Revival Studios

CMLGUI

2010-03-17T23:29:00.004+01:00

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 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.

Finishing up Core Media Library 1.4

2010-03-02T23:22:00.000+01:00

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.

Meggy Jr development

2010-02-18T08:28:00.000+01:00

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.

Accidental Sabbatical

2010-01-14T22:18:00.004+01:00

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.

Happy new year

2009-01-01T08:25:00.000+01:00

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.

Eurocon 2008

2008-10-16T17:08:00.001+02:00

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!

Vexos basic updated

2008-08-15T13:25:00.002+02:00

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.

2008-07-25T12:57:00.000+02:00

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.

Vectrex article (Gamasutra)

2008-03-12T12:14:00.001+01:00

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).

DML 1.3 to PSP and PSPslim

2008-02-19T01:01:00.001+01:00

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.

Vectrex Basic (VexOS Basic) Beta2 running

2008-01-18T21:48:00.000+01:00

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!

Best wishes for 2008!

2008-01-16T11:29:00.000+01:00

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.

Munchkin plus for the videopac+ released

2007-12-19T20:38:00.000+01:00

Hi all,

I'm proud to present you with a new game for the videopac+ console: Munchkin plus.
Its a videopac+ version of the infamous Munchkin game.

The game will be released in a limited run of 50 copies.
All the packaging and production is complete, so the game is ready for shipping very soon. As of today, the game can be preordered/reserved.

For more information about the game (along with shots of the packaging, screenshots and a movie of the game in action), goto the videopac section of the website and select "munchkin plus".

New Vectrex game - Vectoblox

2007-11-11T17:16:00.000+01:00

Hi all,

I am proud to present to you a new vectrex game called "Vectoblox".

VectoBlox is an exciting puzzle game for the Vectrex arcade system, with no less than 40 different puzzles to solve! The player has to clear each puzzle by shoving all the boxes in each level to their respective target area’s.
Are you skilled enough to clear all 40 puzzles ???

Game features:
- Addictive and challenging puzzlegame
- 40 different puzzles + 10 bonus puzzles
- Many other bonus puzzles to be unlocked.

Price: 19 euros + 5 euro S&H

Fore more information and ordering, go to www.revival-studios.com and select Vectoblox from the Vectrex section.

Additionally, i also did a new run of 3D scape carts for sale at 19 euro's + 5 euro S&H. These carts include 3 different demo's for your vectrex. Go to www.revival-studios.com and select 3D Scape cart from the Vectrex section for more information.

Back from Eurocon!

2007-11-08T04:00:00.001+01:00

Hi guys (and girls),

I've returned from Eurocon 2007. It has been a great weekend for me!
So here are the latest updates:

- If you want to know what Eurocon is all about, i've written a party report which you can read at www.vectrexnews.com (feature article section).
- I've updated the Vexos Operating system page with new information, screens and audio snippets.
- I've added an overview of Basic command and 2 VexosBasic sourcecodes to the Vexos page.
- Vectoblox is ready to ship, and will be officially announced (along with payment details) in the next few days.

Eurocon 2007 / New vectrex games !!!

2007-10-30T02:38:00.000+01:00

Hi All,

Just letting you know i'm doing the final preparation on my new vectrex game called "Vectoblox". The game is a sokoban type of puzzlegame and includes many different levels to play. For more information, select the game from the vectrex menu on the left of my website.

The game will be released at the Eurocon 2007 convention, which will be held on 2-3-4 november 2007 in Zutphen/The Netherlands. For more information about the convention, visit the website at: http://www.retro-gameshop.nl/atari/eurocon2007.htm

Furthermore, i will be releasing the 3D scape democart for the Vectrex at Eurocon as well, as well as demonstrate various products currently in development, including:

- Vexos Operating system
- V:CHIP - chip8 emulator for the vectex
- Radium techdemo
- Stip playable demo
- Munchkin plus (Videopac+)

I hope to meet some of you at Eurocon! So if you have some free time, don't forget to visit!

Misc. news updates

2007-10-12T02:29:00.000+02:00

Hi all,

Here are the latest news updates.

- For starters, i fixed a bunch of pages on the www.revival-studios.com website. The pages for Oldskool demo, Vchip emulator, Radium techdemo and a Vectrex WIP page are now up and running.
- Also the pages for free downloads and available cartridges have been fixed.
- I've started work on a multiplatform simulator for the MB Microvision handheld.
- I was able to get myself a 'SuperCharger' for the Atari 2600, so i should be able to test my 2600
stuff on the real thing now.

With a bit of luck, i should be able to bring you more news on my upcoming vectrex stuff soon!

Retro computerdag 2007

2007-10-03T13:58:00.001+02:00

Hi All,

Just letting you know i will be visiting the retrocomputerdag 2007 , held on sunday, october 7th 2007 in Schiedam / The Netherlands. If you live in the netherlands, this is definitely worth a visit.

There are a large number of stands with retro computer hardware, and also systems to play on.

