Crash described Message From Andromeda as Interceptor's first Spectrum
game, after the company had made its name on the Commodore 64. It was coded
by David M. Banner, with in-game graphics by Jean A. Banner and the inlay by
Terry Greer, and cost £5.50. Sources: Crash review,
Spectrum Computing.
Interceptor Micros
Interceptor was run by father and son Julian and Richard Jones from
Tadley in Hampshire. It was set up after a partnership with Jeff Minter
ended in 1982, and later added the budget labels Players and Players
Premier and the premium label Pandora. See
Wikipedia.
Instant Pictures
Crash noticed that the pictures appear almost at once because they are
stored ready-made rather than drawn line by line, and that commands are
typed in silence with no cursor. Crash also found that "SHOOT SOLDIER" fails
and you have to type "SHOOT ALIEN SOLDIER", and that dead soldiers stay where
they fell. See the Crash review.
Help From The Producer
The Crash reviewer admitted getting the solution to the control panel from
Richard Paul Jones of Interceptor at the Earls Court Computer Fair. See the
Crash review.
Reviews
Crash issue 7 gave it 7/10 and Big K issue 10 gave it 1/3. Source:
Spectrum Computing.
Rooms Start At Two
The room description table at Table_RoomDescriptions leaves rooms 00 and 01 empty,
and the game starts in room 02, "In Deep Space,on patrol." (Messaging_InDeepSpaceOnPatrol),
which is set at F8E2. The current room is only ever written at
8E2B, and nothing passes it room 00 or 01.
Forest At World's End also leaves rooms 00 and 01 empty,
but starts in room 05.
