Home Brew Section

[TMR]

But as Jason says, playing it on the real hardware is the best measure, and if you don't own the hardware...

That's what other people have said to me rather than how i feel about it personally; i've absolutely no issues with reviewing from an emulator as long as i'm assured by someone who knows the machine that it's at least reasonably accurate or, if there are known issues, that i'm aware of what they are to allow for them - after all, i wouldn't want to accuse a game of glitching because the clever routine it's using isn't properly implemented in the emulator! When people have approached me with new Jaguar games for example, the lack of a decent emulator (and it's the programmers telling me that rather than me making the call) has been the show stopper every time.

Playing from real hardware is the best situation yes and in a perfect world i would, but right now i simply don't have enough money or indeed loft space for that! =-)

[simes]

How about more type-in listings?! I know I'm a bit of a masochist but that was something I really loved about Issue 100.

*hides*

[The Laird]

I can somewhat agree with Dreamcast, having more console homebrew in general as a balance to the computer side would be good. But as Jason says, playing it on the real hardware is the best measure, and if you don't own the hardware... but if need be, I could help out on the 7800 and Vectrex side of things, I keep fully up to date with both scenes.

I am the same with the 7800, Jaguar and Lynx. I have offered to help out before.

[joefish]

I would like to see some slightly longer reviews besides whatever the 'feature' one is, at least where a game warrants it.
Is there more stuff to review than is currently being covered? Maybe the reviews could come in 3 stages - one feature review, maybe 3 or so top-scoring reviews on another page, then a series of short summary reviews squeezing more onto a page.

Or, how about additional comments from other members of the team, at least on the feature or top-scoring games?

I also quite liked the mix of bio and developer diary that came out in the developer interviews. Though these could perhaps be shorter, concentrate more on the game, and be placed on the same page around the review. Always ending the interview with the same question about 'how to get started' got a bit trite. If someone's going to be inspired then there's always the forum for questions like that.

But yes, homebrew console games are generally under-represented so it would be good if the issues around that could be resolved.

[The Laird]

A good idea might be to feature a different machine each issue with maybe a 1 or 2 page spread listing its best homebrew games and possibly combined with a homebrew developer interview for somebody who worked on one the games in the list.

This is along side TMR's existing section of course.

[joefish]

Interesting idea. The rest of the mag does seem to have an inconsistent love/hate relationship with homebrew titles when it comes to articles on machines and their top games. Though this could be a fairly short-lived feature once the major machines are ticked off the list.

[Mayhem]

That's what other people have said to me rather than how i feel about it personally; i've absolutely no issues with reviewing from an emulator as long as i'm assured by someone who knows the machine that it's at least reasonably accurate or, if there are known issues, that i'm aware of what they are to allow for them - after all, i wouldn't want to accuse a game of glitching because the clever routine it's using isn't properly implemented in the emulator! When people have approached me with new Jaguar games for example, the lack of a decent emulator (and it's the programmers telling me that rather than me making the call) has been the show stopper every time.

Yeah, I can imagine that being a bit of a sticking point. Compared to say, Stella, which is an excellent emulator, and always been improved when someone spots a small inconsistency with the real 2600. And there isn't a 100% or close to it emulator for the 7800 yet either.

[The Laird]

Interesting idea. The rest of the mag does seem to have an inconsistent love/hate relationship with homebrew titles when it comes to articles on machines and their top games. Though this could be a fairly short-lived feature once the major machines are ticked off the list.

I think there are probably enough machines with active homebrew communities to last at least a year (12 issues), probably more.

[NorthWay]

I know it is about _games_, but could you by any chance find it in your hearts to slip in the odd _small_ mention of new hw doodahs for the old champs that gives them a little extra sparkle. I'm thinking flash/net based cart emulators, EasyFlash, Chameleon 64, that 7800 expansion thing with ram(I think) and a POKEY.
(If you wish to do a proper full review of them I wont be one to complain...)

[theantmeister]

I like it how it is

[The Laird]

I like it how it is

So surely you would be pleased its being expanded then?

[Lil Chillbil]

I am currently working on assasin's creed 64

[DreamcastRIP]

I am currently working on assasin's creed 64

Cool! Another homebrew release for Jaguar then... or Commodore 64 or maybe even the Hyper Neo Geo 64.

Or did you get your hands on a Dragon 64?

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

Keep the ideas coming guys. We are aiming to change this from 104. Just need to work out how games will be handled, which is the only major sticking point at the mo.

[TMR]

I know it is about _games_, but could you by any chance find it in your hearts to slip in the odd _small_ mention of new hw doodahs for the old champs that gives them a little extra sparkle. I'm thinking flash/net based cart emulators, EasyFlash, Chameleon 64, that 7800 expansion thing with ram(I think) and a POKEY.
(If you wish to do a proper full review of them I wont be one to complain...)

Again theres no budget for buying hardware for reviews and the makers of these devices are usually working at a loss so asking for a review unit doesn't really work... although i do have a 1541 Ultimate 2, Turbo Chameleon, SIO2SD, DivIDE and DivIDE Plus myself (most of 'em were used for Replay last year, how i ended up with two DivIDEs is a long story...) and if all goes well a 7800 and XM module'll be turning up soon so if there's interest and the powers that be are happy with the idea, i'll happily write about them. =-)