I reconverted Fred Gray's SID source music for the #SpectrumNext using Arkos tracker to approximate the SID instruments. I’ve used up to 6 of the Next’s 9 channels leaving 3 for SFX. Attached is a WIP of the main Nodes Of Yesod theme tune. #RetroGaming #GameDev #AYMusic

Using LLMs for retro gaming projects. Here, Codex is producing charts showing platform reachability in the smooth scrolling Speccy Next version of Nodes of Yesod. #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #GenerativeAI #SpectrumNext

Experimental parallax scrolling in Nodes for the Next.

It's 1990, Projectyle is released for the Amiga and ST, and Eldritch The Cat goes legit. What does that mean? Read about what we did next in chapter 15 of my serialized memoir! Here we're posed in front of the Liver Building in Liverpool's Albert Dock area. #Memoir #RetroGaming #GameDevelopmen

Chapter 15: The Pride

My Publishers and Other Animals

stevewetherill.substack.com

In the end, I decided against the 'passthrough' platforms and chose to fix up the maps. Witness Nodes of Yesod Editor V0.01. It is very rudimentary. The platform you are on is the 'selected' platform, you can change selection and move each platform. It's already feature-creeping, though.

Steve Wetherill (@stevewetherill@oldbytes.space)

Attached: 1 video In the end, I decided against the 'passthrough' platforms and chose to fix up the maps. Witness Nodes of Yesod Editor V0.01. It is very rudimentary, letting you move each platform a...

oldbytes.space

Experiments with Nodes of Yesod on the Spectrum Next. 256-color layer 2, hardware scroll, sprites. Early days. Don't get too excited. :) #RetroGaming #SpectrumNext

Steve Wetherill (@stevewetherill@oldbytes.space)

Attached: 1 image I don't want to get anyone's hopes up or anything. Spectrum Next, 256-color mode, hardware sprites. Early experiments. #SpectrumNext #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #NodesOfYesod

oldbytes.space

Nodes of Yesod tape image file -> Z80 disassembly -> Convert to C -> Compile to WASM. All Claude Code. You can play it here while it is still up. There may be bugs. :) claude.ai/code/artifac... #CodeArchaeology #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #GenerativeAI #ZXSpectrum

A little LLM code archeology thread over on my fedi account. #RetroGaming #GenerativeAI #CodeArcheology #ZXSpectrum

Steve Wetherill (@stevewetherill@oldbytes.space)

Attached: 1 image Circling back to the disassembly of my 8-bit Spectrum games using generative AI. The Nodes of Yesod disassembly is 100% semantically and symbolically complete and matches the origi...

oldbytes.space

Projectyle was a ton of fun, Steve! I popped it on my Atari ST Hidden Gems video I did a while back: youtu.be/eW-vusq4XSY?... I was hooked from the first play. The 3-team, multi-arena design was really striking, and the power-ups add a nice bit of spice. I had a great time with it, so thank you!

Top Ten Atari ST Hidden Gems

YouTube video by The Joy of Sticks

youtu.be

Chapter 14 of my serialized memoir is up! Building Projectyle for Electronic Arts. This photo is from an EA photo shoot for Projectyle. I dunno who that long-haired hooligan is, though. :) stevewetherill.substack.com/p/chapter-14... #Memoir #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #NinetiesHairDontCare

1989: Eldritch The Cat, was off to a good start. My co-founder Marc on Astaroth for Hewson Consultants, me on Scrollerball (Projectyle) for Electronic Arts, on Amiga & Atari ST. Chapter 14 of my memoir drops Sunday! Subscribe to get it in your inbox. #RetroGaming #GameDev #Memoir #AtariST #Amiga

Chapter 14: A Game of Three Halves

Train Your Squad With Dosh by the Wad

stevewetherill.substack.com

How and why does the Salvador Dalí Theatre Museum crop up in my memoir? Find out in chapter 13. :) stevewetherill.substack.com/p/chapter-13... My photo, captured in 1988. #Memoir #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #Dali #AtariST #Amiga

Chapter 13 of my serialized memoir is now live! stevewetherill.substack.com/p/chapter-13... #Memoir #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #AtariST #Amiga

1988: Co-founded a games studio named after my cat. Sold my BBC Micro for a trip to Spain, got sunstroke, and deliriously demanded Thomas the Tank Engine stories. By Christmas we signed with EA. New memoir chapter out Sunday. Subscribe (free) to get it in your inbox! #Memoir #GameDev #RetroGaming

Chapter 13: The Computer, the Costa Brava, and the Contract

Founding Eldritch The Cat, a broke summer in Spain, and a first deal with Electronic Arts

stevewetherill.substack.com

Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy for the Amstrad CPC, the first two video games I worked on professionally, forty-two years ago in 1984. Actual photo of my actual hands holding actual physical cassette tapes! Jet Set Willy is still shrink-wrapped, never opened! #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment

Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy for the Amstrad CPC, the first two video games I worked on professionally, forty-two years ago in 1984. Actual photo of my actual hands holding actual physical cassette tapes! Jet Set Willy is still shrink-wrapped, never opened! #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment

Liverpool, 1988. Skint, overworked, about to be fired. Chapter 12 is now free for everyone: my chaotic stint at Denton Designs, and the company I founded from the wreckage. stevewetherill.substack.com/p/chapter-12... #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #ZXSpectrum #Memoir

David Rowe was one of the defining illustrators of British gaming's golden age: Ant Attack, The Way of the Exploding Fist, Populous, and the atmospheric Knightmare TV backdrops. He also painted the Crosswize cover. He's selling prints now, and I might just pick one up 🙂 #RetroGaming #CoverArt

Crosswize - David Rowe Retro Artwork

davidrowe.net

Liverpool, 1988. I start at Denton Designs, get fired within months, lose my cat, and juggle three games at once. Out of the wreckage, a new company emerges. Live now for paid subscribers, with a sneak peek for everyone. Free for all this Sunday 👇 #RetroGaming #ZXSpectrum #AtariST #Memoir

Chapter 12: The Confrontation and the Cat

A reckoning in London, too many projects at once, and the company born from the wreckage

stevewetherill.substack.com

Crosswize (ZX Spectrum, 1988). I talk about making it in Chapter 11 of my serialized memoir. Evidently, I was keen on space shrimps back then. :) Free to read, link in bio. #RetroGaming #ZXSpectrum

A couple of shots I took in 1999 showing the in-progress demolition of Canning Place in Liverpool. The Canning Place office block was home to Odin Computer Graphics, where we created games such as Nodes of Yesod, Robin of the Wood, Heartland, etc. #RetroGaming #Liverpool #Demolition

Sometimes the magic works. Sometimes it's knowing when to stop. Chapter 11 of my memoir is up! I sign away Crosswize, meet my future wife, and see America for the first time. (Shirt: Maryland Renaissance Festival, 1987.) stevewetherill.substack.com/p/chapter-11... #RetroGaming #ZXSpectrum #Memoir

Chapter 11 drops Sunday. It's 1987. Odin is gone, I'm broke. Colin and I sign with Firebird for Crosswize, the Sidewize sequel. That September I meet my future wife (she has a VIC-20) and visit the USA for the first time. Subscribe free to get it in your inbox 👇 #RetroGaming #ZXSpectrum #Memoir

Chapter 11: Sometimes the Magic Works

The contract, the VIC-20, and the getaway car

stevewetherill.substack.com

Sidewize features in chapter 10 of my serialized memoir. You can read it here: stevewetherill.substack.com/p/chapter-10... #RetroGaming #GameDev #Memoir #ZXSpectrum

Canning Place in Liverpool, 90s demolition vs today. 1 and 2 mark the old Odin Computer Graphics office locations. A Hilton Hotel now sits exactly where Odin used to be. stevewetherill.substack.com/p/chapter-10... #Liverpool #ThenAndNow #Memoir #RetroGaming #History

As 1986 rolls into 1987, things aren't looking good for Odin. Chapter 10 is up! stevewetherill.substack.com/p/chapter-10... This is a 1987 shot of me in Liverpool from a DIY Sidewize photoshoot for Sinclair User. #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #Memoir #80sHairDontCare

Chapter 10 of my serialized memoir drops Sunday: Odin's "10 games in 12 months" deal with Firebird falls apart, Sidewize ships, and the studio goes dark, but not without a fight. Subscribe for free at the link below (paid optional) to get chapter 10 in your inbox! #RetroGaming #Memoir #ZXSpectrum

Chapter 10: The Future That Never Was

Chasing the raster, glimpsing the future, and a critical disagreement.

stevewetherill.substack.com

Scenes from Heartland on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum from Odin Computer Graphics in 1986. #RetroGaming #ZXSpectrum #8Bit #VideoGames

A snippet from Chapter 9 of my ongoing serialized memoir. #RetroGaming #GameDev #Memoir

Chapter 9: The Firebird Factory

Ten games in twelve months, Bertie Big Boy, and the Forbidden Amigas.

open.substack.com

In Chapter 9 of my serialized memoir, it's 1986, Heartland for the ZX Spectrum ships, and the reality of shipping 10 games in a year for Firebird/Telecomsoft means our brand new Amiga 1000s have to be set aside in favor of cranking out points for the contract. #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #Memoir

Chapter 9: The Firebird Factory

Ten games in twelve months, Bertie Big Boy, and the Forbidden Amigas.

stevewetherill.substack.com