"Salamander was the first full game I completed. Three more experienced programmers refused the contract, saying it was too complicated for the C64, but I simply didn't know any better. For research, I was given £20 in ten-pence pieces and told there was a Salamander machine in the cafe opposite Kings Cross Station. I spent the lot and wrote reams of notes, getting funny looks from the owners and patrons alike. I then spent a happy but tiring week with pen, paper and a C64 reference manual, optimising around 40 lines of assembler code to be fast enough to draw all those sprites." -- Pete Baron, programmer [Salamander/Life Force - C64]
Wow ! thanks for sharing that :) I bought this game when it came out and remember being blown away.. While watching this video I was in awe by how much a programmer could fit in just 64 Kb...insane...today I bought STALKER2 for the PC...144 Gb download !!! Do you have a website...am intrigued about those 40 lines of code...even an outline would be interesting. Thanks again for creating a masterpiece !
@@CommonSense-hy2sn I'd be interested in a faster more difficult game. But put them side by side and you can clearly see the C64 looks worse. Probably one of the better looking ones on the system though.
@@doctorx0079 Having graphics that doesn't flicker all the time makes the C64 version inherently better looking. NES might be higher resolution perhaps, but on the C64 you can actually see the graphics when shooting with all option turrets. I think that Salamander looks cool for C64 standards the time, later shmups like r-type and Enforcer started to include dual layer scrolling. th-cam.com/video/JIaabMWupmQ/w-d-xo.html
@@CommonSense-hy2sn Okay, you like the C64 version more because you think there's less flicker even though the resolution is lower. Fine. Turrican II looks cool.
Those long lazer beams and expanding rings, and that sea of solar flares ... nobody had seen anything like it before. And then they went and made it vertical as well as horizontal. It was a mindblow. Only flaw was slightly boring enemy explosions ... which is more important than many realize ...
@@lilyflower6265 Not really, as I recall. On the c64 things tended to just run as they ran. Either it was within the confines of what you could do with it or it wasn't. The added memory of the c128 never seemed to make much of a difference to playback for example. I can't remember now, but possibly this particular game might have done some loading from disc during gameplay and if so that may have caused some slight instability. I played this off a casette station, with the original tape, where you had to go back reload the entire game, every time you died. THAT was cumbersome.
@@lilyflower6265 Maybe some of the late 80s games got big enough that when the screen filled with enemies and missiles and smart bombs and laser beams they would slow down some but honestly I only vaguely remember maybe some of the most advanced shootemups like this one doing it. But did you play it on an actual c64 or a simulation?
@@lilyflower6265 Charming is probably more like it. But I enjoy it too. I want to get a sound SID running for my home studio. I did make a game with a friend of mine back then for the c64. We were probably 75% done when the amiga hit the market and the market for c64 games just died. Shame - graphics were on par with some of the best stuff out there. I feel I made the best looking human skull for the c64 ever for the BG graphics. 8*8 character block as I recall. xD But it was not to be. Data was sadly lost along the way, it would have been fun to finish it. But I was the music/graphics guy and he did the programming so I have no idea where he is today. I know he was in the games business last I saw him, and I did make manuscripts for a number of PC games in development myself for a while, but the last company I worked for crashed 80% in when Microsoft cancelled all real time strategy games in development more or less over night - and I had to run for the hills to save myself like everybody else who only got paid in part ...
Awesome game. A clear precursor to all scrolling shootemup games that came after. Hard as nails - this is the very first game I ragequit to. At age 7 I became so frustrated from dying so many times I destroyed the 5 1/4" floppy it was on and immediately regretted it, then didn't play it again for 25 years. Thanks for the video!
I'm always really impressed by this conversion, There was an interesting interview with the creators in a recent Retrogamer mag about memory constraints and what they actually managed to cram in! Nice channel BTW, got here from Lemon64 ;)
Yeah, I can't believe how well they pulled this off in this version. Peter Baron did an amazing job coding this and Bob Stevenson was probably the best graphic artist for the C64.
Christ! This takes me back! IIRC, after completing level 4, the C64 version dumps you back to level 1 to play through again. I forget how many 'laps' I managed.
@@BitcoinmeetupsOrg123 Konami didn't really have anything to do with this version outside of licensing it. It was coded by Peter Baron, who as far as I can tell was a freelance coder at the time. Definitely one of the best arcade conversions to the C64, though it's a shame about the missing levels and the multi-load (which was especially bad on the tape version).
Seems slightly more difficult than the NES version. Generally a quote faithful port of the arcade original. Just a shame about the missing stages, but still a fun game.
Tough game but a fantastic game. Looks good, sound good, plays great! Never had the pleasure to play it at the arcades but this C64 version just seemed top notch. I was very impressed back in the day.
I was actually more bothered by the fact that the C64 version of this game was missing 2 levels (If I were thinking in terms for Lifeforce/arcade, it was missing the liver and lung zone)
@@averageradiantreplays7702 I assume the developers ran out of time. The fourth level is also a little less polished than the other three. It's an unbelievably good port though, despite being somewhat abridged.
