PIZZA AND PIXELS
Interview with John Springer of I ♥ Pizza
https://www.facebook.com/iheartpizzallc/ - Facebook page
https://www.youtube.com/@iheartpizzallc1838 - YouTube channel
Q. When did you start making Sega Genesis games?
Our Sega Genesis homebrew journey began in 2011. As it happens, we never intended to become a 16-bit game company. Bringing it to life has been the journey of a lifetime. It wouldn’t have been possible without so many incredible developers, artists, composers, and other folks who’ve helped along the way.
I ♥ Pizza started in my darkest hour. Back in 2007, Alia and I sold our home in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada), and bought a new one in my hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana (United States). On the morning that we filed her paperwork at the US Consulate in Calgary, I woke up with a grapefruit-sized bulge in my left armpit. It turned out to be stage 4b cancer.
As I entered treatment, I made a promise. If I survived, I’d give my dream of opening a retro game-themed pizzeria everything I have. It kept me going – and for the last 15 years, I’ve been doing my absolute best to realize that dream in the most extraordinary way. Our business makes pizza and Sega Genesis games, but we’re really about bringing people together and creating happy memories. And that’s where the homebrew journey began…
When I was a kid, I imagined what my hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana would look like as a video game. I’d long forgotten about the idea, but my mom reminded me about it one day during dinner. Making a Fort Wayne-themed game seemed like a great way to celebrate our community and a great way to make our retro game-themed pizzeria into something that’s truly unique.
One problem: I didn’t know a thing about making games. The idea stuck, though – and after researching the fledging Genesis / Mega Drive homebrew scene, I mustered up the courage to reach out to a developer named Sik. Before we knew it, we were working together on Summit City Showdown – a localized beat ‘em up Sega Genesis game, starring Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The development on Summit City Showdown started in July 2011. We finished it in November 2012, then worked on it again in 2018. The project opened up doors beyond my wildest dreams. It’s truly a dream come true – and I’m endlessly grateful.
I’ve learned SO much from pizza and game development. As cheesy as it sounds, there isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t think about how incredibly blessed I am to have an opportunity to do this. I can’t believe it’s even a possibility – and I’m doing my absolute best to pay it forward, and make people happy for years to come. It’s more than a dream come true. It’s a promise to do my life’s work joyfully, and to the best of my ability.
Q. What development tools do you use?
All of our games are made with love. (They really are, though!)
I’m just a pizza guy with a dream. While I don’t code, I understand the fundamentals of how code works. I know enough to be dangerous, but the developers that we’ve worked with deserve full credit on that front.
Over the last 13 years, we’ve had the incredible good fortune of collaborating with a small army of developers, artists, composers, and animators. The Genesis games that we’ve made together wouldn’t be possible without all of the folks who’ve helped bring them to life. I think about that every single day – and I’ll never forget how blessed we are to make games for my favourite game console of all time.
As one might suspect, different devs use different tools. Some amazing devs have created tools that have been widely adopted by the Genesis / Mega Drive homebrew scene, such as SGDK by Stef and SecondBASIC by Second Dimension. Emulators such as BlastEm by Michael Pavone and Kega Fusion by Steve Snake have played an integral in the homebrew scene, as have flashcarts such as the Mega Everdrive by Krikzz. The Genesis / Mega Drive homebrew scene wouldn’t be possible without the contributions from these folks, and many, many others.
Speaking of the Genesis / Mega Drive homebrew scene, it is absolutely thriving. Hundreds of new, authentic 16-bit games have been made for the console since I got involved in 2010. Some of the devs that I’ve worked with include Sik, Second Dimension, Stef, KanedaFR, Mauro Flores, Gameblabla, and Sasha Darko.
Endless credit and gratitude to every single developer, pixel artist, 2D animator, stop motion animator, box art and instruction manual artist/designer, composer, sound designer, and beta tester that’s helped bring our games to life. Every I ♥ Pizza project is a dream come – and our cosy little pizza place and 16-bit game company wouldn’t be possible without everyone that we’ve had the honour of working with.
It's really humbling and exciting to make things that will hopefully make people happy. I’m very hands-on with everything – and I’ve made plenty of mistakes – but I’m eternally grateful for the journey, and for everyone who’s been a part of it. And I’m determined to pay that forward for as long as I can.
