Atari VCS 2

[zzip]

2 minutes ago, Wildstar said:

As for there is that PC mode thing. There should be a way for dealing with Atari OS UI. They are probably still running the same underlying OS UI system as the distro they are using at the core.

If you boot linux in PC mode, you can of course mount the Atari OS volumes and make changes and possibly side load a game that way.   But many VCS owners don't bother with PC mode,  and not everyone is comfortable enough with Linux to make such changes.

[Wildstar]

1 minute ago, zzip said:

If you boot linux in PC mode, you can of course mount the Atari OS volumes and make changes and possibly side load a game that way.   But many VCS owners don't bother with PC mode,  and not everyone is comfortable enough with Linux to make such changes.

Hmmm... ok. if you know one OS, its not really that hard to figure out any other OS but even then, I could incorporate the mechanism of a "PC Mode" so as to auto-sideload launching the game. Alternatively, it might not be much of an issue to "register" the game into the menu which can be not much different than how it is done on Steam and others. Ultimately, its recording the name of game and file system address of the main executable where the game is installed or located.

[Zoyx]

With the current VCS, you can reformat the eMMC 32 GB storage, blow away Atari OS, and install whatever OS you like. I did that with mine. I installed Windows right over Atari OS and added a 1 TB SSD. Made for a nice living room PC. I am really glad Atari made it an open architecture so users could use it in any way they like.

[Wildstar]

34 minutes ago, Zoyx said:

With the current VCS, you can reformat the eMMC 32 GB storage, blow away Atari OS, and install whatever OS you like. I did that with mine. I installed Windows right over Atari OS and added a 1 TB SSD. Made for a nice living room PC. I am really glad Atari made it an open architecture so users could use it in any way they like.

Of course. From a game developer, I just have to be kind of mindful of the "most common denominator" as far as base hardware and any accessory

required (such as Tilt Five since it shouldn't be an issue be it Linux and most certainly not an issue with Windows), clearly identified. This doesn't mean

I am limited to releasing games in the pure Atari VCS stock OS config when I can also support Windows OS and if clever, still identify the hardware if it

is a VCS or that you are using the VCS gamepad and prompt accordingly. Just little ways in the loading up of a game to make those checks and see. 

 

This would make sense for me to know what OSs other than the AtariOS that people have setup their system with. For projects that may use the Tilt Five

(although I would design such games without the Tilt Five with standard top-down or slightly angled camera view and regular gamepads (including Atari's)),

the OSs I know TiltFive is currently and plan to support would be Linux (Ubuntu/Debian and related distros are more outright supported), Windows 10, and

Android. MacOS is a possibility. iOS (iPad and iPhones) are more likely to be difficult due to Apple more than anything else. MacOS happens to be more

open especially x86 based systems. The M1 through whatever, hard to know. 

 

Right off the bat, Intel/AMD and ARM (Android) would be supported in the main three OSs of Windows, Linux, and Android. Games not using Tilt Five as an

accessory, like pure 2d type games would likely not be limited with the same limitations. 

 

 

[Wildstar]

If it isn't a total pain in the butt and distributed in a paid download, if someone purchased the game, they get access to download the

game in any OS format. They just have to select the OS version to download for their OS so you don't have to spend $____ (game's

price) for each OS you may have. However, life doesn't always make it that simple with the online store platforms.

[Zoyx]

30 minutes ago, Wildstar said:

If it isn't a total pain in the butt and distributed in a paid download, if someone purchased the game, they get access to download the

game in any OS format. They just have to select the OS version to download for their OS so you don't have to spend $____ (game's

price) for each OS you may have. However, life doesn't always make it that simple with the online store platforms.

Just let the publisher worry about distribution. I assume you are using a mature cross-platform game engine.

[Wildstar]

4 minutes ago, Zoyx said:

Just let the publisher worry about distribution. I assume you are using a mature cross-platform game engine.

When it comes to the 3d game stuff.... Godot at least. 2d games, it might be something else. Everything has to work properly before any sort of launch.

As for the publisher, sometimes I have self-published in the past but for what I am looking at, I am considering use of publishers like Atari (as a possible

option) but then there is the online store platforms like itch.io and Steam which would be if I am taking for of a direct role in publishing. Then I would

be looking at the store platform. Atari's own online store, if they have one, I'll look at possibly to at least learn more about it, specifically. Android has

the Google Playstore platform which would have to be mindful of for Android releases. Desktop/Laptops would be whatever.