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Superior Software Discusses Exile, Repton

Posted by simoniker on from the on-bbc-micro-street dept.

Thanks to TotalGames.net for its feature exploring the history of '80s-era UK game developer Superior Software, noting that the Europe-centric "BBC Micro and Acorn Electron were often overlooked by many of the larger software publishers", but Superior, "responsible for hits such as Citadel, Exile and, of course, Repton", is still worth remembering. An interview with Richard Hansom of the still-in-existence Superior Interactive discusses new versions of the Boulderdash-like (although devised independently) Repton, and also notes that an update of the seminal Exile is a "possibility for the future". We've previously mentioned chess players' Repton addiction on Slashdot Games.

3 of 17 comments (clear)

  1. PREPARE TO DIE FOR REPTON by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    There was a Repton game for the C-64 too but it was more of a space-shooter type of game. I remember when it was loading it said "PREPARE TO DIE FOR REPTON".

  2. hmm repton? by scrytch · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Am I the only one who remembers the name "Repton" as connected to a kind-of-slow but still fairly fun knockoff of Defender/Stargate for the C64? Instead of kidnapping citizens, the bad guys you were fighting were building some kind of super-weapon, and you had to prevent them from completing it. I guess it's bound to happen that names that sound cool will collide. I for one have never even heard of the other repton.

    --
    I've finally had it: until slashdot gets article moderation, I am not coming back.
  3. Re:Blimey, does no-one else remember Exile, then? by tc · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yeah, Exile was a great game, but it was bloody difficult.

    I must admit that despite working on the A1200 and C32 ports (I'm Tony Cox), I never actually played through the whole original game myself. Without walkthroughs from Peter (and William Reeve) I'd never have seen the whole game except during debugging.

    It was ahead of its time, though. Despite all the clever little tricks in the code (of which there were many), Peter's overall architecture was clean and one that wouldn't look too amiss in a modern title. I probably learned more about game development from walking through Peter's code than I did from any other single experience.