Games galore #7: EON, Super Metal Hero, Bagman, Legacy, Tapper, Verge World Icarus Rising

It's been a little while since Games galore #6 - we need to catch up a little, here are more games, and game announcements, from late 2019 and early 2020.

"EON" for AGA Amigas

"EON AGA" is a new Amiga game in development by Goblins / AmigaWave and Wonderboy Bobi (Francois Perez). It's the official port of "EON" for PC computers, created by Wonderboy Bobi in 2014.

In January 2020, a first video of "EON AGA" popped up on YouTube, and it immediately becomes obvious where this is heading. "EON" is a (very) "Shadow of the Beast"-inspired jump-and-run game, and as such it has big shoes to fill when run on an Amiga. "Shadow of the Beast" was a real stunner back in the day, and it still often serves as a demonstration of the original Amiga's graphics capabilities. Now "EON AGA" targets the later AGA-equipped machines, and of course it must not disappoint in the visual department - from what we can see in the videos so far, it easily succeeds, with nicely drawn, detailed graphics, lots of colors, and butter-smooth, fast, multi-layered parallax scrolling. It also already has some intro screens and atmospheric music.

"EON AGA" is still under development, we can expect a lot of improvements. It's main platform are stock Amiga 1200 and CD32 machines, but there have already been successful tests on next-generation/OS4 Amigas.

On June 28th, a new work-in-progress video was published on AmigaWave's YouTube channel ("EON AGA wip 02"):
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHWA4swXBG4

Visit "EON"'s facebook page for more details and updates:
https://www.facebook.com/eonamiga/

Additional sources:
https://twitter.com/CanalAmigaWave
http://www.indieretronews.com/2020/06/eon-amiga-aga-shadow-of-beat.html
https://www.myabandonware.com/game/eon-dxg (2014 Windows version)

Super Metal Hero

"Super Metal Hero" by TenShu and Michael Gibs is a new platformer-shoot-em-up, to be published by Double Sided Games, with a release planned for Q4 2020. While earlier announcements stated the game would require a 68030 CPU and 4MB of FastRAM (see "Additional sources" below), now Double Sided Games' announcement just mentions a (stock?) Amiga 1200.

https://doublesidedgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/super-metal-hero-amiga-5-1024x614.png

"Super Metal Hero" seems to be somehow inspired by "(Mini) Metal Slug", which would partly explain the possible higher hardware requirements, but then this is just speculation, we'll have to wait for a final release to really know what hardware it runs on.

Whatever - it looks great, it sounds great, it moves great, it just oozes "arcade". This is certainly among the most exciting games of 2020.

Watch the latest gameplay teaser video for "Super Metal Hero" (July 29, 2020):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhFgm87kbs8

You can go to Double Sided Games' website and read their full 2020 games line up, including "Super Metal Hero":
https://doublesidedgames.com/announcing-2020-games-line-up/

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2020-02-00072-EN.html

Bagman

"Bagman" is an open-source remake of the 1982 arcade game, for Windows, NintendoDS and: Amiga! According to author Jotd, he's disassembled the original arcade game code to get the game mechanics (near) perfectly right.

"Bagman" original arcade game flyer
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e4/Bagman_arcade_flyer.png

There are two separate Amiga versions available: a "big" one for machines with gfx boards, for which some FastRAM and acceleration is recommended to get decent performance and playability, and a "small" one, which only requires 2MB of memory, and should run at 50 FPS arcade-perfect speed. The "big" version also requires SDL and AHI, but offers a quite unique "panoramic" widescreen mode. Long story short: this looks like another fine retro release, with a proper Amiga port, and classic fun original game!

Watch the "version 2C" work-in-progress game video:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj4rYteTrL4

Find more information about "Bagman" remake on Jotd's website:
https://jotd.pagesperso-orange.fr/bagman/index.html

If you wanna dig really deep, you can find "Bagman" sources and developer information on GitHub: https://github.com/jotd666/bagman

Additional sources:
http://www.amigarevive.eu/new-games/new-amiga-game-bagman-remake-wip/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagman_(video_game)
http://www.indieretronews.com/2019/12/bagman-arcade-classic-gets-early-alpha.html
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=51741
http://www.pouet.net/groups.php?which=7403

"Legacy" (2003) port

Legacy is a first-person turn-based RPG originally released in 2003. It got ported to the Amiga from around 2013 to 2019, but that version never got published. Thanks to EAB member BSzili, since February 2020 an Amiga demo version is available, and it doesn't look shabby at all.

