Pixelboy's 5000th post!

[Pixelboy]

Wow, 5000 posts... I would call that a milestone! Wouldn't you?

 

I thought it would be best to celebrate this occasion with some personal thoughts about this and that.

 

FEELIN' LUCKY

 

First of all, upon reflecting on the past few years, with all the homebrew ColecoVision games I released under my Team Pixelboy label (as well as the couple of games I was involved with during my Opcode Games years) I must say I feel very lucky to have been born at just the right time, in the early 1970s. This allowed me to be a part of the Atari/ColecoVision era while I was still a kid, and more importantly, I was also able to participate to the ColecoVision homebrew scene 30+ years later.

 

I feel lucky because I look at today's kids, with their Wiis/PS3s/X360s, and I cannot imagine them ever making homebrew games for those consoles 30 years from now, and building a homebrew development community like we have today. Surely some of today's kids will indeed make homebrew games in a couple of decades, but it's hard to imagine what computer medium they will use. PCs with dev software similar to Game Maker? Tablets? Smartphones? What kind of games will these adults-of-the-future make, if most of the games they are enjoying today are modern 3D games (first-person shooters, 3D platformers, etc.). Will they have development tools that will allow them to create remakes of the great games from their own youth? Somehow I doubt it, because today's games require large teams of artists, programmers and testers.

 

One thing I've learned from my years as a homebrew publisher is that homebrew programmers have a hard time working in groups. They'd rather work on their own personal projects, by themselves, and realize their pet projects at their own pace. Put them in a group situation, and one group member will surely get tired of the project and drop out, and then the others will loose interest as well. The inherent fragility of online collaborations will likely not change for the forseable future. Since I cannot imagine a single guy creating a remake of Tomb Raider all by himself on his bedroom computer 20+ years from now, I have to question the long-term viability of homebrew communities such as we have today.

 

All this to say that the ColecoVision offers a great medium for homebrew development, because of the limit of 32K in cartridge ROM space, and the limited RAM inside the console (I suppose I could say something similar about the Atari 2600, the Intellivision, and other consoles from that particular era). The scope of a homebrew project is therefore limited, which means a homebrew programmer has to work with the severe limitations of the hardware, and whatever is produced within just a few months of invested free time will surely look impressive, given the hardware limitations. By the time a homebrew author reaches the release candidate milestone with his game project (usually after 4 months to a full year of hard work) he's so fed up with working on it that he's glad it's over when he's finished. I believe that's why the NES doesn't see a tremendous amount of homebrews, because making a 128K game (or bigger) requires too much of a commitment for a single bedroom coder, especially if you want to make something big and intricate like a clone of Zelda, Super Mario or Final Fantasy. The NES lockout chip is also an obstacle, of course, but it can be bypassed from what I've heard.

 

 

THE PROJECTS I WILL LIKELY NEVER DO

 

I have several personal projects listed on the Team Pixelboy web site (Boxxle, Asteroids, Nibbler, etc.) and I still intend to do them once I've made BasicVision go from vaporware to real software, but like most people, if I had the time, energy and money, I would make TONs of different ColecoVision games. Just for fun, here are the "potential" projects I often think about, which I will likely never do for real:

 

- Super Jumpman: This is a proposed ColecoVision version of Super Mario Bros, of course. The idea behind this project is to proove that the CV can do smooth horizontal scrolling. This has already been proven before (by Princess Quest, in particular) but I'd like to take it one step further by having destructible environments (i.e. destroying blocks by bumping them from under) which adds a layer of complexity to the scrolling engine. Essentially a nice programming challenge.

 

- Link's Adventure: As a ColecoVision project, this one falls firmly into the way-over-the-top category. CollectorVision has already voiced a desire to do a CV version of the Legend of Zelda, but what I'm proposing here is actually a remake of "Zelda II", only with the overhead graphics, style and mechanics of "Link's Awakening" on Game Boy. Just try to imagine what "Zelda II" would be like on the Game Boy if the general design of the NES version was dumped in favor of a "Link's Awakening" take on the game, then imagine that running on the ColecoVision, and there you have it. Such a ColecoVision game would probably require the SGM and a 1024K cartridge with savegame battery included! Like I said, totally over the top, but how sweet it would be to see a huge game like that running on our old CV consoles!

 

- SwordQuest: I mentioned this in another forum thread earlier this year. I've always felt an irrational draw to the SwordQuest series, even back when I was a kid playing it on the Atari 2600. I'm not really sure what it is about the series that I find satisfying, but there's definately something there. Anyway, I would like the ColecoVision versions of EarthWorld, FireWorld, WaterWorld and AirWorld to feature isometric graphics, with game mechanics fleshed out to make it similar to other similar games like Head Over Heels (ZX Spectrum) or Solstice (NES).

