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Interview with Schlachtfeld-Developer










What are your names?

HD: OK those of us here in this group are Christian Beer, Dennis Lohr, Dominik Raddatz and Edgar Leidig and I'm Horst Diebel.

DL: Dennis "Psyria" Lohr -- Psyria is my pen name in the (commercial) music scene.



Could you briefly describe your group and your main responsibilities?

CB: We work in our (so far) limited free time.

HD: We are just a bunch of Amiga freaks, who have it in mind to develop strategy games for our old friends. Christian Beer oversees the programming and also is developing the classic version. Edgar Leidig is leading the development of standards. Stefan Jurisch is working on the Intro animations and the link sequences. Peter Weigold runs the AMOS version of Schlactfeld and supports us by developing it further. Michael Jurisch is in the forefront for the coming Internet appearance and I myself am like the good Spirit of all. Then there are several others taking part but for that it would be quicker to refer to our homepage.

DL: I am one of the chief composers for Schlactfeld 2. I am looking after the Intro theme and the link sequences and suchlike.



How long have you been doing things for the Amiga?

HD: As a team we have been working together for about a year, so of course each of us has his own Amiga story. I myself was in from the beginning and working with the Amiga 1000. Previously I have been concerned above all with graphics and co-operated on numerous games projects - which sad to say all came to nothing. In one way or another everyone I worked with has converted to the PC. That naturally makes the ambition all the more compelling!

CB: In 1988 I bought my first Amiga - a 500.

DR: I have also been in since about 1990.

DL: I have been actively doing things for the Amiga for about 8 years.



Do you work together with any other groups or firms?

HD: There are only loose contacts with a couple of others, which I really regret. If more developers - either small groups or individuals - would like to co-operate, we could definitely achieve much more. Unfortunately it is the case that there are ever fewer users and obviously also fewer developers. Numerous much-promised projects have been put on hold or discarded. Consequently the users are very unsure and specially if you are working in spare time on a first project, then things are against you right from the start. However we will try to always to involve the users in our development - and we will see this project through!



What software are you programming?

HD: We are working on strategy games. So we begin with the conversion and further development of Peter Weigoldt's classic: SCHLACHTFELD. Here there are already three versions planned, of which the first two will in all events be free.

CB: Up to now I have been converting the AMOS source code of Peter Weigoldt's "Schlachtfeld2" into C. That requires an implementation which supports graphics cards and could use up to 256 colours compared with just 32 in the original.

HD: Later we will substantially extend the range of functions and the story and also go more in the direction of strategy, so as not to involve just the picture of the battle but also the problems which need to be solved in the run up and which not infrequently decide the outcome. Because of these mounting demands and the costs of development, this third version will probably cost several marks, but we shall have to see. Perhaps a sponsor will come forward, which could make it freely available.



How long have you been Amiga users?

HD: As we said, that is quite varied. A few of us have been in since the beginning of the Amiga period and the others have joined in the course of time.

EL: Since 1987.

CB: It's is now 13 years already.

DR: For 11 years.

DL: I have been an Amiga user for about 10 years. Since then my brother has started.



Why have you chosen Amiga?

HD: Well, I think for us wily old birds it's quite simple: Our Amiga was at that time the best computer you could get for a reasonable price (if you think 4000DM is reasonable). The attitude then towards PCs was frankly scornful. The C64, from which a good majority of us came, was in comparison to the Amiga a little pile of misery and only a few stayed with it - for old time's sake. Developing this game is for us quite simply a kind of need. We are just a bunch of Amiga freaks who have spent half their lives with this lady. If we were now to switch to another platform, we could only recover a small part of the cash we have invested in her.

EL: I started with a C64 and my entry to the Amiga world was with a 500.

DL: The Amiga is unique of its type. The community is unbeatable and it stands above any other computer system! This is why it is and was my choice -Amiga.

DR: I have no Mac, I will not program for Windows: Amiga is cool.

CB: - I have no Mackintosh computer, nor have I any PC hardware. I've got 2 A4000's and the software to go with them.



What is or will be your current Title, i.e. what things are coming in the near future?

