TI-99/4a disk-based CRPG

[+adamantyr]

Making stickers for floppy disks is totally doable! And a good idea.

 

I should do a poll here on the forums for the media questions... It's the 99'ers who would have the most vested interest. Any retro CRPG enthusiasts on other platforms (and there's more than a few on my Twitter) will probably be cool with the digital version and a box of stuff without media unless they WANT to run it on hardware.

 

I originally was going to just distribute the game for free, actually. But after spending all this time and realizing there is a sizable retro CRPG community out there that is actually trying to make some money, I realized it would be bad of me to do that. It would marginalize all the hard work everyone does.

[+pixelpedant]

That feeling when the pandemic won't leave you be, even in Realms of Antiquity:

 

[+adamantyr]

31 minutes ago, pixelpedant said:

That feeling when the pandemic won't leave you be, even in Realms of Antiquity:

 

To be fair, I've had that area designed for well over two years prior to Covid-19!

[+Ksarul]

I will need at least three of these--and the price is more than acceptable.

[+FarmerPotato]

23 hours ago, adamantyr said:

Making stickers for floppy disks is totally doable! And a good idea.

 

I should do a poll here on the forums for the media questions... It's the 99'ers who would have the most vested interest. Any retro CRPG enthusiasts on other platforms (and there's more than a few on my Twitter) will probably be cool with the digital version and a box of stuff without media unless they WANT to run it on hardware.

 

I originally was going to just distribute the game for free, actually. But after spending all this time and realizing there is a sizable retro CRPG community out there that is actually trying to make some money, I realized it would be bad of me to do that. It would marginalize all the hard work everyone does.

I'm with Ksarul - this is in the league with Dragon's Lair and I will order multiple copies. (Not profiteering)

 

I was thinking, if you were to make a cartridge for the main program loader, could it also create the floppies, if the flash were big enough (I guess 2048K?) 

That way, making floppies would be all in-system for TI-99/4A owners. 

 

[+adamantyr]

18 minutes ago, FarmerPotato said:

I'm with Ksarul - this is in the league with Dragon's Lair and I will order multiple copies. (Not profiteering)

 

I was thinking, if you were to make a cartridge for the main program loader, could it also create the floppies, if the flash were big enough (I guess 2048K?) 

That way, making floppies would be all in-system for TI-99/4A owners. 

 

I'm disinclined to re-engineer the game at this point for that.

[+FarmerPotato]

1 minute ago, adamantyr said:

I'm disinclined to re-engineer the game at this point for that.

I didn't mean run from cartridge, just an installer program. Maybe a project for someone else; no changes to the game, just a floppy maker. On your poll, was the "cartridge" option just a trial balloon?

[+adamantyr]

43 minutes ago, FarmerPotato said:

I didn't mean run from cartridge, just an installer program. Maybe a project for someone else; no changes to the game, just a floppy maker. On your poll, was the "cartridge" option just a trial balloon?

No, the cartridge is something that will be provided as a BIN file so you can use your FinalGROM to load the game binary faster than you can from disk. (It runs marginally faster than most disk systems.)

 

A cartridge would basically just be something pretty with a label that does the same thing.

[+adamantyr]

And on the subject...

 

So today I received from Amazon a small set of 512mb micro SD cards. These have more than enough space for ALL the game data, and could potentially be used directly in a FinalGROM.

 

Maybe. My experimentations haven't been working out. Either my FinalGROM cart is just flakey as hell or it's not working.

 

If I put the cart binary on it's own SD card it works... sometimes. I've had to repeatedly press reset and insert/re-insert the cartridge for it to take.

 

But on my microSD card, either it shows nothing or ONCE it showed the FinalGrom99 menu but it showed nothing I could execute. Even with the cart binary at the root level.

 

Anyone have any suggestions? Maybe I need a better FinalGROM, I don't know. I am just trying to figure out how to store the data on it in a way that's the easiest to use directly.

[Tursi]

SD Card vary widely, and SD implementations usually only work with the cards that the developer had on hand to test with.

 

Basically... I recommend trying a few other SD cards.

 

[HOME AUTOMATION]

You are aware... that when you have a single binary(which may include G, C, and perhaps even D, files(all with the same name prefixed)) in the root DIR, that FG99 will act as a dedicated cartridge. So, the FG99's menu will be superseded?

 

Also, if the 8th character in your file name is not G, FG99 assumes it is a ROM type .bin!

[+adamantyr]

4 hours ago, HOME AUTOMATION said:

You are aware... that when you have a single binary(which may include G, C, and perhaps even D, files(all with the same name prefixed)) in the root DIR, that FG99 will act as a dedicated cartridge. So, the FG99's menu will be superseded?

 

Also, if the 8th character in your file name is not G, FG99 assumes it is a ROM type .bin!

Yes and yes. I have a bin file at the root. And it once loaded the final grom menu.

[+adamantyr]

Final collectors edition box arrived!

[+adamantyr]

[+pixelpedant]

Posted a preview of the game today, based on late beta and release candidate builds:

 

 

[OX.]

Monumental effort in bringing this game to completion Adam, I remember adding a beta of this into Gamebase years ago, any chance of a release for an upcoming release of TI99/4A Gamebase

 

Or should I hold out for Unknown Realm 🤪

[+adamantyr]

Well our closed beta has only been going for a year... I had old demos from way WAY back. Was it one of those?

 

As the software is being commercially sold I must respectfully decline to include it with the GameBase. However, I could make a demo version of the finished game that could be included.

[OX.]

Demo version would be good

[Cory]

On 10/31/2020 at 10:26 PM, adamantyr said:

So I finally received the prototype of my game box today... and it is good!

 

I was very concerned that using an image alone (generated in MS Publisher) would not have the resolution to work, and I'd be forced to use an Adobe product to edit a PDF template, but the results are very good. I also discovered my initial sizes were a BIT small.

 

The finished product will look different, I made a lot of changes with adding colored text, better overlaid text on the front image, and other tweaks. But I am happy to see the company delivered!

 

Only real issue is it's REALLY expensive to print. You get a price break on quantity but it's still an investment to even get a few made. I need to find out just how many people would actually want and not commit myself to making too many at a time.

 

How much? Well, I'm thinking a "game box with manual, cloth map, reference card and signed certificate" would be around $60 U.S. I still need to calculate shipping too. If that seems like a lot, don't forget you'll just be able to get digital only for a lot less!

 

As for media, this is a weird one. I'll probably offer the box of stuff without media, as anyone who isn't a 99'er probably won't care to have physical media.

 

Floppy disks are probably out; they're expensive to find these days, unreliable, and kind of an indulgence.

 

I had originally planned on a CD-ROM. And that may still be the best way to go, but the CD-ROM readers are fast becoming uncommon to rare these days; many laptops no longer include one.

 

A cartridge with the game binary (so that you don't need Extended BASIC, TI Writer or an E/A cart) is in the future, but I would want a digital version to be out first for awhile so I can burn one confident that there's no game-breaking issues.

Really nice work!!  I'm in!