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Updates:

• 1-14-22: Final box/label/manual artwork for Pac-Man, Galaxian and UniWarS are now finished. Manual and box layouts are in progress.

Oh... and in case anyone was wondering:

On 8/3/2021 at 12:58 AM, Nathan Strum said:

Next, I have to actually execute the final illustrations. On a difficulty scale of 1-10 (1 being super easy, barely an inconvenience, 10 being insane), I'd give them:

Gorf Arcade: 4

Lady Bug Arcade: 6

Galaxian 7800: 10

Pac-Man Collection XM 7800: 5

UniWarS 7800: 8

 

I'm probably going to be wrong on all of those.

Apart from Gorf Arcade (which will be completed later in the year), I guessed pretty well on these. I'd probably give Lady Bug Arcade a difficulty of 7 though.

And what made things more or less difficult for you? Maybe you can give an example?

Once the other artwork is revealed, I can explain a bit more. But basically it has to do with the amount of detail in each illustration, the amount of shading (ie. not just flat colors), and the software I use to create the final artwork with.

 

In the case of all of the above games, they started out with a digital (bitmap) sketch on my iPad using Procreate. This is great for roughing out ideas, but I don't use it for finished work, because I don't feel that I have enough control over the final image. So from there they went over to Adobe Photoshop to weed out errant layers and get converted to CMYK colorspace (required for printing). After that, they went into Adobe Illustrator for the finished illustration.

 

I've typically used Illustrator for the line artwork, because Illustrator is a vector drawing program - not bitmap. So the artwork is infinitely scalable (and malleable) in a way bitmaps aren't. I can get super-clean lines and change characteristics of them in ways I can't do with bitmaps. Then I'd often take the line art back over to Photoshop for "painting" since it's well suited for shading, textures, gradients, etc. For artwork that doesn't have much shading (Zoo Keeper, Aardvark) I just used Illustrator for most of the artwork since flat colors are very easy to do (and again, very easy to change). Zoo Keeper has a bitmap for the brick background. Aardvark's background is fully vector.

 

This time, I did nearly all of the final artwork in Illustrator (except for the backgrounds in UniWar S and Galaxian, which are bitmapped "paintings"). For Lady Bug Arcade, the shading was minimal, so it wasn't difficult to do. In Photoshop, you can just grab a big ol' brush and swipe it across an area to add shading. But to get complex shading in Illustrator (where it follows a shape, or you have a highlight and shading in the same area), then it requires more work to set up because you're not "painting" as such, but assigning values and parameters to objects. So with Lady Bug Arcade I started experimenting more with that, which required using multiple layers of different gradients with transparency, or setting up (what Adobe calls) Freeform Gradients. Freeform Gradients are relatively new and a bit twitchy (and not always predictable) to work with. But they're very powerful since you can create gradients of (almost) any shape and color combination. And again, you can edit them without "repainting" them as you would using bitmaps. You just change values and parameters. It's like sculpting, but on a flat plane.

 

Once I'd gone through a learning curve on Lady Bug Arcade (which is part of the reason it's a "6", but also because I completely re-drew the entire label after the original version was well underway  ), I decided to try applying those techniques in Illustrator to both Galaxian and UniWar S, which are both more "painterly" in appearance, and are the kind of labels I would have historically done in Photoshop instead. That's where the difficulty went way, way up, because I was trying to replicate the appearance of what I would have traditionally done pretty quickly in Photoshop, using a completely different method in Illustrator. There was a lot of trial and error in the process, but I was able to achieve the end results that I wanted. Perhaps even better than what I could have done in Photoshop. Certainly, there are some tools that vector graphics have (such as easily replicating and scaling objects) that makes repetitive tasks much, much easier to do.

 

At the other end of the difficulty spectrum, Pac-Man Collection is pretty straightforward. Mostly flat colors and minimal shading. So the technical challenge of executing it was the easiest of the bunch.

 

Pretty sure I'm not going to work on so many labels at the same time again though.  Although it did help in the sense of having something else to switch to when I got frustrated or stuck.

 

So the difficulty is more technical challenges, and less coming up with ideas, right?

Coming up with the ideas is always a 10.  

 

But yes, in this case I was referring to the technical challenges of executing the artwork, rather than coming up with the ideas. But I'll go over those a little bit as well, once the artwork is revealed.

