It's the end... but the moment has been prepared for

I think it is probably time to retire this blog.

In truth, I don't keep it as an ongoing thing, and only sporadically post random stuff that appeals to me in the moment. The stats show it is not particularly widely viewed, the life it did once have very much in its distant history.

(FYI: the most popular post by far has been the ZX Spectrum memory layout post, which was pretty unique at the time - but there are far better explanations of that by others now out on the web, better suited for actual reference).

I have wanted to create a regular article sort of blog for a while now, and whether or not I do that (it needs serious writing, not the occasional rambling, spattering of text I put on here, and so may simply take too much of my time to commit to), this blog has I think run its course.

So, it's time to say goodbye. No fish involved. Though perhaps a puff of logic.

But for the send off, I shall not use my own words, but rather those of a well-worn traveler when they once expressed the sentiment best:-

There must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs - and prove to me that I was not mistaken in mine.

Goodnight all.

Well... our game is released!

 

So the game I've been working on for the last four years (more or less) is finally out for everyone to play.

I'm extremely proud to have been involved in this project, it's by far the best game I've worked on in my career. I don't normally comment on things I work on, and I'm not going to say much about this one either (go play it if you want more!) - except to say that it's been a long haul, and there is within me that swirling mixture of excitement and relief that any AAA games developer will instantly recognize.

I hope everyone values this game to the extent that I firmly believe it deserves. It's breaking ground in several key ways in my opinion (and of course, all of this article is just that - my opinion, and nothing at all related to my employer or anyone else involved in making the game).

When I loaded it up on my home PC for the first time today, I was unexpectedly caught in a flood of tears. It feels really personal this one, though I wouldn't begin to lay claim to its finest parts (I'm primarily a Tools coder, though I do touch game code from time to time - I certainly don't have any significant hand in designing these titles).

For the first time though, I've seen a game through from (almost) the very start, to its release and felt that it was a very real part of me: a project I chose enthusiastically for what it was trying to achieve, and now that it is out, whatever the world ultimately thinks of it, I feel that faith in the concept was vindicated.

I hope you try it, and I hope you like it. And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and sleep for a year.

Escaped Taxis

Some weeks ago, I purchased perfect condition copies of Crazy Taxi 1 & 2 for the Dreamcast. The buyer is reliable, I've used them before. But it seems the postal system is not - and they've apparently disappeared.

I'm gutted - I hardly ever buy things in pristine condition, I'm not that type of collector (I buy things to use them, not frame them). But these games have a special place in my heart, and - as with the DC console itself - I wanted to get a boxed, undamaged and great condition version of each game just this one time*.

I know it's a first world problem and all, but it nonetheless has made me feel very sad. I guess things of this kind get amplified during the pandemic, especially for "comforter" purchases like these.

Still, if you see my games out there in the wild, running footloose and fancy free, give them a tearful wave from me.

UPDATE: After the most bizarre postal experience ever. these finally turned up! So there was a happy ending after all! 😀

(* okay I also did it for Dungeon Master & Chaos Strikes Back. But that's it.)

Mmm, crunchy

 

(Me, yesterday)

So after a seemingly endless haul, we are reaching the end of the project. I am excited for the upcoming release, but also exhausted. I'm not even (anywhere near!) the most crunched (is that a term?) person on this project, but if I never see a line of code in this codebase again, it will be too soon - I'm at that sort of stage, and I doubt I'm alone.

Anyone in games dev who's seen a project through to the end will know this feeling; no matter how well things went there is always a mad dash for the finish line, a big push for submission.

I am very proud of what our team has produced, and I will put an announcement on here when our game finally comes out. It's not too much of a boast to say you will most definitely have heard of this title. I also hope you play it.

Anyway, my main reason for putting this out there is to state that once this seemingly endless last phase is out of the way, I fully intend to resume personal coding activities - which were paused some months back as the last thing I wanted to do after a day in the office* was look at code (even 6502 assembly, lovely though it is).

The end is nigh... er, in sight! I have some big plans...

*virtually right now of course, and btw this is something my employer has dealt with extremely well. It has also proven what I've been preaching for years, that games dev can be done remotely, even at our AAA end.

