17/10/06
Exile for mobile platforms revealed and the ultimate companion to the ultimate solution
John McHugh's solution to Exile in the remarkable Electron User Group disk (and now - yes now(!)) - web magazine has now been massively enhanced with step by step screenshots to guide the player along the way through this beyond-colossal game. See the Electron Haven website for the relevant issue of EUG: Again the genius of the Exile's graphics is such that even on the 4 colour Electron the vibrancy is barely lost and still conveys the game's extent and variedness to almost the same degree as the BBC Micro version.
Also, the re-launched Retrogamer magazine features an article on the creation of Exile: http://www.retrogamer.net/ The article causes some confusion unfortunately in moving to and fro between descriptions of the BBC Micro original and later Amiga/Atari versions. However, it covers the important parts about the game (authors' stories, technical achievements, game packages etc) and is packed with colour together with the bonus of a C64 feature which includes a screenshot of C64 Exile (surely a under-valued game in the C64's game repertoire?).
Finally, a mention is made of Peter going back to the original game to convert it to C for an unspecified mobile platform. The article says "a sequel was ever on the cards" but with some success in this format who knows? Peter Irvin's own website now includes mention of Exile: link (from: http://www.inventivity.co.uk/ ) Incidentally Peter, with a bit of luck writing in C should one day enable a conversion to the BBC Micro's eventual successor, RISC OS :-) I wish good luck to Peter and hope this awesome game continues to enjoy success with new generations of game players as well as old.
FAQ page also updated to reflect new developments.
19/09/04
More Amiga information added
Courtesy of the mysterious Conrad TM (Deadly Cookie) I have a lot more graphical information on the original (1991, 'ECS') version of the game from the Hall of Light Amiga games database. There are also links to entries for the AGA and CD32 versions so this has provided more details regarding the releases and screenshots at last!
The web-page includes a full screenshot map of the ECS game which Deadly Cookie submitted himself. Unfortunately I have been unable to de-compress this with any software I have although I am told that the decompression takes about 50MB of memory. The reason for this can be seen by looking at the Amiga images section of this site containing the details of the map. I have included details of the Hall of Light entries for Exile on the Amiga page and updated the CD32 page as well.
Together with map Deadly Cookie also sent me the range of sound effects as WAVs for the ECS version which are high quality short samples or short synthesized sounds. These are also mentioned on the Amiga page.
Deadly Cookie also merits inclusion on the Hall of Fame page I think — well done and thanks for the information!
Also, I've updated the FAQ page to accommodate the existence of the map.
Finally the Acknowledgements page has been updated to include recent contributors that deserve a mention.
28/03/04
Summary table of Exile help available
A comprehensive list of all the help available for Exile has been added to the FAQ page. Some of the details are sketchy for a couple of entries but these will be included if or when I become aware of them.
10/01/04
Minor updates
A few details regarding the publication of the BBC Micro version solution have been added to the FAQ page.
6/11/02
Source graphics for BBC classic version and Amiga versions
Peter Irvin and Andy Noble have sent me the original BBC graphics and the Amiga graphics from the game respectively: these can be seen on the BBC development page and the Amiga pages. Also a quick note from Peter on the Amiga page.
I've avoided making the Amiga graphics for download however.
Modified the 'endings' and 'help' sections of the FAQ a bit.
Updated the Hall of Fame to include T.R.Schmidt's completion of ECS Amiga Exile — well done T.R.!
16/06/02
Amiga Exile re-released and remarks from BBC Exile cheat-author
Peter Irvin has officially released Amiga Exile to two Amiga emulation sites. These are:
Back2Roots
and
Amiga in a Box—Goto download page.
At the time of writing I can only find the files on the second site. Hopefully they will be available on the first site soon. Both the ECS and AGA versions are available to download along with certain license conditions. Thanks are due to Peter for requesting a link to this site.
You may notice that Dan Doran, the author of the Micro User/Acorn Computing BBC solution and the accompanying map, has provided a solution to this version. Also Jim Howat from the ColumbusForce project had a hand in packaging the game for emulation.
