So... let's start our own game development group.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

I dont know what Mask Rom means, etc. Just brainstorming.

Mask Roms are the type of memory chips that all retail game cartridges come on, it's a non volatile (AKA it won't degrade, destroy or corrupt itself in the course of normal or rough use) memory type that is 100% permanent until the Rom chips themselves are physically destroyed by some outside force.

EEPROMS and Flash are also non volatile memory, but unlike Mask Roms Flash and EEPROMS decay and succumb to bit rot over time which causes them to loose data and become useless after a period of 5 years or so for EEPROMS or a certain number of write/erase/general use (AKA Any time you use it.) cycles.

As you can see, flash and EEPROMS aren't really the best products to sell to people when you're trying to sell them a permanent and commercial copy of a game as over time the game itself will become a useless hunk of silicon. In the game industry back during the Cartridge days EEPROMS and later Flash were used for beta test and demo cartridges used in the development and convention demonstration processes.

[AmishSamurai]

But as people said, the rom process is way too ahead of schedule. I would suggest actually coming up with a name and idea before planning this far ahead. Given the current conditions, this is probably going to end as "wouldn't this be awesome?"

[Boaradoor]

I would love to contribute in any way I can!

I know a little bit of LUA and C++.
I can also do a little bit of pixel art!

Well, I'm not entirely sure if people would buy a GBA game...
I think a PC/ Maybe DC release would be better

[lordofduct]

Well, I'm not entirely sure if people would buy a GBA game...
I think a PC/ Maybe DC release would be better

I'd avoid anything Nintendo... getting devkits for anything like that is a huge pain in the ass and they're really picky about who they choose. Nor are they cheap.

Same goes with Playstation, though it's easier then the big N.


Microsoft on the other hand is really lenient and rather affordable.

Both the PC based DirectX and XNA SDK is free to use and develope with. And there is tons of resources and communities out there about them.

OpenGL (not MS related) is free, but the amount of documentation for it is skimp compared to directX.

X360 dev isn't so affordable, and creating an actual title isn't the easiest of deals... but XNA dev on the 360 can be had for pennies... you can even release them in the XNA indie marketplace for very little. I personally applaud XNA because it can be easily be designed on two platforms (PC and 360), and with projects like "Mono" (C# .NET for Linux and OSX) and "Mono.XNA" (XNA written for Mono) means a very soon possibility of easily creating projects across all the main OSs and X360 with very little porting effort (sometimes as little as just a recompile for the different machine).

The prototype I'm working on right now is actually in C# with XNA, and leaving it open enough to allow for simple porting with Mono.XNA when it gets off the ground more.





As for older out of date hardware, especially like Dreamcast comes with huge hurdles. The documentation is really at a loss here. Just finding the latest compilers is a pain in the arse. There are nice homebrew communitites based on some of these (like XBOX and DC), but even then the homebrew community sticks to some of the more underpowered features of Dreamcast, usually building it on top of some base kernel like Microsoft CE or a linux kernel compiled for the machine. And if you go back further you run into even more headaches... like a cart based console has tons of free dev kits floating, of which very few match each other, and require different paradigms. It's a restricted C of some sort, or C like language and take a performance hit... or it's reading the documentation of the processor and architecture and writing scaled assembly across the entire board...

not impossible, I'm just saying you're looking for a very nerdy crowd who are willing to dedicate some time here. Of whom I bet several would be hesitant to work in a community that has a majority of none or novice coders.




I don't mean to discourage... but some forward direction is necessary and a viable understanding of the community as a whole. Not to say any individual here doesn't have a specific skill necessary, it's about managing and combing said skills.

And worse more what happens when a group of individuals who put time in turn out to really just handicap the whole project in an entirity... a lot of broken hearts when the other half say "sorrz mate, but well... you kinda suck."

Just sayin'...

[Boaradoor]

Well before we can decide on any other platforms, how about we concentrate on the game. A PC release should be first, then we can branch out into other platforms.

