English Amiga Board - View Single Post - Atari ST to Amiga: Starquake Amiga Conversion

Galahad/FLT · 16 November 2018, 20:21

So.... its here... warts n all!

Its been a bit of a slog, it would appear that the 45 year old family man me doesn't have the same amount of free time as care free 20 year old single me.....

So i'll start with my thanks to the guys who helped on this release.

Hoffman - Provided the intro music you hear, and its more fantastic than I could possibly have hoped for, it really does help lift up the conversion, and its size involved lots of farting around to get everything to fit, but it was worth the "problems" it caused me to include it.

Predseda - Offered to do some intro graphics, I said "sure", and he turned out a mini story with his screens that really fit the game nicely, and it was a pleasure to have them.

Not only that, LemonAmiga games section should now have a nice shiny entry thanks to Predseda

ADRDesign - Your work was great on Where Time Stood Still, and I was more than happy to ensure you got featured again, and your music doesn't disappoint, your conversion work based on the originals is top work yet again, and I look forward to doing more with you in the future. As far as i'm concerned, if I have a project, your name needs to be involved

NE7 and Notorious - Scoopex stalwarts that excel at what they do. Notorious donating a loading tune, and NE7 did a conversion of the ST Title music, and they know how much I respect their work, and its a pleasure to feature it. Thanks guys, just wish I could have used more.

Estrayk - Protracker genius frankly. We had a conversation, I told him one of my favourite pieces of music was by 4-Mat, he agreed and liked it, shame it wasn't on the Amiga...... 2 weeks later.... it was on the Amiga. Its a shame to hide it away in the secret part, but it doesn't lend itself anywhere else, and i'm quite sure the secret part has pretty much zero chance of staying secret

Mark R Jones - Thanks for the use of your Starquake II logo from your aborted project with Paul Hughes. After a bit of work in Dpaint (I take a bow!), it was ready for display.

Photon - For tireless playtesting, bug finding, coding suggestions, and general being a perfectionist about things, I did appreciate it

Codyjarret - For sorting out all the HOL stuff, I just hope he didn't carry out his threat to do the entire map, we may not see him for a while (512 screens!!!)

Codetapper - Is doing the WHDLoad install as we speak, expect it up any second now, no-one wants my custom imager nonsense lol

So onto the game itself, some have spotted (wasn't exactly covered in secrecy) that Starquake appears to have turned into a commercial product.

Its true.

I had no control over this, and neither did the guys who contributed. It ended up being a necessity to ensure the game could be released on Amiga.

The original author Stephen Crow got wind of the Amiga release and for a while it was touch and go if the project would see completion

Now I don't blame Stephen, after all, irrespective of what i'm doing, Starquake physically belongs to him, copyright and all, and its only right he protects that copyright, because if he's seen to not be protecting it, then that kind of sets a precedent for me or others to then develop Starquake II or other Starquake related games, and whilst he doesn't lose the copyright, it would be very difficult to litigate against should he eventually tire of it after seeing Starquake IV released.

To that end, if he got royalties from the game, then that ensures that there is value to his copyright, and he has proof that he is exercising his rights over it.

The only problem was, we were not selling Starquake, we were giving it away which completely buggered that up.

Step forward Fusion Retro Books who offered a solution that ended up making all parties happy, and ensured that the work done wasn't wasted, and more importantly, the Amiga version has Stephen Crows FULL blessing to be released.

One side issue with an NDA I didn't want to sign, with the compromise of a full Copyright notice at the start of the game making it clear that Stephen Crow is the copyright holder and that the Amiga version was released acknowledging it.... Golden.

So Fusion Retro Books used Starquake as a Perk for their Amiga book, which generated royalties for Stephen Crow and is why there are boxed copies (strictly limited, its not on sale with new copies being manufactured) online.

And a bit of a surprise, but we did actually get a payment off the back of Starquake, it wasn't much, but then none of us did it for the money in the first place, because that was never on offer when I started this.

I've spoken to all concerned recently and they all came to the same unanimous decision...... they all did it for the fun of it.

So it is my intention to donate a large chunk of it toward the Amiga Game Competition. If us contributing some extra money to the competition helps get more games made, then its a donation worthwhile, and subject to speaking to someone this evening (assuming he comes onto EAB), that payment will be made this evening

Oh, do you know what else fucks up a release of a new game?

Gandcrab2 virus which encrypts as many files as it can get to!!!

4 months of work down the toilet as one of the very first things it attacked on the D drive was my copy of my Amiga Hard Drive.

Luckily I had recently upgraded to a newer laptop as the other one was falling apart, and I still had the hard drive installed that I copied from, so 4 months of work lost, but not the end of the world, I got through it.

Bugs, some really serious ones really did knock the wind out of my sails, and one of them was of my own making

And finally, this Starquake release is v1.1

I will be releasing an update in the new year, maybe sooner if time permits, but i'm NOT happy with its performance on 68000 Amigas, not happy at all.

On A1200, it plays exactly as it should, but its too sluggish on A500, its due to the nature of how the conversion is done, and I wrongly thought the action onscreen wouldn't be much of an issue, but it turns out I was wrong.

Developing the game on A1200 for so long and then the crushing defeat of seeing it on the A500 for the first time wasn't great.

But it can be improved and will be, but this version shows as a testament that Starquake exists, its been too long and I didn't want it dragging out longer.

When the update is ready, this thread will be used to announce it.

