New homebrew called "Rocketeer"

[108 Stars]

this is why I do not see this only as a business: I try to work in professional way, but I want to see new inty games mostly. Any point of view that would be shared here to help speed up the HB delivery is welcome.

You can also see my posts in this thread are very rare, and only done to clarify since people was speculating about the commercial agreement and delivery dates..

Peple that say nothing are usually hiding things.... we are open to criticism and partecipate to the forums since we are collectors like you

Even from the standpoint of not being a company... do you really think you should have gone into so much detail? It all started with the simple comment that someone wished Rocketeer to be released before Hover Bovver, really nothing to get upset about. Your reply to that naturally led to more replies, and you did not shy away from answers. That can be good in some situations, but when we are talking a supposed breach of contract it should not be a public topic until the situation is either resolved, or no agreement can be reached for good. I would expect that not only from a company, but in dealings from man to man as well. If we made a trade via the AA marketplace, and you had some issues and spread the word about it eventhough we could have still worked out a solution via PM I would be pissed.

 

 

- From what I have read from the Elektronite posters, there is now a situation where Hover Bovver beta ROMs have been delayed. Elektronite has a responsibility to alert its customers if there are issues delaying a game. I agree that they should only go into as much detail as necessary. Given the situation, I think that Elektronite in general has been quite reserved in its comments.

No. Even if everything is like Elektronite claims as it is now, they are blaming the coder, who is well known here, potentially hurting his reputation eventhough there may still be a solution for both sides. That is not what I call reserved comments.

Secondly, as I understand it, no customers have spent any money on Hover Bovver yet, so there is little responsibility to alert people in such a way; nobody's money is in danger of being lost, except Elektronite's. No customers in danger, no reason to cause a ruckus.

 

All that is achieved by this is it makes Elektronite look bitter, and (and I hope that was not the intention) it may scare people who pre-ordered Rocketeer, because they have now read that Mark does not honor his commitments.

 

I could understand if GroovyBee quit the Intellivision with such behavior. I could understand other coders not wanting to work with elektronite after this fearing any potential issues are spread out in public like this. I could understand Elektronite being more cautious i the future when hiring. I could understand fans getting fed up with the shit and looking for other platforms.

 

Result: The Intellivision community loses.

Edited September 12, 2013 by 108 Stars

[Fushek]

Let's just suffice it to say that everyone has made some mistakes and no one has been perfect in this recent exchange. I just wish there was a way for all parties to just step back, take a deep breath and think about what good their next post is going to do. Everyone's best move may be to not post here any more ... William, to his credit, has already stopped posting ... it's in everyone's best interest to stop as there is NOT going to be a winner in this back and forth.

 

Groovy hasn't finished anything, but I think that we can all see from the screenshots and the teaser rom that there are great things coming from him.

 

Elektronite has published high quality products and we all hope to see more from them (I can't freaking wait for DOTC!).

 

Both parties are very passionate at what they do, but it's that same passion that sometimes spills out in a negative fashion. I'd encourage both parties to clear the slate and do some behind the scenes discussions to come to a reboot. Then ... throw us fans a bone ... a teaser rom for HB or something to get us back to the excitement of the Intellivision, not the depression of companies, contracts, payment etc. At the end of the day, we (the fans) don't care about that ... it's all about the games and that's the common ground that we can ALL agree on.

[B0B 1ob1aw]

We need a PSA about the dangers of Nerd Rage.

[vprette]

" We are at the moment not able to testify the status of the work that is apparently claimed to be 95% ready but not approved by elektronite being not available a beta rom to test. Payment terms are becoming a discussion item and the game is now delayed. Delay of HB may result in delay in starting development of Dotc, GR or other candidate titles since Willy need to anticipate money, and get back investment to anticipate for the next one. ". ~ Vprette

 

----------------

 

Payment terms? Sounds to me like someone needs to pay groovybee.

 

End of discussion.

sorry to have to answer again to clarify... This is not the case. This is the opposite being part of the payment done in advance, and expecting to receive specific items to check before complete the payment... we did not receive what we pay for... not going in details

 

and as general comment, there are no groovy fans nor groovy enemies here. We contacted groovy for the HB development because we know he is a great programmer!

Edited September 12, 2013 by vprette

[+cmart604]

Could I please ask that everyone stops posting in this topic other than to talk about Rocketeer itself. I am working on what I hope is a solution to this dilemma.

 

Cheers, Chris

[Foom]

Glad to hear that you are helping out, Chris.

 

I hope that all is well with GroovyBee. He has been absent from this thread for some time now.

 

Re. my posts to this thread, there are a couple of general issues regarding some people's replies that I would like to address. I will create another thread to discuss those. I agree that this thread should focus on Rocketeer. I will reiterate, however, that I feel that Groovy's decision to take on Rocketeer and Hover Bovver simultaneously was an appropriate topic of discussion in this thread.

 

I look forward to everything getting resolved and the games getting published.

 

- Doug

[vprette]

We all like Rocketeer and hope to play it soon. Let's move this topic to another thread, :-)

[Ignorama]

[Rev]

what all systems did jet pac come out on?

 

I could use google but i am using this simple question to distract from all the complaining. Did it work?

