Intellivision
Development News

NEW Intellivision homebrew: SPACE PATROL

An exciting, new homebrew game for the Intellivision has been released!  Space Patrol, inspired by the classic game, Moon Patrol, is to debut on the Intellivision as part of a full-production format, which includes cartridge, label, box and instructions!  Left Turn Only Productions, a team of programmers and Intellivision enthusiasts, spent over 7 years creating the game with original level designs, a full soundtrack and packaging that surely makes this homebrew destined to be one of the best Intellivision games ever made!  GameConsoles.com got an exclusive interview with the members of Left Turn Only Productions, as we discussed the team, their backgrounds and what went into making this soon-to-be homebrew classic.

January 12, 2008

GC:         Who does the Left Turn Only production team consist of, how old is everybody and what are 

               their "real" jobs? 

LTO:       The team consist of Joe Zbiciak (32), David Harley (40) and Arnauld Chevallier (32). We are all 

               programmers by trade and Intellivision fans at night. Joe is a DSP architect. David is an HR 

               programmer. Arnauld is a software architect.

GC:         Was everyone Intellivision fans to begin with or was Intellivision selected as the game's 

               platform for a different reason?

LTO:       Joe: First real console we owned, and at the time I got into developing for it, one of the systems with 

               the least amount of background material and home brew support. 

               David: The Intellivision is the first console that I owned. I got into collecting for it in 2001 and found the 

               homebrew games and wanted to help them grow.

               Arnauld: Like Joe and David, the Intellivision was my first console ever. As far as I can remember, I've 

               always been willing to create my own games on it. That's what I eventually did about 20 years later!

               (Stonix being the first released on cart)

GC:         How long has Space Patrol been in development?

LTO:       Joe:  The initial concept for the parallax engine got scribbled down in late 2000 and forgotten until

               spring of 2001.  I wrote up a quick technology demo with two backdrop "scenes" (now visible today on 

               the "Moon" levels) and showed that at Philly Classic 2001.  After that initial flurry of work, it fell to the 

               wayside for a bit, and then got dusted off in the summer of 2002, with a push toward releasing 

               something in 2003.  That didn't quite pan out either and I almost gave up on the game.  I didn't work on 

               it much at all for a couple years. In 2005 I managed to get motivated on it again, expanding the scope 

               somewhat to include more levels and game-play elements that weren't in Moon Patrol--hence the new 

               name, Space Patrol.  That breathed new life into the project.  I brought David on board for his expertise 

               in level design, and starting in 2006 we made a strong push to get it complete.  As the project moved 

               along, I brought Arnauld in to give Space Patrol the music track it deserved. It ended up taking most of 

               2007 though to put the final touches on the game, artwork, manual, overlays and so on. 

GC:         How many units are being produced?

LTO:       200-300

GC:         What is the size (RAM) of the cartridge?

LTO:       16k words

GC:         Was any special hardware needed to make this game (circuit boards, casings, etc.) or did you 

               re-use exising materials? 

LTO:       Existing cart shells are reused. The PCB board was designed by Chad Schell and the coding of the

               chips was created by Joe Z.

GC:         Whose idea was it to make a Moon Patrol game?

LTO:       Joe:  I always lamented that the Intellivision didn't have one of my favorite games, and that the TI-99/4A

               version I grew up with from Atarisoft just didn't cut it.  It was too slow and the sound effects were

               lacking.  Still, I could see a great game trying to emerge from it, and I spent many, many hours playing 

               it. I figured that the programmers of the time figured that it wasn't feasible, so they never even tried.  

               Taking that as a challenge I decided to show that it could be done.  I was able to put together a

               technology demo in the course of a week or two that proved it was possible.  At that point, it became

               clear that I had to do the full game.

GC:         Does the game come complete, with cartridge, box and manual?

LTO:       Space Patrol will be one of the best quality productions since the last Mattel games produced in the

               80's.  The game comes on cart with a high quality box with a built-in cart retention system, beautiful and

               well made overlays, and a color manual.

GC:         Are there any future development plans, and if so, can you tell us what they are?

LTO:       Arnauld is coding his second title and it is expected to be released in 2008. It is based off of Rick

               Dangerous. The prototype already shows that this game will be incredible.