CB: So far the modernised version of Schlachtfeld2 is far and away our first priority. Alongside that is already running the preparation for a new version of Schlachtfeld, which will however be a completely new program.

HD: To begin with we have the 1-to-1 conversion of Schlachtfeld from AMOS into C and then of course the extension of this game. A part of that can already be seen on our homepage. In the longer term however we are already starting to develop the basis for a new game. We will not give away any secrets about this game now except to say that it too will be a strategy game but with a substantially broader horizon.

DL: To date I have been working on my debut-album, which I hope will soon be released. At the moment I am in touch with a record company. As to the exact release date I can't now give any details.



What are your favourite games for the Amiga?

HD: My absolute favourites from the classics are Fairy Tale Adventure, Roadwar 200/Europa, Campaign and Firepower. Of the newer games I go mainly for real-time strategy, such as Napalm and Exodus.

DR: Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge, Chaos Engine, Siedler, Turrican

EL: Simulations, strategy- and role-play

DL: I have many of those :-} However I most like to play the evergreens like Wings, Turrican, Lotus and so on.

CB: While I still had time to waste, it was quite clearly Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge. Syndicate was also one of the most impressive games. The most recent game I have played on the Amiga was Quake.



Do you make your work on the Amiga your main job or is it secondary? What do you do principally?

HD: We do it all as a hobby. Each of us is indeed fully occupied with computing but really software development for the Amiga is no longer viable. There may still be a few folk who earn money out of it but we certainly aren't among them. I have recently closed my studio and now concern myself with management problems for the company in which I work.

EL: Pure hobby; my occupation is materials testing NDT.

DR: Hobby. I myself am studying Information Technology.

CB: My main job is as systems administrator and database administrator. From one day to the next I never know whether the M$-DOS will run and if so, how long. So I celebrate the Amiga with a "Feuerabend*", since it always keeps running.
[* a traditional party with sugar candles and mulled wine]

DL: Composing music on the Amiga is for me just now a second job. I hope that that will change any time soon. My main job is as a stock-keeper.



What do you think the Amiga needs most?

CB: To be brief, just now it is failing all round. For myself, I cannot get a replacement for my defective Cyberstorm Mk1. An Amiga with modern hardware would be pretty good. An efficient OS (as 1.3 was) or even just up to date would be good. And then a decent browser and word processor.

DL: Modern, up-to-date software for use on the Internet, capable office software and all that, which alas one only knows from the PC.

HD: Quite simply a new Amiga! Not that each of us does not hold his old machine in high esteem but what the market needs, and us with it, is a new computer. On that I must say that of all the possibilities I would prefer one that comes close to the old architecture - as long as it is really is the same as I see it - but I would accept a different solution. As a beggar one cannot be choosy. In any case the question is whether the new system is still an Amiga. However that just opens up the fundamental discussion over just what really makes the Amiga. *g*

EL: Better support of hardware accessories (printer, scanner etc.).

DR: Everything?! Fast CPU, up-to-date games, modern graphics cards, office applications, browser...



For which Amiga are you doing most development?

HD: To date we have been developing for the 68k; perhaps a growing desire for performance will bring us to develop for the PPC but we must at present go for the broadest possible base for our software.

DR: 68k, since I haven't got a PPC.

CB: I only develop for the 68k, having no PPC.



In the future, do you plan to support the AmigaOne or are you already working with a similar project?

HD: In principle it is hoped to port all development to the AmigaOne but we will see whether it disappoints us and a few other people. We stand ready to look for new co-workers in the Graphics area and especially programming!

DR; For sure, if there is new up-dated information and a product materialises.



If the AmigaOne appears, will you continue to support the classic Amiga?

HD: In any case! The support of the Amiga is not for us a question of profit or suchlike, but simply to support the good old box. It is a matter of honour, as you might say.

CB: I say yes, provided my computer does not pass on into the twilight. Assuming of course that the hardware resources are up to the project.

DR: We could say more about that if there were something on sale.



Do you plan to convert a PC game to the Amiga?

