The Making Of: They Stole A Million
THEY STOLE THERE’S NOTHING QUITE LIKE CAPER A MILLION, THE 8-BIT CRIME THINK YOU’VE GAME THAT ASKED: DO YOU A CRIMINAL GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO BE STEADIES MASTERMIND? RETRO GAMER THE PLANS ITS PICKLOCK AND STUDIES GAME BEHIND THIS UNUSUAL STRATEGY
Find out how Tigress came up with its lightfingered 8-bit strategy gem
Founded in 1985 at the height of the 8-bit commercial years, Tigress Designs was a novel concept even at a time where originality in gaming was still very common. The idea was as simple as it was ingenious: this feline developer didn’t code games, it came up with the design before employing a programming partner to complete its vision with the backing of an amenable publisher. Explains Tigress’ Chris Palmer, “We also stayed involved with the team during development and would do a lot of the play testing at the end.” Having already fostered an excellent relationship with Ariolasoft thanks to games such as Think!, Deactivators and Golf Construction Set, Tigress looked to build on its impressive roster with another inventive and compelling piece of software.
“It was quite often a plate-spinning exercise to keep all developments on track,” recalls Chris, half of the Tigress team on what would become They Stole A Million, alongside David Bishop. “We were both pretty much involved with all aspects of the game, and usually had a few games at various stages of development at any one time.” Tigress prided itself on the uniqueness of its designs and for They Stole A Million, its inception came from a mere play on words. “If memory serves, the whole game started out as a pun,” recalls Chris. “At the time, compilations were all the rage and there was one getting advertised a lot called They Sold A Million. The game title came from that, and once the title existed, that got our minds working on how we could do a crime caper game.” With complex graphics showing chase scenes and shoot-outs unlikely, or at best difficult to achieve on the 8-bit computers, Tigress opted for a strategy game. “Both David and I liked [strategy games],” says Chris, “and that naturally moved us in the direction of the idea of planning a heist and then watching it unfold.”
In They Stole A Million, the player stars as ‘The Boss’, a small time criminal gang leader with big time ambitions. While browsing through the latest issue of What Crime magazine, the boss stumbles across a fancy new computerised system known as SWAG – Software For Aspiring Gangsters. Housing details of potential jobs, recruits and fences, SWAG is a hi-tech program that contains all the information an up-and-coming villain needs – for a price, of course. With an initial fund gathered, the SWAG begins with a menu detailing the various options available. Set Target allows the player to choose which particular premises they wish to
raid. These begin with simpler locations such as a small-town coin dealer, leading up to a bank and, the prize job, Egypt’s Narburak Museum. Having purchased the blueprints of the target, the player can then buy more information ranging from the potential value of the haul, security measures and alarm systems. With all the information in hand, the boss then hires and assigns their team according to the data provided. Each hoodlum has a primary skill, followed by a secondary talent, and a history, all of which helps let the gangster discern which of his crew is the more experienced and reliable and who is more likely to do a runner when the heat is on.
The second segment of They Stole A Million is where the game comes to life. Now the gang sits around a table and plans the robbery with the help of the blueprints and information bought via SWAG in the first part. The boss can select a gang member and assign them roles throughout the robbery, from smashing displays to picking locks and dealing with guards. Each move must be logically planned – forget to pick the lock and open the door before moving through it? When it comes to the real thing, the robber will stand at the door waiting patiently. Fortunately, the player can step in and help out in situations which go wrong due to poor planning. With local law enforcement constantly circling the town, the gang needs to get the job done and get it done swiftly if they are to avoid an extended stay at the big house.
While Chris and David don’t recall any specific cinematic influence, the former agrees there were several examples that they drew on. “There are plenty of movies which featured the theme of assembling a team of rogues, planning the heist and seeing it unfold. Usually there’s an element that has been overlooked or mucked up by a team member which jeopardises the whole operation.” As with all of Tigress’ work, the game was devised and planned on paper. “Reams and reams of paper!” exclaims David. “Although Chris could program, it was never to the level required to squeeze anything close to sensible performance out of the available hardware. So it was always quicker to work in the old-school way.” A huge paper map, made up of many A3 pages taped together was formed for each target with doors, safes, tills, cameras and wandering guards all annotated within.
