Briscoe: Atari has always been close to my heart

August 10, 2020 • Updated: Mar 18, 2025 - 12:10 AM

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A few weeks ago we reported the reappearance of the Brik-Bat level builder program, a game inspired by Breakout and Arkanoid that is part of our best personal memories.

Its author, Trevor Briscoe, was kind enough to give us this interview, where he shares details about the creation of his projects and, in general, his experience as an Atari user in the United Kingdom:

Atariteca: Tell us a little about yourself and how you got involved in the world of computing.

Trevor Briscoe:I am 53 years old. I am a software developer working in the telecoms industry on mapping applications. I was born and live in the North East of England, on the coast. I am married with two children aged 11 and 14.

I was interested in computers from a very young age, but I didn't really get the chance to use one until I bought my first computer at the age of 16 - at the start of the big boom of the 80s. I then went to university to study Physics, but switched to Computer Science because I found it much more interesting!

What was your first computer and what motivated you to start programming?

It was a Sinclair ZX81, bought in October 1982. I grew up with the arcade boom and it really felt like a time of excitement, with these new machines that could be used on your own TV. So, I think I wanted to learn about them and how to program, just because it was there and it was something new. I probably also wanted access to an infinite number of games! That said, I didn't really do much development beyond learning BASIC and writing magazine programs on the ZX81, as it was so limited. I moved on to a Texas Instruments TI-99/4a where I wrote my first, larger programs in extended BASIC, starting with a Lunar Rescue clone.

How did your relationship with Atari 8-bit computers begin?

I began to feel that my TI-99/4a was a bit limited. It is a very closed system, quite slow, and had very little software available. I already knew the Atari as a very desirable machine, with Atari's history with the VCS and arcade machines. The opportunity to upgrade to an Atari 600XL came up and I took it. At first, I could only afford the basic machine with a tape player, so it was similar to what I had with the Texas Instruments, but there was more potential in the Atari.

Do you still have an Atari 8-bit computer? What model or hardware do you have?

As a collector, I own a lot of Atari machines now and over 100 retro computers and consoles in total. I still have my original 600XL; but in the intervening years I’ve managed to acquire at least one each of the 400, 800, 800XL, 65XE, 130XE, XEGS and 1200XL models – although this one was never released in the UK. My first choice is the Atari 800XL, which I bought with my second disk drive when prices dropped in the UK. I also have a few disk drives and lots of other pieces of older and more modern hardware, such as the Incognito board and SIO devices etc. A lot of my hardware and software collection ends up on my Instagram or Twitter feeds (both are @RetroElectroDad) and Ataris have always been closest to my heart.

How do you remember the Atari scene in your country when you were just a computer user?

I didn't meet any other Atari owners for a while, so I didn't really get to know much of the scene. My friends had a C64 or Sinclair ZX Spectrum, so I was always a little disappointed when my Atari missed out on some classic Elite and Ultimate Play The Game titles. However, maybe if I'd had more games available, I wouldn't have gotten into programming; so that might have been a plus.

I didn't meet any other Atari users until I went to college and met a guy who had a 1050 floppy drive to sell. He had a lot of pirated disks and made copies of many of them when I bought the disk drive from him. After that, I joined a mail order rental service and learned 6502 assembly language by breaking the copy protection and playing the games, either by ripping them from cassette and loading them from disk or just removing the protection to copy them to disk. It's not like I only copied games... I bought as many originals as I could and still have all my software from that time; but they were very hard to find in stores and mail order was the main option for acquiring full price Atari games.

Speaking of games, what are your all-time favorite Atari 8-bit games?

It’s always hard to pick a small number of games, but the ones that come to mind are Star Raiders – it was my first game on cartridge and what a way to start! Alternate Reality: The Dungeon – I lost so many hours on that game and I still have the original diskette – which I back up every couple of years. Dropzone – for me the best shooter on the system. And Mercenary, as it was so awesome. I could go on and on with the list though – Wizard’s Crown; Ultima, which I loved; M.U.L.E and Archon were great; and Koronis Rift was amazing. I could go on and on…!

