Hi Dark, Oh, yes, smart phones are a great place to find retro games and one very big reason for that is they don't have the CPU power and large enough screens for anything too complex. Developers are finding the games of yesterday to be very well suited for that platform just because they are simple and don't require a lot of CPU power and some outrageously expensive video card and monitor. :D
I agree that far too many developers are making retro remakes of classics with slightly different themes and such rather than something original but I suppose that's because its easier and less expensive to develop something you know rather than invent something totally knew. If I wanted to make a quick buck and someone asked me to write a quick arcade game dealing with space I' sure I might come up with something similar to Zaxxon just because it is familiar, I know how it works, and its a good game I haven't played in at least twenty years. Better yet the game is simple and could be adapted to a touchscreen by moving your starfighter with your finger and double tapping an enemy starfighter to shoot it etc. Just off the top of my head I had a concept I could develop and sell without thinking much about it. Were I to write something from scratch I'd have to spend days coming up with something from scratch which could cost me time and money. As far as the new Tomb Raider game goes from what I've read you are right. Its pretty much some cobbled together generic plots and actions, and lacks the depth and back story of the prior versions. It is very much like a microwave dinner just baked up for the fans without any thought or real planning involved in its creation. As far as independent developers goes that's one reason I hope to get the new web site up and running soon. Not only do I want to have links and information on existing games, but I'd like to write some technical guides on the art of creating audio games and such so anyone who is interested can read it and evaluate if it is something they can incorporate into their own designs without much effort or difficulty. Cheers! On 3/31/13, dark <d...@xgam.org> wrote: > Hi Tom. > > Interestingly enough my brother also! mentioned that a newer company is > producing a full retro console, which needless to say I'm highly interested > > in myself for low vision access reasons. > > it's not just the pc markit however. I've also noticed flicking through > games on the ap store, many are remakes of arcade style classics, or are > simpler games just by nature of being on the mobile platform. A great > example of this is robo E, the game phil recently mentioned. Sokoban is just > > as old a concept as packman or joust being first developed I believe in > 1986, yet it's one of those really simple but addictive ideas. > > In 2008, actually from retro remakes I discovered the series of tyle based > puzzle games such as boulderdash, supaplex and emerald mine, and of course > sokoban, and I have many of thes eon my hard drive which I play, ---- much > as Jk rowling does mine sweeper as a way of clearing my brain, especially > since there are some really nice, but graphically very symple forms of those > > sorts of puzzles available making them absolutely perfect on the low vision > > access front. > > The only thing I will say, is that I've noticed far too many people doing > remakes of actual! classic games but with slightly different concepts, > rather than coming up with a new idea. Take robo E for instance. It's the > same gameplay as sokoban, but with a robot and set in space, rather than > being a worker in a warehouse pushing crates into position the way the > original sokoban is. > > It would be possible to create quite easily with the completely free, open > source rocks n diamonds tyle puzzle game editer by simply modding the > original sokoban graphics then using the level editer to create more levels. > > Heck, if I used the level editer for the game igor the time machine and the > > standard graphics we'd still have a robot as the protagonist :D. > > I don't say this as a cryticism, since if! robo E is accessible using the > iPhone touch screen (which I'll know when I've tried it), then it will have > > one major advantage over rocks n diamonds, and one I will be very pleased > with myself since having those puzzle games that have stumped me accessible > > to everybody will be fantastic, however it can't be denied that robo E is > essentially a new package on an old idea rather than a new idea. > > That being said, in the case of robo E the old idea is simply a type of > puzzle game, where as in something like the latest tomb raider from what I > have read, it isn't even a new take on an old idea, it's just a very generic > > set of plots and action sequences chucked together (I read one review which > > claimed the game was designed entirely by looking at corporate statistics > and seeing what sells). it would therefore be more like a chef creating a > curry pie, ie, a slightly new twist on an older idea, rather than a generic > > ready meel that you shove in the microwave, ie, something which has simply > been designed with little thought to be quick and convenient but nothing > else. > > Getting back to game access though, given that it looks like indi devs are! > > taking over, perhaps this is the point when guidelines such as those 7-128 > created on their http://www.blindcomputergames.com/ site need to be sent to > > sites like retroremakes or game hippo so that if! a developer were! enclined > > to create an audio game, or add some accessible text to the big stratogy rpg > > they were working on, the information would be readily to hand rather than > either A, the dev having to come and seak out the information themselves, or > > B, as usually happens, the dev being contacted by someone from the community > > after the game has been finished and a discussion about adding access > occurring. > > Beware the Grue! > > Dark. > > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. > --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