I will be demonstrating the following Vectrex games at the event:

FIRST PUBLIC VIEWING OF:
- Vectrex OS - wip.
- V:CHIP , the chip8 emulator for vectrex.
- Vblox - A sokoban like game for the Vectrex.
- Maybe a surprise WIP product.

PUBLIC VIEWING OF:
- 3D Scape cart (3 demos, including Performance VX)
- Radium, 3D texturemapped raycasting demo
- Colorclash
- Stip! - Playable demo

Hope to see you all there. For more information about the event, visit: www.retrocomputerdag.nl

Vectrex: V-CHIP emulator finished

2007-09-29T02:16:00.000+02:00

Hi All,

Just letting you know i've finished the V-CHIP emulator today.
V-Chip is a CHIP8 emulator for the Vectrex console.

The emulator runs quite nicely on the vectrex and comes with a bunch of
prepacked games and demos (which are selectable from a menu).

Movies and photos will be posted in the Vectrex section of this page.

Enjoy!

Pixelblocks arrived

2007-09-01T09:47:00.000+02:00

Hi All,

Just letting you know that my box of PixelBlocks arrived today, so i might be adding a pixelblocks section to this website soon. Pixelblocks is a kit of small cubeshaped blocks that will allow you to create physical 2d or 3d pixelart (see: www.pixelblocks.com ).

So far i've recreated a Donkey Kong scene (kong, some ladders, the girl and a hammer-whacking mario) as well as a greyscale mario. Hopefully these creations will be up on this site soon.

DML 1.3 finished

2007-08-28T09:50:00.000+02:00

Finally, after a good 10 months of development, the latest version of the DML library is finished.
It has tons of new features and extensions, here's a small list:

- All utility libraries merged into libcore.a (coremem/coredebug/corefile)
- Corefile library can mount directories and save files (WIN32)
- Corefile library has virtual harddrive commands (chdir, readdir)
- Blitters moved from DML to Coreblit (for better customisation/optimisation)
- Optimised blitter/memoryfunctions in X86 and ARM assembler
- New blitters: MIX25% / MIX75% / Darken / Lighten
- Full screen anti-aliasing
- Video rescaling options
- Soundstreaming

- New sprite functions: DML_CreateSprite, DML_ClearSprite, DML_DrawZoomedSprite, DML_GetBitmapFromSprite
- New primitive: DML_DrawBezier
- BMP Loader updated (fixed pitch handling)
- TGA Loader updated (interleaving, RLE decompression)
- SaveBitmap function works (WIN32), saves TGA
- Soundsystem updated (setvolume,setpanning,setfrequency,setmastervolume)
- WAV Audio Streaming
- DML extensions system
- Various minor bugfixes and cleanups

DML extensions included:
- JPEG Image loader
- MP3 Audio streaming
- Resource browser
- OpenGL bindings (WIN32)

This is only the tip of the iceberg... really a lot has happened since DML 1.2
DML1.3 is currently running in final testphase for a week now, so work on the ports has started.

expect a release within the next 2 weeks.

Random Status update

2007-08-14T18:15:00.000+02:00

Just a random status update from me.
What has happened between last message and now:

- Made some final adjustments on the MegaChip emulator.
- Looked into convertion SuperWorm to the MegaChip (still in development).
- Did some development on an AstroDodge game and a demo for the CHIP8/SuperChip8
- Pixeled a logo for a possible slideshow (multiple platforms).
- Started work on a bunch of small games in DML that act as a sort of sketchbook for their implementations on classic systems (vectrex,coleco,2600,chip8). Basically it allows me to try out some gameplay ideas and see if they work.

First MegaChip roms released

2007-08-08T18:09:00.000+02:00

Here is the first game release for the MegaChip8, called: "MegaBlinky".

MegaBlinky is a MegaChip update of the infamous Chip8/SuperChip8 Blinky game, written by: C. Egeberg.

The game includes a title screen, and high resolution color gameplay.

Also, to give you an idea of the capabilities of MegaChip8, a small twisterdemo has been released that features a Twisterbar demoeffect and background music.

You can grab both releases from the CHIP8 section of this website.

MegaChip8 Emulator and Devkit released!

2007-08-07T18:07:00.000+02:00

An emulator for MegaChip8, as well as a development kit for the Chip/Superchip/Megachip (including examples) is now available from the CHIP8 section of the website.

SCHIP8 Release: SuperWorm V4

2007-08-07T18:03:00.000+02:00

A new release at the CHIP8 section.

I've updated an existing SuperChip8 Game, WORM3 by RB.

The new updated features a new control scheme and better timing, so the game actually becomes more playable than the original.

Introducing Megachip!

2007-08-06T17:55:00.000+02:00

While working on my chip8 emulator, i thought of adding a small extension to the chip8 language, that would allow for color graphics and sound.

So here it is: MEGACHIP8!

MEGACHIP offers:
- 256x192 resolution
- Downward compability (you can run your old CHIP/S-CHIP games)
- Indexed coloring (255 colors max + transparency)
- Fixed high-speed speed in megachip mode
- Extended I-register range (24 bit addessing, 32MB max)
- Update timing at ClearScreen
- Custom sprite sizes
- Digitised sound (mono 8bit)
- Ability to set collision color for collision detection

Megachip is a similar CHIP8 extension as done by Erik Bryntse in the early 90s (superchip) and is fully backwards compatible with the CHIP8/SUPERCHIP.

MegaChip is supported in my megachip emulator, and a development kit + examples for development of Chip8/SuperChip8 and Megachip8 applications is available on the website.

July megaproductivity!

2007-07-29T21:56:00.000+02:00

Pfew!

With July nearing its end, i must say this has been the most productive month of the year for me!

A short overview:
- development of VectrexOS
- development of a chip8 emulator for DML
- development of a chip8 emulator for the vectrex
- release of performance VX
- development of micro::engine, a small portable software 3D engine.
- develpment on DML1.3 , nearing its release
- development of a chip8 demo: "supertrip8" (more on this soon)
- development of several chip8 roms (including a few gamedemos, more on this soon).
- started development on a DML graphics-demo.

and thats including 2 small holidays i had in july (yes i'm leaving on another mini-holiday tomorrow). So see you all next week, when i'll be posting my CHIP8 stuff.

cheers,

Martijn

micro::engine

2007-07-26T11:15:00.000+02:00

hi,

Yesterday i've worked a little on some kind of software demo for DML, which can serve a nice benchmark for DML on various systems... While working on it, i realised it would be nice to have a bunch of software 3D stuff in there as well.

Later that night (1.00am) i decided to write a very tiny software 3D engine for DML that was first of all very easy to use and be very portable...

The result is "micro::engine" , a fully-functional tiny software 3D engine written in C (it exists of only 3 .c files). Ideally for use in simple games and visual demonstrations.

Features:
- Very small/usable interface.
- All Integer/fixed point math.
- Target camera system.

Meshes:
- Supported primitives: Cube, Cylinder, Sphere, Torus, Grid
- Animated primitives: Heightmap, Morphsphere
- Load .OBJ files.

Shaders:
The following shaders are supported:
- dotmode
- wireframe
- flatshading
- gouraudshading
- texturemapping
- environmentmapping

DML1.3 is nearing release

2007-07-22T01:19:00.000+02:00

After several months, DML 1.3 is finally nearing release.
A lot of things have been improved, and i am proud to say that the upcoming release will be quite like the system i imagined a couple of years ago when i started developing it.
The system is divided into 3 parts:
- the core system (virt. file acces, memory handling, blitters and debugging)
- the DML system (all video, sound and input handling)
- DML extensions (add.modules layered on top of DML)

The core-system is now feature-complete, and the final touches are done to the DML system, the extensions and the tutorials/examples. Also, i'm currently optimising some of the blitters is assembler, and i realised i kinda forgot about how much ARM assembler rules!

Expect DML1.3 to be announced/released any time soon with versions for WIN32 and GP2X ready, and the other versions (PSP/NDS/etc.) following shortly.

Back from holiday

2007-07-15T20:11:00.000+02:00

Hi All,

Just letting you know i just returned from a small holiday i took right after the latest coding sessions (see previous news). With a few weeks of vacation ahead, prepare for more updates soon, including some new releases later this week!

Revival Studios website updated.

2007-07-10T17:51:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone,

Some of you might know i release my classic gaming productions under the "Revival Studios" brand. Since the Revival Studios hasn't been updated in a while, i decided to merge my blog with a new revival studios website.

Expect many updates, downloads and day-to-day development news here now and in the future.

Performance VX vectrex demo - rom release

2007-07-10T17:48:00.001+02:00

Hi All,

After sitting on my desk for ages, i've decided to release the ROM image for my "Performance VX" vectrex demo.
For information about the demo and download, goto this page.

Vectrex OS progress

2007-07-03T06:33:00.000+02:00

More latenight coding has resulted in the following progress for Vexos:

- Basic SVG (Scaled Vector Graphics) support.
- JPG support
- Brainfuck (esoteric language) interpeter
- CHIP8: Graphics-test for emulated VRAM-based pixel plotting
- CHIP8: Emulation core (in progress)

Coding marathon - Vectrex OS

2007-06-29T07:24:00.000+02:00

Hi All,

My holiday has started...
As a result, I've currently been up for about 3 days/nights on a coding marathon.

I've been working hard on what might be one of my most ambitious projects on the Vectrex:
A Vectrex OS, called: Vexos.

The OS currently has the following features:
- Drop down menu allows for easy navigation between different files.
- Add all kinds of media to the OS from your PC!!!
- One click binary output using a custom created vectrex filesystem.
- Able to display bitmap graphics (TGA/BMP/PCX formats)
- Able to display vector graphics and animations (VEC format)
- Able to display 3D objects (OBJ format, exportable from 3dsmax)
- Able to display Logo hex-dumps (still unstable)
- Able to run simple basic code (BAS files)
- Able to display text files
- Able to play digtized sound (WAV format, still not very clean)
- Able to play Atari YM music files.

