Oh Chute

[Cwiiis]

Any news on this?

Code is done, just waiting on the artist to have time to put the finishing touches on things and design box-art - No ETA, but this year one way or another

[BlinkyMcGoo]

Five weeks to go... 

[Cwiiis]

Five weeks to go... 

I reserve the right to miss my arbitrary, self-imposed deadline (it is still in progress though!)

tbh, I don't think I'll be able to get the physical version produced before the end of the year, but hopefully all the assets will be ready for early 2024 and I'll put the game up on itch.io as pay-what-you-want for digital at the same time. Disk and cartridge versions.

[Cwiiis]

Not too much longer

https://mastodon.social/@Cwiiis/111778181387638458

[Gryzor]

Looks really nice! 

[Cwiiis]

So I have most of the parts winging their way to me now, PCBs, chips, etc. - I'm not sure whether to go for just FDM printing for the case and print it at home (where I not only have beige filament that matches the Plus beige pretty closely, but where it would also save me money that I could reflect in the final price) or go with JLCPCB's resin printing (which costs a bit over double what it costs me to personally print in FDM, but is still very reasonable, would have a more professional-looking but non-matching finish and save me a bunch of labour).

I guess for the people that have expressed interest in a physical edition, any thoughts? I'm hoping to hit the price of £35 or less. Cost is looking good at the moment, but I do want to be able to give a few away and have a tiny, tiny reimbursement for our time... Is that an affordable/reasonable price?

[Gryzor]

Reasonable, yes, cheap, no. What kind of run are you considering? 

[Cwiiis]

Reasonable, yes, cheap, no. What kind of run are you considering?

I'm doing a run of 10 to begin with - I want to keep one of course, and I plan on giving away a couple and have a friend that wants one, so worst-case scenario, we've spent a bit of cash and have 6 spare boxes lying around Most of the costing is worked out, to some extent I think it would be a premium of £2/box for a white resin case vs a beige FDM-printed case (though the resin case will likely also be higher accuracy and certainly nicer finish). I may end up going with the resin to save myself the time/hassle, but I'd be interested in people's opinions.

I'm torn - the Alcon 2020 cart seems to be resin printed and has badly yellowed from the sun for me, but there's no denying the quality of the feel and finish. On the other hand, I don't mind my own FDM printed cases and the PLA+ filament doesn't seem to be affected by the sun at all (or at least, not enough to show any change over a period of a few years). The latter costs me more time but less money. And the former has an element of risk in that I've not tested my model with a resin printer before and don't know what the tolerances are like. It's tough!

[Gryzor]

You keep your retro gear under the sun? 😁

I'd say, go for the nicer option. You'll probably regret it later if you don't. 

[cwpab]

This cool game suddenly made me interested in parachute arcade games like Ripcord. 

[Cwiiis]

This cool game suddenly made me interested in parachute arcade games like Ripcord. 

Ripcord is great practice for Oh Chute, though it'll feel a little retro in comparison

[Cwiiis]

You keep your retro gear under the sun? 😁

I'd say, go for the nicer option. You'll probably regret it later if you don't.

Well, not directly under the sun but I don't keep it in a cupboard 🙂

And yeah, let's go with the resin...

[cwpab]

And now for something not totally unrelated, here's the Ripcord 1979 arcade machine manual: https://ia904703.us.archive.org/22/items/ArcadeGameManualRipcord/ripcord.pdf

(I just played it on MAME and it's fun, but it's only about high-scores sadly).

[Cwiiis]

And now for something not totally unrelated, here's the Ripcord 1979 arcade machine manual: https://ia904703.us.archive.org/22/items/ArcadeGameManualRipcord/ripcord.pdf

(I just played it on MAME and it's fun, but it's only about high-scores sadly).

Oh Jeez, this makes me think that I need to add 2-player mode before release... Hmm...

[Cwiiis]

2-player mode is functional and almost finished. It will feature in the final product 🙂

[Cwiiis]

I put together a prototype cartridge today with the resin cases I have - it's very nice and I think people will be pleased Most everything is done at this point, but we've had the hardest time finding a good box manufacturer that will let you order a short run without charging ludicrous prices. I'm pretty set on having a good box, but it does make a difference in the cost. £35 is looking like the likely price-point at the moment, which is a little higher than I'd like (though not out of keeping with other releases). Is £35 too dear for people?

With a massive compromise in packaging quality I could hit £30, but personally I don't think that saving is worth it. The difference would be a very nice box that's very similar to the boxed disk games of the late 80s/early 90s and will fit next to them on the shelf, and an oddly-sized box with a sleeve (that would still look nice, but nowhere near as nice and not in keeping with other games).

Thoughts?

[ldaneels]

I'd pay £35 if that means a nice packaging.
Do you have pictures of both versions?

[Cwiiis]

I'd pay £35 if that means a nice packaging.
Do you have pictures of both versions?

