avatar_mr_lou

Project "8bit Stories": Diskmag-like collection of my retro-computer memories

Started by mr_lou, 16:47, 29 June 14

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

mr_lou

Hi all


I would like to present a project I've been working on for about 2 years now.

The working title is "RetroMag", but I think I'll call the project "8bit memories" instead when it's done, and the short description sounds like this:

It'll (hopefully) be a Discmag-like series, where each issue contains a lot of (true) stories told by one person. All stories will be memories from that persons life about various retro computers and/or consoles he/she remembers from his/her childhood.
For example, the day he/she got her Amstrad CPC464, or that summer vacation he/she visited a friend who introduced him/her to the Amiga. Or a story about how a certain game represents certain people and/or a certain time in his/her life.
That's the only requirement for each story: It has to be about some kind of retro machine, 8bit or 16bit.

I am making issue 1 myself, where I'm writing stories about the Phillips G7000 at my aunt and uncle's, the Game & Watch game Donkey Kong II I got one year for Christmas, the Amstrad CPC464 at my grandmother's, when I began exploring the BASIC language - and lots of other stories.

The collection of my stories will then become "8bit memories issue 1".

Future issues can be created by anyone who wishes to do so, and be about any retro machine(s) he/she wishes. If you find that interesting, and would like to share your stories with the world, then start writing your memories today!

Here are some guidelines:

In short: The stories should describe how you remember experiencing the machine(s) and the games back then.

One key difference between "8bit memories" and other retro-oriented writings, is that "8bit memories" is supposed to feel much more like a small book to the reader. So we're not talking reviews or any kind of technical aspects or analysis of machines or games either. It is meant to be stories that anyone can read. Describing the joy you experienced with a game, rather than describing how it's poor because it was coded with BASIC and didn't use a certain technique.

For the past 2 years I have been developing my own Discmag-like engine for issue 1 of "8bit memories", and authoring the stories at the same time. I still have a long way to go. I still have more than half the stories left to write, and port the engine for other platforms. I'm planning on having the engine available for JavaME enabled cellphones, Blu-ray players (just for fun), and an HTML5 web version for smartphones and tablets.
And then I need to create the background music... I'm nowhere near the finish line.

So this presentation is given to you very early in the process, and I'm doing this because:
I know how long it takes to write these stories. You will need to spend a lot of time writing, reading, re-phrasing, reading again, and so forth. If you have a daytime job and a family, you'll need at least a year writing these stories, because of all the other things that also need your attention.

I hope that everyone will like my engine, with its Discmag-like retro look. Because the plan is that I can then receive the text files from authors of future issues, and then compiles issues for the 3 platforms I'm targeting. That way authors don't have to have any coding skills.

And that's basically it.

Anyone interested in sharing their stories, please PM me with contact information, so I have somewhere to send the guidelines when they're ready.


Now to answer some questions I know will be asked:
Q: Why only have 1 author for each issue? Why not have many authors in each issue, so that the same author can also contribute to many issues?
A: I would very much like the writing style for each issue to be the same. Different writing styles (which is impossible to avoid when having multiple authors) is noisy. I'm not compromising on this.

Q: But it'll take much less time for people if they just have to write a single story, rather than a whole book.
A: That's absolutely true.

Q: This is an amazing idea! How about porting the engine to the Amstrad CPC? Or other retro platforms?
A: I'm thinking anyone who feels like porting the engine to other platforms, should do so. They'll need some guidelines from me of course, so that it looks somewhat the same as on the other platforms. You could have a preview of issue 1 when it's ready on a platform that you own, and then you can see how it looks and runs.

Q: How is it going to be distributed? Will you be making any money on it?
A: Well... I don't know of any way to make money on an HTML5 app, since it'll just be online somewhere. And I from experience that chances of earning money on JavaME apps are virtually none nowadays. So no, there are no plans on making any money on this. However, I will probably manually insert ads for e.g. my site IndieGameMusic.com and put something like "Sponsored by".