Basically all you could want from an OS/menusystem on your Vectrex.
The best thing is you can now also write your own vectrex programs in BASIC and run them on your Vectrex.

Expect videos, screens and a possible beta to be released soon.

Vectrex - Performance VX demo video

2007-05-30T16:46:00.000+02:00

Hi,

I've released a video of the second demo i did on the Vectrex back in 2003, called: Performance VX. This was my first attempt at doing some 3D effects on the console. The demo consists are 5 different parts timed to the music.

Youtube video available here.

Outline party

2007-05-14T11:55:00.000+02:00

Hi,

I went to the nice outline atari party, held this weekend in the netherlands.
It was good talking to some old friends who i hadn't seen in a while.

Also, i showed some of my vectrex stuff there, and finally released the Performance VX demo i did back in 2003 to the public. (rom file and video soon available here).

Tons of Coleco/MSX updates

2007-04-15T11:37:00.000+02:00

Hi all,

Just letting you know i'm still working hard on various Colecovision/MSX projects, currently the following projects are in development.

- Hokey Pokey (95% finished)
- Event (a 32kb demo) (90% finished)
- Down (55% finished)
- Project:fusion (55% finished)

Early proof of concepts have started for 2 megarom game:
- EFX
- Stip

I expect to have the first screens/movies ready soon, so stay tuned!

d3signer.com goes youtube!

2007-03-02T13:49:00.000+01:00

hi all,

Just letting you know i caved in to the youtube hype, as i though it might be a nice way to show some of my stuff to people without them having to run it on the actual hardware.

I've uploaded a few movies so far, including a movie of some of the Gameboy DMG demos i did. Expect other movies from my coleco/msx, vectrex and console work to appear soon.

Please visit my youtube page at: http://www.youtube.com/superogue1

Colecovision/MSX updates.

2007-02-26T16:10:00.000+01:00

Hi all,

Its been a little while since i updated on my Colecovision projects.
Just letting you know i just finished a number of tech.demos for the system,
including a plasma, 3d textured tunnels and more, and i'm about 85% completed on my first released game: "Hokey Pokey". This game will utilise the 'wonderpix' technology, which will revolutionize the graphical capabilities of the Colecovision.

I should have screens and movies online soon here.

Munchkin Plus for Videopac

2007-02-18T16:06:00.000+01:00

Hi,

Just letting you know i finished Munchkin Plus for the Videopac today. Its a Videopac+ updated version of everyone's favorite Videopac game: K.C. Munckin . The game includes a high quality color plus-background and some other small cosmetic changes.

K.C. Munchkin caused a riot in the 80s when Philips US division Magnavox released the game in the US., since the game had some similarities with pacman. I'm currently working on a proper distribution for this game, so expect to hear more about this soon.

Retro event in Arnhem/The Netherlands

2007-02-10T10:33:00.000+01:00

Hi all,

I've been terribly busy lately, so bare with me for the new articles and updates.

Right now, just a quick note about the upcoming 'Retro computer beurs' in the rijnhal/arnhem on sunday the 18th of february. Its the second time it has been held like this, and the location is quite large (its usually used for concerts and stuff). Revival studios will be exhibiting there, and a preview of the forthcoming "Stip" project will be demo'ed.

More soon...

Sid replayer for DML

2007-02-08T10:34:00.000+01:00

I've just finished a SID replayer in DML, based on the awesome TinySID engine done by Rainer Sinsch.
It actually came about me wanting to have a SID replay plugin for my GBA micro, so i could take it on the road with me, but alas due to the 6502 and SID emulation, i was only able to get it to run quick enough on approx 6khz replay rate, which isn't too good.
However, on most other platforms it runs fine. It also contains a resource browser, which i'll put up for download soon as well.

DML 1.2 Officially released

2007-01-15T14:31:00.000+01:00

Well, after months and months of work, DML 1.2 is finally ready for release.

DML is a multi-platform game programming library that will allow you to develop for multiple platforms simultaniously without altering a single line of code. Supported Platforms are: WIN32, Xbox, Nintendo Gamecube, Nintendo NDS, Sony PS2, Sony PSP, Pocket PC, Sega Dreamcast, MS Smartphone, GP32 and GP2X. Other versions are still in development.

You can now download your own copy, along with a whole lot of excellent tutorials and start console game programming today. Versions for WIN32 and the GP2X are online as of today, the xbox and GP32 versions will follow shortly. Other versions are available for license.

For more information, visit the DML website.

Wonderpix to support Videopac plus.

2007-01-09T03:18:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone,

Just a quick blog update after a nightly coding session. I succesfully updated my classic console graphics tool "WonderPix" to support the Videopac+. It was quite a hell to get all working, basically what philips did was to take the existing G7000 videopac and slap on a teletext module, so you are faced with teletekst type standards. a handfull of single-colored 9x10 characters, with a selection of no less than 7 teletext colors :D Anyways, the converter can convert directly to runnable roms.

