I'm currently working on CMLGUI, the GUI extensions for the Core Media Library.
I haven't released the GUI extension with the last version of the library because it was still missing some essential components at
Latest news/Blog
Saturday, January 21, 2012 - MSX Fair
As you might have read below, i have started development on Colecovision and MSX platforms as of the beginning of this year. Today was the first time for me to step out of my cave and show the first fruits of my labour: A trailer & playable demo for AstroDodge for the MSX and Colecovision. Its always exciting to show new stuff for the first time, but luckily people at the fair seemed to like it a lot.
Monday, January 2, 2012 - Happy New Year!
I would like to wish everyone a happy new year! 2012 will mark the 10 year anniversary of Revival Studios and personally i can't wait to create new releases for the Vectrex and Videopac, but also for platforms like the ColecoVision/MSX, Virtual Boy and more.
Thursday, December 8, 2011 - AstroDodge Reviewed
Retro Gamer CD did a review on my Videopac / Odyssey 2 game: AstroDodge.
You can read the review here: http://www.rgcd.co.uk/2011/12/astro-dodge-philips-videopacmagnavox.html
You can read the review here: http://www.rgcd.co.uk/2011/12/astro-dodge-philips-videopacmagnavox.html
Saturday, November 26, 2011 - New Videopac/Odyssey2 game released: Mayhem
I am proud to officially present to you my new game for the Videopac and Odyssey 2 game systems, called: Mayhem.
In this game you are controlling Wizzy, a young wizard, to collect coins while avoiding the bewitched wood. The game is playable on all Videopac, Videopac+ and Magnavox Odyssey2 systems, but also includes additional support for high resolution backgrounds on Videopac+ systems, and digitized speech through the voice module. As with Astrododge, players can also submit their highscores and achievements online through the use of a code.
For more information about the game, go to the Mayhem page.
Saturday, November 12, 2011 - Introducing Mayhem in Germany
On Saturday 26th of November 2011, i will be attending the Retroborse in Bochum / Germany, where i will be showing and demoing my vectrex and videopac games. Furthermore, there will be an exclusive 10-minute demonstration of my last 2 games (Astrododge for the Videopac and Shifted for the Vectrex) as well as an exclusive announcement for my upcoming videopac game: Mayhem. The trailer for the game will be revealed and the game is also available for play.
So if you live anywhere near germany, then go visit this great event!
For more information about the retroborse, visit: :http://www.retroboerse.de
.
Hopefully i can finish it all in time for Eurocon 2011, held next month in Hamburg / Germany.
Saturday, October 1, 2011 - New Videopac/Odyssey2 game released: Astrododge
I am proud to officially present to you my first game for the Videopac and Odyssey 2 game systems, called: AstroDodge.
In this game you are controlling a nice multicolored spaceship, having to dodge the hordes of asteroids coming towards you. The game is playable on all Videopac, Videopac+ and Magnavox Odyssey2 systems, but also includes additional support for high resolution backgrounds on Videopac+ systems, and digitized speech through the voice module.
More than that, players could also submit their highscores and achievements online through the use of a code, something has not been seen in any videopac/Odyssey2 game before.
Check out the trailer below:
Game features:
- Playable on Videopac and Odyssey2 consoles
- High resolution background on Videopac+ consoles
- Digitized speech using The voice add-on
- Animated multicolor sprites
- Internet highscore uploading
- Online rewards system
- Hidden gameplay mode
Order your copy starting today! For more information, go to the Astrododge page.
Friday, August 19, 2011 - New vectrex game released: Shifted
After many weeks of finetuning and tweaking, I am proud to announce my new vectrex game release!
Shifted is an action puzzle game that requires quick thinking and quick responses.
You have to shift columns up and down to make combinations of gems on the centre row.
The higher the combination, the more points you will earn.
The game is easy to pickup and play, and according to my betatesters becomes more and more
addictive each time you play it. In addition to the survival mode where you have to gain points
and survive as long as possible for a highscore (which you can upload to the internet), there
is also a survival mode in 3 different difficulty settings, where you are faced with different
challenges each round (20 challenges on easy, 30 on medium and 40 challenges on hard), which allow
you to unlock additional rewards and gameplay modes.
Shifted is an action puzzle game that requires quick thinking and quick responses.
You have to shift columns up and down to make combinations of gems on the centre row.
The higher the combination, the more points you will earn.
The game is easy to pickup and play, and according to my betatesters becomes more and more
addictive each time you play it. In addition to the survival mode where you have to gain points
and survive as long as possible for a highscore (which you can upload to the internet), there
is also a survival mode in 3 different difficulty settings, where you are faced with different
challenges each round (20 challenges on easy, 30 on medium and 40 challenges on hard), which allow
you to unlock additional rewards and gameplay modes.
Order your copy starting today! For more information, go to the Shifted page.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 - AstroDodge for the Videopac / Odyssey2
Summer vacation is almost over, currently working long-nighters on my new videopac game: AstroDodge.
Hopefully i can finish it all in time for Eurocon 2011, held next month in Hamburg / Germany.
Sunday, July 3, 2011 - Virtual Boy Sneak Preview
Summer vacation has started, which means i get to dedicate more time to retrogame development.
After the release of Shifted for the Vectrex in July, i have set my mind on 3 projects which i will announce in the future.
