Andy also mentioned that although he likes some adventures, such as The Hobbit and Level Nine programs, he can't see Taskset writing such programs itself. "There are already dozens of sub-groups of games: arcade space, arcade character, text adventure, graphic adventure, simulations and so on. It's getting more and more like the pop industry in fact, and as games become more sophisticated and more `crossovers' occur there'll be lots of room for all kinds of different categories. So we'll just have to see."

Whatever happens to the software industry, Taskset intends to stick with the 64. "I'm hoping in many ways that the new range of Commodore machines never take off. What they should do is keep the 64's memory map, add a proper printer port and change the Basic and operating system.

We're using the Audiogenic Koala pad graphic tablet to help get over some of the screen designing difficulties, but the line editor is good and the Programmers' Reference Guide is a big help - it's a pity there isn't that much information made available for other machines."

With the release of Gyropod, a sophisticated space arcade epic, and two more games on the way around the end of August ("Character games - I won't say more than that" Andy hints darkly), Taskset is determined to make a big splash before Christmas.
Gyropod
Gyropod by Taskset

"Our reputation is built on a team effort, the burning of much midnight oil and a portfolio of varied games. There aren't any passengers in the company - in fact we're having to take someone on to deal with all the business aspects so that I can get back to some programming, which I don't have much time for at the moment!" Andy gazed longingly at his terminal, which looked dusty with disuse. "I'm going to take a holiday then look after the Commodore Show in June, then I hope to get back to programming some games. People have been telling me since 1981 that the games boom was over, but I don't see signs of it finishing.


Article reproduced from Commodore Horizons magazine July 1984 edition.
Although all text appears unchanged, some photographs or images have been added or modified for aesthetic purposes.

Thank you to the following websites which were used for sourcing some images that appear in this article:
Commodore64.hu (rambosoft), Swedish Oric Homepage, Old-Computers.