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Does this guy use his machine to play anything else besides FPSs? Most of the people I see arguing for PC over console is that net distribution makes it easier for weird new experiments to find an audience, but he's just going on about Doom, Doom, Doom, and how about five FPSs after it have ever even tried to get narrative into the picture. It's not until like six pages in that I skimmed down and saw a screenshot of EVE with a caption along the lines of "We used a snazzy render of EVE because the real game is so boring."

FPSs bore the hell out of me. Gridrunner Revolution was the best $20 I have ever spent on a game in a long time, and it's only available on Windows.

Virtual lawn mowing actually made for a pretty entertaining game.

Still waiting for PC and Pocket PC to tank...

Jeff Minter is still going strong.

The age of a few college kids making a state-of-the-art game in their spare time is probably over.

I love how people with little knowledge of history laud Nintendo as visionaries for things that have been done before...

For instance, Electroplankton was preceded by over 20 years, by things like this, and this, and this, and this - and those are just by one guy, and those are just the ones I know about. Jeff Minter can't have been the only guy making this sort of thing, there's probably been a pile of them in academia too.

As for the virtual pets, ignoring Tamagotchi and whatnot there have been virtual dogs and more imaginative or more prosaic electronic companions for a while too - Little Computer People came out over 20 years ago as well.

Nintendo may popularise many things, but don't make the mistake of thinking they come up with them all...

I love how people with little knowledge of history laud Nintendo as visionaries for things that have been done before...

For instance, Electroplankton was preceded by over 20 years, by things like this, and this, and this, and this - and those are just by one guy, and those are just the ones I know about. Jeff Minter can't have been the only guy making this sort of thing, there's probably been a pile of them in academia too.

As for the virtual pets, ignoring Tamagotchi and whatnot there have been virtual dogs and more imaginative or more prosaic electronic companions for a while too - Little Computer People came out over 20 years ago as well.

Nintendo may popularise many things, but don't make the mistake of thinking they come up with them all...

I love how people with little knowledge of history laud Nintendo as visionaries for things that have been done before...

For instance, Electroplankton was preceded by over 20 years, by things like this, and this, and this, and this - and those are just by one guy, and those are just the ones I know about. Jeff Minter can't have been the only guy making this sort of thing, there's probably been a pile of them in academia too.

As for the virtual pets, ignoring Tamagotchi and whatnot there have been virtual dogs and more imaginative or more prosaic electronic companions for a while too - Little Computer People came out over 20 years ago as well.

Nintendo may popularise many things, but don't make the mistake of thinking they come up with them all...

I love how people with little knowledge of history laud Nintendo as visionaries for things that have been done before...

For instance, Electroplankton was preceded by over 20 years, by things like this, and this, and this, and this - and those are just by one guy, and those are just the ones I know about. Jeff Minter can't have been the only guy making this sort of thing, there's probably been a pile of them in academia too.

As for the virtual pets, ignoring Tamagotchi and whatnot there have been virtual dogs and more imaginative or more prosaic electronic companions for a while too - Little Computer People came out over 20 years ago as well.

Nintendo may popularise many things, but don't make the mistake of thinking they come up with them all...

How is the music visualizer?

pretty graphics good gameplay small budget ..pick two...

<plug>And if the two you selected were budget and gameplay, choose Jeff Minter

Minters games, even since the VIC20 days have

1. Looked horrible
2. Played awesomely

I mean for Gods sake (and these are just some of the best):

• Grid runner for VIC20
• Revenge of the Mutant Camels (C=64, but Amiga version kicked rump)
• Llamatron for Amiga with dual joystick control...
• Tempest 2000 for Atari Jaguar. Could be the best game ever made.
• Hover Bovver in all it's incarnations is always fun

Games that are simutaneously incredibly hard and incredibly controllable and playable. The limit is not this piece of plastic in your hand, it's your own brain, directly connected to the game.

Do yourself a favour and download the demo of Gridrunner++. Play it ten times. Don't stop because it looks like shite, don't stop because it's hard. You should now be a freshly converted Minter fan.

And the man is a out-of-the-closet beastialist! What's not to love about that!

I'm not sure if the Xbox (1) visualiser even actually reacts to the music, it's just a pretty screensaver.

The Xbox 360 visualiser does look incredible though, some info, screenshots and movies, although I haven't used either of the visualisers you mentioned.

Of course Microsoft are tempting fate with the curse of Jeff Minter. They're doooooooooomed!

Absolutely.

I was going to get a PS3, but now I'm seriously having second thoughts about it.

At least with the Xbox360 you get a cool interactive music visualiser (http://www.llamasoft.co.uk/neon-screenshots.php) built in and the controller doesn't look like a bizarre sex toy...

How did that get modded off topic for goodness sake? Jeff Minter, the man who invented the lightsynth, has done a lightsynth which is part of the firmware for the new Xbox. This is an article about the new Xbox. Someone points this out and you mark it as off topic? Hello....
OK so the link does work. It should have been thisAnd the video is fab.