Nice would be just like this Turtles box but a little thicker:
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Cheap would be a black A6 mailing box with a nice sleeve wrapped around it:

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Realistically, the difference would be about £5. Tbh, I don't think I'd be happy with the latter, so we'll be going with the former and I just hope people will appreciate it 😅

[Anthony Flack]

There's also the option to use cases like the ones used for Bears and SOH Tactics shown in a thread currently a couple of posts below this one. 

[dthrone]

My cases are made by a company called BitBox who are based in the USA.  Their feasibility is order quantity dependent because there is a qty discount but also quite high shipping from the USA and also import charges to consider.  The cartridge shell size is also important for them to clip in and hold.  They have very good customer service if you give them your cart dims and see how they can help.  Sorry, I did mean to give @Cwiiis some further info on this.

A nice printed hard card box like the Turtles one would be a very tasty alternative though

[Cwiiis]

I think I prefer the boxes on the whole, it feels more nostalgic for me - and we have a very nice design to go with it ☺️ All the pieces have fallen into place now I think and I made a nice polish change today that I'm very pleased with, so should all be ready in a few weeks... I'll be back with a trailer and order information 🙂

[Anthony Flack]

Either option beats the mailer box IMO; even with a nice sleeve they are ugly boxes, and a sleeve is not something you'd want to be dealing with when taking the cartridge in and out over and over. 

[overange]

Thanks to testers and another coding party with some friends, this is now almost complete. Just a few small polish items and it'll be done minus art touch-ups (which my partner will be handling )
I'd love to do a physical release for this - it now works from both disk and cart, and given it's a Plus/GX4000 game and cartridges aren't too expensive to make, it's certainly doable. I need to work out the logistics of production, maybe see if any company is interested in partnering for it (Bitmapsoft would make a lot of sense for me, given I'm in the UK...)
If I did a limited physical run (cart, box, manual(, stickers?)), would anyone be interested in purchasing a copy? I'll almost certainly make the files freely available regardless, so this would just be for people that want a physical cart/enjoy collecting this sort of thing.

Why aren't you utilising the same boxes and cover style artwork as Dethrone? 
It's not only effective and visually appealing, but also clever in its execution.
 
If you choose to create entirely new box art, it will require significant time and expense. 

Unfortunately, no one has been able to locate the original case to work from. 

However, if you consider using say a cardboard case, similar to what is used for Atari Homebrews, it could be a costly option.

Nonetheless, I'm confident that Dethrone would be willing to assist you in sourcing the display cases you need, allowing us to maintain some level of standardisation for homebrews on the GX4000 and Plus range of systems. 

As fans, we're all here to keep the GX4000 and Plus range of systems alive, and by doing so, we can encourage other developers to release their homebrews in hardware format. 

The Atari and Vectrex cartridge Homebrew scene is thriving, and we should strive to be a part of it.

[Cwiiis]

Thanks to testers and another coding party with some friends, this is now almost complete. Just a few small polish items and it'll be done minus art touch-ups (which my partner will be handling )
I'd love to do a physical release for this - it now works from both disk and cart, and given it's a Plus/GX4000 game and cartridges aren't too expensive to make, it's certainly doable. I need to work out the logistics of production, maybe see if any company is interested in partnering for it (Bitmapsoft would make a lot of sense for me, given I'm in the UK...)
If I did a limited physical run (cart, box, manual(, stickers?)), would anyone be interested in purchasing a copy? I'll almost certainly make the files freely available regardless, so this would just be for people that want a physical cart/enjoy collecting this sort of thing.

Why aren't you utilising the same boxes and cover style artwork as Dethrone?
It's not only effective and visually appealing, but also clever in its execution.
 
If you choose to create entirely new box art, it will require significant time and expense.

Unfortunately, no one has been able to locate the original case to work from.

However, if you consider using say a cardboard case, similar to what is used for Atari Homebrews, it could be a costly option.

Nonetheless, I'm confident that Dethrone would be willing to assist you in sourcing the display cases you need, allowing us to maintain some level of standardisation for homebrews on the GX4000 and Plus range of systems.

As fans, we're all here to keep the GX4000 and Plus range of systems alive, and by doing so, we can encourage other developers to release their homebrews in hardware format.

The Atari and Vectrex cartridge Homebrew scene is thriving, and we should strive to be a part of it.

I don't think choosing to use a card box is going to destroy the Plus homebrew scene and I'm not a fan of the look of the plastic case to be honest. Like I said, we already have our box art, there's no extra expense there.

I expect the box cost is going to cost in the region of 2-3x what the plastic cases cost per unit, but I've kept costs down on cartridge production quite effectively. If you want to encourage people, document your processes and costs rather than criticising other people's choices - that would be the most helpful.

[cwpab]

And now for something not totally unrelated, here's the Ripcord 1979 arcade machine manual: https://ia904703.us.archive.org/22/items/ArcadeGameManualRipcord/ripcord.pdf

(I just played it on MAME and it's fun, but it's only about high-scores sadly).

Oh Jeez, this makes me think that I need to add 2-player mode before release... Hmm...

I'm glad I accidentally influenced the development of a video game! Oh and you must be a really good programmer if you added this mode in only a few weeks. What other secret abilities do you have? Playing banjo (yes, I have seen your Youtube channel)?