Mariusz: The passion for programming is still with me
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With two notable Commodore 64 ports released during the year and four more games in development for Atari computers, Mariusz "mariusz" Wojcieszek is - undisputedly - one of the most active members of the current Atari 8-bit scene in Poland. In this interview for Atariteca, he tells us about his short-term plans, as well as the background of such a prolific output.
ATARITECA: Tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Mariusz Wojcieszek, I am 39 years old. I live with my wife and two children in Poland, in a small town near Poznan. I work as a project manager for a small software company based in Poznan.
How did you get involved with the Atari 8-bit?
It all started a long, long time ago ("in a galaxy far, far away..."); seriously, it was in the mid-1980s and it was a friend's Atari 800XL computer. I started playing River Raid, Bruce Lee, Moctezuma´s Revenge, Quasimodo, Goonies. Later, when my parents finally agreed to buy me a computer, I got an Atari 800XE and started some programming. That was the beginning of my professional career as a software engineer. Actually, there is no code from those years that has survived to this day, but the passion for programming is still with me.
Do you still own an Atari 8-bit computer?
I don't have a real Atari now, but (the emulator) Altirra seems to give a good experience - it emulates every hardware quirk I remember from the real thing.
The Great Escape, Fairlight: A Prelude and Bobby Bearing... Why did you choose to port isometric games?
First of all, I liked these games and missed them for the Atari in the 80s. Nowadays, many of them were ported (like«Knight Lore»and«Alien 8»), but I still wanted more. Also, when I decided to do some Atari programming, I was looking for games that could have completed versions within a reasonable amount of time. These isometric games were good candidates, since they aren't using hardware sprites on the C64 or other special capabilities of that system, so they run on the Atari with just a few patched routines.
Which of these three projects do you like the most? And why?
I like every project. With«The Great Escape»It's the one I spent the most time on out of the three, as I had to learn Atari programming once again, then about C64 hardware and code analysis, etc. I also spent some time trying to optimize its performance and I'm quite pleased with the results, as the game runs about three times faster than the C64 version, with a speed comparable to the Spectrum version (which is the fastest).«Fairlight»It has a nice atmosphere and amazing graphics - which also gave me a bigger headache when trying to optimize the game, as it looks like it was converted line by line from Z80; so it's weird code and hard to understand.«Bobby Bearing»It's small and nice, and was the quickest port to make, as the game doesn't require any optimization.
Tell us a bit about Saboteur, the port you just released. Are you moving away from isometric games?
Once again, I wanted something different from the previous games. And«Saboteur!»It's very nice as an action game, with exploration, fighting, etc. I think the Atari 8-bits lack this type of games.
Most other programmers tend to finish one project before embarking on the next. But you seem to prefer developing many projects at once... Why?
I only code for the games, so I need others to help me with additional graphics, loading screens, music and sound effects. While I wait for them, I usually spend time looking for other C64 games.
Total Eclipse is the first "3D" project you've ever had. Do you have plans to port other adventure games into pseudo-3D?
With«Total Eclipse»I wanted to try something different. Plus, I had read discussions on AtariAge where people were wondering if this game could be fast and look good on the Atari, so I decided to try it out for myself. It is also possible to port the other Freescape games (Driller, Darkside, Castle Master, etc.) to Atari computers.
In technical terms, which of your projects (current and past) are you most satisfied with?
It was "The Great Escape" (TGE) - I had some good ideas for (improving) performance that paid off. My favourite (idea) is the way I handled the scrolling of the game area: TGE uses an off-screen frame buffer to do all the rendering and transfers this buffer in bulk to the screen. When the protagonist moves off-screen, the scrolling is applied when the buffer is transferred to the screen. On the C64 this was done in software, so each byte had to be rotated four times (shifted by 4 pixels) when saving. This resulted in a huge load on the CPU. On the Atari, I have two screen buffers, one with hardware scrolling applied, so I can save the scrolling in software.
With Total Eclipse I liked the idea of the main screen design done by me and José (Pereira) - we used PM/G graphics for the columns on the sides, which allows us to use different colors for the 3D view, exactly like the C64 version had. Also, with Total Eclipse I had to learn how to do 3D math efficiently with the 6502 - most of the game's speed increase comes from new and better routines for multiplication and division.
"Saboteur!" was very easy, it took me two nights - one to study the C64 code, and the second to write the Atari version. The reason for porting it so quickly was that there was really only one table in the game that had to be changed (the table containing the pointers to display the rows and columns) and one routine that was clearing the screen buffers (Atari uses $1800 bytes for screen buffers, while C64 is using $2000 bytes). Of course, I had to comment out all the SID accesses (music and sound effects) and put in my routines for keyboard and joystick reading, but that's the usual work. For now, I hope there will be some work to do to get the colored overlays working.
What was the most complicated/challenging feature in the development of each of your projects?
The biggest challenge was actually developing a way to efficiently analyze C64 games (I use VICE + ICU64 for debugging C64 games and Infiltrator Disassembler for disassembling games); and also how to prepare the Atari version efficiently - now I just have to load the C64 game image directly into the Atari, apply the necessary patches and add initialization for the Atari. I also developed some standard routines for reading joystick, reading keyboard - which return data exactly the same way as expected from the C64, which now saves time for future ports.
How do you rate the participation of AtariAge forum members?
They all make the final release of the game(s) possible, as they provide music, sound effects, loading screens and graphics. Without them, the games could not be finished. So thanks to José, Poison, Philsan, Wieczór and all the others who give me precious advice and help in solving problems.
What do you think will be the next release among your current games in development? (We are talking about Fairlight, Bobby Bearing and Total Eclipse).
These can be Fairlight or Bobby Bearing, depending on which musician finishes his work first. Total Eclipse requires a bit more work with additional graphics, and recording and uploading game progress.
Porting games from other platforms/systems is wonderful. But if you had the chance, what original game would you like to make for the Atari 8-bit?
I really like the Mojon Twins games (Uwol, Sir Ababol) and would like to see these games on Atari.
What do you think about contests like ABBUC?
I think contests like ABBUC are the best, as they push the development of games on 8-bit platforms. My games cannot take part in the ABBUC competition, as they are not original and do not have the proper permissions from the original authors.
What are your all-time favorite Atari 8-bit games? Why?
As I said, my favorite games are River Raid, Bruce Lee, Moctezuma's Revenge, Quasimodo, Goonies from the beginning of those years with Atari. Later I likedZybexDraconusand Polish games from 1990: Robbo, Fred, Misja, Lasermania. Why? They were addictive, reasonably difficult and well designed.
What do you think of the Atari 8-bit scene in Europe?
It seems like the scene isn't very big (compared to other 8-bit micros, like Spectrum or Commodore 64), but people are very friendly and helpful.
Any recommendations for those looking to embark on the task of resurrecting/creating games for the Atari 8-bit computers?
Never give up when a problem arises. Wait a while and the idea to solve the problem will come to mind. If not, ask in the AtariAge forums.
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