Steve Wetherill

I spent 40 years making games. Manic Miner/Jet Set Willy on the CPC464, Nodes of Yesod, later Command & Conquer and Red Alert. Now I'm writing it all down as a memoir. A taste, from 1985: the time three police cars chased me through a tunnel for breaking into my own house. #RetroGaming #ZXSpectrum

Check out this Kickstarter by Simon Butler, and back it now!! #PixelArt #RetroGaming

Check out this Kickstarter by Simon Butler, and back it now!! #PixelArt #RetroGaming

Remastering my Speccy games keeps leading me down rabbit holes. This time, converting Keith Tinman's original SID tunes for Sidewize to AY using Arkos. Here's the game over tune, with some nasty bass and distorted leads. I kinda like it. :) #ZXSpectrum #RetroGaming

The 8BitDo M30 wireless Bluetooth controller retro gamepad and retro Bluetooth receiver work great on the Next. The PS4 controller also works great with the receiver dongle. Here are the parts: www.amazon.com/dp/B07MSWGSJY www.amazon.com/dp/B08FSGT34S #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #SpectrumNext

A version of Sidewize on the Next with (garish, yes) hardware sprites. Sprites are programmer art for testing. #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #SpectrumNext

Adding a few Next and The Spectrum enhancements to the Odin remaster catalog. In this case, the Next Gamepad option. #GameDevelopment #RetroGaming #ZXSpectrum #TheSpectrum

Definite article Spectrum, and indefinite article Spectrum. Very similar from the top, not so much from the back. [If they look a bit dusty, that’s because they are a bit dusty] #RetroGaming #ZXSpectrum #TheSpectrum

The Software Projects ad photo taken outside the Liverpool ABC in 1984. I’ve circled myself in the crop. Everyone in the photo was a member of the SP staff, except Miner Willy and the usher character. And the photographer. Everyone else. #RetroGaming #Liverpool #SoftwareProjects

This seems pretty cool: Code Like It's 198x: code198x.com It’s all open source, definitely worth a look. #GameDevelopment #RetroGaming

On the hardware, for ye of little faith. :) #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #ZXSpectrumNext #NodesOfYesod

Heads up! No new chapter on Sunday. Regular service will resume as soon as possible. stevewetherill.substack.com #GameDevelopment #RetroGaming #Memoir

A little Z80 brainstorming with Codex while trying to squeeze Crosswize into a single-load 48K Spectrum release. Optimizing Z80 sprite draw routines in 2026. #GameDevelopment #RetroGaming #GenerativeAI

Nodes of Yesod for the ZX Spectrum Next main menu. The to-do list is getting shorter. #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #ZXSpectrumNext

Projectyle for the Spectrum Next? Why not! Codex Astra plus the Claude Code disassemblies of the ST and Amiga versions I made previously created this in a day. Gameplay is mostly complete. Hit me up in the comments for technical details. #GameDevelopment #RetroGaming #GenerativeAI #SpectrumNext

Forgot to include this in my Eldritch The Cat recollections. Ca. 1990 L–R: Dave Collins, Mark McCubbin, Stefan Walker, Marc Wilding, and me, in our Brunswick Dock office. I’m clearly having a very real phone call on our very fancy phone system while drinking coffee and taking a photo. #RetroGaming

If you're interested in what the games industry was like in those halcyon days of the 1980s, feel free to drop by and read for free. Even better, subscribe to my Substack for the price of a Starbucks per month. stevewetherill.substack.com #GameDevelopment #RetroGaming #Memoir #1980s

A rough-and-ready capture of the current build of Nodes of Yesod for Spectrum Next. Shh. Not meant to be a polished presentation (as you can tell when I keep forgetting where the munchable walls are), just showing a work in progress. #GameDevelopment #RetroGaming #SpectrumNext

Chapter 16 is up! The one where I meet a contemptible fellow on the tough streets of Liverpool 6. A shorter chapter this time, a 700-word snack between courses. #Memoir #GameDevelopment #RetroGaming

Chapter 16 is up! The one where I meet a contemptible fellow on the tough streets of Liverpool 6. A shorter chapter this time, a 700-word snack between courses. #Memoir #GameDevelopment #RetroGaming

I reconverted Fred Gray's SID source music for the #SpectrumNext using Arkos tracker to approximate the SID instruments. I’ve used up to 6 of the Next’s 9 channels leaving 3 for SFX. Attached is a WIP of the main Nodes Of Yesod theme tune. #RetroGaming #GameDev #AYMusic

Using LLMs for retro gaming projects. Here, Codex is producing charts showing platform reachability in the smooth scrolling Speccy Next version of Nodes of Yesod. #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #GenerativeAI #SpectrumNext

Experimental parallax scrolling in Nodes for the Next.

