Let's make a game together (with Backbone)!

[amigadave]

Great idea Cammy!

It got me thinking that there should be a website somewhere that provides space where Amiga game coders can go to upload/download artwork, music, sound effects, tutorials and sample source code, for other Amiga game coders to use and/or learn from.

I don't think that Aminet fills this purpose completely.  If the site also had a forum where coders could discuss and ask questions of each other about programming problems, etc., it would be even better.  Sort of a "All-In-One" place for all things related to Amiga game programming.  Different upload/download directories for different programming languages, plus separate directories for different kinds of game artwork, music styles and sound effect categories.

Does anyone know of any website that already fits this description?

Sorry if this idea is a bit "Off Topic" Cammy.  I did not mean to hi-jack this thread.

[Tripitaka]

Nobody in our age range likes cute kids!

I got nothing against cute kids but I hate movies that cast them as heroes who manage to beat the bad guys in an inane and non believable way. Retro video games get away with it a bit more for some reason.

[commodorejohn]

I got nothing against cute kids but I hate movies that cast them as heroes who manage to beat the bad guys in an inane and non believable way. Retro video games get away with it a bit more for some reason.

That's because in video games little kids actually do get to beat the ever-living hell out of Dark Lords of the Apocalypse in full plate armor/mecha/whatever, without any cop-outs

[yssing]

Big robots shooting stuff is always a hit

[Lurch]

I vote Ruff 'n' Tumble type game... great soundtrack, good sfx, mindless shooting and platform jumping :-)

[TCMSLP]

Cammy - as I mentioned on IRC - I'm happy to contribute music / sound effectes too

[Lord Aga]

I voted for a Bubble Bobble type of game. I think it's the easiest kind of the bunch. Others would need tons of graphics and coding. Better start small at first.
Also... I just LOVE Bubble Bobble

A Zelda type of game should be fun and doable also...

And maybe something turn based logic/strategy like "DNA The Variety of Life". Now that's a AWESOME game, yet... with simple mechanics.

[Cammy]

Thanks for the votes and suggestions, everyone! Keep them coming, once one of the choices really outweighs the others I guess we'll decide on it. So far it looks like most people are choosing the hardest one to make, a run & gun. The graphics for this can go a few ways, they can be really nicely detailed but that'll take forever, they could be cartoony and nicely animated (like Alien Hominid), or we could try using digitised graphics, where the levels are made up from photos of buildings and things, and the characters in the game are played by us. Maybe it could be a zombie shooter with lots of blood.

Anyway, I should have mentioned earlier the download links to Backbone, so anyone can download and have a play around with it in the meantime. It includes a tutorial game and a few other example games made in the program.

Remember, making a game in Backbone means there's no programming involved, you just use your mouse to build it! Here is a screenshot showing a few of the different windows in the interface, to give you a rough idea how customisable your game can be (Backbone games can be far more complex and unique than SEUCK games).



You can download Backbone for free from Aminet here:

 http://aminet.net/package/dev/misc/Backbone_Full
 http://aminet.net/package/dev/misc/Backbone_Upd
 http://aminet.net/package/dev/misc/Backbone_Key

[Blinx123]

Wow. I haven't been on here for ages. Good to see Amiga is still alive and kicking

I second Lord Aga. A Bubble Bobble clone would be great. One could concentrate on  character design and sprite behaviour then, rather than having to deal with incredibly sophisticated level design.

Definitely a smart move for a game with a somwhat disctinct character. If that's what you are going for.

From what I see there (I don't currently run an Amiga/Amiga like OS myself, so I can only go by the pictures Cammy posted) Backbone looks quite charming. Seems to be the Polaroid of video game developers, from what I gather.

[Amiga_Nut]

I want a very violent and bloody horizontally scrolling shootem up using the super mario world sprites/backgrounds.

So basically I have the Gradius/Nemesis fighter with all the weaponry and I fly around shooting  mario and yoshi and other pathetic nintendo cutesy characters and their arms fly off and head rolls on the floor and blood spatters the hills/ground/rocks a la Mortal Kombat. Maybe even a quivering mound of flesh like in Technocop from Gremlin on ST/Amiga haha

I didn't see an option for this so guess I will still have to get coding on this too in Blitz

[jj]

You leave Yoshi alone mofo.  He is awesome.

[spihunter]

@Cammy,

You guys can use any of the songs on my band page in my Sig that you want. Most might not be good for game atmosphere but there are a couple of more ambient-ish songs on there that could work. You could even just take some  30 second samples out here and there if you wanted.

Hi everyone. A few people have asked me about Backbone lately, which is an excellent piece of software that allows you to create your own platformers and overhead shooters without needing to code a single line. It's perfect for quickly making the game you want without needing to know how to program, and is a good way to learn the foundations of how to structure a game.

So, I've decided to start a new project where my friends and I start making a game in Backbone with completely original graphics and sounds, which we'll then upload all the project files for anyone else to download and contribute to. Also, all the graphics will be freely available to be used in any of your own personal projects if you want. We can all contribute towards the graphics, levels, sound effects, music and other parts of the game as much or as little as we want, like an open source game, except there's no actual source code, just project files and artwork.

At the moment we haven't created any characters, but I've started a Backbone project and set up a few things like the controls and player movement. Rebel is working on some colour palettes, and we've been brainstorming on what kind of games we could start up and put together relatively quickly. We've come up with a few genres which we wouldn't mind working on, but can't decide on just the one! So I'd like to ask you guys in a poll, which genre of platform game should we make together first?

Once we get a decent amount of votes, and hopefully some opinions too, we'll decide on how we'll start and upload the beginnings of the project for anyone who would like to have a go at making an all-new, original Amiga game.

[Gilthanaz]

Out of curiosity:
If you use Backbone to make a game, will it be stand-alone boot from floppies or will be have to install/use something special? You know what i mean .. will it be like, a loadable module or a compiled game version from floppy? Also, how is the rights situation - if you use this to create some awesome game, will we be able to give you our money, or will the majority be taken by the Backbone developers?

Oh, and platformer or shooter all the way!

- Gil

[SamuraiCrow]

Great idea Cammy!

It got me thinking that there should be a website somewhere that provides space where Amiga game coders can go to upload/download artwork, music, sound effects, tutorials and sample source code, for other Amiga game coders to use and/or learn from.

I don't think that Aminet fills this purpose completely.  If the site also had a forum where coders could discuss and ask questions of each other about programming problems, etc., it would be even better.  Sort of a "All-In-One" place for all things related to Amiga game programming.  Different upload/download directories for different programming languages, plus separate directories for different kinds of game artwork, music styles and sound effect categories.

Does anyone know of any website that already fits this description?

Sorry if this idea is a bit "Off Topic" Cammy.  I did not mean to hi-jack this thread.

Cammy has wanted to build such a website for a long time.  The trouble is finding software that looks good on an Amiga browser.  If we could rig something up for IFF game assets and use a GMANE.org mailing list/newsgroup as the forum, we'd be in fine shape.  Do you have web hosting to offer?

[DCAmiga]

How about a Superfrog/Gods style platform in a StarWars theme

[commodorejohn]

You guys can use any of the songs on my band page in my Sig that you want.

Which reminds me: does Backbone have a special music format, or standard MOD, or what?