Making and selling games

Use this forum to share and discuss Uzebox games and demos.
Snow
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:06 pm

Making and selling games

Post by Snow »

This is a topic bound to come up with a project like this. First off, let me just say that I am not one with dollar signs in my eyes. Like those that program games for old retro consoles such as Coleco or especially Atari consoles and sell a limited number of carts of their game, I too am a hardcore nut that way. Selling a game for a retro system is more like a novelty really. Adventure 2 for the Atari 5200 and Venture 2 for Coleco are my two favorites. Made by hardcore Atari/Coleco fans. Those 2 projects were not meant for profit. None the less, the UZEBOX poses an interesting opportunity. Both retro console fans and also indie developers that like old-school style 2d games have an actual console that is more accessible. Yes, one can still program for the old commercial consoles, however, because the technology is so old there are a lot of limitations. Atari games have to be written in Assembly, plus due to eprom sizes - the code has to be condensed down to 2 to 4Kb. For many hardcore Atari fans that have tried to program a game for the system, that has been their biggest bane and a lot of projects have been abandoned. To be able to write an 8-bit game in C is basically a Godsend. It still takes a lot of work and time, but is far more possible than producing a game on older hardware. Add to the fact that some companies (*cough* Nintendo) may not like having unlicensed 3rd parties make games for their hardware.. no matter how old it is.

With the UZEBOX, there are no limitations other than what is documented in the GPL. I would really like to see how this system evolves. It will be interesting to see if there should be an iteration that has game on cartridge capability. Also, as was pondered in another thread, if the design can also incorporate an ethernet port, then the possibilities and the coolness factor increases. :) I may just whip up an UZE version of my 2d multiplayer shooter. I mean, it's still one of those almost novelty type of things that only hardcore oldschoolers would go for. If you really want to make profit from a game - you'd write it for the newest concoles or if indie - xbox arcade or PC really.

Share your thoughts.

--Snow.
ekros
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:30 pm
Location: Barcelona, Spain

Re: Making and selling games

Post by ekros »

I agree with you. Uzebox is a second opportunity for classic games.
We've already seen a tetris version for it. In a near future, I'd like to see ports from various old consoles like NES,
Master System, Atari or even PC classic games!! Mario? Sonic? Monkey Island??
And what about playing these old games through the Internet?? Can you imagine it??
I can't wait!! :lol:
kiba
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2008 12:47 am

Re: Making and selling games

Post by kiba »

If you have to use Uzebox's code in your game, than it is impossible to sell your games in the long run, even though the GPL let people sell for whatever ridiculously high price that they want to set. Because everybody will just download your games off the internet somewhere and save that to the new fanged cartilages they brought.

Even if you make your games proprietary, you will be overrun by those GPL games that everybody can download off the internet for free.

It is not impossible to make money though. It just require that you sell something else that's still valuable. Like your game development time. I am sure that since everybody either build or brought a uzebox, they might be willing to fund the development of new games. I think they called it the ransom model.(Courtesy of Libre Game Wiki, a free gaming encyclopedia I run)
I run the Libregamewiki free as in freedom gaming encyclopedia.

I also have a personal game development website.
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uze6666
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Re: Making and selling games

Post by uze6666 »

In a near future, I'd like to see ports from various old consoles like NES,
Master System, Atari or even PC classic games!! Mario? Sonic? Monkey Island??
Woa, the Uzebox can do neat things, but currently it cannot do sprites and even scrolling! Although with some smart coding on the kernel, I think there still enough juice to do it, albeit with a slightly reduced resolution. When the mega1284 comes out It will be a piece of cake.

Btw, I saw on Tigsource a cool concept of making port of games on older hardware. They call that a "Demake" and they are even running a competition! :mrgreen:

Cheers,

Uze
psyjax
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:06 am

Re: Making and selling games

Post by psyjax »

uze6666 wrote:
In a near future, I'd like to see ports from various old consoles like NES,
Master System, Atari or even PC classic games!! Mario? Sonic? Monkey Island??
Woa, the Uzebox can do neat things, but currently it cannot do sprites and even scrolling! Although with some smart coding on the kernel, I think there still enough juice to do it, albeit with a slightly reduced resolution. When the mega1284 comes out It will be a piece of cake.

Btw, I saw on Tigsource a cool concept of making port of games on older hardware. They call that a "Demake" and they are even running a competition! :mrgreen:

Cheers,

Uze
This was something I was wondering about. Most of the old'skool systems, despite their limitations, had additional chips to accelerate things like sprites, tiling, and scrolling. In the uzebox's case, even with the additional resources provided by the 128, what are the logistics are creating a sprite engine/scrolling engine in code only? Even with ASM acceleration, would this be feasible and speedy?

Even if it were fast enough to do this, the code for the engine may eat up precious bytes on the CPU... hmmm... can't wait till I build this things to push it's limitations :D

Tho from the sounds of it, I will be waiting till SD support is added.
ekros
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Location: Barcelona, Spain

Re: Making and selling games

Post by ekros »

uze6666 wrote:Woa, the Uzebox can do neat things, but currently it cannot do sprites and even scrolling! Although with some smart coding on the kernel, I think there still enough juice to do it, albeit with a slightly reduced resolution. When the mega1284 comes out It will be a piece of cake.
I know, I know... :P I was only dreaming!!
uze6666 wrote:Btw, I saw on Tigsource a cool concept of making port of games on older hardware. They call that a "Demake" and they are even running a competition! :mrgreen:
Demake?? hehe, some people are very imaginative...
psyjax
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:06 am

Re: Making and selling games

Post by psyjax »

ekros wrote:I know, I know... :P I was only dreaming!!
I have seen some crazy stuff done on low-hardware. Take heart. The challenge of squeezing out every last drop of power/performance is part of the fun :)
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uze6666
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Re: Making and selling games

Post by uze6666 »

The challenge of squeezing out every last drop of power/performance is part of the fun
Right on!
Even with ASM acceleration, would this be feasible and speedy?
Hehe, trust me, it's feasible :D. Look at the teaser topic I just opened.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22

Cheers!

Uze
Tinctu
Posts: 65
Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2008 2:22 pm

Re: Making and selling games

Post by Tinctu »

Well I think.
First lets make SD and JOYPORTS than some open-manufacturing of hardware.
Small series of UZEBOXes... /preorders/

Than SDK...

Tools can be...
0.SD-CARD menu
Image
1.Sprite Editor (http://www.tilestudio.sourceforge.net)
2.Map Editor (http://www.tilestudio.sourceforge.net)
3.Opensource MIDI sequencer
4.C distribution with sprite engine ,midi ,map ,gui etc etc (UZEBOX libraries) -> Or maybe VISUAL UZE GAME MAKER :P
5.Small batch of motherboards
6.Small batch of cases (OR FIND COOL PLASTIC CASE ON INTERNET)
7.Mascot like Sonic or Mario or Tux :D (2D GAME)
Last edited by Tinctu on Mon Sep 01, 2008 8:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.
CompMan
Posts: 91
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Location: Kent, WA

Re: Making and selling games

Post by CompMan »

Tinctu wrote:7.Mascot like Sonic or Mario or Tux :D
A mascot would be funny. What could it be?

Compman
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