DR: It could be (and would be) wrecked by the cost of licensing.

HD: No: I can also say why not. As I see it, it brings nothing to the Amiga if one makes a habit of converting really old PC games, while for current games the licence charges are too high. If one pays just 5DM for a game on the PC and 100DM for the same game on the Amiga, it will attract absolutely nobody to the Amiga from another system. On the other hand if a couple of sly old foxes release a game for the Amiga and not for DOS then I can charge what I like! But what our friends need is new games and new ideas!



Are you planning to publish your project on any other platforms?

HD: As said before, it could happen but it is a question above all of programmers. So far we simply have too few resources here.

DR: I suppose so: Linux and Mac, eventually Windows (concurrence is big there).

DL: My music can be heard on any platform which has provision for playing MP3s.



How do you assess the present situation at Amiga?

DL: That's a good question! The present situation seems quite promising to me. I believe that Amiga can pull off a comeback. The strategy must be VERY WELL thought out - only then will it eventually happen.

HD: Sadly, it's becoming ever worse, I have to say. Many people are throwing out the Amiga, because they feel they have been strung along. Many simply feel gutted! Something absolutely must be done and I really hope that Amiga Inc undertakes it.

CB: Unimpressive, not to say wretched. OK, there is also the question of what you mean by the name "Amiga". If I see "Amiga" and I think of my computer system, then I say "OK, everything's fine. The machine is up nd running as always". If instead I think of the firm "Amiga", then I think "Hotchpotch, unstable, `Bullshit`, know nothing, understand nothing, make nothing". So in my estimation the company is certainly the last place from which one could expect to get anything concrete, like a new Amiga computer. Just hot air.

DR: Wait around and drink some tea - always more promises, but little solid achievement. Overall the outlook is not so rosy.







Is it your opinion that OS3.9 is a real step forward or do you think that the classic series should have been stopped with OS3.5 and that the next stage should have been OE ?

DL: No. I think that OS3.5 and 3.9 were significant, showing that there was some more progress!

CB: OS3.5 and 3.9 were important signals to the (remaining) Amiga users to show that they were not alone. One would not have expected that much more.

DR: OS3.9 has been a genuine advance in that it showed that something is going on.

HD: Initially I thought that OS3.9 would be a swan song but it has proved finally to have been a good decision. Not least since it is a good system but also since we have had to wait so much longer than planned for the development of the much hyped AmigaOne and of AmigaDE.

EL: I am waiting for the next Boing ball for my OS3.9.



What do you think about OS4.0 ?

DL: I can't think much about it, since my information is very limited.

CB: I have no idea whether to offer thanks for whatever OS name if I quite clearly have no information about it, what hardware it will run on, and whether and when...

DR: I have heard nothing definite about it.

HD: I am not going to offer an opinion since my judgement of OS3.9 turned out to be wrong and I don't want to make the same mistake. We must wait and time will tell.



What do you make of the latest news about AmigaOne?

HD: We have to see it first. Then the rest will be clear. My predictions about hardware have been proved right previously but I'm not going to make any comments about this yet.

DL: I am really excited, to see what awaits us... !



Are you in favour of Amiga games - regardless of their size - being published on CD-ROM, and how do you see the future of DVD on the Amiga?

HD: One has to ask whether anyone at home is still not using CD. If 95% of users have a CD drive, why not - if it is economic. As far as DVD is concerned, I'd say no - I think that the existing systems are mostly not up to it. Think - it's working now but who has got one yet in an Amiga? When the software and performance in the Amiga improve, I could imagine that it makes sense. But before then there may be a new computer, which was announced some time ago now. We must hope it really comes!

CB: Overall I have nothing to say against that; CD-ROMs are OK. Of course it must not degenerate to the stage where the user has first to put in 10 CDs and install over 100MB in order to be able to play a single game. I am thinking of a management system which is published on a single CD (and the data on the CD is compressed as *.cab files) which takes several hours to install and of the 650 MB not much matters (to the user).

DR: In my opinion, apart from "Moorhuhn", there are no games of a size that will fit into the space on floppies; in principle all should come out at least on CD. There are only a few programs which really need DVDs.

