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MANUFACTURER:
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS
PRODUCT
NUMBER:
PHM 3197
RELEASED:
1Q/1984
.PROGRAMMER:
JAMES R. VON EHR II
ORIGINAL
RETAIL PRICE: $29.95
SOUND CLIPS:
|
REVIEW: Grade
A-: This
is a really cool game! You are a cowboy and it is your job to fight off
the Slymoids, who I am guessing are aliens. What is cool is that
they can come at you from the right, the left and from the front. They
start off coming right at you, but if you do not kill them, they then
will come from the sides at you. Things can get pretty hectic and
this is one fun shooter! Also, there are different locations that you
go to as you defeat each screen, so you are not stuck looking at the
same screen over and over again. |
 TOUCAN'S TRIVIA: James Von Ehr II
programmed this game along with Sneggit
all on his own free time. He was not part of
the TI-99/4A development group and as a matter of fact did not even
work in the building where the 99/4A was being produced. He instead was
working on IC Layout and submitted his games to the 99/4A group through
a producer (quite possibly Bob Hendren who designed Moon Mine). One question comes to mind after
all these years...What was James doing working on IC Layout
instead of developing games for the 99/4A? He was an excellent
programmer and designer that would have brought some really neat game
ideas to the table, especially if he started working in the 99/4A group
since the machine's launch. |
| TOUCAN'S TRIVIA: Here's an interesting
factoid from James Von Ehr II,
"TI was worried about the theme music, thinking I swiped it from
someone (guess it seemed too good for a programmer nerd). I actually
had composed a crude version of it a couple of years earlier on my
home-built analog synthesizer, controlled by an Apple II computer
running my custom software." |
| TOUCAN'S TRIVIA: Easter Egg
Alert! Even
though James Von Ehr II is credited as being the programmer on Slymoids' title screen, there is
still an Easter Egg hidden in the game. Inside of the castle the
initials "JVONEHR" and "GVONEHR" can be found on the frame surrounding
the swords hanging on the wall (see the last screen shot above).
Obviously, "JVONEHR" stands for programmer James Von Ehr II, however,
"GVONEHR" is a little trickier to figure out unless you know a little
bit about the guy...It stands for his wife Gayla. She helped provide
some design suggestions for the game, and in return he included her
initials on the sword frame. |
ADDITIONAL ITEMS:
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