Retro Computing - My Personal Take

I've recently been discovering, programming on and - yes - collecting some ancient, creaky computers from yesteryear. What started with emulators led to theC64, then (because I noticed the SID performance and general speed varied on VICE compared to theC64), a real C64C.

This began a slippery slope down which I am now rocketing at full pace. In the process, I decided to create a video channel for this stuff, and incidentally a Twitter account to go with it. I believed I would not use the Twitter account all that much, and would focus much more on the videos I would make.

Then COVID happened. The majority of the things I was waiting for to create videos got delayed, stopped being sold or just got lost in the post. I held off the most significant item for video making, the camera, since I wanted both to be sure I'd get an appropriate model for my content (I am no camera expert), and also I became increasingly uncertain I'd even be able to make any videos without the stuff I wanted to use...

Still, having the retro itch meant I ended up using the @retrotechtive Twitter account much more than intended, until ultimately it became the main outlet for whatever I happened to be doing with retro gear.

At the time of typing, I am up to just over 90 followers and am every day becoming more and more familiar with the "big characters of retro" and their world. It's a pretty wonderful community!

But I noticed something different between my own motives for all of this, and practically everyone else's. There are a few exceptions to this, but most people seem to be into retro computers and consoles because of nostalgia.

Nothing wrong with that (although I remember a somewhat famous actor once remarking that you should "be wary of nostalgia. It's nice to look back and smile, but dangerous to look back and yearn" - a sentiment I'd totally agree with).

But I had my own nostalgia moment about 20 years ago, when I started coding for the ZX Spectrum again. I had a resurgence in this about 7 years ago, which also tangentially led me to discovering VICE and prodding C64 coding a little (nothing much at that time, as you can see in my old blog posts, but enough to be able to do it). I did have a phase of collecting consoles from boot fairs (large British open air garage sales, for those not from the UK*) a fair time ago, but had to sell all those in preparation for moving at the time.

Even that console grabbing was more to do with the motive I have for my most recent resurgence of old tech interest: that is, something closer to archaeology than nostalgia.

I want to discover, learn and - where possible - master the tech from the past that I was never able to experience or own at the time.

This might be because of the most prevalent cause at the time of their original release: lack of money. Or it might be because something just didn't exist or was scarce in the UK.

I see retro computing as a way to fill in the huge gaps in my historical and technical knowledge, while also allowing something that modern development rarely does: a single person producing or maintaining a complete product on their own** (and having a lot of fun doing it!)

Another thread too is the long-overdue resurrection of my interest in Electronics. Anyone who actually knows real-world me will know that I originally went to University to study Electronic Engineering, and that was meant to become my profession. But while there, it became clear very quickly to me that the reality of what that profession meant was nothing like what I'd imagined, and that if I were to pursue that into employment, I'd be pretty much miserable for the rest of my life.

So I broke (rather painfully at the time) with it. As a result, I stopped all the hobbyist projects I used to do: prototyping designs, etching boards, fixing TVs, etc. I have gone almost 30 years without touching a soldering iron.

Until now.

This little circuit represents the first physical design I've made (from an existing schematic, but my own layout in this case) in all that time. I'd been fiddling with other things just prior to this, to get back into it - but this is the first real standalone thing I've done since abandoning my originally intended vocation. I think the time is right, and I'm enjoying it a lot.

Old computers give this a wider scope, of course - and that's the main reason I now own three Amiga computers (though nostalgia definitely does creep in with these, since I owned them back in the day, unlike everything else I've collected). I want to find out how to repair and maintain these things, bringing me gradually back into the world of electronics in a fun and interesting way.

So I thought I'd jot down some thoughts on this for anyone else involved in gathering together these fascinating remnants of things past: why do you do it? What is it that brings you pleasure from these crumbling things? (I'd wager for some the recent pandemic has deepened the hobby, as people perhaps seek comfort in old, familiar things - or simply want to escape into something different... but it's certainly not the whole story).

What makes you a retro (de)techtive?

😊

(*I live in Canada these days - a wonderful country, at least what I've seen of it so far!)

(** I work in AAA video games, where a single project takes hundreds of cogs people to complete. I think all of us at some point miss "the old days" of one-person shows in this regard; I guess this is our own particular variant of the nostalgic brand...)