30 years ago, Sensible Software unleashed SEUCK (Shoot-em-up Construction Kit) onto the world. Nothing so ambitious had ever been attempted. Previously computer game creation was restricted to those able to grasp the complicated nuances of registry pushing in assembly language, or willing to cope with the massive restrictions of a cumbersome C64 BASIC, or much simpler text adventures using GAC (Graphic Adventure Creator) released a little over a year earlier.
Sensible produced a rock solid framework capable of running Shootemups with any graphics, sounds, fonts, backgrounds and enemy patterns users might want to throw at it, and largely succeeded. Earning high praise in the press at the time, including a Gold Medal Award in December's Zzap magazine. It opened up game creation to everyone with a C64 (or Amiga), and because the kit included a compiler capable of creating self contained SEUCK games, without the need for the kit itself to run, games were made, saved, given away on covertapes and even sold.
It is quite common for those wanting to take game creation a little further, to list the limitations of such a framework: games would usually play in a similar fashion with either push or auto vertical scrolling, no weapon powerups, similar UIs, title screens, ropy level transitions, and very few colours per sprite tile.. later on, however, most of these limitations would be overcome by custom builds of SEUCK, and from editing the compiled code in assembly in post production. With a little effort and a lot of imagination many fantastic shootemups were - and still are - produced all over the world.
