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Atarimania like homebrew archive?


Coolcrab

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I love atarimania as it is a beautiful database with all roms and game descriptions that I could wish for. One thing that I noticed though is that they only list games until 1992. So all homebrews and hacks that were made afterwards are still mostly floating around and (I think not documented elsewhere?)

 

Is there some site that does something similar? Could the atarimania people add a homebrew section or does anybody have other solutions? Like the real games these games should be conserved I think. (And I'm.not just saying that because I'm making a game myself, but it did make me think)

Edited by Coolcrab
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The problem with homebrews is, that there are just too many and also too many unfinished or even barely started. When compiling such a list, you are hunting an ever moving target. Many people have tried such an index, but most gave up soon.

 

Here is the most recent index (from AA member arenafoot) I know about:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/259839-homebrew-list/?do=findComment&comment=3652591

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Yeah, I was trying to track homebrews in development, but I didn't realize how many people put out quick games to test a concept or just because they can as opposed to completely developing a game for physical release. Turns out I didn't have the hutzpah to keep chasing down every time someone announced a new game about running up and down avoiding footballs or whatever.

 

 

It would be nice to have a searchable index to keep track of such things.

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I tried to do a listing of bB games a few years ago and got discouraged trying to sift through all the abandoned and half-finished games, not to mention trying to track down all the games that are posted places other than AtariAge.

 

atari2600homebrew.com was great but hasn't been updated in over a year. Even keeping an updated list of only games that get physical releases is daunting when you start taking into account all of the websites that offer homebrews plus individuals or shows that do limited releases of games.

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Maybe such a list should be limited to games which were/are released by the author on physical carts. Either unlimited only or at least e.g. 50 carts.

 

That would avoid all unfinished games plus those which are especially tailored to milk collectors.

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I agree that complete and published should be a criterion, otherwise there are way too many.

I really like the atarimania website while the homebrew solutions are spreadsheets and blogs at best, but not really searchable properly. I wouldn't mind helping setting up a good site for the homebrews.

 

I have a nice library site from some years ago, and I think that with light modifications it could be used for this purpose. http://pietrow.net/lib/

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  • 2 weeks later...

I love atarimania as it is a beautiful database with all roms and game descriptions that I could wish for. One thing that I noticed though is that they only list games until 1992. So all homebrews and hacks that were made afterwards are still mostly floating around and (I think not documented elsewhere?)

 

Is there some site that does something similar? Could the atarimania people add a homebrew section or does anybody have other solutions? Like the real games these games should be conserved I think. (And I'm.not just saying that because I'm making a game myself, but it did make me think)

There's my Comprehensive List here: https://1drv.ms/x/s!ArXu52QZivTrgVbQayev1Wc1QprN

I've included everything (homebrews, hacks, WIPs, Demos, etc) in my list and its a 4 year project, so far (constantly updating all the time). BTW, the game titles in bold font on the list were released for sale and the normal font titles were not.

 

and then there is this one I was helping out also (Video Game Homebrew Wiki): http://www.videogamehomebrew.com/index.php/Main_Page

It used to be in a forum version and now moved over to a wiki page.

 

The problem with homebrews is, that there are just too many and also too many unfinished or even barely started. When compiling such a list, you are hunting an ever moving target. Many people have tried such an index, but most gave up soon.

 

Here is the most recent index (from AA member arenafoot) I know about:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/259839-homebrew-list/?do=findComment&comment=3652591

Thanks for the shout out!

 

Yeah, I was trying to track homebrews in development, but I didn't realize how many people put out quick games to test a concept or just because they can as opposed to completely developing a game for physical release. Turns out I didn't have the hutzpah to keep chasing down every time someone announced a new game about running up and down avoiding footballs or whatever.

 

 

It would be nice to have a searchable index to keep track of such things.

I have them listed on my list as "WIP" and the others are listed as "Abandoned".

 

I tried to do a listing of bB games a few years ago and got discouraged trying to sift through all the abandoned and half-finished games, not to mention trying to track down all the games that are posted places other than AtariAge.

 

atari2600homebrew.com was great but hasn't been updated in over a year. Even keeping an updated list of only games that get physical releases is daunting when you start taking into account all of the websites that offer homebrews plus individuals or shows that do limited releases of games.

I created a column on my list for bB games (blue background column "I").

 

Maybe such a list should be limited to games which were/are released by the author on physical carts. Either unlimited only or at least e.g. 50 carts.

 

That would avoid all unfinished games plus those which are especially tailored to milk collectors.

sorta like http://www.atari2600homebrew.com/ most of the release titles are posted there, just not updated in over a year - its a shame :-(

 

I have almost finished reading and taking notes on the Stella Mailing List, I think I might be able to put some time into documenting down all the Atari homebrew games. Can't take more than a few months... right?

LOL... if you do compile a list, can you send me a copy so that I may compare it to my list and see if I'm missing any titles? I'm currently 4 years into my list.....

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I would say Hacks get their own database. I'd like to keep it as clean as possible. I'd also prefer either only listing games that got a physical cart release or at the very least a way to indicate games that were physically released. I'm very old, so to me a game isn't complete until there is a physical copy I can buy. I realize that these days young whipper snappers are all about the DLC and Harmony Carts and emulation and whatnot, but dang it, this is classic gaming!

 

:spidey:

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For what it's worth, AtGames is going to be working on a retro gaming portal to house vetted homebrews. We're still working out the logistics, but it's hoped to be a good way for customers to find games to put on SD cards. This is going to be particularly important as the whole line-up may be moving to have SD card support in the future.

 

The catch as I see it is that as a corporate portal, we need to be careful of copyright infringement (no direct copies/clones of games), and of course only want to host homebrews where authors give explicit permission for use. There may be a way to have paid ROMs at some point (with some type of DRM attached) for those authors who prefer compensation, but that's not currently in the plans.

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there is this one already on wiki: http://www.videogamehomebrew.com/index.php/Main_Page

I never had heard about "Isaiah's_Wii_Chase" before and the store link is for "Incoming". It looks like the former was released on carts (20 copies max) and sold for only a few days, probably to collectors only. IMO such a low number and sale time should not qualify here.

 

BTW: Trying to create an account there lead to "Database error - A database query error has occurred. This may indicate a bug in the software."

 

The problem I have with the page is, that I have no clue how long it will last, if there is a backup strategy or what will happen when the owner looses interest (or worse). That will stop at least me from investing a lot of time into completing it. Something hosted on and (co)owned by AtariAge (or anyone with a similar reputation) would solve the problem.

Edited by Thomas Jentzsch
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Another possibility would be hosting the database as a git repository on GitHub (with a dedicated organization NOT related to Stella) and serving it via GitHub pages. Github can directly render markdown, and the underlying engine (jeckyll) supports theming and templating. This would come with quite a few advantages

  • No issues with backups: everyone who clones there repo has a whole copy of it, including history
  • Versioning via git
  • Contributions happen via git clones and pull, which enforces and editorial process that would make sustaining a quality baseline much easier
  • Hosting is done by GitHub -> no issues with speed and availability
  • Jeckyll is open source; if the database has ever to move away from GitHub, it could be easily hosted elsewhere (the source could even stay on GH)
  • There'd be a issue tracking system for discussing database entries

The unavoidable disadvantages that I see:

  • Contributing is slightly more difficult and requires a GitHub account. However, all steps necessary to create or edit a page can be done in the web interface, so that should not be much of a hurdle
  • There are soft 1GB limits on the page size and 100GB on the monthly traffic
  • Reliable people have to volunteer as maintainers. However, that'd be a requirement for a high-quality wiki, too.
Edited by DirtyHairy
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