Q. How did you negotiate for titles that had not previously been published worldwide?
When I was undergoing treatment for cancer, I discovered an obscure Genesis / Mega Drive puzzle game called Magic Bubble. Developed by C&E in 1993, the game is the very definition of a hidden gem. Despite it being a pick-up & play title, it’s tough as nails – and it's full of charm. If you spend some time with it, you’ll quickly understand how much love C&E poured into this game.
I found myself playing Magic Bubble often during my chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Its aquatic ambience and quirky humour brought me joy when I needed it most. When I didn’t feel well enough to play the game, I’d sometimes lay in bed, and listen to the song “Wonderful Seabed” from the sound test. It’s a beautiful, reflective tune – a playful, melancholic lullaby full of awe and wonder.
Moments like that helped me fall in love with Magic Bubble. Without exaggeration, it’s my all-time favourite puzzle game. It’s also one of my very favourite Genesis / Mega Drive games. The fact that Magic Bubble hasn’t been widely released is an outright shame.
One day, I happened to come across a post on the Sega-16 forum from the rightsholder to the game. On October 25, 2009, I emailed Brandon Cobb of Super Fighter Team about the possibility of purchasing the rights to Magic Bubble. I explained what the game meant to me, and how I planned to showcase it at our retro game-themed pizzeria.
9 years, 4 months, and 2 days later, I ♥ Pizza was able to acquire the full rights.
Brandon’s passion for C&E’s work is well-documented. He wanted to be absolutely certain that the game would get the legacy that it so richly deserves. I can’t find the words to express my gratitude to Brandon for the opportunity to finally give Magic Bubble a proper release, along with several other unlicensed Genesis / Mega Drive games. Our communication throughout the years lead to I ♥ Pizza acquiring full rights to a number of Genesis / Mega Drive games and characters that time forgot. We’re absolutely thrilled to be giving them an extra life at our pizza place and beyond.
Brandon’s faith and belief in my dream means more than I can ever say. He’s been more than kind and supportive – and he’s given us an opportunity to do something new with something old for our favourite console of all time. We’re beyond grateful, and we’re fully committed to realizing that dream.
Eli Galindo from Piko Interactive has also been a tremendous friend and help throughout the years. Eli’s ability to research intellectual property and rescue long-lost franchises is simply astounding. Our friendship began years ago when he inquired about one of the unlicensed games that we own the rights to. He’s been nothing but kind and professional, and we’re so grateful. Our 16-bit pizza dream wouldn’t be what it is without Eli’s faith and trust in us.
Throughout the years, we’ve purchased the rights to a number of unlicensed Genesis / Mega Drive homebrew games from Piko Interactive. Some of those games were widely released by Piko Interactive before we acquired them. Others were released by a company called Realtec in North America and Europe towards the end of the Genesis / Mega Drive’s retail run. Those Realtec games were developed in Taiwan for the Taiwanese market, with a shoestring budget and the threat of piracy constantly looming. They truly represent some of the earliest Sega Genesis / Mega Drive homebrew efforts. We’re absolutely thrilled to have an opportunity to polish them up, and finally give these games and their stories the proper releases that they deserve.
To that end, we’ve gone to ridiculous lengths to give these games that time forgot a new lease on life. A big part of that effort involves making fully animated 2D and stop-motion trailers. We’ve partnered with some unbelievably talented artists to bring these games and characters to life in brand new ways. The trailers are super fun; we’re just thrilled with how they’ve turned out. Can’t wait to show them when the time is right!
Q. What inspired the figures based on the games?
I love toys! The Toys-To-Life phenomenon in 2011 really inspired me. The fact that companies found a way to develop and distribute toys that directly interact with video games at an affordable price point is just incredible. To this day, I feel that the Skylanders games and toys are vastly underrated. They’re so well done – and they set the bar so high.
For years, I thought about how we could create physical representations of our characters. We’re not rich; our resources are quite limited. Finding an affordable, high-quality means to create figurines in bulk was quite a challenge.
We’re planning on selling these figurines with digital copies of our games. Other surprises
will likely be included, too. As wild as it sounds, we’ve found a way to turn any real-life pizza into an authentic Sega Genesis / Mega Drive game, right before your eyes! We might ship our figurines in cute little pizza boxes, along with fully playable 16-bit pizzas from our shop. Just writing that makes me unbelievably happy!
Q. What games do you have in development?
Here’s a rundown of all of our Sega Genesis / Mega Drive homebrew projects, and all of the unlicensed games that we’ve acquired that were originally developed for the console back in the ‘90s. None of our home games have been released; however, many of them are finished. Some of these games are big projects. Some are small. They all have charm – and they’re all a dream come true for us.