A Llamasoft light synth! And without having to stick a toilet on top of your console, either...

He's got his project, Neon in the firmware.

I can't imagine why I'm suddenly missing my Vic-20...

It's not even close. This makes Milkdrop look like a joke; the video's awesome

It's not even close. This makes Milkdrop look like a joke; the video's awesome

...bought to you by Llama Man and Monkey Boy!

furthermore, his previous work is basically the foundation for much of modern audio visualization programs (iTunes; WinAmp, WinMediaPlayer, various xmmc plugins). this software is likely to further influence the field, given it's unique qualities. there has been some experimentation with 3d visualizations and various filters and effects, but this is pretty much state of the art. it's running in HD, and quite fluidly. it's realtime interactive, and it should be pretty accessible being in ROM and using a wireless analouge controller. 4 people can control the thing simultaneously using a variety of control inputs (buttons, sticks,.. I don't know the exact mappings). impressively, this thing is under a half meg of code. check out the video's, which are compressed, low resolution, low framerate relative to the actual realtime xbox360 HD output...

furthermore, his previous work is basically the foundation for much of modern audio visualization programs (iTunes; WinAmp, WinMediaPlayer, various xmmc plugins). this software is likely to further influence the field, given it's unique qualities. there has been some experimentation with 3d visualizations and various filters and effects, but this is pretty much state of the art. it's running in HD, and quite fluidly. it's realtime interactive, and it should be pretty accessible being in ROM and using a wireless analouge controller. 4 people can control the thing simultaneously using a variety of control inputs (buttons, sticks,.. I don't know the exact mappings). impressively, this thing is under a half meg of code. check out the video's, which are compressed, low resolution, low framerate relative to the actual realtime xbox360 HD output...

Screenshots and movies of the built in lightsynth from llamasoft are at http://www.llamasoft.co.uk/neon.php

http://www.llamasoft.co.uk/neon-screenshots.php

Jeff Minter code in millions of households soon :)

i don't know what kind of range you get on a headmouse, but would i be correct to assume that when using one, you wouldn't have easy access to a keyboard, as well? if thats the case, i'd reccomend a game that doesn't use a keyboard (or is turn-based). try Diablo 1 (can be played completely without keyboard without losing too much actual playability. even the main menu has an icon on the HUD to make it appear with just a click, no hot-key required.

alpha centauri is turn-based, and all the important options are available in pop-up menus.

maybe even a game like fallout, which is turn-based and almost completely mouse-driven (and has most options you'll need to use within clickable icons in the HUD.

another game i'd reccomend is a little shootemup from Jeff minter's llamasoft called Gridrunner ++ which only uses a button for smart bomb and starting the game from the main menu. the rest of it just uses gentle mouse motion to "sweep" the screen. the little spaceship automatically shoots a stream of bullets with no input required. the game is insane and has no real cohesive plot, but if you can gently push a cursor across the screen (and want something a bit more action oriented without being quite as intense as diablo, this may be a good option for you.)

When was the last time he actually *finished* a project that was available to the mass market?

Jeff Minter is LlamaSoft. He wrote a number of very classic games on a variety of 8-bit platforms, several of which are available as freeware from Llamasoft here, including Gridrunner, Attack Of The Mutant Camels, Headbangers Heaven, Revenge of the Mutant Camels, Hover Bovver, Sheep In Space, Mama Llama, Batalyx, the Atari ST version of Defender II, Llamatron, Defender II for the Jaguar and , not a game as such, the Trip-A-Tron.

Jeff Minter was an 8-bit god, and as you might guess from the names and his long-term handle 'Yak' has a bit of a thing about ungulates.

Quite right.

Anyone have any information about how his new Gamecube game Unity is progressing?

Haven't seen much new on either his site (aside from the initial announcement) or Lionheads about it for a while?

Sounds like an interesting (and typically Minteresque) project, seems like it is meant to be a cross between his music lightshow idea and a shoot-em-up.

Hmmm... You're a PPC game developer, The wonderful Yak is also a PPC game dev. You have a tempest-y looking game, and he is responsible for the glorious Tempets 2000 and Tempest 3000. Scientific conclusion: You must be kin!

Jeff Minter rules! Afterall, what's a 2D / 3D shoot-'m-up worth without:

- halucifying sounds and graphics
- gameplay
- sheep!

And now, for something completely different. Go XCruise your filesystem!

What's wrong with the old one?

It seems that the the low cost and ease of distribution and charging that the internet gives us is once more making it viable for the small one-man firms to trade.

A prime example of this is Llamasoft, Jeff Minters old company. Back in the 80's and early nineties he produced what many people would say are some of the finest examples of really addictively playable games. Revenge of the Mutant Camels, and Llamatron being some of my favourites.

For many years since the Yak has put most of these old versions on his website for people to download and enjoy, claiming it wasnt worth the expense of trying to sell anymore, but with little or no new material available.

Now it seems he has relaunched Llamasoft and is releasing new improved games as shareware, with full versions available for about 5UKP, which is serious value for money for work of this high a calibre.

