As a side to this obviously amazing work. Have you seen or considered Super Deformed Snatcher on MSX at all? This is pretty much Zelda/FF gameplay in the Snatcher universe.
Regardless I would like to see a VB text adventure game definitely and what could be better than Snatcher?
Love to see the progress on this. Thank you kindly 🙂
Amazing work and all credit to the authors/devs. What is the word on a cart version of this? Also any plans for other games with the engine? Or even some new genres utilising the obvious skills/talent illustrated with this?
Apologies for resurrecting an old topic but cannot really find the answer to this…
So I have my Flashboy+ but no matter what game I use it will not retain the save. Battery seems ok(Have used my ‘gamebit’ to take a peek) Not very confident about getting ‘technical’ with the device but if I need to replace the battery then I would be grateful for a ‘noobs’ guide please.
Am I doing something wrong in the flashing?? Just do not get it as it seems like its all there….. *shrugs*
Appreciate all your guidance and advice. Many kind thanks!
Max Payne 3 is a waste of time. Style over content… No good… I want to say more and try and be intelligent but its just not much good.
As for VB: When I first started using my VB properly I experienced these headaches that people talk about… Two things I noticed over time:
The first is that you have to the VB dials set perfectly, which is obvious. The second is that, for me personally, I had to get used to the 3D effect. Prior to using the VB I could not ‘see’ 3D properly in any form. My eyes would just see blurred pictures or nothing at all, even with the right glasses etcetcetc.
Once I started getting used to the 3D effect by playing VB more and more I found that its much easier on my eyes and no headaches. This gave me the incentive to get a 3DS as the main reason to get one is obviously the 3D… *shrugs*
Love vector graphics and love the 80’s feel of the machine. Generally speaking they are silly expensive at the moment for a working one…
Would love to get one though..
Fortress Of Narzod is a personal favourite. Interestingly there is a version of FON for the C64 which I do own. Its very enjoyable and almost the exact same as the Vectrex game. Very awesome!
I am trying to find interesting ‘substitutes’ for Vectrex games. I don’t think its right to just emulate although having said that, the ParaJVE project is looking very good: http://vectrex-emu.blogspot.co.uk/
I am impressed you used a Mark I Saturn controller in the poster. Very impressed indeed! Seems to have more NES/Famicom controllers than others… lol… A preference for the NES/Famicom it would seem.
If its not too late I would like throw in two controller suggestions, one of which would make good with the colour scheme:
Ok so whats the situation with the possibility of ‘semi-private’ sales? So rather than a ‘general’ or ‘public’ release you keep it to the PVB fraternity and strictly under PM??
Of course bigmak is looking to offset costs and naturally we have the donation option…
This being Faceball which was a based off Midi Maze suggests that the game was seen by someone at BPS and then licensed to/by Nintendo/BPS for sale on GB then VB.
The educated thought would be that the team was only maybe two/three people and they handled not just the dev but also the business side. This is partially backed up by the info on the Wiki for MIDI Maze:
The team are not Japanese going from the names. This would lead me to believe that the game was sub-licensed to another dev for console release. This is speculative as the wiki goes on to mention that the original devs (Xanth Software F/X) had a vision of coverting the Faceball formula to Game Boy early on.
Clarity needs to be established here. BPS published only. Quickly skipping through the wiki entries for BPS/Henk Rogers gives no indication that they had internal devs so I can only presume the development was either by a staffer at Xanth or it had been outsourced to someone for dev or to a larger company. Can anyone with an understanding clarify this information? Did BPS have internal devs on their payroll?
Again the source code of the game would be a derivative version from perhaps another source. The question is: What computer/console most fits the VB spec in terms of similar performance and chipset and also had a version of FB developed for it? This might give you clues as to the individual who developed it. (As a sidenote to this… Would it be sensible to assume that if there is a machine with a VB-esque spec, could that mean an easier process to make/dev for VB??)
The Wiki says that one person would handle a specific conversion… So the question is who handled the VB proto? Internal BPS/Outsourced/Xanth staff?
I would postulate two concepts:
The first is that BPS hired someone to cut the code from another version and the spruce it up 3D-style for VB. This would save money and give something saleable quickly as Faceball was doing good business on the various formats and it being simplistic 3D would give it an edge on VB I am sure.
The second is that one of the coders of the other versions simply ported over and rounded off/cleaned up a version they did for another console/computer… This, in fairness, is just speculation and really we cannot determine anything from the current info.
The gentleman/whomever released the pics and got permission for release of the proto must have some ‘love’ for collecting or gaming generally or why have something like that just laying around? Further if he had to ‘ask permission’ then this means that he is obviously ‘below’ the person involved in some way. The only logical solution is that he is a staffer and the person who has the rights is obviously ‘the boss’ or ‘high up’ type individual. Who knows? Personally its too ‘detective’ for me. I am just very pleased that FB is going to be released.
