VIDEO GAMES: MAKING PIXELS DANCE
When I saw the first video games in arcade halls at the end of the 70s, I was completely fascinated.
I still remember the intense emotions brought by the sight of those colorful pixels coming to life on the screen. To me, it was a waking dream, pure magic, a piece of science fiction!
So I wanted to understand how it worked and to learn,... but above all to create my own games!
I wrote my first "little" game in 1982, then in 1986 my first commercial arcade game: a motorcycle race called « Pleins Gaz » (Full Throttle in French).
Finally, in 2001 I created my most accomplished game: Captain Bumper.
(a new version, Captain Bumper 2.0, entirely remastered and rewritten, has just been released in 2023).
Below, in reverse chronological order, are the games I have created:
CAPTAIN BUMPER 2.0 - 2023
An action and exploration game, cartoonish and richly colored for kids from 7 to 77!
Commercial game for Mac available from Apple's Mac App Store.
Free demo for Mac on my website Macrun.com
This is a re-edition of the original game I had already published in 2001.
However, this new version 2.0 of Captain Bumper has been completely rewritten, the graphics have been entirely remastered, and the gameplay has been improved.
Captain Bumper 2.0 page d'accueil
Screenshot of Captain Bumper 2.0 game at level 4 - "Glubu Picchu"
Screenshot of Captain Bumper 2.0 game at level 3 - "The Zeurbs' Factory"
Screenshot of Captain Bumper 2.0 game at level 5 - "The Magic Forest"
Screenshot of Captain Bumper 2.0 game at level 9 - "Frozen Dunes"
Technical specifications
Name: Captain Bumper 2.0
Year: 2023
Platform: Mac Apple Silicon or Mac Intel
System: Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks to MacOS 14 Sonoma
Concept, storyline: Richard Soberka
Development: Richard Soberka in C language, 64-bit
Graphics: Richard Mariencourt, Christophe Fitero
Gameplay: Richard Soberka, Mathieu Caramella
Music, Sound Effects: Jens Nilsson
Remastering v2.0: Richard Soberka
Publisher: Apple Store, SAS SOBERKA
CAPTAIN BUMPER - 2001 (original version)
An action and exploration game, cartoonish and richly colored!
Commercial game on Mac, distributed as a download (Macrun website), and on CD-ROM in stores in the United States by the publisher Casady & Greene.
Technical specifications
Name: Captain Bumper 1.0
Year: 2001
Platform: Mac PowerPC (or Intel through emulation)
System: Mac OS 9 (classic) to MacOS 10.5 Leopard
Concept, storyline: Richard Soberka
Development: Richard Soberka in C language and PowerPC 32-bit assembly
Graphics: Richard Mariencourt, Christophe Fitero
Gameplay: Richard Soberka, Mathieu Caramella
Music/Sound Effects: Jens Nilsson
Publishers: MacRun Games, Casady & Greene, TradeSoft & Playmax
ARGOS - 1993
A photorealistic adventure game set in Greece (in French language).
Shareware on Macintosh, distributed on CD-ROM and magazines (in France) between 1993 and 1995, then by download.
Technical specifications
Name: Argos 1.0
Year: 1993
Platform: Macintosh with Motorola 68020, 68030, 68040 processor (or PowerPC through emulation)
System: Mac System 7, 8, or 9
Concept, storyline: Richard Soberka
Development: Richard Soberka in C language
Graphics: Richard Soberka in 512 x 384 pixels, 8, 16, or 32 bits
Sound Effects: Richard Soberka
Publisher: Richard Soberka
You can download Argos 1.0 here!
Note: Argos 1.0 is designed for Macs from the 1990s running on Mac OS 7.xx, 8.xx, or 9.xx; it will not work under Mac OS X.
ZEPHYR – 1987
Arcade game, combat flight simulator flying over a mysterious planet.
Commercial game for Apple II on floppy disk, developed for Froggy Software in 1987, reissued by Brutal Deluxe Software in 2013.
Technical specifications
Name: Zephyr
Year: 1987
Platform: Apple //e 128k, Apple //c, or Apple //gs (or emulators)
System: Prodos 8
Concept, storyline: Richard Soberka
Development: Richard Soberka in 6502 assembly language
Graphics: Richard Soberka in Double High-Resolution DHGR, 560 x 192 pixels, monochrome
Sound Effects: Richard Soberka
Publishers: Froggy Software - 1987, Brutal Deluxe Software - 2013.
PLEINS GAZ (FULL THROTTLE) - 1986
Arcade game featuring motorcycle obstacle racing and shooting.
Commercial game for Apple II on floppy disk, published by Froggy Software and distributed in all Fnac stores and Apple resellers in France between 1986 and 1987!
Technical specifications
Name: Pleins Gaz
Year: 1986
Platform: Any Apple II 64K or higher (or emulators)
System: Fastboot or Prodos 8
Concept, storyline: Richard Soberka
Development: Richard Soberka in 6502 assembly language
Graphics: Richard Soberka in HGR, 280 x 192 pixels, 6 colors
Sound Effects and Music: Richard Soberka, Jean-Marc Lecocq
Publisher: Froggy Software – 1986
You can download Pleins Gaz 1.0 here!
Note: This ZIP archive contains the original disk image (.DSK) of the retail version from 1986!
(There was no “copy protection” on that version)
Pleins Gaz works on all Apple II emulators.
SNAKE - SERPENTINE - 1982
A skill game, shoot down attacking snakes!
Freeware for Sharp PC-1500, sent to "L'ordinateur de Poche" French magazine.
There's no trace of my very first little creation, the source code in Basic language which was only on a paper listing is now lost!
The Sharp PC-1500's monochrome screen could display 156 x 7 pixels (exceptional for that time!), which made the game to look like something this:
You control a small spaceship here on the left, a triangle 3 pixels high!...
trying to shoot down hordes of snakes attacking from the right.
A score is displayed on the right side of the screen.
Technical specifications
Name: Snake (or Serpentine)
Year: 1982
Platform: Sharp PC-1500 (or Tandy TRS-80 PC-2)
Concept, storyline: Richard Soberka
Development: Richard Soberka in Basic + hexadecimal coding
Graphics: Richard Soberka in 156 x 7 pixels monochrome!
Sound Effects: Richard Soberka