Aengus Jankowsky

Written by Brume

Bill Gates at 28 years old. Aengus was once an employee at Microsoft.

The intro shot of the Great Giana Sisters on the C64. Quite different compared to the ST version. Banned in many countries.

Another banned Rainbow Arts title. Katakis was a fan favourite.

"I discovered Atari STs at the local Virgin Megastore which had a demo machine running the Robocop game. I was blown away by the quality and begged and borrowed to be able to buy one."

A very early Gravatics release. These menu disks are more than just collections of sofware. They are a collection of memories, pop culture, nostalgia...

"I had written to the Pompeys offering to distribute their menus in Ireland and received a very kind 'thanks but no thanks' letter back. With a Pompey Pirates letter head - very professional lol."

Classic Medway Boys menu screen! Aengus was in touch with all of them.

The Sheep Death demo. Aengus favourite Gravatics demo out there.

"Deuteros. An amazing game that even my daughter enjoys decades later."

Another World. A classic. A game far ahead of its time.

To this day, beautiful demo productions are made for the ST. This is a shot from FirST Love by Overlanders.

A shot from Ooh Crikey Wot A Scorcher with the beautiful art by member Spaz.

Gravatics #96 - The final release of the group.

1) Hello Aengus and thank you very much for agreeing to answer our questions. Can you introduce yourself in a few words (age, job, passion...)?

Hi - my name is Aengus Jankowsky, I'm now 48, until recently was working as a contract automation test analyst in the New Zealand banking sector. I have worked for some big tech like Microsoft and O2 over the years. In my teens and 20s Atari was without a doubt my main passion, initially on the actual ST, then the web (running Demonburps ST Emporium website). Followed by me getting into the emulation scene and working with Frédéric Gidouin on making the PacifiST emulator a bit easier to configure (via the AssiST frontend).
Nowadays I've drifted away from IT and am more into outdoors type hobbies - fishing, diving and metal detecting, though I still play old ST games from time to time.


2) When and how did you enter the world of microcomputers? What was your first computer?

My first computer (and experience of programming) was the Commodore 64 which I bought around 1986. I recall sneaking Great Giana Sisters and Katakis back from Germany as the games had been banned in other countries. My parents (both in the the arts sector) were quite disappointed to see their only son show such an interest in computers, with my dad once proclaiming 'you'll never make money or have a career playing with computers'. Guess he was wrong about that


3) When and how did you discover the Atari ST?

I discovered Atari STs at the local Virgin Megastore which had a demo machine running the Robocop game. I was blown away by the quality and begged and borrowed to be able to buy one. I also sold my Commodore 64. When I bought my ST, it only had a single sided floppy drive and 512K. I upgraded pretty quickly to a double-sided drive and 1Mb of memory.


4) How did you create the Gravatics? What was your role within the group?

Gravatics (the name inspired by Asimov's Foundation books), was, initially, just a way for me to save some disk space by compressing commonly used programs. Certainly the first few menus were never intended to be spread and were more of a joke than a serious effort. My role was putting together the menus, packing the games, scrolltexts and distribution. Sometimes I tried my hand at doing some art, though more often than not it was pretty awful.


5) Who were the other members of the group? Can you introduce them?

Initially it was just me, but a few others joined after a while. Sandman (scrollers, some art, moral support lol), Paradiddle (music - Quartet), Chimera (Menu code, demos (Sheep Death), art, scrollers), Ozymandias (menu code). Possibly one or two others I may have forgotton (apologies!)


6) Were you in contact with other groups at the time?

Not directly - I had written to the Pompey Pirates offering to distribute their menus in Ireland and received a very kind 'thanks but no thanks' letter back. With a Pompey Pirates letter head - very professional lol. Later, when running my emulation website I was in contact with the Medway Boys (the name escapes me, but he sent a pair of CDs of their menus to host, plus a CD containing all the Pompey meus) and I also got in touch with Alien from the Pompeys around that time.


7) Did you mainly collect cracks from other groups or did you crack the games yourself?

We only collated other groups' works and packed things where possible. Our meagre skills sadly didn't extend to cracking


8) You made a few demos back then. Have you ever wanted to do a megademo or participate in a megademo with other groups?

Our demos were pretty basic, but mildly funny. It was mostly Chimera who had an interest in doing them, with Sheep Death my favourite. He went on to do the Chimeric Desires demo showcasing some of his more advanced work. While I would have loved to participated in a megademo, my own coding was pretty basic and I didn't have the contacts. Most of our menu code was donated by friends or found at ST meet ups in Dublin.