It's a typical dungeon crawler, with nicely drawn graphics, that runs in 320x240, or 640x400 (640x480 RTG) pixels screen modes. System requirements are an ECS or AGA Amiga with Kickstart 3.0 or higher, 1MB ChipRAM, 4MB FastRAM, 68020 or better CPU, and harddrive. Graphics cards (RTG) are supported. If you're using the Amiga's native chipset you can install some patches for better performance (BlazeWCP for WB3.1, or SystemPatch for WB3.0)

Currently there's no definitive info if a full version will be released. But if you're really into playing "Legacy" after you've tried it on your Amiga, you can buy the original full version of the game (by Redshift, for PDA devices) and continue playing - the game-save data is compatible!

Here's a game video from famous YouTuber Saberman's channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oANXGTNj5os

You can download "Legacy" demo from BSzili's website:
http://bszili.morphos.me
(NOTE: 2020-08-02 "Legacy"download link currently broken)

Additional sources:
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=100916
http://www.indieretronews.com/2020/02/legacy-pda-dungeon-crawler-will-be.html
http://www.indieretronews.com/2020/02/legacy-pda-dungeon-crawler-was-in-works.html
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2020-02-00073-DE.html
https://www.mobygames.com/game/legacy_

"Tapper" 1982 arcade game port

In March 2020 EAB member "Old_Bob" published news about his new port of classic arcade game "Tapper" to the Amiga. It requires an Amiga with OCS chipset and 1MB of ChipRAM. That's cool, no fancy stuff here.

The arcade game was great, the Commodore 64 version was great, all existing versions of "Tapper" are great fun to play, and this new Amiga port looks just as if it would continue this great tradition of serving beer at high speed and satisfying your customers. We're very happily looking forward to the final release.

Here's an updated demo video from April (work-in-progress V.02a):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XhvQRtzvx8

Additional sources:
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=101226
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2020-03-00024-EN.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapper_(video_game)
http://www.indieretronews.com/2020/03/tapper-arcade-beer-drinking-classic.html

https://www.myabandonware.com/game/tapper-31 (Windows, CPC, Atari 8bit, ColecoVision, Apple II versions)

Verge World Icarus Rising

Retro Bones Games presents "Verge World Icarus Rising", a voxelspace 3D racer with some shoot-em-up and exploration elements. You play as Nix, a smuggler on a desert planet, who needs to complete the "Death Run" challenge, in order to be accepted by the good guys and join the revolution against the tyrannical, corporate regime. Awesome.

You basically manoeuvre your air-/spacecraft through canyons at high speed. The game uses a voxelspace real-time raycasting graphics engine that's looks amazingly fast, and it's handdrawn titles, in-game pictures, and sprites are pixel art at it's finest, very reminiscent of 1950s/60s science-fiction artwork. The sound effects and music deserve special mentioning, as these too have been worked on to support the "classic sci-fi" atmosphere of the game.

Watch the latest work-in-progress demo video (June 4th, 2020):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfHUqd_KdzU

Go to Retro Bones' website for more information, and "Verge World Icarus Rising" demo download:
http://retrobones.com/

Additional sources:
https://www.facebook.com/RetroBonesGames/
http://www.indieretronews.com/2020/03/verge-world-icarus-rising-unusual-wip.html

* * *

Bonus gaming news:

Inviyya update: Demo V2

We've met "Inviyya" before, we know that it's gonna be a great "R-Type" style shoot-em-up game - but just to remind you that you need "Inviyya", here's the latest demo version video (V2, of March 8th 2020) showing a couple of new features since the last one has been published:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD9G7CA4v5o

As always, go to Tigerskunk's website for more updates, and "Inviyya" demo download:
https://tigerskunk.itch.io/inviyya

Additional sources:
https://www.facebook.com/Inviyya/
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=84345
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=88840 
 

* * *

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for "Games galore #8"!

If you're interested, here are the previous parts of our run-down of 2019/2020 Amiga games:

Games galore #6: DaemonClaw, AmiSaber, Rotator, Project Horizon, Boss Machine!

Games galore #5: R.E.R.O., Stalker, Dread, and the return of Mutation Software!

Games galore #4: Jump!, Tiny Little Slug, Raid Over Moscow, Metro Siege, Recoil

Games galore #3: Playable, finished, released, re-released, and awarded!
 
Games galore #2: Bullet hell! RESHOOT PROXIMA III, Hyperborea, and Inviyya previews

Games galore: Reshoot R, Rygar, BioJet, Pong 4K, AirTaxi - and Trap Runner sourcecode

* * *

Another coin-cell modification: memory expansion expanded!

Here's another example of a memory expansion's leaked battery replaced with a new coin-cell.

