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OMNI console official thread


opcode

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Sorry to go OT. But if I released a CV compatible console that had the same RAM and sound chip in the same IO space, would it be more of a legal thing to say its SGM compatible or a commoradary thing?

 

The reason I ask is because I was thinking of making a small CV board myself. I designed a 6502 SBC recently and Im looking for another project.

 

 

If it was ok, CollectorVision wouldn't have licensed it. That said, I would like this topic to stay focused on OMNI...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi eduardo i gotta say i'm interested on that new OMNI system, but while i'm bummed that the december presentation is not there, i just hope that the presentation/reveal will likely come earlier than sooner, so anyway i could still wish that it would released directly to consumers but you decided that it aim squarely at the Atari 2600 enthusiast gamer, which is a good because you don't want to complete with nintendo, playstation, and xbox, and i'm glad you're doing the right thing for this console. So i have a question about the OMNI, look at what tommy tallarico is doing with the Intellivision Amico it is a retro consumer console and the goal for this is first a remade of classic Intellivision, Atari, Imagic, and arcade titles as well, there also doing the right thing with the Amico, just like you're doing this too with the OMNI. Hope you have a new year in that case is were the reveal/presentation is due earlier than later okay.

 

Good luck eduardo. ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

I'm excited to see what the Omni has to offer. As a big Odyssey2 fan the thought of upgraded versions of the games I grew up playing is incredible. Ed Averett produced some great games and I look forward to seeing what his collaboration with opcode produces. Any chance you will be at the Midwest Gaming Classic???

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  • 7 months later...

Happy Halloween!!!



A few remarks:

1) video was captured directly from a digital TV. Video from SGM2 was output in S-video format and upscaled by my Onkyo receiver. I did that because I needed the largest possible TV to be able to capture live footage. Unfortunately digital TVs introduce some artifacts, has a hard time with proper de-interlacing, remove scanlines, etc. Additionally, the glitch you see at around 58s was introduced by the video encoder, and wasn’t part of the original recording.
2) what you see was running on an unmodded ColecoVision with SGM2 rev 1 board, which means the ColecoVision CPU is doing all the processing (and the game runs at a solid 60fps)
3) while the soundtrack was added for dramatic effect, it represents the intended quality of the final audio
4) the video was captured in a single playing session and cut to make it shorter.


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Nice video on castlevania, it is Halloween, I’m still excited about the Omni. I have a question when is the proper announcement of Omni? As well as SGM2?


We will show beta boards later this year. After that we go into beta for a while.


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Opcode that was an awesome video.  C. Vania seems like it is coming along very well.  I am so looking forward to the SGM2 / Omni, the games encapsulate my most favorite era, the hand drawn sprites and fun gameplay is what I am all about.  

 

I noticed you mentioned that the Colecovision is doing all of the processing?  Is this going to be a typical implementation that devs would do or just a one off for this video?  I am very interested in how Omni games are developed since I am currently learning assembly.

 

I think the other game screens you have shown in the past look amazing and I look forward to them being in a video as well.

 

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Opcode that was an awesome video.  C. Vania seems like it is coming along very well.  I am so looking forward to the SGM2 / Omni, the games encapsulate my most favorite era, the hand drawn sprites and fun gameplay is what I am all about.  
 
I noticed you mentioned that the Colecovision is doing all of the processing?  Is this going to be a typical implementation that devs would do or just a one off for this video?  I am very interested in how Omni games are developed since I am currently learning assembly.
 
I think the other game screens you have shown in the past look amazing and I look forward to them being in a video as well.
 


Using the CV CPU is up to devs. I started development using the SGM2 rev 1 board, which means I had no access to the SGM2 processor, which is compatible and about 10 times faster. But that wasn’t a problem (so far) as you can see from the videos. It might become a problem later when I add the sound driver. It is one thing to feed 3 psg channels, another thing to feed up to 16 channels of FM+PCM, that requires quite some extra processing. The other problem down the line is that the Z80 can only “see” 64KB a time, while OMNIs cpu can see 24bits of flat addressing (or 16MB). So Castlevania would eventually require bank switching with the regular CV, but we don’t need that for OMNI.
If you are learning assembly, you are safe. CPUs are compatible.


