In a recent interview, retroworks crew says that if someone is interested in port the new Spectrum game to Amstrad CPC, they will be glad to provide documentation and help.
As most of you know, The Sword of Ianna is a great recent game launched by Retroworks for Spectrum and ported to MSX2 thanks to the help of Manuel Pazos. With a similar colaboration, we could have a CPC version. Do we know if such colaboration is in course?
Thanks!
the cpc version needs to remake all graphics , so it's a hard work for Graphic designer :-X
@Rhino ??
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A fast port could be done using mode1 and direct Spectrum tiles, maybe?
Quote from: AxelStone on 15:53, 19 October 17
A fast port could be done using mode1 and direct Spectrum tiles, maybe?
Story of my life.
No more old school ZX ports ;D
Quote from: VincentGR on 16:14, 19 October 17
Story of my life.
No more old school ZX ports ;D
+1
I'm fairly sure there are many devs + many graphics artists + many musicians who'd love to constantly be doing various CPC projects.
But it's very difficult to find the time.
There's been talk in the past of finding a way to pay the developers, in an attempt to increase the interest. So far we haven't found a model that everyone likes though.
I do believe money could make a difference though. Not saying every developer would suddenly become more productive, but there has to be at least a few devs who will become more interested in picking up CPC projects if it comes with a financial reward too. It just makes it a bit more interesting. (Again, I know not for all).
One idea would be that everyone who was interested in the realization of a certain project could donate money to an account of some kind. Not a kickstarter thingy. Just an account. Whatever money is then in this account goes to the developers that develops the project. So if 10 people donated 10 euro to this account, then the developers would receive 100 euro for releasing the project.
Discuss. :)
Quote from: pacomix on 19:22, 18 October 17
@Rhino (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=174) ??
I think Rhino is busy enough with
Pinball Dreams and another unnamed platform game (for which a
Mario Bros-style demo was released a few months ago) already!
It may be better to port the graphics from the MSX version unless you want it to be mode 1.
Quote from: robcfg on 21:24, 19 October 17
It may be better to port the graphics from the MSX version unless you want it to be mode 1.
I agree with you, CPC has a brilliant colour usage in mode 0, most probably we could have a very nice port.
Quote from: mr_lou on 17:36, 19 October 17
I'm fairly sure there are many devs + many graphics artists + many musicians who'd love to constantly be doing various CPC projects.
But it's very difficult to find the time.
One idea would be that everyone who was interested in the realization of a certain project could donate money to an account of some kind. Not a kickstarter thingy. Just an account. Whatever money is then in this account goes to the developers that develops the project. So if 10 people donated 10 euro to this account, then the developers would receive 100 euro for releasing the project.
Discuss. :)
Time is a common issue to all homebrew development, including CPC, MSX, Speccy... :) I don't think that small amounts as 100-200€ could make a difference between launch or not launch the game, is more a motivation issue.
Sadly most of us has a very busy life (work, family, daily obligations...) and free time is really short :( :(
Quote from: AxelStone on 09:12, 20 October 17Time is a common issue to all homebrew development, including CPC, MSX, Speccy... :) I don't think that small amounts as 100-200€ could make a difference between launch or not launch the game, is more a motivation issue.
Sadly most of us has a very busy life (work, family, daily obligations...) and free time is really short :( :(
Yes I know that most of us has busy lives.
But I still think that a reward of 100-200 euro could change things.
Anyway, it's just a thought. I know we will never find out. ;)
Quote from: mr_lou on 09:16, 20 October 17
Yes I know that most of us has busy lives.
But I still think that a reward of 100-200 euro could change things.
Anyway, it's just a thought. I know we will never find out. ;)
In MSX scene some developers as Kai uses pre-order strategy. His games are not free, are sold, and you can make preorder of digital version for small amount (9€). Since the game will not be free, most people don't mind to pay 9€ for it and finally game is done.
I suposse that it could be different ways to get motivated :)
Yes, there are many different models that could be used.
I suppose it is something that should be discussed in its own thread.
But it'll be difficult for everyone to agree on a certain model I think.
I personally like the idea about everyone just donating to a "<insert game name> account". And then whoever decides to develop this project will then receive the cash.
But there'll have to be some kind of approval of the developer first of course - and also some kind of making sure multiple devs aren't working on the same project.
With the prospect of receiving some money, I think at least a few devs would prioritize their time a bit different.
(A lot of us has also ended up with spouses that doesn't necessarily approve of us spending so much time infront of these ancient machines - unless of course it pays a bit. ;) )
Quote from: AxelStone on 15:02, 18 October 17
In a recent interview, retroworks crew says that if someone is interested in port the new Spectrum game to Amstrad CPC, they will be glad to provide documentation and help.
Can they send the source code to the people involved on the port or only documentation and help?
