Weekly Update 28/03/08
Why do I bother eh? I make my minions sit around all night, scouring the forums for new news, playing demos, viewing screen shots and generally immersing themselves in other peoples fantasies (though normally only at weekends…..) and all so I can write a little info-type round up of the latest WIPs. So I sit down at my typewriter (fangled computers, never understood em!) and bash away for hours on end ensuring the very latest up to the minute blurb gets put onto the website. I tie it to the leg of a carrier pigeon and send it directly to my secretary who scans it in and submits it for publication and what do I find out? You’ve only gone and added MORE!!!!!
Weekly Update - 21/03/08
A week, as they say, is a long time in game development. I, myself, have managed nearly 8 whole lines of code, most of it gibberish, I’ll admit, but code none the less! The Easter break, however, is upon many of us, which give me, at least, an excuse to take off my algo-shoes, kick back and relax for a very long weekend. Some people, it would appear, will not be abusing the holidays, concentrating instead on their new creations. Let’s take a sneaky peek into the games that have been announced as WIPs this week and see if we can’t pick the bones out of em….
Bubble Trouble was a C16 game that seemingly involved bubble cannibalism arachnophobia and violence, set against the background of a full bath. It’s possible that I have misinterpreted Splodgeman’s scene setting, but I hope not because it sounds like a cracking game he’s remaking!
Clearly the game is designed to be as fun as a session at the local swimming pool and the first screenshots we have been treated to look very pretty. The forum thread is located over here, but please make sure you are fully dried off before coming in!
Now, we all remember the Second World War don’t we? You don’t? Pah! The youth of today… I remember it well, in all it’s monochromic, isometric glory. Well, I’ve played the Great Escape at least! Yes, the Ocean POW classic is headed, once again, for remake land, this time with Bankie at the helm. The game has a history of uncompleted remakes but Bankie, with his plucky British grit has sharpened his wire cutters, made sure his papers are in order and begun work on this well loved and longed for project. My contacts tell me you can find the thread by tunnelling this-a-way.
There has been one more WIP discussed at GREAT length this week. I’m not in a position to say too much more at this point, but rest assured, as soon as things are finalised, you’ll all get to know about the beauty that will be….. The Retro Remakes CD50……
Now, where did I put those Easter Eggs?
Weekly Update - 14/03/08
Another week, another update and still as busy as ever. This week sees an exciting new engine with the possibility of bringing a shedload of old classics back to life, a remake of an MSX classic and the return of an old favourite…..
Incentive Software’s Freescape was a groundbreaking games engine when it was created back in the mid 80’s. The 3D effects wowed us after being used in Driller, Total Eclipse, Castle Master and more. Though some of these games have already had the remake treatment, Thomas Harte has gone one better by working on an updated Freescape engine. The idea originally was just to pour the original 3D Construction Kit demo game data into it and get a working ‘remake’ out. As is often the case on these here forums though, people have taken the idea and run with it (in the case of Betpet, run is an understatement) and with a little digging around have found a breakdown of other Freescape games data which Thomas is now working on implementing. The thread is already growing rapidly, and you can join in here as well as seeing a couple of videos of the engine in action.
And breathe………
In other news, Crozza is proposing to remake the MSX title King’s Valley. Although the WIP is in the very earliest stage of development (research) he’s asking for a little assistance with level codes and the like. The thread is buried in the sand this-a-way. If you can help, the promise of your name in lights (well, in the game credits) is an offer you just can’t refuse!
And so to this weeks history lesson.
Back at the begining of ‘07 work began on a Remake of Dan Dare. The word on the street over the last couple of weeks was that the project was being picked up again by Smila and Stu. Now Hunter’s Moon is done and dusted, the rumours have turned into solid fact with a proposed tester available soon. They don’t hang about them boys do they?
So, while I’m getting my Mekon cosplay gear on, why not have a quick look at the speedy progression going on over on the forum…
I think I might have time to take over the Universe before next weeks instalment…..
Weekly Round Up 07/03/08
It’s been a week of team building here at retroremakes towers for many of the mods and admins. Not content with the joys the involvement in the site brings each and every one of us, a few of us are getting together of an evening for the sole purpose of being shot in the head by STompy. For those of you not up to date on the forums, the official RR Counterstrike Source servers are up and running, if you want to be part of the action then have a lookie here. If games of a more retro nature are your thing, and let’s face it, you’d not be here otherwise, let’s have a look at the new WIPs announced on the new, streamlined (ie, less work for us to do) Remakes and Retro Styled Games forums.
Scramble has to go down as one of THE milestone 8 bit games. The shoot’em across classic is one that many gamers cut their teeth on way back when, and now, courtesy of Harold, we have a new version in the pipeline. The difference here is not the graphics, not the sound but the twist in game play. Once you have destroyed the base at the end of the last level, your ship is turned around and you get to run the whole thing backwards.
Never having managed to beat any version of scramble so far, this is’t going to affect me too much, but you can tell Harold how many times you recon you’ll yo-yo betwixt start and end at the thread just here
Following on from the weird weather and seismic events in the UK, it would be nice to be able to tell you that things were back to normal. Unfortunatly I just found out that Zombies Ate My Neighbours. Yes, proving I’ll never consider a link too tenuous to use, this Lucas Arts B-movie parody game is being given not one, but two proposed remakes, both by the individual know only as ‘Thatsgames’. The games will both be true to the original as far as I can tell but one will be made using 2d sprites in a 3d environment (see the trailer here) and the other will be a pure 3d game with a possible third person POV. The trailer has already sparked a smattering of quite mixed reactions, have a look yourself and give Thatsgames the feedback he desires.