Why some c64, amiga, and other retro PC ported game bgm was arranged over(tim follin, Rob hubbard, etc.) or strange? dislike original bgm? "c64 arranged sound FM" and "original music sound SID" in niconico.
Given that the developers only had around 40K of RAM available to them, we were lucky we got this much. A lot of C64 titles only played music or sound effects.
@@takearushfan I'll have to check that one out at some point (specifically the Famicom version)! The PC Engine version is nice too, though the game has been rebalanced so stage 3 is lot harder now. 😆
Oh no, I'd take the arcade music over this any day. I mean, the music in this version is fine, but I think the arcade renditions are much better and Poison of Snake (the boss theme) being missing is big loss. The PC Engine version has really nice music, too.
![Gar-Type - Full Playthrough [Monday Mode] + Secret Ending](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-p8oQwQZ4hU/mqdefault.jpg)
![Gar-Type - Full Playthrough [Monday Mode] + Secret Ending](/img/tr.png)
"Salamander was the first full game
I completed. Three more experienced
programmers refused the contract,
saying it was too complicated for the
C64, but I simply didn't know any
better. For research, I was given £20
in ten-pence pieces and told there
was a Salamander machine in the cafe
opposite Kings Cross Station. I spent the
lot and wrote reams of notes, getting
funny looks from the owners and
patrons alike. I then spent a happy but
tiring week with pen, paper and a C64
reference manual, optimising around
40 lines of assembler code to be fast
enough to draw all those sprites."
-- Pete Baron, programmer [Salamander/Life Force - C64]
Wow ! thanks for sharing that :) I bought this game when it came out and remember being blown away.. While watching this video I was in awe by how much a programmer could fit in just 64 Kb...insane...today I bought STALKER2 for the PC...144 Gb download !!! Do you have a website...am intrigued about those 40 lines of code...even an outline would be interesting. Thanks again for creating a masterpiece !
Wow, that's a technically incredible rendition of Salamander for the C64.
Inferior to NES version. Only 4 levels and graphics aren't as good. Still pretty good though.
@@doctorx0079 C64 has better graphics, no sprite flicker.
Pacing is also faster and you can have 3 option turrets, closer to the arcade game.
@@CommonSense-hy2sn I'd be interested in a faster more difficult game. But put them side by side and you can clearly see the C64 looks worse. Probably one of the better looking ones on the system though.
@@doctorx0079 Having graphics that doesn't flicker all the time makes the C64 version inherently better looking.
NES might be higher resolution perhaps, but on the C64 you can actually see the graphics when shooting with all option turrets.
I think that Salamander looks cool for C64 standards the time, later shmups like r-type and Enforcer started to include dual layer scrolling.
th-cam.com/video/JIaabMWupmQ/w-d-xo.html
@@CommonSense-hy2sn Okay, you like the C64 version more because you think there's less flicker even though the resolution is lower. Fine. Turrican II looks cool.
Those long lazer beams and expanding rings, and that sea of solar flares ... nobody had seen anything like it before. And then they went and made it vertical as well as horizontal. It was a mindblow. Only flaw was slightly boring enemy explosions ... which is more important than many realize ...
@@lilyflower6265 Not really, as I recall. On the c64 things tended to just run as they ran. Either it was within the confines of what you could do with it or it wasn't. The added memory of the c128 never seemed to make much of a difference to playback for example. I can't remember now, but possibly this particular game might have done some loading from disc during gameplay and if so that may have caused some slight instability. I played this off a casette station, with the original tape, where you had to go back reload the entire game, every time you died. THAT was cumbersome.
@@lilyflower6265 Maybe some of the late 80s games got big enough that when the screen filled with enemies and missiles and smart bombs and laser beams they would slow down some but honestly I only vaguely remember maybe some of the most advanced shootemups like this one doing it. But did you play it on an actual c64 or a simulation?
@@lilyflower6265 Ok - well maybe my memory is a bit sketchy on hat score. Glorifying the unit xD
@@lilyflower6265 Charming is probably more like it. But I enjoy it too. I want to get a sound SID running for my home studio. I did make a game with a friend of mine back then for the c64. We were probably 75% done when the amiga hit the market and the market for c64 games just died. Shame - graphics were on par with some of the best stuff out there. I feel I made the best looking human skull for the c64 ever for the BG graphics. 8*8 character block as I recall. xD But it was not to be. Data was sadly lost along the way, it would have been fun to finish it. But I was the music/graphics guy and he did the programming so I have no idea where he is today. I know he was in the games business last I saw him, and I did make manuscripts for a number of PC games in development myself for a while, but the last company I worked for crashed 80% in when Microsoft cancelled all real time strategy games in development more or less over night - and I had to run for the hills to save myself like everybody else who only got paid in part ...
