Grelox, PC Engine and other plans for 2018

Here's the latest on my various projects, it's been a long time since the last update but hopefully I'll get into the habit of more regular updates.

Inferno is done and out, physical copies are due in the Aetherbyte store very soon. Some have already been dispatched to Beep.

Grelox is a continuing saga of changes, cancellations and delays ever since it started out as something called Apothecary for the PC Engine. But I'm back working on it now for Windows. Programming is an annoying distraction for me because I enjoy the graphics, game and level design much more. However, the main gameplay elements are all in place so the bulk of the heavy lifting is sorted. Tasks now involve coming up with all the enemies & hazards, mapping everything and converting a lot of the MSX style art into the new Master System style that I'm using. Here's one of the recoloured baddies.

I'm also in the early stages of another PC Engine related book. Not a second volume of Pixellence or PC Engine Gamer, but something more personal and unique. Details currently secret but I'll plod on with this as time allows. Ideally I'd like to have it released before the end of the year but it all depends on how things go.

We're between projects now at Aetherbyte. Of course we have plans (too many), but I cant reveal them. But to throw you a bone, here's a drawing of something.

Finally, I've got a new freshly styled issue of ZX Spectrum Gamer 90% complete and ready to go. This will be a special issue, containing an exclusive brand new game called Aeon. The game is split over several tapes and tells a story with the aid of illustrated cut scenes (well, lots of loading screens tied together but you get the idea). It was quite an ambitious project for me (being 4 games and lots of pictures) but I think it worked out well considering my rudimentary knowledge of AGD. I'm just waiting for the 128k music and it's good to go.

The State of Things 2016

2015 was a very quiet year in terms of my game dev projects, but 2016 looks to be busy time, so I thought it would be handy to lay out where everything stands.

Inferno (MSX)
Inferno is getting closer to completion. I've arted up all the sprites and am just mapping the final level. We then need to sort out an end boss of sorts and the whole thing will be good to go. This is our priority at the moment before we leap into any future projects.

Apothecary (PC Engine)
Cancelled. For ever.

Grelox (Windows)
Apothecary has been consumed by Grelox and they are now going to co-exist like some glorious retro-filled Brundlefly. Grelox is going to be ace and is next in line after Inferno is finished, with one exception.

Saber Rider and the Star Sherrifs (PC Engine)
Once we have all the relevant details sorted out with Saber Bossman, this is going to be developed either alongside or as priority over Grelox next. We're still waiting for clarification on certain things I think but it's going to be an interesting project to work on. Even with the graphics drawn for the other 'primary' versions, the whole lot will have to be redrawn from scratch to fit the tile sizes and limitations of the PCE, so chances are this will feel like its own unique game. And of course it will be the best version...

Second Wind - Apothecary for PC Engine lives again

Back in February, I posted about the cancellation of my PC Engine action/adventure/puzzle game Apothecary.

Naturally, some of the PC Engine/TG-16 community was disappointed at a homebrew title getting canned, so I posted a challenge to programmers out there to get a working game engine up and running if they wanted to see the project live again. Orion, the man behind Ultimate Rally Club  and many other retro projects has since been into contact with me and began work on getting some basic sprite movement and maps together.

Well, we've now got to a point where I feel that both Orion and myself are committed to finishing the game and as such, I have been hard at work mapping out the rooms with the final tile artwork. While the game was originally planned as a HuCARD, it will now be a CD, but aside from that there will likely be no major changes to the original concept.

More information will be revealed as development proceeds.

Atlantean Trailer

It's been a few years, but Atlantean is finally finished. Here's the full release trailer. The game will be available to purchase from www.aetherbyte.com hopefully in the next week or two. It takes a lot of effort to build these cards and 3D print the boxes.

Death of a PC Engine Game

It's always a really hard decision to close the door on something that you've spent an awful lot of time with - any project you work on seeps into everything you do as in the back of your mind, you're always trying to plan game mechanics, plot details, how things will look or clever puzzles to include. It becomes part of your everyday routine, not to mention the evenings spent sitting in front of a monitor mapping or drawing tiles and sprites worthy of inclusion.

After 2 years of planning, Apothecary for PC Engine is no more.

Apothecary was the forerunner to what Grelox will become - an arcade adventure using item puzzles as a form of game progression. It was always simpler than Grelox, as I designed it with my mind firmly on making it as easy to program as possible without sacrificing too much gameplay (and so there was no attacking, only dodging, no bosses and no scrolling!).

So why is it being put to sleep? It's all a case of timescales. From inception, Atlantean (our almost-finished PC Engine project) will be coming in at about 3 years development time, and that's for a simple Defender style shooter. Apothecary has already been in development for 2 years, and that's without a single line of code being written. It was due to be started after completion of our 'Jungle Hunt' and 'Joust' projects, which means it probably wouldn't see the light of day for a long time. PC Engine development is fun and exciting, but it's also very, very hard and slow. With just 2 people working on a game as ambitious as this, it's just depressing to think about.

That's why once day I realised that pursuing Apothecary any further was going to be more hassle than it's worth (i.e. I'd probably be dead from old age before it gets finished). While the plot, puzzles and other elements will be lost, at the very least I can salvage some of the map layouts and don't be surprised if a few of the background tiles turn up in Grelox, which promises to be a much faster development period due to the tools we have at our disposal.

So here I present a collection of images for Apothecary, the PC Engine game that never was.

A sample of proposed cover art and potential advert/poster design:

Animation for our main character, Amirella. She's a bit nudey because the game was planned as a sister project to Inferno, which had a slightly nudey man in it.

Game screen mockups:

An early concept for the Title Screen: