Arrived today... My copy of Shadow over Hawksmill by Psytronik one of this years releases and winding the clock back to 1986 a copy of Andrew Braybrook’s underrated game Alleykat. So that’s this weekend sorted.
That is the side of the C64 that I still love, a side that isn't anywhere near the same on the Atari, new releases constantly. Not only new but superbly packaged and still pushing the machine. We have that on the Atari but in a much more sedate form and of course the old issue on the Atari is digital downloads being frowned upon and yet they WORK on the C64, I have access to all the pirate stuff but at 2.99 or 4.99 I buy the digital download. As for Alleykat, love it, never was stunningly good at it but I won races and loved the whole premise of it, even liked the extended 128 version while I had a 128. That looks like a good old weekend to me. Sadly I'm still feeling a bit rough and have serious neighbour issues driving me insane so I'm just not playing anything at the moment, when I try I get stressed and my neck just locks in at a hellish painful way and I just have to stop. Not fun but I sit here with my Snes on one side, a US StarFox cart, a Japanese Pilotwings, an atari and my beloved C64 with the wonderful 1541 Ultimate + and I want to play them, just wish I could summon up some will. The neighbour from hell and her bastard kids are just smashing the crap out of the place with a wood floor above us. Just feel like sticking some C4 on the ceiling If there's a Skype or whatever meet this weekend I'm up for it even though I'm rough and you guys will almost certainly hear the arseholes upstairs during it. I wonder if I can get Boris Johnson to spit through their door!
Sorry to hear you’re not having a great time with your problem neighbour and health problems. Problem neighbours can really make life difficult, I wish there was something more I couldn’t do for you. Is there anything else apart from C4 you need? I do like the C64 getting regular new releases and the games are in the main as good, if not better than some of the commercial stuff released back then. Unless you are buying a cartridge the money asked is not a lot. The games released on itch.io only ask for nominal fees and even then some are optional. I didn’t know that it was frowned on in Atari circles but the C64 seems to show it’s a workable ecosystem. I know the Atari scene is a bit smaller these days but if something original was released I would buy a digital or physical release. The games released by Psytronik are always nicely packaged and you can choose the packaging level you are willing to pay for and you get a download link for the digital file as well when your order is processed. I have been playing Hawksmill for a while using my pi1541 but I do like to have real disks for my collection. Alleykat was a tricky one, coming after Uridium it was a bit of a let down in some people’s eyes but I think the gameplay is better in the long term if you persevere. It’s the same as his later release “Morpheus” the game wasn’t a pick up and play type. You had to put some time into it.
Diddy Kong Racing arrived yesterday as well so the N64 is getting dusted off AND DOOM64 was released on the Nintendo Switch as well so that is waiting for me too.
Ha ha, sounds like you are having a retro ball there, some good old titles there, not got a real N64 anymore, but I did see a 'dev' lol Game Doctor up on Ebay for the N64 which made me laugh a little. Super Mario 64 is still gaming gold for me, how they got so much out of that machine with that stuns me. Got a switch here, just treated my daughter with Animal Crossing New Horizons, she's just loves those games and its a treat for her hard work and getting offers for uni places. I promised here before most of our spare money ran out so kept my word. Must admit when I do play Zelda and Odyssey get a solid play, wonderful games and so full of creativity. As for digital downloads on the Atari, sadly Peter Meyer of Video61 went bonkers at people when asked about digital downloads, started calling everyone pirates, real loon, sadly Lance the owner listens to him and also refuses to do digital downloads "at the moment", that sort of attitude stuck. Such a shame as its a good revenue stream and there will always be people who prefer real carts etc so it would not affect that side but no, apparently Pete decided that his work would be instantly pirated, bit presumptuous considering most of it is not that great BUT there are bits that are good. His delusion of the instantly thing was as mad as he is, in fact I by accident while looking for Polish Turbo roms found a site that also had Tempest Extreme on and I instantly wrote to Lance so he could get it taken down (so much for the pirates) and to be absolutely honest I have not seen a site that has Atari new stuff on, there's not the same background BBS scene as the C64 has. All Petey did was antagonise people about not wanting his products....Silly boy!
Just seems like they missed a trick as getting a Cart from the USA with shipping and import charges is too expensive normally. I wouldn’t pay that much for Tempest Extreme, I would have bought a digital version or a disk version from a U.K. distributor, the same as the 64.
