INTERVIEW
Scott Huggins
Scott
is a professional Software Engineer that brings new life to the Colecovision console
on the side. With two arcade ports and even his own original title released, Scott's
vision is now our vision on the Colecovision!
MT>
Scott,
what do you do in the real world?
SH>
I am a Software Engineer for a Document Outsourcing company. I focus on Front
End (user interface) design.
MT> Don’t you
have anything better to do than program games for aging systems?
SH>
I used to not have anything better to do. As a matter of fact, it was all I ever
thought about. “Can I pull this off?”, or” can I pull that off?”
was constantly going through my mind. I spent about 6 months on a Vectrex homebrew
that got about 90% done….but I ditched it since it turned out to be just
like the existing games on the system. However, that system was a blast to program
for as well.
MT>
Do
you have any hobbies or interests other than classic gaming?
SH>
I play guitar and I like to run.
MT>
Hmmm..
perhaps your next original game will be a guitar racing game.
What
activities pull you away from your knobby ColecoVision controller?
SH>
Nowadays, I have two young children that take most all my time. I still do follow
the homebrew scene closely.
MT>
Your
premiere ColecoVision project was an arcade port of the Space Invaders
“me too” game Astro Invader.
Of
all games to convert, why Astro Invader?
SH>
My
sister and I used to walk down to the Stop N Go convenience store in back in ’81
or ‘82 and play the game…whenever we had quarters. It seemed so obscure
of a game, but I found it to be a lot of fun. I built a mame cabinet several years
ago. Every time I would fire up Astro Invader, I would think back to those
times. I found myself thinking about how it could be translated to the ColecoVision.
It just looked like a ColecoVision game! You know, that system has so many quirky
arcade ports… I mean Pepper II? Huh? Cosmic Avenger? Looping?
Are you for real? That is what totally fascinated me about the ColecoVision back
then. The relative obscurity of those arcade ports. That’s the main reason
why I chose Astro Invader.
MT>
Astro
Invader was originally known as Kamikaze before the Leijac
Corporation (Konami) licensed it to Stern for their debut US release. Did you
ever consider using the original game title?
SH>
Nope. It was pointed out by an AtariAge member that it was Kamikaze. That
member even asked me if I could brand a special version of the game for him as
Kamikaze.
MT>
Astro
Invader is one tough game. Did you ever consider making a friendlier version
for people like me that suck at the game even after over two decades of playing
it?
SH>
That is the part that makes me sad when I think back on Astro Invader.
I over-did the difficulty – mainly in how it ramps up. In the manuals for
all my games, I ask people to email me comments they might have on the games.
I only get comments from people that own Astro Invader. One guy that is
a mega fan of the game and who can get 30k on the “real thing” e-mailed
me about one year ago. He said he carefully dissected the CV version and the difficulty.
He said the “ramp up” was out of control. He’s right. He could
only get 20k - which is better than anyone on Twin Galaxies thus far. He even
pointed out some small differences in game play. That’s the thing…it
may be an obscure arcade game, but it’s got a cult following it seems. You
know, I probably could easily fix the problems addresses thus far. I could even
tighten up some of the collision detected.
MT>
How
do you feel that your Colecovision version of Astro Invader compares
to the only other home version released for the Arcadia 2001 overseas?
SH>
You
know, I think Arcadia’s version isn’t bad at all. It’s not that
faithful to the arcade version, but it’s not bad at all. Probably one of
the best games for that system.
MT>
Can
you beat Brian Miller’s arcade world record of 39,880 on your own home version
of Astro Invader?
SH>
Heavens no. My best on the arcade version is about 21k. My best on the CV version
is about 16k.
MT>
I
donated many a quarter to Spectar in the eighties arcades. Your
ColecoVision port is excellent and an amazingly accurate representation. What
did you learn programming Astro Invader that helped make Spectar
so genuine?
SH>
Thanks,
I really appreciate that. Spectar was a totally different project
than Astro Invader. Really, nothing I learned during Astro
Invader prepared me for Spectar. Spectar was
so much more difficult to program than Astro Invader. Despite liking
the original game a lot, the main motivation was the “vapor-ware” thing
that Coleco did back then. Rip Cord, Spectar, and
maybe some more games were shown with screen shots, etc, in magazines and catalogs,
but were never really made.
MT>
Spectar
is VERY SIMILAR to an earlier game called TARG, also by Exidy. Since
the differences are minor, would you consider altering the Spectar
code and release TARG on the Colecovision?
SH>
That has been suggested before. I liked Targ a lot as well. It could
certainly be done. Targ, imho, is a much more challenging game.
Those Ram Ships are smart! It’s tougher to get rid of them than the ones
in Spectar.
MT>
The
title Spectar is from a blend of two words, “Special”
and “Target.”
Can
you enlighten the readers about the meaning and history of the name?
SH>
You already know more than I do about it! I did not know any of that!
MT>
The
third time’s a charm, and your third outing produced a unique and original
title, Terra Attack.
SH>
I am the most proud of that one. It’s certainly a different feeling, to me
at least, when you program something totally original. It’s more personal.
I feel more connected to it.
MT>
Can
you tell us about the design and development of this game?
SH>
It was just one of those “can I do this?” type of thing. Those falling,
spinning ORBS (the third wave) where we have more than 20 spinning objects on
the screen at once was pretty challenging to pull off. I just started there to
see if I could even pull it off. I got lucky and succeeded. From there, imagination
took over. I love Atlantis (Atari 2600) and Missile Command…
so I tried to get elements of that into it.
MT>
So,
what’s next? Any BIG plans or announcements for 2010?
SH>
Well, in April of 2008, I posted that Joe Kollar and I were working on a game
called Frantic. It was mostly complete, but I got busy with kids,
etc., and have not returned to finish it. It has some flaws that I think are bad
enough to keep it from being released right now. I learned so much from that project.
I hope someday to get back to it and finish it.