 

- Mega Man V.R.: Before I got back into the ColecoVision, I was heavily into Mega Man. With the way Capcom milked the series in every conceivable way, I lost interest in the Blue Bomber years ago, but not entirely. Today, I would very much enjoy making a small-scale Mega Man game (three Robot Masters, plus one final level) on the ColecoVision. I call it "Mega Man V.R." because the game would be entirely set in virtual reality, kinda like Tron. The story in a nutshell is that Dr Wily infects Mega Man with software viruses that put him into a coma of sorts. Dr Light decides to download a software-only copy of Mega Man's persona into Mega Man's body, as a way of locating and fighting these virus invaders (Pixel Man, Data Man and Bug Man). Having the game set in virtual reality would explain why the graphics are simplified compared to the NES games. Think of the Atari 2600 homebrew demo of Mega Man and you get the idea of what the CV version would look like.

 

- Tax Avoiders: Admittedly, the Atari 2600 game is weird, clunky and downright terrible. But at the same time, I like the idea of turning the stock market into a video game, a platformer no less. Playing this game on the Atari 2600 has made me realize that a game like this would be much better served by a slightly more powerful console (hello ColecoVision!) and I've actually elaborated a remake of sorts in my mind, which can be loosely described as the nerdy offspring of Burger Time and Elevator Action.

 

- Quest for the Rings: Some of you may remember that I once had a section devoted to that game in the "personal projects" section of the Team Pixelboy web site. I mostly gave up on the idea, but recently, I had a "kick for the rings" again, when I found my boxed copy of Quest for the Rings for the Odyssey-2 among my stuff. I had this thought that with 3D printers today, I could easely produce game pieces just like those in the original game. A quality game board would be much harder to produce, however...

 

 

SPECIAL THANKS TO MYSTERY MAN!

 

I would like to end this 5000th post with a special "thank you" directed at Mystery Man. I had a dream of releasing Dragon's Lair on cartridge for the ColecoVision, and Mystery Man made it happen (thanks to Opcode's Super Game Module, of course) and he even took it two steps further by also converting Zaxxon Super Game and Buck Rogers Super Game to cartridge format.

 

I also had another dream of releasing a ColecoVision version of Adventure, with improved graphics and sounds, and Mystery Man turned that dream into reality too, in the form of Quest for the Golden Chalice. And then, this year, he did it again with Module Man, a game that I wasn't sure I would ever manage to release on cartridge. And if that wasn't enough, he finished the job that Bruce Tomlin started with the SG-1000 port of The Black Onyx, adding the one feature that I insisted on including before going ahead with a cartridge release, namely the EEPROM-based savegame feature.

 

Mystery Man did all those projects with a care for quality that I have seldom seen in my life. How cool is that to befriend a guy who turns your dreams into reality? I know you don't often lurk around these forums, but if you're reading this, Mystery Man, you can be sure that you have my eternal gratitude!

 

 

And this concludes my 5000th post on the AtariAge forums. Thanks for reading!

[Kiwi]

Congratulation getting to 5000th post. I'm kinda like Mystery Man to Retroillucid, making his dreams come true . Zelda 2 gameplay style is one game I do want to make. I hope I do make that a reality. I want to experiment with something new. I'll get on that once I finished these 2 games. Also hope get a Leisure Suit Larry game rolling on the Colecovision.

[CoLethalVision]

Congrats on 5000 posts Pixelboy.

 

I feel privileged to have been born the same year as the CV was. Myself and the machine grew up together and when i moved on to more advanced consoles I thought the sun had set on the CV forever.

 

Now in my early 30s home-brewers are bringing the machine back to life and the excitement is as strong now as it was when I was first able to crawl up the the TV and pick up the CV controller.

 

Keep up the good work.

[+pboland]

Congrats Pixelboy! The 5000th is a great milestone. I personally remember your "personal projects" section and remember getting jazzed about the idea of a ColecoVision Pick-Axe Pete. I too have a soft spot for the OD2.

[+nanochess]

5000 posts!!! amazing! congrats!

[ColecoDan]

5000 man you talk too much.

[+Gemintronic]

5000 man you talk too much.

 

Anyone who goes over 5000 posts has a sick, sick mind.

[Pixelboy]

Anyone who goes over 5000 posts has a sick, sick mind.

I joined the AtariAge forums in 2005. Are you saying that anyone who sticks around here for more than 8 years is good for the loony bin?

[+FujiSkunk]

I joined the AtariAge forums in 2005. Are you saying that anyone who sticks around here for more than 8 years is good for the loony bin?

