It’s the mid of the month again, time for a sum-up of the interesting things I found last month that somehow did not found its way into this blog yet.

1.

Matthew Smith and Chris Huelsbeck

First I want to show you two documentaries on two heroes 8-bit heroes. The first is about Matthew Smith, responsible for the games Jet Set Willy and Maniac Miner on the Spectrum ZX. After the big success of his games he disappeared and nobody knew where he was. Then again he came back. That documentary is about that.

The other is a documentary that is still in progress, but we can already see the the trailer. It’s about the “8-bit philosophy“. It’s mostly about music and on people all over the world that are somehow connected to C64 music, but the most important focus is of course on Chris Huelsbeck and his music on the Commodore 64. He got famous for his soundtracks for i.e. To be on Top, R-Type or most of all Turrican. Besides the video I also recommend this interview with Chris Huelsbeck on gulli.com (it’s in German) [via]

2.

There’s an interesting interview out with the independent game developer Cactus. He makes interesting and experimental games, that are meanwhile well known and talks in the interview at Gamelab about his games, how he does it and why.

3.

A really good ep was released on the German netlabel Jahtari called Atari-Ska L’Atakk. Its style is very at the roots, described as “Chipmusic meets Ska” and if you follow the harmonic lines you will figure out why this release is at the roots. Think of Giana Sisters and that sort of stuff.

Stay connected

If you like this kind of content feel free to subscribe to the Digital Tools RSS feed. If you want to have your ear closer to the rails of Digital Tools, than subscribe to Digital Tools Microcontent. It’s the microblog from Digital Tools that updates on a daily basis. You also can add selected content of the microcontent blog automatically to your blog by using the Microcontent Syndication API.

ASCII Sector is a somehow free remake of the game Wing Commander: Privateer. Like the title implies, there is something special about this remake. Similar to this Marble Madness remake the developer of this game uses an alternative display technology. Since the Marble Madness clone went into the direction of boosting the graphics into the third dimension, ASCII Sector goes directly into the opposite direction: the graphics are rendered in the so beloved Text Mode and are displayed in ASCII. Very charming and indeed you can play this one. (More ASCII games? Look here.)

Earth in Text Mode.

The game itself really got a good oldschool flavor. Just read this lines from the manual:

“As you travel in the game universe, you will be able to engage in dogfights with
other spaceships and land on planets and bases. Here you can interact with the
populace, upgrade and repair your ship — or buy a new ship — and get missions
to complete in order to earn more money (called ‘credits’ in the game).”

Apart from the gaming-layer you also have to master a very complex control scheme with lots of keyboard shortcuts. You best open the manual.txt file and leave it open while you play the game. After a while of playing, you simply forget that you are just staring at ASCII. And the universe unveils with nice name like ‘Crimson Quadrant’ or ‘Vortex Prime’. The game is currently at version 0.2, so expect that the ASCII Sector universe will grow bigger and bigger. As far as I can see it in the forum there are already fans of the game out there. Just reserve some space at a wall in your home for the upcoming universe-map.

[via]

This posting will inform you, that not only the results of the Text Mode Demo Compo X are now available, but that the organizers also wrote a resume on the last 10 years of TMDC. There is also a bonus: you can download all Text Mode Demos in one file (ISO image). Right here.

Screener from Shadow of the Colossus on the PS2

At the weblog of Benoit Espinola I found something on a soothing bio-feedback game. This brought into my mind an idea that kept on glowing there for quite a while now: computing games as holidays. The basic idea is however, why do you have to always solve problems or riddles in virtual fantasy worlds, or why do you always have to get rid of all the monsters at a increasing amount of difficulty in gaming worlds?

I’d like to see games that decrease the stress-level while at the same time apply new and astounding virtual experiences. The bio-feedback game as a study could lead into that direction, especially in terms of how to control the stress level while playing the game or by playing the game. Game designers of course have to solve the problem that the game holiday will not get boring.

Other thing I found lately was the game “Shadow of the Colossus” on the PS2. The exploration of the landscape is as equal interesting as the gameplay itself. The landscape in the game is always waiting for a relaxed exploration.

Update: I just found an interesting posting on almost the same topic over at Digital Urban. They say that 2008 could be the breakthrough for virtual worlds and I suppose they are right.

The Bristlebot

We are entering a new era: homebrew robotics. For me the most impressive example of this shift is the so called bristlebot developed by Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, that is somehow a counterpart of the LED throwie from the Graffiti Research Lab. All you need to build this pseudo little bot is an old or cheap toy that got a motor inside, then a toothbrush and a button cell. The rest is fun manufacturing. You can use glue and tape instead of soldering. The bristlebot is a version of a vibrobot. And hey, I sense that this should also be the shift towards homebrew research.

This one is a contribution to the do-it-yourself music night, that was organized by Etsy, Create Digital Music and the Make Magazine. From my point of view the do it yourself culture grows itself an own branch with events like this, that can be considered new. Events like this are definitely heighten the awareness of what music instruments are and how they can made or changed. And events like this are indeed somethings for geeks. So check out and multiply. Read and see more here, here and here.

The researcher Johnny Lee is spending his time on inventing new technical possibilities to make use of the Nintendo Wiimote Controller for user interfaces, that so far were only affordable with high budgets or high technical effort. The video below for example shows how you can make a multi-touchscreen with a Wiimote, two pens and two infra-red leds. The total cost will be under 50 Euro for this technology – that is very far below the price for multi-touch that was so far. Just look on the other projects from Johnny Lee and have much fun with this lo-tech technologies for an affordable price.