AMIGA alive

AMIGA alive

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

VoxelNoid "taborized" - AmigaOS4 breakout game

A pretty spectacular Breakout type of game for AmigaOS4.

On the occasion of a nearing release of the A1222 Tabor mainboard, Daytona675x (of "Souverän Soccer" fame) is reworking some his creations, among which is "VoxelNoid". It's a wild variation of the classic Breakout idea, complete with 3D, flamethrower, and pumping music. Being a next-gen-Amiga game, the visual quality and number of objects moving on screen exceeds pretty much anything seen on classic Amigas. "VoxelNoid" has a lot of action, but it is done with simplicity and a tad of elegance. Great stuff!

Here's a video from the author's YouTube channel Dän Bänän (2023-08-04):

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPU3-l9HeCA

Thursday, August 24, 2023

Games galore #38: Breakthru, Xevious, AmiSnakes, Bertie's Animal Kingdom, Electric Black Sheep projects in the attic

More arcade ports, a fun snake game, a game for the little ones, and a harddisc load of mini-games/demos.

"BreakThru" work-in-progress

1986 arcade game "BreakThru" was released for 8-bit computers back in the day, and some modern platforms more recently, so far - and is about to become available for the Amiga, too. It's a side-scrolling shoot-em-up somehow typical for its time - which means it's also an arcade classic. The Amiga version is still work-in-progress, but it already looks pretty much 100% like the original version. 

Final system requirements haven't been set, currently the game runs on all Amigas with 1MB, with the author hinting at maybe slightly higher CPU demands as development progresses.

Here's the latest "Breakthru" WIP video from AcidBottle 0101's YouTube channel (2023-05-14):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmy0NFyq3GA

Additional sources:
https://dataeast.fandom.com/wiki/BreakThru
https://www.indieretronews.com/2023/04/breakthru-amiga-port-of-data-east.html
https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=114151

Xevious and Super Xevious

1982 vertically scrolling shoot-em-up "Xevious" is another arcade classic (albeit far more successful than the aforementioned "BreakThru"), and a favorite of many retro gamers. It never got officially ported to the Amiga, but thanks to the efforts of developers tcdev, jotd, and no9, who carefully recreated the game's code and music, we can now play it in perfect arcade quality on our Amiga machines. This remake also includes "Super Xevious", the sequel to the original game.

Here's a video from YouTube channel Saberman RetroNews (2023-06-23):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0F_LU9J3bk
 
Go to the game's itch.io website for more information, and download:
https://jotd666.itch.io/xevious1200

Additional sources:
https://amiga.abime.net/games/view/xevious
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=110262

AmiSnakes

"AmiSnakes" is a simple, fun parallax scrolling snake game that was released around April 2023. If you've ever played a snake game, you'll immediately feel at home here. Even if you've never played a snake game before you'll probably immediately feel at home here. All you have to do is eat pills, and grow. Isn't that great? Yes, it is, but with great length comes great responsibility.

So, long story short: The game has neat graphics, and some nice music, and, well, it's a fun snake game, check it out!

Here's a video from YouTube channel Saberman RetroNews (2023-04-01):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3-awbVkeuE

Go to the game's itch.io page for more information, and download:
https://tukinem.itch.io/amisnakes  

Additional sources:
https://www.ppa.pl/forum/strefa-tworcow/45464/amisnakes (Polish forum thread)

Bertie’s Animal Kingdom

In Feb. 2023, a game that wasn't became a game that is: "Bertie's Animal Kingdom" is a very nice looking educational game for kids that was kinda released about 20 years ago, but got washed away in the shrinking, dissolving Amiga market of the time. Now it has been rediscovered and re-released (for free).

It's a quiz game, in which you have to guess animal names. Obviously it's quite an easy game for grown ups, but with its nice sounds and beautiful hand drawn graphics "Bertie's Animal Kingdom" is a pleasant experience for all players.

Here's a video from "Games That Weren't"'s YouTube channel (2023-02-08):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO8rnXvBPh8

Go to the game's website for more information and download:
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2023/02/berties-animal-kingdom/


Additional sources:
https://www.indieretronews.com/2023/02/berties-animal-kingdom-rather-rare.html

 

Towards the end of 2022, developer team "Electric Black Sheep" let us take a peek behind the scenes of game development, opening up their "attic" by releasing a number of proof-of-concept / tech-demo / mini-game productions, including titles such as "Chopter", "Harvest", "Star Dust Wars 2", "Walker", "Starship Troopers", and a couple more. All of them have some pretty spectacular graphics, most are also playable and have sound. It'll be very nice to see how the ideas and techniques used in these demos show up in future "Electric Black Sheep" projects.

