Porting games to amiga for fun - worth it?

[Devlin]

A quick bit of knowledge: I'm a solo game developer outside the world of amiga, going by the name of Magicbane and I made a game that I'm considering porting to Amiga for fun.

The game is called Rising Runner and is a puzzle runner with a limited palette(16 cols!)
If you want to see the Windows/Linux version in action there's a link >>Here<< (please consider buying it cause i like to eat and stuff)

My mind is set on using AMOS Professional, since I have it ready to use but I'm more bothered right now about whether it's worth taking the time away to make a free version for Amiga once it's released on Win/Linux.

I'd estimate the requirements to be around the unexpanded A1200+HD mark and would be developing on my A1200 for the most part. Most of the game data wouldn't be cross compatible with the desktop versions since I'd be converting to native formats but I'd make extra effort to make sure you can play the custom levels on both PC and amiga.

What I really want to know is would it be worth it? Since the structure of the game is easily portable(go me) it shouldn't take a long time but I don't really want to work on something that the community wouldn't give a fuck about.

[WayneK]

I like the look of that, but really the question should be turned around:

Do *YOU* want to make an Amiga game?

If you're doing it for the love of the platform/challenge of porting it, I would say go for it.
If you're doing it for the endless adoration of the Amiga community, I would say forget about it and begin work on one of the many ideas you probably had during the development of the Win/Linux version of Rising Runner

On a personal level, I'd like to see it on Amiga although I don't see anything in the short video that couldn't be done on A500/OCS rather than A1200.

[Galahad/FLT]

As Wayne said, that game is doable without any kind of problem on a 512K A500, let alone an A1200 with hard drive. I see no reason why even a standard AmigaDOS disk would get full with a game that size.

I think you underestimate the power of an Amiga

Secondly, like Wayne said, do it for the challenge, but any dreams of making a tonne of money on it? Forget it. Its not that i'm slagging your game off, but recently, a load of games have made it to the Amiga of a pretty high calibre, and they were all free.

Someone will buy it, no doubt about it, but making money on Amiga is probably only likely for an absolute KILLER game that is sorely wanted and people would be prepared to support, and frankly, no-ones interested in trying that hard

[Devlin]

Originally Posted by WayneK

I like the look of that, but really the question should be turned around:

Do *YOU* want to make an Amiga game?

If you're doing it for the love of the platform/challenge of porting it, I would say go for it.
If you're doing it for the endless adoration of the Amiga community, I would say forget about it and begin work on one of the many ideas you probably had during the development of the Win/Linux version of Rising Runner

On a personal level, I'd like to see it on Amiga although I don't see anything in the short video that couldn't be done on A500/OCS rather than A1200.

I would love to make an Amiga game, but at present I just can't justify the time to myself because I can't really afford time to code for "fun".

The Amiga community is far, far too diverse for me to gain the adoration of them all, but I'd like to to at least not go completely ignored like some of my previous PC projects have.

The reason I say unexp-A1200 is just because that's the minimum spec I can test on outside of emulation.

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

As Wayne said, that game is doable without any kind of problem on a 512K A500, let alone an A1200 with hard drive. I see no reason why even a standard AmigaDOS disk would get full with a game that size.

I think you underestimate the power of an Amiga

Secondly, like Wayne said, do it for the challenge, but any dreams of making a tonne of money on it? Forget it. Its not that i'm slagging your game off, but recently, a load of games have made it to the Amiga of a pretty high calibre, and they were all free.

Someone will buy it, no doubt about it, but making money on Amiga is probably only likely for an absolute KILLER game that is sorely wanted and people would be prepared to support, and frankly, no-ones interested in trying that hard

Yeah. My minimum spec is just what I have at hand for testing on real hardware.

If I do port Rising Runner across, the Amiga version would be 100% free, just the PC versions that would not be.

[OldB0y]

Looks like fun, I'd play it.

[Predseda]

Add a download link for the Amiga version to that webpage and I will buy it for 5 GBP for sure. There is nothing in the game that even Commodore 64 wouldnt be able to handle. It looks funny, I would play it on Amiga (it needs a soundtrack, though), but as guys above said: do not expect any massive financial success or anything more that 5 mins of glory.

[Gzegzolka]

Game look interesting If You will have fun You can for sure port it.

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by Devlin

I don't really want to work on something that the community wouldn't give a fuck about.

what is "the community"?

Will you be content with you finishing the game and most people visiting here playing it once or twice to give it a try?

IMO do it for the fun part, which is only for your own benefit. Don't give a shit about if it is played or not.

[Devlin]

The video doesn't have the soundtrack in. I'll be updating it soon when I get to full "early access" - it's a cracking tune by Andy Lemon(no relation to Kim!) aka @_lemon

If you wanna see the tune in the Amiga version you'll have to persuade him to give me the .mod file.

[Amiga1992]

Yes! We need more games and I am hoping you will enjoy the experience. You can always come to EAB and ask about your doubts, a lot of super knowledgeable people hang out here and will be able to help you out!

And I would definitely purchase a copy (if it's good )

[Bugala]

Well, one way you could probably get some money would be to release it on Indiego! appstore: http://aros-broadway.de/indiego//marketplace/

At least currently to my understanding there is still 10 euros a month for each top 10 developers, and only very few downloads are needed currently and i believe you could reach that by releasing it for free available from there.

Unless situation changes by time you get your Amiga version done, i would expect you to be able to grab couple of tens of euros that way (10 - 30 maybe, as 1-3 months top 10). Its not much, but it is a nice bonus anyway.

[Devlin]

Originally Posted by gimbal

what is "the community"?

Will you be content with you finishing the game and most people visiting here playing it once or twice to give it a try?

IMO do it for the fun part, which is only for your own benefit. Don't give a shit about if it is played or not.

That's the idea but I'd like to at least know that people would want to play such a thing before I do it. Not much point in doing something if no-one cares to enjoy it.

[Graham Humphrey]

Personally I would very much welcome seeing this on the Amiga. My own game Downfall was released in 2012 and across OCS and AGA versions has been downloaded well over 4000 times to date - how many people play it more than once or twice is another matter though. So I would think there would definitely be some sort of interest and let's face it, given the amount of activity in the field of new Amiga games these days (or lack of), it is possible - relatively speaking - to be a big fish in a small pond at least for a little while.