AlarCity: Development Thread

[sokolovic]

Originally Posted by Predseda

AlarCity became Scorpion Engine. Thats it.

And the games that we had thanks to this wonderful tool.

[Bren McGuire]

i cant understand this position it would have been much better to call it off years ago and be done with it so no one would be any more disappointed and you would get rid of this burden. i do not understand why you wont just cancel it you are working on scorpion and thats great just focus on that

its like your pride doesnt let you be like "you know what i have to be honest here and my interests lay elsewhere this is not going to happen" just put it to rest and focus on what you really are enjoying doing right now

Originally Posted by earok

Here's the thing:

AlarCity is always in the back of my mind. Sometimes I get excited about working on and finishing it, most of the time it's honestly just dread and shame about not having finished it. The latter being stronger than the former, it's difficult to even open the project without unease bordering on panic.

It's also difficult to work on in part because, once I've posted any news, I know that people are going to criticise an incremental update doesn't look anything like years of progress. But also whenever I'm told that people have no faith in it being finished - and by extension, no faith in me personally - that doesn't help me feel good about it, that doesn't help me want to sit down and finish it.

I do work on AlarCity's engine every day, even if I haven't done a lot on AlarCity proper lately. The Scorpion Engine, and every game that came from it, is ultimately an offshoot of the AlarCity project. And that is something that makes me happy, even if the root of the project is a lingering source of unease.

That's not to say that I should be excused from the project. But I do need to return to it when I'm ready for it.

[jurassicman]

We all know that it's not your fault if things went the wrong way... and you were scammed as much as we did so, as I already told you, you don't have to feel guilty for anything.
Just like Bren McGuire said if you aren't able to go ahead with the development just admit this and move on.
No one here is going to point the finger at you for that, and even though we really wished to have that game that looked so promising we will take comfort in knowing that the Scorpion Engine came out of it

[honx]

does anyone know any news regarding that adam zalepa scammer from amiga.net.pl/bitronic.pl who took the money and disappeared?
i hope that scum is dead already...

[Predseda]

Originally Posted by honx

does anyone know any news regarding that adam zalepa scammer from amiga.net.pl/bitronic.pl who took the money and disappeared?
i hope that scum is dead already...

Not any news, but accidentaly my IMP loaded old random module and it was credited to "Adam Zalepa 1996"

He used to be quite known in Poland it seems.

[jurassicman]

I did chat many times with him via email (mostly about Worthy but not only) and he was always very kind and helpful... I really don't understand what happened with Alarcity (and with his store)... it is true that you really never know a person...

[Gzegzolka]

The situation would be much easier with no pre orders, I belive back than situation was different and You were focused on different project than now. Sometimes it is better to put project on hold and admit that You passion is with different stuff now, rather than force Yourself into doing something You do not want, something that could burn You out. I am happy with every new game people create for Amiga and every new idea they want to work, even if that is not my favorite game type. I understood that game development for Amiga is different than for today PC/consoles. It is hobby, not main job, and sometimes stuff take much more time and delays when You have normal job, time for family/friends/other hobbies.

[Tpod]

@earok

As an AlarCity backer reading your statement 'The Scorpion Engine, and every game that came from it, is ultimately an offshoot of the AlarCity project.' has made my day. In effect I've been enjoying playing some quality Scorpion Engine games without realizing I played a tiny part in them coming about!

I don't know what to say about AlarCity itself but I would think/hope when most backers become aware what its development led to, they would be pretty happy with how things have turned out so far.

[jurassicman]

Originally Posted by honx

does anyone know any news regarding that adam zalepa scammer from amiga.net.pl/bitronic.pl who took the money and disappeared?
i hope that scum is dead already...

man, that guy certainly did something reprehensible and scammed many people stealing their money but wishing him death for this reason is maybe a little too much...

In similar cases, in Italy, we "just" wish him to have used all the stolen money to buy medicines!!!

[earok]

I do appreciate the kind words.

I do need to be clear about a couple more things. It's not "pride" that hasn't made me throw in the towel, the truth is I really do want to make the game, and I *do* work on the game. I love the gameplay style, gameplay loop and the potential for what it could be, it's the mess around it that I hate. And for people that do believe and me and do want me to finish it, I'd love to finish it for them.



For what it's worth or not, these were the last two things I did on it. I probably should make a habit of posting to here whenever I do update it, I guess I was just worried that it'd bring up the mess again.



Mega Drive initial prototype test. It doesn't look fantastic because, the Mega Drive palette being far weaker than AGA, it'd need a lot of rework, but the long and short of it is we can and intend to release a Mega Drive version alongside the Amiga version.



Implementation of a camera smooth feature and a feature where the camera looks towards the player's direction. This feature was added to the core Scorpion Engine.

[Reido]

Originally Posted by earok

Here's the thing:

AlarCity is always in the back of my mind. Sometimes I get excited about working on and finishing it, most of the time it's honestly just dread and shame about not having finished it. The latter being stronger than the former, it's difficult to even open the project without unease bordering on panic.

It's also difficult to work on in part because, once I've posted any news, I know that people are going to criticise an incremental update doesn't look anything like years of progress. But also whenever I'm told that people have no faith in it being finished - and by extension, no faith in me personally - that doesn't help me feel good about it, that doesn't help me want to sit down and finish it.

I do work on AlarCity's engine every day, even if I haven't done a lot on AlarCity proper lately. The Scorpion Engine, and every game that came from it, is ultimately an offshoot of the AlarCity project. And that is something that makes me happy, even if the root of the project is a lingering source of unease.

That's not to say that I should be excused from the project. But I do need to return to it when I'm ready for it.

Ah man. Here's the thing also. Every normal person sees the huge amount of work you're putting into the Scorpion Engine and knows you're the real deal. I backed AlarCity, and absolutely agree that it has now developed into Scorpion Engine. Very exciting! So keep up the amazing work, your engine is being born at the perfect time for the 16bit/indie title rebirth!

Ps love the new AlarCity Screenshots, fantastic showcase for Scorpion

[earok]

@Reido cheers so sorry I didn't reply earlier!

The main focus in Scorpion lately has been Neo Geo support, and it's a good chunk of the way there so I thought I'd dust off AlarCity and give it a try.

So we've got the last Scorpion build of AlarCity running simultaneously in AGA, Mega Drive and Neo Geo emulators.

I know it's not a lot of progress, and that's maybe not super interesting, but it is some progress and I'm really happy to have gotten a little further with it.