For now, here is an early sneak peak at one of these projects: EFX for the Virtual Boy:
Sneak peak at an upcoming Virtual Boy project. Use anaglyph goggles to simulate virtualboy headaches.
Friday, July 1, 2011 - Debris Revisted highscore winners
The Debris Revisited highscore contest is over, and the winners are:
1. RayXambeR (France) 61210
2. e5frog (Sweden) 56360
3. Desfeek (US) 52100
Astrododge: e5frog 2490 points
For the full top-10 of scores, see: www.revival-studios.com/highscores
I would like to thank all contenders for their effort!
1. RayXambeR (France) 61210
2. e5frog (Sweden) 56360
3. Desfeek (US) 52100
Astrododge: e5frog 2490 points
For the full top-10 of scores, see: www.revival-studios.com/highscores
I would like to thank all contenders for their effort!
Saturday, May 21, 2011 - Collection: Collection database project
While organizing the collection room, i thought it would be a good idea to properly catalogue all my collection stuff, so i went on searching online, only to be let down by the options at hand. For starters, all of the checklists/databases online are either NTSC oriented only, or a far cry from being complete (the much hyped digitpress.com is the number one offender here). Sites like retrocollect fare a bit better here, as they are more PAL oriented, but the result is all the same: I'm forced to add 80% of my collection by hand, one by one, going through painstaking submission guidelines. Furthermore there is no way of syncing your stuff online and offline and printing out these nice collection checklists. No thank you.
So yes, as of yesterday i started designing my own database and i am currently filling its content, starting with all the systems i personally own and know i have a 100% complete list (vectrex, videopac, microvision,etc.) and some of the smaller systems (32x, playdia, gx4000, pokemon mini,etc.) and working my way up from there. Basically as a project for myself and some close friends, but if anyone wants to join the beta, drop me a line.
The database is uber-complete on the stuff i personally collect, and i will start to fill the rest as we go along, combining info from multiple sources, resulting in more accurate lists than other websites who dont bother.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011 - Collection: Reorganizing the Collection room
I'm currently reorganizing my collection room. The photo of the room on the my collection portion of this site, is already a few years old. As we speak, the room is stacked full with retrogaming goodies. I've installed another desk and another rack, moved my sega cabinet to the development room and i am currently in the progress of cleaning the whole place out, selling some of the more space-filling stuff along the way (guitar hero world tour PS3 band pack anyone?). Once all is finished, i'll upload some photos of the result.
Monday, April 16, 2011 - Chip-8 Hires versions of AstroDodge, Trip8 demo and Worm V4
You might remember the post about Chip-8 Hires back in january. Basically it is a hires 64x64 mode that was first documented in a Cosmac VIP newsletter back in the 70s that would allow a 64x64 resolution on the standard hardware, without any hardware modifications. I devised a way of intergrating this into a standard Chip-8 rom by using self-modifying code so that a single rom file will work instantly on the original hardware (cosmac vip, telmac 1800,etc.) and hardware-level emulators such as the Emma emulator, as well as on CHIP-8 level interperters.
Today i've adapted AstroDodge, Trip8 and Worm V4 to work in this mode, making AstroDodge the best looking game on the original hardware. You can download the updated packages from the download section of the website.
In addition to these 3 programs, i have also managed to adapt a few other programs for the Chip-8 Program pack over at chip8.com.
Wednesday, March 20, 2011 - 3D engine for the Vectrex up and running
While awaiting the betatest results for a new vectrex game that is in development, i had some spare time on my hands last weekend.
So i started a small pet project: A working 3D engine for the Vectrex.
I already had experience with doing 3D on the vectrex , both through vector-usage (3D scape demo, Performance VX) and Raycasting (Unreleased radium raycasting demo) but with so little CPU and work-ram to work with, doing a fully flexible 3D engine seemed like a good enough challenge.
I had some experience in the 90s and early 2000 with Room / BSP based 3D engines (this is also the technique we used for the Radium my company did for the Gameboy Advance) so this seemed like a good starting point.
My 3D world editor and early tests up and running (don't mind the mess, thats when i work the hardest ;-)
The first thing i needed was an editor to edit my 3D world that can spit out the data in a vectrex-friendly format (with only 32kb rom levels can't be that large + with 8 bit processors it is best to have all data in 8-bit format whenever possible). I had a rudementary editor up and running in the weekend which allowed me to create rooms of various shapes and sizes and interconnect them using portals. Also the rooms can have different floor/ceiling heights, which allows for the creation of stairs, windows and other more complex structures.
Getting a editor ready and PC-side proof of concept is one thing, but getting such a thing to run on the vectrex is another. To ease myself into it i decided to create a hi-level language PC prototype first that would obey the same rules as the vectrex (mostly 8bit data structures, vectrex screen space and as little calculation as possible). This turned out to be a wise descision because it allowed me to iron out a lot of the problems before doing the actual vectrex implementation.
With the PC-prototype up and running on Monday, i needed another 2 days to get everything working from ground up on the vectrex. But finally i've got my first version up and running. It is already quite flexible as i can design any type of level in the editor and run it on the vectrex. There is still room for approvement and optimisation, so i will probably spend the next days optimising some of the 3d transformation math and tailor the data to better fit my needs... Or at least until i hear back from the beta testers ;-)
My Vectrex running the 3D world. Thanks to Rudy for creating the excellent VecCab arcade cabinet you see above.