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  • 1 year later...
31 minutes ago, Raccoon Lad said:

It's been a year since this thread as last updated.  Any news or updates for the OMNI?

 

I'm rather curious.

You should get yourself on the Opcode e-mailing list.  I think that's how I found out months ago.  It's been shelved in favour of focusing on the SGM and software support for the CV, SGM and Phoenix.

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  • 2 months later...

SGM2 and Omni might be coming back!? Awesome!! I hope I read into your statement right Opcode!  Honestly my heart broke a little when I heard it was no more, I really wanted to see that Metroid Vania type game you were working on as well as those remade Odyssey games too!

 

 

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On 3/1/2021 at 10:41 PM, imstarryeyed said:

SGM2 and Omni might be coming back!? Awesome!! I hope I read into your statement right Opcode!  Honestly my heart broke a little when I heard it was no more, I really wanted to see that Metroid Vania type game you were working on as well as those remade Odyssey games too!

 

 

I second the remake O2 games, especially with Ed Averett supposedly on board.  Definitely looking forward to hearing and/or seeing further updates on the Omni.

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  • 4 months later...

After years with no updates, here is a little teaser. OMNI is moving forward. I am trying to put some serious investment on the project. I started Opcode Electronics, LLC earlier this year, and my plan is to make this my full time business. An here is the first game. I am not going to announce the game today, but I will give you some info.

 

The game is a sort of spiritual sequel (for now) of a very popular game for the Atari 2600 and Intellivision. This is stage 1, the moon base. The final game will have 5 different stages, each stage with many waves. the game plays like classic arcade. World 1 is almost complete. Game is already playable. I have a veteran of the video game industry helping me, worked for Capcom and others. This isn't going to be cheap. I am estimating $20k to complete this game alone, so I may need to find ways to finance this and other gam es. In fact I may need to find an investor. 

 

To recap: OMNI is a custom 16-bit, cartridge based video game console. The focus in terms of content is Atari era games. It is an authentic 16-bit hardware, no 3D here. Old school video with pixels, planes and sprites.

 

More info and videos coming soon. 

IMG_1737.jpg

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Ok, since this is a fairly quiet forum, I will post this here first. Some considerations though:

 

- This is week 2 of development. Please treat as rough WIP for now

- Sound is stock and can be ignored. No soundtrack yet

- Scoring system isn't in place yet. What you see isn't representative of the final game

- I am showing stage 1, waves 1 to 3. There is more to stage 1, including a final boss battle in space

 

 

I am not naming the game here, but it is fairly obvious. The goal isn't to recreate the original with a new coat of paint. The goal is to extend, improve, make the game that could represent the evolution of the original. Philosophically OMNI is a sort of fantasy what-if console, assuming that the Atari era companies had survived the crash and some of the hit titles had become "franchises". 

I am in contact with the original author and getting feedback from him. We will incorporate that feedback soon. That is crucial in my view, because it is the only way to make this authentic according to my "what-if" idea.

I am not going to talk about the game story yet, but it involves space travel and different places. The ship has an interstellar mode (or form) that isn't shown here.

 

We welcome any feedback at this point. Suggestions, comments, even criticism. As I indicated, this is an EXPENSIVE endeavor, I will need all the support I can get. If successful, we can have many other games like this, celebrating the Atari era legacy.

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I will throw an idea here. Patreon. If we can get enough people (at least 500), we can make this happen. We can get OMNI out in 2/3 years, with 3 games. The more people get, the faster we can release. We could compensate patrons with access to games, decision making, perks, all depends on membership level. Right now the most expensive part by far are the games, at about $20k each. I have to do some math, plan, it will probably require a lot of changes and discipline in my daily routine. Discord, streaming, things like that. But may work.

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