Here's a video from Electric Black Sheep's YouTube channel (2022-11-22):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuzM3oGOzes

If you want to check out some of Electric Black Sheep's projects in the attic, go to their website for more information and downloads:
https://electricblacksheep.itch.io/projects-in-the-attic

* * *

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for "Games galore #39"!


* * *

Support Amiga game development! Buy a game!

Thursday, July 27, 2023

Games galore #37: Minky, None Of Us, Flying Shark, Super Delivery Boy - The Holiday Shift, Chaos Arena

Platformers, arcade ports, shoot-em-ups - and a chaotic multiplayer game for up to six human players!

Minky

In October 2022, full version 1.0 of "Minky", a seriously cute looking platformer game, was released. By December 2022, version 1.4 was released, with a couple of bugfixes and enhancements, e.g. you can now select joystick-up or 2nd-button for jumping.

"Minky" plays a bit slower than for example "Mario Bros.", has some nice music, and most of all looks just gorgeous. Anyone who can resist Minky's big, slow blinking eyes, must be a totally heartless person. 

The game requires an Amiga 500 with 1MB or better, and can be purchased from as little as 1.99EUR (see link below).

Here's a video from YouTube channel Screen Shooters (2022-11-20):
 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh7VEUq_Fzc

Go to the game's itch.io website for more information and download:
https://matze1887.itch.io/minky

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2022-12-00043-EN.html

https://www.indieretronews.com/2022/10/minky-lovely-amiga-game-by-matze1887.html


None Of Us

In Nov. 2022, developer team "Electric Black Sheep" released their proof-of-concept mini-game "None Of Us", which is a top-view scrolling shoot-em-up with a spectacular headlamp field-of-vision feature. So according to the developers it's not meant to be a full-featured game, but it's a highly attractive release nonetheless, reminiscent of "Alien Breed" and arcade shooters like "Commando". And it'll be interesting to see how Electric Black Sheep will refine their field-of-vision technique with the experience gained from this project, for a possible future "full" game.

Here's a video from Electric Black Sheep's YouTube channel (2022-11-21):
 

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

Go to the game's itch.io website for more information and download:
https://electricblacksheep.itch.io/none-of-us

Additional sources:
https://www.indieretronews.com/2022/10/none-of-us-among-us-inspiration-arrives.html


Flying Shark (demo)

"Flying Shark" is a 1987 arcade shoot-em-up that was ported to the Amiga in 1988 by Firebird. Developer Magnus T has been working on a remake since about March 2022, and the latest development update video was released on his YouTube channel in May 2023.

The new Amiga "Flying Shark" is currently a 5-level demo that runs on Amiga 500 with 1MB RAM, and is unavailable for the public. But if you're really interested and do a little bit of research, you can find an earlier demo release. (Hint: Try "Additional Sources" below.)

Here's the latest "FlyingShark" video from Magnus T's YouTube channel (2023-05-23):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkeGg9aV1IQ

An updated, downloadable demo can surely be expected soon!

Additional sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Shark (1987 arcade game)
https://amiga.abime.net/games/view/flying-shark (1988 Firebird Amiga port)
https://www.indieretronews.com/2023/05/flying-shark-wip-flying-shark-remake.html
https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=110252

 

"Super Delivery Boy" by Neeso Games - a game about which we've reported before - got a special release for Christmas 2022, called "The Holiday Shift". 

Well, now it's summer, but "The Holiday Shift" is still a good looking, family-friendly platformer, just like its predecessor.

The game requires an Amiga with 1MB RAM.
 
https://img.itch.zone/aW1hZ2UvMTMwMjg5Ny8xMDYyNzkyNC5wbmc=/347x500/wlIaJs.png

Go to the game's itch.io page for more information and download:
https://neesogames.itch.io/the-holiday-shift

Additional sources:
https://neesogames.itch.io/super-delivery-boy

 

Chaos Arena

...is a cute, chaotic, and somehow mean action game for up to six human players simultaneously, plus computer controlled enemies. The goal is to be the last (wo)man standing in a fight to push each other off the "arena" platform. All Player characters and NPCs look the same, the eponymous arena shrinks as you play, and if the opponent you try to push away steps aside, there's a good chance you might fall into the abyss yourself.

That certainly sounds like a ton of chaos, and an equal amount of fun! "Chaos Arena" was releases in Nov. 2022, and runs on Amiga computers with 1MB RAM and Kickstart 1.3 (and probably higher). Four human players can join the chaos on joysticks (via "four-player" parallelport adapter), and two on keyboard.

