|
|
Post by VectorX on Jun 3, 2012 12:32:34 GMT -5
By "us" I mean the Vectrex scene.
Sure, things have been pretty damn good for years, what with a crapload of really good homebrew games that give us way more than a lot of the original GCE games did (note: I mean thanks to bankswitching and you can have several games on one cart, as without the original, you can't have a future of said product), along with various other projects and new hardware and all.
However, are there *younger* people taking up trying to program for the Vectrex? I think it was hcmffm who said on the Vectrex newsgroup that he would program a game when he retired, like in 2032 or something (looking forward to that!). I don't know if someone will pick up (/he'll allow someone else to do it) for Dondzila or anything, but he's not going to live forever, along with George of FURY, Dan Siewers (with his hardware work and all), any of us, etc.
Are there any younger people (age 20 or less) making homebrew games for the Atari 2600, for instance, even though they weren't around for the system originally? I don't know much about the homebrew scene for the machine (yet! I'll get into that eventually, other than just playing some new games for it here and there at gaming expos!) but I'd think that would be a way to gauge if someone is doing the same for the Vectrex (although we ARE talking apples and oranges when "comparing" [note the sarcastic quotes] programming the two, I just mean in regards to the medium age for people taking the stuff up).
Granted, maybe I shouldn't bring up such a depressing subject but it is something people should think about. (bans self)
|
|
|
|
Post by desfeek on Jun 3, 2012 13:22:22 GMT -5
< 22 years old - bucket-list item: Design, Program and Produce your own Vectrex game.
I'd love to see Helmut (hcmffm) try his hand at game creation - you guys would have been impressed by his diagrams and spreadsheets during the Shifted beta/development process - he really understands game mechanics and balance.
I don't know if you noticed, Darryl, but the recent "Where have all the pixels gone?" demo was produced by the Carnegie Mellon University computer club. Young-guns, I would assume.
There are definitely people in the 2600 scene that are younger than the system, making games for it. However, that has partially been helped by the creation of batari Basic - a resource 'we' just don't have. It simplifies and streamlines 2600 programming to make it less like machine language and more like BASIC.
Short answer: no I am not worried. Vector graphics will remain fascinating, and 'we' have the only home video game that can do them. I am worried about my addiction to miscellaneous Vectrex paperwork - but I don't worry about 'us' as a whole.
|
|
|
|
Post by VectorX on Jun 3, 2012 13:30:07 GMT -5
< 22 years old - bucket-list item: Design, Program and Produce your own Vectrex game. (points) Get to it then! (cracks whip) I don't know if you noticed, Darryl, but the recent "Where have all the pixels gone?" demo was produced by the Carnegie Mellon University computer club. Young-guns, I would assume. (Good point, I didn't think about that. But a graphics demo and an actual game are two different things. Granted, if they DID make a game that'd be great  ) There are definitely people in the 2600 scene that are younger than the system, making games for it. However, that has partially been helped by the creation of batari Basic - a resource 'we' just don't have. It simplifies and streamlines 2600 programming to make it less like machine language and more like BASIC. Both are good to hear, as I don't know about ages of [some of the] people making games for it. And the original way to program 2600 games was hard as hell to do. I am worried about my addiction to miscellaneous Vectrex paperwork - but I don't worry about 'us' as a whole. It's all just you, you, you, isn't it?  |
|
|
|
Post by sj on Jun 3, 2012 14:12:03 GMT -5
I've often thought the problem going forward won't be the games but the actual machine to play them on. Nobody's making them (that I know of). These old machines only have so many years life left in them before they pack up. What will we do then? (And emulators and I-phone apps and other such new-fangled rubbish doesn't float my boat, unfortunately.)
|
|
|
|
Post by VectorX on Jun 3, 2012 16:37:24 GMT -5
^Didn't Samsung make the monitor? If you live in a big enough town, there could be a local Samsung center there. I'd definitely try to hit them up to see if they could repair it.
Being an electronics' piece they'd probably at least take a look at it, I'd imagine.
|
|
|
|
Post by gamezone on Jun 3, 2012 19:54:50 GMT -5
Every generation there is a new group of young-ones that prefer the older systems. So I am not to concerned.
I have seen a lot of interest of late in some other systems that were not mainstream. But somehow they are getting into the hands of younger gamers. Probably pass me downs.
|
|
|
|
Post by gliptitude on Jun 3, 2012 22:42:56 GMT -5
Jeez Darryl you have a vicious definition of young I think. You're worried no one under 20 is making Vectrex games? Some of these programmers look to be in their prime to me. I'd be more concerned that they lose interest or drift away from the Vectrex for one reason or another, like some have I guess. People under 20 are not generally productive people.
I grew up playing the NES and then Genesis, didn't even know Vectrex existed until last January, and Vectrex homebrew looks to me like the best homebrew scene out there. I wholeheartedly agree with sj that the machines are the biggest issue. They seem to be durable enough (and serviceable enough) to survive for a while, but they will always be at least as much of a rarity as they are now, probably progressively more rare. I guess the internet makes them easier to locate and trade than in the past, but there is only so many of them out there.
I have a younger friend in school for Computer Engineering and I was able to pique his interest in the Vectrex. Not enough for him to buy one yet, but he was interested enough that he offered to mess around with the programming with me a little bit. But he has conveyed to me his understanding that game programming is very difficult in general and that programming languages involved in old consoles are so outdated that one wouldn't really even be acquiring a useful skill in this process. Learning assembly lanquages might enable a person to program traffic lights in Cuba, if one were to get stuck in that country. Otherwise, this is purely for the enthusiast. Most Vectrex enthusiasts are likely to be people who played Vectrex when they were a kid. ... If you are afraid for future generations and their future lack of Vector gaming, fear on. But for yourself or US, I think we will be able to live out our vector dreams insofar as we are now, until our own fingers stop working.
|
|
|
|
Post by desfeek on Jun 4, 2012 3:23:25 GMT -5
Well said, glip. |
|
)