 

Yes.

[+evg2000]

Hey OP, if you weren't so busy posting maybe you could get some of those other projects done! JK Congratulations on 5k post, and everything else

[retroillucid]

Congrats Luc!

 

You are actually the one who bring me here 5 years ago

I'm also expecting myself to reach 5000 posts really soon

 

 

Cheers!

[Pixelboy]

Yes.

Then I'm alright, since the AtariAge forum IS a loony bin!

[Pixelboy]

Hey-Hey! Guess what!? My Paypal troubles are now behind me! I will confirm this for real when I get home tonight, but from the looks of things, I'll be able to resume my Team Pixelboy activities shortly!

 

And if Paypal dares to send me a survey e-mail about their customer service, I'm going to send them so much shit they'll be able to smell it on their computer screen.

[+Cafeman]

Congrats on your achievement. I'm right behind you.

[Pixelboy]

Looks like I spoke too soon. Paypal sent me an e-mail this afternoon stating that my account was back to normal, but when I logged on my Paypal account earlier tonight, my account was still locked down, and they stated that there was "a problem" with the documentation I sent them, without stating the nature of this problem. So now I have to contact Paypal again and TRY to get answers which are not automated B.S..

 

What a load of crap!!!

[65Gamerguy]

Luc,

 

Congrats on the milestone!

And I also want to thank you for everything you have done keeping the ColecoVision alive! It still amazes me that people like yourself, and others, go to so much trouble to make games for a 31 year old game console! To be honest I love it! I truly wish I had the money to buy every game. Maybe if I hit the lottery I could not only buy every game, from everyone, but I could finance all homebrew developers, and pay them for what they are really worth, say $200,000 a year or so. (Hey we can all dream can't we?)

 

Thanks again! And if I can be of any help let me know.

[youki]

Luc,

 

Congrats on the milestone!

And I also want to thank you for everything you have done keeping the ColecoVision alive! It still amazes me that people like yourself, and others, go to so much trouble to make games for a 31 year old game console! To be honest I love it! I truly wish I had the money to buy every game. Maybe if I hit the lottery I could not only buy every game, from everyone, but I could finance all homebrew developers, and pay them for what they are really worth, say $200,000 a year or so. (Hey we can all dream can't we?)

 

Thanks again! And if I can be of any help let me know.

 

For 200,000 USD a year, i leave my job , and i develop for you at least 6 games a year . where i sign?

[ColecoDan]

 

For 200,000 USD a year, i leave my job , and i develop for you at least 6 games a year . where i sign?

you have to wait until he finishes winning the lotto.

[65Gamerguy]

you have to wait until he finishes winning the lotto.

Well the other day I won $2, so I would only need to do that 100,000 more times to pay one person, but then that means I have to spend $100,000. So let's see here, I have to pay taxes on my winnings, so now I am at about $60,000 give or take. Hmm it seems the venture is in a reorginizational phase before it gets off the ground!

[65Gamerguy]

 

For 200,000 USD a year, i leave my job , and i develop for you at least 6 games a year . where i sign?

If I was a multi millionaire I would sign you, and everyone else up for sure! Just to see what you all can do. Plus just think what fun it would be!

I can see the headline now:

CRAZY MILLIONAIRE BLOWS MONEY ON COLECOVISION GAMES. He is now broke and on food stamps film at 11.

 

Oh well maybe there is a nice wealthy woman in my future that I haven't met yet, since the lottery doesn't seem to pay off very well.

[JEFF31]

Looks like I spoke too soon. Paypal sent me an e-mail this afternoon stating that my account was back to normal, but when I logged on my Paypal account earlier tonight, my account was still locked down, and they stated that there was "a problem" with the documentation I sent them, without stating the nature of this problem. So now I have to contact Paypal again and TRY to get answers which are not automated B.S..

 

What a load of crap!!!

 

HAH! - I knew you were evil ! Evil bad Pixelboy LOL!

 

How dare you bring Coleco goodies to the masses..

 

 

 

I'd better shut up - have had not problems with PayPal forever (nor Pixelboy)!!!

 

 

Good luck with PayPal!!! don't want Christmas (!) to be delayed!

[Rev]

Soon you will be a master spammer like me!

[Brian O]

Congratulation getting to 5000th post. I'm kinda like Mystery Man to Retroillucid, making his dreams come true . Zelda 2 gameplay style is one game I do want to make. I hope I do make that a reality. I want to experiment with something new. I'll get on that once I finished these 2 games. Also hope get a Leisure Suit Larry game rolling on the Colecovision.

 

Just one "congratulation"? Surely you can do better than that.

 

-B