[Elig]

Long time no see. What's been happening?

I'm surprised at how many people are still around after all this time. And we're all old. Well, relatively old, you get the idea.

I'm not surprised that Lancer is continuing to produce games of absolutely insane quality on a regular basis, because Lancer. I haven't even played them yet, but from the screenshots, and reviews, I'm sure they're amazing, also because Lancer.

Here's a (completely gratuitous and unnecessary) funny story about his crazy coding skills from long ago: I was trying to figure out the format of the graphics in 2400AD (an old Origin tile based sci-fi game), and having minimal luck. I asked Lancer for help. In 15 minutes with no prior knowledge of 2400AD, he wrote from scratch a program in C using SDL that not only decoded and loaded the graphics from the game, but also loaded in the maps. It allowed you to look around the maps using the game's graphics. 15 minutes, from scratch, with no prior experience with the game. Insane.

Anyway, it's crazy that this place is still going and you guys are still putting out awesome games. You guys rock. I might actually sit down and try all the games that were released in 2014, since there are so many helpful threads listing them. Keep up the good work.

I'll probably be hanging around on IRC for the next couple days, so if any of you feel like chatting feel free to hit me up. Or you can just post here, whichever.

The point is: hi!

[T-Bone]

Welcome back!

[Graham]

Yeah, hi! What was your timeline for activity in the community?

[Otto Germain]

You've got a lot of good games to catch up on!

[Bramble]

Lancer has reached a sort of legendary status in DigitalMZX -- deserved.

Right now, Terryn's Crossroads Project thread sums up "what's up" quite nicely: http://www.digitalmz...howtopic=15588. That's if you're looking to analyze the general condition of all things DigitalMZX.

In short, there is a lack of socialization and overload of attachment towards MZX, the program itself, and, to speak for myself and probably some others, we tend to vacillate between caring and forgetting.

So welcome to the MZX crossroads, which is better known as DigitalMZX! I am currently making a game. You?

[Elig]

I think about making something from time to time, but then I always have the thought "I could just make it in C++ though..." Sometimes, I debate releasing an old game I never released but did a ton of work on. Maybe release it in it's unfinished form as a demo or something.

I played through a lot of the games made this year:

My favorite game from this year that I've played so far is probably xxy. Welkin is super nostalgic though, a lot like an oldschool MZX game. Spaceman jones is ridiculously hard. Techie was a cool concept, well executed. I haven't gotten anywhere in depot dungeons yet.

Esdemo's wl8 is nostalgic, but sadly short, and I am endlessly disappointed that there is no Hobodan 3. I am that series biggest fan, I swear. At least there was a cameo.

I've yet to play lancer's games, because I know they'll take like months to complete.

Any game recommendations of recent MZX games?

[Exophase]

I know you said you're holding off on Lancer's games, but I really liked Red. I don't think it took me more than maybe a week or so of casual playing.

[Lachesis]

I cited red as being 30 hours in my review, but I'm also a really slow player. It's pretty reasonable in terms of length.

I have few specific suggestions over here, but here are some good places to look:
Best-rated games. This list has some pretty strict criteria, so don't stop here...

We've been doing some "Game of the Year" polls since 2012—this list of games is the winners
Games with 'GOTY' tags

If all else fails, I guess there's
All games, sorted by released date, descending

Also because I'm a total narcissist here's some "Sweet Collabs" I've done with Lancer-X and asgromo
Pandora's Gate
Thanatos Insignia Deluxe Pack
no True(n)

If you liked the classic-MZX gameplay of Welkin, try these
Ryan Thunder
J.G.'s Neatsome Magical Adventures
HELLQUEST

And finally, some mega cute puzzle games that are sure to frustrate you
Lexicon
augh!

[Dr Lancer-X]

i'm just waiting for lachesis to learn 3d modelling and rigging so we can make TI:HD

[KKairos]

I'll second augh! and Lexicon for concepts alone, and HELLQUEST for sure; it's pretty amazing.

My own narcissism: Ruin Diver III, though it's not so "recent" by now, in case you haven't played it.

