Previous Next

Bored with Buck Rogers? Depressed by Defender? Sick of Star Wars? You need something which is fun but also mentally stimulating. Games Creator satisfies both these requirements.

Games Creator lets you alter the graphics, sound and rules of the game supplied in the package. A comprehensive 28-page manual is supplied with it so that your creativity can be unleashed without the restriction of having to learn complex commands.

Eight sprites are available, the maximum for the C64 anyway. Each one may have several animations, meaning that a new sprite need not be defined if, for example. only a leg has to be moved to simulate walking.

A character definer is used to design the environment and again editing is done mainly by joystick on an 8 x 8 grid. The other main feature is that characters can be in one of three states: STOP, GO or DIE so that if the player sprite hits a STOP character he will be obstructed, a GO character has no effect and a DIE character will bring his untimely death.

Sound is simple to implement. A tune, which may be played by one of five instruments, is composed in normal musical notation. Sound effects are easily altered.

Alien movement control is a dream. Using the joystick you can move the alien anywhere about the screen and on completion your path will be remembered to be used in the game. It's also possible to have aliens moving at random about the screen; useful if you're designing a shoot-'em-up.

Alien rules govern scoring and so on. Control of each rule is by selecting an option from a list.

The three games supplied are good and should provide you with enough practice to develop your own creation.

If only all software was as user-friendly as Mirrorsoft's Games Creator! I found that almost anything could be changed using the joystick.

I found the music section extremely good. Even though I can't tell the difference between a crochet and a semi-quaver, by copying sheet music I could produce almost any tune I wanted.

The instructions are concise and very clear. In no time at all, I was producting games as unusual as 'Attack Of The Bionic Brussels'.

The term 'creator' is misused since you can only modify the three existing games. However, these are all interesting, if unoriginal, games in their own right and can be improved using the methods provided.

Games Creator does not require any programming experience on the part of the user. It is a very good package for those (like me!) who want to write their own games with the minimum of effort.

It is not possible to write games that will run independently of the Creator, so it is certainly not another Scope or Quill.