Tony Cruise Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I wrote a number of commercially released titles for the Spectravideo (and then MSX) machines back in the mid 80's. The details are detailed on my web site http://www.electricadventures.net. I am looking at converting one or more of the titles to the Colecovision. Plus I have an almost complete game Cavern Fighter, that I am looking at completing and releasing for the Spectravideo, MSX & Colecovision. Something that makes this a more acceptable idea is the fact that new cartridge shells may soon be available (reading some of the other threads). My question(s) are: - Which of my titles (machine code titles - have heaps of BASIC ones too) would people be most interest in? - I take it most other titles are produced with a run of about 100 copies? - Who do I contact to get boxes made (when I get to that stage)? - Anyone who wants to express interest would be appreciated? Note: Not looking at making money, this is more for fun and self gratification. There was no Internet back in the 80's, so other than an order for 1,000 'sample' copies of three of my games from ASCII Corporation (which I did not have the money or resources to fill - only tapes back then), my games never really got the chance to circulate outside of Australia. Anyway if anyone is interested let me know 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Darrin9999 Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I say do any games you can for the colecovision! and I`m in for 1 copy of each... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Welcome to AtariAge. I am a ColecoVision homebrew publisher, but my plate is full this year with over 10 games to release. And next year, I'm putting all my Team Pixelboy activities aside to work on a programming language for the ColecoVision. I didn't check every game on your site, but while the info on your site is inviting, it's also a bit confusing. It's hard to guess which games were programmed in BASIC, and which ones were programmed in assembly. Also, the ColecoVision only has 1K of RAM, so I don't know if your games can be ported to the CV at all. So if you're looking for a homebrew publisher to publish CV ports of your games, I think it would be preferable to post in this thread all the info you can supply about your games: MSX BASIC game or coded in machine code, total ROM size, RAM requirements, required controllers (does the game require a keyboard to play?), etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youki Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Your Carvern Fighter looks very interresting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harlock76 Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 maybe JF from collectorvision would be interested to publish your games he is retroillucid in this forum http://www.collectorvision.com/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Cavern Fighter looks like it could be a real winner if you are able to port it to the ColecoVision with it's 1K RAM limitation (cart size is usually 32K max but there is the MegaCart PCB which allows for bank-switching and therefore much larger games). Seeing as so many other Homebrewers have developed/released CV versions of arcade games (Pac-Man Collection, Spectar, Space Invaders, Astro Invaders, etc., etc.) without any issues or ramifications from the copyright holders, you might even want to consider renaming it to Scramble for the better name visibility. Pyxidis looks like a great vertical shooter, but seeing as there have been a large number of those developed for the CV in recent years, you might want to take a look at those first and compare to your game to see how they compare. I'm always for seeing new games developed and released for the CV, but sometimes a flood of certain genres of games can become too much. Good Luck and looking forward to hearing how things develop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Cavern Fighter kind of reminds me of Super Cobra...which isn't a bad thing. It's one of my all-time favorite games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 maybe JF from collectorvision would be interested to publish your games he is retroillucid in this forum http://www.collectorvision.com/ I would still be interested to publish his game(s) Contact me if you're interested Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cruise Posted May 22, 2012 Author Share Posted May 22, 2012 Thanks for the responses so far guys, sounds like some more home brew would be welcome enough for me to give it a go. I have some real live deadlines to get past over the next few weeks (Windows 8 launch is coming up), so once I have got those obligations out of the way. I will probably do a quick convert of a couple of the smaller titles, just to get the techniques right, then work on completing Cavern Fighter. Especially as that has received the most interest so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
65Gamerguy Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 In addition to what has been said I vote for Lunar Lander and Parachute. Parachute looks kind of like a reverse Rip Cord, which is one game I always wanted. I guess since we never got those games back in the day they are on my want list. Whatever game/games you decide to develop I am willing to purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 For MSX cartridge manufacturing you should contact matracorp@gmail.com If they like one of your games then they handle box design, cartridge manufacturing, assembly and sales without any expense on your side. You should only make the best game you can Also I recommend to select your best games and make videos to run interest checks here in Atariage. Check one sample of Matra with my own game http://www.matranet.net/shockware/pq/index.html (soon it will be available in Colecovision by Team Pixelboy) Check also one sample of Collectorvision with other of my games http://www.collectorvision.com/game-zombnear.htm (it should be available in Summer, appears as retroillucid has a lot of work ) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkhan Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Im up for any of them, especially the Space Invaders style stuff. Where is this Cavern Fighter game everyone is talking about? If you do decide to do this, its a bit late for this year, but next year, I could help spread the word at the CCAG in Cleveland, OH: www.ccagshow.com There's a lot of Colecoids there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cruise Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 Im up for any of them, especially the Space Invaders style stuff. Where is this Cavern Fighter game everyone is talking about? If you do decide to do this, its a bit late for this year, but next year, I could help spread the word at the CCAG in Cleveland, OH: www.ccagshow.com There's a lot of Colecoids there. There is a description on my site http://www.electricadventures.net, including a link to a YouTube video on it as well. It will be a bit later in the year as I have Windows 8 commitments, so won't be starting in earnest until July. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cruise Posted September 28, 2012 Author Share Posted September 28, 2012 (edited) I have made some progress on this now, and have released an update on my web site here: http://www.electrica...tridge-releases To summarize the article, I am planning to release three different cartridges each for Colecovision, MSX and Sega SC-3000/SG-1000 (in that order). The Colecovision versions will be released first through one of the existing publishers, followed by MSX and then Sega. The MSX and Sega releases will depend on how I go tracking down the cartridge cases (circuit boards & chips are not a problem). I am having a go at redoing the sounds effects and music for the games, although if anyone was willing to make any offers in that department they would not be refused, as music has never really been my thing - love listening to it, just not very good at making it. I do need to start working out the artwork for the packaging etc shortly too, I have Black & White artwork from the original releases that I will be using as the basis for new colour artwork. I'll try and post regular updates to my web site and to here from now one. Any questions please feel free to ask Edited September 28, 2012 by Electric Adventures 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 The CV Scene keeps getting better and better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 The CV Scene keeps getting better and better! Yes, indeed! This is great news here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucifershalo Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 HEllo, maybe they can help you with the MSX releases http://www.matranet.net/boutique/msx/card/card.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cruise Posted September 29, 2012 Author Share Posted September 29, 2012 HEllo, maybe they can help you with the MSX releases http://www.matranet....x/card/card.php Cool thank you, I had actually heard of that site before, but had forgotten (must be getting old). That would definitely solve the MSX release issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 Cool thank you, I had actually heard of that site before, but had forgotten (must be getting old). That would definitely solve the MSX release issues. Can always help you publishing your ColecoVision games Just drop me a PM if you are interested Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cruise Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 A quick update, I have my 1st conversion to the Beta stage (going out to separate PAL & NTSC testers tomorrow). This is the 1st title from the EA Classics collection Meteor Swarm. I have done an initial test on real hardware if you want a closer look at the progress.Birds of Orion should hopefully be in the same situation by next week. Depends on how I go creating the sound effects and music for it as the original had virtually none. It will have more levels and may resemble the arcade game it was inspired by quite a bit more now Munchmania should follow not long after. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 A quick update, I have my 1st conversion to the Beta stage (going out to separate PAL & NTSC testers tomorrow). This is the 1st title from the EA Classics collection Meteor Swarm. I have done an initial test on real hardware if you want a closer look at the progress.Birds of Orion should hopefully be in the same situation by next week. Depends on how I go creating the sound effects and music for it as the original had virtually none. It will have more levels and may resemble the arcade game it was inspired by quite a bit more now Munchmania should follow not long after. Nice! Are the asteroids drawn with sprites or background tiles? Just curious... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cruise Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 Nice! Are the asteroids drawn with sprites or background tiles? Just curious... They are sprites, so they don't go as big as the original arcade game, but they don't look too bad scale wise against the ship. Few more sounds effects needed, fixed the randomness today (Coleco BIOS Random is pretty useless, have gone back to my original). Have a small list of known minor issues I want to fix, but will wait until the two Beta testers have a go and fix them all at once. Working on Birds of Orion in the mean time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Colecovision, MSX and Sega SC-3000/SG-1000 While I'd hate to disturb your planning, have you considered porting said game(s) to even more systems while you're onto it? At least the Sord/CGL M5 should hardware wise be just about identical to both Colecovision and Sega SG-1000 (same Z80, TMS 9918/29 VDP and SN76489). Then again it is a matter of finding cartridge shells. The MSX ones are a poor fit, and I suppose the total quantities would be too low for them to modify their designs and make Sord compatible shells. I believe the Memotech MTX also have the same hardware, but it'd be more of a Amdisk 3" floppy disk based system.. just giving you clues. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cruise Posted March 1, 2013 Author Share Posted March 1, 2013 While I'd hate to disturb your planning, have you considered porting said game(s) to even more systems while you're onto it? At least the Sord/CGL M5 should hardware wise be just about identical to both Colecovision and Sega SG-1000 (same Z80, TMS 9918/29 VDP and SN76489). Then again it is a matter of finding cartridge shells. The MSX ones are a poor fit, and I suppose the total quantities would be too low for them to modify their designs and make Sord compatible shells. I believe the Memotech MTX also have the same hardware, but it'd be more of a Amdisk 3" floppy disk based system.. just giving you clues. :-) I actually have a Sord/CGL M5 (the Memotech is also a possibility - but yeah probably on 3" disk rather than cartridge) so this may be possible. Perhaps as a PCB only in more limited numbers i.e. less than 10 (about the sweet spot for some short run PCB's), and the end user has to sort out their own case. A painted cassette case would do for the Sord. I also have worked out how to make an original Spectravideo cartridge as well and think I can use Atari 8-bit cartridge shells for those. As with the Sord only very limited numbers. I have completed the porting and tidying up of both Meteor Swarm and Munchmania, Birds of Orion is done, but I am adding a few more levels and some more sound effects as even though it is coming with the other two games I still think it is too simple. I have received feedback from two very good beta testers and have already made changes from bugs they have found plus some nice suggestions. So I will be putting the menu together shortly, merging the games (they all use the same shared libraries, so it's more making the labels unique). So I will make a video on this completed title shortly. In the longer term, as I want to learn 6502 I will do a port of some titles to the Creativision/Dick Smith Wizard. Same Video and Sound chip just uses the 6502 as the processor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Nice that you're mentioning the Creativision. I'm just about to finish my first machine code game, Reversi and have plans for additional titles in the future. If you're interested in development/progress, you can always check the CreatiVemu forum. In my case, I come from the other direction: fairly experienced in 6502 but the VDP and SN76489 are new acquaintances for me. So far I only tried character graphics + a single sprite on screen. No collisions, overlaying sprites or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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