Welcome to what is the remains of Heartland V1, known as Kimera to those close to the project.
Kimera was infact the original given name to what eventually became Heartland, releaed by Odin Software back in 1986. Although we saw and enjoyed the original game without a thought in the world… it seems that the game was taking, or could have taken a rather different shape altogether.
Originally, the graphics were being designed by Stuart Fotheringham, and a set of backgrounds and objects were drawn up for the game. The scene was set and production was ready to be started, though for reasons currently unknonw, Stuart’s graphics were scrapped in favour of a new set of graphics, and a slightly different approach to the game.
It is possible that Stuart may have left Odin at that time, and this is why someone else was drafted in.. but still a mystery remains about just how far production got with Stuart’s graphics. It is possible that some code was done which featured some of the original concepts which were before Heartland ever existed.
All that has been found so far is all/most of the artwork which Stuart did for the game. Recently uncovered on the Megatree disks which Retro Gamer have released. These have been put into a slideshow for people to see on a real C64 or through emulation, otherwise the screenshots tell all you need to know.
More research and information required on this particular title, of which we hope to gain from Stuart himself very soon. Possibly there is more to find, but then its always possible also that this was all that was ever started before the game took a new direction. Time will tell.
More information required… but a sneak peak available…
Contributions: Stuart Fotheringham, Retro Gamer magazine.
