s
and producers are erased by time anyway. Ask anyone to list his or her favourite Restoration comedies.

On the other hand, I re-discovered a while ago that I had modelled for the death scenes in those Rod Pike adventures. Jon Law digitised me with a security camera and a C64 interface, and added some gory bits with his
Koala pad, while Paul Stoddart wrote the code to integrate the images into Quill. So who knows? Maybe CRL's best known games have memorialised me as
a series of corpses?!

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. Finally, do you have a question you would like to ask me?

What do you think the retro computing scene in general, and on the C64 in particular, will be like in the future? Or is that a big enough question
to devote to an entire issue?

COMMODORE FREE: Well, I think the future looks good. New and younger
people are entering the retro scene, (and) I think the challenge of
designing games that run on 8-bit systems is tempting many programmers. Of course none of us are getting younger, and (also) machines are becoming
harder to repair, so emulation will form an important part of preserving history. Certainly I can see a lot more FPGA type machines appearing. Who knows? Someone may even be able to market one commercially as an upgraded 8-bit machine!


*************************************
INTERVIEW WITH PAUL STODDART
By Commodore Free
*************************************

Q. Please introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi, I'm Paul Stoddart, but when I worked for CRL I was also known as Andy Stoddart or Android Stoddart, LOL

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Q. When did you start at CRL, and how old were you?

Oh, a long long time ago in the dark ages of 1984, so just over 30 years
ago. I was only 19 at the time!

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Q. So you were still holding down school during the day and working at
nights and weekend?

Well, yes. At that time I was studying for a TEC Diploma in Computer Technology at a place call East Ham College of Technology. Today it's
called the Newham College (I believe East Ham Campus). I was aceing the microprocessor module because it was 8085, which was the forerunner of the Z180, and I had already been playing with a ZX81 at home long before the course.

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Q. You started programming on the Spectrum. What Commodore 64 games did
you work on?

The first was Rocky Horror Show, both UK and US versions, plus the C128. I developed a very basic game with Clem called Death or Glory. But it was
not so much the game; more, it was system. Jay Derrett re-used the code
for Traxxion. The change was not scrolling but updating instead. Thus, if
you changed a background module code in memory (each module 8x8 characters)
it updated on the screen. I used the same trick for Mandroid, which was
follow up to Cyborg by Ian Foster. Before-hand I was helping Ian with
coding Cyborg. I also coded the graphic parts for the Dracula etc., which upset the BBFC. Trouble was - during this time I got tied with master
games for tape as well and helping with other coding instead of developing titles.

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Q. Were you involved in converting software to and from the Commodore 64?

Only with RHS, but that was coding from fresh, because Jeff Lee's approach
to background compression was just too time-consuming for the project. I developed an automatic screen compression from the ported backdrops. Good thing I did, because the USA was not happy with the Speccy look. So all
the room backdrops had to be re-drawn. So re-compressed.

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Q. You were a part of the Zen Room. Can you explain this room (and what exactly happened)?

Zen took its name from RHS. I suspect the success of the product help pay
for the space. :)

It was the total development-side spun into a separate building because we
had grown - basically the factory floor. It also gave the team a place to create and play, (to) chill out. Many of the team stayed or even crashed
there when de-bugging a game project. H&S would have kittens today.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. What was the pressure like in those days to hit deadlines? Was hitting
a deadline more important than getting a game created that CRL were more
happy with?

The pressure was quite high because the big store had catalogues. We had
one project that was not in-house but freelance called the Image System.
It was sort of a C64 Photoshop product. The programmer had got into a
right mess, so the in-house had to sort it because WH Smith had a pre-order
for a lot of the product from CRL. But getting it right counts. RHS was a very well-designed game. Cyborg was very complex as well. In that case
Ian Foster was a perfectionist; he wanted the game to play exactly how he
saw it.

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Q. Was there more pressure working on big name or franchise games like
Blade Runner?

Oh yes, the big retailers loved a big title. But that meant strict
delivery times. RHS on the Speccy became very problematic for Jeff Lee.
He was under a lot of pressure to get it done.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. So your work on Rocky Horror - what was this like?

Fairly straight-forward because Jeff Lee had laid down the blueprint. In
fact, we worked in the same room during RHS. Actually, I brought Jeff Lee
into the company. Helped him learn code before he joined. He was a long-standing friend well before my CRL days.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. What games have you worked on, what are you most proud of, and of
course - what games did you work on that make you cringe (and wished you
have never had your name connected with)?

If we talking C64, of course then for me, Mandroid, I'm quite proud of.
Death or Glory showed off the system but was a bad game. RHS with the new graphics (again) I'm proud of.

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Q. So, are you proud of your days at CRL, and given the chance - would you have taken the same path?

Proud is not the right word; it's (more) happy and filled with good
memories of being pioneers and being creative with computers. Yes, at
times I do miss it all.

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Q. When did you leave CRL, and why?

CRL (basically) did not get paid by a key partner, and that caused a money crash within the company, so it failed. I believe it ended in court and
Clem won. But CRL had already been destroyed. If that had not happened,
CRL might be here today and I might still be coding (on say) XBox or Play Station, but who knows? :)

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. What do you do now (apart from answering questions about CRL)?

Well, I stayed in the computer industry after CRL but moved into business computing, working on coding for printer emulator server. It was based on
Z180 so the coding was familiar to me. I then progressed into 68000 coding
and finally into C coding. Now I work in digital printing, producing
bespoke small-order books. Usually reference books or teaching books.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. There is some confusion about the Paul and Andy names. Can you explain
to our readers about this - and why the decision was taken so you had a
virtual name change at CRL?

Well, when I joined CRL there was already a Paul in the company, so Clem
was would ask for the other Paul, but get me instead. So I decided to use
my middle name. Because I coded without break and one time stayed all day
and night they also nicknamed me Android. There was a rumour I did not eat
or drink either.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. When working on a game, what was the process? Were you given a brief
or graphics other?

I only coded game play and effects. The graphics were drawn by a separate person. Sometimes I would code with dummy graphics or draft graphics. Jon Law, who stayed in the industry I believe, did a lot of graphics in the Zen Room for me and the other coders. He did Mandroid stuff, Death or Glory,
and I t

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