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Jim Sachs

Jim Sachs is probably the most well known artist on the Amiga. Not only because he created breathtakingly beautiful graphics for games like Defender of the Crown and Ports of Call, but also because he created a lot of promotional art and magazine covers that were re-used all over the place to promote the Amiga.

He concentrated on architecture while in colledge, but went to the Air Force to fly C-141 Starlifter cargo planes after graduating.
After that he got into computer graphics through the C64 and then switched to the Amiga when that came out.

Amazing Computing interview (1987)
Amazing Computing interview (1994)


DefenderOfTheCrown2

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrownCDTV

From Defender of the Crown CDTV

DefenderOfTheCrown

From Defender of the Crown

DefenderOfTheCrown2
DefenderOfTheCrownCDTV
DefenderOfTheCrown

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Finale_StainedGlass

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown2_BritainMap

From Defender of the Crown 2

The hand painted map from Defender of the Crown was replaced by a picture that was grabbed from video and touched up.

This was a technique that Jim used more often in his later work to speed up his workflow, because pixeling everything by hand took a lot of time, which was rarely available when developing a game.

DefenderOfTheCrown_BritainMap

From Defender of the Crown

DefenderOfTheCrown2_BritainMap
DefenderOfTheCrown_BritainMap

DefenderOfTheCrown2_CastleNorman_day

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown2_CastleNorman_night

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown_CastleNorman_day

From Defender of the Crown with a day time palette.

The castle pictures from Defender of the Crown used the same picture but with different color palettes for the day and night time versions.

DefenderOfTheCrown_CastleNorman_night

From Defender of the Crown with a night time palette

DefenderOfTheCrown2_CastleNorman_day
DefenderOfTheCrown2_CastleNorman_night
DefenderOfTheCrown_CastleNorman_day
DefenderOfTheCrown_CastleNorman_night

DefenderOfTheCrown2_CastleNormanCatapult

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown_CastleNormanCatapult

From Defender of the Crown

DefenderOfTheCrown2_CastleNormanCatapult
DefenderOfTheCrown_CastleNormanCatapult

DefenderOfTheCrown2_CastleNormanHall

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown_CastleNormanHall

From Defender of the Crown

DefenderOfTheCrown2_CastleNormanHall
DefenderOfTheCrown_CastleNormanHall

DefenderOfTheCrown2_CastleNormanYard

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown_CastleNormanYard

From Defender of the Crown

DefenderOfTheCrown2_CastleNormanYard
DefenderOfTheCrown_CastleNormanYard

DefenderOfTheCrown2_CastleSaxon_day

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown2_CastleSaxon_night

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown_CastleSaxon_day

From Defender of the Crown with a day time palette.

The castle pictures from Defender of the Crown used the same picture but with different color palettes for the day and night time versions.

DefenderOfTheCrown_CastleSaxon_night

From Defender of the Crown with a night palette.

DefenderOfTheCrown2_CastleSaxon_day
DefenderOfTheCrown2_CastleSaxon_night
DefenderOfTheCrown_CastleSaxon_day
DefenderOfTheCrown_CastleSaxon_night

DefenderOfTheCrown2_CastleSaxonCatapult

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown_CastleSaxonCatapult

From Defender of the Crown

DefenderOfTheCrown2_CastleSaxonCatapult
DefenderOfTheCrown_CastleSaxonCatapult

DefenderOfTheCrown_Ending

From Defender of the Crown

DefenderOfTheCrown_Ending_bgr

From Defender of the Crown, background only

DefenderOfTheCrown_Ending
DefenderOfTheCrown_Ending_bgr

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Finale

From Defender of the Crown 2

Jim posted a complete version of the Defender of the Crown 2 ending on his personal YouTube channel.

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Finale_StainedGlass

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Normans

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown_Normans

From Defender of the Crown

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Normans
DefenderOfTheCrown_Normans

DefenderOfTheCrown2_RobinHood

From Defender of the Crown 2.

DefenderOfTheCrown_RobinHood

From Defender of the Crown.

This image was not drawn by Jim Sachs and he was not happy with it. He therefore created a completely new version for Defender of the Crown 2.

