Okay, I've been holding my tongue until now. Just keep in mind this is only my -opinion-. I'll go get the fire extinguisher now....
fwiw, the quotes aren't attributed to anyone (you can look them up yourself and see who said what) because I can just barely figure out how to do the quotes :-)
Programming, yet. Internet, no.
No, Bt started off programming the game(s) but moved on to other things...
As for the PCE ports of Xymati (and PC-Gunjiin), I guess it'll happen when the PCE dev scene gets its collective head out of its ass and someone can actually finish a project they start
Need I really say anything? Insanity got finished.
In addition to this project there is the Announced Jungle Bros. project which is, as far as graphic development is concerned nearing completion. Now there is sound work, animation work, etc. that needs done. In addition to complete programming.
In other words, the game actually needs to be written.
I think that some people think the games they have to make MUST push the system. I think there is an elitist group out there....
Absolutely. No programmer wants to do a 'so-so' job; if it's not doing something new, what's the point?
You know what they say, you can wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which fills up faster...
You know what else "they" say? If you want something done.....
I have a very full schedule but find time to put in an hour or so a week to development
That's about enough time for me to figure out what I was doing in the code last. Seriously. You need 5-6 hours stretches of time to get any real programming done.
I know for a fact I have a game in mind
Do you have an actual game in mind, or just a bunch of artwork? Do you know how the game is gonna operate? What effects you want? How it's gonna play?
And just as importantly, are you willing to play the game until you are sick of it - and then some? Cause that's what it takes to get a game made. A -very- detailed explanation of what you want, and months of repetative testing to find the bugs....
I love the Turbo/PCE and wanna make games for it.
Then start now. 2 years ago arkhan was just learning to program. You could have a game ready in 2-3 years, too.
And he took time off to put together squirrel along the way...
< start rant>
Personally, I think the community needs a few more programmers - and a few good designer, too. As far as I'm aware, you can count them on 1 hand. Graphics people out the rear, but programmers..... Good luck finding one.
From personal experience (I've been through this with lots of other people, who -all- "Want to write a game"),
I will say that until you're willing to learn to program, It's just another idea. Anyone can have them. The trick is being willing to put the effort into it to learn how it's done. You may never write actual code, but *you have to be able to explain things to people who do*. That's one of the things Arkhan had to learn the hard way. We spent hours going over and over the same section of Insanity until he could tell me -exactly- what had to happen.
It's really not enough to say, "if the shot hits the guy, he blows up", is it Arkhan? What exactly do -you- consider a hit? Are you looking at a box around the guy, or an exact pixel-level touch? Are you willing to live with the time it takes to do that touch? And what about blowing up? Is it one frame, and he's gone? An explosion? How long does it last?.... Well, hopefully, you get the idea by now.
And for everyone who says, "I've got this artwork, let's make a game"... I know you invested a lot of time making it look really nice. But let's get serious - the artwork is one of the -last- things you need to make a game. A programmer doesn't care how pretty things are; crappy placeholder graphics are fine, until you know the game is going to play right. You might have spent 10 hours or so on that sprite, but the programmer is going to spend 10x that time getting it moving correctly. And another 10x (easily) tracking down and fixing bugs. Insanity took almost a year to write. That's a -lot- of time to spend on a game, and we could have easily done more. So your 10 hours with photoshop doesn't impress me.
You want me to help writing a game? Get it designed first, then. Go over and over the design until I can ask you if something is a char or an int (1 byte or two), and you can tell me. AND tell me why it is. And -never, never, ever- tell me "There's bug. Fix It". If you can't tell me exactly how to duplicate the problem, so I can see it myself, it's not a priority for me. Come back when you can.
The one common thing I've learned from many session with people who "Want to write a game" is that what they -really- mean is "I want someone to write the game for me, so I can make money off it". If that's you, go get a job and stop trying to screw people. Cause that's why they walk away mid-project. You're expecting them to do it all....And they are already doing the hard part.
<end rant>
