CPC 2016 GAMES MAG

[cpc4eva]

updated progress pics of CPC MAG 2016. As you can see its starting to take shape. Its all just a draft at this point but its getting there real life stuff always getting in my way - I could really do with some help on the adventure game reviews section especially with the non english speaking cpc games

cheers   

[Skunkfish]

Looks great, I'm looking forward to this.

[cpc4eva]

Looks great, I'm looking forward to this.

Skunkfish can you send me a pic of yourself and i will put it with your comments in the cpc community fav games section

cheers

[cpc4eva]

progress report: my mum fell ill and i had to rush her to hospital so i have not done anything on the mag since last post.  Hopefully my mum will be out of hospital next week, we see what happens.

[AMSDOS]

 

[cpc4eva]

**** CPC MAG 2016 UPDATE ****  My mum spent a week in hospital and is now home feeling much better, fingers crossed she wont be going to hospital again for a while.  I am determined to get the mag completed as soon as i possibly can.  I have been working away in the little spare time i have on the mag, i have almost completed all the content there are some pics and words etc that i need to focus on but thats nothing too major i hope.  I finally have all the adventure game reviews many thanks to those who helped me out and wrote some of them, it is much appreciated (ICE & Keith in particular).  The content is now with the graphic designer who will be putting it into each section - hopefully the right sections of the mag and i don't have to get them to make too many revisions or changes - as the graphic designer is working full time i was informed i may receive something in 2 weeks time where i will check over it and provide the pictures for each section / article / review etc.  As soon as i get a file or screenshot of whats been done then i will make a new update post with them -  so fingers crossed in 2 weeks i will have something to report. 

[Puresox]

Glad you bumped this thread , I had totally forgotten about it. Put me down for a copy .

[keith56]

I know you've been putting a lot of work into this, so it's great to hear how it's progressing!

Keep up the good work!

[cpc4eva]

CPC MAG 2016 is still going ahead and there's been some progress made.  Content has been included in the first couple of sections see the pics.  Over the next week, fingers crossed the rest of the content will be included.  The week after that i hope to get the photos added into each section / each article. 

I have all the photos and all the content for just about all sections now so its all up to the time the graphic designer has available to put it all together.   It is a slow process, the graphic designer putting it together for me is juggling their full time higher paying workload with doing the CPC MAG this has been the most cost effective arrangement for me.  I got many quotes long ago from many designers who could have had the mag done much sooner but it was going to cost me a fortune, so this is more cost effective and explains why its taking so long.

pictures attached - they aren't clear as i cant reveal too much of the content.  When its all finished and ready to go i will have a short video and much clearer pics of the mag for everyone to see.

i also want to make sure that the project / mag is completed before going to any kickstarter / crowd funding campaign.  I don't want people passing over their money and waiting for ever before they receive a copy.

I already have a full time job earning me enough money so i am not in this for the money, i dont expect to make any profit or any sort of great numbers of pledges.  I just love the CPC and love seeing new games being developed for it.

As Keith writes above i have spent alot of time on this project in very limited spare time.  I have had help from many others which i mention in the mag - thanks to all of you.

hopefully i can have the mag finished soon i think it will be a good read - the Spain article is quite in depth, the Oliver Twins interview is a cool read as are the coder interviews that i was able to get, there's heaps of game reviews and a cool cheat mode.  So hopefully when the pics are put in it will be close to the finish.

cheers

[keith56]

Great to hear another update on how the magazine is progressing,
it looks excellent, I really looking forward to seeing the finished product.

[cpc4eva]

CPC MAG 2016 progress update at at 22 August 2017:

All content and pics finalized of that currently 80% of the content and 5% of pics has been put into magazine format (see picture example below yes i know the it should be a cpc plus / gx and not a cpc464). The page count currently stands at 132 but this will increase substantially when the remaining sections content is included as well as any of the specific graphic artwork and all of the pictures for each section - there is alot of them!!!!.

I am in discussion with poly play for posters of Chibi Akuma, Golden Tail, Doomsday Lost Echoes and Magica to be included in the Kick Starter.

I am also exploring possibility of having t shirts made up as part of the Kick Starter.

There is still much to sort out regarding the look and feel of the mag - many thanks to Neil Reive​ who is helping out with a few of the sections giving them a more CPC feel.

[Gryzor]

Ohhh a poster! What a great giveaway!!!

[keith56]

Thanks for your update, and your continued hard work on this project!

