Apr 7, 2016
Darren Schebek, Envision character set editor
Darren Schebek wrote Envision, a character set editor for the Atari 8-bit computers. It was published in Antic magazine’s software catalog in 1986. Envision cost $19.95: “Create giant, multi-screen, 8-way scrolling pictures. Build effortless animations (up to 128 frames at 10 speeds). ENVISION has over 50 commands giving you total control over the Atari’s 6 incredible text modes. On the 130XE, Envision supports 16 simultaneous fonts.” After we conducted this interview, Darren sent me the Envision source code, which is now available at the Internet Archive.
Darren later wrote two more games for the Atari: Death By Solitaire and Yahtzee.
He worked for Canadian software publisher Distinctive Software, where he wrote the Commodore 64 port of Road Raider (porting it from the Atari ST version), and later worked at Mindspan Technologies where he created the Commodore 64 version of Mondu's Fight Palace.
This interview took place on January 30, 2016.
Teaser quote:
“My dad would come back from work, and he’d visit computer shops and stuff. He’d bring home flyers for different computers. He brought home an Apple // flyer one day, and one day he brought home this Atari 800 flyer. And I’m looking at these two flyers, and I’m comparing these things, like, ‘I don’t get it. There’s no decision to be made here.’”
Links
Envision source code: https://archive.org/details/AtariEnvisionSourceCode
Darren’s web site: http://www.user.dccnet.com/dschebek/envision.htm
Darren on AtariAge http://atariage.com/forums/user/37813-darren-schebek/