DL: Yes that would be a further step in the future. New Amiga software consequently should be published on CD! DVD - not necessary.



Which computer do you use personally?

HD: I make use of several Amigas and a PC with Linux and Windows. It seems the same as the others. For this some will call me names, such as "nest fouler" but for some there is no other choice. One is most regrettably bound to a single convention if one has to do with computers professionally.

DL: Personally ... My music computer, an Amiga 1200 with the extras one needs for "commercial" music.

EL: A 1200, A1200PPC, A 2000, CD32.

DR:Amiga 1200, Celeron notebook with Windows and Linux.



How do you rate SDK?

HD: I can say scarcely anything about it. I have now heard both very positive and very negative things about it. We must put the question to the programmer...

DR: No experience of it; certainly a good idea.

CB: In order to discover what the SDK is and what it is for, I have several times gone to the Amiga homepages. The outcome was that I knew that it neither could nor would bring anything concrete to me. But the long list of cries for help and the answers told me that it is still not fully mature.



Has the new AmigaOS any chance at all against the PC?

DR: It depends on what it can bring new. Another x86 OS: no. Linux, BeOS, Windows, and then MacOS, Solaris and a few other Unixes are already there. For other processors more likely but it will only be a niche product. As an add-on taking over the system, therefore like a virtual machine with its own collection of libraries: a good idea: Java is of course already there. If Amiga is faster, there is still the problem that Amiga belongs to just one company - that could also mean that people change from one proprietary product (Windows) to another (Amiga). Not many will do it. Moreover, it is much faster to compile software on its native processor. QT, known in the Linux world, was a big step towards easier portability, which in contrast to the Amiga is available at no cost. All in all, it doesn't look so good.

CB: Unless Amiga massively changes its method of working, then definitely not. Perhaps the following stages would help, to go through stepwise: 1. Overview (what will I make) 2. Check plans and restrictions of the frame 3. Inform users and find out what they want 4. MAKE it and don't (?) and don't go back to the beginning.

HD: What chance do I give against the PC... to answer that we must consider (hopefully without feeling sick) the two main operating systems for the normal user: Windows and Linux. Windows becomes ever more the standard... if in the end one can only run one OS on a single computer, and it looks like that, then a Big Bill would always be looking over your shoulder, isn't that the truth? Besides, the system becomes ever more overblown and IMHO unstable. Linux is in my modest opinion a good way down the road to making the same mistakes. That one apes Win so much now that it is only a matter of time...

No indeed, now would be the time for a change! But many rate the OS for an A500 the best and most innovative OS produced so far. Indeed one would need huge powers of persuasion to make the public aware of that. I think that our Lady and her descendants are Freak-machines and that is how they will remain. Everything else belongs in the realm of Utopia. I wish I could bring the dream true!



Will the AmigaOne harm the classic Amiga, in your opinion?

DR: Hasn't it done so already, by it's announcement? For the rest, there is no longer much damage to be done...

CB: So long as one cannot buy it, definitely not.

HD: The AmigaOne will certainly push the classic market out of the news. But it is something that necessarily must happen, otherwise sooner or later there won't be an Amiga market any more. Whether we then will have an Amiga remains to be seen. That would reopen the perpetual debate about what constitutes an Amiga. I think that leads nowhere. The AmigaOne absolutely must come!



How exactly do you see the Amiga in the future?

DR: no ancient; as something elegant, different. And not having an x86 CPU.

CB: modern up-to-date Hardware with modern up-to-date software - lean OS as before (but more context menus, please), but with memory protection and resource tracking and please make it "of a piece" and not patched together. More diverse graphics card systems are naturally an unreasonable demand - what was the OS for originally!?

HD: We will become even more a small group of freaks, of whom one knows the great majority personally. No indeed, definitely not. But it will be a relatively small market and I hope that we will work rather more co-operatively than before. The market will become even more exclusive, because of the relatively high price point. What we hope is that a new machine and a new OS will bring a new opening in the market but we should not rely too much on that.