Q: Why not use one of the many online ad-systems?
A: There's a slight chance I'll do that, but at the moment I'm against it. Experience tells me that the developer earns very little, so the annoyingness the reader experience is simply not worth it for anyone. Also, one of my main wishes for 8bit memories is that it's runnable offline. Even the HTML5 version will be installable, and then runnable offline. So an online ad-system wouldn't do much good.

Q: Aren't you gonna make any money on this at all??
A: My primary drive has been to share my stories. I imagine some day my daughter will probably read them. And developing the engine is simply a sparetime hobby. Earning some money would of course be nice, but I just don't see how it's possible - and I do have some experience with the market since 2006. So I figure it's better to just manually insert some ads for my own (and yours?) private projects, like e.g. my site IndieGameMusic.com, or PirateDiamonds.com. I imagine each author probably has his own stuff he'd like to advertise for.

Q: Ok, I'm interested. I'll start writing right now! What issue will I be writing for?
A: Don't worry about it. Just start writing. What issue it'll be can always be decided later. Whoever is ready first will be the author of the next issue. And less important, since the issue number is probably only visible in the top graphics, and possibly a single text file.


Attached are some screenshots of the JavaME version running with the emulator Pstros.


Looking forward to hearing some feedback on this project in this thread now.

Gryzor

This does sound like a lovely project indeed; but the major hurdle is having all the stories from a single author - I really doubt you'll find any volunteers... :(

mr_lou

Quote from: Gryzor on 17:03, 01 July 14This does sound like a lovely project indeed; but the major hurdle is having all the stories from a single author - I really doubt you'll find any volunteers... :(
Well it's not really about finding volunteers. More like me offering a service to anyone who (like me) have a lot of stories they'd like to share.

Only text authors within the retro-computer/console community would be interested in this, so I know perfectly well that it's a small group of people.  :)

I've felt like writing my own stories for years, and now I'm finally doing it. I really want my stories to be preserved, and also available for e.g. my daughter many years from now. So the project is something I will do regardless of any feedback I might get.

I'm not looking for people to author future issues really. I'm merely presenting the project idea, so that anyone who would like to author an issue, knows that I can help. But we're talking a year from now or so. Currently I have enough to do with my own issue.  :)


This thread is not only about telling writers that I'm offering this service though. It is also meant as a simple presentation to readers of my own stories, i.e. issue 1, to get a vibe of whether anyone would be interested in reading my stories or not. And what people thought about wrapping the stories in a retro-styled diskmag-like look.
I can see that most people instead seemed to think that I was only looking for authors. That's what I get for trying to present two things in one thread I suppose.

But about eventual future issues: Back in October 2011, Badstarr created "Your Earliest Memory of the CPC?" thread here at CPCwiki. It showed me that a lot of people have stories to tell, but sadly don't remember them that well.
I bet a lot of us have a lot stories that would be interesting for the rest of us to read, if only people could remember them well, and were able to write them down in an easy-to-read way. But naturally we can't all be text authors. In my humble opinion, I happen to remember my own stories surprisingly well, and also believe I'm able to tell them in an interesting way. I hope I'm right.  :) Time will tell.

Gryzor

Ah, I get it, thanks. Very interesting project, really looking forward to it!!

mr_lou

Well it'll be different, if nothing else.  :)

I'm eager to see how the Blu-ray version works out.
I think it'll be kinda like using a modern text-tv.

Users of various media centers, like e.g. PowerDVD, should be able to run the Blu-ray version.

I'm also thinking I'll make an ePub version, so that the stories can be distributed for the various existing e-book readers.

But one step at a time.  :)

mr_lou

To anyone interested in this project, I can report that it's progressing nice and slow.

The engine for the blu-ray version is nearly complete, and so is the "old cellphone" version.
It's rather cool to see my little creation run on my TV from my Sony blu-ray player, and controlling it with the remote control.
I'll probably start looking into the web version soon.

