Homebrew Interest?

[cdoty]

Would you consider purchasing smaller homebrew CD32 games starting at $10 to $13?

At this price, only the CD with professionally printed label would be included. More expensive packages would be available.
Assuming you would purchase the games, would you be more likely to buy just the CD or a full package?

Again, assuming you would purchase the games, how often would you be willing to purchase a new game, assuming the games were worth
purchasing. (There would be a minimum of 3-6 months between games, probably).

The games wouldn't be as big as a normal CD32 game, but would cost a fraction of the normal price.
How many people play a standard released game for more than an hour?

Does the time spent playing justify the cost?

Do you buy a game as a collectable item or to play it?

I'm pondering the future direction of RasterSoft and how to bring some quality games to the CD32. Developing homebrew games
on a non-commercially viable system does has some limitations; we do not have the time or resources to produce a full scale commercial style release. To compensate for this we want to keep the price as low as possible, narrow the focus to produce the highest quality game and, spread the cost over several game systems. I am trying to determine if the Mastertronic model, of producing smaller games at a 'smaller' price, would fit in the homebrew market.

Thanks for your time in answering these questions.

[Heavy Stylus]

Go for it. We'll review anything you release in RGCD (www.rgcd.co.uk).

I think $10 is a fair price.

[killergorilla]

Will the games feature CD audio or will they be playable on a standard a1200 without a cd drive?

[cdoty]

Originally Posted by killergorilla

Will the games feature CD audio or will they be playable on a standard a1200 without a cd drive?

Hmm, I had never considered that possibility, but it wouldn't be hard to include mod music in place of the CD audio track.

[Graham Humphrey]

It's a great idea and one that will surely get you a lot of support.

[DrF]

I'd buy just to say I had it I guess, more of a collectable to me (since its doubtfull I could actually get anything to run anymore), much that that Beggar Prince what ever it called for the Mega-Drive. There was a small company always in Retro Gamer mag, I think they was called RetroSoft.. anyhow they have fair sales for 8bit systems so I think theres a market still

[Pyromania]

I would be interested

[cdoty]

Originally Posted by DrF

much that that Beggar Prince what ever it called for the Mega-Drive.

That was the game I was comparing against. It's probably a great game. But for $50 or $60 (whatever it was), I'm not sure the normal person would play it enough to justify the cost.

[P-J]

Originally Posted by cdoty

Would you consider purchasing smaller homebrew CD32 games starting at $10 to $13?

That would have to be a no. If you were making them for PC then sure.

[Zetr0]

@cdoty

This is indeed interesting, how many titles have you planned? you want to release about 3-4 per year or more if possible ?.

arguably if you keep your display routines well documented there is quite a few systems that will enjoy your games, not to mention the Atari ST

How many coders do you have? will you be offering freelance work ? or concept / development franchise (like in the case of WORMS with team 17)

to maximize sales, have you considered hand-held console markets ? (its here there is proof even a crap game sells!)

deffinately food for though, and one i would be most interested in.

@P-J
if its that kinda action for your pc, then surely you could download them pop-cap games.... there bloody addictive if nothing else....

[viddi]

I´m interested, too!

I´m a collector AND player and would buy full packages!

[cdoty]

Originally Posted by Zetr0

This is indeed interesting, how many titles have you planned? you want to release about 3-4 per year or more if possible ?.

Somewhere between 2-4 a year, depending on the game. With Frog Feast, I developed a lot of the necessary routines. The biggest challenge is finding or creating the necessary graphics.

Here's some ideas I've been tossing around over the last few weeks:

This is a Worm Whomper (by Activision) type game.




This is a non-scrolling shooting game. I developed this for the PC years ago, but I haven't developed any real gameplay yet.

Originally Posted by Zetr0

arguably if you keep your display routines well documented there is quite a few systems that will enjoy your games, not to mention the Atari ST

This worked pretty well with Frog Feast. Once a core set of functions were implemented, the game would start working. I plan to use the same ideas with the new stuff. For some of the systems I developed for, the game started out with common gameplay code, that was customized for the hardware. This worked nicely on the CD-I version.

Originally Posted by Zetr0

How many coders do you have? will you be offering freelance work ? or concept / development franchise (like in the case of WORMS with team 17) to maximize sales, have you considered hand-held console markets ?

There's just one programmer, me.

The primary goal is to develop games for older game systems; I really haven't planned to become a 'normal' game development studio. I haven't really given much thought to expanding it beyond a hobby; that may come later.

The immediate goal is to produce decent quality games, at a decent price, for these older systems.

[Zetr0]

cdoty

very interesting....

[cdoty]

Here's one additional question to add to the list:

Would you purchase a $6 CD image, that you could burn for yourself, over a $10 (+ shipping) CD?

[Graham Humphrey]

I must admit I would prefer an actual physical product, however if that's not viable then I'd be happy with an image.

[DrF]

Something as rare as this would need to be in some sort of displayable thingy, I mean were paying we want to see it

[cdoty]

Originally Posted by DrF

Something as rare as this would need to be in some sort of displayable thingy, I mean were paying we want to see it

It as battle between getting it as cheap as possible and selling something tangible.

[DrF]

Originally Posted by cdoty

It as battle between getting it as cheap as possible and selling something tangible.

Can't you do a few physical copies for those that may want them? (Limited Edition then get more money too )

[cdoty]

Originally Posted by DrF

Can't you do a few physical copies for those that may want them? (Limited Edition then get more money too )

Yep, physical copies are the preferred method.

[tarr]

Originally Posted by cdoty

This is a non-scrolling shooting game. I developed this for the PC years ago, but I haven't developed any real gameplay yet.

Sorry, but this does not look appealing. You should do some real amiga stuff, not Tiertex games 15 years later.