Want to know more about the cracktro? Then read here: http://www.stashofcode.fr/scoopex-tw...tro-sur-amiga/

And thats it really, thanks again to everyone involved in the project, wish it could have been quicker, but working in a newish business, kids, dog, cats, grandkids (ffs!!)..... none of this stuff is any respecter of the Amiga

So, read no more, check out the zone, and be more...... BLOB

16 November 2018, 20:21	#286
Galahad/FLT Going nowhere Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: United Kingdom Age: 50 Posts: 8,989	Starquake Amiga - Finally released and Information So.... its here... warts n all! Its been a bit of a slog, it would appear that the 45 year old family man me doesn't have the same amount of free time as care free 20 year old single me..... So i'll start with my thanks to the guys who helped on this release. Hoffman - Provided the intro music you hear, and its more fantastic than I could possibly have hoped for, it really does help lift up the conversion, and its size involved lots of farting around to get everything to fit, but it was worth the "problems" it caused me to include it. Predseda - Offered to do some intro graphics, I said "sure", and he turned out a mini story with his screens that really fit the game nicely, and it was a pleasure to have them. Not only that, LemonAmiga games section should now have a nice shiny entry thanks to Predseda ADRDesign - Your work was great on Where Time Stood Still, and I was more than happy to ensure you got featured again, and your music doesn't disappoint, your conversion work based on the originals is top work yet again, and I look forward to doing more with you in the future. As far as i'm concerned, if I have a project, your name needs to be involved NE7 and Notorious - Scoopex stalwarts that excel at what they do. Notorious donating a loading tune, and NE7 did a conversion of the ST Title music, and they know how much I respect their work, and its a pleasure to feature it. Thanks guys, just wish I could have used more. Estrayk - Protracker genius frankly. We had a conversation, I told him one of my favourite pieces of music was by 4-Mat, he agreed and liked it, shame it wasn't on the Amiga...... 2 weeks later.... it was on the Amiga. Its a shame to hide it away in the secret part, but it doesn't lend itself anywhere else, and i'm quite sure the secret part has pretty much zero chance of staying secret Mark R Jones - Thanks for the use of your Starquake II logo from your aborted project with Paul Hughes. After a bit of work in Dpaint (I take a bow!), it was ready for display. Photon - For tireless playtesting, bug finding, coding suggestions, and general being a perfectionist about things, I did appreciate it Codyjarret - For sorting out all the HOL stuff, I just hope he didn't carry out his threat to do the entire map, we may not see him for a while (512 screens!!!) Codetapper - Is doing the WHDLoad install as we speak, expect it up any second now, no-one wants my custom imager nonsense lol So onto the game itself, some have spotted (wasn't exactly covered in secrecy) that Starquake appears to have turned into a commercial product. Its true. I had no control over this, and neither did the guys who contributed. It ended up being a necessity to ensure the game could be released on Amiga. The original author Stephen Crow got wind of the Amiga release and for a while it was touch and go if the project would see completion Now I don't blame Stephen, after all, irrespective of what i'm doing, Starquake physically belongs to him, copyright and all, and its only right he protects that copyright, because if he's seen to not be protecting it, then that kind of sets a precedent for me or others to then develop Starquake II or other Starquake related games, and whilst he doesn't lose the copyright, it would be very difficult to litigate against should he eventually tire of it after seeing Starquake IV released. To that end, if he got royalties from the game, then that ensures that there is value to his copyright, and he has proof that he is exercising his rights over it. The only problem was, we were not selling Starquake, we were giving it away which completely buggered that up. Step forward Fusion Retro Books who offered a solution that ended up making all parties happy, and ensured that the work done wasn't wasted, and more importantly, the Amiga version has Stephen Crows FULL blessing to be released. One side issue with an NDA I didn't want to sign, with the compromise of a full Copyright notice at the start of the game making it clear that Stephen Crow is the copyright holder and that the Amiga version was released acknowledging it.... Golden. So Fusion Retro Books used Starquake as a Perk for their Amiga book, which generated royalties for Stephen Crow and is why there are boxed copies (strictly limited, its not on sale with new copies being manufactured) online. And a bit of a surprise, but we did actually get a payment off the back of Starquake, it wasn't much, but then none of us did it for the money in the first place, because that was never on offer when I started this. I've spoken to all concerned recently and they all came to the same unanimous decision...... they all did it for the fun of it. So it is my intention to donate a large chunk of it toward the Amiga Game Competition. If us contributing some extra money to the competition helps get more games made, then its a donation worthwhile, and subject to speaking to someone this evening (assuming he comes onto EAB), that payment will be made this evening Oh, do you know what else fucks up a release of a new game? Gandcrab2 virus which encrypts as many files as it can get to!!! 4 months of work down the toilet as one of the very first things it attacked on the D drive was my copy of my Amiga Hard Drive. Luckily I had recently upgraded to a newer laptop as the other one was falling apart, and I still had the hard drive installed that I copied from, so 4 months of work lost, but not the end of the world, I got through it. Bugs, some really serious ones really did knock the wind out of my sails, and one of them was of my own making And finally, this Starquake release is v1.1 I will be releasing an update in the new year, maybe sooner if time permits, but i'm NOT happy with its performance on 68000 Amigas, not happy at all. On A1200, it plays exactly as it should, but its too sluggish on A500, its due to the nature of how the conversion is done, and I wrongly thought the action onscreen wouldn't be much of an issue, but it turns out I was wrong. Developing the game on A1200 for so long and then the crushing defeat of seeing it on the A500 for the first time wasn't great. But it can be improved and will be, but this version shows as a testament that Starquake exists, its been too long and I didn't want it dragging out longer. When the update is ready, this thread will be used to announce it. Want to know more about the cracktro? Then read here: http://www.stashofcode.fr/scoopex-tw...tro-sur-amiga/ And thats it really, thanks again to everyone involved in the project, wish it could have been quicker, but working in a newish business, kids, dog, cats, grandkids (ffs!!)..... none of this stuff is any respecter of the Amiga So, read no more, check out the zone, and be more...... BLOB Last edited by Galahad/FLT; 16 November 2018 at 20:31.