Frak! [SEP] designer
Frak!
Frak! is a 1980s computer game originally programmed in machine code by Nick Pelling for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron and published by his own 'Aardvark' software label in 1984. The game was noted for its "outstanding" graphics, with its characters being compared in one review to early Disney cartoons.
The game was ported to the Commodore 64 the following year by 'The B Team' (Jason Perkins, Anthony Clarke and Mark Rodgers). The BBC and Electron versions were included on the
"Frak!" encodes high scores as nonsensical secret messages, such as "Hairy gonks kiss green Buddhas slowly".
Conversions.
When the original BBC Micro version was converted for the Acorn Electron, the screen mode was changed from four colours to two because of the Electron's inferior video speed. The extra RAM freed up by the smaller frame buffer made it possible to include extra levels (bringing the total to nine against the BBC's three) and a screen designer which was not in the BBC original