itch.io

This is a brilliant concept... a bit like WildSnakes, but the ingredients that you have to tangle into the spaghetti adds variety and challenge. I miss smart game design on simple hardware. I could very easily see this on the Game Boy Advance or perhaps even the Game Boy Color.

Oh neat, you're here! I should have expected as much... it's the hip, happenin' place for all of us nerds who code software for ancient technology.

I could never get into Herzog Zwei. There's a Switch version that better explains how it works, but my short attention span never lasts through the tutorial.

Way ahead of you. Found your email from your YouTube page; the press pack is on its way! 

I can hook you up. I'll need your email before I can send you the file. (Went to your site, didn't see a link. Just a form.)

Question. Can this run on an Amiga CD32, and if so, will it be folded into the CD32 ISO?

Nifty either way. The Amiga deserved better arcade ports, and now it's getting them, thanks to you. 

(Would you consider Black Tiger? Love that game. I don't think I'd love the Amiga port that's currently available for the system, though.)

Yeah, it's never going to be more than that. I heard "BASIC," thought I saw a golden opportunity to get Byron on another format, and went for it. After struggling to make even a title screen happen, I went full nope on a game. It's a tough dev format with or without BASIC, and ultimately decided the juice wasn't worth the squeeze.

Honestly, I didn't even have an idea for a game. When I make these demos, I try to play to the strengths and abilities of the target console, and I had no idea how to do this with the Jaguar. Its super power is being wholly unremarkable, and turning hostile rubes with a misplaced sense of nostalgia into zombies. Make Atari Great Again, if you will. (And I won't!)

The fan base is scary. By the end of it all I was expecting a burning Atari logo on my lawn.

I mean, yeah. There's not much "there" there, but it's an effective design that's fun in short bursts. I enjoy it more than Minter's Headbanger's Heaven, and about as much as HAL's Money Wars. (It's HAL. Their game is probably better. Your mileage may vary.)

Did you get the 8K version? It's still simple, but less so. If you didn't, I can provide it in a press pack, since you are effectively a member of the video game press.

Do the math!

3DO: Sold 2 million units
Atari Jaguar: Sold 250,000 units
Atari after releasing the Jaguar: broke

I know, I know... it's hard being a Jaguar fan, waking up every morning realizing that you have phenomenally poor taste. I'd be cranky too if I had to find ways to justify buying Kasumi Ninja and Club Drive.

My experience with JagStudio illustrated (or further cemented) that this machine is NOT one I wish to explore in detail. It's like juggling chainsaws, even when using BASIC. I've made games for multiple systems and computers, as evidenced from this very itch.io page, but I'm not willing to endure weeks of frustration for a console which holds no nostalgia for me, which I don't have, and likely never will.  If I liked the machine more (or at all) I'd put in the effort. If the system was easier to use I'd gladly use it. Neither are the case.

The bear is good enough. He's there, he will never not be there again. And you're just going to have to live with that. Does that bother you? Suffer.

And you're running around calling other people assholes, Jean-Paul Sphincter. I absolutely DID read the tutorial... it was a Flappy Bird/Joust hybrid called Flappy Chicken, originally designed by Azimuth or something to that effect. He chose Z235 for the sound engine as opposed to ZeroSquare. There were six round chickens separated into rows, and he broke down the assets used in the program, although I didn't memorize every single file name used. Was that the requirement? Did I need to know every single word in the tutorial by heart? Because no, I didn't do that. I went through it from start to finish, though.

Cry session? I complained and got frustrated. That absolutely is true, but calling it "crying" is just sad, sad you injecting drama into the situation. The development environment was difficult, and if you think otherwise, you're deluding yourself... having to manage a list of files outside the standard program is tedious, annoying, counter-intutive, and confusing. You take the reference guide on JagStudio and show that to practically anybody, and they're going to say, "Wow, that's really hard to follow." It is absolutely more difficult to use than CVBasic or Batari BASIC, and the attempt to belittle me for having difficulty understanding it when I've made numerous games for other consoles, in other compilers, is petty and low. I'd like to say you could do better than that, but you really can't, can you?

But hey, a game system as bad as the Jaguar would make even Schwarzenegger cry. Players had the choice between a real next generation system, the 3DO, or a reheated Atari ST with extra CPUs. Neither machine sold especially well, but the 3DO sold eight times the units at three times the price. People wanted a step forward, not a step back from an industry has-been making a half-assed saving throw. The Jaguar bankrupted Atari. That is a fact. It was that bad, and all the Make Atari Great Again rants in the world from historical revisionists doesn't change that fact.

You get one response like this, and then you get blocked. I won't be dealing with you on AtariAge either; your reputation as a douchebag precedes you, and every post you make drips with so much snotty invective I'm surprised you don't leave a snail trail wherever you go.

I'd tell you to have a nice day, but that would be insincere.

This is insanely good. Better than most official Master System games. Better than ALL homebrew Master System games, including mine! Bravo. Blazing Lazers for Master System? Yes, please!