So... many... updates:

• 1-20-22: Qix nominated for the 4th Annual Atari Homebrew Awards: Best 2600 Homebrew Port (Work-in-Progress).
• 1-20-22: Turbo nominated for the 4th Annual Atari Homebrew Awards: Best 2600 Homebrew Port (Work-in-Progress).
• 1-20-22: Lady Bug Arcade nominated for the 4th Annual Atari Homebrew Awards: Best 2600 Homebrew (Port), Best 2600 Graphics (Port); Best 2600 Music and Sound (Port).
• 1-20-22: RobotWar:2684 nominated for the 4th Annual Atari Homebrew Awards: Best Packaging; Best 2600 Homebrew (Port), Best 2600 Graphics (Port); Best 2600 Music and Sound (Port).
• 2-13-22: Turbo won Best 2600 Homebrew Port (Work-in-Progress) in the 4th Annual Atari Homebrew Awards.
• 2-13-22: RobotWar:2684 won Best 2600 Homebrew (Port); Best 2600 Graphics (Port); Best 2600 Music and Sound (Port) in the 4th Annual Atari Homebrew Awards.
• 2-25-22: Elevator Action moved back to "active development" - rebooted as a CDFJ project.
• 2-25-22: Boom! moved back to "active development" - rebooted as a CDFJ project.
• 3-5-22: "Historical Documentary" moved to "on hold". There are plans to continue this game, but other projects are a higher priority.
• 3-5-22: New project added: "Champ Sports Shot Put"*

*code name

1 hour ago, Nathan Strum said:

2-25-22: Elevator Action moved back to "active development" - rebooted as a CDFJ project.

Yes!!!

1 hour ago, Nathan Strum said:

3-5-22: New project added: "Champ Sports Shot Put"*

? 

Updates:

• 5-21-22: Galaxian packaging previewed during AtariAge Day on ZeroPage Homebrew.
• 5-21-22: Pac-Man Collection packaging previewed during AtariAge Day on ZeroPage Homebrew.
• 5-21-22: UniWarS packaging previewed during AtariAge Day on ZeroPage Homebrew.
• 5-21-22: Gorf Arcade packaging previewed during AtariAge Day on ZeroPage Homebrew.
• 5-21-22: Qyx label artwork (by David Exton) previewed during AtariAge Day on ZeroPage Homebrew.
• 6-3-22: New project added: "Two-fer"*

Updates:

• 6-3-22: Boom! previewed on ZeroPage Homebrew. Demo version now available for download in the AtariAge forums.
• 6-5-22: Elevator Action label artwork is in-progress.

Update:

• 6-15-22: Elevator Action renamed to Elevator Agent. Thread added to Homebrew forum.

Whole lotta Updates:

• 2-11-23: Added new Homebrew project: "Calidac's Revenge" (code name)
• 2-11-23: Gorf Arcade, Qyx, Galaxian (7800), Pac-Man Collection 40th Anniversary Edition (7800), UniWarS (7800) all moved to Completed Homebrews.
• 2-11-23: Boom!, Elevator Agent, Turbo Arcade, Zeviouz entries all updated to reflect packaging artwork in "early sketches" phase.
• 2-3-23: Elevator Agent nominated for Best Work-In-Progress (2600 Port), for the 5th Annual Atari Homebrew Awards.
• 2-3-23: Boom! nominated for Best Work-In-Progress (2600 Port), for the 5th Annual Atari Homebrew Awards.
• 2-3-23: Gorf Arcade nominated for Best Homebrew, Best Graphics and Best Music + Sound (2600 Port), for the 5th Annual Atari Homebrew Awards.
• 2-3-23: Qyx nominated for Best Homebrew, Best Graphics and Best Music + Sound (2600 Port), for the 5th Annual Atari Homebrew Awards
• 1-23-23: Gorf Arcade, Qyx, Galaxian (7800), Pac-Man Collection 40th Anniversary Edition (7800), UniWarS (7800) are all now available in the AtariAge store.
• 1-13-23: Final Gorf Arcade ROM now available for purchase at Champ.Games.
• 1-13-23: Final Qyx ROM now available for purchase at Champ.Games.
• 12-31-22: Elevator Agent demo ROM now available for download at Champ.Games.

The "Early Sketches" bullet point has my attention. I'd love to see all four available by end of year

Elevator Agent is very much on my radar.  Looking forward to the release.

Updates:

• 3-18-23: Rough artwork approved for Boom!, Elevator Agent, Turbo Arcade and Zeviouz.
• 2-25-23: Elevator Agent won Best WIP (2600 Port), in the 5th Annual Atari Homebrew Awards.
• 2-25-23: Gorf Arcade won Best Music + Sound (2600 Port), in the 5th Annual Atari Homebrew Awards. Congratulations to Bob Decrescenzo, who also won the Lifetime Achievement Award. Well-deserved!
• 2-15-23: "Historical Documentary" status changed to "Early development"

Catching up on a lot of updates. Some of these were missed because I was busy, some weren't added due to the tentative nature of the projects, and some are just brand-spankin'-new! I've been swamped the latter half of this year helping finish the development of Turbo Arcade and Elevator Agent, and also with helping to get Champ Games set up for self-publishing. Hopefully, things will calm down a bit now that we've got all that sorted out, and we can get back to developing new stuff!  

 

Updates:

• 11-10-23: New project code-named: "Acrylic Sign Holders" added to to-do list.
• 11-10-23: New project code-named: "Space Mona Lisa" added to to-do list.
• 11-10-23: New project code-named: "Hoosegow" added to to-do list. 
• 10-15-23: Updated Frantic Demo ROM from PRGE posted in Darrell's blog.
• 10-13-23: Turbo Arcade released at the 2023 Portland Retro Gaming Expo. Will be available soon at Champ.Games.  
• 10-13-23: Elevator Agent released at the 2023 Portland Retro Gaming Expo. Will be available soon at Champ.Games.
• 2-18-23: "Historical Documentary" is now part of "Two-fer". Status changed to "Early proof-of-concept builds".