Here's a video from YouTube channel OSDane (2023-05-13):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkLz-4pbroM
 
Go to the game's itch.io page for more information and download:

Additional sources:
https://www.indieretronews.com/2022/11/chaos-arena-be-careful-not-to-fall-off.html
 
* * *

...and some bonus gaming news:

"Maria Renard's Revenge" final version

In February 2023 the final version of this fantastic looking adventure platformer was released. You can get it from the game's itch.io page (see link below) - and even name your own price! (If you like the game, make sure to support the author with a couple of dollars/euros.)

Here's a Video of the final version on DomKid's YouTube channel (2023-01-31):


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

Go to "Maria Renard's Revenge" homepage for more information, and download:
https://z-team.itch.io/maria-renards-revenge

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/de/news/AN-2023-02-00035-DE.html

* * *

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for "Games galore #38"!


* * *

Support Amiga game development! Buy a game!

Friday, June 23, 2023

Denise V2.0 Amiga emulator

"Denise" is a new Amiga (and C64) emulator for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. And it's surprisingly good!

Development of "Denise" seems to date back to around 2017, when it started as a Commodore 64 emulator. In March 2023 author PiCiJi released version 2.0, which adds Amiga 500 and 1000 emulation. Running Fedora Linux, I gave it a quick try.

Apart from downloading and extracting the archive, no program installation was required. Just double-clicking "Denise" program icon, and selecting Kickstart ROM file and ADF in the preferences, I was able to nicely play a round of "Tinyus", with sound, and without any glitches or performance issues (i7-4790T, 2.7GHz). 

Double-click icon, select Kickstart ROM, select ADF, and play. Nice!

"Denise" has a little bit of history, which certainly helps when a new emulated platform is created. Preference and menus need a little more work (localization, graphics), but nothing's missing, and everything (still) looks very clearly structured with the added Amiga-related items. (Most?) changes to preferences take effect immediately.

When playing "Tinyus", I had to make a little change to the input configuration: "Tinyus" needs the Space-bar key, which is occupied by Joystick-Fire-Button per default. Assigning a new key just took a couple of seconds without reading instructions. Perfect.

"Denise" preferences: C64 and Amiga cores

"Denise" feels as if it has been designed with a lot of modularity in mind. For example it looks as if the (emulated) video output section from the existing C64 emulation is being used for Amiga video, too - which totally makes sense, as both machines generate quite similar video signals. And there is a "core selection" setting - future new cores can probably be expected.

More "Denise" preferences

Emulation performance was perfect with "Tinyus", which is also reflected by SysInfo's speed test results: "Denise" runs cycle-exact. (No further performance tests were done by me at the current point in time.)

SysInfo: That looks pretty cycle-accurate.

To round it up, here's a shot of "Denise"'s C64 emulation running "Destroyer", and the C64 settings window.

"Denise" C64 emulation and preferences

It's still a bit rough around the edges, and a bit limited, but, wow, "Denise" is a fantastic new Amiga 500 and 1000 emulator! And you get a great C64 emulator along the way! Try it, it's great!

You can download "Denise" from its sourceforge website

https://sourceforge.net/projects/deniseemu/

If you like to read some program code you can visit "Denise"'s git repo:

https://bitbucket.org/piciji/denise/src/master/

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2023-04-00113-EN.html

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Games galore #36: Red 41 The Silent Death, LUMA, Cecconoid (and Eugatron), Grind, Aquabyss

Previously unreleased games, ported games, spin-off games, in-game games, original games!

"Red 41 The Silent Death" by Digital Warp is an unfinished game that only got a preview back in 1993. Roughly thirty years later, then-developer-team-member Daniele Pomposelli has dug out the latest available version from his private archives. 

Although incomplete - some fundamental game mechanics are missing in this alpha-version - it's a fantastic looking jump-and-run-and-gun game, somehow reminiscent of Turrican (of course) and maybe Breathless (if it had 2D side-view)?

Here's a video from Daniele Pomposelli's YouTube channel (2022-11-24):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNl-lhhzTNs

Want to know more? IndieRetroNews has all the details, including download links:
https://www.indieretronews.com/2022/11/red41-silent-death-another-amiga-game.html


LUMA

"LUMA" is an easy to learn, but increasingly challenging puzzle game. If you like this sort of game, this one will get you addicted immediately. It's a port of a C64 game by Shallan, in which you have to direct beams of light through tiled playfields containing obstacles.

