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t.iv c64 endings
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Interview with C64 Endings
www.c64endings.co.uk
http://www.atfreeforum.com/c64endings/
Commodore Free.
Please introduce yourself to our
readers
Vincenzo Mainolfi.
My name is Vincenzo Mainolfi (please
call me Vinny) and I love my C64.
CF. How did you hear about Commodore
and what were your first experiences?
VM. Back in 1982 my Mum kindly
purchased a second hand TRS-80 (Tandy
Radio Shack). It was my first
experience of home computing and I
spent all my time learning to program
in BASIC. I produced quite a few games
and drawing utilities, and looking
back at what software that was
available at the time, I should have
sent my stuff to a publisher, but
unfortunately I was only 11 and didn't
really understand the industry.
My next computer was to be a TANDY
COLOR 2, but the Manager of our local
Tandy store suggested that I purchased
a Commodore 64 as they were going to
be a popular machine (a poor sales
man, but a honest person). So in 1984
I purchased my first (of many)
Commodore 64 for 299 - without a
datasette or disk drive!
From the moment I got my Commodore 64
out of its box, I was in love. Because
I didn't have a tapedeck or disk
drive, I spent the first few months
learning Commodore BASIC and produced
quite a few funky, little games.
Unfortunately, I couldnt save any of
them and would leave my machine on for
days so that I wouldn't loose my work.
It wasnt until months later that I
finally purchased a datasette and
thats really where my Commodore 64
world opened up
CF. Do you still use Commodore
machines today, if so what do you use
and why?
VM I have many retro computers and
consoles, but my faves are my
Commodore 64 and Amiga 1200.
Unfortunately, I dont have the space
to set up my Amiga 1200, but there
will ALWAYS be space for my beloved
C64 (with Action Replay cartridge),
datasette and diskdrive. I use my
Commodore 64 for playing new games and
demos, testing old stuff and
converting files to PC.
CF. Commodore endings? Can you explain
the motivation for the website?
VM Ive always been fascinated with
game endings its the pinnacle of
every game. You buy a game to complete
the challenge but sometimes you dont
get your moneys worth when you get
stuck on a certain level. I want to
see the whole game and reach the
ending, and I want everyone to benefit
from my discovery. It probably all
started with the ending to 'Thing on a
Spring' (Gremlin Graphics) and 'The
Human Race' (Mastertronic).
CF. When did the website start?
VM. Hmmmmm back in the early 90s I
was producing 5.25 disks that
contained game endings to different
Commodore 64 games along with a menu
system. Quite a few people wrote and
commented on how great the idea was.
In 1997, I started to plan out an idea
for a Web site that will house the
endings that I had already obtained,
but I still needed to teach myself
HTML.
It was either late 1997 or early 1998
that I placed my new site online. It
was very popular and lots of fun.
Then, in 2002-2003, I asked my good
friend, Frank Gasking, if he would
look after my site whilst I took a
break to prepare for the birth of my
daughter. He did an amazing job but
time also caught him up and he needed
to spend more time on his own great
C64 site, Games That Werent.
The endings site disappeared for a
while until Andrew Fisher (Merman)
started to stir up some interest for
the site to return. I felt it was time
to bring the site back and so in 2006
I spent a few days designing a new
face to the site and placed it online
for all to see and enjoy.
CF. What was the first Commodore
Ending game you put on the site?
VM. When the site first arrived in
1997, it was probably Commando
(Elite), but when the site returned in
2006 I remember this moment so well
it was Dalek Attack (Admiral), which
is why the ending page looks light on
comments.
CF. Is the website actively maintained?
VM. Are you joking me? I try to add a
new ending every day and I also add
new daily comments and info to our
forum.
http://www.atfreeforum.com/c64endings/
CF. So these are the Endings of
Commodore games are they just
Commodore 64 games?
VM Yes - they are just Commodore 64
game endings.
CF. What format are the endings in
i.e. Storyboard or Video and why was
this format selected?
All the endings are in storyboard
format, which house screenshots,
comments and a score rating for each
ending. Each ending also comes with a
.PRG file of the actual ending that
you can play on any emulator or real
Commodore 64.