We’ll start with the finished games:
Summit City Showdown is a beat ‘em up game featuring our hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. We finished it in 2012, then added extra polish in 2018. It was our first game project – and while we could’ve done some things better, we nailed the gameplay. In fact, we’ll put it up against any beat ‘em up on the system in that regard!
Wallop The Wallaby is a classic platformer starring a prize-fighting wallaby. We thought it’d be great to have a mascot-driven game – and we’re thrilled with how it came out. This project was finished in January 2018.
BubblePunk is an arcade-style game built for speedrunning. It has a sci-fi aesthetic and a unique twist. This project came out of a game jam session and completed in about 6 weeks. Everyone involved did a phenomenal job – and the game is super unique and fun. Easily one of my favourite projects that I’ve had the pleasure of working on. It was finished in September 2015.
Martian Attack is a simple, bare-bones 2-player co-op vertical shoot ‘em up inspired by classic ‘80s arcade games. It was finished in August 2018.
Zibblets is a puzzle game, featuring cute, colorful characters. It was finished in June 2015.
Goofy Game-O-Rama is a collection of bite-sized mini-games of chance. It’s meant to be played at our pizza place, and maybe during live streams. We finished it in April 2014.
Delicioso! is a maze-chase arcade game with anthropomorphic pizza ingredients. There’s a one-player mode, but 2 player versus games are where the game shines. The game was finished in June 2019, although there’s still a pesky bug to fix.
Pixel Pizza is a simple 4 player arcade-style game. Each copy of the game features a real-life pizza from our pizzeria – and each copy is unique. The game was completed in July 2020.
Metal Blast 2277 is a run & gun title developed by Timur Lyazgiev. We acquired the full rights from Timur after he released the game for free. When we did so, he was kind enough to work with us to make significant improvements to the game. Our version remains unreleased. It was completed in May 2021.
Now for the games in development:
Go For It! is our fighting game. That’s our top priority at the moment.
Unicorps is a run & gun game with unicorns. It’s very over the top, and very early in development. The idea has been in the works since 2014.
Snowliloquy is a visual novel game about the life of a snowflake. It’s unlike any of our other titles. Sadly, it’s been stuck in development for a long time.
Dynofenders vs The Metal Champions is a classic arcade-style game. You can play as robots or dinosaurs – and you can either save our hometown of Fort Wayne or try and destroy it. We’re hoping to get back to this one soon.
Righteous Surf Dogs is an untraditional racing game starring anthropomorphic surfing dogs. Another one that’s been stuck for a long time. We’ll get there, though!
The Ultimate Ladybug is a 2 player co-op vertical shoot ‘em up. It’s a boss rush game, inspired by Silver Age sci-fi comics. It’s still early days, but we’re very excited about it.
Summit City ♥ Beat is an arcade-style platformer / beat ‘em up. It features our hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana, as well as 4 lead characters from our unlicensed games (Adventurous Boy, Bomboy, Ghost Hunter, and Smart Mouse). This one’s been stuck in development for years but is a top priority for us to finish.
i ♥ Summit City is a 4 player co-op beat ‘em up. It’s the third game in our localized beat ‘em up trilogy. It has 8 playable characters, including Magic Girl; Wallop The Wallaby; and the characters from Summit City ♥ Beat. It’s still pretty early in development, but we’re pleased with how it’s coming along.
Finally, here’s a list of all of the unlicensed Sega Genesis / Mega Drive games that we’ve acquired the rights to. All of these were developed for the console back in the ‘90s. Some of these were inspired by other well-known games, but they’re all different and unique in their own right as well.
Adventurous Boy is a cute ‘em up. We replaced all of the sound effects and fixed a number of bugs. This game has never been widely released and is largely unknown.
Ghost Hunter is a super fun and diabolically difficult arcade game. We replaced many of the sound effects; added a level select; and fixed a number of bugs. The game has never widely been released.
Bomboy has a really unique feature: you’ll never play the same game twice. It generates a new game board for each and every stage. Once again, we had to replace a lot of sound effects and clean up a number of bugs to get it ready. The game was a pack-in title for an unlicensed Mega Drive clone console called the Dynacom Megavision. Neither the game nor the console ever found their way out of Brazil.
Smart Mouse was released by Piko Interactive in 2017. It’s a really cute co-op arcade game – and it’s a truly historical, groundbreaking game that no one’s picked up on. We’re SO excited to share that story when we release our cleaned-up version!
