Growing Ties

[drludos]

Thanks for liking the game, and it's unique / weird concept!

 

Regarding ports, I think it may actually be challenging to port it on other handhelds, such as the Game Boy or the Game Gear. It may not be obvious at first, but the game actually uses the Lynx sprite scaling features to generate the ties, allowing to have many loooooong ties on screen without any frame drop :). And it's the only retro handheld I know with such powerful features.

 

To do something similar on a "tile based" 8/16 bits machine, you'll have to use loads of small sprites, possibly exceeding the total number of sprites the machine can handle (40 for the Game Boy, and 64 for the Game Gear).

 

I'm not familiar with Atari 8 bit platforms though, so I don't know if it could be done or not on them .

 

And for modern platform like the Switch, I think you need to be an actual game studio to get a devkit from Nintendo (sadly - it would be cool to be able to make Switch or PS4 homebrews like we can do for retro platforms). But yeah, considering the screen size, I think you could even make a multiplayer version on the Switch, with multiple "tie-o-matic" machines competing for customers!

Edited September 28, 2019 by drludos

[laoo]

Atari 8 has natively vertical sprites of arbitrary height so it can be done there

Game Boy Advance has sprite scaling and I consider it essentially the last retro handheld (contrary to it's successor - NDS - which has some OS like firmware with 3D hardware, wifi support etc (although games can be created the same way on both)).

[drludos]

Thanks a lot for the information, that's very interesting!

 

Atari 8-bit seems like a good candidate then, so does the GBA!

I don't have an Atari 8 bit machine (yet!), but I do have a GBA + Everdrive ;).

[+slx]

On 9/29/2019 at 9:20 PM, drludos said:

 

I don't have an Atari 8 bit machine (yet!).

That's an omission ? but you don't actually need one to develop, as the Altirra emulator is near perfect and WUDSN Eclipse is a near perfect IDE for programming them in assembly, allowing for one-key assembly and testing on Altirra. The 8-bits have a 6502 as well, so apart from 65C02 specific opcodes (which are few) you could maybe use some game logic from the Lynx version. Graphics will be more challenging than on the Lynx but should be "doable" Doing 4 ties simultaneously should be rather easy as they would be a perfect fit for the Atari's missile sprites (and could be moved together as they fall with the same speed). If more are needed it might get a bit more complicated but you could still use players for up to another 4 simultaneous ties and use a character-based mode for the customers who don't seem to move sideways and not very fast. You'd also need a single-button control scheme, but that could probably done by 1st-push-start, 2nd-push-clip.

[drludos]

Hi everyone !

 

It's been a long time, but since the release of the game in 2019, I've been working hard on creating a "deluxe" version. I've added new levels, new games modes, and polished the overall game experience. I've also included 3 bonus games on the cartridge: Timeloop, Fishing for Atari, and Gift Catcher.

 

 

This game should be published on cartridge in a fully featured boxed edition, hopefully by the end of 2021.

Meanwhile, the first beta version of the game is available right now for people who support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/posts/47298674

 

[PFG 9000]

18 hours ago, drludos said:

Hi everyone !

 

It's been a long time, but since the release of the game in 2019, I've been working hard on creating a "deluxe" version. I've added new levels, new games modes, and polished the overall game experience. I've also included 3 bonus games on the cartridge: Timeloop, Fishing for Atari, and Gift Catcher.

 

 

This game should be published on cartridge in a fully featured boxed edition, hopefully by the end of 2021.

Meanwhile, the first beta version of the game is available right now for people who support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/posts/47298674

 

That's awesome!  Day One order for me.

[+jgkspsx]

So exciting!

[LX.NET]

Really cool. Looking forward to the new release and the physical one as well. Nice to see the bonus games are going to be included!

[Turbo Laser Lynx]

On 2/9/2021 at 12:40 PM, drludos said:

It's been a long time, but since the release of the game in 2019, I've been working hard on creating a "deluxe" version. I've added new levels, new games modes, and polished the overall game experience. I've also included 3 bonus games on the cartridge: Timeloop, Fishing for Atari, and Gift Catcher.

Really great collection of small fun games!

[drludos]

Hi everyone,

 

It's time for a new update!