CF. Do you use an emulator for the
screen shots or are they taken form a
real machine?
VM All screen shots are taken via the
CCS64 emulator utilizing the ALT-F1
screen grab function.
CF. Ok hardware or emulator what do
you prefer and why ?
VM I love both: hardware for a real
fix, and emulator for a quick fix. I
mainly use an emulator as it allows me
to obtain endings quite quickly. I use
a real Commodore 64 when I want to sit
down and play an old game.
CF. Is your website a walk through or
do you just show the ending, what else
is shown on the site?
VM I just show the endings as there
are quite a few sites out there that
already house walkthroughs, long plays
and solutions.
I also house endings that receive a
10/10 scoring, which I have called
Gold Medals; a list of games that dont
have endings; a list of wanted game
endings, and finally a contacts/FAQ
page.
CF. You list the No endings games
supposedly that had an ending and
didn't, do you think this was
programmers running out of time and
being pressured for a game release?
VM I think it could be a whole host of
reasons why these games have no
endings. We have to take each game as
it comes and make a judgment as and
when.
CF. Do you have a list of favourite
endings?
VM
1 Thing on a Spring (Gremlin Graphics)
2 Hunters Moon (Thalamus)
3 Creatures 1 & 2 (Thalamus)
4 Max Headroom (Quicksilva)
5 Rolands Rat Race (Ocean)
6 The Human Race (Mastertronic)
7 Bee 52 (Codemasters)
8 Way of the Exploding Fist (my April
fools version)
9 Escape from Arth
10 Ghostbusters (Activision)
CF. And what is the worst ending you
have seen?
VM Hmmmm there are quite a few crappy
endings, but the worst has got to be
Zaxxon by US Gold; you play the game
for two levels and then it just says
CONGRATULATIONS.
I was expecting so much more
CF. Do you plan an Amiga endings site
or similar?
VM Nope, C64 all the way.
CF. Do you use any cheats the get to
the game ends?
VM Id say that 90% of the time I use a
cheat. I am really crap at games and
so I need some assistance. There are
only a few games that I have actually
completed without a cheat.
CF. If a game just gets faster and
faster like "magic Carpets" how do you
know there isn't an ending after a
period of time?
VM Well, this is where the team
members come into action: Neil and
Brendan will play a game over and
over; Inge (and me sometimes) will try
and crack the game, and Frank and Matt
are a mind of information. All
together, we suss out whether there is
an ending or not. Theres also comments
from our viewers that come via the
forum.
CF. Do you dissemble the games to look
at the code?
VM I used to always do this even
before playing a game (Im a cheat at
heart). Unfortunately, I dont get the
time to do this anymore and I rely
more and more on cracked versions of a
game that houses a trainer. Recently,
Inge has done a great job in cracking
games.
CF. How many people are involved with
the www.c64endings.co.uk team
VM Its mainly me who runs the site,
but I have Frank Gasking, Matt Rogers,
Brendan Phoenix and Neil Collins
helping out with gathering new endings
and keeping the forum fresh. Inge
Pedersen is also a great help.
CF. How can our user help?
VM By logging on the site and viewing
the endings, and then going to the
forum and contributing comments. In
other words: have fun with the site
and forum
http://www.atfreeforum.com/c64endings/
CF. Is there any question you would
have liked to have been asked?
VM Not that I can think of
CF. Is it true you used to produce
lame Commodore 64 demos and stuff
under the guise of Hackersoft?
VM Erm ... yep. I produced quite a lot
of music hacks, cheat programs, and
loads of different graphic and sprite
style demos. I have recently produced
a new site to house my demos
(www.hackersoft.co.uk). I've still got
loads more stuff to add to the site.
CF. Would you like to comment on where
Commodore went wrong?
VM What are you on about, man? They
produced the Commodore 64 and Amiga.
How is that wrong?
CF. Do you think Commodore 64 is the
best games machine or is it rather the
games that are created for a machine
rather than the hardware
VM The Commodore 64 is a great machine
with great games.
Keep up the good work.
Kind regards,
Vinny :-)
www.c64endings.co.uk
http://www.atfreeforum.com/c64endings/