Do you believe that the Amiga classic can once again become as successful as in the beginning?

HD: No! The problem is that concurrence is now very strongly established and also the price to performance ratio works against it. That was not so then. The 8-bit machines were on a smaller scale than the Amiga and MS-DOS was always a joke... Then there was no real concurrence and also the name Commodore stood for innovative game boxes. Today in the eyes of the general masses the Amiga is for the nostalgic. To it will return one or two lost kids and if we are lucky buy themselves an Amiga to replace one or another PC-wrecks. But the Amiga fever is over.

CB: No, one can only dream. At present we could in my opinion exist in the gap between Linux and MS. A combination of the familiar "comfort" of the MS-GUI and the stability and relative "freedom" of Linux.



Do you believe that the AmigaOne can be as successful a start as the Amiga was at the outset? Constantly there is now substantially more powerful concurrence.

CB: A chance, yes, but not so big as then!

DR:I can't think of anything that the Amiga must be able to do better, in order to stand out compared to the other computers. It follows that it is only a matter of marketing (and money) to push it in the market and that is where it could well fail.

HD: There will certainly be no boom, such as when the A500 was released. On top of that the tools will be too dear and the concurrence too strong. However it would still have a good chance to make a name for itself as a freak computer but only provided that there is plenty of good value software. And naturally the hardware must bring suitable power and it ought not to be too expensive. However there is also a serious need finally to make a break with the trend to concurrence. It is quite crazy how many PCI cards there are around. Certainly "concurrence gives life to business" as they say, but there is enough concurrence with the Mac and PC and we should break with it, indeed on the contrary cannibalise it.



Have you got your own home page? What is the URL?

HD: So far there is no home page for Schlachtfeld from our team. The project is covered at http://www.amiga-society.de/ and of course there is Peter's home page.



What's the best way of reaching you by e-mail and by snail mail?

HD: Hehe, it's best to get in touch by e-mail. Horst.Diebel@amiga-society.de



What do you think of Amiga Future?

EL: Super



Do you have a mascot?

No. So far there isn't one, but that will change, in fact with the appearance of the new version of Schlachtfeld, but I am not going to give anything away now.



What are your hobbies?

HD: Our shared hobby is certainly the Amiga. We also have a pair of guns for sport... from which I exclude myself, since now I could only join in really as a tankard holder. Role-play games are popular with us and of course strategy games of all types.

DR: Women, Basketball, swimming, sport in general, video, films...



What is your favourite film?

HD: Hm, that's clear cut. For me, films like "From Dusk Till Dawn" or "Radioactive Dreams" are absolutely Cult!

EL: MATRIX )))

DR: Maverick



What do you make of such long and above all burdensome interviews?

CB: One can look on them either as tedious or alternatively as a cheap psychiatrist! Many of the questions with which we have been occupied arouse in me so much suppressed frustration. One way or another it is now becoming clear to me that I am just working with a niche computer and consequently must miss out on many things. Let's look round the shops in the square and buy a new game? Laughter - there are no shops here. New hardware? HaHa!! A reasonable browser? Pffff...

HD: It's terrible... Things haven't been so dead since the Inquisition!

DR: Interesting... that makes me think of something; take____ too much time in title???



What do you say about piracy?

HD: I think that really the Amiga market has become so weak that such actions will actually prove to be fatal. There is no longer any way to make a worthwhile profit. If you are lucky you can just about cover your costs, but that's it. So it is better to quit than to flog a dead horse!

EL: It's hardly an incentive to work, is it????

DR: In Cartman's words: "Screw you guys, I'm going home!"...

CB: A couple more things: the pirates are giving the Amiga market its final death blow. Probably they think that they are cool. But they aren't. They would be if they were to put their energies into developing software instead of copying stolen work.



Perhaps a final word?

HD: I think we Amigans should consider what it was that once made us different - creativity! At times it seems to me that we are just waiting for our burial. Success doesn't come on a plate.

EL: One should not give up hope; that is what a hard life has taught me.

DR: Make your own way; it is easy to go down a well-used path but that way you never arrive first.




english translate by James Bridge