Yeah I remember that mag too, I may still have it in the loft at my ma's house?
Didn't the one with Dominator come just before or after it? The one that caused a ruckus with over protective "Video games rot your brain" type parents, because the cover featured what looked like a deformed sputnik bursting through a ribcage with chunky bits flying everywhere :D
Given that the player's car is in exactly the same position on all those screens in the earlier preview, one could be forgiven for suspecting that they were just static mock-up screens, too.
Well, yes, but that's what preview screenshots usually are!
But it would also imply that the 'previewer' is lying through their teeth about what they've seen, too.
I remember the 'Dominator' cover, although I think that's because it was the last issue I bought. The next issue covers 'The New Zealand Story', which was the first game I bought for my ST...
But it would also imply that the 'previewer' is lying through their teeth about what they've seen, too.
I think that's a tad harsh! It was quite common for mag staff to be shown work-in-progress and then be provided with some screenshots for their news items and previews.
Edit: For the original OutRun Europa, it says in the preview that the writer was sent to visit Probe, so that's probably what happened in that case.
Didn't the one with Dominator come just before or after it? The one that caused a ruckus with over protective "Video games rot your brain" type parents, because the cover featured what looked like a deformed sputnik bursting through a ribcage with chunky bits flying everywhere :D
After but I don't remember the outrage!
And, because I can, 1989 in its glorious entirety...:
I remember the quality of the cover paper of the Navy Moves issue (and maybe the Batman one) being different, grainier, less glossy actually, than the other issues. I remember being disappointed by it.
I remember that cos the first issue from Future was really late in getting published (probably because of the move). I would go the newsagent every few days and ask where the magazine was, he had no idea. I thought they had went bust.
I tried to restore the Spectrum screen of Outrun Europa using photo from Your Sinclair and here is my result:
]
It's not perfect but quite close to that photo.
The only thing I couldn't do is the extra 3rd color at the roof and at the tree roots of course. Everything else fits the Spectrum attributes.
Maybe someone created a correct Spectrum mockup on e.g. Amiga and later some idiot came and decided to "improve" the picture adding third color???
Anyway it isn't picture taken from existing game + attributes. It's completely different picture and I can't imagine a Spectrum game where grapics like that would start moving. A classic fake.
Good work! The exact same picture that you recreated from YS was also used in a Crash preview of the game. Crash never went on to review the released game though, which is interesting. They were still up and running at that time I believe(?).
Here is what I should proof for that the YS review was faked, that is, the reviewer never played the game but just wrote up something based on a few pictures recieved from the game company.
The actual review is in Your Sinclair issue 71, notice the two lower pictures.
Then look at the preview a few issues back, still YS, this is number 68.
Notice that these two preview pictures are exactly the same as in the review, down to the pixel.
Then, check out the other previews, Crash number 91, the same picture again (as noted by MattLamb). And also in YS number 70, in another preview, we see yet again the same picture.
So for all instances of reviews and previews of this game we always see the same three pictures, which I would say clearly points to the fact that these pictures was all that existed.
Those extra colours could just be glitches of a screen image capture. At the edge of the tree it would be red and green in close proximity, merging and looking like yellow. It seems odd to deliberately draw yellow pixels on the edge.
I did consider that, but it wouldn't explain the speckling on the left side of the roof, and I think that's not possible without 3 colours in a block.
I did consider that, but it wouldn't explain the speckling on the left side of the roof, and I think that's not possible without 3 colours in a block.
The whole image has a dark line on the right and a light one on the left, broken where the tree reaches the edge. In fact, everything that's either cyan or green (look at the smaller car) has light spots to the immediate left. It's probably just a litho / printing misalignment, although the other images don't seem to be affected.
What is interesting on that page is the small round blue inset showing a sprite of a monochrome biker. Not sure if this resembles the one in the game.
Here is what I should proof for that the YS review was faked, that is, the reviewer never played the game but just wrote up something based on a few pictures recieved from the game company.
That James Leach always did seem to give some very peculiar high scoring reviews. Then Stuart Campbell and Jon Pillar/Nash would pop along and give the same game about 12% when it was re-released. Or at least that's how I remember it.
That James Leach always did seem to give some very peculiar high scoring reviews. Then Stuart Campbell and Jon Pillar/Nash would pop along and give the same game about 12% when it was re-released. Or at least that's how I remember it.
I remember that as well. Stuart Campbell always seemed to give re-releases a really low score (some good games as well). He hardly seemed to like anything.
Sorry for the OT, but is MattLamb here of the forums, the real MattLamb??
There is a user with the nick "MattLamb", yes. I almost got him confused with "Mike Lamb", one of the people behind Batman the Movie (one of my favorite games).
I remember that as well. Stuart Campbell always seemed to give re-releases a really low score (some good games as well). He hardly seemed to like anything.