DefenderOfTheCrown2_RobinHood
DefenderOfTheCrown_RobinHood

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Romantic_Fireplace

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown_Romantic_Fireplace

From Defender of the Crown

DefenderOfTheCrown_Romantic_Fireplace_bgr

From Defender of the Crown - Background Only

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Romantic_Fireplace
DefenderOfTheCrown_Romantic_Fireplace
DefenderOfTheCrown_Romantic_Fireplace_bgr

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Romantic_Kiss

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown_Romantic_Kiss

From Defender of the Crown

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Romantic_Kiss
DefenderOfTheCrown_Romantic_Kiss

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Romantic_LadyAnne

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown_Romantic_LadyAnne

From Defender of the Crown

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Romantic_LadyAnne
DefenderOfTheCrown_Romantic_LadyAnne

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Romantic_LadyKatherine

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown_Romantic_LadyKatherine

From Defender of the Crown

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Romantic_LadyKatherine
DefenderOfTheCrown_Romantic_LadyKatherine

DefenderOfTheCrown_Romantic_LadyRebecca

From Defender of the Crown

Interestingly two of the four maidens were left out for Defender of the Crown 2, with Lady Rebecca being one of them.

DefenderOfTheCrown_Romantic_LadyRosalind

From Defender of the Crown

Interestingly two of the four maidens were left out of Defender of the Crown 2, with Lady Rosalind being one of them.

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Romantic_ResidentialBuilding

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Tournament_Begin

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown_Tournament_Begin

From Defender of the Crown

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Tournament_Begin
DefenderOfTheCrown_Tournament_Begin

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Tournament_BirdsEyeView

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown_Tournament_BirdsEyeView

From Defender of the Crown

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Tournament_BirdsEyeView
DefenderOfTheCrown_Tournament_BirdsEyeView

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Tournament_Fanfare

From Defender of the Crown 2.

DefenderOfTheCrown_Tournament_Fanfare

From Defender of the Crown.

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Tournament_Fanfare
DefenderOfTheCrown_Tournament_Fanfare

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Tournament_OnComing

From Defender of the Crown 2

DefenderOfTheCrown_Tournament_OnComing

From Defender of the Crown

DefenderOfTheCrown2_Tournament_OnComing
DefenderOfTheCrown_Tournament_OnComing

JimSachs_20000LeaguesUnderTheSea_Beach

JimSachs_20000LeaguesUnderTheSea_Shipwreck

JimSachs_20000LeaguesUnderTheSea_Shipwreck_var
JimSachs_20000LeaguesUnderTheSea_Shipwreck
JimSachs_20000LeaguesUnderTheSea_Shipwreck_var

JimSachs_20000LeaguesUnderTheSea_Sunset

This image belonged to a sequence where the Nautilus can be seen sinking slowly in the sunset. Jim captured this sequence from a VHS recording that he had made from the game demo during development and posted it on his personal YouTube channel.

JimSachs_Aegis
  • Jim Sachs
  • Lowres Interlaced (NTSC)
  • 32 colors

JimSachs_AmigaDemo1

JimSachs_AmigaDemo1_var
JimSachs_AmigaDemo1
JimSachs_AmigaDemo1_var

Used in the "Amiga Dealer" demo. It was produced by Commodore to promote Amigas that were on display in shops.
This image was shown in the "Amiga Features" part.

JimSachs_AmigaDemo2

JimSachs_AmigaDemo2_var
JimSachs_AmigaDemo2
JimSachs_AmigaDemo2_var

Used in the "Amiga Dealer" demo. It was produced by Commodore to promote Amigas that were on display in shops.
This image was shown in the "Art & Graphics" part.

JimSachs_AmigaDemo3

Used in the "Amiga Dealer" demo. It was produced by Commodore to promote Amigas that were on display in shops.
This image was shown in the "Video" part.

JimSachs_AmigaDemo4

Used in AmigaVision tutorial (1990)

JimSachs_AmigaDemo4_var

Use in Amiga demo

JimSachs_AmigaDemo4
JimSachs_AmigaDemo4_var

Used in the "Amiga Dealer" demo. It was produced by Commodore to promote Amigas that were on display in shops.[br]This image was shown in the "Music" part.

JimSachs_AmigaDemo5

Used in the "Amiga Dealer" demo. It was produced by Commodore to promote Amigas that were on display in shops.
This image was shown in the "Entertainment" part.

JimSachs_AmigaDemo7

The version was used in Commodore's "Amiga Dealer" demo.

JimSachs_AmigaDemo7_amigados

The version used in Rob Peck's "Amiga Companion" book.

JimSachs_AmigaDemo7
JimSachs_AmigaDemo7_amigados

Used in the "Amiga Dealer" demo. It was produced by Commodore to promote Amigas that were on display in shops.
This image was shown in the "Education" part.

