The news

Tokimal trailer

ZX Spectrum
RedBug September 2020
News

Pat Morita Team (if you have a moment check out the Cobra Kai series .. It's worth it), just released a trailer showing the progress being made for Tokimal, the Spectrum version of the famous Toki.

Here is something to patiently wait before the version of the GGP team on Amstrad;)

This is happening on Youtube

Source: PatMorita on Twitter

Flappy Bird on the Next

ZX Spectrum Next
RedBug September 2020
News

Everyone remembers Flappy Bird that causes a sensation worldwide in 2013/2014.

Given the incredible success of Spectrum Next actually, it was normal that it also has its version: Coded in NextBASIC by Dave Clarke (aka Retro Beach Man) with the approval of the original creator, Dong Nguyen.

Do I have to remember the goal of the game? Just guide a bird in between the pipes. If you hit a pipe or the ground, you loose.

Download it from the itch.io page of Retro Beach Man.

RedBug September 2020
News

Rum ?

30 years after, Juan Carlos Sanchez release his game Buccaneers.

Anniversary edition contains... a bottle of Rum (and a 3' floppy disk).

You, the bravest buccaneer, and your gang have been cruising the seas to assault the Spanish ships over years for wealth and glory. But there is no honour among pirates... because your crew has been kidnapped by Caribbean pirates and they have stolen all your treasures.

Now you take the way to rescue your comrades through two islands, eight stages and dozens of enemies to defeat.

A pirate game. Who doesn't like?

Illustration from Manolo Matamoros.

Buy it from the Matranet website.

RedBug September 2020
Interview

Today, Reidrac , the prolific 8bit game developer, release his latest game for the Amstrad CPC: Brick Rick .

This is no longer a surprise to many, because, one of the many qualities of Juan is to share with us all the progress of this games on Twitter.

Brick Rick is a 50 levels platform game that is reminiscent of one of his previous games: Magica.

The collector’s edition of poly.play will be available to pre-order in big box with manual, poster and some extras. The game will be available in cassette, 3" and 3.5" disk. It will take a little over a month to reach people (thanks Covid).

A .cpr version is also available for the GX4000 (nicer than a hack).

On the occasion of the release of his game, Juan gave us the pleasure of answering a short interview ...


Juan J. Martinez

RetroANA: Hi Reidrac, could you present you?

Juan: Hi! My name is Juan and I'm a Spaniard based in the UK. I'm a Software Engineer working in the utility sector (energy), and I've been making games for several 8-bit systems for the last 5 years.

RetroANA: What are your earliest computer memories?

Juan: Playing games in the ZX Spectrum 48K of my older cousins. I remember playing Manic Miner, Pssst and Cookie, and later on Uridium, Saboteur and many more.

RetroANA: What is your first computers, and which one do you prefer (hard question…)?

Juan: My first computer was a ZX Spectrum +2A, because my cousins had a ZX Spectrum, although I suspect it was more because that was "a computer". I don't think I knew about other systems initially.

Later on I had friends at school that had Amstrad CPC, and we had CPC 6128 at school.

Today I own a CPC 464, several ZX Spectrum, a Commodore 64c and a couple of MSX. I couldn't say which one is my favourite, although I have a soft spot for the CPC

RetroANA: You make a lot of platform games. Is it your preferred genre when you play?

Juan: I wouldn't say is my preferred genre, but perhaps is one of the genres that work well in the 8-bit machines I program for.

I've also produced a couple of shooters, and I really enjoy playing SHMUPs.

I love CRPGs (from DOS era, mostly), but is hard for me to play any because lack of time (of course, I'm making games instead).

RetroANA: How long do you take to develop a game (and in particular Brick Rick)?

Juan: It is a process that may take me from 3 to 8 months, depending on the game. This depends on my free time for gamedev, that is not a lot.

Some projects are bigger, but I don't usually work on huge games because is very hard to keep focus for too long.

Brick Rick was small-ish and it took me 3 months, approx.

