Watch the newest gameplay demo of Magicore Anomala: Link
The technology behind Magicore Anomala requires the background to be 8 colors or less, although any Amiga fan will know that the system is capable of a rather incredible color range. As with many classic systems, Amiga's hardware limitations are extremely fascinating and follow rules that can be cleverly bent.
Impossible Mission (legally distinct from its extremely obvious permutation) was one of the more popular games on Commodore 64, and I think it still has its charm. I think the mechanics like basing floor detection on the position of your foot, and the unadjustable front-flip jump, make for an interesting game design study.
I missed out on the famous original and grew up with Impossible Mission II on Amiga, released in 1988. The gameplay is quite similar, and I think it's a bit of a hidden gem, especially given how few people in my demographic (millenials in North America) have heard of Impossible Mission or have even played a game on C64 or Amiga.
So, as any reasonable enjoyer of a video game does, I started to reverse engineer it.
In my opinion, an understated programming skill—one that only comes with experience—is knowing when to be "good practice", when to be clever, and when to be dumb. Today, we're being dumb.
The Amiga was a spectacle of graphics and sound when it debuted in 1985. While it can trivially display colorful images like in the above example, doing so in the context of a game engine presents a lot of unique challenges.
Apple Vision Pro reminds me that computers have become too efficient.
I'm currently typing this blog post in a floating window in the middle of snow-covered Yosemite. I am a floating body manifested into the transcendental Tim Cook matrix. I look into the sky and follow the soft clouds as they pass overhead. They slowly part, revealing Steve Jobs' smiling face watching over me from the heavens above. I am merely one more thing.