RetroRoids 1.10 (codename: RetroRoids Deluxe) is now available for Linux and Windows. The MacOS version will be ready later on tonight.
So what's new I hear you ask?
Quite a bit. There are now two game modes: RetroRoids and Original.
Original mode is basically the same as RetroRoids 1.00 (minus the power-ups). As in the original asteroids there is a chance of the ship exploding when using hyperspace. The speed of the asteroids has been reduced slightly, and the ship rotates slightly faster.
RetroRoids mode is the new version of the game. The asteroids start slower (but increase in speed with each new level). Destroying the UFO (which now appears from both sides of the screen) drops a random power-up.
Clearing a level without loosing a life activates the bonus multiplier (x2 and x4 all scores).
After the first level as well as the standard asteroids you may also (but not always) encounter the Killer Satellite. Shooting the Satellite causes the fragments to home in on you - so make sure you've got somewhere to run to. . . .
There are other tweaks to the graphics and sound (and some bugfixes too) - check out the changelog for the full list.
Available to download now at http://dans-remakes.sytes.net.
Thursday 31 January 2008
Friday 25 January 2008
To GPL or not to GPL
To GPL or not to GPL, that is the question that has been posed on the Linux Games Tome comments page for RetroRoids.
The request started off with a single comment posted a couple of hours after the game was first listed:
It’s proprietary — guess that’s why there are no comments.
Well, I decided to respond with a brief explanation of why I hadn't released the code.
If by proprietary you mean there isn't any source code released with it then yes. Mainly because it has been written with Blitz Max (which makes it easy for me to support Windows and MacOS as well as Linux), so most people couldn't recompile it anyway, at least not without buying a copy of the language first. If there is a call for it then I'm more than happy to release the source under the GPL - I'm just not sure that there would be much benefit to anyone. Hopefully you won't let this put you off trying the game.
That, I thought, would probably be the last I would hear on the subject, but one week later. . . . .
You know, if as you say there are no objections to releasing the code under the GPL, I think it would help your project a lot. The publicity alone would be much higher. But, I wouldn't be surprised if some people would actually help out with patches. Besides, that would allow your game to be included by default in many distros that wouldn't touch it otherwise.
Well, now that is food for thought. So here is what I think.
The patches don't really interest me much, since games programming as a hobby (in my case anyway) is a solo event. The challenge of writing the code (and playing the finished game) is the where the fun is.
As for publicity - well thankfully that's not entirely what I'm here for. Yes, in any sort of games programming (freeware or otherwise) there is an element of look what I can do, aren't I clever about it, and I get as much of that as I need. Generally speaking there are only a couple of places that I release the news of any games that I release.
Retro Remakes is the first place that gets the news, usually on the message board. This site is the center of the remakes world and the feedback here is usually very good (constructive criticism can be a very good thing). All my games also have work logs on there.
If it is a remake of a game that was released on the Spectrum then www.worldofspectrum.org get's a heads up.
I've also got a mailing list going for people who are interested in what I release (there are a couple these days) so things get mentioned on there too.
Last (but not least) The Linux Games Tome gets a post too. This is because at home I use Linux, my games are developed on Linux for Linux users. The Windows and MacOS versions are the ports.
I've also started posting the news on the BlitzMax home page. RetroRoids is the first game I've done this for.
RetroRoids has actually been a fairly quiet release compared to RetroVaders, but even this has had over 500 downloads over the last five days. Having had a couple of news items written about RetroRoids (items that I didn't submit I might add) and generally positive comments from people who have downloaded the game has given my ego all the polishing it needs at the moment.
However this isn't to say that I'm against releasing the code. Like I said before, I'm just not sure what benefit the BlitzMax source for the game would be to most people.
So here is the deal. If enough people want my games to be released under the GPL then yes, I will do that.
If ANY of the Linux distros want to include my games and can't because of the current FREEWARE license then get in touch and I will release my games as GPL.
