Posted on Wednesday, 7th July, 2021 by Paul Rodgers
Daniele Spadoni makes video games inspired by his favourite games and franchises. Lucky for us Spider-man 77 is one of this franchises! In anticipation of the fan game he is creating for the pilot episode of the TV series Daniele and our Paul talked about the project.
Paul: Your fan game featuring Nicholas Hammond's Spider-man is greatly anticipated by fans. Are you a fan of the TV series and if so, how long have you been?
Daniele: YES! I knew the first film as a child I think in 1990 I don't remember the exact period. My father showed me the first-run VHS in the Spadoni house.
The Spadoni Family VHS tape of Spider-man 77
Paul: What are your earliest memories of the tv series?
Daniele: Realism. Spiderman was real in some scenes! I still don't understand how they managed to direct certain scenes.
Paul: Do you have any favourite episodes?
Daniele: The first movie. Here in Italy the series has never been translated. I only watched the first three films.
Paul: Had a video game on the series come out back in the early 80's it would most likely have been on something like the Atari 2600. Your game appears to be more like a 16-bit game like we would have gotten in the early to mid 1990's. Is this a favourite era of yours in video games?
Daniele: YES! I was introduced to the world of Pixels when I was a young boy. During my childhood, my father used to give me a good number of games to play, and every single time I used to identify with each one of them.
It was the Commodore itself that has inspired me and helped to develop my passion for the world of the Videogames. This has been the case from the moment I started making the first 2D pixel animations all the way until today that I am reinterpreting and adapting.
Modern games have no energy; they don't give out so much. Nowadays when players end a game, they will not play it again as it never managed to strike at their hearts as pixels did in the past. Pixels are fantastic as they are, they don't need any graphic alterations. This is an alternative reality, a different dimension, which needs no renovation.
Paul: What are some of your favourite games?
Daniele: Thanks to the Commodore, I grew up playing these masterpieces and it was sooner than later that they stole my heart away. However, I don't love just one single game in particular.
Paul: What games have influenced your Spider-man 77 fan game?
Daniele: The Amazing Spider-Man for AMIGA. In fact in some levels Spiderman will be small, just like this game.
The Amazing Spider-Man is a platform game featuring the Marvel comic book character Spider-Man. The game was developed by Oxford Digital Enterprises, and released in 1990 for Commodore 64 and Amiga, and later ported to PC, Amstrad CPC, and Atari ST.
Paul: You have a lot of games in development - what made you decide to make a game about the TV series?
Daniele: The 1977 movie had to have a game!
My aim is to revive the magic of the 80s and 90s. Creativity and spirituality have a strong energy to create and share love and transmit Passion to others. What I did with these gaming masterpieces' adaptation was to keep things simple and real at the same time. As I said before, while you were playing those games, you always felt immersed in the world of the game, you always felt as part of that dimension. The passion we put into them made the result so cool and full of energy.
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Paul: What elements of the TV series have you focused on to create the game?
Daniele: My goal is to follow the events of the first film faithful and respecting the work.
Paul: Let's talk a little about the process of making the game.
What software program(s) do you use? How do you code the game?
Daniele: I am not a programmer I have never been. Today, there are programs that allow you to create retro games in a very simple way without knowing any programming codes. I use the OpenBor program.
Open Beats of Rage is an open source continuation of the Beats of Rage engine. Although Beats of Rage was intended to be a stand-alone game, the modular design of in game elements and engine meant end users were able to replace assets with creations of their own, called mods.
Paul: Are you collaborating with anyone else on the game? Artists? Musicians?
Daniele: Yes, I was allowed to use Russ Braun's art! A very talented special person! For me it is an honor to have a collaboration with him! There will be the Cut Scenes where his tributes will be inserted.
Paul: How long does it take to create a game such as this from start to finish?
Daniele: Usually a month. Creating an arcade game on OpenBor is very quick and easy.
Paul: What are some of the challenges you've found making the game?
Daniele: The sprites of the characters. Luckily my brother Davide Spadoni a hidden artist creates unpublished sprites for me.
Paul: Where have you found inspiration for the game?
Daniele: The idea the spark of creating the videogame was when I saw the first film a few weeks ago.
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Paul: How will fans be able to play the game? Installed game or system emulator?
Daniele: The game works for PC and it is not necessary to have emulators. OpenBor works by simply running its .EXE file. No installation will be required.
There will be the possibility to load the game rom also in other applications or consoles.
Paul: Do you play to release artwork/packaging for the game?
Daniele: No. I'm not good at this.
Paul: Do you have plans to create a sequel fan game if this one meets your expectations?
Daniele: If the game is successful it may be feasible to create a sequel.
Thank you to Daniele for the interview, and more importantly creating the video game for fellow fans to enjoy.
Visit Daniele's dedicated page for the game here.
You can view the trailer here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVBRasVnaYg
And you can download the game itself here!