[Kiwi]

Spectrum ZX I believe and made by Rare. It also on Donkey Kong 64 as an unlockable bonus game. I really love the varieties of enemies and rockets that holds the player's attention to see the next enemy and the ship type. It forces me to do better.

EDIT since I don't read carefully. What I know of other version, there's Astro-pac from the MTX collection vol 1, which is a clone of Jetpac. Then there is Jaguar version that just released on Atari Age called, Full Circle: Rocketeer. That's only 2 I know off of my head.

Edited September 12, 2013 by Kiwi

[+JasonlikesINTV]

Wasn't there an NES version or similar?

[Oscar G.]

There is a fantastic recent release of JetPac for the MSX. Great game!

[Ignorama]

 

It also on Donkey Kong 64 as an unlockable bonus game.

 

Serious? That would be a reason to play DK 64

[+DZ-Jay]

Could I please ask that everyone stops posting in this topic other than to talk about Rocketeer itself. I am working on what I hope is a solution to this dilemma.

 

Cheers, Chris

Yay! Cmart will single-handedly (or double-handedly? I lose track of how man appendages he has left) finish the code to Rocketeer, Mars Minis, and Hovver Bovver!

 

Groovymart!

[Utopia]

Yay! Cmart will single-handedly (or double-handedly? I lose track of how man appendages he has left) finish the code to Rocketeer, Mars Minis, and Hovver Bovver!

 

Groovymart!

Electromart!

[+DZ-Jay]

Seriously, as an early beta-tester of Rocketeer, I saw the evolution of the gameplay and graphics, and even of the title screen designed by nonner.

 

In particular, I saw it come alive when the first sound effects came in. (Actually that was sort of funny because Groovy first added Joe's sound engine, and used Christmas Carol's sound effects as placeholders. Shooting aliens reminded me of the Bad Toy! LOL!)

 

Anyway, I can tell you with enthusiasm that it is truly a great game! Very addictive and lots of fun! This is why I'm not worried about delivery, no matter how long it takes.

 

I can't wait! (Well, I can... I just don't want to!)

[+cmart604]

Yay! Cmart will single-handedly (or double-handedly? I lose track of how man appendages he has left) finish the code to Rocketeer, Mars Minis, and Hovver Bovver!

 

Groovymart!

Lol! Yes, overnight I have taught myself to code on the Inty, it's a miracle!

[Ignorama]

Its the power of bacon. Nothing is impossible.

[+cmart604]

Its the power of bacon. Nothing is impossible.

True, very true.

[GroovyBee]

First let me apologise for being "late to the party" in this thread. I've been away for over a week so missed the action.

 

It seems that some facts are needed.

 

When I first got into Intellivision development in late 2010 I started and announced 2 games very similar to their 7800 counterparts. I also did quite a few experiments (as you do as a programmer new to a system) to see what the Inty could do and to further my understanding of the machine and its architecture. One of those experiments (started around the 2010 Christmas holidays) was a bouncing and animated sprite test. That experiment formed the basis for Rocketeer when I was looking to get back into Inty development in late 2012 (I did drop a subtle hint in the the "Goals for 2013" thread ).

 

When I announce a game it doesn't always mean that its "hot off the presses" to me. A good example of this is "Moles" for the Jaguar. It was announced at eJagFest in November last year so if you thought it was developed from scratch over the 2012 summer you'd be wrong. To me, that game is now close to 15 years old and started life on a completely different platform and CPU architecture and was brought to the jag in an advanced state. So you can expect even more titles from me in 2014.

 

My original agreement with Elektronite to develop Hover Bovver had no completion date it was just an "as and when" project. Nor was there any sort of exclusivity agreement where I was locked into developing solely for them. If either of those clauses had been in the "contract" (so to speak) I wouldn't have started the game.

 

So why should Hover Bovver be finished before Rocketeer given that it was actually started after Rocketeer was well under way and it didn't have a deadline to meet?

 

I know Rocketeer and Mars Minis are running well over their respective shipping dates and I apologise for that. However, its retro show season with Play Expo in October and eJagFest in November (both of which I'll be attending in person) so I'll be focusing on those games to show people that there is still life in the old 70s gal yet.

[+JasonlikesINTV]

Thanks for posting, GB. I'm glad that despite all of the recent chaos and drama, you still want to keep working on games for the INTV. I'm not sure I care which games receive priority, as I have already prepaid for Rocketeer and Mars Mini Games & I intend to buy multiple copies of Hover Bovver as soon as it's available.

[Rev]

I truly hope everything can be worked out with no hard feelings between any party. I know it is hard when money is involved. We all love the intv and lets work together!

 

Yeah, i know im cheesy.......

[Eric7100]

Thanks for the info, Groovy. And please don't forget about Kil-Botz! Many of us are also looking forward to that game.

[+grips03]

thanks for posting GB. I'm looking forward to all the games.

[+DZ-Jay]

Thanks for the update Groovy, although we would have understood had you stayed away from this thread, which for a while seemed be getting toxic.

 

I'm glad you're still working on the Intellivision, and I can't wait to see the finished product of all your work.

 

Cheers, mate!

-dZ.