Reality Construction Kit
Comment: No AI was used in the creation of this article. I wrote the whole thing myself by hand, except for quotes, which with one exception are from pre-AI contemporary sources. The user who believes the article was machine-generated is mistaken, and I'm not sure what their basis is. Only a Floor Tile (talk) 11:38, 10 October 2026 (UTC)
| Original author(s) | Brian Bell |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | BPM Promotions |
| Initial release | 1996 |
| Engine | |
| Operating system | Amiga |
| Available in | English |
| Type | Game creation system |
| License | Proprietary |
Search Reality Construction Kit on Amazon.
The Reality Construction Kit, also called Reality Software Construction Kit or Reality Game Engine, is a game creation system for the Amiga computer platform and published in 1996.
Design
Reality is a piece of software allowing the creation of video games for the Commodore Amiga platform. The user configures the parameters of their game using a graphical user interface, which includes tools for working with graphics, sound, and variables. The resulting games target the standard OCS Amiga configuration.
Different genres of games can be made using different Skeleton Disks, each of which serve as a framework. Included with the original distribution were Skeleton Disks for two genres: a side-scrolling shoot 'em up game, and an adventure game in the style of Dizzy series. Further Skeleton Disks were planned for release which would have added additional genres.
History
Background
In the 1990s, GamesMaster, the first UK television programme dedicated to video games, ran a contest sponsored by publisher Europress, challenging viewers to create their own video game using the company's product, AMOS BASIC. The winner was one Brian Bell of Northern Ireland, whose game Charlie Chimp was distributed as a cover disk with the May 1993 issue of Amiga Format magazine in the form of a three-level demo. Bell reportedly sold around 4,000 copies of the full 30-level version at £5 apiece, earning more than £20,000, a moderate success at the time for an independently produced game.[1]
Bell was able to pivot his fame into the Mr. AMOS Club, a usergroup and disk magazine. The disk magazine ran for six issues from May 1993 to early 1994. He marketed the club as a way to introduce people into the world of independent game development using AMOS BASIC, which was considered the most beginner-friendly Amiga programming language for that purpose.[2] He also used the magazine to market various other games of his produced in AMOS, including Wrath of Gwendor and Seemore Doolittle's Underwater Capers, as well as various disks of game development assets.[3]
The Mr. AMOS Club disk magazine was praised for its included code, particularly for the quality of game engines its provided, which were well-written and performant despite AMOS' reputation for ordinarily poor performance.[4]
Development and release
Development on Reality began in 1994, and included Brian Bell and at least one other coder.[5] Reality was written in AMOS BASIC, a language known for its beginner-friendliness and focus on game development. It followed in the spirit of such tools as the Shoot-'Em-Up Construction Kit (1989), which allowed users to easily create their own video game to a single genre without writing any code.[6]
Reality was previewed in in the August 1996 issue of CU Amiga magazine, which depicted a point-and-click adventure.[7] Full-page advertisements for Reality first appeared in the August 1996 issue of CU Amiga and November 1996 issue of Amiga Format. These promised that Reality would allow code-free development of commercial-quality games in nearly any genre. The product sold for £29.99 (Error when using {{Inflation}}: |index=UK (parameter 1) not a recognized index.), including the engines for two genres of games.[8][9]
It was distributed as six-disk set including a Master Disk, three Skeleton Disks (Shoot-Em-Up, Adventure, and an Education disk which doubles as documentation and marketing), a Music disk, and a Sound disk, plus a short photocopied documentation booklet. The two game Skeleton Disks also featured the sample games Seemore Doolittle's Underwater Caper's and Charlie Chimp and the Treasure of Tutankhamun. The Education Disk advertised five further Skeleton Disks for sale: Platform, Demo, Card, Puzzle, Beat-Em-Up, with further engines reportedly in development for point-and-click adventures, fighting games, and a fast scrolling arcade platform games; with the exception of the platform game disk, it is unclear if these were ever made available.