Yea, Crimsonland is definately cool (shame about Reflexive's other stuff though.. why oh why couldn't they have stuck a level editor in Ricochet?). Popcap and Garage games aren't necessarily that great - Popcap, in particular, tends to specialise in making clones of established puzzle games with flashier graphics, which isn't really very shareware; and their prices are outrageous.

For shareware firms how about Llamasoft - yes, that Llamasoft, with that Jeff Minter. Gridrunner++ is one of the best shareware games I've ever played and it only costs a fiver.

Or how about Elastomania?

Maybe they will predict that NetHack will die as well.

These games are just being published by smaller developers. The ones that can't afford the extraordinate fees to buy a chip so that there programs work on the consoles. These games are usually more affordable as well.

Check out some of these sites:

Game House

Pop Cap Games

Llamasoft

Shockwave Games

In fact, Peter Molyneux actually has initiatives to keep the bedroom coder alive. Admittedly he's supporting Jeff Minter which is a pretty safe bet (check out the the "unity" mention on the lionhead site)

More of the same, that's what I say!

There's still a few 'weird' developers out there.. Jeff's Tempest 2000 on Jag is still one of my favorite games (and soundtrack CDs)..

Believe it or not, the strangest games may soon be found on cellphones or J2ME, if you go by 'constraints are the mother of innovation' theory..

www.llamasof.co.uk.

jeff minter was ultra cool at the alternative partys btw.. he even threw a special version of gridrunner++ to everyone who were there(no not actual physical discs/medium but download..)!

anyways.. he hinted that something 'big' is coming on 23rd day.. and this is on-topic on can indep. survive...

Minter was in the news yesterday ,as a sidenote. Check out: gridrunner++ if you're looking something un-commodorish.

I saw people posting John Carmack. I agree he's a great hacker and deserves the credits, but his great abilities are focussed on great graphics, not gameplay. IMHO Jeff is truly innovative in combining art, psychadelics and a crazy sense of humor with his coding skills. It's not just how much his code changed the masses. Hmmkay. guess he's just one of my personal favorites...

A Troll? How bizarre. Could whoever did that please post to this thread and make yourself known 8)

As the original post mentions Jeff Minter and was from the "well-as-long-as-there-are-llamas dept.", a link to the llamasoft website isn't exactly off topic nor a troll. And anything Minter related *is* demo scene related - heh, check out the South Party Demo.

I highly recommend you try the Gridrunner++ game. It matches the feel of retro games with great modern graphics and sounds (and I'm not saying that just because I donated a bunch of the graphics 8) ).

A shame that the relaunch of Llamasoft doesn't seem to have taken off. Anyone else remember Psychedelia? I was into that long before I even *saw* a spliff...

A shame that the relaunch of Llamasoft doesn't seem to have taken off. Anyone else remember Psychedelia? I was into that long before I even *saw* a spliff...

And he's Baaaack!

Seriously, the only reason why we aren't all playing games filled with mutated goats, sheep, and llamas is because the guy had such loyalty to Atari. Now he's free and back in the business, watch out for a shift in the content of games of the future. Ok BMX XXX 2 isn't going to flash you sheared sheep, but you get the idea.

Apparently there will be a big announcement before the end of January. Something wonderful is happening in casa Llamasoft. Remember, you heard it here first.

Hey! Don't be dissin' Hover Bovver!

For newer Jeff Minter games, you can allways go to www.llamasoft.co.uk .
He's been quite active lately and making ports of his old games to PC (like gridrunner) and Pocket PC (like Hover Bover) (what did people allways say about Minter working on a platform being the kiss of death.. ? ).
Ofcourse all games are in the old shareware fashion.

Just in case anybody feels nostalgic after reading the article. ;)

Minter's code may be crufty (all that time as a lone programmer doesn't exactly encourage good habits), but his game design skills are what earns him the die hard fans. No-one does stuff like he still does. Definately one of my hero's, and one of the reasons I got into professional games coding.

He does seem to pick the platforms though (anyone got a nuon?) Fortunately he's primarily working on PocketPC stuff these days, so with any luck he'll sink Microsoft...

Seen this?

The ST was a truly great computer. When it first emerged wasn't it nicknamed the Jackintosh because the GUI was Maclike?

Some of the games were amazing, I still dig it out occasionally to play Speedball 2. In fact anything by the Bitmap Brothers rocked!

On a similar note Llamatron was also one of the best action games ever - anyone else remember running around collecting goats whilest shooting screaming Mandelbrot sets and giant brains.

Jeff Minter's still producing idiosyncratic wonders now

Quick plug: Jeff Minter of Llamasoft fame is now doing games for PDAs. Try and buy them at Llamasoft's webpages.

...if anyone reads this and not the Forum, you may be unaware that there is a Llamasofties' Day Out currently being mooted, possibly for some time towards the end of June. This will involve visiting that retrogaming exhibition that is currently at the Baabican (and which apparently whilst acknowledging the likes of Archer McLean considers Llamasoft to be unworthy of mention in the history of the UK games scene - go figure).