Through the Goldfish Bowl - an Interview with Phil South

Phil South should definitely not be a stranger to those of you who were into computer gaming back in the Eighties - and rightly so. Not only was he an editor for such iconic computer games magazines as 'Your Sinclair'- he was also co-author of Magnetic Scrolls' wacky inter-dimensional espionage game 'Fish!'.

I recently had the chance to sit down and chat with Phil about his experience working for Magnetic Scrolls and on how it all happened with 'Fish!'. Well, gentle reader, without further ado, here is what Phil has to say about 'Fish!', Magnetic Scrolls, and everything …

To start off - for those few people who don't know who Phil South is - a few introductory words about your pre-Magnetic Scrolls era?
I started out as a writer, and that's a thread that's followed me always through most of what I do. John Molloy introduced me to a friend who was a magazine editor. I started writing for him, then he gave me a job up in London.

How did you get involved with Magnetic Scrolls? Was 'Fish!'already on your mind when you first got in touch with them?
Johnnie (Molloy) introduced me to Anita (Sinclair) once we'd had our brilliant idea for the most difficult game to finish ever. John was working at Magnetic Scrolls for Anita at the time doing some game/UNIX hacking. Then one day he and I took the bus from our home town, and on the journey we riffed on the subject about what would be the most hard to do adventure game. He and I had been playing adventure games for about 6-7 years by then. When we said, "what if you started the game as a goldfish and you had to save the world" we laughed, got off the bus and went our ways.

John called me later and said, "Actually, do you mind if I pitch this game to some people I'm working with? I think we might be onto something."

That's how the game happened. He pitched it to Magnetic Scrolls, they went nuts, we brought in Pete (Kemp) and the rest, as they say, is geography.

So, the initial idea for 'Fish!'came from you and John?
As I say, it was a chance remark from John or I which formed the basis of prolonged one hour brainstorm. "What if you started the game as a goldfish"? My recollection is that I said that. But then I would try and take the credit, wouldn't I? Just the kind of underhanded, spotlight hugging I am renowned for... seriously I can't remember who said it but John and I both came up with the bare bones scenario. We do this kind of thing all the time, John and I. Mostly our zany ideas entertain us and nobody else, but this time John saw some actual mileage in taking it further.

I believe at the time you were working on 'Fish!'you were also an editor for none other than 'Your Sinclair'magazine? How did it feel working for the 'other side' for a change? Was it difficult to manage the two jobs simultaneously?
If I'm brutally honest John bailed me out a lot, and I was having REAL trouble in the middle juggling my job and the game. John took me to lunch and very nicely told me to pull my finger out and help finish the game, which is about the time I did a major re-write on the entire text. The final polish was done by John and Rob Steggles, as they practically lived at Magnetic Scrolls. Me and Pete visited as often as we could.

What were your influences, your inspirations when writing the game? The puns and the word play sometimes reminded me of Infocom's 'Nord And Bert Couldn't Make Head Or Tail Of It'…
Infocom games for sure, but also the previous Magnetic Scrolls games. I think 'Nord and Bert' came out at the same time... not sure. 'Hitchhiker's Guide' was more pivotal I think...