Hidden Palace Podcast

Dr. Mark Eyles started working on computers before there was a proper gaming industry in the UK. As an early employee at Quicksilva, he did everything from soldering RAM boards together to writing backstories for home versions of popular arcade titles.

In the 1990s, he did game design work for companies like Sega and Rebellion. He was also a major contributor to the UK’s Sonic the Comic, writing stories for the first several dozen issues.

In the interview, he describes:

* His work designing the Eternal Champions spinoff Chicago Syndicate for Game Gear.

* How game design evolved as the industry moved from home computers like the ZX-81 and ZX Spectrum to more modern consoles.

* The origins of Sonic the Comic, and the connection to a never-produced series called “Alternity.”

* Moving to education, helping to start the Women In Games conferences, writing books, and what it’s like playing games when you’re not focused on getting them made.More resources:

* There’s a research article that accompanies this episode. Bo initially reached out to Mark after finding a cheat code in Chicago Syndicate that managed to stay hidden for three decades.* Mark wrote an account of his experience in the early UK gaming scene that appeared in Cogent Arts & Humanities in 2016.* There are scans of Mark’s Sonic the Comic stories on the Internet Archive:

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Bo and drx are joined by Biolaser to discuss Hidden Palace’s 2026 release of the Feb 19, 2008 prototype of Spore. Biolaser is part of the game’s modding scene, which has used the information from the prototype to supercharge its development efforts.

In the episode:

* Biolaser gives a primer on Spore, its development, and what was left out of the retail release.

* drx describes his work to release the prototype and finding the Spore fan community.

* Biolaser, drx, and Bo discuss how EA’s stance toward Spore reverse engineering and modding has helped maintain interest in the game. The group is enthusiastic about EA’s recent release of Command & Conquer source code, and hope that Spore and games from other publishers benefit from the same treatment.

You’ll hear from Biolaser how significant something as simple symbol list can boost interest in a publisher’s back catalog. Game companies don’t necessarily have to dedicate lots of time or resources to garner goodwill; just releasing copies of press discs will buy a lot.

You can re-live the Spore prototype reveal stream from New Year’s Day:

You can go to the SPORE Official Discord from EA and the SPORE Modding Community Discord to chat with experts on and enthusiasts for Spore. To discuss prototypes and video game preservation, head on over the Hidden Palace server.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hiddenpalace.substack.com

Bo, drx, and Saz are joined by the Internet Archive’s Jason Scott to discuss:

* Hidden Palace’s Project Deluge: what it is, what it covers, and what’s involved in properly archiving and showcasing thousands of game previews, prototypes, and press discs.

* Jason’s work at Psygnosis in the 90s, and how a late hardware design change for the PlayStation sent development studios scrambling to adapt.

* Saz’s and drx’s effort to develop software to identify duplicate discs and focus research efforts.

You can hear more from Jason on his podcast, Jason Scott Talks His Way Out of It.

Here is the initial Project Deluge stream:

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Bo, Saz, and Nic discuss the cut content, debug functions, and developer in-jokes that are hiding out on prerelease demo discs.

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Bo, Nic, and Saz interview Alexander Ehrath about his time working on Resident Evil 2 for Nintendo 64; Pyramid, a heretofore obscure Saturn game; implementing the Fresnel effect on the GameCube; and much more.

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Bo, Nic, Saz, and drx discuss The Hidden Palace's first release of a canceled game, Scene releases, and 2019's Sonic month.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hiddenpalace.substack.com

Episode 2: Bo, Saz, drx, Nic, and Hwd gather to discuss the 18th anniversary of Hidden Palace's 2008 Sega ROM Archive release and to explain why demo discs are underrated repositories of video game preservation information.

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This is the first episode of The Hidden Palace. Bo from the Rings of Saturn newsletter leads a conversation with Hidden Palace stalwarts drx, Sazpaimon, and Nic about:-How it all goes back to a Sonic X-Treme hoax- The joy of copying a ROM out of a controller port- Why you should send money to foreign strangers to buy rare video game carts- What is and isn't in Burning Rangers for Sega Saturn

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hiddenpalace.substack.com