I will only do this if there is a call for it. So if you want the code (remembering that you will need a copy of BlitzMax to be able to compile it) then make your voices heard here, or by emailing me directly at dans(dot)remakes(at)googlemail(dot)com.
Postscript
Not long after posting this I realised that I'd forgotten to mention something important, the real reason that I'm doing this. It isn't for money or publicity (believe me, if it was for money then I'd have given up games programming back in 2002).
The reason I do this, and why I release my games for free, is that I enjoy writing games. I hope you enjoy playing them.
The request started off with a single comment posted a couple of hours after the game was first listed:
It’s proprietary — guess that’s why there are no comments.
Well, I decided to respond with a brief explanation of why I hadn't released the code.
If by proprietary you mean there isn't any source code released with it then yes. Mainly because it has been written with Blitz Max (which makes it easy for me to support Windows and MacOS as well as Linux), so most people couldn't recompile it anyway, at least not without buying a copy of the language first. If there is a call for it then I'm more than happy to release the source under the GPL - I'm just not sure that there would be much benefit to anyone. Hopefully you won't let this put you off trying the game.
That, I thought, would probably be the last I would hear on the subject, but one week later. . . . .
You know, if as you say there are no objections to releasing the code under the GPL, I think it would help your project a lot. The publicity alone would be much higher. But, I wouldn't be surprised if some people would actually help out with patches. Besides, that would allow your game to be included by default in many distros that wouldn't touch it otherwise.
Well, now that is food for thought. So here is what I think.
The patches don't really interest me much, since games programming as a hobby (in my case anyway) is a solo event. The challenge of writing the code (and playing the finished game) is the where the fun is.
As for publicity - well thankfully that's not entirely what I'm here for. Yes, in any sort of games programming (freeware or otherwise) there is an element of look what I can do, aren't I clever about it, and I get as much of that as I need. Generally speaking there are only a couple of places that I release the news of any games that I release.
Retro Remakes is the first place that gets the news, usually on the message board. This site is the center of the remakes world and the feedback here is usually very good (constructive criticism can be a very good thing). All my games also have work logs on there.
If it is a remake of a game that was released on the Spectrum then www.worldofspectrum.org get's a heads up.
I've also got a mailing list going for people who are interested in what I release (there are a couple these days) so things get mentioned on there too.
Last (but not least) The Linux Games Tome gets a post too. This is because at home I use Linux, my games are developed on Linux for Linux users. The Windows and MacOS versions are the ports.
I've also started posting the news on the BlitzMax home page. RetroRoids is the first game I've done this for.
RetroRoids has actually been a fairly quiet release compared to RetroVaders, but even this has had over 500 downloads over the last five days. Having had a couple of news items written about RetroRoids (items that I didn't submit I might add) and generally positive comments from people who have downloaded the game has given my ego all the polishing it needs at the moment.
However this isn't to say that I'm against releasing the code. Like I said before, I'm just not sure what benefit the BlitzMax source for the game would be to most people.
So here is the deal. If enough people want my games to be released under the GPL then yes, I will do that.
If ANY of the Linux distros want to include my games and can't because of the current FREEWARE license then get in touch and I will release my games as GPL.
I will only do this if there is a call for it. So if you want the code (remembering that you will need a copy of BlitzMax to be able to compile it) then make your voices heard here, or by emailing me directly at dans(dot)remakes(at)googlemail(dot)com.
Postscript
Not long after posting this I realised that I'd forgotten to mention something important, the real reason that I'm doing this. It isn't for money or publicity (believe me, if it was for money then I'd have given up games programming back in 2002).
The reason I do this, and why I release my games for free, is that I enjoy writing games. I hope you enjoy playing them.
Saturday 19 January 2008
Released: RetroRoids v1.00
RetroRoids, the second in the series of "Retro" games from Dan's Remakes is now available for download from http://dans-remakes.sytes.net.
Featuring asteroids, animated backdrop, power-ups and more. As with RetroVaders the look of the game can be tweaked from the options menu.
Currently available for Windows and Linux, with the MacOS X version following soon.
