Friday, January 3, 2020

Happy Christmas/New Year!

Hey all - just a quick post from Jamie and I at RGCD to wish you all a Happy Christmas/New Year!

The second half of 2019 was pretty quiet here at RGCD, mainly due to a huge renovation project taking place in my house. However, on the positive side, that work is now complete and as a result I now have a brand new office from which to run the business :)


Of course, that's not to say that we've been completely idle here. On my desk I currently have two projects complete and awaiting release; a collector's edition cartridge of Kobo64 (the much acclaimed 8-way scrolling shmup) and a cartridge version of Psytronik's popular RPG Argus complete with an on-cartridge save function. Both games will be available to purchase as soon as the product photography returns from the studio.

Following those two will be the eagerly anticipated Retaliate DX and Gridpix - both of which are in the final stages of production with just the manual and box layout work to complete.

In addition to this, we've been working on delivering perks for two Kickstarters; a cartridge version of Psytronik & Icon64's Lord of Dragonspire for backers of the Zzap 2020 Annual, and a cartridge version of the Sid Chip Club LP by LMAN. Dragonspire is actually complete (all 150 cartridges have been flashed!) but the contents of the box were a little too snug, so I have opted to get external cardboard cartons manufactured. As soon as these arrive I'll be able to deliver them to Chris at Fusion Books (should be no later than mid January). The Sid Chip Club album itself is also just about complete, although the binary front end for the cartridge version is still in development.

So aside from the projects above, let's discuss the elephant in the room for a moment... what happened with the RGCD compo this year?!

Far from being forgotten, our game development competition unfortunately concluded back when my house was having a new roof and 2nd storey installed, and as a result the entirety of the previously attic-based RGCD office was secured away in lock-up storage. In fact, I've basically been without a computer or workspace until a couple of months ago, and since then it has been non-stop catching up with orders and accounts. However, I'm now at the stage where I'm able to give it the attention it deserves to get the final judging organised and concluded - so watch this space!


Like many of you out there, this Christmas I received a surprise gift of TheC64. Despite already having half a dozen Commodore computers, I suppose that it was the ideal 'readily available' gift to get a C64 aficionado like myself! Anyhow, ignoring the moans of the "it's just an emulator" crowd, it's actually quite a fun and convenient machine to use - case in point, I'm using a raspberry pi portable screen and typing this blog post on it right now. It'll also prove valuable in the development of the still-WIP RGCD Megatape too - after all, it's modern systems like this that the USB cassette was created for :)

Also in the background, Jamie has been working part time freelance and part time for his previous employer over the past year, and has recently picked up work on the long-postponed new RGCD website. Here's hoping we'll both keep the momentum going over the following months to give it the refresh it deserves!

Ok, so I'm off now to grab what's left of the mulled wine and put my feet up in front of the fire. Here's wishing you and yours the best for 2020!

3 comments:

  1. Great to hear your well and everything is up and running - A VERY Happy New Year ( and a Belated Xmas to you and your Family ) - Wayne

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  2. My body is ready for hot C64 carts! take care of yourselves RGCD :)

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  3. Great to hear your well and everything is up and running - A VERY Happy New Year ( and a Belated Xmas to you and your Family ) - WayneFXGM ZA

    ReplyDelete