SIO2 Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 How would you know? You were the one that ordered it? I was talking about the pet stone cart from post #270. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YANDMAN Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 In my opinion i think this attitude is completely wrong. if you dont like a game dont play it, or dont buy it, nobody is forcing you to do either of these things. Why make a post to discourage would be designers and programmers? And why adopt a snobbery of disdain toward Batari basic? to me this is just stupid. everybody has to start somewhere or do you have to be a long term back in the good old days suffering programmer to be justified to write games for the Atari? You like games, you wanna program games, keep doing it and keep trying. If there were no games then people really would have something to moan about. This scene and this family is full of cool people and plenty of cool games, this attitude is not. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 The nice thing about all this is that, of course there's no homebrew Apocalypse. I will say I'm less excited about making a full boxed product now, though. Price being a concern that's been brought up many times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr SQL Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 In my opinion i think this attitude is completely wrong. if you dont like a game dont play it, or dont buy it, nobody is forcing you to do either of these things. Why make a post to discourage would be designers and programmers? And why adopt a snobbery of disdain toward Batari basic? to me this is just stupid. everybody has to start somewhere or do you have to be a long term back in the good old days suffering programmer to be justified to write games for the Atari? Andrew is both which means he has invested over six figures to bring games like BoulderDash to the Atari for fun Andrew's observation that high level languages and modern tools can enable anyone to write a simple program like the blank screen and pet rock parody and dress it up for a deluxe box release are fair to voice - and too that many collectors may not discern the differences between what went into the respective releases, I can see how that is discouraging. But I get what you and Loon are saying - no one should be made to feel like they are ripping anyone off if they do a boxed release; this is all about fun and collectors want the boxes and often prefer a boxed release - different editions are also part of the game: Programmers have to deal with the fact that some collectors aren't players and wouldn't know if the media was blank. Some wouldn't know if the box contains a real rock because they want to keep it sealed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 The danger is when someone confuses their own personal taste in games and development tools with overall quality. I think there is enough types of buyers and enough types of developers to make sure an "Indiepocalypse" never happens. The problem is when someone who buys for arcade perfect ports looks at Desert Bus 2600 and ranks it based on their own terms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Just even trying to plan out developing a game - and I'm one of those port all the things types - I get wedged because I very quickly find myself over my head because if it's not close to arcade-perfect it feels like a waste :/, but everyone says I'm too hard on myself. That's right. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Andrew is both which means he has invested over six figures to bring games like BoulderDash to the Atari for fun The license for Boulderdash cost six figures!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 The license for Boulderdash cost six figures!!! True.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 The license for Boulderdash cost six figures!!! Which is why even though nostalgia is great, I'd rather see original AtariAge IP. More money for Albert. More original games for our classic systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Atarius Maximus Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 True.. Really? $100,000+ to make the 2600 version, or am I misinterpreting that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Really? $100,000+ to make the 2600 version, or am I misinterpreting that? Not really true. ..Al 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philflound Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Al, I think you're confusing the poor boy. Phil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Not really true. ..Al Exactly. It was seven figures! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevEng Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Are the 7 figures in binary? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIO2 Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 (edited) Exactly. It was seven figures! Anything over 4 figures is insanity unless they were really nice figures. Edited November 20, 2015 by SIO2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 (edited) Are the 7 figures in binary? Hex of course! All numbers starting with a $. Edited November 20, 2015 by Thomas Jentzsch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Including everything after the decimal point. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevEng Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Hex of course! All numbers starting with a $. Wow, that makes it even more of a hardship... 4-bytes worth of licensing fees! Next time see if they go for a percentage sign in front. If they ask, just say it's % of sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zonie Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 I like a nice figure... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr SQL Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Really? $100,000+ to make the 2600 version, or am I misinterpreting that? Stardust misinterpreted it already; that's what it cost Dr Davie personally to program BoulderDash in asm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIO2 Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 I like a nice figure... Dumping my wallet out and tossing in my car keys. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinks Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 I won't ever do that again. Plans were to originally release smaller batches of games, but they kind of all got bunched up and I finally just decided to release them all at once, as some of them have been waiting for a release for a while. The only game of these that is "limited" is the Lady Bug Collector's Edition. And even that one is available as a regular release, and has been for eight or so years (and will continue to be offered). The others will all be available "indefinitely", although I will certainly exhaust boxes for some of them in relatively short order (Zippy the Porcupine and Wall Jump Ninja, and hopefully Star Castle Arcade). After that, they will be available without the box. And I say "hopefully", as I spent a rather large chunk of change in printing boxes for many games all at once, and I'd like to make that investment back. Heck, some of the games being released now had their boxes printed nearly a year ago (Wall Jump Ninja, Star Castle Arcade, Lady Bug CE, Zippy the Porcupine), so I've been sitting on that batch for quite some time already. Now, I can count on one hand how many times I've released a limited, numbered release of a game that wasn't available afterwards as a regular release. Lady Bug CE is a special case, as the Coleco carts are a huge pain in the ass for me to work with, require special boards that will only fit in Coleco shells, the labels are unique to Coleco (and ColecoVision) shells, and so forth. We thought it would be fun to do a release that mimicked Coleco's packaging back in the day, since the game did appear in a Coleco catalog. Heck, we even reproduced the Coleco catalog that both Turbo and Lady Bug appeared in. In general, though, I am not a fan at all of creating a limited run of games that, once sold, will not be made available again. I really want people to play the games. I know when I eventually write a 2600 game, I'll have fun with the packaging and will make it special, but it's much more important to me that people enjoy the game. I don't think I can beat Andrew's wooden box version of Qb, though (of which I still have two copies!) Going forward, I am likely to release new games either individually or maybe two at a time. I am also going to be more selective about which games are carried in the AtariAge Store. ..Al This is good to know! Thanks! How about a ban on some preorders for games unless they are complete with a very short time frame of release? This seems to divide the retro community fast and ruins it for everyone. Might be slightly tricky to police tho but I think could be doable??ps What about Froggie 7800 that needs a release for sure!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Atarius Maximus Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 I like a nice figure... That's much closer to the figure I was thinking of. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Not really true. Is that a double-negative? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIO2 Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 The original purpose of BASIC was to encourage people to discover computers and how versatile they are. In 1964 when BASIC was created most people had no idea what a computer could do and many were afraid of computers. The name BASIC stands for Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. So the name like the language was meant to say this is not hard and nothing to be afraid of. It is simple. Give programming a try. It worked. Many people were encouraged to adopt computers. Many new applications were developed. Ordinary people could at last balance their checkbooks. But today, the name BASIC sucks. Not only does it make searching the internet for tutorials or source code diuficult but it causes people to think that the language is the computing equivalent of Play Dough - something fun for children to play with and maybe useful for a quick model but not to be used for a serious purpose. It is not so. BASIC can be quite powerful and fast. I first realized that when I tried Turbo Basic XL on the Atari 800XL. BASIC can also be used for serious projects as MS later demonstrated with Visual Basic. Over the years I have completed many projects in other programming languages. I always return to BASIC. Not only because it was my first language and it meets all of my needs but because I believe in why BASIC was created - that access to computers (or VCSs) should not be exclusive. I think most people who participate on Atari Age want to be inclusive and that is why they share and teach. That attitude makes this a great community and I want to take this moment to appreciate all those creative folks out there that create tools, make tutorials and videos and guides and web pages and moderate forums and so on. You all are awesome. I think what this what this whole thread has been about is the different approaches people take. Some trail blazers navigate the minefield and then leave a map with a note that says just go the same way I did and you will be fine. That would be the assembly tutorials. Others navigate the minefield then say you know we could clear a couple of those mines and make a road through. That would be the BASIC languages. If I have the choice I will take the road but don't think that I don't also appreciate the map. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.