Page 28 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #4

F CGM: What was your favorite APX
red Thorlin was Director of
program?
APX -- the Atari Program Ex-

change -- from 1982 through
1984. APX was -- and remains -- a FT: I had a lot of favorites; so many of
rare software distribution model in them. I have not seen anything as
which Atari would encourage end good on the PC or Mac. The spectrum
of titles was so wide it is hard to say
users to create software for their 8-
bit computers, then sell the software there was one favorite. Did I favor Algi-
through a catalog and pay royalties Calc over Getaway? They had nothing
in common and were each great. It is
to the programmers.
APX programs were of high- also a bit like picking my favorite child.
quality, useful, and imaginative. The Dog Daze was probably the most
fun, although I probably spent more
APX catalog included many memo-
rable games, including GetAway!, time playing Getaway and Caverns of
Galahad and the Holy Grail, and Mars/ Phobos and more time staring at
HexaBug. I was awed by all of the
Eastern Front: 1941. (Some titles,
like Eastern Front, were so good that Koons and Prag titles. There was a
they were released as official Atari bowling game that I was hooked on for
a while. It involved organizing numbers
titles.) APX wasn't just about games,
though. The catalog featured a wide and operators to come up with a par-
variety of applications, utilities, pro- ticular value.
I hold a special affection for Eastern
grammers' tools, and software for
kids. Some were definitely niche Front and De Re Atari, both by Chris
market programs -- like Fingerspel- Crawford. They paid the bills (i.e. were
ling (which taught simple sign lan- our biggest sellers).
guage), Personal Fitness Program Classic Gamer Magazine: Was run- There are several APX titles that
(exercise along with your Atari), and ning APX an office job within Atari? disappointingly never migrated to the
Circuit Lab (build and test DC electri- Was it full-time or something you did on PC. The quality of some of APX's titles
cal circuits). the side? were, and remain, superior and re-
APX inspired average users to markable. For example, I would like to
get their applications out to their fel- Fred Thorlin: It was a full time job. see a PC version of Dog Daze and
When I joined Atari my first task was to
Getaway! someday.
low Atari users. You didn't have to
be a professional programmer, and set up a contract with Bill Gates to do a
your program didn't need to be Microsoft BASIC for the Atari. I had CGM: Do you have any stories about
particularly weird or bad program sub-
dealt with him previously when I was at
mainstream enough to sell a million
copies. Anyone who could write a Texas Instruments. Software product missions?
useful program that met APX's qual- acquisition and development was al-
ways my task.
ity standards could be a published FT: If they were bad I would rarely get
(and paid) programmer. At APX, my focus shifted from to see them. There were up to six peo-
Of course, back in those days, mainline products developed under ple working in APX who I thought had
contract, to user developed programs
the best jobs in the world. Their task
the line between computer user and
programmer was a lot thinner. Most developed out of zeal. People would do was to open the submissions and de-
Atari users cut their teeth on BASIC fantastic things just out of artistic drive, cide who to publish, who to trash, and
who to encourage. Every day was
e.g. Dandy, the Koons and Prag titles,
the way people learn HTML today.
But APX helped build the sense of and Caverns of Christmas.
community that made owning an Mars. It grew Rarely would a
from just Dale
dog slip past
Atari so special. And APX's quarterly
prizes for the best programs -- usu- Yocam pursuing them. And
ally $1000 to $3000, and once development those that did
$25,000 -- which were awarded in tools to a staff of were quickly
addition to royalties, certainly didn't 50-plus providing put out of their
hurt the spirit of community software over 100 titles to misery when
development that APX hoped to fos- retailers and end we invited out-
ter. users. If you only siders in to
worked full-time judge our quar-
This interview with Fred Thorlin was you didn't fit in at terly contests.
Dandy was
APX. It was excit-
conducted in April 2000.
ing. interesting. The
author, Jack
Eastern Front
Classic Gamer Magazine Summer 2000 28