I heard recently from the author of the Micro User cheats (published in around 1990 if I remember correctly), James Bonfield who explained from memory how he was able to hack the game, a significant achievement itself, and what he found out from the game in doing so. This information is on the Game Development and Quirks of the game pages.
James thanks me for the site but I think I - and probably others - owe him a lot more for his efforts! Thankyou James!
Updated a couple of items on the FAQ page
8/04/02
Screenshots galore
I've added mention of the Electron version which I'd largely forgot about. Having looked at the key-card in the BBC Micro version I must have known about it but David Boddie has sent me numerous animations that he has cleverly generated using an adjunct program he wrote to ElectronEm for the PC platform. This information can be found on the the game package page and screenshots page.
Elsewhere on planet Exile, it seems James Howat's ColumbusForce project is ready to be relaunced at a new address ColumbusForce.net. The 21st century Exile has been updated to reflect this.
25/03/02 News on more Exile conversions and clones
T.R.Schmidt's Amiga Exile Resurrection Site contains news of more projects in the vein of Exile.
Briefly, these are Exitus a very ambitious effort to generate a 3D verson of Exile, something which Peter Irvin mentioned in my first contact with him. Dennis Lenz, the man behind this project says although he is a skilled programmer he will be using 3DGame Studio from Conitec to create the game.
Another programmer says he is working on a 2D game taking his inspiration from Exile. Further details are on the Resurrection site.
The 3D version is probably the most significant from an Exile-fans point of view but we can only wait and see what Mr.Lenz is able to produce and if he is able to continue development as Simon Storr seems to be doing.
Columbus Force back on
After failing to find an email address for Jim Howat I'm told by the man himself that Columbus Force project continues albeit without a web-presence for the time-being:
I am still here, and still working on it - but the site's down due to technical and budgetary wranglings.... The game is still being developed. I'm moving to a polygon- based collision detection system for better physics. I'm also considering re-choosing the graphics library I'm using.
I've asked Jim for any screenshots he might have but hopefully we might see these when he can find webspace.
Also, Atari section updated to include a couple of 'hack' screenshots and Simon Storr's PCExile website is moving from his old site to a new domain
Finally, I'm hoping to add a few comments on the interview 'The Edge' magazine did with Peter Irvin for their 'The making of Exile' article, once I've read through it. More about this in the coming weeks all being well.
13/02/02 'Did you know' section updated to include hidden messages and foreign versions. Information on Amiga AGA and CD32 versions courtesy of co-author Tony Cox - found on Amiga page and CD32 page.
Quirks page updated.
05/02/02Inspired by the original Exile Champion, Oliver Pike, I've added a new section : "Hall of Fame" with the intention of including Exile masters past and present as I come across them.
Updated the site with a new subsection to contain more information on quirks of the game.
25/1/02Information on T.R.Schmidt's Amiga Exile Resurrection site added to the Amiga section.
This is a very interesting and cleverly written site that is quite amusing in places and it contains numerous screenshots from the Amiga and also C64 versions of the game which shed light on many of the extra and enhanced features of the game.
13/6/01 New page added dedicated towards efforts to update Exile for modern machines. Follow this link.
12/6/01 Exile still in contention but unofficial updates most likely to see light of day.
Simon Storr's site now has screenshots of updated PC conversion and discussion forum for chat between Exile fans. There is also a forum also on Columbus Force.
5/10/00Simon Storr (Acorn enthusiast and former Citadel 2 author for the BBC) launches site dedicated to conversion and update of Exile for the PC together with new full game map, solution and download!
30/9/00 Discussions held with Peter Irvin regarding possible conversions to PC (and potentially RISC OS / Acorn 32-bit machines) and copyright issues.
Acorn enthusiast shows interest in these conversions but work has only begun on a part-time basis on PC conversion at present.
If copyright and feasibility issues are resolved to a satisfactory level, personnel in place to begin administration of any coversion to RISC OS.
25/8/00 Makeover of front page
24/8/00 Attempt to contact former BBC Micro game author who started PC version of Exile
10/8/00 Sent letter to Superior suggesting re-release of game in emulator-usable form.