Anma English interview

Last year an interview with Dutch software pioneers ANMA appeared on the Spanish web-site metodologic.net. The interview was published in Spanish, and is now re-written in English to reach a broader audience. Meanwhile, MATRA re-released one of the first ANMA games on cartridge. The legacy of ANMA remains.

When you think of the Dutch MSX demo scene, ANMA probably springs to mind. This scene was alive and kicking around 1990 and Martijn and Andre, the duo that makes the group, were spending their spare-time writing MSX history along with it. Creating MSX games would be a logical step for both to take. And so they did. Just check out our Download Database for ANMA's stuff. But it didn't stop there, ANMA even took a few steps in the Gameboy world by porting their game No Fuss to the device, back in 2000.

Last year, metodologic.net released a Spanish written interview with these fellows, looking back at their 15 minutes of fame. Now, the web-site has re-released this interview completely translated into English. For the rest of the world to enjoy.

It's not the first time ANMA appeared in an in-depth interview, Gamasutra did a piece on them some years ago as well.

Recently, ANMA's first game Squeek has been re-released on cartridge by MATRA. The game was inspired by Konami's Antartic Adventure / Penguin Adventure and is again available for 25 euros. Get it while it's hot!

Relevant link: English interview on metodologic.net

Commentaires (15)

Par Thom

Paladin (711)

18-03-2019, 16:28

It must say, I enjoyed reading it. 20 minutes well spent. Good questions, ditto answers, interesting interview. I wonder whether Stompetower is willing to push the source codes to github (or similar)? If he still has them somewhere.

Par Ivan

Ascended (9372)

18-03-2019, 20:20

I really enjoyed reading it too, amazing that some of their software was sold even in Japan through Takeru!

18-03-2019, 20:21

By the way, this how a Takeru machine looked like and operated: link

Par fiteblog

Rookie (30)

19-03-2019, 14:00

Hi, I'm Gaby López, author of the ANMA interview, glad to hear people are enjoying the piece. I'd like to thank André and Martijn for their input, support and patience. It was a real treat.

Par ro

Scribe (5059)

19-03-2019, 15:09

Thank you Gaby!

Par stompetower

Expert (101)

19-03-2019, 16:03

Thanks ro, nice article! And Gaby, thanks for all the work!

21-03-2019, 13:17

Thom wrote:

... I wonder whether Stompetower is willing to push the source codes to github (or similar)?

Most sources are available. I'll have to look at it a bit further (also consult Martijn/Knightram). First impression is that some tiny parts might be missing.

Just curious: are more people interested? Is it for learning, or to make an improved version of a game, or just for fun?

21-03-2019, 19:27

stompetower wrote:

I'm mainly curious how you switched off the bios and made your own ISR. Speaking of which, how did you find out how to do that, as there weren't that many technical documents available at the time? And after all these years, would you still be able to code for MSX (and have you been tempted to do that again)?

24-03-2019, 11:25

@Thom and others:
I plan to submit Frantic source code (including other Frantic details I still have) as a MRC download soon.
Because I feel I need to add a little bit of explanation/context, I do only Frantic as a start (because it takes a bit of time). Later, if there is a need, I can publish more source code. Others might create a github (or similar) project from it.
Is that okay?

25-03-2019, 10:54

Yes, sure. Excellent news. So kind that you're willing to publish the sources. Addtional explanations/context would make it even better :-) Please don't hurry. I reckon it must require some effort to get acquainted again with source codes from 25 years ago.

26-03-2019, 14:50

Thanks! So stay tuned. I will post on the forum when it's available.

26-03-2019, 15:00

In the interview there is some text about the GBC version of NO FUSS.
Just for fun, here are some screenshots of that game.

Note that the GBC is a very low-res device (160 x 144 pixels).
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17-04-2019, 22:21

@Thom and others:

Hi Thom, you asked for some source code. In case you didn't already notice, see this forum topic:

https://www.msx.org/forum/msx-talk/development/anmas-frantic-all-sources-available-for-download

18-04-2019, 16:34

Yes! Got it.

Also: nice screenshots of the GBC-version of No Fuss. Any chance of making a small video for youtube? Curious to see how it moves and sounds.

23-04-2019, 14:16

Quote:

Any chance of making a small video for youtube? Curious to see how it moves and sounds.

Maybe I will do that soon... or anybody else wants to do that?
Anyhow, this version of No Fuss has a lot more game concepts than the MSX version, like sticky blocks, arrow blocks, fixed blocks, number blocks, pipe blocks, joker positions, teleporters, items, etc.

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