These olde-style shoot-em-up games were made on the standard (emulated) version and Jon Wells updated version of the C64 Shoot Em Up Construction Kit by Sensible Software, and have been debugged and enhanced by C64 programmers Richard Bayliss and Martin Piper. Enhanced versions can be downloaded at Richard Bayliss' C64 freeware site The New Dimension, and original 'raw' versions of the games can be found at The Seuck Vault (Andrew Fisher's tribute site, and an excellent place to download original C64 and Amiga SEUCK games, and Sideways SEUCK games for free).
Magess of Midgard - Sequel to Heroes of Midgard. Following the defeat of the enemies, you build a great city on their conquered lands, only for it to come under attack from a new set of mercenaries, orcs, and eldritch abominations ... Defend your city with spells (which work as traps) and Deplorable Curses (smart bombs) until reinforcements can arrive. Featuring several enhancements by Richard Bayliss of TND, including music, new title screens, power ups, and a "secret code" system (to access the true end sequence), this is probably the least SEUCK-like SEUCK game I have completed so far, and a nice little homage both to Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (the obvious inspiration) as well as classic 80s "strategic" shoot-em-ups like Missile Command and Colony 7.
Purge 101 - Cyber-gothic style FPS, Based on Taito's shooting gallery arcade games from the late 80s and early 90s, such as "Operation Wolf" and "Space Gun". In a near, post-apocalyptic future, you play the role of the trainee agent of a genetic modifications cartel, attempting to qualify for combat duty against the legions of homicidal mutants that their irresponsible experiments have unleashed upon civilisation. This game was considerably enhanced by Richard Bayliss of TND, and features a separate SEUCK file containing an extended end sequence, accessible with a secret code (obtained by winning the game).
H P Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" - Loosely based on the 1931 novella. Pilot a midget submarine into the deadly, infested harbours around the cursed Massachusetts seaport of Innsmouth, where human sacrifice and Cthulhu-worship are the order of the day ... Collect Elder Sign coins for bonus points and lives, avoid or torpedo the cult members, Deep Ones, and assorted Mythos horrors, and penetrate the depths of the reef to find (and destroy) the submerged city of the Deep Ones. This is my first SEUCK game with a background composed of single-colour high resolution blocks, courtesy of a trick learned from SEUCK master Alf Yngve (cf. http://www.retrogarden.co.uk/features/interview-with-alf-yngve-seuck-legend/).
Heroes of Midgard (2011 TND Sideways SEUCK Competition entry) - Another game to make extensive use of the hi-res option in SEUCK, to create a map-style setting based on Tolkien's maps in the Lord of the Rings books (A massive influence on my writing in general, and this game in particular). I have used ordinary C64-style lo-res multicolor graphics for the cutscenes and sprites. This is a pseudo-wargame, though more arcade than strategy style. It features enemy units that require different methods of attack, siege and campaign levels, infantry and cavalry options (with differing terrain effects), and a score system that depicts the construction of your future kingdom, if you can prevail in your war against the orcs, trolls, mercenaries, warlocks, dragons, and assorted undead horrors that are raising hell in your formerly green and pleasant land ...
Flawshow (2011 TND Sideways SEUCK Competition entry) - Fight computer viruses within a decaying virtual world, using the "Reaper" or "Guard" anti virus programs with differing abilities. Loosely parodied from the Japanese peep show game Moeyo Gonta (and its western counterpart, Lady Killer), but featuring no actual nudity or explicit content. As the tiles of the arena start to rust, wear, and crumble away, the lady is gradually revealed ... as is a lethal, widening abyss that you must avoid blundering into.
Sylphwyrm (2010 TND Sideways SEUCK Competition entry, 3rd place) - Guide a warrior sylph or vampiress on a deadly airborne quest over three Hammer Horror-esque stages of high fantasy blasting action, fighting wraiths, skeletons, undead dragons, medieval tanks, half-naked voluptuous vampires (I never said it was highbrow ...), and avoiding the deadly landscape, falling stalactites, and descending portcullises.
Legion of the Damned - A fantasy hack and slash-em-up, based heavily on a certain famous Sega arcade game that I wasn't too happy with the C64 version of ... Guide the sword-wielding amazon or the axe-throwing barbarian over three stages crawling with zombies, vampires, skeleton archers, bats, demons, boss dragons, to a final battle with the vampire queen Stryxia.
Legion of the Damned 2 - A sequel to the above, set in a modern urban slum, with armies of vampire thugs and leotard-clad, whip-wielding dominatrices to slaughter. Stryxia is resurrected, and it's up to the last two detectives in the haunted, crime-ridden city to exorcise her and her legions of undead scum. Heavily based on Double Dragon, and the less said about the C64 conversion of that, the better. Also with distinct influence from "Streets of Rage".
The Push - A First World War variant on classic arcade run-and-gun games such as Front Line, Commando, and MERCS. Take your platoon across No Man's Land on a mission to detonate the enemy chlorine gas stockpiles. Pretty much everything is lethal, including barbed wire, mines, water, fire, shells, bullets, supply trucks, motorcycles, and imposing boss vehicles, but if you can prove your worth by destroying enemy units and capturing positions, your senior officers will assign more men to your command.
Baphomet - Loosely inspired by Altered Beast and heavily inspired by the paintings of H R Giger. Traverse a nightmarish biomechanical landscape, increase your powers, and confront the evil demon Baphomet in its lair, if you can survive encounters with its many twisted minions. With two styles of play: you begin in walking mode, with only a short-range attack, then acquire cybernetic enhancements that let you take to the air and start shooting back with a vengeance ...
Æon Flux - Inspired by Peter Chung's Liquid Television cartoon series (All characters and settings property of Peter Chung and MTV). In an Orwellian future world, take the amoral saboteur Æon Flux on a mission to destroy the secret weapon of her dictatorial nemesis Chairman Goodchild: a godlike entity known as the Demiurge. Featuring two different styles of play (Battle on foot, and an auto-scrolling car section).
Stormbird - In the closing phase of WW2, pilot your Me 262 jet fighter / bomber on a last ditch, suicidal mission to recapture a V2 rocket development base from the Allied Expeditionary Force. Inspired by Capcom's 1942 and 1943, as well as Sega's After Burner, this takes a few minor historical liberties for the sake of arcade action ...
View the Guestbook