Meanwhile I'm also slowly authoring the stories.
Anyone who thinks text authoring is a fast and easy thing, should try writing a story to get a taste of reality.  :)
It is a very time-demanding task.
(That is why you might as well get started now, if you wish to be the author of issue 2).

Since I grew up with the CPC, most of the stories in this little project, will of course be about the CPC.
Because of this, I'm wondering if there ought to be a version for the CPC too?
For now I'll just say that if there is a coder out there who'd like to make a CPC version, then it's fine by me. But you'll have to convert all the graphics yourself (or decide to not include the graphics), and parse the texts to fit the CPC etc.
I don't expect anyone to have the urge for this, but just want to let you know that it's open. Maybe someone already have an engine that could be used.

More updates later.
I'll also be asking for betatesters at some point, but more about that later too.

mr_lou

Well, this project is still being developed. Frequently interrupted by various daily-life stuff, like work and family, but definitely still being worked on.

At the moment, I'm looking to get my hands on a Harman/Kardon BDP10 blu-ray player, because I know my engine doesn't behave correctly on that player.
I've missed 2 eBay auctions because the price ended up to high.

There's a norwegian who's selling one for a good price at finn.no, but he won't ship to Denmark. If you happen to be from norway and would like to help me get it, look here:
Anyone from norway who wants to do me a favor?

Bryce

@Terje_Norway is the only active user here from Norway as far as I know.

Bryce.

Terje_Norway

Quote from: Bryce on 21:24, 23 March 15
@Terje_Norway is the only active user here from Norway as far as I know.

Bryce.
Hi Bryce (and all others),


We are AFAIK three Norwegians on CPCWIKI.


Me, ivarf and kribjo.


And now back to the subject.


It shouldn't be that much of a problem getting hold of that Blu-Ray player for You mr_lou.
But what's so special about it. Isn't it just a ordinary Blu-Ray player ? ? ?


Anyway, if You want it I could try to get hold of it for You. Shipping to Denmark looks to be something around 417 NOK (about 50 EUR).


Looking forward to hearing from You mr_lou.


Yours

Terje Grind
NORWAY

mr_lou

Hey Terje!

Thanks for "reporting". :-)

Quote from: Terje_Norway on 22:10, 23 March 15
Anyway, if You want it I could try to get hold of it for You. Shipping to Denmark looks to be something around 417 NOK (about 50 EUR).

417 NOK? Is that only from Norway to Denmark, or are you including the Norway to Norway shipment too?
Sounds a bit high considering how close we live, if it's only from Norway to Denmark. But maybe it's because of the sea?

Terje_Norway

Hi,


YES, I know it sounds crazy :o  I have double checked it myself. You could have a look yourself at Posten - posten.no


Calculations are based on a BASIC price of 277 NOK plus 20 NOK pr kilo. According to the net the player weight 6.48 kg.
You'll probably have to pay for 7 kilo. That makes it up to 417 NOK for shipping from Norway to Denmark.


Grand total could be as high as 872 NOK (about 102 EUR)
300 NOK for the player itself.
155 NOK shipping inside Norway.
417 NOK shipping to Denmark.


Yours

Terje Grind
NORWAY

PS I have checked the auction on FINN.NO and it's not available at the moment. Could be that it gone ? ? ?

mr_lou

Crazy indeed.

I found someone to receive the package and had the seller ship it to them, for the 155 NOK as you said.
Even better, they're visiting Denmark on Sunday, so they can bring it along! :-D

Thanks for offering your help! Much appreciated.

Bryce

@mr_lou: Cool, that you got it sorted.

@Terje_Norway: I forgot ivarf :( Never heard of kribjo, is he active here?

Bryce.

Terje_Norway

Quote from: Bryce on 10:21, 24 March 15
@mr_lou: Cool, that you got it sorted.

@Terje_Norway: I forgot ivarf :( Never heard of kribjo, is he active here?

Bryce.
Hi,


@kribjo is active on CPCWIKI. He has been a member since 2012.