Thursday, February 24, 2011 - Retro fair Apeldoorn on March 6, 2011
For the 10th time, the Bonami Spelcomputer museum organises the Bonami spelcomputer beurs
The event will have no less than 150 stands across 2 large halls, filled with retro gaming goodness.
The retro fair will be held on March 6, 2011 in De Stolp, Apeldoorn (The Netherlands).
Revival Studios will also be present at the fair, so feel free to come over and talk if you feel like it.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011 - Debris Revisited highscore contest
With the release of Debris Revisited, Revival Studios is proud to announce a highscore contest for Debris Revisited.When is the deadline?:
The deadline for this competition is set at July 1st 2011.
How does it work?
- Just play a game of Debris Revisited, and get a good score.
- Once you have a good score, display or write down the 16-letter highscore-code.
- Go to http://www.revival-studios.com/highscores and enter your name & code.
For your reference, the highest score at the time of writing is around 30000 points.
Good luck!
Monday, January 10, 2011 - Chip-8 Hires
For the last weeks i have worked on something called CHIP8H, a hires 64x64 mode that was first documented in a Cosmac VIP newsletter back in the 70s that would allow a 64x64 resolution on the standard hardware. I devised a way of intergrating this into a standard Chip-8 rom by using self-modifying code so that a single rom file will work instantly on the original hardware (cosmac vip, telmac 1800,etc.) and hardware-level emulators such as the Emma emulator, as well as on CHIP-8 level interperters. Together with Marcel van Tongeren i'm working on making both original listings as well as new work available and included it in the Chip-8 program pack. Furthermore, i've also included support for this mode in my MegaChip emulator which should be out any moment now.
Saturday, January 1, 2011 - Looking forward
Now that 2010 is over, looking back i can definitely say that 2010 has been the year i return to classic game development. I have been able to complete many of the old project i had laying around. For the Vectrex this included the release of no less than 3 vectrex games (Colorclash Slim, V-Hockey and Debris Revisited) and a demo (Climax Slideshow), a few MeggyJr releases and a whole bunch of Chip-8 stuff from 2007/2008 (The chip-8 program pack, Climax Slideshow, AstroDodge, Trip8 demo and a bunch of uncredited stuff i did for others).
So whats in store for 2011 then? Well, i set the task of completing a bunch of older projects first before working/releasing any new stuff, and with the stuff i did in 2010 i'm well on my way in clearing that list.
For the vectrex i still have 2 nearly completed games from 2008 that will hopefully get a release soon: Shifted and MVR racing, after which i can make way for new games.
I also readying my stuff for other platforms like the Colecovision and atari, but more on that soon. Last but not least, i am working on releasing a game for 2 very unique classic game systems this year. I can't say anything more about it at this point but i will keep you posted once they are ready.
Anyways, a happy new year to you all !
Sunday, December 26, 2010 - Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone! I've uploaded a slideshow i did for the vectrex in 2008 and that has been sitting on my desk ever since.
The slideshow is available for download at the Vectrex section of this website.
Thursday, December 16, 2010 - Debris Revisited
Good news, the release of Debris Revisited is just around the corner and is currently being playtested till death ;-) In the meanwhile i've been able to include many more features, like a unlockable (online) rewards system, level unlock/selection system and a number of unlockable modes that will extend the gameplay.
I'll expect the first orders for the game to ship by the end of the year.
Pricing for the game is € 24,95 (+ 5 euro S&H), so be sure to order your copy today!
Friday, December 10, 2010 - More Knightmare
I managed to get some more work done on my Knightmare. In fact most of it is in place now. All the levels and bosses are implemented now, all the powerups are in place and the code for most of the enemies is working now. I still need to place the enemies on the correct places within the levels, so this will require a lot more play sessions ;-)
The idea is to first get the remake as close as possible to the original. After that is done i will include the classic mode/graphics as well as new variations of the game and extra's that will hopefully improve the original.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - Knightmare Remake
With Debris Revisited currently in beta testing, i had nothing to do but wait so i decided to start working on something that i wanted to do for about 20 years now: A proper remake of konami's briliant knightmare game.
I've only worked on it for 2 days now but most of the basics are now in place (all screens and the first level is running). A lot of time goes into getting the placement of the powerups and enemies right, as well as using the right soundeffects in the right places. This is a testament of how briliantly this game was back in the day and still is today. Everything from gamedesign to sounddesign has been executed briliantly.
First step is to recreate the original very closely and from there on expand on it (updated graphics, new gameplay modes, online coop, etc.) It should be a matter of days before i hear back from the beta testers, so lets see how far i'll get on this baby in the meanwhile.
Friday, November 5, 2010 - Debris Revisited announced
Exactly five years ago today, I announced my first Vectrex game: Debris.
The game sold out quickly after its announcement and while I received much
positive feedback on it, there were features that I wanted to include but
couldn't at the time. Due to the large amount of graphic and music data,
Debris took up almost every byte of the 32K available.
Now to celebrate its fifth anniversary, I am happy to announce Debris Revisited.
Ideas I wanted to include in the original and feedback given by players have been
mixed with additional features to create a new version of Debris that will hopefully
please all.
