Lawsuits & Backstabbing - The Story of R-Type on Commodore 64

Hey whatsup guys OSG here with a new video for the New year and this time it’s the C64 R-Type story.
We all know that R-Type on the C64 is a great game but what many of you wont know is the controversy that surrounded the game.
The game that we all now know as R-Type by the great Manfred Trenz was not the game we were originally going to get.
References and Research in this video was gained from websites
www.gamesthatwerent.com/
www.lemon64.com/
en.wikipedia.org/
Please like and subscribe if you like my stuff or even support me on Patreon if you really want to support my work

[@chrishopkins209]

R-Type V1 Level 1 was made available on a C+VG cover tape. The demo stopped when you got to the boss

[@zyxyuv1650]

Imagine if game developers could create games in 5 weeks today... Let alone 5 months. On 8-bit, it was really about the individual coder's skills and secret knowledge being distilled down into a perfect little piece of code. It was not about a team of 3D modelers working for a year to create a whole suite of highly realistic assets. Things will never be the same.

[@eskey691]

This game killed some many hours of my youth, still play it to this day from time to time. Top vid man an happy new year :)

[@oldstylegaming]

Happy New Year to you too mate :-(

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

I love C64 music, but one thing that I find distracting is when a game has ONLY a music soundtrack playing in the background (no game sound effects of any kind) that stays the same no matter what is happening on screen. Some games are able to mix the two very successfully.

[@shawnferguson5121]

Music to sanxion my fave

[@ctbullett300]

I really don't think this is any better the the R-Type the C64 got, the music for sure is not better. A high profile port such as R-Type should not have been given to a novice coder (sound like cost cutting) The circular firing ring really doesn't detract from the level, and given what a juddery mess it was on the speccy and amstrad they hardly gained from having it. I think instead of wondering what these guys could do with more time, think what Trenz could have done with that time. Great video OSG, this story has always intrigued me.

[@oldstylegaming]

I think if they had worked together though it could have been great...as in more arcade perfect

[@reagandow850]

I see anything on R-Type, I click! ;) This is quite interesting. Thanks for the research. Edit: The original/arranged soundtrack is AWESOME.

[@oldstylegaming]

Thanks for watching :-)...i enjoyed doing this as i learnt a few things too about one of my favourite games

[@mgodoy-br]

So do I! Time for an internal joke: my dream is changing the subscription of Brazil's flag (because I'm brazilian) to "Blast off and Strike the Evil Bydo Empire!!" It would be awesome!

[@reagandow850]

old style gaming - just had to watch this again because the music is just so awesome on this unreleased version. I just spent 3 hours watching just about every one of your videos that I hadn’t already watched. Great stuff my friend. Btw, why aren’t you still monetized? I heard you mention in an old video that they had monetized you again but I’m not seeing any ads?? What happened? KZbin is really, REALLY terrible to their creators and I’m tired of it.

[@GaugePlays1980]

As usual, great content, makes me miss my old c128. Love the channel. Keep up the great work!

[@oldstylegaming]

Thanks man :-) and thanks for continuing to watch

[@murrayreid2748]

I remember only finding out about this via C64 Games that Weren't a while back & thought it looked okay...now seeing it in action it still only seems okay! Like little touches like the jewel pickups... but when I learned Manfred & co. only did their one in 7 weeks I always regarded it a shame they didn't have longer! Could only imagine what the C64 one had been like if they'd done it from the start!

[@oldstylegaming]

Yeah it would have been amazing

[@amerigocosta7452]

The ebook by Bob Pape is a fantastic read about the making of the microcomputer versions of this game. It shows how messy game development in the UK was at the time, but they somehow got the job done.

[@oldstylegaming]

Yeah I downloaded it while researching this. Haven't read it all yet just bits

[@nytrex2001]

I just finished reading it today, which brought me to finding out about the unreleased c64 version. The free pdf about the story of the R-Type development on the spectrum (and c64) is found at www.bizzley.com/

[@Novabug]

That was a very enjoyable vid. As a lover of r type myself, see the original version as it was is cool. Read about the dev of the game on the speccy, cpc and c64 a while back, you really get down to the points here. Nice one osg

[@oldstylegaming]

It's really hard to fill out the time...when I wrote this stuff I thought it would fill like 20 mins lol....more like 3 mins...maybe I need to talk slower

[@Sinisteve]

Interesting Stuff Paul, I like these sort of vids

[@oldstylegaming]

Well you will love my next one then...an exclusive... Chaos Engine on the C64... In the making...but also a bit of a story and some controversary surrounding it

[@kommissar.murphy]

I like to consider katakis as a prequel to turrican.

[@mp3ste1]

great game had many an hour on this, i first played R type at alton towers when it had only just come onto the scene , it was amazing to see and play. original coder was colour blind hahaha that made me laugh

[@virtuafighter3]

Very good video. Most informative.

