Best Lynx Home Brew

[The_Laird]

Hard choice I know but strange enough I voted for one of my personal faves, the unbelievabley addictive Pokermania.

[Emehr]

Unfortunately I don't own any homebrews at the moment.

 

BTW, you have Championship Rally listed twice! And how about Alpine Games?

 

- Jason

[xubidoo]

i dont have any homebrews at all (unless u count Alpine Games ),so this is interesting to find out which 1 i should possibly buy as a 1st step into the homebrew world

Edited September 12, 2005 by xubidoo

[Gregory DG]

You must really like Champ Rally.

Edited September 12, 2005 by Gregory DG

[Fadest]

For me, the best homebrew game is definitively Alpine Games. Everything is commercial-quality in the game.

 

In the poll list, I have only Lynx Reloaded, it is a really amazing tech-demo but this is something different from a game (as SFX).

I tested most of the other and I prefer Championship Rally.

So, +1 for Championship Rally

[+karri]

I have 2 copies of Championship Rally, S.I.M.I.S. and Lynx Reloaded.

 

The last two are collections of small games while Championship Rally is a complete game with tracks to be unlocked, shadow cars to show you the best driving lines you have managed so far, a possibility to tune your car (I have used this to slow down my car while playing against small kids). Plus it ComLynxes with up to 4 Lynxes.

 

It also has cheats, secret shortcut-roads and movable objects that you can drag onto the track to slow down your opponent. So putting these games in the same poll is not fair. Championship Rally wins by miles...

 

--

Karri

[The_Laird]

Whoops, the second Championship Rally was supossed to be Alpine Games. It won't let me edit it though. Maybe the mods will do it for me

[tillenterprises]

Lexus by Songbird Productions is fun, but do you count that as a homebrew?

[davidcalgary29]

Lexus by Songbird Productions is fun, but do you count that as a homebrew?

930641[/snapback]

 

I wouldn't think so, as it's a completed ShadowSoft game. I also don't think it's fair to consider any other Songbird title, P.I.T.S., or Alpine Games to be homebrews, as these are commercial releases by third-party software publishers.

Edited September 13, 2005 by davidcalgary29

[SwedenLynxer]

I also don't think it's fair to consider any other Songbird title, P.I.T.S., or Alpine Games to be homebrews, as these are commercial releases by third-party software publishers.

930656[/snapback]

 

Who was the publisher of P.I.T.S? Also, do you know which year it was released?

[sage]

Lexus by Songbird Productions is fun, but do you count that as a homebrew?

930641[/snapback]

 

I wouldn't think so, as it's a completed ShadowSoft game. I also don't think it's fair to consider any other Songbird title, P.I.T.S., or Alpine Games to be homebrews, as these are commercial releases by third-party software publishers.

930656[/snapback]

 

So, where do you make the border between "homebrew" and "commercial"?

Why is Alpine Games more "commercial" than "Champ Rally" for instance?

Only because it looks more professional?

[davidcalgary29]

Lexus by Songbird Productions is fun, but do you count that as a homebrew?

930641[/snapback]

 

I wouldn't think so, as it's a completed ShadowSoft game. I also don't think it's fair to consider any other Songbird title, P.I.T.S., or Alpine Games to be homebrews, as these are commercial releases by third-party software publishers.

930656[/snapback]

 

So, where do you make the border between "homebrew" and "commercial"?

Why is Alpine Games more "commercial" than "Champ Rally" for instance?

Only because it looks more professional?

931128[/snapback]

 

It's a very fuzzy line, indeed.

 

My definition for "commercial release" is this: any title that was developed and/or released by a commercial or corporate entity, and not by the individual coder him/herself (unless they're the head of their own companies). By this measure, I don't think Championship Rally is a homebrew release, because it was released by Songbird. I also don't think that "quality" is a factor in this definition: if Sony decided to release "Pong" for the PSP (e.g. "Pong 1972"), it wouldn't be a homebrew even though it would pretty much suck by today's gaming standards, because it was a commercial release by a corporate entity.