Thanks a lot to Rene v/d Enden for helping me understand the Videopac+.

Happy new Year!

2007-01-04T14:24:00.000+01:00

Happy new year to all !!!

There's a lot of exciting stuff waiting for 2007, with DML now completed on lots of platforms, and the core 3d engine rapidly developing things are looking great.

Meanwhile i've updated my vectrex website at: www.vectrexnews.com
It contains a whole new 2007 layout and lots of new stuff added.

New DML ports: PS2 and GP32.

2006-12-12T01:18:00.000+01:00

DML has 2 new ports ready: The GP32 handheld and the Sony PS2. The latter one is still incomplete at the time of writing (audio is missing). I've also done a better WIN32 port
with some new features and fullscreen support without usage of any library like DirectDraw/Direct3D.

New Dreamcast for demo at Retrocomputer event

2006-11-24T01:13:00.000+01:00

I've been demo-ing my new Dreamcast games at the Retrocomputerdag in Schiedam / The Netherlands. The Games on display were Hokey Pokey, Z-quence and Radium. I also made a smalls scroller demo for the event. The feedback i got has been pretty positive so far.

Back from London - Tons of updates

2006-11-16T12:10:00.000+01:00

Hi Everyone,

I just returned from a trip to London (which partly explains the lack of updates :p) and I bought myself 3 nice t-shirts on the trip (all game related ofcourse).

Anyways, good news: The DML system is completed now and the site will soon be opened to public. The 1.2 version has been tested succesfully at a gamedesign college in the netherlands and by various beta testers. With the completion of DML, a final list of all planned projects by Karma Studios/Revival Studios for platforms like the Dreamcast, GP2X, etc.

Here's the list, more information on the projects themselves will be announced shortly:

- Radium - 3D action/adventure - completed
- Zquence - Addictive puzzle game - completed
- HokeyPokey - Addictive puzzle game - near completion
- Junior - Platform game targeted at kids - in development Q4/2006
- Triple Play 1 - 3 small games in one package - in development Q4/2006
- Triple Play 2 - 3 small games in one package - in development Q4/2006
- I:Type - Collection of educational and fun typing tutor games.
- E-Zone - An action-packed platformer - in development Q1/2007
- EFX - Semi 3D sci-fi shooter - in development Q1/2007
- Stip! - Well animated and fun platform game - in development Q1/2007
- Cybores - Futuristic Operation Wolf type game - in development Q1/2007
- Stip! minigames mayhem - A collection of minigames based on the Stip! franchise
- G-loop - A sort of 2D monkeyball type game
- Undercover - First person shooter based on Radium technology

Quite a long list, i know.. but so far simulanous development on all of these titles runs smoothly.
The above games will most likely see release on Dreamcast, GP2X, PocketPC and possibly other platforms as well.

More updates on the games themselves will follow shortly, as development progresses.

HCC/Retrodag event

2006-10-21T15:00:00.000+02:00

Hi all,

I've just returned from the HCC/Retrodag event held in Maarssen/The Netherlands today.
It was a very small event, but i have been able to demonstrate some new Vectrex stuff i was working on. I wanted to demonstrate the upcoming Dreamcast stuff as well, but i didn't have enough time to prepare everything in time.

Radium announced for Dreamcast release

2006-10-16T10:06:00.000+02:00

Revival Studios and GOAT Store Publishing today announced that Radium, a third person action adventure game originally slated to be published for the Game Boy Advance has been upgraded and will be making its way to the Dreamcast for this holiday season.Radium is a futuristic-styled 3D action/adventure game, using a third person perspective. The game features a total 16 levels with 3D environments in 4 different scenarios. The game will also feature high quality graphics, a multitude of weapons, bonuses and upgrades and nicely balanced gameplay.Gamers play as Nova, a female cyborg-experiment who has been captured and awakes inside a laboratory. You must escape from the lab that you are being held in, make your way to the city and figure out who or what is behind your kidnapping, and stop them before their plans can be spread any further.More information about Radium will be revealed in the future. Information can be found at the official Radium Online web site at http://www.radium-game.com/ or GOAT Store Publishing at http://www.goatstore.com/publishing/

Retrobeurs Arnhem

2006-10-01T14:57:00.000+02:00

Hi,

I've just returned from exhibiting at the Retrobeurs in Arnhem / The Netherlands. It was the first time they held this event in Arnhem, and it was well organised imho.

Unfortuanately i haven't been able to demonstrate any of my retro stuff there, but i have been able to sell some of my collection there.

Next event is: HCC/Retrodag held on the 21st of October in Maarssen / The Netherlands

Back online!

2006-09-29T17:00:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone,

I'm glad to be back online. My cable-modem burned out a few weeks ago and i had to have it replaced by the ISP, but unfortuanately they f*&ked up, so as a result i was netless for a few weeks, so it was complete chaos juggling my mail at strangers, etc.