Kitsune's Curse

RetroANA: Have you some fun facts about the development of Brick Rick?

Juan: I'm not sure if this counts as "fun" but I started Brick Rick using the engine I made for Dawn of Kernel and Kitsune's Curse, but I found it was not a good match. It wasn't performant enough, basically.

I had a week off from work so I had a two days sprint and I wrote a new engine that is finally the one I'm using in the game.

RetroANA: You make your games lonely. Never wanted to join a team? What’s the funny part of the work for you? Graphics, music or coding?

Juan: I've thought about making some sort of contribution with some friends from the CPC scene, but is not just outsourcing graphics and/or music, and that makes things complicated.

I'm used to have very clear focus on what I want to accomplish in a project, and I haven't found the time and energy to coordinate with other people.

I guess all the time I save in communication, coordination and planning, is time I can use in making games :)

I really enjoy all the parts, but graphics and music are a bit harder, specially because the creative process is very different to programming: I know what I want, I only have to write the code. Graphics and music don't usually work like that, unfortunately.

RetroANA: Amstrad spanish scene is very active from several years. What is your secrets? French people needs to know!)

Juan: There are a few groups/solo gamedevs in the Spanish scene that are releasing titles every one of two years. I don't know why!

The French scene is producing games as well, may be less of them, but then you have "The Shadows Of Sergoth " that is... wow!

Anyway, I think we can all celebrate that we keep enjoying new CPC games in 2020, independently of their origin.

RetroANA: Do you expect to live from your game development one day? Or do you prefer doing that as a hobby?

Juan: I have a job and I'm doing reasonably well, I don't see how being a professional gamedev could improve my life :)

I don't know if it would remove part of the fun I get from it, but what I do know is that it is healthy to do two very different things at work and as a hobby.

RetroANA: What’s yours next plan? Another game for Amstrad? (Say yes please)

Juan: I have a long TODO; and it is very hard to not get distracted and add more projects to the list!

I don't want to think about what's next for now. It is time to enjoy the release of Brick Rick

RetroANA: Something else to add?

Juan: Thanks for your interest and I hope you will enjoy Brick Rick!

RetroANA: Thank you

Brick Rick

Links

Funfair Inc - C64 WIP

Commodore 64/128
RedBug September 2020
News

All good things come in threes... One more news on the C64!

Who need Theme Park on the C64 ? Everyone ! This game was not developped by Peter Molyneux but by Arlasoft.

Classic theme park management targeted for release in December 2020.

Featuring

  • 32 rides and animal attractions
  • 20 shops and gaming stalls
  • 16 features and toilet facilities

What's In The Game

  • Design and run your dream theme park
  • Research new attractions, facility improvements etc.
  • Hire staff to help the park run smoothly
  • Manage stock levels
  • Negotiate pay rises with staff union
  • Acquire loans to pay for improvements
  • Set ticket, shop and stall prices
  • Beat the competition with a profitable and happy park
  • Choose from a number of difficulty levels

C64 never dies.

More informations on its itch.io page.

Featured artist: The Oliver TWINS

Andrew Nicholas Oliver and Philip Edward Oliver , together known as the Oliver Twins, are British twin brothers and video game designers.

They began to professionally develop computer games while they were still at school, contributing their first type-in game to a magazine in 1983. They worked with publishers Codemasters for a number of years following their first collaboration Super Robin Hood , creating the Dizzy series of games and many of Codemasters ' Simulator Series games. At one point during the 1980s it was reported that 7% of all UK games sales were attributable to the Oliver Twins.

In 1990 they founded Interactive Studios which later became Blitz Games Studios. In October 2013 they founded Radiant Worlds, based in Leamington Spa, with long time friend and colleague Richard Smithies.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0

Look for all their releases.

Fun fact about Bomb Jack

In the Arcade version of Bomb Jack, the song "Lady Madonna" by The Beatles can be heard playing during the second round. The song was licensed for Bomb Jack, however in later ports and re-releases the game's soundtrack was replaced.

(source)

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