Retrocade Future

[Arkhan Asylum]

The question here is, would people want to buy HuCards of each game separately?  Each game on their own offers things you'd expect out of an enhanced version of the game:  Graphics, music, better sfx, some bells/whistles...

but, would people go for it?

At the time when we started Retrocade, HuCards weren't a possibility.  This is a new venture.

[Gogan]

Me me loves the golden age games. 

[CrackTiger]

If you're concerned about collectors, I think that they'll buy anything, but especially new HuCards.

If you're concerned about players who might stick their noses up at these kinds of "simple" games, I don't think it will matter if it's a single game on HuCard or several on a CD, they will not be impressed either way.

There are still many of us who appreciate both the games and the fact that they're for TG-16/PCE.

[NecroPhile]

The question here is, would people want to buy HuCards of each game separately?

I'd buy 'em, though eight fancied up Atari 2600 games at $50 each for $400 total.... fuck me running.

[lord_cack]

How about a combo pack Pyamid Plunder CD packed with Atlantean Card.... I would absolutely buy that for $35-$50....

[spenoza]

Why can't you package a couple games on a single card? Are you running into memory limits on your retooling of the music and graphics? I think if Atlantean adds enough to the Defender model I might be willing to nab a card of it, and possibly of Joust, but there will need to be enough stuff to mix up the gameplay so I don't feel like I'm just playing Defender or Joust. Look at Galaga '88. It added bosses, warps, and mixed things up quite a bit. If that is your goal, then I say at least a couple of your titles would do just find on card.

[Arkhan Asylum]

How about a combo pack Pyamid Plunder CD packed with Atlantean Card.... I would absolutely buy that for $35-$50....

That is already something I thought of.  Or the AetherPack!:  Insanity, PP, and Atlantean, for some fuckin nice price, for the people who didn't get Insanity yet.

I'd buy 'em, though eight fancied up Atari 2600 games at $50 each for $400 total.... fuck me running.

There would not be 8 of them, and I sure hope the price can be fanagled down to less than 50.   HuCard releases would be:

Atlantean
Joustaroo
Jungle Hunt

I don't think SkateboardRamp9000 is worth a HuCard release on it's own.  It'd almost just be some kinda tack-on, at the very end, to go with the 3 Protocard games.

Once this is all figured out, I intend to make a more formal announcement, and update Aetherbyte.com to reflect the changes.

It's looking something like:

Atlantean, Joustaroo and Jungle Cunt on Hueys
Pyramid Plunder either as a free demo or pressed CD (if the demand warrants it)
Once erythangs done: The Full Retrocade with ^^^^ All those ^^^^ , tweaked up Protocard games, Skateboard9000, and something else I never mentioned and won't mention.

As for not doing multiple releases of these big games on one card:  The current Protocards aren't even out yet, so I don't want to bank on shit that is too much effort. AKA: I don't want to say yeah I'll slap Joust and Atlantean on one card when it turns out to be a fucking pain. 

Also, this is just my own opinion, but I don't want my games or anyone else's games to ever be compared to commercial games with regards to reasons why they aren't worth buying... seems a bit unfair.  There's alot of that in the Amiga scene:  "Why buy some stupid looking game when I can play *this* or *that*".

It's missing the point.

I brought up Galaga 88 to kind of say: Look how that turned out.  Atlantean is shooting for something similar as far as bringing more to the table.  It may not achieve the same level, but hey, I'm not Namco, and I don't have 8+ hours a day to devote to it. 

[NecroPhile]

Also, this is just my own opinion, but I don't want my games or anyone else's games to ever be compared to commercial games with regards to reasons why they aren't worth buying... seems a bit unfair.

Fair or not, commercial games are the competition.  Homebrew doesn't necessarily have to equal the best commercial games, but it better equal 'em in the fun factor and playability department if you want a wide audience.

[spenoza]

If you want me to pay money, you have to offer up something I want, and you have to offer it in such a way that it makes me want to spend my $$. That does, in a sense, put you in competition with the existing library of commercial games. There's no way to get around that, really. It is a gamble you make when you put down money for a run of pressed CDs or parts for cards. This isn't a charity, and it would be unfair to everyone involved to cast it that way.

[Arkhan Asylum]

Fair or not, commercial games are the competition.  Homebrew doesn't necessarily have to equal the best commercial games, but it better equal 'em in the fun factor and playability department if you want a wide audience.

You are 100% right!  I agree completely as far as that goes.   What I meant was, as far as "features/content" is concerned, it would be unfair IMHO to say something like "Well, why doesn't Pyramid Plunder have animated cutscenes?!" or "Man, where's the orchestrated musical score for Atlantean!?".  Basically, I don't want Atlantean to end up getting compared to Psychosis or L-Dis or something.

I don't intend to make Atlantean just a graphical enhancement with the same Defender gameplay.  I do plan to add to it as Space Invaders and Galaga 88 did.  It's already got parallax, chiptunes, and sweet artwork. =3

I don't want anyone to forget though, there was a time (before I was a twinkle in my dads eye!) when playing games like this was nothing more than seeing if you could beat your previous high score, and honing your reflexes.   I want to keep that while adding more.   I want people to feel compelled to pop another quarter in their Turbo when they die in these games!

[ParanoiaDragon]

While I want to play each & every of your games asap, I kinda want to wait for the full Retrocade to be all done in packed up together.

[Sadler]

I'm not understanding why "do both" isn't an option. Release games independently as they are finished, in whatever form is appropriate. When they are all done, press a CD with everything you can on it. Those that aren't interested in paying for just one game can wait for the CD. Those that want the game ASAP can get it.

To clarify: I get that it isn't cheap to press a CD or manufacture a disc. You definitely want to at least break even on it, but the break even point seems kinda low. How many people do you need to break even? 50 maybe?

[touko]

Fair or not, commercial games are the competition.  Homebrew doesn't necessarily have to equal the best commercial games, but it better equal 'em in the fun factor and playability department if you want a wide audience.

I agree with that, this is because i voted for all games in retrocade ..
insanity is not bad, and more commercials games are worse than yours ..

Insanity was an homebrew, and it was your first game on pce,don't blame you ..
This kind of machine needs a solid pixel artist to make beautiful games, very,very few people are able to work with limited features.They used to have millions colors, unlimited (size,colors,numbers)sprites,wav and mp3 for sfx/musics, etc ...
And of course, many,many times to spend for dev .

[_Paul]

How about a combo pack Pyamid Plunder CD packed with Atlantean Card.... I would absolutely buy that for $35-$50....

That is already something I thought of.  Or the AetherPack!:  Insanity, PP, and Atlantean, for some fuckin nice price, for the people who didn't get Insanity yet.

I like that idea.

[Arkhan Asylum]

I'm not understanding why "do both" isn't an option. Release games independently as they are finished, in whatever form is appropriate. When they are all done, press a CD with everything you can on it. Those that aren't interested in paying for just one game can wait for the CD. Those that want the game ASAP can get it.

To clarify: I get that it isn't cheap to press a CD or manufacture a disc. You definitely want to at least break even on it, but the break even point seems kinda low. How many people do you need to break even? 50 maybe?

This is an interesting point.  I guess I never thought of that lol.   I just assumed new game---> people feel obligated to buy it.  That's how I operate, lol.

The break even point IS pretty low.  depending on the price of the game and the price of the pressing, its between 30 and 50 people. 

Maybe "do both" seems appropriate, especially since the vote is just about split down the middle.

[Mishran]

Whatever you decide, I'll likely bite cause I'm a retard like that.

Only ones I can see deserving its own press, is PP and Atlantean as they look as though they are meant to be a game in themselves. The rest seem to speak "compilation". Keep PP stand alone and add ports of the old QBASIC games Nibbles and Gorillas to Retrocade.

[Arkhan Asylum]

LOL.

Gorirrrraaaas

that game ruled.

maybe we will go with PP pressed, Atlantean carded, and the rest free til they're all done, followed by the full retrocade w/ all the bells and whistles then...

don't forget the Protocard games.