A nice little tune is playing along as you push mirrors and the lights' power supplies around the playfield, graphics and sound are a nice Amiga-ish rendition of the original C64 game design, and somewhere around level 30 and up solving puzzles becomes genuinely hard brain-work. Very good!

Go to the game's itch.io website for more information and download:
https://zooperdan.itch.io/luma-amiga

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2022-11-00061-EN.html


Cecconoid (and Eugatron)

"Cybernoid" is a 1987 Hewson multi-screen shoot-em-up game that was released for many 8-bit platforms, Atari ST, and Amiga. "Cecconoid" is a 2019 game heavily inspired by "Cybernoid", available for Switch/Android/iOS/Windows/Linux, and should be ready for release on the Amiga quite soon!

According to the information available, it requires an Amiga with 1MB of RAM, will be distributed by Thalamus Digital, and will have a physical, boxed release.

Yeah, "Cecconoid" looks and sounds really nice, with its minimalist visual approach, detailed and dynamic mechanics, lots of action, and cool electro soundtrack. But not only that: another mini-arcade-game called "Eugatron" is included!

Here's a video from Hoffman's YouTube channel (2022-12-10):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT40WdfWySo

Go to the game's website for more information:
https://www.triple-eh.com/cecco

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2022-11-00055-EN.html
https://triple-eh.itch.io/cecconoid (Windows/Linux release)
https://www.thalamusdigital.co.uk/ (publisher)


"Dread" becomes "Grind" (and stays "Dread")

Certainly among the most spectacular news for Amiga gamers during the last couple of years was this new Doom-clone game called "Dread" that runs (well) on an unexpanded 7MHz Amiga 500.

Well, it still does - but behind the scenes, around Oct. 2022, things have changed a little bit, with a new name for the upcoming game: Grind!

"Dread" will be continued as a non-commercial project by KK/Altair, while "Grind" is set to become a full, patreon-backed game developed by John Tsakiris. 

Check out "Grind" patreon page for more information, and show your support!
https://www.patreon.com/Grind_Amiga

Additional sources:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/welcome-back-73947008
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2022-10-00143-EN.html


Aquabyss

"Aquabyss" is a trading simulation set in the 19th century. It was released in Oct. 2022 by Aged Code, and is continuously being worked on. 

Tons of beautiful graphics make this game a joy to watch, and you'll need plenty of time to fully explore it. "Aquabyss" requires 2MB ChipRAM, 8MB FastRAM and 15MB of harddisc space, but a faster CPU is recommended. It is playable without internet connection, but if available, updates can be received, and high-scores can be shared via game server.

Here's a video from YouTube channel Alex Harkonnen75 (2023-03-05):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfx9pZHl23g

Go to Aged Code's website for more information, and purchase:
https://agedcode.com

Additional sources:
http://aquabyss.com (game server frontend)
https://www.indieretronews.com/2022/10/aquabyss-eagerly-awaited-amiga-game-by_22.html

 * * *

...and some bonus gaming news:

"Super Metal Hero" - alive!

It's been quite a long time since we've reported about "Super Metal Hero", but development certainly hasn't stopped - here's the latest preview video on Raster Wizards' YouTube channel (2023-04-06):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfIEBrtu-YY

* * *

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for "Games galore #37"!


* * *

Support Amiga game development! Buy a game!


Tuesday, June 13, 2023

Software updates (2023-06)

A selection of software titles that have been updated during the last months.

HippoPlayer

In February 2023, HippoPlayer was updated to version 2.56.

http://aminet.net/package/mus/play/hippoplayerupdate

AWeb APL Lite with (then) latest AmiSSL

Also in February, version 3.5.091 of web browser "AWeb" was recompiled with the (then) latest (compare below) version of AmiSSL for improved https support.

http://aminet.net/package/comm/www/aweb_3_5_091

AmiBlitz

Programming language "AmiBlitz" (BlitzBasic) was updated to version 3.9.9, fixing a number of bugs, and adding a couple of features.

https://github.com/AmiBlitz/AmiBlitz3/releases/


P96

In March, RTG system "P96" - formerly known as "Picasso 96" - version 3.3.3 was released. 

https://forum.icomp.de/index.php?thread/3022-p96-v3-3-3-released/


MNT ZZ9000 firmware

Also in March, firmware version 1.13 was released for the mighty ZZ9000 multi-function Zorro card.

https://source.mnt.re/amiga/zz9000-firmware/-/releases/1.13


pci.library

Still in March, Elbox released version 13.14 of pci.library for their Mediator PCI expansion boards.