Interestingly there was also a version of this image that was used for the "Amiga Companion" book by Rob Peck. The biggest difference between the two was the peacock on the key, that was replaced by the Amiga rainbow check logo.

The Amiga Companion version is lowres-interlaced, which leads me to think that it was created first and the Amiga Demo version was downscaled to fit with the other images.

JimSachs_AmigaDemo8

Used in the "Amiga Dealer" demo. It was produced by Commodore to promote Amigas that were on display in shops.
This image was shown in the "Products" part.

JimSachs_AmigaLagoon

JimSachs_Aquarium
  • Jim Sachs
  • Lowres (NTSC)
  • 32 colors
  • ColorCycling

JimSachs_CDI

JimSachs_CDTV

This is the official boot screen from Commodore's CDTV Amiga. It differs a bit from the Anim version that is circulating the web, possibly because of size constraints within the boot roms.
It doesn't work that well as gif animation as most browsers don't play it back at the correct speed.

JimSachs_Centurion_Colloseum

JimSachs_Centurion_RomanEmpire

JimSachs_Commodore2

Commodore C64, 1702 Monitor, 1541 Floppy Drive

JimSachs_Commodore2_var

Commodore C64C, 1802 Monitor, 1541C Floppy Drive

JimSachs_Commodore2
JimSachs_Commodore2_var
  • Jim Sachs
  • 1987
  • Lowres Interlaced (NTSC)
  • 32 colors

Showing a rendition of Wayne Schmidt's 1987 C64 artwork called "Serene".

JimSachs_FoxPuppy

JimSachs_Knight

JimSachs_Knight2

JimSachs_MazdaRX7

JimSachs_Ninja900

JimSachs_Ninja900_var

JimSachs_Ninja900_var2

The variation with rider is a little strange, since the motorcycle seems to be slightly color reduced, despite the rider himself not really needing/using any additional colors. I currently can't say if Jim did this variation himself or for what this version was used for.

JimSachs_Ninja900
JimSachs_Ninja900_var
JimSachs_Ninja900_var2

JimSachs_Office3D

JimSachs_Office3D_var

This is an office scene that was included in Ports of Call. It matches the Office 3D image closely, but uses fewer colors an has less details.

JimSachs_Office3D
JimSachs_Office3D_var

This image looks like an extended version of an image used in the game Ports of Call.

Most notable changes are the larger screen area and the increase in colors used.

JimSachs_Porsche1

JimSachs_Porsche2

JimSachs_Porsche3

JimSachs_Porsche4

JimSachs_Porsche5

JimSachs_PorscheRed5
  • Jim Sachs
  • Lowres Interlaced (NTSC)
  • HAM colors

JimSachs_PortsOfCall

JimSachs_PortsOfCall_var
JimSachs_PortsOfCall
JimSachs_PortsOfCall_var

Jim re-used the title picture for Ports of Call in his abandoned [link=/game/20000LeaguesUnderTheSea.html]20.000 Leagues under the Sea[/link] project.

The german magazine Amiga Magazin did an article on Jim Sachs in their August 1989 issue. They previewed a screen from the project, while it was still in development, and you can clearly see the same sky, mountains and buildings.

JimSachs_PortsOfCall_Broker

JimSachs_PortsOfCall_Cabin

JimSachs_PortsOfCall_Cities

JimSachs_PortsOfCall_Office1

JimSachs_PortsOfCall_Office2

JimSachs_PortsOfCall_Office3

JimSachs_PortsOfCall_Office4

JimSachs_PortsOfCall_Rats

JimSachs_PortsOfCall_Storm

JimSachs_RogerRabbit

JimSachs_RogerRabbit_wip
JimSachs_RogerRabbit
JimSachs_RogerRabbit_wip

The work in progress is interesting as it shows several changes to the final image from the game.
Roger's head and left hand was changed, as was the expression in his face.

If you look closely it is also visible that the copyright message was moved from the center left side to the lower left side, since the text was colored black instead of removing it properly from the brick wall.

The small artifacts scattered around the brick wall are mostly my fault, because I had to reconstruct the wip image from a badly rescaled version that I found on the internet.

JimSachs_SachsCastle
  • Jim Sachs
  • Das Grosse Amiga Jahrbuch 1987
  • Lowres (NTSC)
  • 32 colors

JimSachs_SaucerAttack

JimSachs_SelfPortrait

JimSachs_Sonix

JimSachs_TimeCrystal