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Commodore Free 27
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Commodore_Free_Issue_27_2009_Commodore_Computer_Club.d64
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iv quernhorst
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2023-02-26
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Interview with Simon Quernhorst:
Commodore Free:
Please introduce yourself to our
readers.
Simon Quernhorst:
I am 33 years old and live in Germany.
In my spare time I collect old video
& computer games & develop new demos &
games for my favourite 8-bit systems:
Atari VCS and C64
CF: Was the C64 your first computer?
SQ: I got my first own computer in
1987 - it was a C128D, but of course
it was mostly used in C64 mode. Before
this I had a Pong console & an Atari
VCS console in about 1984.
CF: What other machines are you
interested in?
SQ: Considering programming I am
focussing on Atari VCS & C64 now & I
have a lot of different C64 models
like C64GS & SX64. When it comes to
collecting I also have a lot of other
systems to collect for. My favourite
systems game play wise are PC-Engine,
NeoGeo AES & Xbox.
CF: What was your first C64 project?
SQ: I started assembly/machine
language code programming in 1989 &
entered the C64 scene a few years
later. I used to be active in
different groups & released various
stuff like demos, pictures and games.
I left the scene in 2001 & focused on
collecting & programming the Atari
VCS. After seven years I decided that
releasing a new little C64 game on
cartridge, may be something new &
challenging again... that's how it
came to SHOTGATE. I limited myself to
the 4k size (4096 bytes) of the game,
because I wanted it to enter a 4k game
competition on the Internet.
CF: It's noted that you have worked
closely with Lasse of CovertBitOps,
how did this come about?
SQ: Iv'e known Lasse since the release
of his first Metal Warrior & as the
series evolved & my own VCS game
MENTAL KOMBAT was released with box &
manual, I asked him if we should make
a limited release with numbered disks,
box, manual & bonus items of METAL
WARRIOR 4 & the first three episodes,
too. He agreed & we really enjoyed the
final results. Now in 2008 when I
decided to write a little new C64
game, I asked him about music & sound
effects & as he liked the game play he
helped me out on the audio part.
CF: Are you working on anything new at
the moment? Or do you have any future
plans for the C64?
SQ: I just finished my 5th Atari VCS
game & plan to release a total of 7
games for that system. On the C64 I am
currently developing several mini
games. Some of these are entered in
mini game competitions on the Internet
& I am happy to announce that I won
the 1st & 3rd place of the 1k comp-
etition at:
http://www.minigamecomp.org.uk
My plans are to compile 8 mini games
in an 8k cartridge for the C64. You
can see pictures of them at
http://www.quernhorst.de/atari
CF: Forget about the future for the
moment, what about the past? Which
programmers, SID musicians & other C64
magicians do you admire? And what are
your 6 favourite games?
SQ: I cannot say that I prefer a
single programmer or musician. I like
a lot of work on the C64 from
different people - being demos, intros
& games. When choosing technically
preferred games on the C64 I might
answer: Power Drift (code), Commando
(music) & Mayhem in Monsterland
(graphics). From a collector's point
of view my favourite games for the C64
are the cartridges released between
1990 and 1992 by Ocean, System 3,
Domark, Dinamic, Silverrock & Disc Co.
CF: What do you think about C=
Hardware additions like the SuperCPU
&, to a lesser extent, other CMD
hardware?
SQ: I am only interested in collecting
& developing for unmodified & un-
expanded systems. The only extensions
that I really admire are the Action
Replay cartridge series for the C64 &
the 1MB extension to my Amiga 500. :)
Nevertheless it is great to see that
people are also developing new
hardware & software for it.
CF: What sort of response have you had
from the C64 community about your C=
projects?
SQ: I got a lot of positive response
for programming new games on the C64.
Some people were complaining about
the high price of the 20 release
cartridges of SHOTGATE/KONFL1KT, but
producing the cartridges was very
expensive. Consider this limited
edition as a collector's item & as an
addition to their huge collections.
Everyone else is able to download &
play the games for free of course.
CF. Have you read C= Free, & if so how
would you rate the magazine (I can
take criticism no matter how harsh)?
SQ: I checked out issue #23 & really
enjoy the efforts editors spend on
releasing free magazines like C= Free,
CeVi aktuell & Lotek64. These mags
compile retro news & give a good
overview of the latest releases &
facts. As the C64 is very popular, the
machine has got a lot of dedicated
websites & even modern demo parties
still feature C64 competitions, I
think there will be enough news
available to keep those mags running.
Keep up the good work!
CF: Any final words of wisdom that
you'd like to share with our readers?
SQ: Keep on hanging in front of the
blue screen of one of the greatest
computers & try programming the
machine yourself. It is quite easy to
start developing on the C64 as a lot
of documentation can be found on the
internet. Ready. Run.
..end..