Stuart's Panoramic World 4 - Upminster Railway Station

Another 360 panoramic photo - Upminster Railway Station, a National Rail interchange, linking c2c with the London Underground (District Line), and Greater Anglia services to Romford.

The station was originally opened in 1885 as part of the London, Tilbury and Southend line.

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Location : Upminster Railway Station - Essex, UK Date : 19th February l 2011 Camera : Fujifilm S6000FD Notes : Station used by c2c and tne London Underground Download/Enlarge : Click here to enlarge

 

Games that remind me of my childhood Number 18 : Formula One Grand Prix (Commodore Amiga)

If I can blame my below average GCSE results on someone (other than myself), then it would have to be Geoff Crammond.  Why I hear you ask?  Because he made the amazing Formula One Grand Prix on the Commodore Amiga!

For my first Amiga game that reminds me of my childhood, I bring you this wonderful title, from the creator of some of my favourite Commodore 64 games (namely, The Sentinel, and Stunt Car Racer).

Riding at the back of the pack with Stuart Wilson!

 

During study leave at school, I spent countless hours playing this with my friend Philip when I should have been revising for my exams.  It was without a doubt one of the best, and most realistic racing games on the Amiga, featuring detailed and very fast polygon graphics.  In fact, the game ran amazingly fast on a stock A500, although later on I was lucky enough to get a GVP A530 Turbo accelerator, turning my Amiga 500 from 7mhz into 40mhz.  This game ran super fast! 

 

Customise your racers and teams.

 

Featuring the sixteen grand prix tracks from the 1991 Grand Prix season, the game was not officially affiliated with the FiA which means that although the car liveries and driver helmets were accurate, none of the drivers were real people and were all fictional.  This was great though because the game gave you the option of naming the drivers and teams yourself.  We had great fun naming the racers after people at school, or famous celebrities.

Each track has an excellent image which you can view and plan your race

Along with practice mode, qualifying and single races, players could also take part in a full season.  The game did allow for more than one player using a unique system that allowed each player to play on their own before the computer took over the car, thus allowing the next person to take control of their car.  A novel idea, but very annoying if your car crashed or span out of control when under control from the computer!

Spinning out of control

F1GP (as it was known) also had to ability to play the game from different camera angles – a feature not seen in many racing games on the Amiga.  Interior and external views were available, and trackside cameras were positioned around the track so that replays could be viewed from almost any angle.  All great stuff.

 

About to overtake.

 

The game was simple to get in to thanks to some great features including “brake assistance”, “steering help”, “damage on/off” and “throttle assistance”.  These could be enabled or disabled using the function keys.  Some of these made the game too easy, but at least the option was there to turn them off for a much tougher experience.

 

View from behind - note the white 'guide' lines on the road.  These could be turned off.

 

I love this game.  I’m not really that interested in Formula One racing, but this game was fantastic.  Geoff Crammond made several sequels after this, and although graphically they are far superior, the original was and always will be the best. 

 

External view

 

AND, it was always fun to race round the track the wrong way, smashing in to the computer controlled cars.  Once they had all been smashed and taken out of the race, I could then turn around and finish the race, knowing I would win because I was the only car on the track!

 

The famous Monaco track, in all its polygonal beauty.

 

The box

The box

 

Games that remind me of my childhood Number 17 : Manic Miner (Commodore 64)

Working in a school has its benefits - namely an increased chance of having a "snow day" after a small shower of the white stuff.  This has meant that I have had a day off work, which has given me plenty of time to play some retro games whilst the children are out in the back garden, throwing snowballs at Mum...

 

Anyway, one game I have been playing today is a classic that I am sure you all know.

 

Ask anyone my age to name the first level of this game, and I'm sure the majority will immediately answer "Central Cavern"!

 

 

I suspect that anyone who had an 8-bit computer in the 1980's probably had (or heard of) Manic Miner.  Released in 1983 and originally programmed by the very talented Matthew Smith, it was the first game to feature Miner Willy.  Willy of course would re-appear in several sequels, namely the Jet Set Willy series of games.

 

The game is your simple platform affair.  You control Miner Willy, and must negotiate each of the twenty caverns, collecting all of the flashing objects before Willy's oxygen runs out.  Once all objects have been collected, a flashing portal appears which then allows Willy to move on to the next level.

 

Numerous enemies stand in your way, namely Poisonous Pansies, Spiders, Slime and Manic Mining Robots!  Willy can also die if he falls too far, meaning that many jumps need to be done with perfect precision.

 

Many afternoons after school were spent playing this gem of a game, and it's still great to play today, although I still find some of the later levels near impossible!

The cover

Instructions

 

The tape

 

The map (Click to enlarge)

 

Stuart's Panoramic World 3 - Broadway Tower

Another 360 panoramic photo - this time, it's Broadway Tower, a folly not too far from where I live.  It was quite a miserable day, but I was able to take some pleasant pictures of this fascinating building.  I must return in the spring/summer.

Use your mouse (or cursor keys) to look.  Your mouse wheel allows you to zoom in and out.

Location : Broadway Tower Date : Sunday 13th January 2013 Camera : Fujifilm HS30 EXR Notes : A dull, cold January day. Download/Enlarge : Click here to enlarge

 

 

 

 

Games that remind me of my childhood Number 16 : Video Meanies (Commodore Plus 4)

I was going to post something about this mornings The Mirror's ridiculous article about computer games increasing the risk of cancer in children, but instead of just angering myself even more about such utter nonsense I am going to post my next "Games that remind me of my childhood".

 

Behold...   Video Meanies for the Commodore 16 and Plus 4

 

Mastertronic games were always hit or miss.  For £1.99 it could either be a turd of a game which you would never play again, or a gem which would keep you entertained for many hours.  Fortunately Video Meanies falls under the former.

The game is yet another classic by Tony Kelly (Squirm, Big Mac) and is in my opinion another fine example of a Commodore 16/Plus 4 game being better than its Commodore 64 counterpart.

Getting to the video on this screen means letting out four meanies.  Not as easy as it looks

Released 27 years ago, the game has you control a robot and you must negotiate 24 rooms of the castle, turning off all the videos whilst avoiding the Meanies that populate each room.  At least, that's what the instructions say.  They don't make games with stories like that anymore!

Avoid the laser beams

Fortunately you can shoot the Meanies, but they re-appear after a few seconds.  Invisible barriers, laser beams and deadly white walls which kill you when you touch them are just some of the dangers within the castle.  Also, you must locate keys which unlock doors, allowing you to explore even further.

As you turn the videos off, a jigsaw puzzle is revealed at the top of the screen. Once you have turned off the videos and collected all of the puzzle pieces, the game is over.

You need to find a key to open the door

One of the things that stood out about this game for me was its sound effects.  The TED chip on the Plus 4 was inferior to the C64's SID chip, but the sounds in this game are amazing.  Even the simple one-voice tune on the start screen is a jolly little ditty which I still hum even to this day!

Interesting fact is that the game was apparently going to be called Video Nasty, as shown by the early screenshots on the back cover of the game inlay.  I guess they never updated them when the game was finally published.

Cover

 

Instructions, complete with cheats hand-written by my Dad!

The tape.

The game map - Click to enlarge

Gosh, I really love this game!

Stuart's Panoramic World 2 - London, Regents Park Underground Station

Another 3D panorama for you to explore.  This time, Regents Park station on the London Underground!
 

Use your mouse (or cursor keys) to look.  Your mouse wheel allows you to zoom in and out.

Location : London - Regents Park Underground Station Date : 28th April 2011 Camera : Fujifilm S6000FD Notes : Typical station on the London Underground Network Download/Enlarge : Click here to enlarge