Jump to content
IGNORED

2600 or 7800?


Cybearg

Recommended Posts

I'd love to make another homebrew game, but I have somewhat limited time now that I have a full-time job. Still, I have a couple ideas in mind--mostly action-platformers or Zelda 2-style RPGs (because they look like they'd be fun to make).

 

I was wondering: would it be more worth making a game for the 2600, or a game for the 7800 (using batariBasic and 7800basic respectively, of course)? I'd kind of like to make both, but is the 2600 market oversatured at his point?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Write games in 7800basic! I say that as a completely impartial and unbiased bystander. ;)

 

The answer to your question depends on what aspects of each you value more. One one hand you have the mysterious 7800, with more powerful hardware (better matching your game ideas above) and a small but under-served fanbase. On the other hand you have the iconic 2600, with hardware constraints (a fun+creative challenge) and a larger better-served fanbase.

 

I think there's a bigger expectation from the 2600 community to see new homebrews pull off magic on the hardware. This can be a plus or a minus, depending on your disposition. Thats not to say 7800 folks aren't looking to be wowed, but the 7800 is a more powerful console, so attention to detail and effort count a lot more toward that wow factor.

 

I had fun with the 2600's limits for years, but eventually I wanted to explore game ideas in a medium with less resistance, while still keeping it retro. Hence 7800basic.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Given that what you'd like to write is the kind of game that was the NES' bread and butter toward the end of its run, it'd be far easier to do on the 7800, whose capabilities at least approach the NES (though you'd probably want a POKEY chip to do better music).

 

On the other hand, games like Pitfall 2, Panky, Princess Rescue and Zippy the Porcupine demonstrate that what you want to do is at very least possible on the 2600, even in Batari BASIC in the last two cases, and you'd have a much larger audience, as well as greater respect for doing something that's trickier.

 

Having played and loved games like Dust: An Elysian Tail and Knytt Underground in the last year, I'd love to see a combination of your two concepts: a scrolling or vast multi-room 2D RPG with Metroidvania exploration and new capabilities throughout the game that allow you to backtrack and explore further. The Harmony Cart would let you make an enormous game on the 2600, at the expense of some of your audience (though at this point, I think most people try new 2600 games on Stella, since there are only a few hundred of us with Harmony Carts). Doesn't matter how saturated the market is... if you create a huge RPG-platformer of the sort no one has completed to date, people will take interest, even if it may not get the kind of mainstream press that the first half dozen or so Flappy Bird clones got. Once you get the core mechanics and interactions written, you can just keep adding on rooms until you run out of space (however much space you decide to use).

 

But you may want to start a bit smaller for your first project. "Man Running And Jumping Across One Screen" is probably where to start since both your ideas have that in common. Then "Man Jumping, Running and Using a Weapon", then "Man Running, Jumping Over And/Or Destroying One Enemy", etc. Do the nitty gritty coding stuff first and save the fun map design stuff for when the code is pretty solid and most novice programmers would be just about giving up because they did all the fun stuff first and then ran into limitations they weren't expecting.

Edited by raindog
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for all the advice from both sides! I guess I'll see if I can at least prototype my idea(s) in the 2600. If that goes well, I might get some feedback and decide where to go from there.

 

Not only does my idea have some gameplay that may be a bit complicated to translate to the 2600, but the tone may be a bit more serious than is typical for these kinds of whimsical games. I dunno...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...