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ScuzzBlog: Diaries October 2021

Entry 24th October 2021: Post 1: Bomb-Uzal - Amiga gaming.


Bomb-Uzal - Amiga gaming.

I could have chosen any Amiga game to discuss today's blog and so
Bomb-Uzal from 1988 shouldn't be seen as reason for my comments
here. The game was just on the top of the pile and so I took the
opportunity to have a play, just to prove my point.

I have stated many times that my gaming interests on computers is
firmly seated in the here and now. I am not a retro gamer as I
spend most of my gaming time either playing MMOs or console. At
the moment I am battling through Shadowlands in Warcraft and on
the Rift playing Lux in League of Legends. When not playing I am
most likely watching eSports on RIOT focussing on the Worlds and
various splits in League of Legends. I tend also to listen and
watch games music videos from the likes of Black Heart.

Computing is about the next best thing and venturing into new and
uncharted territory. Has to be. Computers are and always will be
an adventure and that means setting off into the future.

And to the point. I read a lot of posts on various forums from
folk that claim to be part of the current Amiga community , who
seem to dedicate their computer time to the endless pursuit of
collecting vast amounts of retro games. They appear to pimp out
their Amigas with fancy new cards and Gotek drives and then store
masses of games to play on their big fancy screens.

For me I am at a loss to see what they find so enjoyable from all
these games. From my experience the games were ordinary at best
and hardly capable of sustaining long periods of interest. There
is not one Amiga game that I would choose to play over what I at
the moment currently enjoy on the PC or console. What I find more
of an issue is that these guys are not collecting games for their
visual stimulation and collectability i.e. by purchasing the box
for the artwork and manuals plus disks, but simply to add the title
to their large number of downloads that are obtained free from
various sites on the internet. And so the process is purely a
data based process and therefore could be as easily enjoyed by
using an emulator on a modern PC.

In truth the joy of old computers for me is the whole package and
that means software and hardware plus everything else that would
have accompanied the computer in the day. The fun part being the
experiencing of the computer as originally intended and sink into
the retro past of the era. That I can appreciate but to try and
modernise an old computer so it can simply play games seems such
a pointless waste of time and money.

That is my view. I love the Amiga and I love retro computers.
There isn't a day I'm not fiddling with one and having a hoot.
But I am not under any illusion that this is anything other than
a historical interest firmly set in the early home computer era.
To fully appreciate this I stay true to the period and maintain
the computers in their original clothes. Yesterday was just that
and it is wonderful to remember, but to suggest it can sustain a
high level of entertainment time through the use of older games
today is just not going to cut it. I fear that when the penny 
drops for many of these guys they are going to lose interest in 
the Amiga fast. Hopefully not to the computers detriment.

Anyhoo I played Bomb-Uzal which was fun for about five minutes.
The game involves the use of explosive devices to clear tiles
without killing yourself. As soon as I understood what the game
was about I was done with it and then treated myself to a bit of
Elvira and even Silent Service. Soon though I was back up here
on the PC and back to Shadowlands... where I can truly lose myself.

Bobm-Uzal: Game Design RATT+BISH, Grafix RATT Program by Wyvern
SFX and Music by Wyvern. Thanks to EAS "Ultimate Sound Tracker"

Have fun. But please don't neglect the Amiga. It's not her fault.

Most modern Amiga gamers have probably never seen the original
box artwork, guide and or disk to this game. For them the only
thing they own is the file 'BOMBUZEL.ADF'. Sad. I once suggested
to a Gotek gamer that he might consider buying a game as he was
unable to get an ADF working on his computer. The reply simply
stated he wasn't prepared to waste money on a crappy old game.
Sadly I don't think endless free lunches are going to feed a
healthy Amiga diet with that kind of attitude.

Bomb-Uzal - Amiga gaming.


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Last updated 24th October 2021

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