Think I’ve finished the extra levels and features for my #SpectrumNext conversion of my #C64 game Runn ‘n’ Gunn. The game is 80% bigger and there are a couple of surprises. Need to do the boring tidying now.

Who doesn’t love the glamour of a late 80s UK game dev studio? Google can keep their town halls and break out areas. Here’s Walking Circles at a similar time.

Wanderer on the #C64 was my first ever professional product. Coded when I was 16yo I basically converted the Speccy code and mostly didn’t know what I was doing. It scored 16% in Zzap and was described as a ‘vector graphics turkey’.

I recorded a Podcast with @retrotitans.com last night. As always good fun to ramble on about games development. Phil noticed I still play video games, something rarer than you’d think in the industry. I tend to agree, I’ve worked with loads of game devs who don’t actually play games. Wonder why.

Completed the excellent Öoo earlier. I wish I had the kind of mind that can come up with these kinds of concepts. Have to say you could probably make an excellent version of this for the #C64. youtu.be/tSJyHEjyGuA?...

Went to a retro gaming market in Bolton today. Crazy busy and I didn’t manage to fill any gaps in games I’ve written but don’t own. Picked up @merman1974.bsky.social ‘s book (signed!) and @jazrignall.bsky.social ‘s book though. Plenty of of reading there.

I don’t normally do politics on here but my word this man says everything I wish I had the nerve to. Let’s all be kinder to each other.

Looking forward to this, some of my favourite gaming memories are playing against my friends on two player #C64 games. Rocketball, Kikstart, Hypaball and probably my favourite Pitstop II. I have no interest in online gaming and I miss playing games together like we did back then. I’m old.

Looks like the #C64 Black Mini Edition is 20% off on Amazon at the minute. Four of my best games are on there along with 21 other amazing modern 8bit games. I'm still playing through - and being amazed by - Sam's Journey.

How has somebody who worked on one of my favourite ever games (Lemmings) ended up converting a random homebrew I wrote for the #C64 in 2020? Amazing.

Don’t tell me I don’t know how to treat my wife on Valentine’s Night. We’re in the Pixel Bar in Manchester. To be fair it was her idea. Some pro-gamers are on the TV earning more money than any developer I’ve ever worked with.

I had two Game Gear games published. One was the original FIFA game. The other was the official Winter Olympics game of 1994. Sadly we didn’t do Curling which is a fave of us Brits as we’re good at it. Otherwise I think it’s a pretty solid effort.

I never knew Skull and Crossbones was included on a compilation. One more on the list of physical releases of my #C64 games I don't own.

From when part of creating a game was also making your own bespoke utilities. I coded at least five map editors and a couple of sprite tools BITD. Degas Elite (ST) and DPaint 2 (PC) changed some of that but even in my Zed Two days (early 2000s) I wrote a map editor for a PS1 game I was developing.

I’ve set up the #C64 Mini Black and I’m suitably impressed. Always wanted to play Sam’s Journey but never got around to it. I’m stuck on the second screen!

I’ve eventually got hold of a #C64 Mini Black Edition. It includes 25 modern C64 games, four of which I coded. @stepickford.bsky.social‘s version of Millie & Molly also adorn the box. Looking forward to trying out some of the other games on there. Quite a few look amazing.

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In 2019 Grid Pix was the first game I coded for the #C64 in the modern era. It led to some amazing physical versions and a glowing review in Retro Gamer. No wonder I got back into coding for the old machine. I've released eight games since then and worked on plenty of abandoned projects.

I reckon 2026 is the year I complete the #ZXSpectrumNext #ZXNext port of my #C64 game Runn 'n' Gunn. I made some rapid progress early in 2025 but didn't have see great change later in the year. This is known to programmers as the 90/90 rule: w.wiki/A6MJ

I received an @evercade.co.uk for Xmas. I fancy picking up one of the Indie packs as my first cart. I can't decide which is the best. I see there's a #C64 cart, wouldn't have minded getting some of my games on there. Perhaps if the do another I can pitch ;)

Vinny was a real help during the development of RnG. He gave a load of helpful feedback on Beta versions. There was only one difficulty level, now classed as hard mode, before I sent it to him. Developers get good at their own games and can lose sight of the challenge.

The quality of modern #C64 games is sky high and I never come out on top in these lists. So it's nice to be number one (and seven!) in this one. 2025 is a stretch though, M&M and RnG are from around 2020. Almost retro-retro. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQm1...

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes was such a good game I’ve bought this without knowing much about it. £11 and change feels a real bargain.

I went for an interview as a #C64 dev at Ocean after I left Walking Circles. I don't think I even heard back from them and ended up getting a job at Tiertex. This photo reminds me of how young nearly everybody working in computer games was in the 80s.

It's that time of year. Get you thinking Santa hats on an try to solve the 24 Christmas Picross puzzles in my free #C64 game Grid Pix Advent. thalamusdigital.itch.io/grid-pix-adv...

