Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 http://www.qotile.net/xype/games.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hizzy Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 http://www.qotile.net/xype/games.html Is that all? It doesn't list Seawolf, so I though others could be missing. Thanks:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 I still need to pick up Seawolf. Where is the "stella mailing list" archives online? Sounds like a fun read. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 I still need to pick up Seawolf. Where is the "stella mailing list" archives online? Sounds like a fun read. http://www.biglist.com/lists/stella/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 Is that all? It doesn't list Seawolf, so I though others could be missing. Thanks:) I think Seawolf was the last release under the XYPE label. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 Where is the "stella mailing list" archives online? Sounds like a fun read. You can also check MiniDig, a lot of the content links back to the original posts in the stella mailing list. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 http://www.biglist.com/lists/stella/ Cool, so it lasted nearly ten years... I think Seawolf was the last release under the XYPE label. Did the guys behind Xype move on, or are some programmers still developing games? They have a lot of great stuff, but nothing that doesn't feel like it could have existed back in the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 I still need to pick up Seawolf. You really should. Its a great game. Excellent graphics, good variation of ships and great in-game sounds too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Cool, so it lasted nearly ten years... Did the guys behind Xype move on, or are some programmers still developing games? They have a lot of great stuff, but nothing that doesn't feel like it could have existed back in the day. I'm one of "those guys". Thomas is, too I'm busy working on the next Boulder Dash which should be ready in about 2030, provided I can get a licensing deal in place and I can find someone willing to pay the $32K price-tag. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 I'm one of "those guys". Thomas is, too I'm busy working on the next Boulder Dash which should be ready in about 2030, provided I can get a licensing deal in place and I can find someone willing to pay the $32K price-tag. Awesome. It's really neat to see how all these homebrew games have evolved past basic assembly code. Simple by no means equates to "not fun." Some of the best games are based on simple concepts. It's the level of polish that goes into them really blows the mind at times... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBeefy Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 True, and that should always be the main motivation. But when you release a game, the number of sales (not the money gained!) can provide extra motivation. That and the (far to few) (honest) reviews. Do you not think people have reviewed your game honestly? (I just realized I haven't reviewed Thrust+ on the AA store yet.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Awesome. It's really neat to see how all these homebrew games have evolved past basic assembly code. Simple by no means equates to "not fun." Some of the best games are based on simple concepts. It's the level of polish that goes into them really blows the mind at times... I believe Thomas and I would still have pretty complete records of our correspondence during development of Boulder Dash including discussions with First Star Software regarding the licensing, royalties, etc. I doubt it would be proper to release FSS in-confidence stuff, but I have occasionally toyed with the idea of making the technical side of those discussions between Thomas and I available for everyone to read. Some of it is quite interesting and shows just how complex and time consuming that polishing process can be. I have some vague memory of already releasing some of it...? Honestly don't remember. I do know that both Thomas and I sacrificed many holidays and Christmases and worked pretty much all day every day for weeks on end solving some of the complex engine issues. The scanning of the board was one of those which was simple in concept but incredibly difficult to pull off in practise. Also, two perfectionists working together... painful!!! Right, Thomas? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 (edited) Do you not think people have reviewed your game honestly? (I just realized I haven't reviewed Thrust+ on the AA store yet.) Thomas wants honest reviews "warts and all". In other words if someone doesn't like something he wants them to say so. We don't want feel-good eye candy that just gushes over how wonderful everything is. That's what he means by honest reviews. He didn't mean that people weren't being honest. We both want "pull no punches" genuine feedback. As a programmer you don't get much from a review that says "it's great!" Edit: For example - one review on YouTube says that the scrolling on Boulder Dash is jerky and off-putting. That's a very accurate representation and genuine honest feedback. Some people are OK with it. That reviewer didn't like it. I'm inclined to agree with the reviewer, even though it's a consequence of the hardware of the '2600. The scrolling was the best we could do - at the time. We both believe we could significantly improve it now, though, with a better bank-switching scheme. Edited June 19, 2017 by Andrew Davie 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBeefy Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Thomas wants honest reviews "warts and all". In other words if someone doesn't like something he wants them to say so. We don't want feel-good eye candy that just gushes over how wonderful everything is. That's what he means by honest reviews. He didn't mean that people weren't being honest. We both want "pull no punches" genuine feedback. As a programmer you don't get much from a review that says "it's great!" Edit: For example - one review on YouTube says that the scrolling on Boulder Dash is jerky and off-putting. That's a very accurate representation and genuine honest feedback. Some people are OK with it. That reviewer didn't like it. I'm inclined to agree with the reviewer, even though it's a consequence of the hardware of the '2600. The scrolling was the best we could do - at the time. We both believe we could significantly improve it now, though, with a better bank-switching scheme. That makes sense. I know when looking for homebrew at the store that I didn't see developed it is hard to choose when all the reviews are basically 5 stars. While I'm sure many of the homebrew are great quality I'm sure some are a little over rated so to speak. I really need to look at all the ones I have and see if I've done a review. I know I have on a few but I bet I still need to do some. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Edit: For example - one review on YouTube says that the scrolling on Boulder Dash is jerky and off-putting. That's a very accurate representation and genuine honest feedback. Some people are OK with it. That reviewer didn't like it. I'm inclined to agree with the reviewer, even though it's a consequence of the hardware of the '2600. The scrolling was the best we could do - at the time. We both believe we could significantly improve it now, though, with a better bank-switching scheme. I actually sold it due to the jerky movement, muddy color scheme, but my biggest complaint was the engine did not display enough of the playfield for me to navigate without getting crushed. For instance, falling rocks above the screen, and by the time I see it, too soon to react. I sold it for $125 and both the buyer and I were happy. My previous reply to early ASM games being simple but fun wasn't a stab but some back in the day games were genuinely good, and a number of the homebrews released before ARM programming was a thing (and those released after) are great experiences that wouldn't feel out of place back in the day. Like the ones where they stick to the original hardware limitations of two sprites per scanline and symmetrical playfield, etc. A lot of back in the day games stuck to these guidelines and some broke boundaries. Making a fun game based on the original rulesets is tough but rewarding to play. I loved how Space Investigators made the game so arcade like with 9 non-flickering invader sprites and a nice homage to it's monochrome roots. I'm not offended by flicker, but in some games it does get excessive as they cram more and more sprites onscreen. And I also love all the advanced stuff, full text menus instead of endless variations, ports of Pacman with nearly perfect TIA gameplay and sound, the insane amount of onscreen sprites displayed in Space Rocks: Tournament Edition, or even the new Draconian which IMO feels more like a 7800 game. Nice to keep simpler versus complex games in the rotation when I play. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 I believe Thomas and I would still have pretty complete records of our correspondence during development of Boulder Dash including discussions with First Star Software regarding the licensing, royalties, etc. Yes, I still have all mails. I doubt it would be proper to release FSS in-confidence stuff, but I have occasionally toyed with the idea of making the technical side of those discussions between Thomas and I available for everyone to read. Some of it is quite interesting and shows just how complex and time consuming that polishing process can be. I have some vague memory of already releasing some of it...? Honestly don't remember. I do know that both Thomas and I sacrificed many holidays and Christmases and worked pretty much all day every day for weeks on end solving some of the complex engine issues. The scanning of the board was one of those which was simple in concept but incredibly difficult to pull off in practise. The very essence can be found in the manual. But of course there was much, much, much more! Also, two perfectionists working together... painful!!! Right, Thomas? Frequently. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Thomas wants honest reviews "warts and all". In other words if someone doesn't like something he wants them to say so. We don't want feel-good eye candy that just gushes over how wonderful everything is. That's what he means by honest reviews. He didn't mean that people weren't being honest. We both want "pull no punches" genuine feedback. As a programmer you don't get much from a review that says "it's great!" Exactly. Overall the store reviews seem to be very positively biased. Which is understandable, because people payed some money for the game and want to like it. Also for some people it might feel wrong to criticize something, where so much effort was put it. If every game gets 5 stars and praise only, this makes the reviews effectively irrelevant (at least for me). I am all for open and honest feedback. As long it is constructive I won't object, because I know it will help to make my next game better. Also one can learn a lot from such feedback for other games. Therefore Nathan is maybe my favorite reviewer, he is frank and constructive with his reviews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 ...muddy color scheme...Guilty! Here Andrew and I discussed very hard (and long) and in the end I suppose I only had more stamina. He wanted the levels to have more vibrant colors, while I wanted them to look like the C64 version I knew. I got what I wanted (and still like), so I am the one to blame here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBeefy Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Exactly. Overall the store reviews seem to be very positively biased. Which is understandable, because people payed some money for the game and want to like it. Also for some people it might feel wrong to criticize something, where so much effort was put it. If every game gets 5 stars and praise only, this makes the reviews effectively irrelevant (at least for me). I am all for open and honest feedback. As long it is constructive I won't object, because I know it will help to make my next game better. Also one can learn a lot from such feedback for other games. Therefore Nathan is maybe my favorite reviewer, he is frank and constructive with his reviews. I see what you are saying. He has reviewed a lot of the games. I never thought about staying on top of reviewing stuff and will use this week to try and go through all my homebrews I own. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Yes, I still have all mails. The very essence can be found in the manual. But of course there was much, much, much more! Frequently. Want to release them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Want to release them? I don't mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 I don't mind. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/266860-boulder-dashtm-programmer-correspondence/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Therefore Nathan is maybe my favorite reviewer, he is frank and constructive with his reviews. And way, way behind. Hoping to start slogging away at new reviews "soon" though. And probably "Draconian" soon, rather than "Boulder Dash" soon. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 (edited) And probably "Draconian" soon, rather than "Boulder Dash" soon. Boooooooooo! Edited June 19, 2017 by Thomas Jentzsch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 boo? Boulder Dash was what, 10 years in the making? Draconian's looking to be 3 1/2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
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.