Remembering Jonathan Smith

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XTM
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Remembering Jonathan Smith

Post by XTM »

Well, it's been exactly 10 years now that Jonathan Smith died and I assume he was an inspiration for many of us, so I'd like to post this topic as a kind of commemoration (or w/e is the proper term in English).

He used to be quite active in the WoS forums back in the day and I'm sure there are plenty of members who remember his antics ... but there must also be a good number of members on the SC forums who weren't around then.

I have a special feature planned which also involves this very legend, more on that later.
Last edited by XTM on Fri Jun 26, 2020 5:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ZXDunny
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Re: Remembering Jonathan Smith

Post by ZXDunny »

We've lost many members of our community over the years and all will be sorely missed, but maybe none so much as Joffa. He was talented, abrasive, hilarious and decidely off-centre, and his work is still held up as an example of how to get things done even today.

May he continue to R.I.P.
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Re: Remembering Jonathan Smith

Post by toot_toot »

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been 10 years. Whenever you saw his name after loading up a Spectrum game, you knew it was going to be great. Rest In Peace, Dude.
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Re: Remembering Jonathan Smith

Post by ketmar »

it might be slightly unfair for other people doing great things on Speccy, but for me Joffa will always be the most memorable person. i never talked with him, but the games he coded showed me that my little Speccy is capable of much more than flip-screen platformers or very sluggish scrollers. in many (most?) of my unreleased engines one can find bytes "Joffa", used as various section marks, or just randomly dropped here and there. it's my strange way to say "thank you!" i guess Joffa would like it.
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Re: Remembering Jonathan Smith

Post by jpnz »

I've had a blast this afternoon with his last unfinished work, Saucer - awesome
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Re: Remembering Jonathan Smith

Post by PQR »

Wow, ten years already...

Kim Justice did a one hour video on Jofffa last year. It’s a wonderful tribute yet also paints a pretty good picture of how so many of the generation of bedroom coders in the 80’s were eaten and spit out by the gaming industry.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRFY2orHo3o[/media]
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Joefish
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Re: Remembering Jonathan Smith

Post by Joefish »

I never got to meet him, but we exchanged lots of emails about Speccy and ST programming.
So sorry he was taken from us.
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Juan F. Ramirez
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Re: Remembering Jonathan Smith

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

I remember when he posted on WoS forums. I remember him as a funny guy, sharing anecdotes of his Spectrum years and posting surrealist pics or videos.

Looking at his games, he's clearly one of the best coders back in the day. The conversions he made of classic arcades like Hypersports or Green Beret are as good as the originals. Or games like Cobra or Batman the Caped Crusader are classics.
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Re: Remembering Jonathan Smith

Post by cmal »

I was just playing Green Beret quite a lot the other day. As out of practice as I was, the game still felt good and addictive as it was when I played it back in the day.
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Re: Remembering Jonathan Smith

Post by Ast A. Moore »

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: Sat Jun 27, 2020 8:28 pm I remember him as a funny guy, sharing anecdotes of his Spectrum years and posting surrealist pics or videos.
I share his fixation with rubber duckies. The big difference is that only I use them as Easter eggs in my games, whereas Joffa just went ahead and plastered them all over the place without a second thought. :lol:
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.

Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
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Re: Remembering Jonathan Smith

Post by XTM »

I don't know if many people have seen it (the thread has been accessed nearly a 100 times, but only 2 comments so far), but there's an interview of sorts with Joffa in the new Crash issue in my other topic. Feedback is very welcome, so even if you didn't enjoy it let me know ;)
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Re: Remembering Jonathan Smith

Post by Patrik Rak »

I still remember how I came to check WoS on 1.7.2010 and saw a post that "Joffa is gone". I couldn't really believe that it was what it was, at first I just thought he just took a temporary leave, like many did during the years. I have to say it has really downed on me, and I have questioned how fair is that that someone so talented and so young has to go... After that I have really started thinking about the meaning of life again, after all he was not that much older than myself, what is the meaning of all this and what do we leave behind. I have summed it up in this quote:
No matter how much wisdom you have acquired, how many amazing things you have witnessed, or what precious trinkets you have gathered, once you are gone, all that matters are the good deeds you have done for the others.
It have made me realize even more how fickle the life is and how things which you take for granted can change in an instant, and it has helped me to focus on things which I consider important ever since.

Rest in peace, Joffa. I still treasure the PMs we have exchanged...

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Re: Remembering Jonathan Smith

Post by R-Tape »

RIP Joffa. Green Beret was the only game I really got to know and love BITD. That and Terra Cresta are my favourites now, but all of his work shows his technical mastery and crazy artistic side in some way. I would have liked to have seen more of his malarky on the forums - who would have thought that a grainy video of a toffee crisp (or whatever) being obliterated with a hammer could be so funny!

Wasn't it Fog that arranged the "FROBUSH" wreath? That was the sweetest thing ever.
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Re: Remembering Jonathan Smith

Post by XTM »

Yeah R-Tape ... or the vid where he apparently is about to shave ending with a big splash of ketchup shooting up the screen. Ah, what a nutter (I mean that in a good way) he was! :lol:
That crazy artistic side you speak of, well I think you have that too, plenty of quirky things and ideas in your games, I like that. Just couldn't tell you what with not being on this forum until recently. If you ever want another cassette inlay let me know, Sunbucket was ages ago ;)

Hey, Fog did arrange that, shame he was banned (much, much later). I don't remember what happened but he had been a member for so long that you wouldn't expect that to happen.
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Re: Remembering Jonathan Smith

Post by Ralf »

Jonatahan was a bit crazy but a very positive guy after all. He was also very modest, never expected people to
treat him like someone superior to them. I always liked him and respected him although never really knew him closer.

His story is similar in some parts to Matt Smith's story. You start very early as a teenage kid, quickly become
some kind of superstar programmer but later you become disillusioned with the industry, you quit, personal problems came...

And he left us so quickly. 44 years. That's exactly my age when I'm writing this post now.

So remember guys, life is fragile and you don't know what tomorrow will bring. So try to enjoy your life, follow your "silly" passions (like Speccy),
spend time with your close ones and not just chase after money and career.

[mention]XTM[/mention] I'm curious to see your little tribute
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Einar Saukas
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Re: Remembering Jonathan Smith

Post by Einar Saukas »

Ralf wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2020 12:46 pmHe was also very modest, never expected people to treat him like someone superior to them.
Exactly my point. He was brilliant yet humble, an extremely rare combination.

This is what I mostly admired about him. This, and his prevalent sense of humor. Who else would put rubber ducks in an official Stallone game?
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Einar Saukas
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Re: Remembering Jonathan Smith

Post by Einar Saukas »

A tribute to one of my favorite game musics ever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUeE0kz7kk0
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