http://www.elbox.com/downloads_mediator.html


Prelude software bundle, and AmigaAMP

In May 2023, Thomas Wenzel released a new version of his software bundle for the Prelude sound card, and fixed a number of bugs in AmigaAMP, which is now at version 3.34.

http://aminet.net/package/driver/audio/PreludeSoftwareBundleV4

http://www.amigaamp.de

AmiSSL

Also in May, version 5.9 of secure-socket-layer implementation "AmiSSL" was released.

https://github.com/jens-maus/amissl/releases

WHDLoad 

WHDLoad has received a number of bugfixes, bringing it to version 18.9.

http://whdload.de

WinUAE

In June, version 5.0.0 of famous Amiga emulator "WinUAE" was released.

https://www.winuae.net/2023/06/01/winuae-5-0-0/


Monday, June 12, 2023

Games galore #35: Temptations, Atris, Croaker, Emotiworld, Invanoid

Tons of new developments in Amiga gaming land over the last couple of months - here's the next round.

Temptations

"Temptations" is an Amiga 1200/CD32 remake of an 1988 MSX game of the same name. It's a multi-screen platformer similar to "The Abu Simbel Profanation": You have to guide your game character safely through various hazards like moving platforms, spiky obstacles, or dangerous animals. The game looks very nice indeed, it has some truly epic sound effects, and it appears to be reasonably hard to play, with some potential for frustration. Very tempting!

Here's a video from Saberman RetroNews YouTube channel (2023-02-26):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIbbK3d9ufk

You can download "Temptations" from the game's website:
https://s0yamigamsx.wordpress.com/temptations-dl/


Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2022-10-00084-EN.html
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=112194


Atris

"Atris" is a Tetris clone for your big-screen Amiga. It looks super polished with its hi-res, hi-color graphics, and some beautiful piano music is playing along as you stack tetromino upon tetromino. Beauty comes at a price, and in this case you need a reasonably upgraded Amiga: the game requires  AmigaOS3.x, AHI, RTG (800x600 16-bit or better), 35MB of free RAM, and a fast CPU (100MIPS or better).

Here's a video from YouTube channel Deathstar (2022-09-11):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ-Qwm8YyJ8

Go to the game's itch.io website for more information and download:
https://8080.itch.io/atris


Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2022-09-00048-EN.html


Croaker 

Do you have any idea how many frogs die in car accidents each year? I don't - but I'm imagining thousands, maybe millions. On top of that some are eaten by crocodiles and snakes, they drown, or simply fall off the edge of the screen. Horrible.

Enter "Croaker". Generations of frogs have been saved in "Frogger" since 1981, and generations will be saved in "Croaker" from 2022 on.

By all means go to AmiNet, download "Croaker", play it, and save frog lives!

Here's a video from Per-Ola Eriksson's YouTube channel (2022-09-09):  


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRkJ8aqQOAQ

You can download "Croaker" from AmiNet:
http://aminet.net/package/game/actio/croaker

Additional sources:
http://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2022-09-00039-EN.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frogger

 

Emotiworld

Which game would Pac-Man play if he had an Amiga? Probably "Emotiworld". And it makes a lot of sense: We don't know about emoticons' typical diet, but the visual similarities are striking. They look like Pac-Man's grandchildren. 

"Emotiworld" has similarities with the classic arcade game of "Pac-Man", but it's certainly not a clone. In each of its levels, you have to collect a lot of heart-emoticons, and avoid running into evil emoticons like ghosts and angry faces. Doesn't that sound like a nice round of not-too-complicated entertainment?

Here's a video from Amiten TV's YouTube channel (2022-07-13):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxr_4b9mpT0

Go to the game's itch.io pages for more information and download:
https://amiten.itch.io/emotiworld (OCS)
https://amiten.itch.io/emotiworld-aga-v10 (AGA)

Additional sources:
https://www.indieretronews.com/2022/05/emotiworld-final-version-11-of-brand.html


Invanoid (work-in-progress)

Roughly a year ago an early work-in-progress demo of "Invanoid" was released - and the game is precisely what its title says: A mixture of arcade classics "(Space) Invaders" and "Arkanoid". The idea is nothing short of brilliant, and we're eagerly awaiting further news!

Here's a video from YouTube channel AMIGA FACTORY (2022-06-08): 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y9RvRO6GeM

If you'd like to try "Invanoid" demo, see these additional sources for download link:

https://www.indieretronews.com/2022/05/invanoid-arkanoid-and-space-invaders.html
https://www.ppa.pl/forum/strefa-tworcow/43754/invanoid

* * *

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for "Games galore #36"!


* * *

Support Amiga game development! Buy a game!