It's up to him to introduce himself, but I think I could mention that he has several CPC's and some of the later hardware extensions.


That makes us at least THREE Norwegians on the WIKI.
There are also a few more Norwegians that COULD be on the WIKI, but I haven't noticed them posting anything.


Yours

Terje Grind
NORWAY

mr_lou

Small update on the status of this project.

Yes I'm still working on it, but so many other things also keep stealing my time.

Anyway, it's grown to be extremely big, and I keep on adding new ideas. Like e.g. different playlists of music. There'll be a playlist of music by musicians of IndieGameMusic.com, and then I was thinking about adding playlists of my own CPC music up through the years, like "CPC BASIC music" and "CPC Equinox music" and "CPC Starkos music" and "Amiga Protracker music" etc.

I'd also like to add videos of certain CPC games. I could do this part myself too of course but it would be more interesting if they were created by people who are much better players than me.
I need videos of games being played, but without personal intros and without additional music. It should just be the game showing and only the CPC audio. No advertisement for your own YouTube channel in the video either.

Also: While I'm fairly sure there's no way I'll ever be making any money on this project, you should be willing to supply me these videos for free even if I end up making money on the project some day in the future.
The plan is to release it as a free download - but if by some chance I'm approached and asked to publish it as a book instead with a blu-ray disc, then I might try that.

These are the games I need videos of:

Commando
Super Sleuth
Zorro
Wriggler
Winter Games
Spindizzy
Nuclear Heist
Street Machine
Atlantis
Don't Panic
Collapse
Daley Thomson's Super Test
Caves of Doom
Kung Fu Master
Gauntlet (the Defender clone)
Killer Gorilla
Batman (isometric)
Radzone

I have found a few of these games on YouTube.

@Metr, Can I use your videos "Zorro", "Winter Games" and "Batman" under those circumstances?
@Axelino, Same question for your video "Killer Gorilla".
@Cholo, Same question for your videos "Commando" and "Kung-Fu Master".

Anyone else interested in helping out creating videos of these games? All you'll get in return is your name listed in the credits along with a URL to your site. (And keep in mind the URL can't be clicked because it's a blu-ray project. (but ok there might be a web version later)).

The videos don't have to be flawless gameplays. In fact it would be nice to see mistakes too. But you have to be able to get somewhere, unlike myself who rarely gets too far. But don't rush through the game. It's not a speed run. It's a display of the game.

As I said I could do these videos myself. But I'd really like the project to have parts from many different people in the community. So if you feel like being part of the project, let me know.


The engine also allows for different graphical themes. A theme is "just" a top graphics that contains the title "8bit Stories" somehow, and a bottom graphics, 1280 pixels wide and height almost your own choice. And then choose a background colour and font-colour and a colour for "light that hits the bottom graphics" in the fields that displays story name and page number etc.
Feel like contributing with a theme? Let me know.
Your theme could be called "Amstrad CPC" while other themes could be for other platforms.


I've written over 50 stories now, slowly adding screenshots and bugging my girlfriend to create supplemental illustrations. Will soon start recording videos of BASIC creations I did from age 11 and up.
Sometimes I think it's becoming a collection of memories for myself only, and wonders if anyone else will even be interested in this project. I'm 100% certain that I'll definitely appreciate it myself a lot when I get older, but it sure is a lot I'm telling about myself, so I have to figure out if I really feel comfortable "giving out" all this info to the world.

I've started thinking about making a preview available for a few people in order to figure out how I feel about that. It'll only be for people I know personally though, meaning no one online at first.


Has anyone else started writing their own stories? I know Neil has written a few stories, though not with an issue of 8bit Stories in mind (yet  ;) )

mr_lou

Half a year already since my last update on this project. People did "warn" me decades ago that time would go by faster the older I get, but this is ridiculous.

Anyway, I'm happy to report that this project is still very much alive and progressing quite a lot.