[cpc4eva]

ok so its been a long while since the last update - 

the previous time i wrote i was looking forward to completion sooner rather than later but as its turned out it has been delay after delay after delay after more delays!

i went to see the graphic artist putting it all together today and frankly i not really happy atm quite depressed to be honest as not much has been done and i had to pay for it aswell.  just so frustrated right now and not in a happy mood.

only the first part like sections 1 -4 of the mag are 99% done i had expected alot more - i mean a whole lot more.

in fairness i must take some blame as i did make some changes / revisions - but come on seriously all this time and thats all thats been completed thats not what i had hoped for at all.

The changes i made were minor really, nothing major just some things to give it a more video game look and a more cpc feel by changing the fonts and including more pics to show comparisons etc but seriously nothing that would take that long 

The mag should be almost completed by now but its far from it.

so feeling pretty gutted right now.

also i had teed up a comic artist to draw up a comic strip i paid a deposit he told me last week he was doing a draft and now today he told me he cant do it.  He said he would return my money but will he, i have my doubts.

so anyway just to recap.

i have completed everything from my end - all content is finished / written up.  all pics have been sourced and saved to files.  all text and images to go with articles such as comparisons have been done.  any images such as icons etc have been done.  The graphic artist has done all the layout and spaced out most sections.

currently there is about 130+ pages but that should increase.

all i am waiting for now is the graphic artist to put it all together.  so far sections 1-4 are 99% complete some minor corrections needed there. whats next is the reviews sections - putting words and pics together.  As to when this will be completed i was given no clues by the graphic artist today even though i asked several times for a time that this would be completed by.


**** I JUST WANT TO THANK AGAIN EVERYONE WHO HAS SENT ME INFOS TO GO IN THE MAG - I WILL DO MY BEST TO GET IT ALL DONE AND FINISHED ****

As some members of here and on FB and twitter know ive had a pretty tough time of it recently at work and at home so i will get this out as to when i don't know.



Cheers

[keith56]

Once again, thanks for your herculean effort on this one!  I'm sure your effort will result in the final magazine being something really amazing, and I look forward to seeing it!

[jesusdelmas]

ok so its been a long while since the last update - 

the previous time i wrote i was looking forward to completion sooner rather than later but as its turned out it has been delay after delay after delay after more delays!

i went to see the graphic artist putting it all together today and frankly i not really happy atm quite depressed to be honest as not much has been done and i had to pay for it aswell.  just so frustrated right now and not in a happy mood.

only the first part like sections 1 -4 of the mag are 99% done i had expected alot more - i mean a whole lot more.

in fairness i must take some blame as i did make some changes / revisions - but come on seriously all this time and thats all thats been completed thats not what i had hoped for at all.

The changes i made were minor really, nothing major just some things to give it a more video game look and a more cpc feel by changing the fonts and including more pics to show comparisons etc but seriously nothing that would take that long 

The mag should be almost completed by now but its far from it.

so feeling pretty gutted right now.

also i had teed up a comic artist to draw up a comic strip i paid a deposit he told me last week he was doing a draft and now today he told me he cant do it.  He said he would return my money but will he, i have my doubts.

so anyway just to recap.

i have completed everything from my end - all content is finished / written up.  all pics have been sourced and saved to files.  all text and images to go with articles such as comparisons have been done.  any images such as icons etc have been done.  The graphic artist has done all the layout and spaced out most sections.

currently there is about 130+ pages but that should increase.

all i am waiting for now is the graphic artist to put it all together.  so far sections 1-4 are 99% complete some minor corrections needed there. whats next is the reviews sections - putting words and pics together.  As to when this will be completed i was given no clues by the graphic artist today even though i asked several times for a time that this would be completed by.


**** I JUST WANT TO THANK AGAIN EVERYONE WHO HAS SENT ME INFOS TO GO IN THE MAG - I WILL DO MY BEST TO GET IT ALL DONE AND FINISHED ****

As some members of here and on FB and twitter know ive had a pretty tough time of it recently at work and at home so i will get this out as to when i don't know.



Cheers

Hello sorry about the question but where is the link to see your work? Im looking and looking but i cant find it.  


Sorry if im blind or something   but i really want ti see it hehe

[cpc4eva]

So last week i was gutted.  i am not going over that again - that's in the past now.

today a little ray of sunshine - i received the first look at a game review. 

It is attached to this post.

finally some sort of positive news and progress albeit very slowly.

There's some minor modifications required as pictures don't match up with words on the left page and a few other minor things but it looks like there is a bit of hope it will get finished by the end of the year.  i will update again as soon as i have the info from the graphic artist.

No the rating is not a love heart - its been hidden on purpose

if any of the 4mhz guys are seeing this post what do you guys think of the look of the review of Adios A La Casta 2 ?