Some more updates:

• 1-14-24: New revived project code-named "Zombie Project (does not contain any actual zombies)" added to to-do list. First pass at new graphics complete.
• 1-14-24: New project code-named "WIP It" added to to-do list. Graphics are in-progress.
• 1-14-24: "Two-Fer" is on hold. "Historical Documentary" is back to being a stand-alone project for now.
• 12-31-23: First pass at graphics for "Hoosegow" complete.
• 12-18-23: First pass at graphics for "Space Mona Lisa" complete.

Update:

• 1-28-24: First pass at graphics for "WIP It" complete.

Update:

• 2-5-24: First pass at graphics for "Historical Documentary" complete.

13 minutes ago, Nathan Strum said:

Update:

• 2-5-24: First pass at graphics for "Historical Documentary" complete.

For a second there, I was hoping you really meant "historical record" and that you were working on Galaxy Quest 2600. 

Pig lizard, Gorignak, beryllium sphere miners, the chompers, Saris, mine field, somersaults, departing space dock...seems like reasonable content for a game.

Nope - not Galaxy Quest. Great movie though!

Update:

• 2-11-24: Second pass at graphics for "Zombie Project (does not contain any actual zombies)" complete.

Updates:

• 2-1-24: Turbo Arcade nominated for Best Graphics - 2600 Port, Best Music and Sound - 2600 Port, and Best Homebrew - 2600 Port for ZPH's 6th Annual Homebrew Awards.
• 2-24-24: Turbo Arcade won Best Graphics - 2600 Port, in ZPH's 6th Annual Homebrew Awards.
• 2-1-24: Elevator Agent nominated for Best Graphics - 2600 Port, Best Music and Sound - 2600 Port, and Best Homebrew - 2600 Port for ZPH's 6th Annual Homebrew Awards.
• 2-24-24: Elevator Agent won Best Music and Sound - 2600 Port, in ZPH's 6th Annual Homebrew Awards. Congratulations to Pat Brady!
• 2-24-24: Elevator Agent won Best Homebrew - 2600 Port, in ZPH's 6th Annual Homebrew Awards. Congratulations to John Champeau!
• 2-24-24: "Zombie Project (etc)" revealed during ZPH's 6th Annual Homebrew Awards as the Champ Games port of Rip Off.
• 2-24-24: "WIP It" revealed during ZPH's 6th Annual Homebrew Awards as the Champ Games port of Tutankham.

As for the code names:

• "Zombie Project" should be self-evident, since we actually started Rip Off back in September of 2006. The last binary I have prior to the recent reboot was from March 2007. This is a complete ground-up rewrite, with all-new single-line resolution sprites.
• "WIP It" was because 1) Tutankham is a Work In Progress and 2) your in-game character is wearing a DEVO hat. For some reason.   I really shouldn't have to explain it any further than that.

Updates:

• 4-12-24: Tutankham, and interview with programmer John Champeau, featured on episode of ZeroPage Homebrew.
• 4-14-24: Demo ROM of Tutankham Arcade available for download at Champ Games' website.
• 7-10-24: Tutankham Arcade packaging layout in-progress (illustration created by Dave Dries).
• 7-10-24: Project code-named "Peaches and Herb" added to to-do list. Packaging nearing final approval. Development awaiting final changes.

I'm going to have to start a new To-Do list one of these days.

 

Updates:

• 9-19-24: "Peaches and Herb" revealed as Champ Games Presents (republishing rubyQ, Star Castle Arcade, Juno First, The End and Stratovox).
• 9-27-24: Tutankham Arcade officially released at Portland Retro Gaming Expo.
• 9-27-24: "Space Mona Lisa" revealed at Portland Retro Gaming Expo as Spiders Arcade, the Champ Games' port of the Sigma arcade game Spiders.
• 10-6-24: Tutankham Arcade available for purchase from Champ Games.
• 10-6-24: Champ Games Presents titles now available for purchase from Champ Games.
• 10-11-24: Spiders Arcade previewed on ZeroPage Homebrew.
• 10-12-24: Began creating maps for Andor Genesis battles for Zeviouz.
• 10-13-24: Tutankam Arcade moved to Completed Homebrews.
• 10-13-24: Champ Games Presents moved to Completed Homebrews.
• 10-13-24: "Two-Fer" removed. Project has been canceled.
• 10-13-24: Added new project code-named "7800, but not in that way".

Notes:

• "Peaches and Herb" were the group that sang the song "Reunited", which we "borrowed" for the Champ Games Presents flyer.
• "Space Mona Lisa" is what John and I jokingly called the woman whose face appears in Spiders. Then we found out that's actually what she's called in the arcade manual and flyers. Go figure! (Although she's also referred to as the "Spider Princess" so we may end up using that in the manual.)
• No. It's not a 7800 game. The number was a complete coincidence.