Back in the day I bought so many issues of the Official PlayStation Magazine just to try out the demos. It’s even easier to try stuff before you buy these days. Obviously I’d recommend Millie & Molly but there’s lots of good stuff here.

This Spitting Image news is from Dec '86, when I was still a schoolboy. It took them a long time to find a publisher because I started coding the #C64 game in the second half of '88. I think the only reason Domark ended up with the licence was over the controversy of Split Personalities.

What a thoroughly lovely thing to do. It looks in pretty good nick in the later video as well, better than mine was in the 80s. I had some Kit-Kat foil as a fuse for a start. #C64

What an amazing job Chun and his wife did to make M&M the game it is. I don't think either of use thought it would lead to having this kind of swag. A signed copy of the #C64 disk version as well, rare. 😜

I was reading an interview I did for @retrogamermag.bsky.social back in 2015. @merman1974.bsky.social asked this question. Obviously I changed my mind from the answer given. I think I’ve written 8 #C64 games since then.

I was given this poster along with other goodies at my YTS job interview with what became of Design Design. Quite exciting for a 16yo with no idea of what to do with himself having left school. The picture is of Ellesmere Port and was hastily taken by one of team from a nearby bridge.

My first job was at what was formerly Design Design. We worked on another game which was submitted to the Crash competition Kat Trap won. It was called Sewer but was never completed. We also had loads of the other entries in a big folder which were fun to read through. I'd love to see those again.

Bonfire Night was my favourite night of the year as a child. Fireworks, treacle, parkin, flapjack, black peas (Google it) and a big random fire topped with a guy dressed better than me. Halloween has rather usurped it now though. Probably for the best considering the dangerous stuff we got up to.

Nice to make into onto this list with my best received #C64 game of that era. And my only Zzap Sizzler back then. It was also a Oli Frey front cover. There are things I'd change now but it's a good effort.

Very nice. Don’t have one myself yet, I was hoping the postie might drop off a free one!

I think I missed that the C64 Mini Black Edition has been released. Some amazing modern #C64 games on there. Proud to have four of mine on it, in quite exalted company. retrogames.biz/products/the...

I don't know who drew the covers for my #c64 games. I have a special fondness for the APB one though, it's nice and colourful.

This article mentions Graham's washing machine. He gave me that when ours broke down. Years later we passed it on to somebody else. It must have been 30 years old before it gave up the ghost.

"Don't Look Back" challenge. If this is not being able to use rewind it's going to be tough!

Design Design here, predicting the current AI fixation in this article from 40 years ago. The game they're talking about is 2112AD, I should perhaps give it another look. "And so the country is taken over by a collection of jumped up pocket calculators."

I was pretty pleased with my Craptastic 2024 4kb #C64 game. A lot of the other entries were also excellent. I’ve no idea what happened with the results though @ausretrogamer.bsky.social carletonhandley.itch.io/drone-zone

These kids will go far! #C64 @chunwah.bsky.social

My first job was at Walking Circles, the dev studio which came out of the remains of Design Design. This reads like a fever dream but from the stories I was told I think it's all mainly true. It was much more your standard 9-5 office by the time I joined in 1987.

I think APB is my only #C64 game which appeared on a compilation. I was never informed of this stuff happening. And I certainly never got a free copy of this compilation.

This 720kb disk is my original backup of all the code and graphics for my first four #C64 games, plus the unreleased game Behemoth. The code includes self written tools like map editors. I think the icon on my last iOS game was larger than 720k on its own. My handwriting is as bad 35 years later.

I think Rugby TWC is the worst thing I coded for the #C64 back then. It was really rushed to coincide with the world cup itself. This wasn't an official licence although some people thought it was. I tried making a rugby equivalent of Kick Off 2 with absolutely no success. The frontend was OK.

The C64 Mini Black Edition has been announced. All four of my bigger games are on it (not my 4k competition ones). It's an honour to be included alongside some of the very best modern #C64 games out there. Sam's Journey and A Pig's Quest to name just two. retrogames.biz/products/the...

I was only talking about Peter last week. He worked at Creations before my time so I never worked with him. And Denarius may not be the most well known #C64 game but the title tune was always a favourite. RIP. youtu.be/2KbNeUUx4TE?...

I'd kind of forgotten I coded a mobile phone game based on the 2007 Fantastic Four film. I really enjoyed making stuff like this. The small teams and simple gameplay loops were reminiscent of developing in the 8bit era. This one had six minigames, most were fun. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eD0...

When I worked at Tiertex one of our testers appeared on UK gameshow You Bet! identifying videogames from their soundtrack alone. The clip is now on YouTube and I realise it's 33 years ago. The video also features @jazrignall.bsky.social sporting his legendary haircut. youtu.be/jVGVbk4sqT0