[JoshTurboTrollX]

Well, I'm crazy stoked to see the Skate or Die 2 Ramp on mah Duo.  I voted for waiting, but if you did happen to release a few hueys seperate, then a pressed CD of the full retrocade later, I would probably buy both.

It's not really redundant either, cause you could pop the huey in the express, while leaving the CD at home to play in the comfort of your living room. 

[SignOfZeta]

I don't really follow what we are talking about there, but I'll buy pretty much whatever you put out.

[Arkhan Asylum]

I don't really follow what we are talking about there, but I'll buy pretty much whatever you put out.

www.aetherbyte.com/pcerc.php

Dude, you were at the CCAG.  You saw this stuff in action , lol.

[CrackTiger]

I've actually been looking forward to Pyramid Plunder more than any other Retrocade game. Pac Man is a solid and timeless game that I still enjoy more than so many other games from that time. The Genesis version of Ms Pacman is a great game and I'd be happy with something as faithful as that. But from what I've seen, Pyramid Plunder, takes it so much further and the mini map is a genius way to compensate for maps larger than a single screen. The variety of graphics I've seen so far also plays a big part in it being my favorite. Pac Man is a game like Bomberman that can be stretched pretty far with the same gameplay over similar style maps, as long as you're given something different to look at.

The only thing I'm not crazy about so far is the floating across the stage while warping. It looks like it will break the pace of the gameplay. It's cool for keeping your bearings, but I think that you should fly much faster, so that you're only out of the game for a second or so.

[esteban]

I think everyone here knows that I do not mind waiting for stuff. Years pass by and I'm like, "What? I still haven't had a chance to really sink my teeth into Strider ACD, which I bought from GUTS 5+ years ago."

I had no problem waiting for MSR. I mean, I'm still waiting for MSR. I don't mind. I stated here, on these boards, years ago: "As long as it is eventually released, I don't mind."

That said, Arkhan, I strongly urge you to POLISH THE HELL out of the games and release them when they are ready. Do not wait. Why?

Games that can stand on their own should be released with dignity.

I am not the biggest fan of Pac Man (it is the least appealing of all the TurboCade titles, for me), but I want to support homebrew. Plus, I like when games are tweaked and remixed.

If people don't want to buy the "individual releases", they can wait for the TurboCade Collection that will be released in the future. Folks have said that they don't mind waiting, correct? Well, they can wait for the TurboCade Collection.

It's a win-win situation. Folks on a budget can decide how they want to support homebrew.

To ensure that an individual release breaks even (at minimum), it would be easy for Arkhan to ask for commitments. I have no problem pledging/pre-ordering/placing a down-payment/whatever.

I am on a budget, but I'd rather put my money into supporting homebrew than paying $$$ for Coryoon. And I want Coryoon, badly.

I'm not understanding why "do both" isn't an option. Release games independently as they are finished, in whatever form is appropriate. When they are all done, press a CD with everything you can on it. Those that aren't interested in paying for just one game can wait for the CD. Those that want the game ASAP can get it.

To clarify: I get that it isn't cheap to press a CD or manufacture a disc. You definitely want to at least break even on it, but the break even point seems kinda low. How many people do you need to break even? 50 maybe?

I CONCUR WHOLEHEARTEDLY!

After wading through several pages of conversation, I was so happy when I read your post. Seriously.

My only worry is that people wont like the games in their simplicity.  The goal was to create short, tiny arcade games to bring something to the PCE that it lacks:  Precrash games.

I also had a very epic realization.  A "duhrrr" moment.

http://pcengine.co.uk/HTML_Games/Space_Invaders.htm

not to mention the 1995 CD release that isn't very elaborate either.

Who here thought that the Space Invaders hucard sucked, wasn't worth it, and doesn't have much appeal? 

I have really enjoyed the updated version of Space Invaders (HuCard). I may be in the minority, but I was pleasantly surprised.

[Arkhan Asylum]

well thats that then.

[incrediblehark]

Im a little late to the party, it seems. All of the valid points have been made. at first i was thinking just realese PP, but now I think you should wait on that for the final retrocade.