avatar_Novabug

Talking Heads required! Open Request for Amstrad gamers.

Started by Novabug, 22:12, 13 January 16

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Novabug

Morning/Afternoon everyone.


I'm currently planning a multi-part video series entitled "The A-Z of bad CPC Games", and I'm looking for people to record short, head & shoulders clips talking about some of the worst games they have played on our beloved Amstrad. I have several high-profile tubers on board already, and would really like a depth of CPC fans opinions. Anybody involved will be fully credited. If anyone is interested, please send me a PM either on here or my facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/Novabug/


Thanks everyone.


Bug 'out.

ivarf

Could you do a show about bad C64 games in stead?

TFM

Or even better: Bad c64 games and their superb CPC couterparts. Examples: Driller, Trantor, Sentinel etc.  ;) :)
TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

dodogildo

I don't get what's so wrong to talk about bad games in your favorite platform. On the contrary, there's some catharsis in it :)
I'd especially like to expose bad speccy ports someday, as a project.
M'enfin!

Shaun M. Neary

Quote from: dodogildo on 17:34, 14 January 16
I don't get what's so wrong to talk about bad games in your favorite platform. On the contrary, there's some catharsis in it :)
I'd especially like to expose bad speccy ports someday, as a project.


Pretty much this.
Every platform has produced their fair share of duds, it's still happening today.

Can you honestly say anything nice about Outrun? Back To The Future II? Yie Ar King Fu II? Psycho Pigs UXB? Kung Fu Master?
All the above were executed so badly that all the fun was sapped out of them unless you tried to convince yourself it was playable because you dropped a wad of cash on them!
Currently playing on: 2xCPC464, 1xCPC6128, 1x464Plus, 1x6128Plus, 2xGX4000. M4 board, ZMem 1MB and still forever playing Bruce Lee.
No cheats, snapshots or emulation. I play my games as they're intended to be played. What about you?

Gryzor

I'll add something more - what puts the CPC scene apart, in a small way, is that we're not really hiding the shortcomings. We're much more honest when it comes to comparisons.

Novabug

Quote from: Gryzor on 11:38, 19 January 16
I'll add something more - what puts the CPC scene apart, in a small way, is that we're not really hiding the shortcomings. We're much more honest when it comes to comparisons.


That's very true. We fight our corner and accept our failings. This is more of a thankyou for these bad games, because without them devs would not learn lessons that made the great games.


Have about 14 people now, but need more for talking heads. Be involved guys and gals. :)

Targhan

QuoteKung Fu Master?


Out of topic, but you broke my heart on this one: I love this game :).
Targhan/Arkos

Arkos Tracker 2.0.1 now released! - Follow the news on Twitter!
Disark - A cross-platform Z80 disassembler/source converter
FDC Tool 1.1 - Read Amsdos files without the system

Imperial Mahjong
Orion Prime

ukmarkh

What's wrong with Kung Fu-Master? The CPC conversion was bloody brilliant!

Puresox

I am with the---'What's wrong with Kung-Fu Master' camp!? I think it's not a bad old game , scrolls nice , looks like the arcade game, the hit detection is marginally off but once you are aware of how it plays , the game works pretty well.
And Pshycopigs UXB , that plays pretty well, although I'm not into the game . I know lots of friends who think its great fun. Specially the two player option , which appeals to me actually . I look forward to an emulator that enables two player across the net . Wishful thinking.

Optimus

Quote from: Shaun M. Neary on 06:11, 19 January 16
Can you honestly say anything nice about Outrun? Back To The Future II? Yie Ar King Fu II? Psycho Pigs UXB? Kung Fu Master?


Kung Fu Master is one of my favorite games because I've mastered it though :)


But yeah, I agree. Sometimes I look back at some games that I learned to play but are objectively bad in controls and wonder how have I managed to torture myself and learn to play them so well. Nowadays, if I discover an old CPC game I just never happened to have played in my youth and has bad controls, it will drive me away.


p.s. In fact, I am looking to make a list of CPC games that are still in one or another way playable by today's standards or I consider them so (for example, I find Target Renegade still really good, fun and easy enough for new gamers, while the first Renegade would drive me away with it's obscure keymaps and limited time). I also want to discover some CPC games I never played in the past and could get easily along with. I know there are some.

Zoe Robinson

Quote from: Optimus on 11:51, 20 January 16
for example, I find Target Renegade still really good, fun and easy enough for new gamers, while the first Renegade would drive me away with it's obscure keymaps and limited time


The original Renegade doesn't have obscure keymaps, it has keymaps you need a literal map to uncover. It's bloody stupid.


Didn't stop me finishing the game though, but it's still bloody stupid.

Puresox

Renegade follows the key system of the Arcade if I remember correctly?

Shaun M. Neary


Too many things to quote here, but I'll give this one a go.

Quote from: Puresox on 03:32, 20 January 16
I am with the---'What's wrong with Kung-Fu Master' camp!? I think it's not a bad old game , scrolls nice , looks like the arcade game, the hit detection is marginally off but once you are aware of how it plays , the game works pretty well.
And Pshycopigs UXB , that plays pretty well, although I'm not into the game . I know lots of friends who think its great fun. Specially the two player option , which appeals to me actually . I look forward to an emulator that enables two player across the net . Wishful thinking.


You hit the nail on the head with Kung Fu Master though. The detection is horrendous, (although in it's defence, the arcade's detection for the bosses wasn't entirely accurate either), the scrolling wasn't great at all, that floor used to make me dizzy. Also, being able to jump over the dwarves in from the second level onwards was pathetic, I'm almost certain you weren't allowed do that in the original, I just thought it was out and out bad.