Mallet Legend was originally released as Whac-a-Critter by Realtec. Without exaggeration, it may be the hardest Genesis / Mega Drive game ever created. That’s not to suggest that it isn’t fun, though! Interestingly enough, a special controller called the Smash Pad was developed specifically for playing this game. We don’t own the rights to the controller, but we have a couple of unopened ones laying around. Our re-released version of the game will include some improvements.
The Earth Defend was released as Earth Defense by Realtec. It’s a 2 player co-op vertical shoot ‘em up – a rarity in the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive library. Hardcore shoot ‘em up fans have maligned this game over the years, but I quite appreciate its style. It doesn’t compare with the classics in the genre, but it’s certainly fun. We need to do some work on it before we can rerelease it, though.
Magic Bubble is my favourite puzzle game of all time. We made some changes to ready it for release, but we were careful to keep its charm. If there’s one game on this list that I hope retro gamers discover and enjoy, it’s Magic Bubble.
Funny World and Balloon Boy were released by Realtec late in the Genesis / Mega Drive life cycle. Developed in Taiwan for the Taiwanese market by a tiny team with a shoestring budget, these are some of the earliest examples of homebrew for the console. They’re simple arcade games, but the original release had a fatal flaw: the developers chose to make them both much longer than they should’ve been. We’ve cleaned up each title and made a number of adjustments to restore the games to their original arcade roots.
Tom Clown was developed by AV Artisan. It’s one of only two AV Artisan Genesis / Mega Drive games that weren’t widely released by Realtec. We still need to get it ready for its first wide release. If you enjoy quirky games (and I certainly do!), you’ll love this one. It’s about a troupe of acrobatic clowns. What could possibly go wrong?
Magic Girl is an anime-inspired cute ‘em up. It was originally released by Super Fighter Team in 2015, then re-released as Spell Damsel by Piko Interactive via an AtGames product in 2018. We love this game – and we made significant changes and improvements in preparation for its definitive release.
Elf World: Super Magician is a rarity and an oddity. It utilizes the same music as Magic Girl. We’re planning to make a number of improvements to this before we give it its first official cartridge release. Like Magic Girl, it turned up on an AtGames product via Piko Interactive…but that’s the only official release to date. We’re very excited to change that!
Generals Of The Yang Family: Clan Of Heroes was officially released by Piko Interactive in 2017. It’s an underrated beat ‘em up / hack & slash game based on Chinese folklore. We’re planning a re-release of the original title, along with a new version that features a new title; a new story; and new character names. The plan is to offer both versions on one cartridge.
Q. What inspired the fighting game GO FOR IT?
At the onset of the project, I asked myself, “What makes a great fighting game? And how can we make a fighting game that looks and plays and feels different than classics in the genre?”
The first answer that I came up with was a direct response to the biggest mistake we’ve ever made in our homebrew projects. Our first Genesis game was Summit City Showdown – a localized beat ‘em up starring our hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. We made it with a team of 6 people: one from Argentina, one from Germany, and 4 Americans (including 3 locals). By the time we’d finished the project in 2012, we’d invested thousands of hours into developing and testing the game.
One Saturday afternoon in 2018, I found myself playing Summit City Showdown just for fun. As I reached the second level, I broke out in a cold sweat as I realized our colossal mistake. We’d made a game about our hometown – and yet, we’d somehow failed to include a single person of colour.
This wasn’t intentional. To our utter dismay, every single person on our team missed this issue. We’ve since corrected it, but I’m now acutely alert of unconscious bias, and what I perceive to be a lack of proper representation in retro games.
GO FOR IT! is a direct response to that issue. We’ve worked extremely hard to develop vibrant, diverse, memorable characters with rich personalities and backstories. Our hope is to feature people and places that one doesn’t typically see in fighting games. It’s been a joy to discover and develop these characters, locales, and stories. I hope that they resonate with people from all walks of life.
It’s impossible to make a fighting game without being influenced by the classics in the genre. With that said, all of our homebrew projects are designed with multiple audiences in mind. By necessity, we’re designing GO FOR IT! to cater to retro gaming enthusiasts around the world, as well as people outside of the retro gaming community. Fun, accessible, crisp gameplay is a must – and from the onset, I realized that our game needs to be simple enough for everyone to enjoy, regardless of their experience with games. With our pizza place and our Sega Genesis / Mega Drive games, we have the honour of introducing my favourite console of all time to people who’ve never experienced it before. As a lifelong Sega fan, I’m so honoured to have that opportunity – and I want to do my best to make GO FOR IT! fun for everyone.
