Wednesday 6 January 2016

C64 16KB Cartridge Game Development Competition - Status Update #1

Hey! Well this must be a record - two blog posts in two days? Typing about our C64 Game Development Competition last night and seeing the immediate response online made me feel even more guilty for not updating the site, so here it is - ahead of schedule (but still super late) - status update number one!

(Oh, and I've still not had a chance to meet up with Jamie to discuss prizes, but I'm sure we'll sort something out).



Competition Entry #1: Unknown
(Developer: Georg Rottensteiner - Status: Unknown)


Kicking things off, Georg 'Endurion' Rottensteiner was one of the first people to register interest in participating in the 2015 competition, but I've not heard a peep from him since (which is my fault). However, he's surprised us before, so who knows? Perhaps he's been working on another 16KB epic in secret?



Competition Entry #2: Vortex Crystals
(Developer: Richard Bayliss - Status: Complete & Submitted!)


Woah! You've got to hand it to Richard for actually submitting a finished game BEFORE the end of the compo (although it's likely that an update will arrive in my inbox prior to the final deadline, of course). Working in conjunction with well-known C64 game artist Alf Yngve, Richard's Vortex Crystals is a surprisingly fun little single-screen platform-shoot 'em up in which you play as some Special Forces Ninja-type on a mission to collect the titular crystals from an android infested base in order save the world.

As it's the only game for which I currently have a binary, I've actually been playing this a bit already and have to say that it's pretty good! There are some issues with landing at different 'depths' within the platforms (sometimes you appear to be on top of a floor, other times halfway through), and if you read this Richard - PLEASE - add some sort of spawn notification so you can see where the baddies are going to appear! At the moment there are a lot of unfair deaths because you kill a droid, then it magically reappears where you are standing with no 'spawn animation' or warning.

But yeah, I have to say that I love the simplicity of the design and the fun and frenetic-paced arcade action. Feels like a genuine budget game from the late 80's. I'm excited to see how this one progresses!



Competition Entry #3: Unknown
(Developer: Christian Gleinser - Status: Unknown)


A newcomer to the RGCD compo! Well, here's hoping that Christian 'Dr. Wuro' Gleinser is still interested in participating because the videos on his YouTube channel look pretty interesting :)

Apparently based on a game prototype he developed a few years ago, Christian's untitled maze game seems to have come on quite a bit since he initially wrote to us a few months back, but sadly I've not heard anything from him recently. I guess time will tell!



Competition Entry #4: Creepy Crawlies
(Developer: P1X3L.net - Status: In Development)


Yay! Going through my emails I am super pleased to announce that ALeX of P1X3L.net wrote to me back in November to announce that although they hadn't started yet, he and Stefan intended to compete this year with a game called Creepy Crawlies! Other than that, I have no news to share - but hopefully ALeX will write to me to advise of his progress soon :)

And guys! C'mon, lets see a final version of Monster Buster and C-2048 for release in 2016! :D



Competition Entry #5: Unknown
(Developer: John Ames - Status: Unknown)


A second newcomer to the compo who's probably given up due to the lack of activity on our side :( Man, typing this update has made me really sad, imagining what projects 'could have been', had I been a bit more dedicated and organised back in 2015! Anyway, I'm crossing my fingers here that John Ames is still up for participating!



Competition Entry #6: Icicle Race
(Developer: Saul Cross & John Christian Lønningdal - Status: In Development)


Saul has been pestering me for ages to type this update, and with good reason - he wrote to me last year announcing that he was providing artwork/assistance with three potential entries! The first one, Icicle Race, is "a puzzle platform game and demake/remake of a classic from another system". I've no idea what it is and the screenshot above doesn't give much away, but with John Christian Lønningdal on code duties and a proposed "100 levels", it should be good!



Competition Entry #7: Platman
(Developer: Saul Cross & Andrea Schincaglia - Status: In Development)


Next up from Saul and Andrea 'Wanax' Schincaglia is a demake of the Amiga PD (or was it Shareware?) game Platman. You know, this one. Described by Saul as "a conversion of the original Amiga game of the same name - guide Platman through over 60 screens of fast platform action as he tries to eat as many goodies as possible while avoiding the bothersome ghosts". Back when he wrote last year, Saul explained that the game map was complete and that development was "well underway", so I have quite high hopes for this one.



Competition Entry #8: QWAK
(Developer: Saul Cross & Daniel Hotop - Status: In Development)


Last but not least, how do you fancy an enhanced C64 port of the BBC classic QWAK (apparently with elements of the Amiga version thrown in for good measure)? I'm not sure how they are going to pull this off in 16KB, but damn, I'm interested to find out! :D

Developed by Daniel 'Oziphantom' Hotop, Saul promised back in September last year that "a lot of work has been done on the game engine for this one and it is coming along nicely" - so again, I'm keen to hear and see more!

Well, that about draws this post to a close. I'll be back next week as promised with a further update (hopefully with some up to date news from the above entrants!), so until then have a good one!

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