The Magnetic Scrolls FACTSHEET
Contents:
1 - ABOUT THE COMPANY:
Founded:
1984 by Anita Sinclair and Ken Gordon
Home:
1 Chapel Court, London SE1 1HH, England
Distribution:
Rainbird/Firebird (up to 1989), Mastertronic (up to
1992), Microprose
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2a - THE PAWN
| Released: |
1985 |
| Distributor: |
Firebird / Rainbird |
| Story: |
Rob Steggles |
| Graphics: |
Geoff Quilley |
| Programming: |
? |
| Platforms: |
Amiga, Apple2,
Atari ST, Atari XL/XE, Commodore 128/ 64, Macintosh, MS-Dos, Schneider CPC,
Sinclair QL, Spectrum
128K |
| Game box contained (Atari ST): |
Novella "A tale of Kerovnia" by G.
Sinclair, The Pawn Atari ST Guide, The Pawn Gameplay, The Pawn poster, Addendum,
Bug sheet, one 3.5"-disk |
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2b - THE GUILD OF THIEVES
| Released: |
1987 |
| Distributor: |
Firebird / Rainbird |
| Story: |
Rob Steggles |
| Graphics: |
Geoff Quilley, Tristan Humphries |
| Programming: |
? |
| Platforms: |
Amiga, Apple 2,
Atari ST, Atari XL/XE, Commodore 64/128, Schneider CPC,
Macintosh,
MS-Dos, Spectrum 128K |
| Game box contained (Atari ST): |
Bank of Kerovnia account card, die, magazine "What
Burglar", Kerovnia Guild of Discret Entry And Removal Operatives contract,
Adventure Guide Atari ST, one 3.5"-disk |
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2c - JINXTER
| Released: |
1987 |
| Distributor: |
Firebird / Rainbird |
| Story: |
Georgina Sinclair, Michael Bywater |
| Graphics: |
? |
| Programming: |
? |
| Platforms: |
Amiga, Apple 2,
Atari ST,
Atari XL/XE, Commodore
64/128,
Macintosh, MS-Dos,
Schneider CPC |
| Game box contained (Atari ST): |
Magazine "The Independent Guardian",
Staff Memo, Adventure Guide Atari ST, Beer mat "Old Moose Bolter", one
3.5"-disk |
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2d - CORRUPTION
| Released: |
1988 |
| Distributor: |
Firebird / Rainbird |
| Story: |
Rob Steggles |
| Graphics: |
Alan Hunnisett, Richard Selby |
| Programming: |
Hugh Steers |
| Platforms: |
Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Macintosh,
MS-Dos, Schneider CPC |
| Game box contained (Atari ST): |
Tape "Derek Rogers, March 25th",
casino chip 500, Adventure Guide Atari ST, Gameplay guide, Hint section, Guide
to casino games, Personal organizer pages, one 3.5"-disk |
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2e - FISH!
| Released: |
1988 |
| Distributor: |
Firebird / Rainbird |
| Story: |
John Molloy, Pete Kemp, Phil South, Rob Steggles |
| Graphics: |
Geoff Quilley, Alan Hunnisett, Chris Kent,
Richard Selby, Tristan Humphries |
| Programming: |
Richard Huddy, Bob Coles |
| Platforms: |
Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64/128, MS-Dos,
Spectrum 128k |
| Game box contained (Atari ST): |
One week travelcard - Hydropolis Underground
Omnibus Company, Fish identification chart, How to take care for your fish, "The
7 Deadly Fins - Project" files including hints and gameplay guide, Atari ST
Adventure guide, one 3.5"-disk |
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2f - MYTH
| Released: |
1989 |
| Distributor: |
Firebird / Rainbird |
| Story: |
Paul Findley |
| Graphics: |
Geoff Quilley, Tristan Humpries, Chris Kent |
| Programming: |
? |
| Platforms: |
Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64/128, PC |
| Game box contained (Atari ST): |
Installation guide |
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2g - WONDERLAND
| Released: |
1990 |
| Distributor: |
Virgin Mastertronic |
| Story: |
David Bishop |
| Graphics: |
Alan Hunnisett, Chris Kent, Geoff Quilley and
Anna Williams |
| Programming: |
Bob Coles, Paul Findley, Ken Gordon, Richard
Huddy, Steve Lacey, Doug Rabson, Anita Sinclair, Hugh Steers and Mark Taylor |
| Platforms: |
Amiga, Archimedes, Atari ST, PC |
| Game box contained (Atari ST): |
66-page user guide, Wonderland poster, map,
Quick reference guide, Voucher for single-sided disk set, four 3.5"-disks |
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2h - THE COLLECTION VOL. 1
| Released: |
1991 |
| Distributor: |
Virgin Mastertronic |
| Story, Graphics, and Programming: |
refer to Fish!,
Corruption,
The Guild of Thieves |
| Platforms: |
Amiga, Archimedes, Atari ST, PC |
| Game box contained (PC): |
"Getting started" on PC, 92-page
manual, quick reference guide, poster map (The Guild of Thieves), fish
identification chart (Fish!), page from personal organizer and tape "Derek
Rogers, March 25th" (Corruption), 11 5.25"-disks |
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3 - TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Most of the
following information was provided by Stefan Jokisch who developed the DOS port
of Magnetic.
- The game core was based upon 68000 code. This was executed "native"
on ST, Amiga, QL and emulated on the other systems.
- This "special" 68000 code used up to 64k. On 8bit machines they
used virtual memory mechanisms.
- In contrast to the Infocom games the stack is part of the 64k.
- Except for The Pawn, the game text is stored externally. They are coded
with Huffmann algorithm.
- The pictures are RLE coded (16bit versions)
- Except for The Pawn the game dictionary is stored externally, in The Pawn
it is stored plainly within the 64k segment.
- Due to the emulation the game itself is not aware of the environment it is
using. The communication between emulation and real system is done with LINE_A
commands.
- Even in contrast to the Infocom games the I/O model is quite simple. It
just supports streams for input and output and routines for drawing the images.
The output is much more limited than the Infocom output. You have nearly no
control over cursor and fonts.
- With Wonderland and the Collection the communication between emulation and
real system was enhanced heavily. The 64K limit disappeared. This was used to
add new features to the games, e.g. the FIND <object> command in Fish!.
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4 - STORYWRITERS
Rob
Steggles: The Pawn, The Guild of Thieves,
Corruption, Fish!
Hugh Steers: Corruption
Paul
Findley: Myth
David Bishop: Wonderland
John Molloy: Fish!
Pete Kemp: Fish!
Phil South: Fish!
Georgina Sinclair: Jinxter
Michael Bywater: Jinxter
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5 - GRAPHIC ARTISTS
Geoff
Quilley, Tristan Humphries, Alan Hunnisett, Richard Selby, Chris Kent and Anna
Williams.
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6 - PROGRAMERS
Bob
Coles, Paul Findley, Ken Gordon, Richard Huddy, Steve Lacey, Doug Rabson, Anita
Sinclair, Hugh Steers and Mark Taylor.
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7 - MUSICIANS
John
Molloy (The Pawn, Jinxter, Fish!), Michael Powell (Wonderland)
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