Of all of the influences that inspired our project, the one that impacted me the most was growing up during the heydey of arcades and 16-bit gaming. I’ll never forget the summer of 1992 when my neighbour Ryan invited me over to his house to play Street Fighter II on the Super Nintendo for the first time. We had so much fun learning the characters and the combos, and discovering what the fighting game genre could be. Those are some of my favourite memories – and I’m hoping our game brings people joy in a similar way. We want to capture that over-the-top arcade excitement of the late ‘80s / early ‘90s and present it in new, fun ways.
Q. How are you creating interesting and diverse characters to control?
Creating vibrant, diverse, memorable characters with rich personalities and backstories is a lot easier said than done. It’s a lot of work and a lot of fun.
Going into the project, I felt it important to feature unique characters that one doesn’t often see in fighting games. I also knew that I wanted to feature a strong black male character and a strong black female character. We didn’t have any strong black leads in any of our games – and we wanted to address that issue.
I started developing the characters by giving myself the freedom to create a massive list of ideas. It was brainstorming in the purest sense: with no editing and no expectations. While that might seem obvious, I tend to overthink things at times. It was liberating to brainstorm without having to worry about anything.
The next step was to do extensive research on fighting games. In order to make new characters, I needed to have a better understanding of what had already been done. I compared that research against my list of character ideas, and started whittling it down.
As the list came into focus, I started thinking more about the logistics of the gameplay. Questions about how the characters would look, move, and play were on my mind. Just as importantly, I thought a lot about the characters as a group – and which ones would make for a vibrant, diverse, and balanced roster.
Throughout this process, I had a specific goal. Each character needed to be someone worthy of being the star of the game. I kept that in mind while researching their names, writing their backstories, and coming up with ideas for their special attacks. My hope was to give each character their own unique feel and personality while maintaining a balanced roster.
And then, the 16-bit magic happened. Our team has done an incredible job of bringing these characters to life. It’s a dream come true – and I’m grateful beyond words.
Q. Are there any unique features or moves?
Perhaps the biggest surprise is what isn’t in the game. On the first day of the project, I made a decision to simplify the controls. Players can perform special moves and combos with the press of a single button. There are exactly two exceptions: we’ve retained the classic fireball motion and utilized Down + the A & B buttons for throws.
Each character has 5 or 6 special attacks and a variety of standard attacks. All of the moves can be executed at any point during the game. Our testers have found the game to be a lot more fun with no limitations on special moves. The final design may include the ability to turn a special meter on to limit super moves, but the default option will be to allow them at any time.
GO FOR IT! supports both the classic 6-button and 3-button Sega Genesis / Mega Drive controllers. Both styles play great. While I prefer to play with a 6-button controller, all of the moves (and there are a lot of them!) are readily available for the 3-button controller. There’s no toggling between kicks and punches. As surprising as it sounds, both controller options offer a very similar experience.
One thing the game has is speed. The gameplay is fun and FAST. Players can adjust speed during gameplay by pressing the Mode button on a 6-button controller, or via the options menu.
When players select their character, they’ll have the ability to choose from several different colour schemes for their outfits. We’re also working on integrating creative ways to share the characters’ stories and personalities throughout the game, and in-between bouts.
The game is still in development, but it’s tested exceptionally well. Both seasoned retro gamers and folks who’ve never played a Sega Genesis / Mega Drive before are genuinely enjoying it. It’s difficult and intimidating to try and create a truly great fighting game, but we’re doing our best. We’re gonna GO FOR IT!
REDACTED
The interview originally featured a large section about a licensed character.
The published section here reads:
GO FOR IT! will feature a special guest star: a well-known female pro wrestler, to be revealed before launch. “She’s done motion capture for multiple WWE2K games, but she’s never appeared in a game herself – until now. We’re hoping to invite her for a special meet & greet launch party. There’ll be pizza!”
Q. What is left to do on GO FOR IT?
As of April 2023, the game is roughly 70% finished. We need to finalize the music; the sound effects; and some special attacks. Things like the title screen, menus, and transitional screens in-between matches still need to be worked out. The box art, manual, and game trailers will require a lot of effort, as will the process of manufacturing and shipping games. This is our first release – and while we’d like to launch the game before the end of the year, we’re going to take whatever time we need to get things right.
