Uploaded May 2024 | Updated September 2026, 9 hours ago

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Psychedelia - a light synthesiser, developed by Jeff Minter and published by Llamasoft in 1984

"PSYCHEDELIA - A STEP BEYOND GAMES
YOU CANNOT WIN
YOU CANNOT LOSE
ONLY ENJOY!
PSYCHEDELIA - BEYOND COMPETITIVENESS
THERE IS NO FRUSTRATION
THERE IS NO KILLING
ONLY PLEASURE!
PSYCHEDELIA — AN ENTERTAINMENT
SWITCH ON TO MUSIC
SWITCH ON IN THE DARK
ONLY SWITCH ON!
PSYCHEDELIA – A DANCE WITH RAINBOWS"

You may have seen music visualisers in the Atari Jaguar and original Xbox but Psychedelia on the 8Bits is where they all started. This is not a game and it does not visualise music to input which is a shame and was surly possible on the C64 and Spectrum if not others. This is entirely manually driven. Put on your favourite tunes and start creating patterns in time with the music.

As a tool, the programme can record your inputs for about 30 mins. you can also create your own patterns and when you are done save them and reload later and have it play back your sequences to your music. There are many variables to play with including symmetry, line mode, pulse width, pulse speed, curser speed, delay, colours amongst others. You can even change parameters while your recorded input sequence plays back.

The video is mostly done by letting the programme run in auto/demo mode. There is no audio and you should have something playing in the background although the visuals will not be timed to it. I change the pattern gfx every minute or so and cycle through them all. Later in the video I take manual control and flick through some of the preset's and gfx options. And that's pretty much it. You really do need to use your imagination to get the most from this software.