 

I'm very pleased to announce that the game now features a great soundtrack composed by Carl from @Songbird Productions. You can hear both the title screen music and the ingame music in this short video:

 

 

And as usual, if you want to try the game by yourself, a new beta version ROM (featuring music and the latest fixes) is available for my supporters over Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/52955321

 

So what do you think of the music?

Edited June 26, 2021 by drludos

[PFG 9000]

Sounds great.  The baseline gives me Maniac Mansion vibes (not a bad thing at all) but maybe that's just me.  It fits the game well!  Like, if it was a necktie, you guys would score a 10.  ?

[Albert]

Growing Ties Deluxe will see its physical debut at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo in less than two weeks!  Here's a preview of the box created by @BitJag (William Thorup):

 

 

If you're not able to make it to the show, Growing Ties Deluxe will be available in the AtariAge Store in November!

 

 ..Al

[socrates63]

Another game added to the PRGE shopping list. Very catchy music 🎶

[+sramirez2008]

3 hours ago, Albert said:

Growing Ties Deluxe will see its physical debut at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo in less than two weeks!  Here's a preview of the box created by @BitJag (William Thorup):

 

 

If you're not able to make it to the show, Growing Ties Deluxe will be available in the AtariAge Store in November!

 

 ..Al

Great artwork. Btw, nice to see the Lynx logo displayed on the box. 

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

ZeroPage Homebrew is playing the Exclusive Final Version of Growing Ties Deluxe on tomorrow's ZPH stream LIVE on Twitch, hope you can join us!

 

Fri Oct 6, 2023 | LIVE @ 12PM PT | 3PM ET | 7PM GMT

WATCH LIVE: https://www.twitch.tv/zeropagehomebrew/
WATCH LATER: https://youtube.com/zeropagehomebrew/

 

Games:

• Odynexus (2023 Exclusive Final Version | Lynx) by Alex Hiza @LordKraken & Alexander Grade @Anderlex(Created By) / Drozerix (Music) / Michal Szpilowski @miker (Music Adaption) / William Thorup @BitJag (Packaging Art)
• Growing Ties Deluxe (2023 Exclusive Final Version | Lynx) by Dr. Ludos @drludos / Carl Forhan @Songbird (Music) / William Thorup @BitJag (Packaging Art)

 WATCH AT 1080P60 FOR BEST QUALITY

 

 

[drludos]

Thanks a lot James for featuring my game on tonight's show!

 

I'm eager to see how you play Growing Ties and the bonus games!

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

ZeroPage Homebrew presents...

 

Sun Dec 17, 2023 @ 12PM PT | 3PM ET | 8PM GMT
WATCH LIVE: https://twitch.tv/zeropagehomebrew/

WATCH LATER: https://youtube.com/zeropagehomebrew/

 

On Sunday December 17, 2023 ZeroPage Homebrew will be interviewing the developers of every single new physical release coming to the AtariAge store! Join us LIVE on Twitch while we unbox all the new Atari 2600, 5200, 7800, Jaguar and Lynx games and talk with the incredibly talented Atari community members about their games! Get your questions ready for the devs and following along in the Twitch chat as we pop in each of the 22 new releases into our Atari consoles!

 

NEW GAME RELEASES

 

Atari 2600: Berry Fun!, Bot&Tom, Caramujo, ElectroBall, Game of the Bear 2 Much To Bear, Immunity!, Penult, Quantum Tunnel, Robot Zed

Atari 5200: Scorch

Atari 7800: A.R.T.I., Death Merchant, E.X.O., Harpy's Curse, Millie and Molly, Oozy the Goo - Gaiden, Plumb Luck DX

Atari Jaguar: Defender of the Crown, Novagen Volume 1, Rocket Ranger
Atari Lynx: Growing Ties Deluxe, Odynexus

[+BitJag]

I've been playing the earlier version of this game on and off for a few years now, and it's quite addictive.  This game is a great fit for the Lynx, especially in this updated form, and it's great to see it get a packaged treatment.  While we wait for this gem to show up in the store, here is a time lapse of the box art illustration.

 

I shifted away from my usually semi-realistic style to a flat shaded style.  I believe it fits well with the flat nature of ties in general, and with the overall look and feel of the game. Thank you to @drludos and @Albert for inviting me to work on this one, and for their guidance and feedback to get this illustration to where it needed to be for this game.