EDIT:
I have developed a little with C# and XNA, I like them.

[lordofduct]

Well before we can decide on any other platforms, how about we concentrate on the game. A PC release should be first, then we can branch out into other platforms.

EDIT:
I have developed a little with C# and XNA, I like them.

But how do you decide the scale of a game with out a basic understanding of the architecture...

I mean you don't need a specific. But you can't expect to make a mmorpg on a SNES or a 3D platforming on a Sega Genesis.

This is a retro forum, so I wouldn't be surprised if people push retro...



anyways, good luck everyone. And I mean that.

[Boaradoor]

Well before we can decide on any other platforms, how about we concentrate on the game. A PC release should be first, then we can branch out into other platforms.

EDIT:
I have developed a little with C# and XNA, I like them.

But how do you decide the scale of a game with out a basic understanding of the architecture...

I mean you don't need a specific. But you can't expect to make a mmorpg on a SNES or a 3D platforming on a Sega Genesis.

This is a retro forum, so I wouldn't be surprised if people push retro...



anyways, good luck everyone. And I mean that.

I totally understand what you are saying now! So we sorta do need to narrow down the platforms we are going to make it for before any sort of progress can be made. We have to know our limits

[trdbglr]

Yea, I've always wanted to talk about making a game. My skills in this area are overstating my qualifications, squelching good ideas, steamrolling the legitimate criticisms of others with ad hominem attacks and hamstringing the dev group as a whole.

In other words, lets get freaky...

with ur sister.

[trdbglr]

joke!

haha, yeah!

[REPO Man]

My area of expertise is with company acquisitions and helping small business develop. Not sure what I could bring to the table unless you plan on selling your final product.

Which we will.

Okay, I haven't read this whole thread yet, but I LOVE Repo's Elizabeth Bathory idea! Brilliant. Awesome.

Also, I think GBA is a perfet platform to design on. Benefits:

1. flashcards are easy to get and relatively inexpensive.
2. 16bit limitation makes perfect sense for retro-enthusiasts such as we.
3. compatability with handhelds (GBA) and console (GBPlayer) when distributed on cart.

Thanks and no to the GBA. We can't sell games for it.

I personally say go for a computer game. If it works out and becomes awesome, try getting something with Steam, however that works.

I have no real skills, and don't want to be the "idea guy", because the idea guy is just somebody's excuse to boss around without contributing anything. But if I were to make something, it would be a top-down action game a la Link to the Past/Link's Awakening.

What if you made a platformer that alternated between the more linear Mario-type levels and the crazystraw open-ended Sonic-type levels?

Computer games are part of it.

I don't use being the "idea guy" as a way of bossing ppl around. And I contribute what I can and that's what we're all about.

And brilliant.

Sounds like every other person wants to be the idea guy. The person who does all the hard work gets to be the idea guy.

I love tinkering around with gamemaker. Why not start simple and start working from the ground floor up?

Well, we all have ideas, but if it works out right, we might be able to divvy up the members of the group into separate groupings, each grouping working on a different game. And some people could also work on porting games from one platform to another.

Sorry my strengths my two biggest strengths are in ideas and marketing. You seem to have ideas down and marketing doesnt come until MUCH later.

Well, at least contribute your ideas and we'll all put it to a vote. Cuz we're a democracy, dammit!

And good to know we've got another market person.

I would love to contribute in any way I can!

I know a little bit of LUA and C++.
I can also do a little bit of pixel art!

Well, I'm not entirely sure if people would buy a GBA game...
I think a PC/ Maybe DC release would be better

Glad to hear it.

Kick ass!

And AMEN!

As for that first idea... I'm thinking something accessible to both casual gamers and hardcore gamers.

Perhaps either a puzzle game or a tower defense game.

Just something that feels both new and familiar.

And let's start off with a Flash version for a proof-of-concept. Maybe put it on the main site to stir interest.

But... let's hear what YOU have to say.