I think is a very different situation!
Whith the source code in hand we need te redo the screen part, collision code (?), and the graphics (if you want mode 0 graphics, if not, we always can do a 1:1 port with color clash and all :laugh: )
Quote from: Joseman on 11:27, 20 October 17
Can they send the source code to the people involved on the port or only documentation and help?
I think is a very different situation!
Whith the source code in hand we need te redo the screen part, collision code (?), and the graphics (if you want mode 0 graphics, if not, we always can do a 1:1 port with color clash and all :laugh: )
I suposse that source code is included, MSX version has been ported in this way.
I posted the interest on twitter and RetroWorks point me the link for the source code:
https://github.com/fjpena/sword-of-ianna-zx
soon the msx version too
we are so close to the cpc version!! ;D
Just my 2 cents:
For me, the fun stuff doing games on CPC is also to do original games. Just copying routines and rewriting the gfx-part does not attract me. What is so attractive about ports ? Why not go for amstrad originals ?
I think this is a great speccy game that deserves a porting.
Quote from: Shining on 14:44, 20 October 17
Just my 2 cents:
For me, the fun stuff doing games on CPC is also to do original games. Just copying routines and rewriting the gfx-part does not attract me. What is so attractive about ports ? Why not go for amstrad originals ?
That's essentially what I think.; I prefer to work on my own originals for the CPC (or the occasional conversion of one of my games from a different platform, but less so).
Back in the day you owned one system and that was all, so it did make sense to have ports for your system, but today things are quite different, especially thanks to emulators. If I make a game for the CPC and people ask me for a conversion to system whatever; that's something I don't think it makes too much sense now a days: just start a CPC emulator and enjoy the game!
I'm not saying that nobody should do it, or make ports of old games that were not ported to the CPC or that the available port was crap. Do whatever makes you happy, I'm just saying that's not my thing.
I'm all for paying the devs... as long as I get a physical copy of the game.
I want to support you guys, but I still can't ascribe to the digital model of todays's world. Make a pretty box, sell disks at a premium (to pay for the stuff AND the code), and you'll get my money, even as a preorder. I've whined enough about not being able to buy homebrews that were limited in their distribution.
MSX2 source code:
https://github.com/fjpena/sword-of-ianna-msx2
Quote from: khaz on 14:33, 21 October 17
I'm all for paying the devs... as long as I get a physical copy of the game.
I want to support you guys, but I still can't ascribe to the digital model of todays's world. Make a pretty box, sell disks at a premium (to pay for the stuff AND the code), and you'll get my money, even as a preorder. I've whined enough about not being able to buy homebrews that were limited in their distribution.
I'd be interested to hear how much you'd be willing to pay for a game?
Off the top of my head, I would estimate it would cost something like $6000 to economically develop a CPC game (to do it as a job not for fun) , and I'm sure at least $10 of the sale cost would be taken in printing/graphic design and the other costs of the physical copy.
There are several retro games publishers around already.
monumentmicrogames sells ZX Spectrum tapes for £11 including shipping to Europe.
RGCD sells C64 cartridges for £20 to £30
Atariage sells 2600 cartridges for $20-$25
retrofighterteam sells their Megadrive translations for $70 with shipping
WaterMelon sells their epic Megadrive jrpg Pier Solar for $70
retrousb sells Battle Kid on the NES for $37
And I'm not even talking about the thousand reproduction cartridge makers that can range from cheap crap on aliexpress to super expensive "deluxe" packagings like pceworks. (which are currently on sale. If you like PC-Engine, definitely get some!)
I'd personally consider a price between 15 to 30€ for an Amstrad release as "fair", depending on the game itself and the packaging. I've had no problem buying Doomsday Last Echoes for 25€, and I didn't expect the big box. But the real fair price is to be determined by the sellers themselves, how they see their game and how they distribute it.
I don't think anyone can realistically live by only making games for old machines. People barely live making PC games distributed on Steam. Selling software or hardware on the Amstrad can only be considered as making pocket money, monetizing your hobby. You get something for your creation, which is only fair (and its good for the ego), but you're not supposed to leave your day job for it.
so approx ten dollars profit per person per game... Sounds like people are more willing to pay to support youtube streamers than game developers to me.
Heck, I don't care, I'll make what I want - and if other people want it, great, if they don't f- em! I look forward to laughing in the face of the 'I don't like about Chibi Ep2' in a week!!'
it's the 'pleeze port your game to xxx' or 'please add support for yyy' people that annoy me, they're literally saying 'please work for free for weeks of your life for my benefit'... the entitlement is staggering
Quote from: keith56 on 23:58, 23 October 17.
