Alan Murphy

[Tempest]

Does anyone have a way to get in touch with Alan Murphy?  I have a few questions for him about artwork he may have done for a few prototype 5200 games.  All I know is that he's currently retired and living in Hawaii (we should all be so lucky).

[Chris+++]

On 5/11/2022 at 11:21 AM, Tempest said:

Does anyone have a way to get in touch with Alan Murphy?  I have a few questions for him about artwork he may have done for a few prototype 5200 games.  All I know is that he's currently retired and living in Hawaii (we should all be so lucky).

 

It might be worth asking Kevin Savetz, as he interviewed Alan for the ANTIC podcast. It's been six or seven years, but he presumably still has relatively recent contact information.

 

antic@ataripodcast.com

 

 

 

Edited May 12, 2022 by Chris+++

[Tempest]

I asked a while back, they communicated by phone I think, not email.  I'm not going to call him up and bother him with my dumb questions.

[Chris+++]

4 minutes ago, Tempest said:

I asked a while back, they communicated by phone I think, not email.  I'm not going to call him up and bother him with my dumb questions.

 

Understood, but your questions tend to be smart ones.  You've been a trusted historical archivist for a long time, if you don't mind my lofty phrasing, and there's a lot of information that would have been lost forever if you hadn't asked questions.

 

All the same, I can understand wanting to avoid the potential oddness of calling a pixel artist out of the blue about 40-year-old games.

 

 

[Tempest]

1 hour ago, Chris+++ said:

 

Understood, but your questions tend to be smart ones.  You've been a trusted historical archivist for a long time, if you don't mind my lofty phrasing, and there's a lot of information that would have been lost forever if you hadn't asked questions.

 

All the same, I can understand wanting to avoid the potential oddness of calling a pixel artist out of the blue about 40-year-old games.

 

 

I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I'm actually kind of phone shy so calling up and bothering a complete stranger is out of the picture.

[jhd]

 

Back in the mid-1990s, before e-mail was widespread, I needed some information from a gentleman who was the historian for a particular religious organization. I sent him a polite letter with my request. After several months and no response I was getting frustrated as he was impending a project that I was trying to finish.

 

I secured his telephone number and asked to speak to him. Much to my horror and embarrassment, I discovered that the man had died the previous day! (He had been ill for some time, hence the lack of a response.) There was no way I could have known this as the obituary had not yet been published. I sincerely apologized, of course, and the other party was not upset. 

 

To the credit of everyone involved, my request was passed along to his replacement who ultimately sent me the information that I needed. 

[Tempest]

Back in the early days of this hobby, when it wasn't quite so popular and consisted mostly of a small group of dedicated people, calling up an ex-Atari employee wasn't out of the question.  Heck I used to send emails off to people whose names I found on resumes they had posted.  It was a much much smaller community and most of these programmers were just happy that people still remembered their old work.  However now days due to the sheer amount of people in the hobby, people who aren't always well behaved, it's not as easy.  I've heard from several former game programmers that they were constantly being pestered by people demanding stuff so they've stopped responding altogether.  It's a shame, but it's not unexpected to be honest.  A few bad actors ruin it for people who are legitimately trying to archive and record the history and not just looking for 'free stuff'.  Times have changed...

[jhd]

Not to derail this thread, but that same attitude happens in other communities/interest groups as well.

 

I used to be very active in another hobbyist community. Over time, I amassed a very large personal collection of reference materials relating to the subject matter. On several occasions, I received calls and e-mails from people requesting (more or less politely) that I provide them with access to my personal library. There was a perception that they were entitled to access, even if the material was not held in a public institution. 

[Tempest]

2 minutes ago, jhd said:

I used to be very active in another hobbyist community. Over time, I amassed a very large personal collection of reference materials relating to the subject matter. On several occasions, I received calls and e-mails from people requesting (more or less politely) that I provide them with access to my personal library. There was a perception that they were entitled to access, even if the material was not held in a public institution. 

Well I can derail this thread because it's mine.

 

It's that entitled attitude that really ruins everything.  I have people send me nasty emails all the time demanding certain roms that I've reviewed but can't release publicly for various reasons.  There's even one idiot that has a 'page of hate' where he lists all the people who he thinks has roms he wants and complains about how selfish they are.  Not only is that sort of thing seriously messed up, but much of the information on his page is completely wrong so he's sending people to harass completely innocent people.

[Chris+++]

 

That's awful. The irony is that these games were created to provide enjoyment. It's confusing when people grow so obsessive that they forget the "fun" part -- to such an extent that they eschew common courtesy and defeat the whole purpose. But such psychologically compromised sorts would be like that regardless of which hobby they were into; they were like that before they crossed paths with game fans, and they'll be like that afterward. It would be a damn shame to see those rude few ruin the hobby. Hopefully, the programmers you've mentioned know that everyone who still enthuses about their work isn't like that.

 

 

[AlanJMurphy]

Hi, this is Alan, what are your questions?

[AlanJMurphy]

On 5/11/2022 at 9:21 AM, Tempest said:

Does anyone have a way to get in touch with Alan Murphy?  I have a few questions for him about artwork he may have done for a few prototype 5200 games.  All I know is that he's currently retired and living in Hawaii (we should all be so lucky).

Hi, this is Alan what are your questions?

[Tempest]

2 hours ago, AlanJMurphy said:

Hi, this is Alan what are your questions?

I actually was able to get in touch with you through email.  I was the person asking you about that unnamed Atari 5200 game and Quagmire.  But while I have your ear again, what can you tell me about Tom Curran Surfing for the 2600?  Did it get to a playable state?