Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Jeff Minter Discusses Unity, Llamas

Posted by simoniker on from the long-live-the-yak dept.

Thanks to GameSpy for their interview with cult programmer Jeff Minter, currently working on the psychedelic GameCube shooter, Unity. The interviewer points out that Minter's "passion for fusing music, visual effects, and gameplay remains his strong focus", and goes on to talk to him about the choice of platform ("...the 'Cube may not have so many titles as some of the others... [but] a higher percentage seem to be really excellent games with a reputation for great playability"), the continuation of his 'virtual light machine' trilogy ("Unity will contain a full version of VLM-3 which players will unlock as they play the game"), and his ever-present love for the bovine ("there probably won't be anything as overt as flying yaks or anything... I am sure people would be disappointed if I didn't slip the odd beast in there somewhere.")

13 comments

  1. How old is this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When he's asked what he's currently playing, he mentions he "can't wait for Zelda on the GC." When was this interview conducted?

    1. Re:How old is this? by Allison+Geode · · Score: 1

      probably because he's from UK. I don't know for sure if zelda is out there or not yet, but from what I've heard, the european market often gets things last.

    2. Re:How old is this? by Black+Hitler · · Score: 1

      Zelda's been out in the UK since early May.

  2. IIRC by isorox · · Score: 1

    The bungee jumps were always the same number as the weddings

  3. jeff minter by gl4ss · · Score: 4, Interesting

    was at the alternative party in finland last winter and he was a very cool guy all around. he was forced to give a little speech too, this was some time before he could announce the lionhead arrangement and seemed really sorry he couldn't tell us about it(except that he had something coming up).

    also he 'gave' the special version of gridrunner to the people there(through internet, so it was _Very_ cool of him to do it). also tempest 3k was showm.. too bad he hasn't had much luck in choosing platforms :\

    info about alternative party at on the event's homepage., for the ignorant it's basically a smallish demoscene-nerd-art-fest, quote from jeff:**** 'As people set their machines up and I wandered around looking at what they were up to, it became evident just how amazing some of these guys were at coding the hell out of just about any machine that ever existed. There were many times when you had to look again to make sure that the machine that was displaying the demos was actually what it purported to be. This was summed up nicely when a passing fellow Brit glanced over at the smaller of the two projectors and asked if that was displaying an ST demo. The answer was "that's not an ST. That's an unexpanded Vic-20!"

    I could really get to like those guys a lot, and I hope I'll encounter them at another party one day. I was really quite warmed by the enthusiasm, creativity and good humour that flourishes in the Finnish demo scene. Great guys, and great fun.
    - Jeff "YaK" Minter'***

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  4. Abandon ship! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Jeff Minter? New game? Woohoo!

    But wait! He really does choose his platforms - after what happened to the Atari ST, Falcon and Jaguar then the Nuon, we can only conclude that the Gamecube's financial death is imminent...

    Shame, too.

    1. Re:Abandon ship! by JorenDahn · · Score: 2, Informative

      This generation of consoles is already waining, and the GC definately did not die. Nintendo released some of the best games on any console, and did them exclusively, and continued to make money. They may not be the powerhouse they once were, but they're still making some fantastic games (overall I decided that Metroid Prime was the best gaming experience I've ever had), and are unveiling some new hardware soon, and definately still look to be around for a while. I for one plan to continue buying every console with a Nintendo logo on it for as long as I can. B)

      --
      Blatant self-promotion: Jerek.net
    2. Re:Abandon ship! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nicely ignoring the fact that he also made a lot of games for that failed computer the C64 (as well as some for the PC.)

  5. Yay! by Dehumanizer · · Score: 1

    Jeff Minter rules! Gridrunner++ is one of the best shoot 'em ups EVER, and Hovver Bovver 2 is possibly as humorous as a game can get. :)

    Unity - reason enough to buy a GC. I don't have one, but I will get one because of that game.

    Sorry if I sound like an overenthusiastic fanboy, but when the Yak is concerned... :)

    --
    The Tlog - a technology blog
  6. Please someone tell me... by Stormwatch · · Score: 1

    What's with this guy and his obsession with llamas, yaks, camels... is he serious about having sex with them? o.O

    --
    Circumcision is child abuse.
    1. Re:Please someone tell me... by Chuq · · Score: 1

      Of course not. Thats disgusting.

      He only has sex with sheep. (well, his inflatable "love ewe" which he claims is unused.)

      --
      - Chuq
  7. my music on VLM-3? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How do you get your own music into the Gamecube for Unity's VLM-3?
    Burn it onto 8cm CDs? Put mp3s on a GC memory card?
    Or am I limited to music that comes with Unity?