Commodore Free 16/Commodore_Free_Issue_16_2008_Commodore_Computer_Club.d64/t.iv simon

Text File | 2023-02-26 | 9KB | 299 lines

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Interview with Simon Ullyatt
Cronosoft
http://www.cronos.toucansurf.com/

Q. Please introduce yourself to our
reader!

A.  My names Simon, I'm 36 years old,
married with 2 children, 2 cats & 6
chickens, & have an addiction to 8-bit
machines. ;)

Q. Do you still use 8 bit machines?

A. Most definitely.  I regularly use my
trusty Spectrum 128K+, as well as
messing around with C64's, Oric's, VIC
20's, Dragon 32's, ZX81's etc.  My
machines of current interest are the
CGL/Sord M5 & the Mattel Aquarius.

Q. How did you first become involved
with computers?

A. Blimey... I've got to think about
that one...    I think it was around
1982, when my brother bought a ZX81.
He wasn't particularly interest in it,
but was too mean to let me use it
regularly, so I had to pay him some of
my pocket money to 'hire' it.  I
eventually bought it from him, but
always wanted something a bit more
powerful. A friend of mine's brother
had a Spectrum in the winter of 1983,
which we played on when the school was
shut down due to snow.  I then got a
Spectrum 48K as an 'early' Xmas present
in the summer of 84.  I don't remember
anything from that summer...other than
sitting in a darkened room playing
games like Lunar Jetman & Zzoom.

Q. Tell our reader about Cronosoft what
is it the company does & when the
company was founded?

A. Cronosoft, put simply, is a small
software house, that publishes games
for systems which are no longer
commercially viable in the mainstream.

Although we DO (usually) offer these
new games as emulator files, the
majority, & indeed the point of
Cronosoft is to make them available for
people to buy them as original
cassettes, with inlays, artwork etc.
We don't charge much for the games -
usually 2.99 each, & the buyer gets a
game which comes in a glossy package,
that they will want to play & keep.

Q. What machines are the games produced
for?

A. We currently produce games for the
Spectrum (48K &128K), C64,  C16/Plus 4,
VIC 20, & Amstrad CPC.  We also have
releases due for the BBC/Electron &
Dragon 32.

Q. Do you also have a full time job?

A. Yes I do - I sell old computers &
games via EBAY full time (I gave up my
regular job & started selling full time
in 2001), which I do from an office on
an industrial estate.

Q. Are the game developers paid?

A. Yes - for each 2.99 game that is
sold, a royalty payment of 1.00 goes to
the author of the game.  Games tend to
have an infinite shelf life, so funds
tend to trickle in over a very long
period.  We're still selling copies of
our first release, Egghead in Space,
which appeared in 2002.

Q. Can anyone submit a game to you what
is the usual procedure?

A. Yes - & we welcome it.  Just email
it to me at [e-mail] &
we'll check it out.  We try to maintain
a high standard, so if it requires a
few tweaks, or isn't accepted, then
don't be disheartened.  We usually
produce artwork for it, though if the
author wants to provide their own, then
that's fine.

Q. What format are the games released
on & how much do they cost?

A. Games are mostly on cassette, at a
price of either 1.99 or 2.99 - the
corresponding emulator versions are
usually about half this price. If a
game has been released elsewhere as
freeware, then it's advisable to set
the price at 1.99 - people still do
like to own the original version.

We can offer Commodore software on
disk, though we don't have specific
packaging for this format yet.

Q. Some of the Jonathan Cauldwell games
are really good not that the others are
in any way bad but Jonathan's games
really capture the 8 bit era will he be
producing games for other platforms
rather than just the Spectrum?

A. As far as I know, JC won't be
working on other platforms, as he's a
Spectrum expert through & through. He's
toyed with the idea of working on the
CPC, with it sharing a lot of the
Spectrums characteristics, as well as
being a Z80 based micro.  Maybe he'll
surprise us... who knows?  Everything
JC does is highly secretive until it's
very nearly finished - then he'll
surprise us all with something
particularly special...

Q. What has been your favourite
Cronosoft release so far?

A. That's a hard one...  I could narrow
it down to 2 releases.  GAMEX is a
masterpiece of efficient programming,
as it has 16 classic games like Pacman,
Missile Command, Robotron etc. all
crammed into a single load 48K Spectrum
game, based around a share trading
theme. JC has superb skills when it
comes to doing the impossible, & his
attention to detail is spot on.