Q. What is the idea behind the pizza parlour?
I grew up in a simpler time when we went to friends' and families’ houses to play video games. Everyone in our neighborhood knew who had an Atari; a Sega; and anything Nintendo. Some of my favourite memories involve getting together with friends for epic pizza parties and game nights. I vividly remember going to my friend Matt’s house and staying up all night playing Star Control and Altered Beast on his brand-new Sega Genesis. We couldn’t believe how closely it captured the arcade experience. Not long afterwards, Matt brought his Genesis to my place – and we stayed up all night playing Sonic The Hedgehog for the first time. It blew our minds.
There’s something magical about classic gaming on the couch with pizza and friends. Our cozy little pizza place is a throwback to that golden age of gaming when people routinely played games in the same physical location and had fun together. We’re bringing that back – and we’ve gone to extraordinary lengths to make the experience nearly everything retro gamers have ever dreamed of.
It's taken 15 years to figure out how to accomplish that. One of the biggest challenges involved figuring out how to bring people together for games and pizza at the same time. I researched companies like Uber and Airbnb – and I realized that our concept needed to be different from a traditional pizza place. Instead, we found a house that was zoned for commercial use. It has 7 rooms, a paved parking lot for 15 cars, a dedicated sign out front, and an acre of land behind the place.
Friends and families will be able to hang out in their own private space and make a day of it. We’ll have restaurant-quality pizza, tasty beverages, and plenty of 8-bit and 16-bit games on tap. We’re making an interactive game menu that helps people find their ideal game – and we’ll present the games with facts about their history, and stories about how they came to be. It’s going to be a fun and interactive space that feels like a cosy little house full of retro gaming goodness. And that’s exactly what it is.
Many of our local customers will have grown up during the 8-bit and 16-bit era. I have a powerful, nostalgic attachment for that time – and I’m so honoured and excited to introduce those games to a new audience. We’re not open yet, but we’ve already met lots of folks who don’t know much about retro gaming but are genuinely excited about what we’re working on. Our concept is truly about bringing people together to (re)discover classic gaming, and to create happy memories. I never thought that going to a friend’s house for pizza and games would be a business plan, but maybe the world needs something like this right about now.
We hope to celebrate our local community and the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive scene in fun, wholly unique ways. We’re going to do that to the best of our abilities for years to come!
Q. What games and consoles will be there to play?
Our proprietary Sega Genesis / Mega Drive games will be available to play on original hardware. I can’t get into great detail, but I can say that when people walk in the door, we’re hoping that they wonder how our place can possibly exist. Anyone can eat pizza and play video games at home, so we’re going to extraordinary lengths to make our concept a fun, unique, and memorable experience. I sure hope that it makes people happy and that we get to meet folks from all over the world who love pizza and games! We even have some special 16-bit surprises planned for anyone who travels from out of town to visit our cozy little pizza place!
Q. Would you be interested in working on other formats/consoles?
Our focus is solely on the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive. That’s our niche – and we want to do it as well as we possibly can. With that said, we’re planning to release our games in some modern formats. They’ll be released in physical and digital formats, including actual Sega Genesis / Mega Drive cartridges.
As for working with other formats and consoles, we’ll never say never. Right now, we simply don’t have the resources to take that challenge on. Maybe someday, though!
Q. Are you looking for more games to publish?
Always! Each and every one of our games is a dream come true – and we’re always looking for more. We have plenty of ideas for new homebrew projects, but we’re focused at the moment on finishing what we’ve started.
A day will come when we’re no longer able to make games. I think about that a lot, and I’m trying my best to do what I can while I have the opportunity. Each and every one of our game projects is a dream come true.
I can’t tell you what an honour it is to be involved with the Genesis / Mega Drive homebrew community. Our dream simply wouldn’t be without their help. We’ll never forget that, and we hope that our work brings joy to others.