I apologise if this speculative post has missed some points. I just find the history of this quite interesting…
See Gloom on the Amiga for an example of a small but very playable engine for first person play.
Is there any chance of a level editor for this? Reason I ask is that people could make their own levels to go into your game. Maybe a competition…??? (Best design goes into the game etc) That could tie in nicely (and provide some much needed attention) to the actual Faceball game…
I am very grateful to the VB community and, of course, to DanB! Much respect!
I don’t get this ‘exclusivity’ thing on homebrews/prototypes or whatever.
I don’t want to be obtuse or annoying but I have a simple view. Playing games. Especially games made by members of PVB. I am disappointed that the link was taken down. From my point of view I see this game as something different from the FB proto.
To own/play them is the thing for me. What difference does it make what comes out first really? I want to own/play them all on VB!(The general public all play similar games on different formats anyways and we all pay for them. What percentage of games these days are first person shooters? The general public buy them regardless in droves…) I am not being rhetorical here either. I really would like to know why you need to ‘hold back’ on games to ‘allow’ others to exist. It just makes no sense to me. Also whats insulting about sharing/downloading your work?
What I am saying is. The guy who got the FB proto is a king of kings. The PVB community acknowledge the man’s work/financial commitment. So ‘sales’ are going to be affected because someone else is releasing a game of a similar nature? I don’t believe that if I am being honest. Sorry… *shrugs*
I am always anxious to enjoy new VB content. I especially am grateful to the members that create these great titles. I appreciate that everyone involved in the Faceball proto is wanting to maximize every opportunity to ensure a good release and structure/market/whatever… I don’t see the connection between (And I am not trying to trivialize the hard work of the DanB here…) some homebrew and possibly one of the biggest protos of the last 20 decades…
Is there even the remotest of possibilities of seeing Ballface available ASAP? Can it be hosted elsewhere or given to people via PM/request? Then at least the people that are protective of the Faceball proto can be reasonably happy and the people that wanna play new content get something as well…??
I know its possibly a little late but…. When all has been said and done I would just like to play DanB’s game please…
Otherwise I will be forced to play MIDI Maze on the Atari ST 😀 (The people who know Faceball well will get the last sentence…)
I note that VUE Snake has High Score save functionality but it does not save my scores when I switched off the VB after flashing. Do I just flash the game in the usual way or do I need to do something extra?
Obvious gratitude for this project. Exceptional stuff.
Naturally I am stoked to be playing more of this classic game.
Can we use this as a springboard for something with Wolf3D skins/pics? Or what not?
I love the Inns game engine, its works so well on VB. So more of the same wouldn’t be a bad thing for me. My ‘thing’ is stuff like Wolf3D or something atmospheric.
Can something be done with the map screen/shooting element or am I getting too far ahead of myself? lol…
Seriously this is awesome stuff and of course I can only say thanks as everyone else has done.
Appreciate the effort and love that has gone into this!
The way I see it. If someone can do the amazing thing of building that type of a 3D FPS engine then it would make the possibility of Hexen/Heretic all the more realistic.
I don’t see a VB FPS as a straight up Doom clone. I would like to see something VB in style and feel. If someone was to go down the Medieval route and give us a Heretic/Hexen game then thats equally cool.
Naturally this is all just talk. The thought of something FPS on VB is just so appealing…
This will probably end up sounding silly… But couldn’t you put another colour of say cellophane over the lenses to create a new colour? Would that work?
You’d have to ‘mix’ it with the red obviously so the palette would be limited. But couldn’t that work…??
I don’t think the red is necessary to create the stereoscopic effect right???
There are a lot of Doom clones out there which do achieve the essence of Doom but perhaps change mechanics/gfx/simplify gameplay.
Consider the Amiga Doom clones such as Alien Breed 3D or my personal favourite Gloom. These are designed for simpler tech but have all the fun of a Doom-type game.
Could these not be considered as a basis for a game?
With regards to how the game/3D looks when introducing the HUD. Consider the fact that the majority of the functions are on the rather amazing VB pad. You have two pads, should buttons and function buttons on the front. The HUD would only need to have Health/Armour or some such thing…
How cool would it be(Ambitious but…) to have the Doom automapper as a separate screen called up with the SELECT function as an example?
I would even be well stoked to have Insmouse No Yakata with more guns and an item box every so often… lol 🙂
I think Doom direct onto VB would be an amazing technical achievement but I wouldn’t get passionate about it completely. For me I would want a game that made use of what makes VB good. Like something cool with the 3D but simplified mechanics.
Ok this is going to sound really dumb but has anyone played Duke Nukem 3D on the Tiger Game.com. Ok the screen update is terrible, ok the game is stupidly simplified. But it has something. It has a thing… Could that be the seed to get something first person related with ‘rapid’ fire and plenty to kill on VB?