Awesome game. A clear precursor to all scrolling shootemup games that came after. Hard as nails - this is the very first game I ragequit to. At age 7 I became so frustrated from dying so many times I destroyed the 5 1/4" floppy it was on and immediately regretted it, then didn't play it again for 25 years. Thanks for the video!
I'm always really impressed by this conversion, There was an interesting interview with the creators in a recent Retrogamer mag about memory constraints and what they actually managed to cram in! Nice channel BTW, got here from Lemon64 ;)
Yep, technically impressive game - was impressed by it. Thanks for checking out my channel too - plenty of C64 videos to watch! :)
One hell of a conversion this, very well programmed using a combination of hardware and software sprites.
the fire effect is a work of art, doesnt age
Yeah, I can't believe how well they pulled this off in this version. Peter Baron did an amazing job coding this and Bob Stevenson was probably the best graphic artist for the C64.
What a sad flying brain. I felt sad for it. It was a sitting duck.
It's not his fault, the system was running at 2 fps. It's practically impossible to miss anything at that speed.
Christ! This takes me back! IIRC, after completing level 4, the C64 version dumps you back to level 1 to play through again. I forget how many 'laps' I managed.
No, there's an ending screen, a game over screen and then the high score screen, at least in the version I played.
Back in the day I remember thinking that the fire effect on level 3 was so amazing.
That's because it was!
One of the best shooters for the system!
One of my favourites, along with Armalyte, X-Out and Retrograde.
Amazing conversion on 8 bit hardware 30 years ago.
i would say one of the best conversions for the c64 by far
Looks pretty smooth to me. Konami assembly programmers know what they're doing.
@@BitcoinmeetupsOrg123 iv just played it now 30 odd years after I first played it and it's a fine fine game.
@@BitcoinmeetupsOrg123 Konami didn't really have anything to do with this version outside of licensing it. It was coded by Peter Baron, who as far as I can tell was a freelance coder at the time. Definitely one of the best arcade conversions to the C64, though it's a shame about the missing levels and the multi-load (which was especially bad on the tape version).
Played this at camp Beaumont Wimbledon London way back in 1988!
Brilliant sound and graphics
holy fudge.. this looks amazing on the c64..
Seems slightly more difficult than the NES version. Generally a quote faithful port of the arcade original. Just a shame about the missing stages, but still a fun game.
Tough game but a fantastic game. Looks good, sound good, plays great!
Never had the pleasure to play it at the arcades but this C64 version just seemed top notch. I was very impressed back in the day.
The original arcade was the game that more than any other got me into video games.
I was actually more bothered by the fact that the C64 version of this game was missing 2 levels (If I were thinking in terms for Lifeforce/arcade, it was missing the liver and lung zone)
Yes is missing 2 levels, but I guess is OK considering how the Hardware actually is.
Liver and lung? I guess this version is a heavy smoker/drinker.
@@averageradiantreplays7702 I assume the developers ran out of time. The fourth level is also a little less polished than the other three. It's an unbelievably good port though, despite being somewhat abridged.
Why some c64, amiga, and other retro PC ported game bgm was arranged over(tim follin, Rob hubbard, etc.) or strange? dislike original bgm?
"c64 arranged sound FM" and "original music sound SID" in niconico.
ボス戦のBGMが無い😫
I noticed that too. It's awesome music too. At least the arcade version is.
Given that the developers only had around 40K of RAM available to them, we were lucky we got this much. A lot of C64 titles only played music or sound effects.
@@sjake8308 It was better than the NES one, imho
@@takearushfan I'll have to check that one out at some point (specifically the Famicom version)! The PC Engine version is nice too, though the game has been rebalanced so stage 3 is lot harder now. 😆
@@sjake8308 I had no clue it was on the PC Engine!
3 options only.....but still great!
That could be to avoid slowdown or such, Options on Gradius are by far the primary object causing slowdown on ANY version
@@averageradiantreplays7702 I think it has more to do with sprite limits, but I'll leave that for somebody more technically minded than me. 😆
0:04:
Always thought the SID chip rendition of this soundtrack was the best of any other port,
Even the original👍🏻
the cid version is nice, in my opinion the msx music is a bit better
@@kiwibro6454 The C64 Salamander sound is cleaner than MSX version. The C64 music version could be much better but the coders didn´t work well.
Oh no, I'd take the arcade music over this any day. I mean, the music in this version is fine, but I think the arcade renditions are much better and Poison of Snake (the boss theme) being missing is big loss. The PC Engine version has really nice music, too.
Nah. As much as I like SID, MSX and PCE renditions are much better.
The amstrad cpc is way more intresting
Spectrum version was better. At least it had more than four levels.
The Spectrum version also only had four levels and was worse than the C64 version in every respect. Apart from that, everything you said is correct. 😆
Awful music🤢
I don't quite know what you were expecting. For the hardware, these are decent renditions of the original arcade music.
I dont like this version.