1987 Rescue in Berlin – User article

1987 Rescue in Berlin - User article

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Graphic designer and hobby coder José A. González wants to show with his adventure 1987 Rescue in Berlin what the Amiga can still do today. In the interview he talks about the development and his ambitions.

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Whether film character and Terminator heroic mother Sarah Connor in the men’s toilet, scurrying cassette children in the music store or extravagant punks in the parking lot: after just a few minutes of play 1987 Rescue in Berlin you know exactly where you are – deep in the 80s. The Amiga game revives happy point-and-click times, but had to overcome a few pitfalls on its long journey, as did developers Jose A. Gonzalez revealed in this conversation.

José, let’s start with your personal history with the Amiga.

I was introduced to the Amiga at a classmate’s house, who told me his computer could display color and play music. As soon as I saw the calculator, I knew this would be the machine I could draw on and put the struggles with my ZX Spectrum’s color palette behind me. After saving a lot of money I was able to buy a used Amiga 500. A few years later, while I was still working, I was able to buy an Amiga 1200 with a hard drive, CD-ROM, and video recording. I spent many hours on the Amiga, playing, drawing and animating with Deluxe Paint, designing with Real 3D. I even developed some games using SEUCK, a program that came on a magazine disk. Then, in the late 90’s, I bought a PC and kept my “girlfriend” in the basement of my grandmother’s house.

But she didn’t stay there.

Right. Today the Amiga is back in action. I relax from daily problems by making music and designing graphics. I think I will never give up on him. But for parties I use an Amiga 600 that I assembled from parts a few years ago. This computer fits nicely in my briefcase.

Your development activity began in the Amiga Wave collective. What is it about?

Amiga Wave was a nice project that I started when I was naive. I invested a lot in this project, but unfortunately working with some of my fellow campaigners didn’t work out. I left the group to pursue my own developer philosophy and help other developers.

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How would you describe your developer philosophy?

For me, programming is a hobby and I am aware that there is no money to be made from it. It’s all about the satisfaction of fulfilling a childhood dream that I couldn’t achieve in the 80’s and 90’s due to lack of support. My goal today is to produce interesting content and help others with their projects. I’m learning little by little, I design fun games with a lot of dedication. I know they’re not perfect, but they’re some of the best that can realistically be made today.

In the Box: 1987 Rescue in Berlin is also available as a physical game.

You do all this under the IronGate label.

Right. I started this studio to be in control of my creations. With this small label I can publish my developments. My focus is on video games, music, pixel art, animation and demos. I’ve worked with several groups in the Amiga scene, I’ve done a lot of pixel art with Deluxe Paint and I’ve now developed more than 20 games for the Amiga.

How did you 1987 Rescue in Berlin developed?

The game was initially designed to be in the magazine Amiga format to be released when Amiga Wave was still making games. I designed everything and left the programming to someone else. The magazine wanted to know when it was ready, and the programmer kept telling me it was almost done. But it was never finished, so in the end it all fell apart. And since I was the one who always spoke to the editors, I didn’t look very good doing it.

So you finished the project alone.

Exactly. The pandemic and lockdowns gave me time to learn adventure development tools. And after a lot of work I was able to finish 1987 Rescue in Berlin. I wanted to restore my reputation with the magazine and after much discussion they agreed to watch the game again. After seeing it, they agreed to publish it on the booklet CD-ROM.

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Visual impressions from 1987 Rescue in Berlin

Your adventure begins with a shock message on TV. 1 intention or coincidence? Our hero looks a lot like the “rattlesnake” Snake Plissken. 2 On the street you also discuss rat meat in the burger. 3 In the music shop you can skim off some gifts. 4 Sarah Connor greets you personally in the men’s toilet. 5 Who is singing next to Freddie Mercury? 6.

How big are the similarities to the original project?

Not very large. I’ve expanded the original script and improved the graphics, including new characters and new scenarios. It also includes the music of Narcisounda legend of C64 and Amiga chiptune music.

What tools did you use?

Well, for graphics I used Deluxe Paint V, for game development I used GRAC, which has its own editor and rudimentary programming language. It was really difficult to learn all that and figure out how to do certain things. But I think everything has turned out for the better.

Which games were your role models for 1987 Rescue in Berlin?

It’s clear that I used to play a lot of adventures – whether future warsthe Indiana Jones or Monkey Island-Series. All of them and many more left something in me that inspired me to develop my own adventure games. At 1987 Rescue in Berlin I like to highlight the humor, there are many jokes and absurd situations that are sure to make you smile.

What were you wearing back then? Monkey Island favor?

I liked the humor of this adventure, the nonsensical situations, I had to laugh and always waited for the next joke.

Available in 1987 explicit references to Monkey Island?

Not specifically, but if you look at the subplots, they take on more and more shape as the game progresses, until they tie into the main plot. There’s the rat meat burgers that many characters refer to, which at first surprises and disgusts you, but then you understand that this is a post-apocalyptic world and it’s normal there. The player sinks more and more into the story. And as soon as he thinks he only has to escape by plane to reach the mission objective, the story takes a new turn and surprises in an absurd but humorous way. That’s what I expect from a good story: that it pulls me in and surprises me.

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Rat Alert: Opinions differ about this joint’s burgers.

Do you also work professionally with the Amiga these days?

Professionally I work with a PC. I dedicate myself to design and work with Corel Draw, 3D Studio Max and other programs. I’m mainly involved in creating posters and all kinds of applied design. I have more of a hobby relationship with the Amiga. I mainly do pixel art and games. For me it’s an art, from the design of the tiles to the objects, characters and even the system icon – everything counts.

How do you see the future of the Amiga scene?

I think the Amiga has found its place as an entertainment machine. It still has a large number of users, so the operating system continues to be updated. The Amiga will always be in our hearts. The future lies in the creation of content in magazines or on channels like Youtube to encourage people to create content and to help those who have doubts or difficulties to move forward. Recently I was very excited about the release of the The A500 Mini happy. I ordered it as soon as possible and enjoy configuring an operating system with my tools and my games.

Does he The A500 Mini from your point of view, what the developers have promised?

In my opinion yes, they sold it as a game console, for casual gamers with no complications. A few days ago I was at a party. That’s when I saw people bringing their A500 Mini. It is small, connects to the TV via HDMI and takes up little space. This is ideal for events like this – a nice piece of hardware.

You can find an overview of the work of José A. González here. You can play his game 1987 Rescue in Berlin order from him via email. Have fun!

The A500 Mini as a party guest: 1987 Rescue in Berlin arouses great interest among die-hard Amiga fans.

Reference-www.gamersglobal.de