Games That Weren't 64

Chris Pink and Mike Singleton talk about work on Whirligig...

Chris Pink:

"So I just saw your page on Whirligig. Yes there was a C64 version in production but my involvement was limited (I wrote the math libraries to get the level generator to work). Mike Lyons and another coder also worked on the C64 version (they both left the industry to write medical billing software). The Spectrum version was playable with a limited number of sprites. The Amstrad was close behind the Spectrum one

The game had a working level system for sure. As I said in the original email I put together the math for that and we had the start of level screen working which showed the map (you could then pick a gate to go through to test it). I don't have any of the C64 stuff. I do have some of the ST, Amstrad and Spectrum code.

Along with the graphics I did for the PC (somewhere in my basement in one of the many boxes that haven't been opened in five years). As for Mike, I saw him once after he left (he moved out of Liverpool for the job he got) and that was it. He definately was enjoying his new job better than doing games."

Chris Pink.

Mike Singleton:

"As regards Whirligig, 8-bit versions were planned both for C64 and for Spectrum. I'm not sure if you know, but 16-bit versions were actually completed and released on Atari ST, Amiga and PC. At Maelstrom, we had got some 3D graphics working on the 8-bit machines but but the publisher, Microprose wanted to drop these - a combination of concerns about the falloff in the 8-bit market at the time, doubts about whether we could achieve a reasonable frame-rate and lastly, the extra time it might take us to complete these versions.

So, we focused on the 16-bit versions instead. The guys credited with those versions had also been involved on the 8-bit side, so I suggest you check the Whirligig credits (must be somewhere on the web) - I might forget to mention someone!!!

Whirligig was an important step for us back then, not least because it was our first pass at a 3D solid graphics engine, which then took us on the road to Midwinter."

Mike Singleton.