9) Were you the only Irish group on Atari ST?

As far as I'm aware, yes. There were some talented coders at our regular meetups - it was mainly game trading, but a few more technical people showed up too.


10) What is the relationship between the Gravatics and the Chimeric Desires group?

Chimeric Desires was a splinter group founded by Chimera. I didn't have much to do with it. From what I recall he worked on it as a side project.


11) What do you think are the most notable games on the Atari ST?

For me, the games that I adored and still play are Millennium 2.2 and Deuteros. Amazing games that even my daughter enjoys decades later. Supremacy also.
Another World was another game far ahead of its time. Incredible game. I still have it in its original box. Travelled the world with me - Ireland, to Germany, to Seattle and now New Zealand.


12) And the demos on ST: which are your favorites?

Ah man, these question - so hard to choose. The SoWatt demo by TCB is definitely a favourite, Life's a Bitch by TLB, Ooh Crikey Wot A Scorcher by TLB (that main menu!). Of the more recent demos I just saw FirST Love by Overlanders and it was a beautiful experience that made me feel very nostalgic for the good old days.


13) When and why did the Gravatics adventure end?

Our last menu was 96. I can't remember when exactly we released that - it might be in the scroller? I think it coincided with my going to university and having to buy a PC. Once I stopped pushing and prodding, the other guys drifted away and did their own things.


14) What machines did you move towards later?

While I did have an Atari Jaguar which was a great console, my next proper computer was a 386SX40 PC with 2Mb ram and a 40Mb HD.
I never really got into it the way I did with the Atari ST. Just not the same. Though later they are a big part of my IT career.


15) Was it really you who coded a music disk in 1997 on the Atari ST, as well as the AssiST frontend for the PaCifiST emulator? If I remember correctly, the scrolltext was signed Alien from Pompey Pirates.

Don't think it was me who coded a music disk - I think I did collect a bunch of mods and release them but my memory betrays me. I did code the AssiST frontend for PacifiST (in Borland C if I recall), and yes, Alien was kind enough to write one of the two scroll texts.
I also later worked on a Windows version of it, AssiST97, with a friend of mine, Gerard, who I've lost touch with. There's a hidden screen in it if you click on the AssiST logo. I've attached zip files of both.


16) What is your best memory of the Atari ST?

Eagerly waiting for parcels to arrive with the latest Pompey, Medway or Automation menus. Watching my friend hook up the ST to his studio and compose amazing music (what the hell?! An ST can do that?!). I was blown away. Reading scrolltexts and watching demos. The insane code tricks to create magic. Nearly losing friends when playing multiplayer Lemmings.


17) Today in 2024, do you still follow the Atari ST world?

Somewhat. I joined an Atari group on Facebook and occasionally still play some games I loved back then. Can be fun on a big 65" TV. At one point while I lived in Germany I bought a little ST Book laptop. Quite a collectable it seems. I'm hoping to get it up and running one day.


18) What happened to the other members of the Gravatics? Are you still in contact with them?

Some of them, yes. Sandman is still a good friend and we speak often, he works as an IT contractor. Paradiddle is a member of a rock band now (The Script) and I consider him one of my closest friends. Chimera works at Apple and we talk from time to time. The rest I talk to from time to time but we're not that close anymore.


19) Do you have any last words to add for this interview?

Just a heartfelt thank you Brume for salvaging what you could of the Gravatics menu collection and hosting them online. And a huge thank you to anyone whoever copied or used our menus in the past. I couldn't believe there are YouTube videos of some of our menus. And greetings to the Medway Boys and Alien from the Pompeys And to Frédéric Gidouin of course!


20) Last words from me. I just wanted to add that after releasing the Gravatics menus on Atari Legend and posting the information on social media, people are sending you all their support...

Honestly, thank you so much for everything. Never thought Gravatics was more than an odd little Irish group. Certainly not worth cataloguing or archiving. But it seems I am leaving a small Atari legacy behind after all Your work on keeping the history of those days alive is really amazing
I am shipping a LOT of old ST disks back to NZ after selling my house in Dublin. Hopefully, I will have time to go through them in the next month or two when/if they arrive. If there is anything interesting in there I'll let you know - or if there is anything you are looking for.


Thanks for the interview.