New aspects to Debris Revisited include:
- New levels and enemy attack patterns
- Internet high score uploading
- Lives and level progress indicators
- More challenging boss fights
- Intelligent respawning upon death
- Improved gameplay
The game sold out quickly after its announcement and while I received much
positive feedback on it, there were features that I wanted to include but
couldn't at the time. Due to the large amount of graphic and music data,
Debris took up almost every byte of the 32K available.
Now to celebrate its fifth anniversary, I am happy to announce Debris Revisited.
Ideas I wanted to include in the original and feedback given by players have been
mixed with additional features to create a new version of Debris that will hopefully
please all.
New aspects to Debris Revisited include:
- New levels and enemy attack patterns
- Internet high score uploading
- Lives and level progress indicators
- More challenging boss fights
- Intelligent respawning upon death
- Improved gameplay
- Enemy fire
- New bonus game Astrododge
- Unlockable content
Besides the features above, there are also a lot more subtle changes that will improve
the gameplay in general.
So whether you'd like to try the new Debris, have a crack at the online scoring, or
couldn't get in on the action the first time around... here is your chance!
A trailer of the game is online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG2Oh6R5RGw
Debris Revisited is scheduled to be released this December.
Exact details on date and price to follow.
- New bonus game Astrododge
- Unlockable content
Besides the features above, there are also a lot more subtle changes that will improve
the gameplay in general.
So whether you'd like to try the new Debris, have a crack at the online scoring, or
couldn't get in on the action the first time around... here is your chance!
A trailer of the game is online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG2Oh6R5RGw
Debris Revisited is scheduled to be released this December.
Exact details on date and price to follow.
Friday, October 22, 2010 - Videopac Grid designer
Its been a while since i last touched the videopac in 2007 (I did Munchkin Plus + i worked on a videopac compiler for a while that didnt get finished, but the experience proved very useful when developing vexos basic later that year), but recently i've been dipping my feet again in videopac programming and as a result i've created a small videopac grid-designing tool that allows you to paint the grids and spits out assembler code. Its currently not available for download yet but if you are a videopac programmer you can contact me and i'll send you the tool.
Friday, October 15, 2010 - Colorclash Slim highscore competition
To celebrate the release of Colorclash Slim, revival studios announces a highscore contest.
How does it work?
- Just play a game of Colorclash Slim, and get a good score.
- Once you have a good score, display or write down the 16-letterhighscore-code.
- Go to http://www.revival-studios.com/highscores and enter your name & code.
For your reference, the highest score at the time of writing is around 3500 points
The winner is the one with highest score on 1-1-2011 and will receive a free copy of my next game.
Good luck!
Sunday, September 27, 2010 - new vectrex releases
Revival Studios has announced 2 new vectrex game releases, to be launched at the Retro spelcomputer event held in Apeldoorn/The Netherlands on October 3rd 2010.V-Hockey:
V-Hockey is a top-view ice hockey game with arcade overtones, as your lone player (and goalkeeper) fight for control of the puck and attempt to score more goals than the opposition.
Features:
- One and two player modes
- Three levels of computer difficulty
- Vecvox support
Price: 19,95 EUROS , For further info, go to: http://www.revival-studios.com/?page=112
Colorclash slim:
Colorclash is a fun action game people can just pickup and play.
The player has to shoot the various gems that are falling down from the top of the screen. The gems are marked with symbols and the player has to match up the symbol on his ship with the symbol on the gems. The player has to clear a number of gems each level.
New Features:
- Both Vector and Bitmap modes included
- Internet Highscore uploading
- Atari paddle support
- Various smaller fixes
Original Features:
- Fun pickup and play type game
- Small learning curve
- Vecvoxx support
- Free bonus game: xudoku
Price: 19,95 EUROS . For further info, go to: http://www.revival-studios.com/?page=36
Besides these 2 new releases Revival Studios will also offer earlier vectrex releases like the 3d scape cart and Vectoblox and showings of new games in development.
Both these games, as well as other revival studios games can also be bought online at www.revival-studios.com , starting today. Shipping&Handling for online orders are 5 euros per game. Orders can be placed by mailing to sales (at) revival-studios.com
For more information about these and other vectrex games, check out the revival studios website.
For more information about the retro spelcomputer event in apeldoorn, go to: http://www.bonami-spelcomputer-museum.nl/
Monday, September 20 , 2010 - Chip-8 pack update
Another update for the Chip-8 program pack over at www.chip8.com. This pack contains the largest CHIP-8 program collection on the web. New update includes the Trip8/SuperTrip8 demo, new ETI660 hybrids, 2 new demos (chip8/superchip/megachip) and a few new test programs.Wednesday, September 15 , 2010 - Trip8 / SuperTrip8 demo
I've packed up and put another Chip-8 / SuperChip production online. This time it is a demo i started back in 2006 and basically tried many different effects that would work on the original interpreter, before settling on the final demo's in 2008. You can find more information about the demo's, as well as a download link, in the Chip-8 section of the website.Tuesday, September 14 , 2010 - Micromen
I found this while searching on Clive Sinclair and watched it today. Micromen is a TV-Drama set in the 80's about Sinclair and Acorn and their battle for the BBC computer contract. Its like the british version of Pirates of Silicon Valley.Monday, September 13 , 2010 - Worm V4 (Chip-8)
Updated the Superworm V4 package to include the CHIP-8 port of the game. Now you can also run it on classic systems like the Cosmac VIP.
