APoV - The Next Big Project!
 

The HOL has been released and the updating will be continuing steadily for some time now.

However, there is another new project on the horizon...

It's called APoV - Amiga Point of View!

APoV is an online Amiga retro games magazine in PDF form. It will be much like an old paper-based Amiga magazine in that there will be:

Reviews of games
Articles
Walkthroughs/cheats
Letters
etc.

However, we need more people in the team! So far we have:

[Edited by Cody]

Twistin Ghost' - Concept originator, General publisher (layout etc.), writer
CodyJarrett - Concept originator, Co-Managing Editor, writer
Walker - Concept originator, Co-Managing Editor, writer, walkthroughs/tips
blackcornflake - writer
Steve - writer
APFelon - writer
Shatterhand - writer
Belgarath - writer, walkthroughs/tips

At the moment, we mostly need writers. But remember, the writing needs to be of a professional quality. You'll need to properly play games (good and bad) again to write reviews and do a lot of research for many articles. Think carefully before signing on...

I've uploaded a taster review of APoV into the Zone (writing by me and layout by Twistin') to give you an idea. However, much still needs to be decided: for example, the theme/style of the magazine (both writing and graphics) and other issues.

Post here if you are interested, or PM me.

No retrogaming community is as well maintained and no retrogame platfrom is as dearly loved. Deservedly so.

This sounds like something I could be interested in.

While I may hardly be the ultimate Amiga user on this forum, I am first and foremost a gamer... An advantage, actually, since I would be coming in to most games fresh and ignorant (let's not dwell on the "ignorant" part).

I can put together a decent article together when I am serious about it...

Just a few questions, maybe others have these as well:

Will the articles be released under real names or nyms?

Will the topics be self-selected or assigned?

Will we be responsible for selecting screen shots and writing captions/tags, or will an editor do that?

Will the articles focus on the Amiga as a whole, or just the gaming aspect?

How much does it pay? (ha, ha, just kidding).

Would you like to see a "sample" article before you sign on a writer?

Will this run like a regular magazine, with deadlines, etc?

Will this mag be monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly?

How many articles would you like per writer per issue?


Not that your answers to any of these questions would affect my decision to enlist in the project, I am just curious about the minute details.

Will the articles be released under real names or nyms?
Real names, but you can use an invented real name, if you like. I'm using my own name.

Will the topics be self-selected or assigned?
There will be usually be an ultimate decision maker to keep things moving, but mostly it's democratic and if you want to do something you can go ahead and do it. However, it should all be discussed first, so we know what's happening.

Will we be responsible for selecting screen shots and writing captions/tags, or will an editor do that?
The person reviewing the game or writing the article will grab screens and write captions (unless you're using a real Amiga, in which case someone else will do it). If you don't want to grab screens or write captions, no problem - someone else can it.

Will the articles focus on the Amiga as a whole, or just the gaming aspect?
Pretty much the gaming aspect, but a section on serious stuff would be a valid consideration. Also, a tutorial on writing games in Blitz would be a non-gaming thing that could be included. The amount of recent Amiga coverage is something else that needs to be decided.

How much does it pay? (ha, ha, just kidding).
Only the satisfaction of a job well done! :)

Would you like to see a "sample" article before you sign on a writer?
It might be a good idea if we don't know someone's writing, but in your case APFelon, we've all read yours and would love to have you onboard.

Will this run like a regular magazine, with deadlines, etc?
Mostly it will be like a regular magazine, tailored to suit our situations.

Will this mag be monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly?
This is another decision that hasn't been made - it might be better to release issues roughly when they are ready instead of working to a deadline, because this is not a fulltime job and we all have lives to lead. But, regular releases are better than having one issue and then not having another one for a year.

How many articles would you like per writer per issue?
Each issue would probably have one to three articles per issue, depending on size and circumstances. There will be lots of special, smaller and regular articles too.

Hmmh.. a mag.. a PDF mag for us old retro farts like me.. :laughing

This is very interesting.. I'm looking forward to see how this project gets going :D

Great Idea Cody!
 

I like it a lot. I'd definitely be interested in writing for this new online Amiga mag. I've actually done some reviews for websites before. Here is a couple of reviews I've done of two C64 Dizzy games:

http://www.lemon64.com

Click on the Reviews button and then D.
I've reviewed Dizzy and Treasure Island Dizzy.

I'd be interested in writing games reviews, special Amiga related articles and possibly some sort of serious feature maybe on programming. I've a couple of questions. Who would be the editor of the magazine and is the mag name set in stone? I usually buy a magazine if the title is quite interesting like Edge magazine for instance and APoV doesn't really grab me.

I'll probably take on the editor role of the magazine, unless anyone objects! :)

The name is pretty much fixed now...

Very nice ... be sure to drop a notice when the first issue hits the street :)

This is great stuff! I am looking forward to the first issue.

I would love to be a writer, but I doubt my below-average english can do the job.

Check out those reviews and see if my english can do it. If it isn't good enough, then fine :D


http://fire.spejs.net/detail.php?spel=4883
http://fire.spejs.net/detail.php?spel=586
http://fire.spejs.net/detail.php?spel=1937
http://fire.spejs.net/detail.php?spel=5615
http://fire.spejs.net/detail.php?spel=4862

If you really want to be a reviewer, I'm sure we can find a position for you!

I've just noticed that I spelt 'tail' as 'tale' in the review - doh!

I must say this looks great!!! And I look forward to your first edition....

Great idea!
Sadly my english don't allow me to contribute, but I wait for the first issue! :)

There's a lot of gfx and layout work to do it seems....great! :cool

Cody, if you can provide the text and images seperately, I'll try to make an alternative layout.

It looks a good idea :cool

The sample page looks very professional. The only thing I do not like is the edge of the magnifying glass on the Summary.

Yeah, I wanted to see the effect and just typed "magnifying glass" in Google and ended up finding a lacklustre image in the process.

Ambitious, but after seeing your work at HOL, I'm certain you guys can make a success of it.
To complete the cheesey retro-feel, I'd love to see the classic Zzap 64 speech bubble & "reviewer head" that give an expression of whether they thought the game was good/bad/ mediocre,(& if anyone remembers Zzap in fact did cover both Commodore machines until towards the end of its publishing life), but I'm just being nitpicky!:p

It reminds me a bit of "The One" when it reached its peak during the editorship of David Upchurch.
As much as I'd like to write something, I'd be far to crappy to play through to play properly!:p

One question Cody, would you hope to try & track down Amiga "stars" of yesteryear like,eg:Archer Maclean, Geoff Crammond, Andrew Braybrook, Peter Molyneaux,John Twiddy etc., for any interviews about their years on the Amiga/home computer era?

Absolutely.

A admirable but somewhat ambitious project Cody.

I cant help but think that HOL and real life are enough already...

Good luck though. I would like to contribute also, but perhaps after the Whd Dat is in a "easily updateable" state - which it will be in the not too distant future.

That and i still harbour ambitions to go through the box scans on HOL and restore them one at a time.

Methinks I'll have my hands full with HOL for many many days to come!

Nevertheless, I wouldn't mind being a guest reviewer/writer much like Mel Croucher was for Zzap!64 and The Games Machine. :)

@Cody. Great to hear! It'll be interesting to hear if there was any more stories like that behind Abandoned Places' 2 development. And maybe what they think now of the "professional" industry as it exist today compared to the "cottage industry" it was back then.:great