FARMER JACK IN HARVEST HAVOC is another
of my favourites, as Bob Smith has
taken a pure arcade game play style
(Mr. Do!) & adapted it to a format that
hasn't experienced that genre before -
his follow-up release to the game looks
especially promising (though I can't
give much away) in exactly the same
way.  Bob's games are also very highly
polished & are a joy to behold.

Q. Would you like to see fully licensed
& authorised 8-bit software back on the
shop shelves, say in the form of an
official emulator with games package?

Hmmm... I don't know.  I really don't
think it could be done any more. In the
old days, small independent computer
shops existed, alongside places like
Woolworths, WHSmith, & Boots, where you
could buy games.  Retro Computing isn't
big enough for anyone to make a worth-
while profit, so it's really not going
to interest the likes of GameStation or
GAME (except for the buying & selling
of Sega/Nintendo games). Huge cold
warehouses like PC World too are
exactly the wrong type of place too.
The internet & mail order though,
provides the ideal outlet, & keeps
costs low too.

Q. Have you turned down any games for
publication?

A. Yes, though not as many as you'd
think. There are some submissions that
have been particularly bad (which I
can't mention, though they had been
written in BASIC, & crashed regularly).

Q. What's been the biggest seller &
lowest selling title so far?

A. The biggest seller I believe is
Egghead in Space, though Platform Game
Designer is up there too.  It wouldn't
be fair on the authors to mention the
lowest sellers, but of course, more
obscure formats are not going to sell
as well as the more common Spectrum &
C64.

Q. How do you produce the tape inlays?

Mostly, our artwork is done by a great
artist called Graham Richards, who
never fails to amaze.  Examples of his
artwork are EGGHEAD ENTERTAINS, IZZY
WIZZY, GAMEX, STRANDED, TREASURE ISLE,
BLITZ 2000.  Sometimes the author
produces the art (FARMER JACK, or the
COSINE games on the Commodore), & some-
times I produce them (FUN PARK, ZXFM
2005).  They are all inkjet printed
onto photo paper. Nothing particularly
high-tech!

Q. How are the tapes & disks produced,
in house or via a duplication system?

A. Everything is done manually at the
moment. We buy our tapes in bulk from a
duplication plant, though do the
duplication ourselves.  It can be a bit
tedious & time consuming, but we're not
talking 1000's of copies.

Q. Is it a one-man business, or do you
have help?

A.I mentioned Graham, who does the
artwork.  Nich Campbell helps out
immensely with the CPC duplication, as
I can't handle that aspect myself.
Freelance journalist Shaun Bebbington
helps out big time with publication,
getting us in Micro Mart magazine, &
helps push the games by getting the
word around.

Q. Have you met any of the authors/
programmers you work with?

A. Some of them.  Jonathan Cauldwell
often comes down to the computer/retro
shows that appear around the country, &
I've also met Chris Snowden (C16
author) at RETRO NORTH last year.

I've also had the pleasure in talking
to some famous names too (though not
Cronosoft authors of course), whilst
being at the shows;  Matthew Smith, Jon
Hare, Richard Joseph, Archer MacLean.

Q. What games do you play to relax?

A. I love to play games by authors I
particular admire the style of. Apart
from the usual 'Ultimate' games, I
particular like Jeff Minter (Sheep in
Space, Llamatron), Don Priestly
(Minder, Trapdoor),  Dave Reidy (Skool
Daze, Wheelie), Sensible software
(Wizkid, Mega-lo-mania).  Being the
first person to play a new game is
pretty good too.

Q. Have you had to drop any title due
to copyright problems?

A. We were worried about Football
Manager 2005, though we stuck "ZX" in
front of it, & no-one complained!

Q. Has the press been favourable to you
I seem to remember something in retro
gamer about cronosoft?

A. RETRO GAMER have been great, &
feature most of our new releases. Some
of the reviews have caused controversy
(Farmer Jack in particular), though on
the whole it's been very good. MICRO
MART also feature our games too. There
is also a lot of support from online
publications & websites (like your-
selves) in lots of countries.  We've
had a lot of support in countries such
as Spain, Portugal & Eastern Europe
too.