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Matt's Back!
The obvious one first. Where have you been?
I stayed in Wallasey until Jan 95 when I moved to Holland. I was deported in Oct 97 and I'm now back in Wallasey.
Did you really go missing in the Lord Lucan/Shergar sense, or was it more a case of just keeping off the Net for a bit?
I was never missing. I was kept off the net originally by connivance and later by poverty. I now own my 5th modem and this is the first time I have been able to maintain an email account long enough for correspondence. This is thanks to Freeserve and to Telecom for the itemised bill.
Does the amount of speculation and attention about you on the web surprise you?
Yes I am surprised and flattered.
Have you seen Stephen Smith's "Where's Matthew Smith" site? If so, what do you make of it?
Yes I've seen the site. It was very helpful in finding Chris, Stoo, Marc and Steve Wetherill who worked with me. Most of the people who contributed to the site are genuine.
There are many rumours about your activities over the years. What's the truth (if any) behind these?...
1. You worked in a computer store down south
False
2. You worked on a RISC User stall at a computer fair
False
3. You rang "Caeser The Geezer"'s show on Talk Radio when the subject was people who had been famous in the past
False
4. You e-mailed Andy Noble about his PC conversion of Manic Miner
True
5. You've been staying at a commune in the Netherlands and working as a motorbike mechanic
True, but it was pedal bikes
6. You've changed your name by deed poll to "Matthew From-Earth"
Not Deed Poll. I am Matt from Earth though. I thought it would save confusion with other Matthew Smiths. Matt is now no.6 most common boys name in UK. The only other one I can think of immediately was the writer of the BBC cartoon Jamie and his Magic Torch. That wasn't me. I sign things Matt Smith, Matt Smith from Earth or Matt from Earth. When I went to Holland I found that Van der Aarde is a fairly common name.
What's the daftest story you've heard about yourself?
I've heard some daft ones. Everything is exaggerated so much it sounds preposterous until the grain of truth is located. I'm not going to publicise the slanderous stuff which has left me poor all these years.
A lot has been written about the wild times you and your colleagues had while working at Software Projects. What's your side of this? And is the infamous "toga" incident true?
Yes, wild times. We rocked. Yes, I'm afraid I did wear a Toga to several non-roman events. It was in the spirit of John Belushi in Animal House.
How ground-breaking was "The Mega-tree" going to be?
Megatree would have been mighty fine if we could have finished it. Nearly every idea surfaced later in 16-bit games.
Why did production of the game stop?
My partners were too impatient and greedy.
The biggest mystery among Speccy-types is what happened to Attack of the Mutant Zombie Flesh Eating Chickens From Mars. The rumour is that it was finally renamed 'Star Paws' and released on the C64. What exactly is the truth behind the game?
The version on Stephen Smith's site is accurate. Star Paws was the C64 version to be written in parallel. However I was writing a speccy game, and MM & JSW had shown that a C64 can't play a good speccy game. The C64 programmer John Darnell went his own way and finished his version as Star Paws.
What was this game going to be like?
The game was a speccy version of the Warner Bros. Roadrunner cartoon. I started with the credits with all the music and the That's all Folk's and everything. Then we lost the license to the cartoon and I had to adapt what I had. I fell out with Tommy Barton because he had my phone line cut (Modem #2) . I found out later his son had run up a huge bill ringing wank-lines.
Another game of yours I keep hearing about is a real-rules Soccer game. How far did you get on this?
The Footy Game (called 'Footy') was a top down scrolling game like kick-off or sensi. The sprites were slightly bigger and had seperately animated limbs. The animation engine was complete but the AI never got written. The goalkeepers jumped up and down on the ball while all the other players ran in a 5 yd circle around it. It was quite amusing to watch. The physics of the ball were accurately modelled. I abandoned the game while inputting 3d tables for every limb in every position for ball collision and control.
What software (if any) have you written since your days at Software Projects?
I have not had a decent machine for writing software. Everything I've tried to finish has become stuck due to lack of memory or a decent compiler or a working disk drive. When I work in a factory I'm too tired to write and when I quit the factory I usually start a new program. I thought this 486 I have now would last until I publish something but it's struggling now.
Have you got any intention of writing any more games?
Soon, hopefully. If my machine was up to it, I would be putting levels and monsters into Unreal or Quake.
What do you think to the video games market today?
There is too much distance between the producers and the consumers. Most people are afraid to try to program.
What's your view of the emulation scene? Do you object to people distribution your old games on the Net?
I only really care if they are making money. Then I want my share.
Have you seen the PC versions of Manic Miner, Jet Set Willy and Styx?
I've seen Andy Noble's versions of all but Styx. I think they are excellent and he has instinctively captured what I couldn't convey to the C64 programmers. Chris Lancaster (first rejected version) & the equally bad published version.
Why do you think that Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy are still held up as examples of video game excellence today?
They were deceptively simple to play. The colors were bold and steady. There were visible objectives. There was incentive to progress (no level codes except the cheat tho') The tune was jolly.
Have you got any big plans for the future?
See my site
Finally, any final comments about your days as an 8-bit megastar?
I wish I'd been sober in the morning more often. I would not go into business with non-programmers again unless I had 51%.
(c)
Pete Mella |