However, i didn't let it interfere with the creational process, so here are the latest updates:

- Wonderworld completely finished now.
- DML 1.1 nearing completion: Various fixes/speedups/additions/etc.
- DML ports: Dreamcast 100% finished, WinCE version completed.
- DML website done. Announcement soon.
- New DML game ready: Z-quence
- Started work on 2 DML games: G-loop and Hokey Pokey.

Thats about it for now, more announcements soon!

Wonderworld preview

2006-09-05T23:09:00.000+02:00

Here's a preview of the wonderworld editor. Wonderworld is a 2D game editor that plugs into DML. It will allow both programmers and users without programming experience to create 2D tile-based games. More information about Wonderworld and the DML system will be published on the DML website soon.

DML - Running on Atari Jaguar

2006-09-03T23:13:00.000+02:00

Today i've been able to succesfully complete the Atari Jaguar port of DML. It took a lot of effort to get it running, as there were no basic systems or libraries available for the Jaguar. After some pingponging back and forth with Charles Doty and the development of a memory manager and I/O routines, the port finally running.

While i didn't expect the port to run all that fluently on a 13mhz jaguar, it turns out the situation is much worse than i anticipated. The current framerate for the test program is about 2-3 FPS !!! :-( Very unusable indeed. I'll let the port be as it is for the moment, and will look into High Level Emulation (HLE) for some of the DML functions in the future.

Tons of updates

2006-09-01T19:36:00.000+02:00

Sorry for the blog-gap :D Just been too busy with a lot of stuff, so here we go:

- Did a LOT of work on DML ports.. built a working Xbox, Jaguar and PS1 skeleton, fixed the soundsystem and did work on a XM/S3M/MOD replayer.
- Wonderworld bitmap editor is nearing completition, release soon. More info soon.
- Fixed sound in Radium. Radium is now ported to PC,Dreamcast and GP2X.
- Designed website for the DML system, which will be launched soon.

I'm hoping to make some progress on the Atari Jaguar soon. a memory management system is already in place and i'm hoping to have a working (and no doubt slow at 13mhz) DML port soon :p

Building a house

2006-08-12T19:54:00.000+02:00

I'll be spending most time this weekend on fixing my house. I bought my house about a year ago in shall we say 'less than mint' condition (a.k.a. major pile of crap), so it needed a lot of work. Luckily i've been able to most the big stuff last summer, but still a lot of small stuff like paintjobs, installing small windows and installing a proper mailbox needed to be done. Its been nagging me for a while, so i decided it was time to do a bunch of those small things.
More news next week.

DML - Undercover

2006-08-11T19:48:00.000+02:00

Now that the Radium engine (this is the engine used to create Radium) has been succesfully ported over to DML, i thought it was time to dig up another project i started on about 3 years ago. It was done as a small preview/demo for a game based on the Miami Vice license. However, the project fell through because the publisher was unable to get the license for Gameboy Advance. It was done using a very early version of the Radium engine, so i had to write a bunch of tools to get some of the data-files available in the demo converted to proper formats. So far i've been able to get the demo levels running. Unlike radium, the game will have a first-person perspective. I'll post some screenshots soon, as soon as i've implemented first person view, overlay/gun graphics,etc.

Videopac - First efforts

2006-08-06T19:43:00.000+02:00

Today i started my first efforts into Videopac/Odyssey2 development. Yet another impossible platform ;-) This machine is a quirky little machine based on the intel 8048 processor. It is able to display 14 single color 8x8 character and up to 4 sprites (again 8x8 single color). On top of that you have 32 bytes of processor RAM available and a few bytes more in external memory.
I haven't been able to do much interesting yet (other than displaying a few characters and outputting some bleeps to the speaker), but i'm focussing on getting a proper development environment set up for this machine first. So hopefully i'll have some more videopac news soon!

Dreamcast - Radium

2006-08-03T19:35:00.000+02:00

Radium, a 3D action-adventure game from my company Karma Studios, has now been ported to Dreamcast. If all goes well, it should have an official release around Christmas.

Radium is a futuristic-styled 3D action/adventure game, using a third person perspective. The game features a total 16 levels with very realistic 3D environments in 4 different sceneries. The game will also feature state of the art technology, high quality graphics, a multitude of weapons, bonuses and upgrades and a nicely balanced gameplay.

DML - Junior! (a.k.a. coming full circle)

2006-07-30T22:12:00.000+02:00

Back in 1995/1996, i was doing my first commercial game project together with a friend of mine. The project was called "Junior" and it was a cute platformer game aimed at a young audience. We had a blast creating it and it was a valuable experience for me going through the whole process beginning to end.

Now, 10 years later i've decided to remake the game using the DML platform. Since the original game was done for MS-DOS and no source-material whatsoever is available anymore, i had to boot up some old EXE files to screencapture the graphics and get a sense of the level-design.

