Lysoft PersonalMicro II (Computer)

The Lysoft PersonalMicro II is a computer released in late-1975 by Lysoft. It was the first computer by Lysoft to use the V-Disk format, a format created by Lysoft that could store more data and record it faster. V-Disks were originally single-sided 800kb total disks, but double sided 1600kb V-Disks were later created in mid-1976. Unlike the previous computer, the PersonalMicro II used higher quality parts, and even had a sound chip, the VS32, which was similar to the Commodore 64's soundcard with its versatility, but it had a sample channel, that, though hard to use, was utilized in many programs. To reduce cost, the screen was not built in, yet the computer was built into a keyboard. The computer was a huge success in the US, and eventually in 1977 was brought to the UK, where it was less successful than in the US, but still successful. The console housed one of the first FPS games ever, Zombie City, a game released in 1976 developed by a 13-year-old Howard James which got an average score of 4/10, because it ran very slowly in a large window. Zombie City 2, released the next year, actually fixed all of the problems in exchange for running in a small 160x120 window without music. Zombie City III was released in 1979, 2 years after the second, the final game in the Zombie City main-series until Zombie City 4, 10 years later on the Lysoft Video Arcade Mark II. Zombie City III included 2-channel music into the game and let it run in a 200x160 window in CGA mode. The music lacked the ability to produce bass and guitar at the same time, due to the 3rd and Sampling channels being omitted to allow more processing to actually go into the game. In 1981, the last Zombie City game to release on the PersonalMicro 2 was released, a spinoff called Zombie City: Attack, which recieved less than favorable reviews for actually running WORSE than the first game in the series, and lacking 4 of the weapons that Zombie City 3 had, slagging it down to 2 weapons, Pistol and Knife. The game attempted to be an entry-level Zombie City game, but it actually turned out to be one of the hardest games on the system, not because of difficulty, but because the hardware couldn't handle it, and Mara-Publishing's insisting that Howard James and Lee Scott use a 400kb disk, and develop the game in 4 weeks. (as an idea, Zombie City 1, the quickest game to develop in the series until that point, took 2 months to develop. The masterpiece Zombie City III was took 6 months.) After this, Howard and Lee left Mara-Publishing and approached Lysoft Publishing about partnering, which they did 3 weeks later, and started to develop Zombie City: Zombie Nation, originally being worked on as Attack II, but due to the bad name of Attack, they created a new title. The game features 2 cities, New York City and Philedelphia. The game ran slightly smoother than Zombie City III, and featured all of the weapons that Zombie City III did, plus another one, the Sniper Rifle, which was planned for Zombie City II but the PersonalMicro II couldn't handle it.

PAGE NOT YET COMPLETED