Saturday, September 11 , 2010 - Chip-8 pack
Updated the Chip-8 program pack over at www.chip8.com. This pack contains the largest CHIP-8 program collection on the web.Tuesday, September 7 , 2010 - Meggy Jr : Colorclash (8x8 LED game)
As promised in my last post, get ready for my second release for the Meggy Jr handheld, called Colorclash.
Like the name suggests, it is a game based on my game Colorclash for the Vectrex and Mobile phones. Your goal is to match up the color of your player with the blocks falling from above and shoot the falling blocks. The game will gradually speed up to increase difficulty.
Despite having little room for pretty graphics, and having to make minor changes in gameplay, i think the game works suprisingly well on this system.I've included both the .hex file with uploading tools for the original hardware, as well as a simulated version for Windows PC's.
Look at the Meggy Jr section of the website for more information on the individual products.
Monday, September 6 , 2010 - Meggy Jr : Cavity (8x8 LED game)
As you could have read in my post from February 18, 2010 , i've been designing a bunch of games for this great 8x8 LED handheld using my MeggyJr simulation environment. When the actual hardware arrived a few weeks later, it was no surprise that there where a few hurdles to overcome to make the stuff run on the actual hardware. For one thing, the LEDS can only display a limited number of colors and the colors arent true RGB, despite the full name of the handheld (Meggy Jr RGB). As a result i had to create a color-tweaking tool and create a fixed palette of about 30 colors that worked well with the handheld and create my games from there. Well, a good few months later i've updated both my code on the MeggyJr hardware side as well as the simulator to ensure that the code runs similar between the 2 platforms without having to modify any of the sourcecode, though the simulator is missing sound.
Anyways, with everything in place now i am proud to present you my first game for the Meggy Jr RGB 8x8 LED-based handheld system, called Cavity.
Cavity is a simple game where you must navigate yourself through moving caves, picking up powerups on your way for points.
I've included both the .hex file with uploading tools for the original hardware, as well as a simulated version for Windows PC's.
Now that the whole development process is ironed out, expect other Meggy Jr games to follow shortly.
Look at the Meggy Jr section of the website for more information on the individual products.
Monday, August 2 , 2010 - CHIP8 / SuperChip / MegaChip8 stuff online
I've finally been able to properly zip-up my Chip8 / SuperChip / MegaChip8 stuff from 2007 and 2008 and put it online. This includes the devkit, Climax Slideshow and Astro Dodge game. I very much enjoyed creating these programs because of the minimalistic aspect of the CHIP8 specifications.
Look at the CHIP8 section of the website for more information on the individual products.
Sunday, July 19 , 2010 - Demo's from the vault
I've added my old demoscene stuff from the early 90's to the 'Other platforms' section of the website. This includes Magicboy Robot 2, a collection of stuff from my Logic Design days and the first intro release from 1993.Saturday, July 11 , 2010 - My first ZX81 programming
While finishing the backlog on my CHIP-8 stuff, i figured i could burn my hands on another minimalistic black&white system, the ZX81.
The system wasn't all like CHIP-8 in terms of programming, but i wrote my first demo for it.
Monday, July 5 , 2010 - Chip8 / SuperChip / MegaChip backlog
I'm currently readying my old Chip-8 / SuperChip / MegaChip stuff from 2007. Right now i've packaged the SuperChip versions of the Climax slideshow and the game Astro Dodge (see image below). Astro dodge also needs a MegaChip and Chip8 version, while the Climax Slideshow can only be released on SuperChiip and MegaChip (it was impossible to get decent images on a 64x32 monochrome resolution). Once these are out for release, i can ready the SuperTrip8 demo and a particle-demo (by ZeroShadow) for all 3 Chip8 systems.
Monday, June 28 , 2010 - Jonathan ' Joffa ' Smith RIP
I was sad to hear that Jonathan 'Joffa' Smith passed away on 26/06/2010. Jonathan was one of the great coders on the ZX spectrum in the 80s.
For those unfamiliar with his work, have a look at the great documentary ' Commercial Breaks ' , a documentary about Ocean software and Imagine Software. It
For those unfamiliar with his work, have a look at the great documentary ' Commercial Breaks ' , a documentary about Ocean software and Imagine Software. It
is available on youtube and google video.
Monday, June 7 , 2010 - CML 1.4 ported to Wii
I'm currently working on a commercial project that needs a Wii port as well, so last weekend i ported over the latest version of the Core Media Library to the Nintendo Wii.Friday, June 4 , 2010 - Track editor + 3D racing game example
Back in 2000 i had a good idea for a futuristic hover-racing game called WARP. This game contained many unique features and despite of having done many other projects since, i always wanted to get back to this and complete the game for a possible commercial release.
Recently i've picked up the glove again and wrote a 3D track editor and a basic prototype for the game. Right now it is down to tweaking the basic mechanics and getting a complete test track with buildings/cities and other assets up and running.
Saturday, May 29 , 2010 - CoreMediaVideo converter/player
Having succesfully be able to compress/decompress images, i've decided to extend my efforts to full movie compression.
I've written a AVI to CMV (CoreMediaVideo) converter, a custom video format i've created based on my image compression technology.