Featuring asteroids, animated backdrop, power-ups and more. As with RetroVaders the look of the game can be tweaked from the options menu.
Currently available for Windows and Linux, with the MacOS X version following soon.
Friday 18 January 2008
RetroRoids: Update 1
As promised, here are some more details on RetroRoids.
The game itself is pretty much the same as the original arcade game Asteroids. Shoot the large 'roids which split into medium ones, the medium into small. Clear all the 'roids from each stage to go onto the next. Each level has more asteroids than the previous one.
A bonus life is awarded at 10,000 points.
Every so often a bonus UFO will appear, shoot it for extra point and a bonus item. Collect the bonuses for shields (5 seconds worth), triple shots. (100 shots worth) or an extra life.
I may add in extra bonuses later.
The game itself is pretty much the same as the original arcade game Asteroids. Shoot the large 'roids which split into medium ones, the medium into small. Clear all the 'roids from each stage to go onto the next. Each level has more asteroids than the previous one.
A bonus life is awarded at 10,000 points.
Every so often a bonus UFO will appear, shoot it for extra point and a bonus item. Collect the bonuses for shields (5 seconds worth), triple shots. (100 shots worth) or an extra life.
I may add in extra bonuses later.
Wednesday 16 January 2008
Announcing: RetroRoids
Announcing: RetroRoids.
In case you can't tell from the title, this is my take on the old classic Asteroids.
Available soon for Linux, Windows and MacOS X from http://dans-remakes.sytes.net
More details soon. . . .
In case you can't tell from the title, this is my take on the old classic Asteroids.
Available soon for Linux, Windows and MacOS X from http://dans-remakes.sytes.net
More details soon. . . .
Wednesday 2 January 2008
Dan's Remakes - Moving on up
For the past year or so I've been using my "free" webspace that was provided by my service provider - a rip-roaring 55meg of space. Unfortunately now that I'm releasing software for Windows, Linux and Mac my games now take up three times as much space as they used to.
The upshot of this is that the site and downloads is now pushing 40meg which means that sometime this year I'll be out of space.
I'd had a look last year at an alternative host, but had the problem of some very restrictive bandwidth limits.
I'd also had a bit of a look at Google Pages when it was first in beta. The 100meg of space is certainly attractive, but the built-in web editor didn't really do it for me and the thought of redesigning the entire site to fit in with Google didn't appeal.
Well, I've had another look at Google Pages and have discovered that I'd missed something. That something is the "upload file" facility. Now if the worst came to the worst I could always upload the binaries and still use my original site for the pages, but I've also found that you can also upload full HTML pages, so after a bit of a fiddle I've got together stage one of the new Dan's Remakes site.
I'll be converting the rest of the site this week and re-directing dan-remakes.sytes.net to point to it.
I'll be keeping the original site up to date for a while, but once I'm happy that the new site works OK then I'll be ditching it entirely.
The big bonus here is that I'll not be tied to a single service provider any more, not to mention the extra space.
The upshot of this is that the site and downloads is now pushing 40meg which means that sometime this year I'll be out of space.
I'd had a look last year at an alternative host, but had the problem of some very restrictive bandwidth limits.
I'd also had a bit of a look at Google Pages when it was first in beta. The 100meg of space is certainly attractive, but the built-in web editor didn't really do it for me and the thought of redesigning the entire site to fit in with Google didn't appeal.
Well, I've had another look at Google Pages and have discovered that I'd missed something. That something is the "upload file" facility. Now if the worst came to the worst I could always upload the binaries and still use my original site for the pages, but I've also found that you can also upload full HTML pages, so after a bit of a fiddle I've got together stage one of the new Dan's Remakes site.
I'll be converting the rest of the site this week and re-directing dan-remakes.sytes.net to point to it.
I'll be keeping the original site up to date for a while, but once I'm happy that the new site works OK then I'll be ditching it entirely.
The big bonus here is that I'll not be tied to a single service provider any more, not to mention the extra space.
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