Commodore User


Psychedelia
By Llamasoft
Commodore 16

 
Published in Commodore User #18

Psychedelia

Congratulations to Jeff Minter for the most original piece of software I think I've ever seen. Psychedelia is a kind of cosmic kaleidoscope. The idea is to switch the lights off, stick your favourite record on the turntable, and freak out to your own light show.

Using a joystick with the fire button depressed, you move the cursor around the screen in whichever direction takes your fancy. This causes one of the preset patterns to flow, twist and leap across the screen with startling results. It's really quite beautiful! There are sixteen preset patterns in all which you can define yourself once you get the hang of things.

Other parameters such as symmetry, cursor speed and pulse width can be altered to create special effects. When a pleasing result is obtained it can be recorded and played back. Impressive stuff.