It's 1990, Projectyle is released for the Amiga and ST, and Eldritch The Cat goes legit. What does that mean? Read about what we did next in chapter 15 of my serialized memoir! Here we're posed in front of the Liver Building in Liverpool's Albert Dock area. #Memoir #RetroGaming #GameDevelopmen

In the end, I decided against the 'passthrough' platforms and chose to fix up the maps. Witness Nodes of Yesod Editor V0.01. It is very rudimentary. The platform you are on is the 'selected' platform, you can change selection and move each platform. It's already feature-creeping, though.

Experiments with Nodes of Yesod on the Spectrum Next. 256-color layer 2, hardware scroll, sprites. Early days. Don't get too excited. :) #RetroGaming #SpectrumNext

Nodes of Yesod tape image file -> Z80 disassembly -> Convert to C -> Compile to WASM. All Claude Code. You can play it here while it is still up. There may be bugs. :) claude.ai/code/artifac... #CodeArchaeology #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #GenerativeAI #ZXSpectrum

A little LLM code archeology thread over on my fedi account. #RetroGaming #GenerativeAI #CodeArcheology #ZXSpectrum

Projectyle was a ton of fun, Steve! I popped it on my Atari ST Hidden Gems video I did a while back: youtu.be/eW-vusq4XSY?... I was hooked from the first play. The 3-team, multi-arena design was really striking, and the power-ups add a nice bit of spice. I had a great time with it, so thank you!

Chapter 14 of my serialized memoir is up! Building Projectyle for Electronic Arts. This photo is from an EA photo shoot for Projectyle. I dunno who that long-haired hooligan is, though. :) stevewetherill.substack.com/p/chapter-14... #Memoir #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #NinetiesHairDontCare

How and why does the Salvador Dalí Theatre Museum crop up in my memoir? Find out in chapter 13. :) stevewetherill.substack.com/p/chapter-13... My photo, captured in 1988. #Memoir #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #Dali #AtariST #Amiga

Chapter 13 of my serialized memoir is now live! stevewetherill.substack.com/p/chapter-13... #Memoir #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #AtariST #Amiga

Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy for the Amstrad CPC, the first two video games I worked on professionally, forty-two years ago in 1984. Actual photo of my actual hands holding actual physical cassette tapes! Jet Set Willy is still shrink-wrapped, never opened! #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment

Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy for the Amstrad CPC, the first two video games I worked on professionally, forty-two years ago in 1984. Actual photo of my actual hands holding actual physical cassette tapes! Jet Set Willy is still shrink-wrapped, never opened! #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment

Liverpool, 1988. Skint, overworked, about to be fired. Chapter 12 is now free for everyone: my chaotic stint at Denton Designs, and the company I founded from the wreckage. stevewetherill.substack.com/p/chapter-12... #RetroGaming #GameDevelopment #ZXSpectrum #Memoir

David Rowe was one of the defining illustrators of British gaming's golden age: Ant Attack, The Way of the Exploding Fist, Populous, and the atmospheric Knightmare TV backdrops. He also painted the Crosswize cover. He's selling prints now, and I might just pick one up 🙂 #RetroGaming #CoverArt

Liverpool, 1988. I start at Denton Designs, get fired within months, lose my cat, and juggle three games at once. Out of the wreckage, a new company emerges. Live now for paid subscribers, with a sneak peek for everyone. Free for all this Sunday 👇 #RetroGaming #ZXSpectrum #AtariST #Memoir

Crosswize (ZX Spectrum, 1988). I talk about making it in Chapter 11 of my serialized memoir. Evidently, I was keen on space shrimps back then. :) Free to read, link in bio. #RetroGaming #ZXSpectrum

A couple of shots I took in 1999 showing the in-progress demolition of Canning Place in Liverpool. The Canning Place office block was home to Odin Computer Graphics, where we created games such as Nodes of Yesod, Robin of the Wood, Heartland, etc. #RetroGaming #Liverpool #Demolition

Sometimes the magic works. Sometimes it's knowing when to stop. Chapter 11 of my memoir is up! I sign away Crosswize, meet my future wife, and see America for the first time. (Shirt: Maryland Renaissance Festival, 1987.) stevewetherill.substack.com/p/chapter-11... #RetroGaming #ZXSpectrum #Memoir

Chapter 11 drops Sunday. It's 1987. Odin is gone, I'm broke. Colin and I sign with Firebird for Crosswize, the Sidewize sequel. That September I meet my future wife (she has a VIC-20) and visit the USA for the first time. Subscribe free to get it in your inbox 👇 #RetroGaming #ZXSpectrum #Memoir

Sidewize features in chapter 10 of my serialized memoir. You can read it here: stevewetherill.substack.com/p/chapter-10... #RetroGaming #GameDev #Memoir #ZXSpectrum

Canning Place in Liverpool, 90s demolition vs today. 1 and 2 mark the old Odin Computer Graphics office locations. A Hilton Hotel now sits exactly where Odin used to be. stevewetherill.substack.com/p/chapter-10... #Liverpool #ThenAndNow #Memoir #RetroGaming #History