Anyways, i set for myself the task to create the game in a weeks time, this includes new graphics/leveldesign and music. So far i've been able to capture some of the original graphics and do a little work on the title screen and title music. Here's today's result:

DML - New ports: Dreamcast & Nintendo DS

2006-07-27T11:27:00.000+02:00

2 New ports for DML have been completed. The port for the Sega Dreamcast and for the Nintendo DS. I will post images of the various DML ports in action soon, but for now you'll have to do with this image of the dreamcast in action.

Vectrex - Spike Supersports

2006-07-24T19:35:00.000+02:00

Some of you have been waiting for this for a while now, so here it is..
The first screens of Spike Supersports for the Vectrex.

Spike supersports is a sports game based on the Spike characters.The game features 5 different events: 100m dash, long jump, archery, 110m hurdles and key toss and can be played in single player mode, or multiple player. Each player canchoose any of the Spike characters (Spike, Molly and Spud) to play with. The game also supports the VecVox.

The game is making steady progress, but there is no expected release-date yet.

Atari 2600/Vectrex - Expandable!

2006-07-22T20:57:00.000+02:00

I've just returned from holiday!.

While i've enjoyed the warm weather and nice atmosphere for most of the times, i've still been able to do a little work on a small game-project i came up with about 2 months ago. It is called "expandable" and its an unique game-concept i think. You're a spaceship and you'll have to pick up bonus-items while dodging the enemies. as the game progresses the size of your shield starts to increase, making it harder and harder to dodge the enemies. If the enemies penetrate your shield, you will loose energy.

During the vacation i was able to do a little prototype for the atari 2600 an vectrex. See the screenshots below. Let me know what you think.

Atari 2600 - Empire Strikes Back remake

2006-07-18T19:30:00.000+02:00

While struggling to master the 2600, i figured i'll try to do a remake/update of a known 2600 game. One of the games i enjoyed playing on the 2600 was the 'empire strikes back' game by Parker Bros, but i was always annoyed by the very blocky walkers. So i did a little test on my version of the game. Its far from finished, and so far it only features a ship you can control and a scrolling background. I hope i can add some smoothly animated walkers in the future, but first i have to find out how to clip them properly on the edges. Anyway, here's a screen.

Gameboy - From the vault

2006-07-12T23:01:00.000+02:00

I was browsing through some old cds today searching for some graphics and i stumbled upon some old sources of some gameboy things i worked on way back (1996-1999). I wasn't able to get a lot of it compiling, but i was able to assemble a small collection of early gameboy demos:

- techflex.gb - Techflex effect (DMG, 1996)
- parallax.gb - parallax scrolling demo (DMG, 1996)
- plasma.gb - plasma demo (DMG, 1996)
- dudewave.gb - Image wave effect (DMG, 1996)
- vectdemo.gb - 3d vector demo (DMG, 1996)
- matrixtrailer.gb - the matrix trailer (GBC, 1999)
- glowdemo.gb - glowdemo (GBC, 1999)

You can download the package here

Colecovision/MSX - Streetbrawl concept art

2006-07-11T22:27:00.000+02:00

I've recently started work on the game streetbrawl for the MSX and Colecovision platforms. It will be a sidescrolling beat'em up game in the lines of vigilante and kung fu master. However, because of the technical limitations of the platform the game will be more or less and experiment to see if its doable. You can click here for a quick preview.

DML - DML 1.1 finished

2006-07-10T22:23:00.000+02:00

DML 1.1 is now finished for WIN32, SDL and GP2X platforms.
The Dreamcast port is now in the works, however the dreamcast architecture poses some problems to i/o reading and such, so hopefully all will run smoothly. Sega Saturn development was also started, but testing the binaries is problematic. (I used to have a good solution for this, but this required an ISA card, which aren't compatible with todays PCs).

Devroom chaos!

2006-07-08T22:17:00.000+02:00

Things are getting out of control in my devroom. At the moment i have no more power-sockets available, and my poor tv-set is hooked on 3 RGB scarts and 5(!!!) RF plugs :s
Find below 2 photos of the development room in current state (please note that this is the development room and not my collection room, all consoles are being used for developent :p). The room currently consists of 2 development PC's, 1 notebook, a vectrex, colecovision, MSX2, Commodore 64, Atari2600, GP2X, Sega Dreamcast and Sega Saturn.

DML - Audio driver finished

2006-07-06T19:10:00.000+02:00

I spent most of today finishing up the Audiodriver for my soon to be release media library called: DML . The library is a portable graphics&sound library, much like SDL, that allows direct-porting on a large range of platforms. It is set up in a way that it completely seperates the hardware layer from the modules that lay on top of it (modules for handling bitmaps, sprites, fonts, audio,etc.)

I hope to have the first public version 1.1 completed by next week. After that it will be porting mayhem :p Platforms planned are Win32, SDL, WinCE, Dreamcast, GP32, GP2X, Nintendo DS, PSP, PSone, Sega Saturn, Atari Jaguar, PS2, NGC, GBA and more.