Saw this on YouTube, and I am so down with this project. There have been other attempts to unofficially bring Pac-Man to the NES (including one in tate mode!), but this seems the most promising of the lot. Pulling for you on this one! Friends don't let friends play the Namco version.

When I pick it back up! The project is on hold for the moment.

Not while Byron's on the case!

Okay, I'm stumped. How do you do the Activision thing and vary the colors of your players line by line? I keep messing with the interface, but all I'm getting is a rather severe-looking red.

This is neat. You're darned tootin' I bought a copy, even though the 32X was my arch enemy in the 1990s. You want me to buy ANOTHER add-on? And for HOW much?

So I assume this is JUST for 32X and not the core Genesis? Also, do you have access to all the fun Mode 7-y effects of the 32X? Mode 7 effects are fun to screw around with.

Question. Is there a way to make a game boot into different routines depending on which Game Boy it's using? I wanted to make a program where it gives you a different incompatibility error depending on what system is recognized.

Ha ha, what? I haven't thought about that one in years! It showed up in an issue of Electronic Fun, and they promised it had the most advanced graphics this side of a laserdisc game. Does anyone have any code or screenshots to give you an idea of how it plays?

I dunno, I just thought the concept sounded neat. Trapped in the middle of a Breakout game, where both the bricks and the ball will destroy you. Not a bad hook!

Thanks, man!

Okay, question. Is there a way for GB Basic software to detect the system being used? I had a wicked idea where starting the system up with a Game Boy DMG causes a "this game is not compatible with this system!" error, while putting it in a Game Boy Color gives you a different error. "Sorry, doesn't work on this either."

Google-Bet Expire. Their mission statement is "do be evil." A lot like the current real-life Google, actually!

Dang! I am so impressed with what you've done on the Atari 2600. The wiggly worm, the fishing line that trails behind him, the smile at the end of the stage, the big huge sprites... now that's the arcade experience at home! This isn't just ordinary bait... it's the MASTER bait!

...what?

Thanks! I'll give that a look later.

Uh, question from the back. How do you import graphics to this software? I use Aseprite to do sprite work, and was hoping to put the graphics I make there into your compiler. I'm not finding any way to do this. Thanks in advance for any help you may provide!

Beats the crumbs out of the ColecoVision version, for obvious reasons. I put this on my emulation setup, and managed to reach the waterfall before getting washed out (literally). 

You've done well, sir. Please continue to turn the Amiga computer into the arcade at home it should have been from jump.

At this point I've stopped development, so yes. Why, is there something you feel is missing?

Use GearColeco, then choose the menu settings Input, Spinner, and Roller Controller.

I'd go by dates for this... those are your best bet for finding the freshest versions. 

Is this going to be folded into the CD32 disc at a later date?

Anyway, bravo for all these arcade conversions. I always had a fascination with the Amiga computer, but was disappointed when I found out that its arcade conversions left something to be desired. Arcade ports like yours help level the playing field with the Amiga's more hardcore Japanese cousin, the X68000.

I just don't think it's a very good game. Some nice scenery, sure, but the gameplay falters pretty badly. Inconsistent damage, cheap hits, seemingly random weapon gains, slooooowdown galore... you kind of get why Technos didn't make games outside the sports and fighting genres. When they tried, you'd get something like Xain'd Sleena.

Most likely, yes. Release Candidate 3, if memory serves.

It's a Canadian computer, designed for online use in the 1980s. (Understand that "online" was drastically different, and drastically more primitive, in the 1980s.) Put bluntly, it's an MSX with a modem built into it.

It's getting close!

Sound is planned. It won't happen immediately, though.

https://github.com/drhelius/Gearcoleco/releases/tag/1.5.5

You'll need an emulator. Gearcoleco is what I personally use. Download the file, unzip it into the folder of your choice (I use C:/emulate/coleco), then put the games in the same folder. Run Gearcoleco, then press CTRL+O or select GearColeco/Open ROM from the options at the top of the screen, and finally select your game.

If Gearcoleco grumbles that you're missing a BIOS file, download "coleco.rom" and put it in the Gearcoleco folder. You should be all set.

Thanks on both counts. As for whether I'm still active, I was last year! Operation Hibernation Plus came out in October! Nothing to show for 2026 yet, but I have ideas...

Awesome! I can finally lay claim to this game, without having to sign up for Patreon first.

How long has it been since work started on this game, anyway? It's absolutely been worth the wait... you and your team have done a great job. Brazil once again proves its mastery of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive hardware.

Do you have any insight on how the logic works for the small birds in the first couple of stages? It seems like random chaos on its face, but there's got to be a method to its madness!

Cool beans. I probably should update the Spectravision version of this game... I think it's using old collision detection code.

So, should I assume that you enjoyed the game?

Do you have an email address where I could send the file? I looked over the rules and it seems that while I can't publish MSX Operation Hibernation for the duration of the contest, nothing was said about promotion, and I believe this qualifies.