Jeremy Longley worked at Bullfrog for three years as a programmer. He's contributed to Theme Hospital, Syndicate Wars, Populous 3 and a key, as yet unannounced title. He's now with new codeshop The Lost Toys...

What games are tickling your fancy at the moment?
X-Wing Alliance - very challenging but well worth it - despite being the fourth version of this game, it's been a fair while since Tie Fighter, and it feels really fresh. The gameplay is as good as ever and you really feel embroiled in the whole Empire vs Rebels conflict. I've just started on Baldur's Gate (a little late, admittedly) - I reckon I'll really enjoy this if I find enough time to get into it... and on the console side, MGS was obviously rather good if a bit short...

What was the first computer game you ever played?
Hmmm... I remember a few bits and pieces on the first Atari console - a very blocky tank game that was sort of cool in multiplayer. I remember 3D Monster Maze on the ZX81 a little later; very scary!

Any particular favourites from yesteryear?
Kick off 2 (Atari ST) - gameplay over realism; I played this for many, many hours; you genuinely felt that you got better at this game the more you played it, even months later. It's one of only two titles that I classify as a 'sport' rather than a 'game' (the other being Quake multiplayer). Spindizzy (Amstrad CPC) - huge scope, cool control mechanism, and even non-linear! System Shock (PC) - atmospheric and claustrophobic - sci-fi horror at its best! Monkey Island 1, 2 + Day of the Tentacle - genuinely funny games, with a real "doh!" factor when you work out the puzzles. Doom (PC) - the first game I played that convinced me I was really "there". Total Eclipse (Amstrad CPC) - the third Freescape game, an attempt at a 3D puzzle/platformer many years ahead of its time...