Comments 414

Re: Playdate Has Had Enough Of All This Generative AI Nonsense

gingerbeardman

@pomegran not only that but it paints a bullseye for harassment

(disclaimer: I made a game for Playdate that received a GOTY and was listed next to Mario and Zelda, I later suffered harassment from a developer et al, from that community, though it was unrelated to ai)

@AndyVGR the parts cost more than $99, simple

@Peteykins the rabbit R1. i guess if they think it's affecting their income they take a stance, and if not they don't

Re: "If That Bothers You, I Understand" - Android Devices Get A Nintendo StreetPass Successor, But Of Course There's A Catch

gingerbeardman

Super cool to see this. I appreciate his manifesto and honesty around its creation, it doesn't sound like vibe coding to me as he has steered it all the way. How exactly I would describe this type of development is a different question.

@Zeebor15 if the programmer wrote the subhead, it would be self-destructive. As it is, it's just destructive.

Aside: I saught funding for a Street Pass clone at one point many years ago, but at the final hurdle the funders (some UK game industry luminaries) said they thought it was too niche.

Re: "Why I Don't Have A Copy In My Hand?" - Frogger 3D Producer Is Amazed 3DS Game Is Now Highly Collectable

gingerbeardman

Here's my review that I wrote a while ago on my backloggd

> Frogger 3D is to Frogger what Super Mario Galaxy is to Mario Bros. Literally the pinnacle of the concept.
>
> A friend said "Probably the highest praise I can give to the game is you can never quite expect what happens next" and I agree. Stages set in cities with roads are a given, but it goes so hard exploring every opportunity that the concept allows. There's a stage at the Itsukushima Shrine complete with a rising and falling water level, really inventive and makes superb use of the 3D effect - you sort of peer into it and you can judge the water level instinctively. Plus there are boss battles, like the one where you have to jump around the rusty roof of a moving truck whilst avoiding oncoming road signs and a bird of prey. This game throws so much Frogger at you.
>
> I will say that there are two approaches to playing this, which it attempts to make clear but can be easily missed. They equate to giving yourself an easy time (just get to the end of the stage) or a hard time (100% completion, sort of thing). And the hard time is a very old school Japanese idea of a hard time. So, if you're finding it difficult, take the easy road.
>
> 9/10

Re: "Built On Theft And Plagiarism" - A Growing Number Of Game Developers Are Sick To Death Of Generative AI

gingerbeardman

I downloaded the report and it's quite balanced in representation: for, middling, against. Which I guess is quite interesting. But more than that, there was no definition of what they mean by "genai". I guess that was in the questionnaire?

I know Steam recently had a policy change where their question about "ai use" now app lies only to content that is witnessed or consumed by players and not to any tools used for "increased efficiency" during development (can't remember the exact phrasing). Previously, for example, if somebody allowed GitHub to automatically title a commit they would have had to tick yes to the ai question.

Re: "It Has To Happen Outside Of Japan" - Game Preservation Society Launches Patreon And Opens US Office Following Government Fund Freeze

gingerbeardman

This announcement has left me with a few puzzling questions. Why did they choose New York instead of teaming up with established groups? The vague call for “knowledgeable people” sounds a bit like they’re still looking, rather than executing a plan.

If GPS has exclusive access to Japanese materials, the pitch could be about collaborating with organisations that are already doing this work effectively. Starting from scratch in a random city in a country that’s currently going through a tough time with politics doesn’t seem like the best approach. Did someone randomly suggest help in New York? This feels a bit reactive rather than strategic, which is a bit concerning when they’re asking for Patreon funding.

I'm probably missing lots of subtleties.

Re: Review: The Llamasoft Collection (Evercade) - A Fascinating Dive Into Jeff Minter's Early Career

gingerbeardman

Is there a list of what games and what versions? eg. is it Amiga or Atari ST Llamatron? (Or the period DOS or modern Jaguar versions, both of which are worse)

Edit: found it https://songbird-productions.com/product/evercade-llamasoft-collection/

Abductor (VIC-20 version)
Andes Attack (VIC-20 version)
Deflex V (VIC-20 version)
Gridrunner (VIC-20 version)
Hellgate (VIC-20 version)
Laser Zone (VIC-20 version)
Matrix: Gridrunner 2 (VIC-20 version)
Metagalactic Llamas: Battle at the Edge of Time (VIC-20 version)
Ratman! (VIC-20 version)
Ancipital (C64 version)
Attack of the Mutant Camels (C64 version)
Batalyx (C64 version)
Gridrunner (C64 version)
Hellgate (C64 version)
Hover Bovver (C64 version)
Laser Zone (C64 version)
Matrix: Gridrunner 2 (C64 version)
Metagalactic Llamas: Battle at the Edge of Time (C64 version)
Revenge of the Mutant Camels (C64 version)
Revenge of the Mutant Camels II (C64 version)
Sheep In Space (C64 version)
Voidrunner (C64 version)
City Bomb (Spectrum version)
Superdeflex (Spectrum version)
Llamatron: 2112 (Atari ST version)
Revenge of the Mutant Camels (Atari ST version)
Super Gridrunner (Atari ST version)

Re: "There Weren't A Lot Of Extras, So It Had To Be Done Right" - Fallout Co-Creator Reveals What Modern Game Devs Can Still Learn From The '80s

gingerbeardman

I made a game for Playdate called YOYOZO. It is 39KB...and features custom physics, particle system, vector graphics, two music tracks, synthesized sounds, custom soundtrack support, bitmap font, menu system, instructions, online high scores. It was listed as a GOTY alongside Super Mario Wonder, Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur's Gate 3. Any dev can do this, they just have to care enough. The easiest way to do it is to not use any engine, frameworks, or plugins. I did it with the standard Playdate SDK, and no includes.