|
A
wonderful game on the Spectrum 128k, and the silent sequel to
The Great Escape (As the game was
originally billed as a sequel and called Tibet). This was set
in the same mould as TGE, and followed on from its success.
After
the success of the Spectrum game, talks were made about creating
ports to all other machines, including the Commodore 64.
The
main problem was that the Spectrum game was fitted into 128k
of memory, and the C64 had the job of squeezing it into
64k. Not totally impossible, but a hard task, and something that
could not be made into Multiload.
Stuart
Fotheringham does not recall the C64 version, but worked on the
Spectrum version. He states about the problems of trying to convert
this game had it had happened. GTW is told that Ocean recieved
the finished game and design from Denton Designs, and Ocean would
have contracted other developers to do other versions.
It
seemed therefore that it was likely that there was a C64 version
in consideration, or even production. Unfortunately we can now confirm that although considered, the game was never started.
John Heap in a recent article with Retro Gamer magazine on Where Time Stood Still on the Spectrum, mentioned to Stuart Hunt that the problem was that the game was 128k for a start, but additionally they had seen the C64 port of Great Escape and felt that was incredibly slow. With both those factors, it was decided that no C64 conversion was to be started and that it would remain exclusive to the ZX Spectrum.
It seems that Gari Biasillo was also close to have been involved in a C64 conversion, as a recent interview with C64.com revealled:
"I joined Ocean as a musician but asked if I could write a game first to help improve my programming skills. This was the first real game I wrote which was a port from the Spectrum version by Dynamic Software (Basket Master)
I had no code to go from so I had to just play the game and come up with my own interpretation. I was actually first asked to port a game by Denton Designs and was sent to their offices in Liverpool to take a look and talk to the guys there. The game was Where Time Stood Still, an isometric game, which would have been too complex for a green programmer like myself to undertake, which I told the boss, Gary Bracey."
The game was later to be released on the Amstrad and ST, but only the ST version made it. But with the C64 version, it is another case we can close the door on.
Case sadly closed :(
Frank
and Andrew
(Additional
source credits - Stuart Fotheringham, Stuart Hunt (Retrogamer magazine), John Heap, Patrick Furlong, C64.com, Codetapper)
|