Currently working a lot on the CPC videos, and it's going great. I can see I need to cut down the length on them a bit though, in order for everything to fit on a 25gb disc. But then it looks like there's exactly the amount of space I need, meaning roughly 10 hours of video/audio will be included.
Video/audio isn't the focus though - the stories are. Video and audio are "just" supplemental.

I've spent a ridiculous amount of time experimenting with creating a CTM simulation, and finally managed to get an acceptable result. It involves applying a filter in a scale-up version of the video and then down-scale the video again. Obviously not 100% identical to the look of a real CTM, but a lot better than plain flat colours in my opinion.

The Framemeister and Hauppauge PVR I bought is really great for recording these videos. The only downside is that it won't recognize certain productions, like for example the new music disc from Virgill. Seems that various screen trickery confuses the Framemeister. Luckily I don't need to make any videos of any such productions though.

The biggest problem with the project is still the lack of time though. Work and family "steals" most of the time. I'm enjoying working on the project, but I'm also really looking forward to finishing it.  :)

mr_lou

Alright, first: The project has had a name-change (again). I figured "8-bit Stories" sounded a bit too much like fiction, so I renamed it to "8-bit Memoirs" which sounds more authentic to me - which is it, so....

And then I'm happy to present you with a sneak-peak preview now:



(Recorded from my Dune HD Smart D1, which isn't the fastest device in the world, but great for blu-ray java development. Expect faster execution on your own player).

Skunkfish

An expanding array of hardware available at www.cpcstore.co.uk (and issue 4 of CPC Fanzine!)

Gryzor

Oh this looks lovely!!! I'd prefere more text on-screen, but I'm like that (the missus always mocks me for the insanely small font size I use on my Kindle). I'd really like to see the end result!


PS 'memoir' is a bit too grand perhaps... 'memories' is closer I'd guess, but that's just nitpicking.

mr_lou

Quote from: Gryzor on 12:35, 08 August 16Oh this looks lovely!!! I'd prefere more text on-screen, but I'm like that (the missus always mocks me for the insanely small font size I use on my Kindle). I'd really like to see the end result!
It's possible to change the font-size, so you can have lots of text on the screen if you want.  :)
Small font for computer-viewing. Bigger font for television viewing. Huge font (reduces number of columns from 2 to 1) for old people. (That'll be us soon).  ;)

Quote from: Gryzor on 12:35, 08 August 16PS 'memoir' is a bit too grand perhaps... 'memories' is closer I'd guess, but that's just nitpicking.
I think it fits quite well. If I google for memoirs definition, Google says this:

a historical account or biography written from personal knowledge."in 1924 she published a short memoir of her husband"

So that's exactly what it is.


Skunkfish

8-bit Memoirs sounds good to me, and the sneak-peak preview looks lovely  ;D
An expanding array of hardware available at www.cpcstore.co.uk (and issue 4 of CPC Fanzine!)

||C|-|E||


mr_lou

#22
Small status-update and searching for advice:

All 17 Philips Videopac G7000 texts has been edited for the last time.
All 35 Amstrad CPC texts has been edited for the last time.
All 36 Amstrad CPC videos are ready.

Left to do:
Create 12 Philips Videopac G7000 videos - one of my mates will mod my G7000 in the near future to output an RGB-signal.
Edit 6 Amiga texts (probably a few times).
Create 3 Amiga videos
Create illustrations - sadly my illustrator is dealing with health issues, so I may have to cut down the number of illustrations.  :( (at least if I want to release this any time soon)

So not quite there yet, but there's visible light at the end of the tunnul now.  :)

The text combined takes up the equivalent of 250 pages (and that's excluding the 100 screenhots). The videos alone will take up roughly 10 hours (I think). All in all there ought to be entertainment there for quite some time.


And then I need to ask for some advice.
It has dawned upon me that I may end up paying my webhotel host for the downloads of the project, due to the size of it. That's of course not in my interest.
Does anyone know of various free hosting sites I can upload the ISO file to? Anyone willing to host it for me free of charge? Other ideas?

robcfg


mr_lou


Powered by SMFPacks Menu Editor Mod