NEWS BYTES
MSX: GOTO40 marks the 40th anniversary of the MSX’s launch, at the t'Zonnehuis in Amsterdam on 9th December 2023 - with special guests, exhibits, game launches and sellers. Follow @GOTO40 on Twitter or visit https://bit.ly/goto40-msx
NOTE: location changed after the original publication - https://bit.ly/msx40-location
AMIGA AGA: Mutation Software launched Cyberpunks 2, 30 years after the original, for A1200 and CD32. https://bit.ly/cyberpunks2
AMSTRAD CPC: Sly Spy Allegro adds music to Ocean’s conversion of the Data East coin-op. http://moodler.pl/SlySpy.zip
APPLE II: Renowned RPG Nox Archaist has had its latest expansion released – Lord of Storms. https://nox-archaist.myshopify.com/
ATARI XL: Homesoft’s Diskette 473 includes recent releases such as the reworked International Karate RX/RXC. https://bit.ly/disk473-atarixl
ATARI 2600: The prototype of 1979’s lost game Sonar has been recovered. https://bit.ly/sonar-2600
BBC MICRO: Recent releases including Pitfall, Battlezone and the brilliant BeebChase (based on Deathchase) can be played online at http://bbcmicro.co.uk
Also, check out Soko-Ban for BBC and Electron by 0xC0de - https://bit.ly/sokoban-bbc
C64: Protovision’s latest digital release is Cursed Tomb, with a cartridge version available to pre-order. https://protovision.itch.io/cursed-tomb
INTELLIVISION: New conversions of Atari 2600 titles Yar’s Revenge and Caverns of Mars are on sale at https://www.intellivisioncollector.com/
ZX SPECTRUM: For 128K machines, Speccy Soccer Community Edition offers fouls, injuries, cards, replays, and multiple teams from different leagues. https://bit.ly/speccysoccer
VARIOUS: Under4MHz released puzzle game Vexed on 15 formats, including Spectrum Next and Game Boy. https://under4mhz.itch.io/vexed
CHAMPION CODER
Rémi Veilleux
[Info]
From: France
Website: https://remantic.com/ (work in progress)
Format: Amiga
Previously worked on: Syberia & Syberia II, Goldeneye: Rogue Agent, Dead By Daylight
Working on: Hamulet
Rémi is developing a game in the under-used HAM (Hold And Modify) graphic mode.
Q. What got you into Amiga game development?
Ever since we owned an Amiga in the 90s, I've been fascinated by it. Back then, I was coding in Amos basic, but I knew technical games like Shadow of the Beast were beyond reach. So recently I wondered: What would it be like to give it another go, this time using C and Assembler, and discover how the Copper and the Blitter really worked? Seeing this trio of CPU/Copper/Blitter having to work together made me realize that this is exactly the kind of multithreading programming challenges a modern programmer can have to deal with. Then I thought of the additional challenge: let's give the HAM mode a try. And here we are now.
Q. What is your development setup?
I am doing the development on my Windows-based laptop using Microsoft Visual Studio Code. I use a cross-compiler (i.e.: using a Windows program that generates Amiga binary file) to experiment, bugfix and iterate using WinUAE, the well-known Amiga emulator. WinUAE's remarkable accuracy greatly helps me iterate and test ideas, especially since I would like my game to be a love letter to classic Amigas. I have started my game using a nice and simple game engine named ACE https://github.com/AmigaPorts/ACE . I also use an extraordinary toolchain by demoscene wizard Bartmass/Abyss, https://github.com/BartmanAbyss/vscode-amiga-debug , to assist with debugging and analysing performance. I think this toolchain is an absolute must-have for modern Amiga coding.
Q. What inspired your new game?
Hamulet started as a technical test to push the limits of Amiga hardware and create a visually stunning game. On a purely technical level, I drew inspiration from Shadow of the Beast which boasted 'You will be dazzled by the 128 colours appearing simultaneously on screen.' I wanted to take that to the next level: how about 256 colours just for the sprites and over 2000 colours for the background. For the gameplay, I looked to classic games like Lode Runner and Flicky, but also added my own twist to create a light-hearted 2D puzzle-solving/dungeon-exploring game. I was also inspired by the charming retro look of Crypt of the Necrodancer, which influenced the game's overall style.
Q. You are using the HAM (Hold And Modify) mode for graphics - how difficult is it, and what techniques are you using?
The HAM mode is to me one of the most fascinating yet seldom-used aspects of the Amiga. On the performance side, the Amiga was originally designed so that using a maximum of 4 bitplanes (i.e.: 16 colours) would let the CPU run at full speed. However HAM requires 6 bitplanes, it incurs a global performance penalty. Then of course more bitplanes means more memory. The screen itself and all graphics requires +50% more memory than a 16 colours game would. In order to program in HAM, you have to think it has a kind of 'true colour' display mode, instead of a palette display. Since the Amiga 'true colour' would represent 4096 colours, it would require 12-bit per pixel (2^12 =4096): We can think of HAM being a real-time hardware 2:1 compression method, effectively compressing 12-bit into 6-bit per pixel. From there, anything usually trivial like doing a palette colour fading requires a completely new approach: the full-screen fade you see when starting Hamulet is actually recalculating and updating the whole 320 x 240 screen, pixel by pixel. Another challenge comes from the infamous fringing: the HAM horizontal colour fringes appear whenever a pixel is modified because all neighbouring pixels to the right are going to be potentially modified too. This requires great care in the design of the graphics and carefully choosing what can be animated using the Blitter, otherwise using sprites handled by the Copper. In Hamulet, all the background tiles and their lighting/shadowing are drawn in HAM, while all animated or interactable objects are sprites.
