Before you say it, this is NOT the Jeff Minter game of the same name! In fact, Sheep in Space was the provisional name for another game that never quite made it.
The game was being written by Chris Lancaster, who did Crazy Balloon and Manic Miner for Software Projects on the C64.
Spookily, Chris gave the game the provisional name of Sheep In Space (which at the time he thought was completely original), when Jeff Minter then released a game with that exact same name.
However, the concept was completely different. The game involved a giant stetson with a window in it, allowing you to see glimpses of the sheep inside which you had rounded up by steering your stetson to capture them.
The game was never finished or released as Chris was never entirely happy with the game play – so it was stopped. It isn’t sure if the development was intended for Software Projects, or someone else entirely – we hope to find out from Chris soon.
Chris has offered hope that the game still exists, but he says that not much of it really exists. But we hope to find something and will bring it to you soon. Watch this space!
Contributions: Chris Lancaster
Supporting content
Creator speaks
Chris Lancaster talks about Sheep in Space:
“Sheep in Space wasn’t released because I wasn’t happy with the game play so I discontinued development of it. Spookily, it had a provisional name which I thought at the time to be extremely original, until Jeff Minter released a game using the same name – Sheep In Space!
The game concept was completely different but it was a shock that somebody else was mad enough to come up with the same title as me! My version involved a giant stetson with a window in it allowing you to see glimpses of the sheep inside which you had rounded up by steering your stetson to capture them.”