I think both him and Nash had their own particular way of saying if something is good or bad, but it messed up the whole rating system by going to extremes, thus putting the ratings out of kilter with what went before them. I think Jonathon Nash gave Mercenary 99% thus making it the best game ever, and yet - oh look it wasn't. They carried on this tradition of extreme ratings in other publications I believe. If you ever read their online magazine project 'Digiworld' they do much the same thing, but it works better there because it's the same for all their reviews there.
I'm currently exchanging emails with Alan Laird who worked on the Speccy OutRun games, and I asked him about Europa. He said he definitely worked on it, but can remember much about it beyond it being "a long drawn-out process."
He then replied with: "I just had a play of Europa on the worldofspectrum website. Wow, thats nothing like anything I remember programming."
I've sent him the scan of the dodgy YS review to see if that triggers any memories. All this is making me thing that there *might* have been a colourful version in development at some point... particularly as the YS reviewer writes: "The graphics are big and dead colourful as well".
Does anyone know when the Spectrum version was actually released? The review was in the November 1991 issue. Did the game actually come out for Xmas 1991, can anyone remember?
Comments
Yeah I remember that mag too, I may still have it in the loft at my ma's house?
Didn't the one with Dominator come just before or after it? The one that caused a ruckus with over protective "Video games rot your brain" type parents, because the cover featured what looked like a deformed sputnik bursting through a ribcage with chunky bits flying everywhere :D
Well, yes, but that's what preview screenshots usually are!
I remember the 'Dominator' cover, although I think that's because it was the last issue I bought. The next issue covers 'The New Zealand Story', which was the first game I bought for my ST...
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
I think that's a tad harsh! It was quite common for mag staff to be shown work-in-progress and then be provided with some screenshots for their news items and previews.
Edit: For the original OutRun Europa, it says in the preview that the writer was sent to visit Probe, so that's probably what happened in that case.
After but I don't remember the outrage!
And, because I can, 1989 in its glorious entirety...:
I remember the quality of the cover paper of the Navy Moves issue (and maybe the Batman one) being different, grainier, less glossy actually, than the other issues. I remember being disappointed by it.
Do you have the same memories?
Spring 1990.
LOL
i was reading that issue a few days ago, when i went for a "inconvenience break"
Good work! The exact same picture that you recreated from YS was also used in a Crash preview of the game. Crash never went on to review the released game though, which is interesting. They were still up and running at that time I believe(?).
The actual review is in Your Sinclair issue 71, notice the two lower pictures.
Then look at the preview a few issues back, still YS, this is number 68.
Notice that these two preview pictures are exactly the same as in the review, down to the pixel.
Then, check out the other previews, Crash number 91, the same picture again (as noted by MattLamb). And also in YS number 70, in another preview, we see yet again the same picture.
So for all instances of reviews and previews of this game we always see the same three pictures, which I would say clearly points to the fact that these pictures was all that existed.
What is interesting on that page is the small round blue inset showing a sprite of a monochrome biker. Not sure if this resembles the one in the game.
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
It seems to look quite different. I do not think much (or any) of these preview graphics made it to the final game.
Or out and out lies in order to gain an exclusive.
You decide!
That James Leach always did seem to give some very peculiar high scoring reviews. Then Stuart Campbell and Jon Pillar/Nash would pop along and give the same game about 12% when it was re-released. Or at least that's how I remember it.
I remember that as well. Stuart Campbell always seemed to give re-releases a really low score (some good games as well). He hardly seemed to like anything.
There is a user with the nick "MattLamb", yes. I almost got him confused with "Mike Lamb", one of the people behind Batman the Movie (one of my favorite games).
I think both him and Nash had their own particular way of saying if something is good or bad, but it messed up the whole rating system by going to extremes, thus putting the ratings out of kilter with what went before them. I think Jonathon Nash gave Mercenary 99% thus making it the best game ever, and yet - oh look it wasn't. They carried on this tradition of extreme ratings in other publications I believe. If you ever read their online magazine project 'Digiworld' they do much the same thing, but it works better there because it's the same for all their reviews there.
I'm currently exchanging emails with Alan Laird who worked on the Speccy OutRun games, and I asked him about Europa. He said he definitely worked on it, but can remember much about it beyond it being "a long drawn-out process."
He then replied with: "I just had a play of Europa on the worldofspectrum website. Wow, thats nothing like anything I remember programming."
I've sent him the scan of the dodgy YS review to see if that triggers any memories. All this is making me thing that there *might* have been a colourful version in development at some point... particularly as the YS reviewer writes: "The graphics are big and dead colourful as well".
Does anyone know when the Spectrum version was actually released? The review was in the November 1991 issue. Did the game actually come out for Xmas 1991, can anyone remember?