting questions to ask interviewees, so thought I would try the same.

I've recently interviewed Dan Malone and Richard Leinfellner of Palace Software (thanks to the always excellent Mr Carroll for contact details), for a potential article on Sacred Armour of Antiriad. I've not 100% finalised it yet with Darran, but I thought I'd conduct the interviews while I had some momentum, rather than waiting a couple of months and going back to them.

I'm planning some follow-up questions and was wondering if anyone else here had fond memories and wanted to ask something?




Personally speaking I really, really like Antiriad; I think it's aged very well and is still supremely playable. Plus I can actually complete it! The backstory and included comic make it even better - it wasn't just a throwaway piece of software. It was something with value. I have a preference for the ZX Spectrum version, since I like the higher resolution and cleanness of the colouring, plus the pick-ups are a bit bigger and easier to spot. But whichever version you've played, it's still a great platform adventure with plenty to explore.

[paranoid marvin]

Was the game based on the comic or vice versa?

[Antiriad2097]

On a related note: Antiriad is famed for its visual design. Were the graphics (particulary the hero character) created in an attempt to reflect the hand drawn artwork?

There's very little audio except spot effects. Was this a conscious decision togive the game its ambience of isolation, or merely a technical limitation that restricted the choice between effects or music?

I like the progression from unsuited hero to powered up. Did the game have a clear design at the outset, or was its gameplay evolutionary throughout the coding process?

I'm sure I'll come up with more

[Szczepaniak]

Most of those are already covered, you'll be pleased to know.

Good point on the audio though.

[joefish]

I think it's an amazing game; I love the concept of how you don't even have a lives counter until you've at least accessed the suit. (Although it's all too easy to lose your lives early on as you can't lob rocks at a baddie on the ground right in front of you). I just don't really have any questions for them!

Err - what did you think of Metroid when it came out at around the same time as Antiriad? (Willing to bet you've already asked that..?)
Or what did you make of Abe's Oddysee?

[pantal00ns]

Have you ever been in a situation where Anti Gravity boots would have helped?

[Antiriad2097]

it's all too easy to lose your lives early on as you can't lob rocks at a baddie on the ground right in front of you

This is what I was thinking on the way to work.

Were any other mechanics tried and abandoned during development with regard to throwing rocks? i.e. were there any development versions of the game that included the ability to aim rather than throwing on a fixed arc? With hindsight it seems an obvious addition.

Were there any cuts made to the design due to time constraints or hardware limitations?

And of course...

Which is better, Spectrum or C64? Personally I'd go for the C64 version unlike our interviewer.

How exactly do you pronounce Antiriad? As its my username here I've heard so many (wrong) variations on it (most commonly Antiraid, though Antraid isn't unusual nor the occasional AntiRad. At least the latter makes sense).

[boggyb68]

How exactly do you pronounce Antiriad? As its my username here I've heard so many (wrong) variations on it (most commonly Antiraid, though Antraid isn't unusual nor the occasional AntiRad. At least the latter makes sense).

You pronounce it: Ant..

B.

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

I'm not just saying this for shits and giggles, but the Amstrad version is best.

[Antiriad2097]

Really? I've never played it, so I'm going to have to rectify that. Let's hope the lads don't mind me downloading a hooky copy of it.

So...

Have they played any of the remakes of Antiriad (such as the one by Ovine http://ovine.net/321/sacred-armour-of-antiriad/ ) and what are their views on those and remakes in general?

[Antiriad2097]

And another...

Do they mind me camping on antiriad.co.uk for the last couple of years?

Boyo set it all up for me but I never got round to doing anything with it and the hosting expired a while ago. In one of those bizarre coincidences, I was looking for my registration email for Maximus and stumbled upon the reminders for this and renewed the registration just last night. Its currently just pointing at an empty page that does nothing.

If they desperately want it to do something interesting with the brand I'll happily comply (its their IP after all), but if not is there anything they'd like to see me do with it?

[Szczepaniak]

Good point on the URL and IP. I'm not sure who owns it, since Palace Software was bought out by Titus who were bought by... No one? Seems like a quagmire to wade through.

I'm not just saying this for shits and giggles, but the Amstrad version is best.

You only like it because it looks like lego:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R4NXEWX7NY

EDIT: actually, having watched that vid, it does have kind of a look to it. My god, you're twisting my thoughts on this.

[pforson]

The Amstrad version looks pretty good, but is it really that stuttery to play? or is that just the video?
To be honest, I think it looks pretty good on all 3 formats.

Is it not pronounced as written? Ant-i-riad ?

[joefish]

Ask them which they think is the definitive version.

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

I love the Amstrad, but I'm all too aware of its faults. There aren't many times when I'd argue that a version is better, but this along with Renegade and Gryzor is just no contest.