Interesting inputs! Thank you.
Indeed any indie retro project for old hardware is made because it's "fun & fame" and because it's a satisfiying challenge to achieve with old hardware its maximum output. That's been the main reason already when we created indie CPC games and demos many years ago, isn't it?
However, when doing an indie retro game today, the prospect of it returning some pocket-money wouldn't do any harm.
Some points are still not entirely clear:
1) User base CPC vs CPC+Do we know some numbers concerning how many CPC retro fans are out there interested in new CPC games, in contrast to CPC+/Gx4000 retro fans? The poll in this thread indicates the CPC+/Gx4000 retro fans knowing this website.
In case the CPC market is as tiny as the CPC+ market, I still can't see a reason to skip the CPC market just because it's as tiny as the CPC+ one? :-)
2) Game version for CPC and CPC+Clearly the CPC+ extra features are very attractive (they are to me, who only used a standard CPC), but still I wouldn't ignore the standard CPCs when doing a little retro game project, when possible. After all, we also love the original CPC.
To create a game in two versions for both CPC and CPC+ is of course a challenge, like I said, but I think well worth the effort. On the PC we always had to do it this way, isn't it? Most of the code base (logic etc) is shared between both versions, but the graphics "driver" path is different.
For example like with the original Ghost'n Goblins 32 years ago, and now Xifos' excellent CPC+ version. Such two versions of the same game I could imagine for a new retro game using both the CPC and CPC+.
3) Retro market C64, CPC, consolesSo you, Captain Past, noted that the well selling C64 retro game
Sam's Journey is the great exception. That's unfortunate to hear, but very important to know. (Do we have numbers, by the way?)
So this means that the 8 bit retro market isn't comparable to, for example, the retro Dreamcast market. There the German retro game
Sturmwind (2013) for Segas
Dreamcast did very well and still does well five years later.