CU Amiga later distributed a full version of Reality on their covermount floppy disk and CD-ROM of the June 1998 issue, excepting the Education disk. The issue also featured an advertisement for a V2.0 of the Reality game engine, including a third game engine disk for fast scrolling platform games.[10] It was re-distributed with the July 1998 issue to resolve an installer issue in the initial release.[11]
Various first-party Reality games appeared on Amiga magazine coverdisks, including remakes of Charlie Chimp and Seemore Doolittle games initially coded in AMOS BASIC. Third party support included a product released by budget distributor 5D Licenseware to convert common Amiga tracker music formats to Reality's proprietary format.[12] Published third-party games included licenseware and freeware titles.[13]
Reception
Reality was covered in Amiga magazines, which generally viewed the product optimistically as a solution to the shortage of Amiga games circa 1996, following the downturn in the Amiga as a viable platform for mainstream game publishers.[7][14] Conversely, the final issue of Amiga Action (December 1996), which included the Reality-produced Egor in Toyland, lamented the product as part of a trend of amateur development attempting to fill the increasingly small niche for commercial Amiga games.[15]
In the June 1998 isue of CU Amiga magazine, Tony Horgan described Reality as "one of the quickest and easiest way ways of creating a game ... this is about as easy as it gets." However, he criticized the user interface as less user-friendly than competing shareware product Backbone. Both products were described as often producing results that were "disappointingly plain", but "quite capable of making little games to be played among your friends."[6]
Rudy Sanchez, writing for disk magazine ShareWorld, criticized the lack of support for NTSC screenmode. He was also unable to acquire the further promised skeleton disks needed to build games in additional genres.[16]
Games produced by Reality were generally reviewed at the time as unimpressive. Amiga Format reviewed BPM's eight-game compilation release Reality Games Pack 1 and 2 with such descriptions as "not exactly Format Gold material", "fine, in an OK kinda way", and "better than most PD platty games but not by a huge margin." The magazine scored it 66%.[14] Amiga Computing reviewer Andy Maddock expressed skepticism that all eight games could have been produced with Reality in such a short time.[17] Amiga Format gave a 20% score to commercially-released Reality-made game Squibbly Shibbly, describing it as an average Reality game; reviewer Andy Smith had observed several such games in reader submissions, and suggested that such games made with an off-the-shelf tool were typical of freeware releases in value, rather than commercial.[18] Another Reality licenseware game, Desperation, won "PD selection of the month" in September 1997's Amiga Format, which criticized the engine's collision detection and inventory controls.[19]
See also
- 3D Construction Kit
- Arcade Game Construction Kit
- Pinball Construction Set
- Shoot-'Em-Up Construction Kit
References
- ↑ Justice, Kim (2026-06-05). The Rise and Fall of Charlie Chimp. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ "Amiga Sell Out". CU Amiga. EMAP Publishing. December 1993. p. 28.
I made more than £20,000 from the game Charlie Chimp which on GAMESMASTER AMOS programming competition. Join the MR AMOS CLUB and YOU could be next! Issue one of AMOS disk magazine only £1.00.
- ↑ Bell, Brian (May 1993). "Double Games Pack". Mr. AMOS Club #1.
- ↑ Gibson, Andy (1996-03-02). "Engine Sources". amoslist (Mailing list). Archived from the original
|archive-url=requires|url=(help) on|archive-url=requires|archive-date=(help).Mr. AMOS Club, edited by the Brian Bell group, which quit a couple years ago when all their equipment was stolen. This was the premiere club, with huge well-written code tutorials on game design, and some of the best engines.
Missing or empty|url=(help) - ↑ "Ran a disk magazine in the early 1990s which included my indie Shareware + public domain games/apps, this lead to working with Brian "Mr AMOS" Bell on Reality - The Ultimate Software Construction Kit game engine for the Commodore Amiga in 1994-97". X. 2022-10-28. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Horgan, Tony (June 1998). "Game Creation". CU Amiga. EMAP Publishing. p. 29.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Davies, Martin (Aug 1996). "Reality Game Engine". CU Amiga. EMAP Publishing. p. 34.
- ↑ "Want to create your very own Amiga games, demos and education software, by using nothing more than your computers mouse ?". CU Amiga. No. 82. EMAP Publishing. Dec 1996. p. 94.
- ↑ "Want to create your very own Amiga games, demos and education software, by using nothing more than your computers mouse ?". Amiga Format. No. 82. Future Publishing. Nov 1996. p. 111.
- ↑ Drummond, Richard (June 1998). "Reality Game Engine". CU Amiga. EMAP Publishing. pp. 18–21, 38.
- ↑ "Coverdisk Addendums". CU Amiga Online. 1998-05-27. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- ↑ "Reality music and sound converter from 5DL". Aminet. 1997-01-20. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- ↑ Jobbins, Daniel (1997-02-03). "New shoot'em up from 5DL". Aminet. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Smith, Andy (Oct 1996). "Amiga Format Reality Games Packs 1 and 2". Amiga Format. No. 89. Future Publishing. p. 31.
- ↑ "Egor in Royland". Amiga Computing. No. 89. Dec 1996. pp. 2–4.
- ↑ Sanchez, Rudy (1996-08-21). "REALITY - The Ultimate Software Construction Kit. - V1.0". ShareWorld. No. 8. Dodo Publications.
- ↑ Maddock, Andy (Oct 1996). "Beyond Reality". Amiga Computing. No. 104. pp. 78–79.
- ↑ Smith, Andy (Jul 1997). "Squibbly Shibbly". Amiga Format. Future Publishing. p. 40.
- ↑ Cusick, Dave (Sep 1997). "PD Select". Amiga Format. No. 101. Future Publishing. p. 55.
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