I'm still playing my Jaguar a bit here and there, in between work and fixing our cars and all my usual chores which are all a full-time job in themselves. Like Paul, I haven't had the will or gumption or whatever to do much more with my hobby the past week or two, stressed out also from all the usual sources at home and I also have a neighbor from hell that has turned on us because after giving her rides where ever she wanted for months, my sister says she can't one time and the bitch goes psycho calling my sister and I all the most vile things you could think of, at the top of her lungs from the street for days as well as with texts at first until we blocked her after the first ones. She also has mad dogs that she lets roam free and they bit my sister and I once, I had them surrounding me (a pack of more that a dozen) while I'm fending them off with a tire iron. Then they attack and injured my sister's puppy twice, after the first time we moved him further back in our yard and he still got attacked again and they tore him up pretty bad before I got out there with the bat to chase them off. Then the neighbor is yelling at us the entire time from the street, while these attacks go on, saying it's our own fault for being terrible people. So I warned her one last time that I was at the end of my rope, she swore back, so no I have to carry my shotgun around on my own property, because the police won't do a thing. I shot and buried one of the dogs already, the one that bit me and hurt my sister's dog. And I have a more to go, but it's so much stress and of course the neighbor is threatening our lives for it, I have to get her on recording or video so we can get a restraining order. So don't feel bad Paul, I think I;d rather deal with your neighbors than mine. But that's my life right now, and I'm so stressed out over it all too. I just don't know what's wrong with people these days, they are so self-absorbed and self-centered and immature, and obviously insane, at least my neighbor, to act this way over one ride denial. A normal person, would say, "well thanks anyway and I appreciate all the rides you give me, and maybe I can get that ride later."It's not the first time I've been through this, with her and her dogs, but I made the peace with the lady the last time, just to keep the peace, and she kept them under control for a bit, but then it starts all over again. So I'm to my last resort and no turning back now.
What a fekking mare, Matt. By god, I feel for you and Paul. Good neighbours are worth their weight in gold - thank god for ours who are normal, kind and thoughtful - and as you say, when things turn sour then it is amazing how they can suddenly turn terribly ugly and before you know it they begin a campaign of intimidation and out and out insane and mental behaviour which naturally then impacts on you poor folks who have always done all you can for her despite her history. Clearly she's awfully unstable. If the police won't act then no wonder folks turn to their own possible solutions. I'm hoping for you both that things calm down but I know in Paul's case that those assholes upstairs don't care about the noise they constantly make which must sound like elephants mating above Paul and his family's heads as this has gone on for months/years and the council should have served a noise-abatement order on them by now. Is there any chance you can get some court/civil action/injunction out on this nutty neighbour, Matt, just for your own peace of mind? I know these things can cost and I don't pretend to be an expert on these matters but you need someone else to go over there, a go-between/arbitrator, who carries some legal clout, to try and defuse things before you end up blowing your patience and sending her direct to hell. Heavens, it puts things into perspective at already trying times like these... who needs enemies with neighbours like these? Take bloody good care - all of you guys - try and ride out these storms, put the shutters up and dig-in. Thinking of you both.
Wow that is so rough Matt, I knew from chatting you had mad neighbours but that's just so extreme, the worst mine has done is to try and kill me by flooding my balcony with their waste (yesterday) knowing the virus will attack anyone but they see it as them just messing about. To have to resort to using a gun is ultra stressful. Give my best to your sister... For me its mental stress, being disturbed constantly and the fact that my council simply sits on their hands and puts fingers in their ears. I cannot understand why the Police won't help you...Having to protect your sister and yourself from her dogs let alone the verbal ignorance (which I've also had, apparently I'm a pedophile and beat my wife and a stalker etc etc the list was endless). Seriously, surely the dogs by their behaviour ars classed as dangerous and out of control? Sounds like we both have utter nut cases for neighbours but I'm sorry I would not swap neighbours...Jebus.. It irks that she uses animals to do her bidding knowing they will get hurt while she sits on the sidelines commanding them, hopefully they will turn on her.
There are no dog laws of any kind in our area and the cops don't give a crap because they know most people out here in the country just turn to their guns anyway. As to the neighbor, if I can catch her on video or audio with her insane rants and threats than we can get a restraining order, in which case she may even be forced to leave her land because it's closer than the usual 1000 feet distance they are required to keep. But we were so stunned we didn't think of it or have phones handy when she was yelling. My sister may still have the terrible text messages, if she didn't erase them right away because they were so vile, but I don't think there were any threats upon her life in those. I have to ask sis, but she has mentioned doing it already. But it's a clear a present danger as far as the dogs go, and we can't wait for the law and courts to protect our safety, and as per usual, even if the police gave a shit, they are half an hour away a best, if not already involved, so there's no waiting for them out here either, one is on his own. It's a big country and some people like us are far away from help, but you accept that for the usual peace and tranquility and lack of violence and theft, ect., when you don't have an insane neighbor! Normally the bad guys are aware that country folk have guns and don't call the police, they call their Smith & Wesson, and ask questions later, which is a deterent 99.9% of the time so everyone is safe and criminal free, since most criminals are cowards and don't want to get shot and it's too far out there that most criminals won't go out that deep, unless they are already running from the law. But it doesn't account for the neighbor from hell.
I can only hope that you get something on her and can force the shit to move, I truly feel terrible for you and your sisters problems there, mine pale in to nothing compared but I hope we both get justice. Its awful to be in such a big country yet have an arsehole right next to you is just so wrong. I really hope you can get this sorted ASAP, try and keep a phone on you if possible, I know as a person who hates my mobile that I don't have it on me a lot of the time unless I'm going somewhere far. And to have a Police force that cannot be arsed, jebus....Forcing people to use the law of the wild west isn't the way to go but it seems its the only action available.
