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If there's only seven types of game in the world, Incentive can at least claim credit for one of them. The Freescape system supplied the company not only with state-of-the-art 3D graphics, but also a unique puzzle/adventure style which has won award after award. Castle Master is the latest Freescape game, to be released by Domark as an "Action Adventure". Stuart Wynne spoke to Managing Director Ian Andrews about it. But first the game scenario, cue lightning and banshee wails...

Castle Master is set in 16th century England. You play either a Prince or a Princess whose twin has disappeared. Rumours suggest the twin is being held in the haunted Castle Eternity. According to scriptures anyone who stays there for a year and a day is turned into a ghost.

One year after the kidnapping of your twin you stand outside the castle, with just 24 hours to free him (or her). The castle moat is filled with sharks, the drawbridge is up and lightning is flashing overhead...

When did work begin on Castle Master?

About April-time, I think. I came up with the basic outline, a rough sketch of the setting and the programming techniques involved. I liked Total Eclipse and I wanted to improve the sense of atmosphere even more. To this end, we're using sprites for mountains in the distance, for lightning flashes, and so on.

The outline might have been done in as little as week, but it was based on ideas and thoughts which had been building up for a while. Once I had the outline we did a feasibility study, spending a couple of weeks experimenting with the coding.

Do you have the game puzzles all worked out in advance, like a whodunnit writer with a rigid plot?

No, not at all. It's just a rough idea, or rather several different ideas, which develop as programming goes on. All the versions are developed simultaneously, 8-bit versions on a PC and 16-bit on the Amiga. The C64 version is being written by my brother, Chris, while the Amiga game is in the hands of Paul Gregory who also did 16-bit Dark Side and Total Eclipse. the graphics have been done by Mike Salmon, using a 3D editor developed by Sean Ellis.

Are the ghosts going to be sprites?

No, they will be solid 3D. I can't say exactly how many are going to be about, because it's part of the game that you must find them all. But there will be more than twenty. Some will be out in the open, but many will be hidden. Opening a chest might trigger one, for example, and you'll only have a few moments to hit it.

If you don't kill all the ghosts, you won't be able to get past the guardians who watches over your twin's cell. And if you're slow killing them their combined power will raise the spirit level until the portcullis is sent crashing down, sealing you in the castle forever.

Are there going to be any differences between the C64 and Amiga versions?

Yes, obviously the Amiga has more memory and is faster, so there's going to be some more rooms and a bit more action. But the C64 will have more puzzles where the Amiga owner might need to do some fast shooting to get through a room, the C64 owner will have a puzzle instead.

What advances are there over Total Eclipse?

Besides the use of sprites, there's a bigger screen and even a subtly different game depending on whether you're playing the Prince or the Princess. We've also substantially improved the player's interface with the game. So, while you might say the player's right hand holds a catapult to fire at the ghosts, his left hand can be used for general actions. In one room you might use it to throw a switch, in anther examine an object. In the library, for example, there might be a book which you can 'open'. When this happens, the 3D picture disappears and a sentence appears - a cryptic clue to help you. Were having these 'translated' into old English by Mel Croucher, who's also doing the 24-page booklet.

Have you been able to make the game more complicated because of the cryptic clues?

Yeah, things are much more logical. Rather than trying everything aimlessly with the cubes and pyramids in the earlier game, here objects are much more recognisable. The castle's pretty big, there's four towers, a courtyard, kitchen, bedrooms, a keep, library, underground tunnels and caverns, even a laundry room.

Have the actual Freescape routines been improved?

Oh, yes. You're always learning how to do things better, upgrading the system. I should think about 50% of the routines were rewritten.

The Freescape routine takes up about 20-25K, which is a lot, with the rest of the memory taken up by data. Included in that is sound FX, with banshee wails and cries for help, plus the music. Teque are producing a 4-5 minute soundtrack for us.

Do you see yourselves always being so committed to the Freescape system?

We firmly believe the future is in 3D. As more powerful machines appear, we'll be able to get much faster and more realistic 3D. I don't know whether we'll always call our routines Freescape, but we're certainly committed to 3D.

Have you been tempted to do a game like Carrier Command?

No, there's so many simulators on the Amiga. We don't want to be part of a crowd, nor do we want to get into licence-based games. we've got a good niche market: no-one does games like us. I think 'action-adventure' is a good label and we're going to be introducing more action with each game, while preserving the unique puzzle/adventure format.

When did Incentive begin?

About six-and-a-half years ago with a game called Splat, a novel arcade/maze game. After that, we might have been the first company to bring out an official coin-op conversion, Moon Cresta. At that time everyone was just copying the coin-ops and changing the title!

In 1985 we did the Graphic Adventure Creator and produced some adventures with it. Then came the idea to do a game with first-person perspective solid 3D. We went to quite a few programmers but everyone said it was impossible. By then Chris had joined the company. He'd read Computing and Engineering at Bath University and was willing to have a go himself. While he developed the Freescape routines, I came up with the game design. The result was Driller.

Will you be continuing to write for the C64?

Certainly. Our next game will appear on it and as long as there's a market there we'll be producing for it. But I don't think we'll actually be publishing any more games ourselves. There's so much involved. After MicroProse handled 16-bit Dark Side and Total Eclipse, we made a deal with Domark for Castle Master. Whether or not we do more for them has yet to be decided.

Do you think Castle Master is your best game?

Definiely. Of course, I would say that but this takes all our lessons from the earlier games and is much better. Besides tighter programming and a stronger atmosphere, we've added quite a few innovations which I think take Freescape forward.

Castle Master wil be available on April 5th for the C64 (£9.99 cassette, £14.99 disk) and Amiga (£19.99).