Dave Ingram

From “DIM avid” to Strafe Skool

My story with computers and games programming began in the early 1980s, with a Sinclair ZX81 in WHSmith and a rather embarrassing misunderstanding.

I'd watch other kids typing things on the screens — usually “HELLO MUM” or something equally sophisticated. Naturally, I wanted to have a go.

Except every time I tried to type my name, the screen displayed:

DIM avid

Every. Bloody. Time.

I kept going back, trying again, and getting the same result. Eventually, I bought a ZX81 and took it home.

Turns out, the computer was in Command Mode. Pressing D automatically entered the BASIC command DIM.

So there I was, having spent weeks looking like an idiot in the shop, wondering what the hell was going on, when the answer was pretty bloody simple.

And that, more or less, was the beginning.

I was hooked. It was MAGIC. I could put things on the screen!

I copied listings and wrote some truly awful games with 1K of RAM. Then I progressed to an Atari 800XL, learnt a bit of 6502 assembly language, and spent a ridiculous amount of time drinking tea and playing Blue Max on cassette — once it had finally loaded.

I can very clearly remember playing it, loving it, and staring at the screen, thinking:

“How the bloody hell do ya write something like this? 'Cos I really wanna write something like this!”

That question and desire stuck around. Life happened. Technologies changed. There were plenty of starts, stops, abandoned attempts and different ways of trying to get there.

Anyhow, forty-odd years later, I've finally made my flying game.

It's called Strafe Skool.

It's not a flight simulator. It's not a blockbuster. It's just a little old biplane in a crazy world, on a ridiculous mission, with plenty of room for a bit of discovery along the way.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.