PPUXB? It was just awful, had it been early 1986, it would have been acceptable, but it came out in early 88 I think? The CPC was capable of so much more, it was a lazy conversion. Didn't AA rate it as one of the worst games ever too? Sure, the game is fine if you overlook it's shortcomings, but one could say the same about any game on any format, right? How do you think Spectrum +2's and their relevant software sold like hot cakes?  :laugh: :laugh:


Quote from: Optimus on 11:51, 20 January 16

But yeah, I agree. Sometimes I look back at some games that I learned to play but are objectively bad in controls and wonder how have I managed to torture myself and learn to play them so well. Nowadays, if I discover an old CPC game I just never happened to have played in my youth and has bad controls, it will drive me away.


I'd be in this camp as well. When I was 11, I had no problems mastering the most bizarre controls, especially if I broke my joystick from those waggler sports games like Combat School or the Daley Thompson series.


Quote from: Zoe Robinson on 13:56, 20 January 16

The original Renegade doesn't have obscure keymaps, it has keymaps you need a literal map to uncover. It's bloody stupid.


Didn't stop me finishing the game though, but it's still bloody stupid.


They weren't all that stupid really, the jump button remained the same, and the punch and back kick reversed automatically to suit the direction facing the opponent. I thought it was quite clever myself, but I could see how it could confuse some players. It took me an hour to get used to it, then I ended up wishing more games were like it. It did mean using the stoppers on a joystick to a table in order to use the other three keys. The W,A,D,S keys were similar layout to the directional buttons, but it had to be done that way as the cursor keys wouldn't have worked without being uncomfortable.

I was more upset about the shoulder throw and the running punch being omitted from the game. In fact, the ability to run, period was removed from the CPC.

Quote from: Puresox on 16:43, 20 January 16
Renegade follows the key system of the Arcade if I remember correctly?


Yep, although I don't think the arcade reversed itself. I'm not entirely sure about that though.
Currently playing on: 2xCPC464, 1xCPC6128, 1x464Plus, 1x6128Plus, 2xGX4000. M4 board, ZMem 1MB and still forever playing Bruce Lee.
No cheats, snapshots or emulation. I play my games as they're intended to be played. What about you?

Zoe Robinson

Quote from: Shaun M. Neary on 05:42, 21 January 16
They weren't all that stupid really, the jump button remained the same, and the punch and back kick reversed automatically to suit the direction facing the opponent. I thought it was quite clever myself, but I could see how it could confuse some players.


Condescension aside, you seem to have been playing a different version of Renegade to me if you thought the layout was "clever". It wasn't, it was absolutely ridiculous and indefensible.


My version (the Hit Squad budget re-release, as I recall) had no direction keys mapped, so you had to use the joystick for that, and all attack keys mapped to the cursors, and the main Enter key. Getting your fingers into the right position to play 'Renegade' was like Yoga for your hands.


There really is no excuse for a keyboard layout as stupid as that. Even mapping WASD for movement and IOP for the 3 attacks would have been a better idea; at least then you'd have reasonable keyboard play with the option of joystick and keyboard still being there.

Shaun M. Neary

Quote from: Zoe Robinson on 14:14, 21 January 16

Condescension aside, you seem to have been playing a different version of Renegade to me if you thought the layout was "clever". It wasn't, it was absolutely ridiculous and indefensible.


My version (the Hit Squad budget re-release, as I recall) had no direction keys mapped, so you had to use the joystick for that, and all attack keys mapped to the cursors, and the main Enter key. Getting your fingers into the right position to play 'Renegade' was like Yoga for your hands.


There really is no excuse for a keyboard layout as stupid as that. Even mapping WASD for movement and IOP for the 3 attacks would have been a better idea; at least then you'd have reasonable keyboard play with the option of joystick and keyboard still being there.


Realistically, for me it was a joystick and three extra keys so it wasn't such a big deal. Also as a 464 user, the attack keys were a lot easier (the small enter key, # and . are a lot easier to access on the 464 than the 6128).
But that's just my own personal experience.
Currently playing on: 2xCPC464, 1xCPC6128, 1x464Plus, 1x6128Plus, 2xGX4000. M4 board, ZMem 1MB and still forever playing Bruce Lee.
No cheats, snapshots or emulation. I play my games as they're intended to be played. What about you?

ukmarkh

The joystick keyboard combo for Renegade was amazing! I wish more games would have used it!

Puresox

I don't recall Renegade Keys being an issue , game was fine imo. Maybe If you didn't have joystick , the key selection were odd I suppose

Shaun M. Neary

Quote from: Puresox on 15:23, 23 January 16
I don't recall Renegade Keys being an issue , game was fine imo. Maybe If you didn't have joystick , the key selection were odd I suppose


This!
Without a joystick, without question, it was very awkward to play. Again, I stress that the positioning of the numerical keys on the 464 made a world of difference. But the 6128 would probably have required you to be a fucking octopus to play it properly!  :laugh:
Currently playing on: 2xCPC464, 1xCPC6128, 1x464Plus, 1x6128Plus, 2xGX4000. M4 board, ZMem 1MB and still forever playing Bruce Lee.
No cheats, snapshots or emulation. I play my games as they're intended to be played. What about you?

Puresox


mahlemiut

Yes, you could use left, down, and right for the attack buttons also, which are all nicely together on the 6128.
- Barry Rodewald

Powered by SMFPacks Menu Editor Mod