[@skijumpnose]

Not only getting to see an excellent game but learning about it too, Cheers!

[@oldstylegaming]

thanks for watching mate...ive changed my editing software as i was having major problems ...hope this was ok as i tried a few new things in it

[@mgodoy-br]

One of the most remarkable things about Internet is being capable of reach the part of your own history in another point of view. I just heard about Commodore 64, Amstad, Turbo Grafx 16 and other devices over the magazines, because such devices never had been released by here. It's awesome seeing you European guys giving your relates about version of the game that made my own history. Other day I was reading about the original idea of Will Harvey, the programmer responsible for The Immortal. The article was quite old, but not less interesting. The guy intended to do the first multiplayer online in that time! He has turned out a musician after then. Predictable, once the Immortal's sound was outstanding!

[@amerigocosta7452]

Where are you from? It's difficult to imagine a country where the C64 was not released.

[@mgodoy-br]

@@amerigocosta7452 I'm from Brazil. We took a long time to see good and affortable computers in 80's. These devices are legends for me. Atari 2600 was the first huge gaming machine, but the stuff really burst for here with Master System.

[@oldstylegaming]

@@mgodoy-br is mastersystem still big over there? Would you like to see more masterststem stuff on my channel?

[@mgodoy-br]

@@oldstylegaming Not too much. Nowadays SMS is something nostalgic for guys like us that has grown with it. However, there still new models have been sold (with questionable quality, by the way). SMS always is a good thing, but what sounds exottic and calls attention to me are those machines that I only heard about, like PC Engine, Commodore 64 and specially on those Sharp computer (I forgot the name) that you normally cover in your channel. I love when you compare versions with Arcade, for instance.

[@ncf1]

Superb video, well done!

[@oldstylegaming]

Thanks mate :-)

[@robchissy]

the best thing i can say about the unfinished version it's not finished

[@oldstylegaming]

But if it was I think it would have been good

[@robchissy]

@@oldstylegaming as you have said, the only thing wrong with the one that was released was the none moving circle enemy, i can live with that, it was a great game

[@robchissy]

@Gael Reece first of all, what has that got to do with the game, second of all i watch movies on m4ufree

[@Retro2futuregaming]

Interesting story, cheers mate. 🍺

[@Lucasrainford]

I enjoyed that m8, a bit of retro gaming history I wasn't aware of. Great vid and a nice departure from your usual content, you got any more of these type of vids planned?

[@oldstylegaming]

yeah im gonna do that Chaos Engine one this week i think mate...i also used a new editor on this one...that AVS is totally useless on win10

[@Lucasrainford]

@@oldstylegaming Yeah when I saw those spinning vid panels I thought How the feck as he done that on AVS!? looks good, what ya using now?

[@oldstylegaming]

ive inboxed ya

[@annapocalypsezero4719]

Typical big company behaviour in action and we think that kind of thing is new to the modern age lol. Always did love the R type series but my first home exposure to it being the broken CPC one was a big let down. This one looks great though and a cool little informative vid about it.

[@matze75]

one of the best games on the C64

[@Midwinter2]

Great video.

[@pixelslappa7948]

At 4.40 into video I noticed you didn't go for gap at top of screen these where hidden spaces not sure if that was one but look I've not got this to check sorry:-(

[@LogrusUK]

There are clearly some superior aspects to v1. Explosions and the orb for one. Barry’s music is ... ok. 🤣 And a flicker of level 3?!!!?

[@oldstylegaming]

yeah apparently there is more levels of the game but i cant find it anywhere... i think Barry's music needs some work but its nearly there..slows down quite a bit in parts though

[@marcinwitkowski6989]

Unrealesed version seems to be too slow comparing to the R-Type we know from arcade and released C64 version.

[@mattsmedley.onehandedgamin9029]

My own memories of R-Type from this period were on the 8-bit Master System. Brilliant version, even though I had various machines at that time speccy /C64 etc,

[@be236]

Wow, I used to play this game on the big arcade machine.. it was so hard to get to the to fight the big boss monster..I think I won it once or twice out of several times playing it.. I wonder if I have this game on disk for my Commodore 64 somewhere in storage. hmm..

[@drkamilz]

Not bad, not bad.

[@pixelslappa7948]

Don't want to be controversial but r type on the master system was the best in my opinion:-)

[@oldstylegaming]

yeah the master system version was great

[@krissymarklewis1793]

a colourblind graphics coder...ffs!

[@krissymarklewis1793]

I always found the turning wheel was a pain in the arse on all 8 bit versions due to projectile flicker...especially on the master system.

[@mal-avcisi9783]

which language are you talking? could you do this video in english please ?

[@oldstylegaming]

Hahahaha... your so funny.... you do know that english isnt just like one accent dont you.... freak

[@Retro_B8]

There’s a button for people who struggle to understand English, it’s called captions 🤦🏼‍♂️