@> It looks like bt is going to keep that a secret until the game is ready for
@> release, right bt? (Sorry if I spelt your name wrong, this is something that
@> should be on the list FAQ!)
Not true -- the game is "Implode" and a preview page for it has been
up on Mindrec.com for over a month. (look under 'PCE Projects'). And
what should be on the FAQ, how to spell "Bt" or info on "Implode?"
@> bt, could you at least give us a few hints? Is it a new release (i.e. a
@> totally new game, recently developed) or a old game that was cancelled?
This is a totally new game (*), it is like upside down Tetris, so yes
it's in the "timed puzzle" genre. Blocks accumulate on the row at the
bottom and push their way up. As the game progresses the blocks come
faster and in more colors (the screen starts with 3 different colors, and
increases up to 6). Your goal is to "remove" blocks that are linked together
in clusters of 3 or more. To help out, there are bombs - hit a colored
bomb, and all blocks of that color disappear on screen, but if you click
on a block that uses a bomb to make it 3, well, the bomb gets treated like
a regular block. There are also flashing blocks, that is, blocks that
change color and can only be activated when it is appropriate for whatever
color the block currently shows.
(*) There will also be a few other goodies on the CD: Updated versions
of Crash and Humpball; a nice "selection" menu to choose what game to
play; and a few hidden things.
@> I just hope it's not another japanese text adventure :-). Not that I have
@> anything against that kind of game, but I'd love to see a new action game
@> being released.
Not yet, maybe next time around. =) This is going to be an experiment
on several fronts...one is to see what it actually takes to get a CD made
and distributed. The second is to see whether it is feasible to release
new CDs. There will not be that many copies of Implode released (right
now the number is looking to be 1000), and if things go well, I have plans
for several other SCD releases over the next little while. If however
there are low sales, or if "ISOs" appear the day that the CD is released,
then my guess is that this will be the last homebrew game that will get
released in "real" packaging. I am going to be laying out a fair amount
of change for this effort, without any guarantee of getting it back.
Just to give everyone info on where things sit...I am working with several
pesons to develop the CD packaging (the CD will be made to resemble the
Japanese SCD style, however I cannot get Obis [spine cards], I have tried,
and no one in North America can readily make them, so it would be
prohibitively expensive to have them custom made). Another List member
(Marcelo Reis Pinto) is working on getting some sound effects to me;
these will be added to the game over the next few weeks, while final beta
takes place, and I need to correct one error that has been found that
shows up when the game is run on "real hardware" versus an emulator.
If everything goes as planned, the CDs will be printed next month, and
be available in July. No price has been set, but I am leaning toward
$20 for the SCD. Not everything is confirmed at this point, which is
one reason why I have been silent about thing, so this is not yet a
done deal. The day that I get the CDs back from the Dupe House and throw
one in my Duo and see that it works, *that* is when it will be a done
deal.
-bt