 

*** jesusdelmas there is no link as yet - just scroll through this thread and you will see some pics posted


Cheers!

[cpc4eva]

Latest UPDATE received yesterday.......

after feeling upbeat last time .....

and again im disappointed.

im just going around in circles it really is doing my head in.

even though progress is being made its so damn slow and there is so many errors and corrections required - i gotta find a better GFX Artist to put it all together for me for the next project as this is not funny any more.

I've been working my butt off in my own job very very long days then i had to spend the whole morning a 5 hour stint fixing up picture and layout errors that i shouldn't be doing.

its like im going 1 step forward and 2 steps back every time, im just so frustrated and stressed from the whole project.  I completed the content months ago - i provided clear instructions, examples, PDF's, all the written text files and all the pic files..... jesus its like what do i have to do to get this completed ?

Another challenge i have found is that i thought polyplay was sending me some posters to go with the project they are pretty good posters i thought - i had offered to pay for them they said it was fine i offered to pay for postage to australia they said it was ok - ive written several emails to them without a reply from them?

everything is so so so so so so so frustrating.............

ive attached some pics -

the first section of the reviews is done that is all games except cpcretrodev 2016 and adventure games.

when i say its done i mean its in magazine format but its a mess..... here let the pictures tell the story - i got to get some sleep i have a 10 hour shift tonight.

*** Shining could you please get in contact with me i have written you a number of times but no reply - i need to talk to you about the defence review - thanks.

[mr_lou]

I've often thought to myself that no one will ever believe the amount of work it's been to create 8-bit Memoirs. I don't consider it 2 step forward and 1 step back process, but rather 10 steps forward and 9 steps back process.
I can't count how many times I've had to redo various parts of the project for various reasons. And this applies to many categories: The music, illustrations, videos, text and of course code due to bugs.

I'm pretty sure most of us who creates these projects experience what you're experiencing. And yes, it can be very frustrating. The only way forward, in my opinion, is to forget all about having a deadline whatsoever, and that way try to let the project remain an actually hobby that you enjoy doing.

That being said, I also think an important key is to learn to accept that not everything has to be 100% like you want it to be. If you can accept a result shaped by everyone who contributes to the project, meaning it'll probably only be 70% (or maybe even less) of what you wanted it to be, then things will go faster and be less frustrating. You "just" gotta work on not being annoyed that everything isn't 100% to your liking.

[AMSDOS]

I hope these folks aren't doing it through No Bloody Network (NBN). 

[Zoe Robinson]

I'm pretty sure most of us who creates these projects experience what you're experiencing. And yes, it can be very frustrating. The only way forward, in my opinion, is to forget all about having a deadline whatsoever, and that way try to let the project remain an actually hobby that you enjoy doing.

Deadlines can be motivating, however. When I'm making a short film, a review or whatever I always have a release date in mind for it because it helps focus me on actually getting the bloody thing done, rather than putting it off because it's too much like work and I just want to take some time off. Having said that, I'm very much in favour of moving a deadline if something really isn't going to get done without far too much stress and frustration. It's only a hobby project after all.


So I suggest having deadlines, but being flexible enough to move them if it's absolutely necessary to maintain your own sanity and wellbeing.

That being said, I also think an important key is to learn to accept that not everything has to be 100% like you want it to be.

Absolutely. Sometimes you have to be able to look at something and think "hey, it works and it's good enough. On to the next thing!" It's the only way to get work done.

[cpc4eva]

I hope these folks aren't doing it through No Bloody Network (NBN). 

bahahahaha i still haven't got my slower then Kenya internet where i live..... many regional towns have received it yet my city location still has not got it. 

I read what you wrote Mr Lou and there is some very good points made.

However i just would like to point out i sort of had a deadline earlier in the year it was not a strict deadline by any means i kept it fairly flexible.

I never really set a specific deadline as such but i have completed everything i need for the mag and cpc community people have submitted some really good content which i want to get out in the magazine to share with everyone - a quick thanks to Nich, Rhino, Amsdos, i think its ICE, theres the guys from Imperial Mahjong, theres Keith from Chibi Akuma, The Oliver Twins, Neil Reive, shining quite a few more i can't remember off the top of my head and i do mention them all in the mag by the way.

What i am getting at is that the gfx artist is a paid professional and i have provided all the information required - i have provided instructions on each section of the mag on how it should look, on what goes where etc etc.

As a paid professional with all the written content and all the pics to go with it and all the instructions required plus pdfs with words and images to show what goes where etc etc  i would expect that the task wouldn't be so excruciating slow with so many revisions and corrections and not taking sooooooooo long as it is.