 

I'll give you another example. We've all read that "Miner 2049'er" was coded by a Radio Shack employee in his spare time, and that it was then released, to major success, by Big 5 Software. We don't consider "Miner" to be a homebrew, though it was not developed in or by a software company. Granted, it is now very uncommon to see independent projects bought and distributed by major software houses, but it could happen, and if they're sold under the banner of some company, I wouldn't consider these to be homebrews either.

[Fadest]

I'm not sure that Duranik is a company.

It is the name used by the guy behind Alpine Games to release their games.

But they have a real job, and they are doing their 'Duranik' job during free time, like all the Lynx developers in activity.

[sage]

I'm not sure that Duranik is a company.

It is the name used by the guy behind Alpine Games to release their games.

But they have a real job, and they are doing their 'Duranik' job during free time, like all the Lynx developers in activity.

931148[/snapback]

 

By the guys behind.

The production itself is done by the a different person who made the TTRIS, SIMIS, Lynx Reloaded and also PITS cartridges, at least the hardware production. Or why do you think they all use the same PCBs. I think if AG is commercial, this makes all of them commercial

[Fadest]

By the guys behind.

Oups, typing mistake...

(For those who don't know Duranik, this little (old) interview on Damdam's site could be interesting.)

 

And I agree with the rest of your post...

Edited September 15, 2005 by Fadest

[+karri]

The line between a homebrew and a commercial is very thin.

 

In my opinion it is just the developer himself who can say if a release is homebrew or commercial.

 

I have worked for software companies that publish all their sources on the net for free and still sell exactly the same product for companies for a fee.

 

Having to pay for the game is not a good argument.

 

Working from home is not a good argument either.

 

Hmm. While we are on the subject I declare a new commercial release of a Lynx entertainment software called Shagadelic.

 

Why is this commercial? Perhaps because I am in my commercial mood today.

 

--

Karri

[Emehr]

I would think a commercial title would be one where the programmer is actually getting paid to write code. Nonetheless, I don't see the need for distinction here given the relatively small library of titles released after the demise of the Lynx. How about just renaming the thread "Best Post-Mortem Lynx Title"?

 

- Jason

[Harry_Dodgson]

What, no "Lynx Othello" for me to provide it's only vote?

[davidcalgary29]

What, no "Lynx Othello" for me to provide it's only vote?  

931842[/snapback]

 

Your Othello is excellent, but I didn't mention it as I had always considered it to be a "commercial release" (not that this matters, of course). Any updates/revisions planned for the future? I personally think that a classic version of Go is sorely needed for the Lynx.

Edited September 15, 2005 by davidcalgary29

[bones]

where's Ponx???

[goatdan]

Honestly, I would also vote for Ponx. It's simple, yes, but it is one hell of a great portable game I love the fact you could play it with two people on one console too.

 

As for the line between commercial and homebrew, it's very weird. Since the GOAT Store started doing Dreamcast games, I've wrestled with the concept. At first, I thought we were doing homebrew games, but I had someone who I would consider an authority on it tell me he counted them as full releases, and it's hard to argue really.

 

The closest thing that I could come up with is that a homebrew is game that is produced by the people who wrote the game or will be selling the game, often times with parts of old cartridges (such as shells of older games). That would make almost all of the releases that have come out for various systems homebrew... but it would also make certain things I generally regard as real releases -- like the Jaguar's Battlesphere -- into a "homebrew" game.

 

Another thing that was suggested is that is isn't a homebrew if it looks just like a regular release -- from case, to the game itself. But that isn't perfect either because it means that the 2600 games sold here would all be "commercial releases" while none of the Lynx games would be, thanks to just how hard it would be to replicate the original cartridge design.

 

A third thing that was suggested is if the game was in development when the system was officially supported, but that's tough too. That would make none of the Lynx games commercial (with the exception of Lexis, Centipede, etc), but would also call into question when support "ends." If that is the case, some of the Japanese Dreamcast releases that have come out in the last year or so would count as "homebrew," even though they were arcade ports.

 

Interesting conversation, nonetheless... and my vote is for Ponx!

[geosteve]

I only have one real cart, Remnant, but tried many of the other on Handy.

I voted for Remnant because it's got such impressive 3D graphics and music that the Lynx library suffered with so few of great game