opcode Posted July 24, 2021 Author Share Posted July 24, 2021 1 minute ago, insertclevernamehere said: The Omni being back on is very exciting and all but I hope it doesn't mean Opcode has now abandoned the plan to release more SGM1 and F18A/Phoenix compatible games. I was very much looking forward to a buttery smooth scrolling version of Gradius. No, I have not. Nothing has changed. OMNI is more long term. OMNI is still 2 to 3 years down the road. Even then I don't need to abandon the CV, since I am not doing any dev for OMNI, I am directing and managing. So unless OMNI gets to the point where I can live from it after release (which means thousands of units sold), nothing is changing. 2 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4870201 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+evg2000 Posted July 24, 2021 Share Posted July 24, 2021 Have you done an interest check recently to make sure you can sell enough so you don't go bankrupt? Seems like this could be a very expensive venture. I look at Atari and Intellivision with their release of devices. So many delays, issues etc. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4870220 Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted July 24, 2021 Author Share Posted July 24, 2021 Have you done an interest check recently to make sure you can sell enough so you don't go bankrupt? Seems like this could be a very expensive venture. I look at Atari and Intellivision with their release of devices. So many delays, issues etc. We know some numbers, and our costs are a fraction compared to those others you mentioned. For them perhaps they need dozens of thousands to break even. I can break even with probably a few thousand consoles and a thousand copies of each game. Not trivial sure, but I am convinced it can be done. Besides i have been part of the community for 20 years now. I know what I would like to see and play as a fan. I want physical cartridges, I want authentic retro 2D hardware, not PC or cell phone stuff. I want the kind of game I am doing. Hopefully others share the same sentiment and preferences. As for delays, I guess as long as we keep honest and transparent, people will understand.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 7 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4870255 Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 Grazi and I were just laughing on this... Honest advertising for OMNI: Do you love to force your kids into playing some s*** old games from your childhood? Make their lives less miserable, 16-bit style! Introducing OMNI. Your kids will hate you a lot less! 5 4 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4870331 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+grips03 Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 great tag line 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4870334 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sixersfan105 Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 5 hours ago, opcode said: I will throw an idea here. Patreon. If we can get enough people (at least 500), we can make this happen. We can get OMNI out in 2/3 years, with 3 games. The more people get, the faster we can release. We could compensate patrons with access to games, decision making, perks, all depends on membership level. Right now the most expensive part by far are the games, at about $20k each. I have to do some math, plan, it will probably require a lot of changes and discipline in my daily routine. Discord, streaming, things like that. But may work. I think this could work!! Would be fun to be involved and have heightened levels of access, etc. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4870335 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+evg2000 Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 btw, in the 80s OMNI was a magazine. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4870336 Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 Just now, evg2000 said: btw, in the 80s OMNI was a magazine. I still have a couple of aces up my sleeve. The OMNI name will make sense. 3 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4870337 Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 Opcode, I like the idea of a console that has a community concept baked in via Patreon . I would totally be interested in that way of support! By the way the new game footage you showed looks awesome! I really think the Omni is in a unique perfect spot here. SPRITES!!! Honestly, a console with a focus on 16 bit SNES / Genny era sprites is the missing piece of all consoles this day and age. I think your hook here is, "The OMNI, hand drawn sprites are the order of the day here." If you think about it most of the best games from the 16 and 32 bit era that are super desirable all share that in common, sprites that tried to look as best as they could to not look like sprites to max out the hardware then. When you showed those mock up Odyssey games, I am sure most people who saw your post thought, wow that looks so great! Today "retro" game look is, use tons of rainbow effects and blocky sprites and say that is how it was back then... it was not!! Sprites back then were tons more detailed and showed real effort! Please consider commissioning or creating easy & friendly tools (sprites, scenery, sounds, language, etc) to allow home devs to create games for it too! Well enough ranting, I am super excited to see that OMNI is back on the books again! 