You asked my opinion, I gave it. Name your price, sell your game at the value you believe it has. You can see from my previous post that prices vary
a lot depending on who's selling it. I have my own opinion on each of these sellers and their prices, some are good, and some are less than stellar. But it has nothing to do with the actual price and everything with the perceived value of the object.
Make a good game, it will sell.
I suppose what I'm trying to say is maybe people should just download Fuse or OpenMSX, and play the game the devs have put a lot of work into making, rather than expecting someone to port it to the CPC for the prospect of earning pocket change.
I mean, this platform tribalism made sense in the 80's when everyone could only afford one platform, but with emulators these days it makes no sense - everyone can play every systems games, and if people are only willing to pay 10 dollars per copy, the devs are going to favor the most widely used plaftorms... and that leaves the CPC out of luck.
You're projecting. This isn't at all what was said in this thread or in my posts.
it was not a comment specifically aimed at you, or the CPC community - I've seen this 'It must be on OUR platform' thing plenty elsewhere.
The point I'm making is that the game was written as an MSX & ZX game... there is no financial incentive to port it to the CPC, and it's hard to believe a game designed to work on the 256x192 MSX GPU isn't going to look worse on the 160x200 CPC... so why make the port of a game freely available on two other systems that anyone can get access to?
A million opinions and a million preferences.
There are gamedevs who prefer just developing the games. Then there are those who'd like to earn money from them. And those who want to sell a physical copy.
And then there are players who just wanna use an emulator, and those who insists on using the real machine. But there are also those who prefer having a physical copy and willing to pay for it. And maybe they only wanna play games on "their own" platform.
First thing to understand is that none of these groups should ever say: "Just do it like this, then all is good". You gotta understand that the community consists of multiple different opinions and preferences.
So the best thing you can do as a gamedeveloper is actually to offer all of it. But you of course don't have an interest in that. It's a lot of work.
Maybe we just need a lot more teamwork and openness?
Let the gamedev focus on his favorite part of it: Pure development.
Then let someone else create posters and labels and send it to a publishing group. If you don't care about the money, such a publishing group would probably gladly do it for you if they receive the money from the sales.
Then let the sourcecode be available for whoever might feel like porting your game to another platform. And allow whoever is porting it to whatever platform to sell it. (After all, you don't care about the money, right?).
Quote from: keith56 on 23:58, 23 October 17
so approx ten dollars profit per person per game... Sounds like people are more willing to pay to support youtube streamers than game developers to me.
Heck, I don't care, I'll make what I want - and if other people want it, great, if they don't f- em! I look forward to laughing in the face of the 'I don't like about Chibi Ep2' in a week!!'
it's the 'pleeze port your game to xxx' or 'please add support for yyy' people that annoy me, they're literally saying 'please work for free for weeks of your life for my benefit'... the entitlement is staggering
Make demos! You gain nothing but fun! Your work is nothing but contemplative (so you do not have to do support/fix/whatever...)
I'll try to return to topic, and stop my endless whining!
if someone were to attempt to port this to the CPC, it would probably make a great first 'V9990' cpc game (That add on GPU recently announced)
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/using-symbos-with-the-gfx9000-(msx-grapics-card)/ (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/using-symbos-with-the-gfx9000-(msx-grapics-card)/)
I started looking at it on sunday, and was able to port my MSX2 GPU code to work flawlessly (and much faster) on the v9990 GPU in just a few hours.
now, I'm not using hardware sprites, and I'm sure how easy it would be to port depends on the exact way the game uses the MSX2 VDP... but it would at least mean all the sprites didn't need redrawing, and it would be a big boost for the upcoming GFX9000 on CPC to have a playable game!
Quote from: keith56 on 08:13, 24 October 17I'll try to return to topic, and stop my endless whining!
You cannot stop endless whining. That's why it's called endless. You can only stop non-endless whining, typically referred to simply as whining.
Quote from: keith56 on 08:13, 24 October 17
I'll try to return to topic, and stop my endless whining!
if someone were to attempt to port this to the CPC, it would probably make a great first 'V9990' cpc game (That add on GPU recently announced)
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/using-symbos-with-the-gfx9000-(msx-grapics-card)/ (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/using-symbos-with-the-gfx9000-(msx-grapics-card)/)
I started looking at it on sunday, and was able to port my MSX2 GPU code to work flawlessly (and much faster) on the v9990 GPU in just a few hours.
now, I'm not using hardware sprites, and I'm sure how easy it would be to port depends on the exact way the game uses the MSX2 VDP... but it would at least mean all the sprites didn't need redrawing, and it would be a big boost for the upcoming GFX9000 on CPC to have a playable game!
Surely game uses MSX2 VDP to animate software sprites (so really it's copying VRAM areas from one page to other). Indeed this game is not worth to use V9000 unless you want to make a fast port, but a plain CPC can do a really nice port.