Homebrew/independent games for digital purchase?

[zetastrike]

I've been on a spree of buying new C64 games from itch.io and they're really awesome, but I'm not seeing a whole lot for the A8bit line.  Are there many new games out that can be bought digitally?

[Beeblebrox]

@zetastrike There is The Last Squadron which you can buy a digital version of. Search AA. Great vertical shoot em up. 

 

Incidentally there are quite a few free new digital download games from 2021:

 

Flob

Final Assault

Prince of Persia

Betty's issues

 

... to name but a few. 

 

Then there are a good few free ported games too available for free to download. 

 

What A8 do you have and is it stock? 

 

[zetastrike]

3 hours ago, Beeblebrox said:

@zetastrike There is The Last Squadron which you can buy a digital version of. Search AA. Great vertical shoot em up. 

 

Incidentally there are quite a few free new digital download games from 2021:

 

Flob

Final Assault

Prince of Persia

Betty's issues

 

... to name but a few. 

 

Then there are a good few free ported games too available for free to download. 

 

What A8 do you have and is it stock? 

 

I use the Mister core for my A8bit.

 

I'll check these out, thanks!

[+Philsan]

Every year circa 100 new homebrew games are released for A8.

There's a topic that keeps track of them: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/329031-atari-8-bit5200-homebrew-games-releasedcompletedwip-in-2022/

 

Luckily only few are not available for free.

 

I would try Albert, Assembloids XE, Atari Blast!, Bosconian, Crownland, Dimo's Dungeon, Dimo's Quest New Year Edition, Final Assault, FloB, Gacek, His Dark Majesty, International Karate Enhanced Edition, Last Squadron, Laura, Manic Miner 2016, Pac-Man 2012, Pad, Pang, Prince of Persia, RGB, Ridiculous Reality, Scramble, Space Harrier, Stunt Car Racer, Time Pilot, Total Eclipse, Yoomp!, to name a few.

 

You can download them from Homesoft: http://www.mushca.com/f/atari/index.php?idx=A

 

You'll find some infos on A8 on first post of Topic for newbies: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/176545-topic-for-newbies-or-veterans-returning-to-atari/

[zzip]

16 hours ago, zetastrike said:

I've been on a spree of buying new C64 games from itch.io and they're really awesome, but I'm not seeing a whole lot for the A8bit line.  Are there many new games out that can be bought digitally?

The good news is there is a thriving A8 homebrew scene,  the bad news is there really isn't an easy one stop place to buy them.   Supposedly the AtariAge store may add digital downloads in the future.     In the meantime use the links others posted to find the latest and greatest homebrews.

[rdefabri]

The homebrew scene for the A8 has really opened my eyes to what these machines were capable of.  I wonder what Jay Miner / team would think (I know Joe Decuir has done the speaking circuit...has he mentioned any of that)?

[Beeblebrox]

@rdefabri I agree, although I would also add to what you state by slightly re-phrasing it as "what these machine ARE capabie of" now.

 

Gaming wise back in the day they were pushed very early on in some cases, (Henry's house, Alley Cat, Blinky's Scary school, and Rescue on Fractalus to name a few), but the Atari 8 bit is being pushed even more in some cases because it is 40 year old architecture with software being coded for it in the 21st century with the knowledge of decades of gaming genres.

 

For me, as Philsan has alluded to by mentioning some of the modern games coded for the Atari above, there have been some amazing games and/or proof of concept gaming engines and techniques over recent years. Some of which wouldn't have been coded back in the day simply because they were inspired by games and concepts that followed from the 16bit and 32bit eras and beyond or some of the Atari's secrets hadn't been discovered yet.

 

The fact we have several 3D raycasting engines in the works and in recent days a fantastic DOOM engine, (Swiety's engine), is a reflection of this. DOOM engines on an Atari 8-bit?!! Amazing!

 

Prince of Persia is also an example of astoundingly good coding and production values and a determination to prove the platform can deliver a well crafted, intricate and challenging port but not at the expense of some amazing graphics and animation. Kudos to all involved who maintained the production values where they could have settled for less. I've said it several times before but I am so glad the animation was pushed to the limits here. Anything less would have been a crying shame.

 

Flob has so much depth and longevity to it and delivers on so many levels. The thought and love that has gone into it is truely fantastic.

 

Final Assault and it's creator's proof of concept 128K 3D raycasting engine are both major achievements and hopefully is an indicator of what is to come.

 

Interestingly watching the reccent 50 year Atari aniversary interview with Nolan Bushnell he stated quite early on in the interview that one of Atari's main drives and it's ethos when first incepted in 1972 was to innovate and to be seen as an innovator.

 

It's sad to see that after it's 70's and 80's market hayday several times over the course of Atari's history they failed to innovate with games, which ultimately had a big part to play in it's downfall against the competition of the time, (case in point the Atari Jaguar gaming library - with of course a few exceptions, (DOOM, Wolf3D, AVP, TEMPEST 2000)). 

 

However to my mind this is rather moot now because long after the commercial world has moved on from Atari 8-bit computing the dedication of homebrew coders and hardware designers has actually delivered some astounding games, demos and hardware. In many cases this has surpassed anything that might have been seen back in the 80s and 90s.

 

There are too many coders and individuals to mention but the Atari scene today continues to be blessed with some utterly amazing talent, all of whom continue to code for free both for the love of the machine itself, but also I am certain because they know there are plenty more secrets and surprises in the Atari chipset yet to be showcased.

 

I still marvel at just how good modern games like PoP, Yoomp, Atariblast, Final Assault, The Last Squadron, Albert, Bubble shooter and the aforementioned Flob are. They play to the Atari's strengths and quirks. 

 

I for one can't wait to see L'abbaye Des Morts, Bloody planet, Onescape, the final Scorch release and of course Swiety's DOOM 64K and 128K engines and Globe's 3D raycasting engine and anything based on it.

 

Atari's back catalogue of games from the 80's and 90's, (10000's of them), has seen some great titles there is no denying - but today - well into my 40's - to a considerable degree I get far more excited about what has come out of the last 5-10 years and moreover the last couple of years or so - as well as what is in the pipeline over the next 12 months - simply because it appears now the machine is really being pushed once again. 

 

If only all of the Atari platfomers from the 80's had maintained the gameplay and production values of Henry's house or Alley cat - two of the best arcade/platformer's on the Atari 8-bit IMHO. 

 

Thanks to all who truly push the Atari to really showcase what it can do whilst still delivering the all important amazing gameplay.

 

 

 

 

[Peruchi]

On 5/10/2022 at 4:36 AM, Philsan said:

Every year circa 100 new homebrew games are released for A8.

There's a topic that keeps track of them: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/329031-atari-8-bit5200-homebrew-games-releasedcompletedwip-in-2022/

 

Luckily only few are not available for free.

 

I would try Albert, Assembloids XE, Atari Blast!, Bosconian, Crownland, Dimo's Dungeon, Dimo's Quest New Year Edition, Final Assault, FloB, Gacek, His Dark Majesty, International Karate Enhanced Edition, Last Squadron, Laura, Manic Miner 2016, Pac-Man 2012, Pad, Pang, Prince of Persia, RGB, Ridiculous Reality, Scramble, Space Harrier, Stunt Car Racer, Time Pilot, Total Eclipse, Yoomp!, to name a few.

 

You can download them from Homesoft: http://www.mushca.com/f/atari/index.php?idx=A

 

You'll find some infos on A8 on first post of Topic for newbies: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/176545-topic-for-newbies-or-veterans-returning-to-atari/

 

Cream of the crop!!!