Is there any of them that you admire for their technical aspects or any other in particular?

I think having Star Raiders on an 8K cartridge is amazing. Actually, all the games have a look that makes them stand out, along with many, many others. Also, some of the titles that have come out of Poland in more modern times are technically great – Yoomp! comes to mind for a start. Making the fractal landscapes move so fast in Rescue on Fractalus and Koronis Rift was incredible at the time and the speed was the envy of Commodore 64 owners!

Let's talk about your games. How did you come up with the idea of writing Brik-Bat and Symbolism?

The diskettes I received with my first disk drive contained a copy of Synassembler and that really opened the door for me to learn 6502 assembly language. Then, when I got a copy of the Mapping The Atari book for Christmas, there was no turning back. I looked around for something simple to make and came up with first a version of the board game Ludo, but with an Archon influence where the pieces would become ships that fight each other with lasers. After that, I still didn’t feel like I was any good at creating graphics; and I thought some sort of Arkanoid-inspired Pong clone would be easy enough and I could get a lot of colour on the screen. And that became Brik Bat. The construction set came out of my need for a tool to design the various game scenarios.

Symbolism was inspired by screenshots of Skweek and Airball -both Atari ST games- that I saw in magazines. I just liked the grid and came up with the idea of matching symbols and/or colors with a bouncing ball to build a chain of matches. Also, the bonus stage was inspired by Rainbow Walker.

Which of the two do you like more? Why?

I think it would be Symbolism, as it has better graphics and animation for me. I was very proud of the symbol set and the effect when the tiles are flipped. However, looking at it with older eyes, it has its flaws: I think it's not that well balanced in terms of difficulty and the bonus stage takes too long to arrive. If I ever make a second version, I would get rid of the whole bonus point store, and go straight to a bonus stage every few levels.

What was the most complicated or challenging feature in the development of your projects?

As an amateur programmer, I think most of the problems were due to lack of equipment. I started with a black and white TV and a single disk drive. By the time I finished writing Symbolism, I had a color TV and two floppy drives, which made it a bit easier. I would have loved to have a development machine that could send data to a test machine, so I wouldn't have to reboot and reload the assembler many, many times. Also, a printer would have been great; debugging code when you can barely see 24 lines of the program isn't that easy. As for the coding itself, I don't really remember anything so complicated that it stood out... probably just continuing to program until I felt I could accept it as finished work was the hardest part.

Do you have plans for Atari computers in the near future?

Every now and then I'll mull over ideas and keep a notebook with a few written down. Ideas like maybe making some improvements to Symbolism to tighten it up a bit; or adding paddle controls to Brik Bat; or maybe revisiting the project I started a while back which was a sort of Defender/Dropzone inspired game. I wouldn't want to commit to something and then not finish it; so there's nothing concrete at the moment.

How do you rate the participation of AtariAge forum members?

I must confess that I've mostly just hung around the AtariAge forums. Mainly because there are some excellent titles coming out for the Atari these days, and the community is fairly mature and knowledgeable; so I haven't felt like I can contribute much. Although I was very happy to see a genuine appreciation for preserving my old games recently - when my Brik Bat cassette turned up. That made my day and I received some really lovely comments.

What is the main lesson you have learned during this time you have dedicated to Atari 8-bit?

I don't think I would have a career in computing if it weren't for my Atari. Learning to program it at a really low level and with limited resources gave me an understanding of how computers work - something I think is sometimes lacking in later generations who grew up with the Internet or with computers that didn't require you to program at all. That was the most valuable lesson I learned from programming my Atari.

Trevor, thank you for taking the time to give us this interview. Is there anything else you would like to share with Atariteca readers?

You're welcome. I guess I'd like to let your readers know that as fellow enthusiasts, it's always a pleasure to find others who share my love for Atari 8-bit computers!