On the publishing side, London-based Ariolasoft mixed original games such as They Stole A Million with the European release of Stateside products from the likes of Electronic Arts and Brøderbund. Producers Gary Yorke and James Poole were in charge of development of the Tigress game. “The game was very well-received from the outset,” says James. “The notion of hiring the right team, planning the robbery and then seeing it enacted was quite original.” There were still reservations, however, mainly with the final part of the game where the player became not much more than a spectator. “Luckily we had a good relationship with Ariolasoft,” says David, “so I think they believed we could deliver something worthwhile. Also, you have to remember at the time that the total budget for
designing and developing games was a fraction of what it is now, so the risk was a lot smaller!”
Development on the game began on the Commodore 64 with Tigress working directly with the programmers. Explains Chris, “We would regularly visit the developers and would tweak the design if something wasn’t working or maybe was a bit too ambitious from a technical standpoint.
One of the benefits of designing on paper was that it didn’t limit your imagination – but I’m sure there were more than a few developers out there who would regularly curse us for pushing the envelope a bit too far!” From the very start of the game, the intuitive interface, common today, but much rarer in the mid-eighties, makes playing They Stole A Million an absorbing and instinctual experience. “The Macintosh and Atari ST had recently been released,” remembers Chris, “and we were both very impressed by their GUI interfaces. So ours was definitely influenced by the software we had seen coming out on those machines.”
When pitching the difficulty, Chris and David felt that the game would be targeted at a particular type of gamer. After the relative ease of the coin dealer and art gallery, the introduction of security cameras, guards and other robber-deterring systems means that exhaustive planning and thought is required to avoid getting your collar felt by the police. Says
David, “We felt the game would appeal to a gamer who wasn’t looking for a quick half-hour blast and was going to really feel rewarded when they came up with a great solution to a difficult level.” Another massive part of the game’s appeal is its immersion thanks to a series of emotive descriptions. “We wrote them between us,” remembers David with a smile. “It was actually quite a fun part of the design process.” From old Mr Humbug, the stuck-in-his-ways owner of the antique coin shop to Bruiser Branigan, the ex-boxer who’s also a dab hand at safe cracking and the man with an ‘almost pathological love of blowing things up’, Mad Man Martin, each character is imbued with a real sense of personality that requires a careful selection process if the job is to be a success.
Upon release, They Stole A Million reviewed uniformly well across its three formats, especially on the Commodore 64, where it received a sizzling 90% score from Zzap!64 magazine. Released under Ariolasoft’s 39 Steps label (“It was a branding thing,” clarifies James, “Reaktor was for action games, 39 Steps for strategy.”), the only dissenting voices concerned the game’s graphics. “I think we had hoped that it would a bit more impressive graphically as a lot of the building layouts ended up being a bit too spartan,” says Chris. “But as ever with that generation, you were always robbing Peter to pay Paul to make things work at a reasonable speed.” Nonetheless, the majority of reviewers appreciated the attempt at creating an original game despite it not quite moving at the frantic speed of shoot-’em-ups such as Uridium or Dropzone. “We were worried that the pace of the game was going to get panned,” notes David, “but it was great to see most of the reviewers realise we were trying something different and give us recognition for that.”
Despite the acclaim, the end was approaching for Tigress as the 8-bit market moved towards in-house studios, arcade conversions and movie tie-ins. “I don’t think [They Stole A Million] was a best-seller,” recalls Chris, “but it’s nice to know it became a bit of a cult title.” For Ariolasoft’s James Poole, the chance to work with Tigress remains a highlight. “David and Chris created great games and I look back at They Stole A Million very fondly. Although there has been a remake, and a sequel to that, I still feel it’s a concept that could be brought up-to-date.” Chris agrees with the latter sentiment. “You could create a modern version where you essentially plan your own crime caper and then get to watch the whole thing unfold. You could have a lot of fun and post-heist arguments co-op planning a heist with friends!” Thirty-five years later, the original remains an inventive and intriguing game that presents a delightfully old school and Italian Job-style of lawbreaking – there are no guns in this caper. Concludes co-designer Chris Palmer, “We are very proud of everything we did back then, possibly with the exception of A View To A Kill. Overall we produced some innovative titles and I think They Stole A Million
represented an interesting direction. We’re pleased that we had the belief to see it through.”
Tigress had time for one more game, a devious puzzle game in conjunction with a preRollercoaster Tycoon Chris Sawyer. Released only in very limited quantities, the story of Ziggurat is maybe one for another time. Yet for this unique development company, its quirkiest release remains the fantastic strategy game that gives you a genuine shot at becoming Mr Big.