Anyone have screenshots of the sinclair QL version of 'Bandersnatch'

[carmel_andrews]

Apparently, whilst it's publisher (Imagine software) was going through the final throwes of a winding up order (closing down the company and assets being sold off) back in 1984

 

The former directors (Hetherington/Lawson etc) started doing a few legal moves themselves to protect some aspects of their investments, namely imagine's so called 'megagames' (i.e 'legally' syphoning off certain elements of imagines IPs, properties etc and putting that into the name of another company...so that they wouldn't loose everything when imagine's assets were eventually divied up)

 

And whilst this was happening, they were also talking to major computer manufacturers (sinclair amongst them) and according to articles i've seen previosuly, just as imagine were being divied up, they (hetherington/lawson etc and their new company) mananged to do a deal with sinclair, which gave sinclair a licence to produce a sinclair QL version of 'Bandersnatch' (which became 'Brattacus' on the ST/Amiga, done by the new company 'Psygnosis')

 

Just curious as to whether sinclair were able to release the game or if any prototypes exist

[BSA Starfire]

Wern't the two "mega games" supposed to have been on the speccy with an expensive hardware add-on. I'm sure I read that development had hardly started on either when Imagine went so publicly tits up on BBC TV.

I'm sure there was some link with these and the released Shadow of the unicorn on the speccy that also used a hardware add-on.

your probably best asking about this here:http://www.worldofspectrum.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3

Keep me updated if you do find anything.

All the best,

Chris

[carmel_andrews]

I don't think Lawson/hetherington did much with the other megagame as they probably saw the 8bit market suffering in the wake of the VG crash in the states and were probably looking at new computer platforms (i.e 68000/x86 based)

[RWAP]

And whilst this was happening, they were also talking to major computer manufacturers (sinclair amongst them) and according to articles i've seen previosuly, just as imagine were being divied up, they (hetherington/lawson etc and their new company) mananged to do a deal with sinclair, which gave sinclair a licence to produce a sinclair QL version of 'Bandersnatch' (which became 'Brattacus' on the ST/Amiga, done by the new company 'Psygnosis')

 

Just curious as to whether sinclair were able to release the game or if any prototypes exist

 

After all this time, we have now managed to resurrect not one but two versions of Bandersnatch on the Sinclair QL. Unfortunately, neither appear to be a full version.

 

The earlier version has more colours and was found some years ago - but crashes whilst you are moving about on the first screen. The two microdrive cartridges were in a very poor state and only one of them could be read at all.

 

The latest version (which has been recovered in the last few weeks) is much more like Brattacus and is actually playable even though there are at least two corrupt sections on the microdrive cartridges. Oddly, whilst you can move around, interact with lifts and doors, there are no objects to pick up / characters to interact with (at least not that we have found yet). Maybe the game was unfinished, or the corrupt sections of the microdrive cartridge are affecting this...

 

More details and screenshots appear on http://qlforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2033