A Wings of Fury 2 remake is also in the offering. Keeping in line with the whole 2d / 3d mish-mash of ZAMN above, Emm is making this WWII flying game with 3d graphics on a 2d ‘plane’ (Copyright Caff, 2008). Once again, we are treated, nay spoiled with a trailer and the promise of more goodies to come. Feel free to strap on your Biggles flying helmet and join in the fun at the forum thread
Right then, time to go eat STompy’s lead, if you’ll pardon the turn of phrase………
Weekly Round Up 29/02/08
Better late than never, but the date threw me. It’s a funny old day isn’t it, 29th February? Happens only 1 day in 1461 and gives the ladies the opportunity to snag the man of their dreams. I dunno, next thing you know they’ll get the vote! Well, if you don’t have an impending marriage to look forward to, it’s just lucky that we have enough WIPs to fill the void……
Let’s take a look at, in no particular order……
Game Over. Well, when I say no particular order, obviously I couldn’t let this one go without announcing it first. The delicious irony of having Game Over at the start - hahahahaha… I’ll stop shall I?
Nightwolf has brought us this remake of the classic 8 bit runny, shooty, diey thing (well, that’s how it always used to be for me anyway) and I got to say it’s just like I remember. I ran, I shot, I died. The beta (rapid share - sorry) is hard as nails and I couldn’t get too far so it would appear to be a pretty accurate remake :(
Attracting a lot of interest is Head Over Heels Editor, an editor for, you guessed it, Head Over Heels style isometric games. Global I’s idea is simple, you bung in your graphics, tell the engine how they interact and just, well, play. Sounds ideal to me! Now all I need to do is get someone to write me an engine that draws stuff and I’ll be well away!
Which leaves us with….. Omar’s Orthogonal Oyster Outing Now, I’ll admit here and now that I know nothing of the origins of this game. It certainly wins ‘most bizarre title of the week’ though. Not had a chance to try it yet, but you can get the beta from here and give it a go yourself (you need the VC runtimes installed though)
Right - time to go find me a Seismometer JUST IN CASE…..
Weekly Update - 22/02/08
Well, owing to unavoidable demands put upon me from the Spraystress meaning that the whole of the Valentines week was effectively crossed off of the calendar, we have a fortnight’s worth of Work In Progresses(es?) to examine, ingest and rip to shreds.
As the more regular readers will know, we at RetroRemakes Towers love nothing more than seeing you, dear gamer, telling the world in general what you think about other peoples dreams and ideas as they lay their souls bare by announcing their WIPs on our little forum. Let’s see what treasures you can hark on about today shall we?
Fresh from his ‘Love Me Do’ competition entry, Endurion brings us ‘Block Invaders’ which, you may not be surprised to learn, is a game inspired by Space Invaders, Galaxians and the like. The game has been added to the ‘Games in a retro style’ forum, but in truth, I’m not sure I’ve ever played anything quite like it. The concept of wiping out invading alien hoards block by block owes nearly as much to Arkanoid as it does to your standard retro shoot-em-up and it’s a superb concept.
With your ship itself being made of the same style of destructible block the action focuses on survival as much as it does firepower and with levels ranging from your bog standard Space Invader style waves, Moon Cresta swoopers and, of course, big bosses the variety is also enough to keep you playing. Don’t take my word for it, Get it here and then tell Endurion about it here
Now would be a good moment to mention happymonster and his little app wouldn’t it? You see, for the first time this year I can report on something that’s not STRICTLY a game. In fact, it’s not a game at all, but so many people are having fun with it, it would be a crime not to give it a mention.
Richard’s Evolving Sprite Tool is a neat little tool that allows even the most graphically challenged amongst us to create lovely sprites for our games. At the moment it’s mostly being abused and played with on the forum, but it could turn out to be a useful asset. You can grab a copy from over yonder and show us what rude pics you can make….
Now, I’d never let it be said that religion is my strong point, but good looking DS games are. If only there was a WIP that could enhance my spiritual side whilst pandering to my handheld gaming addiction… You know, I think there might just well be!
Bible Adventures is a remake of the NES / Sega Genesis game of the same name which Indigo has been playing and now reckons he can better. From the initial screenshots he’s posted, I think he might have a point. The game is split up into different ‘verses’ from the afore-mentioned holy book putting the player back in the time of Moses, Noah and David (he of Goliath fame). I’m actually quite interested in the progression of this, good DS homebrew isn’t easy to come by and a game is, after all, a game. If this raises my beliefs in the ways of the Lord, then all the better.
Lastly, let’s have a quick gander at AndyH’s latest sideline. Mouth Trap was a game that came with STOS, a game programming language for the Atari ST. Ms Mouth Trap is AndyH’s take on this theme. Now, never having been in front of an ST long enough to play anything other than Virus on it, I don’t know this game too well, so let’s let the man himself explain….. ‘Object of the game for those that don’t know (that will be most of you):- Simply eat all the food to advance to the next level. There are germs that get in your way and a number of power ups and bonuses to collect.’
More information when we get it on this one, but feel free to track its progress yourself by the power of linkage.
And so concludes another weekly round up. I’ll be back next week, assuming the boss agrees, to fill you in on the latest news from the site.
Until then, be lucky.
