history

Remember back in 1984 (when I was only 7 years old!), when the Sinclair ZX Spectrum was in its glory years? Remember the cool games you could get for it? Well I don't...until 1987 when I got my first speccy at 10 years old! Anyway, amongst the many, many titles available at the time (such as Skool Daze, Back to Skool, Trapdoor, etc), one game in particular stood out. It was called Trashman and was created by a clever man called Malcolm Evans. Believe me, this game WAS original. You basically collected trashcans from houses without stepping on the grass while avoiding cars, dogs and cyclists, all within a certain time limit. If you did your job properly then you were invitied into the residents house and were rewared with extra time.
As a loyal fan to this game, I have always wanted to remake it. The problem is that I've never programmed a game before. But there's a first time for everything, so I got my act together and on New Years Eve 2000, instead of partying, I sat down and decided to plan and make a version of Trashman for the PC, which is based around the original game.
So in reality, this project has remained a secret for 3 months before I decided to expose it. Only a select few knew about it. Why you may ask. Well I wanted to be pretty confident I could do this project before getting people excited about it. I hope the day comes soon, when I can unveil and release the full game, right here. It will be free to download and above all, it will be fun!

features

• Similar plot and playability as the original
• 640 x 480 resolution
• Bright, colourful, cartoony graphics
• Digital Sound FX and fantastic music
• Added features/tweaks which were not in the original game
• It will be 100% FREEWARE! I will NEVER make money from it!
• Hopefully (fingers crossed) going to be multi-platform. i.e: Linux, MAC, etc.

technical details (for all you geeks out there!)

• Coded in C
• DOS/Win32 version makes use of the Allegro 4.01 libraries (http://www.talula.demon.co.uk)
• ALL graphics hand painted by myself in Paintshop Pro

current progress

Curious about what it looks like? Then why not checkout some screenshots:

Level 1 - Screenshot
Level 3 - Screenshot

* ( 06/APR/2002 - screenshots updated to reflect new logo)

No more screen shots from now on people! 2 screens from 2 different levels are enough. Sorry. But I would be giving away too much if I did that.
Just to wind you all up even more, I'll tell you that I've deliberately shown you the 'not very good' looking graphics.
The rest of the levels/GFX are a lot nicer! You'll just have to take my word for it.

So far, the only types of houses I have shown you are the standard red-brick houses you commonly see in towns of West Yorkshire...(well, at least in areas like Batley and Dewsbury where I live).
This may only be a game, but I have done some research into the types of architecture commonly seen in England.

If you want to check on my progress in detail, then you can read my development diary here

last diary entry

29/04/2003

Although I will be developing this game, I will only be updating the website when I get time. So you may not see news for a while, but that doesnt mean theres no work going on.

* Added more sound effects.

'Retroid' (retro magazine)

There is a company out there who is interested in creating a retro gaming magazine. This is fantastic news, but it can't be done without the help of people like you. They need to know some information about the current interest in retro gaming. So click on the following link and take their online survey, and who knows, we may soon see the first retro gaming magazine on our newsagent's shelves!

http://www.advancedsurvey.com/default.asp?SurveyID=3093

misc info

No demos or working copies will be released just yet. Please do NOT email me asking me to send you a demo, because I won't.
Let me repeat that. I will NOT send anyone any demos. Anything I release will be posted here.
Anyone and everyone asking for demos WILL be ignored! The same applies to anyone asking for more screenshots/GFX.
Everything will happen in good time...

If you don't see an update here for a while, then please feel free to email me and motivate (kick!) me.

You can contact me at: leatherface@hotmail.com

Please note. Most updates WILL be done to the development diary, and NOT this actual page. Although this page will be updated from time to time, you are better off checking my diary for the latest development news, etc.

Also please note, if you would like to mention this project in a website, magazine, tv program, etc, then please do let me know.
It would be nice to see what you have said about it. :)

For those of you who use IRC, why not log into irc.easynews.com and get onto channel #remakes. Its a great place to get to know others who are retro developers or enthusiasts.

important links

Please note: I am only linking to, what I consider, important retro gaming websites only.

Retrospec - http://retrospec.sgn.net

A team of developers and artists, who are devoted to remaking/remastering the best ZX Spectrum classics. I'm lucky enough to be one of the 18 active members! We have quite a portfolio of work and are considered to be one of the best remakes teams around.

Retro Remakes - http://www.remakes.org

A very important site, which contains, probably the biggest list on the internet of old classic games which are being given a makeover. I recommend checking out this site at least once a day.

disclaimer

Neither myself, Retrospec or 'Trashman Millennium Edition' (Trashman ME) are in any way connected with Malcolm Evans, New Generation Software or Titus Games. This is a purely non-profit project made by fans/volunteers.