5 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4870344 Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 9 hours ago, imstarryeyed said: Opcode, I like the idea of a console that has a community concept baked in via Patreon . I would totally be interested in that way of support! By the way the new game footage you showed looks awesome! I really think the Omni is in a unique perfect spot here. SPRITES!!! Thank you, really appreciate your enthusiasm. So I guess we are 3 now. Quote Honestly, a console with a focus on 16 bit SNES / Genny era sprites is the missing piece of all consoles this day and age. I think your hook here is, "The OMNI, hand drawn sprites are the order of the day here." If you think about it most of the best games from the 16 and 32 bit era that are super desirable all share that in common, sprites that tried to look as best as they could to not look like sprites to max out the hardware then. When you showed those mock up Odyssey games, I am sure most people who saw your post thought, wow that looks so great! Today "retro" game look is, use tons of rainbow effects and blocky sprites and say that is how it was back then... it was not!! Sprites back then were tons more detailed and showed real effort! Yes, I agree that 16-bit pixel graphics might be the minimum common denominator these days. They aged gracefully, something we can't say about first gen 3D (or perhaps even 2nd gen for the matter). But more than that, I think games must be focused on a particular audience. Focus for OMNI games will be Atari era type of "content". Although we are in the middle of a retro gaming renascence, Atari era isn't well represented IMHO. I think a lot of Atari era material had great potential for evolving in more sophisticated sequels and such, but the crash basically put an end on most of those potential franchises. Does it mean I think people not interested in Atari era gaming can't enjoy such a console? Not at all! In fact I have this theory that graphics are a major road block in terms of Atari era consoles acceptance among retro game fans today. As someone doing ColecoVision games for 20 years, I know that some people just can't stand anything less than NES graphics. Although we are expanding on some things, focus is still simple play mechanics, score focused, short play sessions. I am not going to pretend that I see OMNI as a family console or that kind of bs, but my goal is to make it the gateway to Atari era gaming for the non-initiated (which isn't the same thing at all). Quote Please consider commissioning or creating easy & friendly tools (sprites, scenery, sounds, language, etc) to allow home devs to create games for it too! Well enough ranting, I am super excited to see that OMNI is back on the books again! That is a great idea, and indeed something I have been thinking about as a key feature. Having the community providing games is a great way to promote the machine. And in fact all things point to democratization of game development, and a 16-bit machine would be perfect for that. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4870508 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+discotronic Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 Umm.....I want one. Maybe two:) Count me in. Also looking forward to the new Gradius. I have the first release and it is one of my favorites. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4873135 Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted August 5, 2021 Author Share Posted August 5, 2021 Another update: first month of development is almost over. We have a fully playable stage 1 with 5 waves, including boss and bonus wave. Next I will have to figure out how to finance the remaining 3 months. 6 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4878515 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sixersfan105 Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 22 minutes ago, opcode said: Next I will have to figure out how to finance the remaining 3 months. Let us know once the Patreon is live ? 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4878532 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColecoGamer Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 (edited) Hey everyone! @Opcode - If my memory serves me correctly, I was still active on the boards when the OMNI console was first announced. Also, I believe you were gauging people’s interest in the console at the time. Again, if I remember correctly - I believe you added me to your list of those who wanted a console. As a refresher, I still want an Omni console. If pre-ordering an Omni becomes a Kickstarter/Patreon affair, I’m still all in. I just wanted to put that out there. ☺️ Edited August 5, 2021 by ColecoGamer 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4878679 Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted August 6, 2021 Share Posted August 6, 2021 13 hours ago, sixersfan105 said: Let us know once the Patreon is live ? Yes I agree if you get a Pateron up I will be sure to join it. The idea of a console game maker / game programmer doing a Patreon that allows the patrons to be included in ideas and decisions would be amazing! "A well supported console with lots of games, that uses primarily 2D sprites and is easy to program for and has a kit suite of tools to allow everyone from beginners to experts program in" Of course that is just my dream. 3 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4879093 Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted August 6, 2021 Author Share Posted August 6, 2021 9 hours ago, imstarryeyed said: Yes I agree if you get a Pateron up I will be sure to join it. The idea of a console game maker / game programmer doing a Patreon that allows the patrons to be included in ideas and decisions would be amazing! "A well supported console with lots of games, that uses primarily 2D sprites and is easy to program for and has a kit suite of tools to allow everyone from beginners to experts program in" Of course that is just my dream. That would be great indeed. It is a matter of finding a suitable tool that can be modified for use with OMNI hardware. We should have a SD card slot for convenience, so developing on a PC would be probably the best approach. Although developing directly on OMNI would be the most "authentic" way. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4879303 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hwlngmad Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 On 7/23/2021 at 5:53 PM, opcode said: After years with no updates, here is a little teaser. OMNI is moving forward. I am trying to put some serious investment on the project. I started Opcode Electronics, LLC earlier this year, and my plan is to make this my full time business. An here is the first game. I am not going to announce the game today, but I will give you some info. The game is a sort of spiritual sequel (for now) of a very popular game for the Atari 2600 and Intellivision. This is stage 1, the moon base. The final game will have 5 different stages, each stage with many waves. the game plays like classic arcade. World 1 is almost complete. Game is already playable. I have a veteran of the video game industry helping me, worked for Capcom and others. This isn't going to be cheap. I am estimating $20k to complete this game alone, so I may need to find ways to finance this and other gam es. In fact I may need to find an investor. To recap: OMNI is a custom 16-bit, cartridge based video game console. The focus in terms of content is Atari era games. It is an authentic 16-bit hardware, no 3D here. Old school video with pixels, planes and sprites. More info and videos coming soon. Just now getting back up to speed. Definitely glad to hear that the Omni project is moving forward. Looking forward to seeing some reimagined and/or updated O2 games as we have plenty of those for Atari and others. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4883789 Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted August 13, 2021 Author Share Posted August 13, 2021 UPDATE: we completed first month of development. Stage 1 is complete. Includes 3 regular waves, a bonus wave and a boss wave. We have concepts for 3 more stages. One stage is the ice planet from the Atari 2600 version, Krybor. Estimated total development time is 4 months. 9 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4884275 Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmy2tone Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 amazing. Will you still be supporting the Colecovision via the SGM and the SGM pro? Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4885403 Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted August 14, 2021 Author Share Posted August 14, 2021 51 minutes ago, timmy2tone said: amazing. Will you still be supporting the Colecovision via the SGM and the SGM pro? Absolutely. More info soon 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4885423 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sixersfan105 Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 Out of curiosity, are the mock-ups from earlier in this thread (from a few years ago) still representative of your current ideas for design of the OMNI console and controller or nah? Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4885577 Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted August 14, 2021 Author Share Posted August 14, 2021 11 minutes ago, sixersfan105 said: Out of curiosity, are the mock-ups from earlier in this thread (from a few years ago) still representative of your current ideas for design of the OMNI console and controller or nah? Console may or not be the same. All depends on size. When I first presented OMNI, I was expecting a larger PCB, thus I selected that particular design, which is good fit for a larger console. But that wasn't the only concept Ted created, so we have options in case the final console is smaller. Controller is in fact mostly done, so very similar to the concept. For games, conceptually yes, but don't expect the same graphics, since we upgraded our pixel artist. The Demon Attack sequel is more representative of the graphic quality we should have now. 7 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4885581 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hwlngmad Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 On 8/14/2021 at 2:22 PM, opcode said: Console may or not be the same. All depends on size. When I first presented OMNI, I was expecting a larger PCB, thus I selected that particular design, which is good fit for a larger console. But that wasn't the only concept Ted created, so we have options in case the final console is smaller. Controller is in fact mostly done, so very similar to the concept. For games, conceptually yes, but don't expect the same graphics, since we upgraded our pixel artist. The Demon Attack sequel is more representative of the graphic quality we should have now. Looking good! Thanks for keeping us in the loop. We very much appreciate it and look forward to the day when the Omni is released. 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4891739 Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted November 11, 2021 Author Share Posted November 11, 2021 Ok, time for an update: Since my last post in August, a lot of things happened. We got investors, but we didn't share the same vision, so we had to let them go. We got a 16-bit hardware. But then we weren't totally happy with that, the main thing being the 68000 CPU, which didn't allow me to have a fall back plan B in case I have to get involved with development. So we moved from a 16-bit to a super 8-bit that is fully pipelined (amazing stuff), which means that it is now actually faster than the 68000@12MHz that we had before. Sound system is still the same and very capable, and video system has some compromises due to the 8-bit interface with the CPU (video bus is fully 16-bit though), but on the other hand it is simpler to develop for. We are now putting the final touches on the video system. The good news is that this time we have an emulator for the machine, which should make development much easier, and we have the prototype hardware in place, expansion bus and all. So the plan is to start game development early next year . Team is in place. Titles haven't been defined yet (although that Demon Attack semi-sequel is probably a sure thing), and we may have a poll or something in the future. Finally, being this inside the ColecoVision forum, some may be asking how all of this relates to the ColecoVision. My answer (or non-answer) is, please be patient. 5 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4943855 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 15 minutes ago, opcode said: So we moved from a 16-bit to a super 8-bit that is fully pipelined (amazing stuff) Z80? Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/284173-omni-console-official-thread/page/6/#findComment-4943866 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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