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,

Looking forward to next year!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Vexos basic updated

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.

Friday, July 25, 2008

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.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Vectrex article (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).

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

DML 1.3 to PSP and PSPslim

After a bit of delay/slacking, the PSP version of DML finally gets its 1.3 update.
It now also runs on the PSP slim.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Vectrex Basic (VexOS Basic) Beta2 running

Hi,

Just letting you know that i now have all the bare essentials of Vexos Basic working.
Vexos Basic is a basic compiler for the Vectrex Arcade system, and is one of the largest components of the upcoming VexOS Operating system.

The Vexos Basic compiler (along with the VexOS operating system) has been a huge burden for me the last months, so i'm happy that i at least have one less thing to worry about now.

Now that all the bare essentials are in place, i'll be sending the compiler off to a few people for testing and/or toying around.
It also allows me to focus on getting the other remaining components of the VexOS in place. Most stuff currently works, but i'm still having a few problems with chipmusic (YM) playback, as well as some interface tweaking.

I'm also working on a bit of content (animations, basic examples, music, etc.) to be released with the initial public release of VexOS. If there is anyone else out there willing to submit content, let me know!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Best wishes for 2008!

Hi all,

I would like to wish everyone supporting the classic gaming community a happy 2008!
I myself am looking forward to the coming year, these are my goo intentions for 2008 as far as revival studios goes:

- Complete VectrexOS asap + update with additional content throughout the year.
- At least one game release for Vectrex
- Make videos/trailers for my other finished projects.
- Continue work on Debris2
- Put the rest of my CHIP8 work online ASAP
- Start working on NES & VirtualBoy.
- Complete the personal section of the page (with info/photos of my collections, lists of good films/games/etc.)
- At least one game release for Colecovision/MSX
- At least one game release for Atari2600
- Release some more extension for DML (DMLVIDEO,MICROENGINE,DMLGUI,etc)
- Start working on a Nextgen 3D project (PC/PS3/360/PSP/WII/DREAMCAST)

I will ofcourse update you throughout the year on my progress.