Q. How long have you been working on the game, and when do you think it will be finished?
I have started experimenting and testing around July 2022 on displaying HAM images and just overall learning since it is my first C/ASM Amiga game. The game development itself really started out in September 2022. I am not setting out a precise finish date yet, but my hopes would be for it to be done by Christmas 2023.
Q. Will it be a digital download or a physical game?
The game will be available as a digital download, but I would love to also make it into a physical game if everything goes well. I'm even aiming to ensure that the game works on both CDTV and CD32, so there's a possibility of producing a CD and a floppy version. However, my main focus is to make it accessible to as many people as possible through digital distribution. I have set myself some challenging constraints for the game, such as ensuring it can run on an Amiga 1000 with just 512KB of chip RAM. My ultimate goal is to create a game that could have been possible in 1985. As for a release date, I am aiming to finish it by Christmas 2023.
Q. Are you working on any other projects?
No, but working on this game is constantly making me think of so many other possibilities that I am eager to try later on! I have ideas for either horizontal or vertical scrolling shoot'em up in HAM mode. I also thought a visual novel-style game would work really well. We'll see once we get there: there is still much to do. As they say, one Copper move at a time.
Thank you very much for the opportunity.
DATABURST - REVIEWS
2021: Moon Escape
Format: Game Boy
Credits: Mike Yamato for Incube8 Games
Price: $8.99 digital / $59.99 physical (plus $2.00 for plastic cartridge case)
Web: demo https://bit.ly/moonescape-demo / orders https://bit.ly/moonescape-orders
[Score] 90% - Retro Gamer Sizzler
Hellgineers
Format: PICO-8 (Windows, Linux, Mac & Raspberry Pi executables)
Credits: Johan Peitz (design, code), Vav (sound & music), Somepx (font)
Price: $3.95 (digital)
Web: https://bit.ly/hellgineers (game) / https://bit.ly/hellgineers-development (development retrospective in Pico-View webzine)
[Score] 87%
Lester
Format: C64
Credits: Knifegrinder
Price: Name your own price (digital download)
[Score] 88%
PROCESSING - PREVIEW OF INFEZTATION (C64)
Interview with Monte Boyd
Q. What games influenced your new project?
Turrican II is the most obvious, but lots of other run 'n' gun platformers as well. Cyberdyne Warrior, Runn 'n' Gunn, Ruff ‘n’ Tumble on the Amiga.
But it's also taking influence from non-platformers like Alien Breed.
Q. How would you describe the gameplay?
It is a side-scrolling run 'n' gun shooter with hi-res graphics and lots of action. There's a little bit of finding switches to open doors and collecting security keys etc. But the focus isn't on exploration.
Q. What tools are you using to develop?
I'm using Aseprite for sprites and all the bitmap cutscene screens and a free online PETSCII editor ( http://petscii.krissz.hu/ ) for the charsets.
I'm coding using Millfork ( https://github.com/KarolS/millfork/ ) but with a lot of inline Assembly for handling the scrolling.
Q. Are you trying any new techniques/tricks?
This will be my first scrolling game which is lots of fun, but also taking more time of course. Aside from that, I'm using a style of hires artwork that I haven't seen anything exactly like on the C64 before. I'm also throwing in some "lighting" effects on the player's muzzle flash when the gun is fired.
Q. Will this be a digital and/or physical release?
TBC. There will definitely be a digital download, a physical version may be on the cards but not confirmed. It will be cartridge only. I'm using the ROM banks a lot for executing code as well as quick switching of sprite data etc so a disk version is not likely. Beyond my programming skills at any rate!
Q. When do you expect to release it?
Very hard to say but I would like for it to be sometime this year. But I'd say I'm only around 30% of the way through the content so still a way to go! The core game code is much further along than that, but since I'm hoping to provide quite a few levels, it will take some time just to create them all.
For the latest news and the release, visit https://monteboyd.itch.io/infeztation
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