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Back in the early 80`s when entire games were being coded behind the closed doors of your average teenage bedroom, several names stumbled out of this existance and hit it big. Some had limited but commercial fame like Matthew Smith with Jet Set Willy, others earned respect for quality like Archer McClean and his game International Karate. Then there was Andrew Braybrook - who signed up with little heard of software house called Hewson and gave us a stunning series of games that have never been bettered...
I of course refer to Paradroid, and its successor Uridium. Both games used similar techniques. They had bas-relief graphics, sideways scrolling and hardware sprites (a feature used rarely on the Commodore 64, but Andrew was certainly one of its fans). Andrew and Hewson released Paradroid with minimal advertising and no flashy licence that would preceed a game today, but then it didn`t need it. Paradroid was awarded a healthy 98% in ZZAP! 64 Magazine and it sold buckets. The follow-up game was Uridium and this went on to achieve 93% in the same magazine about 6 months later. Clearly, Andrew had it upon a winning formula.
The next game proved disappointing. Alleykat was a vertical scrolling race game with shoot `em up overtones. The trademark bas-relief graphics no longer dominated its style and its gameplay failed to hit with the punters. So Andrew went back to basics and re-vamped Paradroid into first an Ultra-Smooth version, then a Heavy Metal version - each game adding new depth and extra levels. He also redesigned Uridium but with less success, it became a high-speed version and lost alot of its previous playability. Then, another innovation - Andrew came up with his most stunning game to date, Morpheus. This had you pilot a large ship which could be customised whilst destroying small alien targets. The game featured a design called timeslices that allowed your enemy to start off rather dumb in timeslice 1, but by timeslice 20 they were pretty much your equal.
Released here after much legal wranglings by Rainbird, its late arrival hurt sales, but core fans of his work were wowed by this impressive game. His last 8bit game was Intensity, with was okay if samey and a real backward step after Morpheus.
After the demise of Hewson and the rise of 16bit computers like the Atari ST and the Amiga, Andrew went very quiet, with little output until an all new version of Paradroid appeared with major improvements on both ST and Amiga. It sold well, it looked great and played just like the original. He was asked then to translate Uridium to the new formats...
Uridium 2 was released to both critical acclaim and to fan rejoicing. It easily scored 91% in The One Magazine, and the high 80`s in Amiga Power. As good as this was, Andrew was to have input into just one more 16bit game, Simulchra, before the gaming world was left with no more Braybrook games.
Remember, all this was achieved by ONE PERSON, not a team of programmers or a large software giant. Today, it is hard to think this is how it all started.
As far as i know, Andrew still codes software, but not commercially. As a fan of his previous work, i would very much like to see that situation end and that he takes up the challenge of today`s high powered PC`s and consoles, because i think the would could do with the next Morpheus, Paradroid and Uridium chapters...
Whaddya say Andrew???
I of course refer to Paradroid, and its successor Uridium. Both games used similar techniques. They had bas-relief graphics, sideways scrolling and hardware sprites (a feature used rarely on the Commodore 64, but Andrew was certainly one of its fans). Andrew and Hewson released Paradroid with minimal advertising and no flashy licence that would preceed a game today, but then it didn`t need it. Paradroid was awarded a healthy 98% in ZZAP! 64 Magazine and it sold buckets. The follow-up game was Uridium and this went on to achieve 93% in the same magazine about 6 months later. Clearly, Andrew had it upon a winning formula.
The next game proved disappointing. Alleykat was a vertical scrolling race game with shoot `em up overtones. The trademark bas-relief graphics no longer dominated its style and its gameplay failed to hit with the punters. So Andrew went back to basics and re-vamped Paradroid into first an Ultra-Smooth version, then a Heavy Metal version - each game adding new depth and extra levels. He also redesigned Uridium but with less success, it became a high-speed version and lost alot of its previous playability. Then, another innovation - Andrew came up with his most stunning game to date, Morpheus. This had you pilot a large ship which could be customised whilst destroying small alien targets. The game featured a design called timeslices that allowed your enemy to start off rather dumb in timeslice 1, but by timeslice 20 they were pretty much your equal.
Released here after much legal wranglings by Rainbird, its late arrival hurt sales, but core fans of his work were wowed by this impressive game. His last 8bit game was Intensity, with was okay if samey and a real backward step after Morpheus.
After the demise of Hewson and the rise of 16bit computers like the Atari ST and the Amiga, Andrew went very quiet, with little output until an all new version of Paradroid appeared with major improvements on both ST and Amiga. It sold well, it looked great and played just like the original. He was asked then to translate Uridium to the new formats...
Uridium 2 was released to both critical acclaim and to fan rejoicing. It easily scored 91% in The One Magazine, and the high 80`s in Amiga Power. As good as this was, Andrew was to have input into just one more 16bit game, Simulchra, before the gaming world was left with no more Braybrook games.
Remember, all this was achieved by ONE PERSON, not a team of programmers or a large software giant. Today, it is hard to think this is how it all started.
As far as i know, Andrew still codes software, but not commercially. As a fan of his previous work, i would very much like to see that situation end and that he takes up the challenge of today`s high powered PC`s and consoles, because i think the would could do with the next Morpheus, Paradroid and Uridium chapters...
Whaddya say Andrew???