This will be included in the next version of the Core Media Library.
Saturday, May 21 , 2010 - Image compression
I was asked to compress image/video streams for sending through multiple screens using
10mbit network switches. This way a single videostream could be transfered to multiple terminals to form a single image.
In our test-setup it was an array of 4x4 screens, each 4 screens connected to 1 network switch.
The server end will send a total of 16 packages each update.
Preferably each packet should not exceed a 64kb package-limit, while maintaining high resolutions.
Having only briefly worked on image/movie compression on the gameboy (using indexed color tables) i figured it would be
nice to dive into this challenge without any reading/pre-perceptions on the subject. Hopefully this will lead to an
new or unique approach to image/movie compression.
I'll be posting my results on this website as prior art.
Sunday, May 9 , 2010 - Core Editor
My 2D/3D level editor is making good progress, along with the CMLGUI library that it is built upon.
Currently in testing at beta4, it allows users to build both 2D and 3D worlds that allow for simple collision/trigger schemes to work.
Here is a preview image of the latest beta.
Friday, April 16 , 2010 - Website redesigned
Just letting you know that my website has now been redesigned to make use of new technologies and content management.
I'll be updating this news section while i'm updating the other sections of the website
Thanks to Stefan Jansen for helping out.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - CMLGUI
the time (things like File Dialogs and such).
As i'm currently prototyping a contra-type game in 3D, i needed an simple editor to sketch out the levels. I decided to write it in CMLGUI and finishing the library in progress. With a bit of luck it might make the 1.4 release of CML.
As i'm currently prototyping a contra-type game in 3D, i needed an simple editor to sketch out the levels. I decided to write it in CMLGUI and finishing the library in progress. With a bit of luck it might make the 1.4 release of CML.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010 - Finishing up Core Media Library 1.4
I'm currently fixing up the Core Media Library for a 1.4 release.
Some of the things i've been working on lately are:
- Corefile/Corepacker: Support for file packing inside EXE/Binary
- Fixing Scaling/Rotating for Bitmap/Sprites
- Better thread handling (less stress on CPU).
- CoreNet beta (network support for WIN32)
- CoreVideo (webcam support for WIN32)
- Extensions: Resource browser, Virtual Keyboard, etc.
- New and updated examples
- Minor bug fixes
A new beta has now been sent out to testers, allowing me to implement their feedback in the next major release of the library. The website should be updated too.
Some of the things i've been working on lately are:
- Corefile/Corepacker: Support for file packing inside EXE/Binary
- Fixing Scaling/Rotating for Bitmap/Sprites
- Better thread handling (less stress on CPU).
- CoreNet beta (network support for WIN32)
- CoreVideo (webcam support for WIN32)
- Extensions: Resource browser, Virtual Keyboard, etc.
- New and updated examples
- Minor bug fixes
A new beta has now been sent out to testers, allowing me to implement their feedback in the next major release of the library. The website should be updated too.
Thursday, February 18, 2010 - MeggyJr development
Hi all,
I've recently discovered the MeggyJr console. This is an opensource/homebrew handheld with a resolution with no less than 8x8 pixels. Quite a challenge for designing games!
With a console on its way, i already developed a simulation environment for the console which allows me to prototype MeggyJr games in C with the Core Media Library.The environment also runs original code already written for the system.
I've currently started development on a bunch of games for the system, so as soon as it arrives, i should be able to test it on the real thing and create videos/downloads for it.
I've recently discovered the MeggyJr console. This is an opensource/homebrew handheld with a resolution with no less than 8x8 pixels. Quite a challenge for designing games!
With a console on its way, i already developed a simulation environment for the console which allows me to prototype MeggyJr games in C with the Core Media Library.The environment also runs original code already written for the system.
I've currently started development on a bunch of games for the system, so as soon as it arrives, i should be able to test it on the real thing and create videos/downloads for it.
Thursday, January 14, 2010- Accidental Sabbatical
Hi there,
It is safely to say that it has been a while since my last post.
I've been busy the last year with work and a slightly unhealthy PS3 trophy addiction :S This has resulted some sort of accidental sabbatical year.
This ment that i had a whole bunch of (finished-) stuff/products lying around that i just didn't get around to releasing. This includes a bunch of Chip8 work and a couple of vectrex products.
Right now i'm back to work, so expect more posts here from now. This includes updates for new stuff i'm working on as well as past promises.
It is safely to say that it has been a while since my last post.
I've been busy the last year with work and a slightly unhealthy PS3 trophy addiction :S This has resulted some sort of accidental sabbatical year.
This ment that i had a whole bunch of (finished-) stuff/products lying around that i just didn't get around to releasing. This includes a bunch of Chip8 work and a couple of vectrex products.
Right now i'm back to work, so expect more posts here from now. This includes updates for new stuff i'm working on as well as past promises.
Thursday, January 01, 2009 - Happy new year
Happy new year to all!
So whats in the pipeline for 2009? Let me see...
These are the items that are on my to-do list for 2009:
- Release of megachip emu + devkit
- Release of various CHIP-8/Superchip stuff
- Photos for my collection stuff
- (Delayed) release of Colorclash slim and V-hockey for vectrex
- Release of CML1.4 with CoreNET and CoreVideo extensions.