A little addendum to the previous article about replacing a Amiga A501's VARTA cell, but this time due to space constraints on the small memory expansion board, the new coin-cell drilled circuit board has been put next to the "mainboard".

The "expanded" memory expansion inside the Amiga 500

Three 3d-printed braces hold the coin-cell board in place. Two probably would've been enough, as the trapdoor cover gives a little pressure from below, adding friction, but we wanna make sure this doesn't move even when the Amiga shakes e.g. when being transported. A few drops of hot glue are a healthy bit of overkill, just for good measure. The good thing about hot glue is that it's not super-sticky, thus can be removed relatively easy if required. Again, this modification can probably be reversed 100%.

As always, the best thing about it, is: it works! :-D

Don't give up, Amigans!

Just a little reminder to stay safe, and keep the good spirit alive.

We can do it!

Music player AmigaAMP updated to v3.27

Good old AmigaAMP music player by Thomas Wenzel got another update, with many bugfixes and a couple of new features.

Here's a shortened overview of the latest changes

• XSPF playlist support
• MP3 playback via HTTP re-enabled
• HTTPS support via AmiSSL
• ReAction GUI: added time/remain toggle by clicking on time display
• OGG file read error handling fixed
• MPEG 2.0 file playback fixed
• URL requester string is now static
• MIDI support added
• ADTS (AAC) playback added
• ...and a lot of smaller bugfixes

Go to http://www.amigaamp.de for full details, and latest AmigaAMP download!
 

Sources: 
http://www.amigaamp.de/screenshots.shtml
http://www.amigaamp.de/log.shtml
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2020-03-00063-DE.html

COVID-19 postpones Flashback 20/20 feat. Amiga 35

The good news is: it's NOT cancelled! But public health still comes first.

Due to the ongoing Corona virus outbreak, with social life in the Netherlands being restricted to a minimum since Monday 23rd, the organisers of the "Flashback 20/20 feat. Amiga 35" event, originally to be held on June 27th/28th, have decided to postpone it to September 12th/13th 2020. According to the announcement, event tickets will remain valid for the new dates. It is recommended to reach out to your travel booking partners, if required.

"We will make sure that we use the extra time between now and September to prepare for an even better event!", the announcement says.

https://www.flashback2020.com/uploaded/2020/03/logo-header-scaled-1920x0-c-default.jpg

Read the full announcement at:

https://www.flashback2020.com/news/event-postponed-until-september


Additional sources:
https://www.government.nl/latest/news/2020/03/23/stricter-measures-to-control-coronavirus

COVID-19 cancels RETROpulsiv 15.0

The University of Applied Sciences Hochschule Augsburg also takes measures against Sars-CoV-2 virus spread.

Another retro computing event, the "RETROpulsiv 15.0" to be held at the University of Applied Sciences Augsburg from 04. - 05.04.2020 has been cancelled due to the outbreak of COVID-19 disease.

With numbers of infections still rising, schools, day-care centers, kindergardens, etc. will be shut down in Germany from tomorrow. Several German regional administrations have extended the restriction on public events to 100 (Bavaria) or 50 (Berlin) participants at most, or are forbidding such events entirely (e.g. city of Kiel).

https://www.hs-augsburg.de/Binaries/Binary31607/shapeimage-2.jpg

Stay clean, Amigans! Protect the elderly!

Sources:
https://www.hs-augsburg.de/Informatik/Events/Abgesagt-RETROpulsiv-15.0.html

COVID-19 cancels Revision 2020

Due to the current outbreak of COVID-19 caused by the new Corona virus, Revision 2020 demo party to be held in Saarbrücken, Germany, from April 10th to 13th 2020, is cancelled - but there's a backup plan.

Based on recommendations from health organisations and doctors, several German states are now denying permits to hold events with more than 1000 visitors. With probably less visitors expected, the Revision party is not directly affected by this practice, but the obvious nature of such an event - esp. the many visitors from different countries - demands increased responsibility from the organisers.

"We are devastated to share this news with you", the cancellation announcement says. Indeed, this is sad news for the Amiga scene, but it's a wise and inevitable decision.

But! There will be events. 

The organisers promise to refund all current tickets. They're also working hard on set of live video streams, planned to be broadcast during the days the original event, covering demo competitions, seminars, music acts, etc. There will be extra livestream tickets allowing virtual visitors to cast their votes and submit entries.

"We’re in full crunch mode on the streaming event now and there will be more information coming up in the following days." 

Read the full cancellation announcement at Revision 2020's website:

https://2020.revision-party.net/cancellation

https://2020.revision-party.net/images/frontend/revision-2020-bg.jpg