Collection - Protector LE & Cubequest

2006-07-06T19:03:00.000+02:00

I finally have been able to add these 2 rarities to my Vectrex collection:

Protector LE & Cubequest
(sorry, just had to share this moment of hapiness)

Collection - New Videopac games in

2006-07-05T21:50:00.000+02:00

Today was one of those getting yourself a present days.
I received 3 new Videopac games for my collection: Satellite Attack+, 57 - blobbers and the rare 59 - helicopter rescue !!!

Now i only need a few more games to complete my videopac collection:
#48 backgammon, #58 air battle, #60 rally will complete the collection for me.
Also, i'm still looking for some language variations on #31 musican, #41 conquest of the world and #42 quest for the rings. If you have any of these games, or other interesting videopac objects let me know.

Atari 2600 - Fullcolor images working!

2006-07-05T05:36:00.000+02:00

After a coding-spree now/last night (its 5.33am now) i managed to get the Atari 2600 full color images working properly. I even went as far as also including direct binary exports in WonderPix (you just click and it will spit out a runnable Binary image containing the full color image, which you can run on an emulator or the real thing).
It took some effort to get everything working, but i'm very pleased with the results.
Find some images attached:

Dreamcast setup & Protector LE

2006-07-04T21:26:00.000+02:00

I was able to get my dreamcast dev. setup up and running today. Using a so-called coders-cable to connect between the PC and the Dreamcast you're able to upload and test programs. I'm now working on porting over my generic graphics/media system called DML. When this is done, i should be able to get some of my projects ported over to the Dreamcast quite easily.

Also, i've received my copy of Protector LE for the Vectrex system today. With a limited release of 100 pieces and good production quality, its a rarity in the vectrex scene. I've been able to get my hands on #42 of 100. My copy of Cubequest (another Vectrex rarity) should arrive later this week.

Atari 2600 - Stella wrestling

2006-07-04T21:12:00.000+02:00

I spent the last few days working on some atari 2600 stuff, mainly making a good titlescreen/menu structure, which will serve as a basis for future games. I spent quite some time adopting Wonderpix to export my atari 2600 title screen properly.

The 2600 was mainly designed to run 2 games: combat (i.e. 2 tanks shooting a missile at eachother) and pong, therefore all the hardware is oriented towards having 2 monochrome playersprites of 8 pixels width, 2 missiles and a ball. In fact Registers on the 2600 TIA chip are litterly called P0 (player0), P1 (player1), BALL, MISSILE0, MISSILE1. in addition to these sprites you can have a playfield (PF) which consists on a 1-dimensional row of 24 blocks of 8 pixels width, which has to be refreshed each scanline. In short: horror!

The soundchip isn't much better with 2 channels of linear frequencies... thats right LINEAR, so it is very hard to have it output a sound that ressembles a western musical note :s Which is why most music on atari2600 is either not present or completely out of tone/key.
While i've tackeled the music problem last month with a music converter that converts proper note data to interleaved linear notes (e.g a D-2 note, would alter between frequencies that for example approximate C#2 and E-2) which, when you take these limits into account, gave a fair result.

So now it was time to get a proper title screen. The titlescreens are done by using the 6-sprite trick on 2600, which normally can only handle 2 monochrome sprites (as described above).
Basically its a trick used in other 2600 games as well to either display a 6-digit score or a small logo, where you'll be refreshing the sprite data of the second sprite while the first is drawn and visa versa. This way you can have a titlescreen with a maximum of 56x192 pixels. I'm now working on a way to display full color images, so that the title screen will actually be a nice addition to the game other than just a boring monochrome logo before starting the game.

To be continued...

Back in Action / Wonderpix

2006-06-30T11:51:00.000+02:00

Back in action...

After a small vacation, on which i've worked a little on a new vectrex project "Spike supersports" (more on this soon), and the hectics of getting my previous vectrex project out the door, i'm back at juggling the development of mutiple classic systems (mainly vectrex, coleco, atari2600 and msx1 at the moment).

One of the side effects of developing for classic systems, is the time you need to invest in proper tools and systems, which in my case is at least as much as the time i spend on the actual project itself. I spent quite a lot of time creating and setting up proper environments for Coleco and Vectrex development. One of the tools i use for graphics management is called "WonderPix", which is a multi-platform graphics tool. It basically supports every classic platform available, like: atari2600, colecovision, msx1, msx2, commodore 64, atari st, commdore amiga, zx spectrum, nintendo nes, sega mastersystem,gameboy, and ofcourse the somewhat newer 64/256-color platforms.I've attached a few screens of the tool in action for your pleasure.

Welcome to my blog

2006-06-30T09:50:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone,

And welcome to my online blog. From now on, you will find all information on my day to day struggles with classic game development on various systems (like the vectrex, atari 2600, colecovision, msx, and more...). Since i'm working at least SOMETHING on either one of these systems, i expect regular updates. So keep yourself posted!

Kind regards,

Martijn