- Completion of my current MSX/Colecovision works (demo+hokey pokey)
- Completion of VexOS
As always, i'll keep you posted on any progress/releases.
So whats in the pipeline for 2009? Let me see...
These are the items that are on my to-do list for 2009:
- Release of megachip emu + devkit
- Release of various CHIP-8/Superchip stuff
- Photos for my collection stuff
- (Delayed) release of Colorclash slim and V-hockey for vectrex
- Release of CML1.4 with CoreNET and CoreVideo extensions.
- Completion of my current MSX/Colecovision works (demo+hokey pokey)
- Completion of VexOS
As always, i'll keep you posted on any progress/releases.
Thursday, October 16, 2008 - Eurocon 2008
Eurocon 2008 (held 10,11,12 october) was a blast.
Like last year, I had a great time there. The retro-fair was great too and visited by many people.
I was able to show my new products there (v-hockey, colorclash slim) as well as some of my older stuff (vectoblox, 3d scape, munchkin plus). I also met some nice people there (including a fellow coleco developer).
Anyways,
Like last year, I had a great time there. The retro-fair was great too and visited by many people.
I was able to show my new products there (v-hockey, colorclash slim) as well as some of my older stuff (vectoblox, 3d scape, munchkin plus). I also met some nice people there (including a fellow coleco developer).
Anyways,
Looking forward to next year!
Friday, August 15, 2008 - Vexos Basic
I've been able to spend some time on VexOS and VexosBASIC again.
As a result, i managed to resolve the musicplayer issues, but i still have troubles finding a proper packing routine for the songs. Songs are generally 50-100kb in size, and need to be compressed to ideally about 16kb or less. Current packing methods (i tried 3 different methods so far) give me about 20-40kb for each song, making a lot of songs unsuitable for the vectrex (with about a 24kb limit for data).
As for VexosBASIC, i've been able to do a bunch of updates, these include:
- RECT and CIRCLE draw functions
- DRAWSHAPE function to draw vexosbasic shapedata (which can be exported by vectorpaint)
- DRAWBITMAP function
- CHECKCOLLISION function
- Handling of DATA segments
- Various small fixes
With these last updates, everyone should be able to make proper games for it. In theory you should be able to create almost every type of game you like now.
VexosBasic is now open for people willing to beta-test.
And if you create something nice with it, i will feature it on the upcoming vexosbasic website.
As a result, i managed to resolve the musicplayer issues, but i still have troubles finding a proper packing routine for the songs. Songs are generally 50-100kb in size, and need to be compressed to ideally about 16kb or less. Current packing methods (i tried 3 different methods so far) give me about 20-40kb for each song, making a lot of songs unsuitable for the vectrex (with about a 24kb limit for data).
As for VexosBASIC, i've been able to do a bunch of updates, these include:
- RECT and CIRCLE draw functions
- DRAWSHAPE function to draw vexosbasic shapedata (which can be exported by vectorpaint)
- DRAWBITMAP function
- CHECKCOLLISION function
- Handling of DATA segments
- Various small fixes
With these last updates, everyone should be able to make proper games for it. In theory you should be able to create almost every type of game you like now.
VexosBasic is now open for people willing to beta-test.
And if you create something nice with it, i will feature it on the upcoming vexosbasic website.
Friday, July 25, 2008 - Update on projects
Hi there,
I also like to take the opportunity to update you on my upcoming vectrex projects (new and existing projects).
COLORCLASH SLIM:
=================
This is a cheap release for colorclash that will be available regularry like the other releases on the website.
The game has been updated with new features:
- Option to swtich between bitmap and vector display modes
- Atari paddle/spinnerama controller support
- Internet highscore uploading
- Various smaller fixes.
The game will be available on slimcart for 19 euros and for free download very soon. Also, for those who are interested, there are about 7 limited editions left. contact me if you are interested.
VECTOBLOX:
===========
Still available for sale and will get a free rom release together with colorclash slim release.
V:HOCKEY
=========
This is a topview one on one hockey game, both for single and multiplayer. The game is currently in beta-test with some people to make sure the game is fun and challenging.
I will announce this game very soon.
VEXOS - THE VECTREX OPERATING SYSTEM:
=======================================
I'm still working hard on this. The heart of the OS , the basic compiler and interperter is running nicely for some time now together with the rest of the OS. Back in january i had some issues with the chip music replayer, for which i had to alter my music replayer for better support, and a good mix of memory/RAM usage and romspace needed for a tune.
Also, i spent some time making content for the OS (music, vector animations, basic games and programs,etc.).
Upon release i'm opening a webpage dedicated to the OS that will refresh with content regulary, much like the Playstation store.
So i have to work a bit in advance here ;-)
I'm hoping for a relase at Eurocon 2008
Untitled racing game:
=================
A topview racing game with 5 tracks + bonus tracks to be unloacked.
The game is nearly finished and entering beta-test stage withing 1 or 2 weeks. Any suggestions for the title (not too long of a title) can be mailed to me.
This game will be released at Eurocon 2008.
D:2 (DEBRIS 2)::
==============
This baby has been in the pipeline for quite a while.
Upon releasing debris, being my first game release, i was quite frustrated that i wasn't able to put as much in as i wanted.
On the one side there were still things for me to learn about the system, on the other side i couldn't fit all my ideas onto a 32kb rom.