As i handed over al the information months ago it really shouldn't be taking this long.

I really shouldn't be going backwards making heaps of corrections every single time either ......

see pics below as just one example of what i mean.

first pic is what i got back from the gfx artist...... so what's wrong with this picture ? whats wrong with this ? 1) its missing a logo that should be there 2) the pics are meant to be in sequence to show the gameplay they are not 3) the yellow pic on the right page was never meant to be there 4) the mini invaders review is not meant to be there 5) the comparison box is upside down by that i mean the words are meant to be on top of the pictures in the comparison box.........


then the 2nd pic is using cut and paste to fix the errors


on the positive side i have found a comic artist who has put together a 1 page comic just waiting on him to do some alterations that i asked for as some images / drawings needed a bit of a fix.

i can share the first image of the comic with you all below...... the comic will be a bit of a laugh at Lord Sugar no its not called Sugar Man 

cheers and peace 

[mr_lou]

All I can say is: That's reality.

I wanted illustrations for 8-bit Memoirs, so I found an artist who'd do them, for money. At least that's what he said. So I gave instructions, and then waited and waited but no illustrations ever came back.
So finally I found another artist, who also didn't deliver anything after having waited for months and months.
I went through 5 different artists this way. Not all professionals, but all were supposed to be payed. They all wanted to do the job, but just didn't have the time apparently. Combined waiting time here was at least a whole year. Not kidding. 5 different people.

Finally my girlfriend felt sorry for me, and decided to help me out. She had initially said no due to lack of time, but as she could see I was going crazy here, and she would like to keep her boyfriend relatively sane just a little while longer, she offered to help anyway.

Time consuming? She ended up creating 16 awesome illustrations for 8-bit Memoirs - but most of them has taken about 20 hours each to create! That's not a joke!
And that's not counting my own time, that I spent to find the reference photos and draw sketches for her to follow.
So somewhere between 200 and 300 hours in total. That's a lot of hours when you only have an hour available here and there during our daily routines!
Why did it take so long? Same reason that you describe. Lots of corrections along the way. It is simply unavoidable. No one gets it right the first time. Doesn't matter if you're a professional or not. It just doesn't happen.

See the problem with all of this isn't really the huge amount of time it all takes. Not really. The problem is that we thought it take much much less time. Like 25% of the time it actually took. This twisted view of ours of course comes from lack of experience.

I have no doubt that someone out there reading this will think to themselves: "Come on! It doesn't take that long. *I* could do it much faster".
Well then. Could you now? Go ahead then. Let's see it.  We patiently awaits your awesome CPC related project. GOOD LUCK!!! 

[cpc4eva]

even though i am very frustrated, i won't continue to vent my frustrations on here i must be sounding very negative and like an annoying broken down vinyl record playing over the same scratch spot to those who read this post.

i will try to focus on some positives.....

so the latest from this week is i have been told that the next section of the reviews is being worked on which is #CPCRETRODEV 2016 - (and yet its already #CPCRETRODEV 2017 this weekend! whats that i was saying about being negative? ok i will try to cut it out!!! yeah but any money i will have to spend alot of time on revisions and corrections...... damn it!)

anyway moving on.....

apparently the GFX artist has mentioned i have some white space that i need to utilize.... so my idea is to cover this up / fill it with selfies of people from the cpc community with them playing on their cpc either real or emulated.  It can be any game they wish to be playing with maybe a short description of why they are playing it?  If you want to include your family / kids that's cool too.  If you want to be innovative like having a drone take the pics thats cool too....

I have asked 3 people outside of the CPC wiki forums for this and haven't had much luck with it.

So if anyone on here would like to post their pics on this thread or send me a message to contact them via PM and i can send you my email to send it to that would be much appreciated.

Hopefully i get a better response this time ?

cheers

 

[mr_lou]

Well, here's something to hopefully reduce your frustration.

Einstein said "All is relative", which means I should theoretically be able to reduce your frustration by informing you of your project's success in relation to my own project's success:

You and I both posted about our projects on this forum, thinking that once we presented our awesome projects here, everyone would love the idea and practically line up to help out in any way they could.

And that's exactly what happened - in your case.
People did line up to be a part of your project - and rather fast too. You've received quite a lot of material that you can (and have) used in your project.
I know you probably expected to receive more material than you did, but then think about this:

I did not have any such luck with my project, which is why I ended up having to do most of it myself (which of course also explains why it took 5 years rather than 2).
My project was supposed to have been a community project like yours.

So I think that's something to keep in mind at least: Appreciate the community support that you have. it's not a given.