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Back in the early 80`s when entire games were being coded behind the closed doors of your average teenage bedroom, several names stumbled out of this existance and hit it big. Some had limited but commercial fame like Matthew Smith with Jet Set Willy, others earned respect for quality like Archer McClean and his game International Karate. Then there was Andrew Braybrook - who signed up with little heard of software house called Hewson and gave us a stunning series of games that have never been bettered...
I of course refer to Paradroid, and its successor Uridium. Both games used similar techniques. They had bas-relief graphics, sideways scrolling and hardware sprites (a feature used rarely on the Commodore 64, but Andrew was certainly one of its fans). Andrew and Hewson released Paradroid with minimal advertising and no flashy licence that would preceed a game today, but then it didn`t need it. Paradroid was awarded a healthy 98% in ZZAP! 64 Magazine and it sold buckets. The follow-up game was Uridium and this went on to achieve 93% in the same magazine about 6 months later. Clearly, Andrew had it upon a winning formula.
The next game proved disappointing. Alleykat was a vertical scrolling race game with shoot `em up overtones. The trademark bas-relief graphics no longer dominated its style and its gameplay failed to hit with the punters. So Andrew went back to basics and re-vamped Paradroid into first an Ultra-Smooth version, then a Heavy Metal version - each game adding new depth and extra levels. He also redesigned Uridium but with less success, it became a high-speed version and lost alot of its previous playability. Then, another innovation - Andrew came up with his most stunning game to date, Morpheus. This had you pilot a large ship which could be customised whilst destroying small alien targets. The game featured a design called timeslices that allowed your enemy to start off rather dumb in timeslice 1, but by timeslice 20 they were pretty much your equal.
Released here after much legal wranglings by Rainbird, its late arrival hurt sales, but core fans of his work were wowed by this impressive game. His last 8bit game was Intensity, with was okay if samey and a real backward step after Morpheus.
After the demise of Hewson and the rise of 16bit computers like the Atari ST and the Amiga, Andrew went very quiet, with little output until an all new version of Paradroid appeared with major improvements on both ST and Amiga. It sold well, it looked great and played just like the original. He was asked then to translate Uridium to the new formats...
Uridium 2 was released to both critical acclaim and to fan rejoicing. It easily scored 91% in The One Magazine, and the high 80`s in Amiga Power. As good as this was, Andrew was to have input into just one more 16bit game, Simulchra, before the gaming world was left with no more Braybrook games.
Remember, all this was achieved by ONE PERSON, not a team of programmers or a large software giant. Today, it is hard to think this is how it all started.
As far as i know, Andrew still codes software, but not commercially. As a fan of his previous work, i would very much like to see that situation end and that he takes up the challenge of today`s high powered PC`s and consoles, because i think the would could do with the next Morpheus, Paradroid and Uridium chapters...
Whaddya say Andrew???
I of course refer to Paradroid, and its successor Uridium. Both games used similar techniques. They had bas-relief graphics, sideways scrolling and hardware sprites (a feature used rarely on the Commodore 64, but Andrew was certainly one of its fans). Andrew and Hewson released Paradroid with minimal advertising and no flashy licence that would preceed a game today, but then it didn`t need it. Paradroid was awarded a healthy 98% in ZZAP! 64 Magazine and it sold buckets. The follow-up game was Uridium and this went on to achieve 93% in the same magazine about 6 months later. Clearly, Andrew had it upon a winning formula.
The next game proved disappointing. Alleykat was a vertical scrolling race game with shoot `em up overtones. The trademark bas-relief graphics no longer dominated its style and its gameplay failed to hit with the punters. So Andrew went back to basics and re-vamped Paradroid into first an Ultra-Smooth version, then a Heavy Metal version - each game adding new depth and extra levels. He also redesigned Uridium but with less success, it became a high-speed version and lost alot of its previous playability. Then, another innovation - Andrew came up with his most stunning game to date, Morpheus. This had you pilot a large ship which could be customised whilst destroying small alien targets. The game featured a design called timeslices that allowed your enemy to start off rather dumb in timeslice 1, but by timeslice 20 they were pretty much your equal.
Released here after much legal wranglings by Rainbird, its late arrival hurt sales, but core fans of his work were wowed by this impressive game. His last 8bit game was Intensity, with was okay if samey and a real backward step after Morpheus.
After the demise of Hewson and the rise of 16bit computers like the Atari ST and the Amiga, Andrew went very quiet, with little output until an all new version of Paradroid appeared with major improvements on both ST and Amiga. It sold well, it looked great and played just like the original. He was asked then to translate Uridium to the new formats...
Uridium 2 was released to both critical acclaim and to fan rejoicing. It easily scored 91% in The One Magazine, and the high 80`s in Amiga Power. As good as this was, Andrew was to have input into just one more 16bit game, Simulchra, before the gaming world was left with no more Braybrook games.
Remember, all this was achieved by ONE PERSON, not a team of programmers or a large software giant. Today, it is hard to think this is how it all started.
As far as i know, Andrew still codes software, but not commercially. As a fan of his previous work, i would very much like to see that situation end and that he takes up the challenge of today`s high powered PC`s and consoles, because i think the would could do with the next Morpheus, Paradroid and Uridium chapters...
Whaddya say Andrew???