So for Debris 2 i started from scratch in 2006, with a targeted release at christmas 2006. I was well under way , but in the summer of 2006 my HDD crashed and i couldn't recover the sourcecode.
I restarted the project in 2007, focussing on getting all the graphics, design and music ready and trying out several ideas to see if they are technically doable.
Right now i can announce that i've completed the first preview to be sent out for feedback to a few people. It contains the basic game structure, some of the endboss fights and bits and pieces of a 3D vector background rendering technique that i developed for this game.
Unlike the first debris, in the sequel i'm blending 2D bitmap graphics with 3D line-vector graphics for the backgrounds.
Target release is this christmas, but i will update you on its progress in the meanwhile.
Sorry for the long message, but i had a lot to update you about in my months of absense.
I'm hoping to see/meet some of you at Eurocon this year.
I also like to take the opportunity to update you on my upcoming vectrex projects (new and existing projects).
COLORCLASH SLIM:
=================
This is a cheap release for colorclash that will be available regularry like the other releases on the website.
The game has been updated with new features:
- Option to swtich between bitmap and vector display modes
- Atari paddle/spinnerama controller support
- Internet highscore uploading
- Various smaller fixes.
The game will be available on slimcart for 19 euros and for free download very soon. Also, for those who are interested, there are about 7 limited editions left. contact me if you are interested.
VECTOBLOX:
===========
Still available for sale and will get a free rom release together with colorclash slim release.
V:HOCKEY
=========
This is a topview one on one hockey game, both for single and multiplayer. The game is currently in beta-test with some people to make sure the game is fun and challenging.
I will announce this game very soon.
VEXOS - THE VECTREX OPERATING SYSTEM:
=======================================
I'm still working hard on this. The heart of the OS , the basic compiler and interperter is running nicely for some time now together with the rest of the OS. Back in january i had some issues with the chip music replayer, for which i had to alter my music replayer for better support, and a good mix of memory/RAM usage and romspace needed for a tune.
Also, i spent some time making content for the OS (music, vector animations, basic games and programs,etc.).
Upon release i'm opening a webpage dedicated to the OS that will refresh with content regulary, much like the Playstation store.
So i have to work a bit in advance here ;-)
I'm hoping for a relase at Eurocon 2008
Untitled racing game:
=================
A topview racing game with 5 tracks + bonus tracks to be unloacked.
The game is nearly finished and entering beta-test stage withing 1 or 2 weeks. Any suggestions for the title (not too long of a title) can be mailed to me.
This game will be released at Eurocon 2008.
D:2 (DEBRIS 2)::
==============
This baby has been in the pipeline for quite a while.
Upon releasing debris, being my first game release, i was quite frustrated that i wasn't able to put as much in as i wanted.
On the one side there were still things for me to learn about the system, on the other side i couldn't fit all my ideas onto a 32kb rom.
So for Debris 2 i started from scratch in 2006, with a targeted release at christmas 2006. I was well under way , but in the summer of 2006 my HDD crashed and i couldn't recover the sourcecode.
I restarted the project in 2007, focussing on getting all the graphics, design and music ready and trying out several ideas to see if they are technically doable.
Right now i can announce that i've completed the first preview to be sent out for feedback to a few people. It contains the basic game structure, some of the endboss fights and bits and pieces of a 3D vector background rendering technique that i developed for this game.
Unlike the first debris, in the sequel i'm blending 2D bitmap graphics with 3D line-vector graphics for the backgrounds.
Target release is this christmas, but i will update you on its progress in the meanwhile.
Sorry for the long message, but i had a lot to update you about in my months of absense.
I'm hoping to see/meet some of you at Eurocon this year.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 - Vectrex article on Gamasutra
Between the many things currently in development and to be announced soon, a little fever and my motorstorm online sessions, have a look at this Gamasutra article regarding one of my favorite consoles: The vectrex.
Click here to read the article
It also mentions my vectrex games and upcoming Vectrex OS (vexOS).
Click here to read the article
It also mentions my vectrex games and upcoming Vectrex OS (vexOS).
Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - CML 1.3 on PSP/PSPslim
After a bit of delay/slacking, the PSP version of CML finally gets its 1.3 update.
It now also runs on the PSP slim.
I was asked to compress image/video streams for sending through multiple screens using
10mbit network switches. This way a single videostream could be transfered to multiple terminals to form a single image.
In our test-setup it was an array of 4x4 screens, each 4 screens connected to 1 network switch.
The server end will send a total of 16 packages each update.
Preferably each packet should not exceed a 64kb package-limit, while maintaining high resolutions.
Having only briefly worked on image/movie compression on the gameboy (using indexed color tables) i figured it would be
nice to dive into this challenge without any reading/pre-perceptions on the subject. Hopefully this will lead to an
new or unique approach to image/movie compression.
10mbit network switches. This way a single videostream could be transfered to multiple terminals to form a single image.
In our test-setup it was an array of 4x4 screens, each 4 screens connected to 1 network switch.
The server end will send a total of 16 packages each update.
Preferably each packet should not exceed a 64kb package-limit, while maintaining high resolutions.
Having only briefly worked on image/movie compression on the gameboy (using indexed color tables) i figured it would be
nice to dive into this challenge without any reading/pre-perceptions on the subject. Hopefully this will lead to an
new or unique approach to image/movie compression.