If you can make room for more Thud games on your list, try Better Than Nothing and Cave Conqueror. BTN has one of the most satisfying central mechanics I've encountered in games basically ever.

[Lachesis]

Lancer-X, on 22 January 2015 - 04:24 PM, said:

i'm just waiting for lachesis to learn 3d modelling and rigging so we can make TI:HD

im working on it okay =(

[Oneiros]

Welcome back! I just returned as of today after about a decade, too. So rather than make my own topic... hello! I hope to get back to work on my massive open-ended RPG Ariandora soon, after first releasing an 8-directional "tank-style" walking engine that I always meant to publish publicly. Having a bit of trouble (embarrassingly considering how much & how long I've used MZX) with :uppressed, etc. (See Robotic forum)

Anyway, happy programming & hope you enjoy it as more than just a nostalgic blast from the past & stick around like I hope to do too

[Bramble]

Ruin Diver III is one of the strongest MZX collaboration games I've ever played. Although I felt it was harder for me than for the dudes who actually made it (and understood its intricacies), this may be due to the fact that I suck at videogames.

That being said, it's an amazing game!

There is so much creativity around here that remains known to only the few of us. I think DMZX people could make a shitload of money if they built an app or found a way to market a game. Wishing that would happen, but it's probably just me dreaming. (If you guys do it someday though, count me in for concept brainstorming!)

[KKairos]

Small note on RD3...again, not to be a narcissist, but it's a collaboration in the same sense Depot Dungeons is a collaboration: The soundtrack and beta testing. In no other sense is either game a collaboration.

Narcissism over, and that said, thanks for your kind words Bramble.

[Bramble]

Sure man. My bad.

Soooooo... KKairos could make a shitload of money if he created, marketed, and had people test his app game!

[KKairos]

Bramble, on 26 January 2015 - 09:22 PM, said:

Sure man. My bad.

Soooooo... KKairos could make a shitload of money if he created, marketed, and had people test his app game!

Bramble what about you? Your games are already indie as heck.

But seriously Elig, how's it going catching up on 5 years of games or however many you missed?

[Bramble]

KKairos, on 27 January 2015 - 02:02 AM, said:

Bramble what about you? Your games are already indie as heck.

But seriously Elig, how's it going catching up on 5 years of games or however many you missed?

Ha ha, thanks. I think it'd be awesome to be part of a creative company that builds a game, but I couldn't program. I'd enjoy things on the artistic end -- drawing, sound, graphic design, script.

Edit -- Oh, I'm talking about non-MZX stuff like this btw: Limbo, The Silent Age, Year Walk, Sword & Sworcery, TwoDots

Back to Elig, yeah! What KKairos said.

This post has been edited by Bramble: 31 January 2015 - 10:12 PM

[Elig]

Hey guys, what's up? I'm just here for my yearly (or bi-yearly apparently D:) checkin.

I played a few more of the recent MZX games, and I've been casually keeping up with the new releases, all really great. All of you continue to produce awesome and super impressive work. I wish that I had even half the talent and artistic ability that you guys have.

Man, times goes really fast. I feel like I made the original post in this thread not that long ago. But I guess it has been a while. I can't even remember the last time I had an irc client installed.

Here's some cool stuff about me: I work as a teacher. I'm totally professor elig now. In my spare time, I've been working on a video game for steam, but that's going pretty slow (you all know what game development is like...). From time to time I think about developing something in MZX, but inevitably what little free time I has goes into my main programming project. Plus, anything I made in MZX would pale in comparison to the amazing work you guys have put out over the years. I could never hope to compete with any of you. I didn't know that MZX or video games in general could do the stuff that I've seen done in MZX over the years.

You guys all rock, and I just wanted to stop by to say that you're all awesome.

[Dr Lancer-X]

Hi again, Elig!

Quick overview:

• We're all on a Discord now. Come chat.
  
• New version of MZX! First one in years. It's got obscene new graphical features.
  
• I'm also doing some teaching.

[Lachesis]

I'd link all of the new games since your last visit but there were like three and you've probably already played them

[Elig]

Go ahead and link them anyway, just in case. I will be happily surprised if I've missed one

Hey Lancer! The new version of MZX looks completely amazing! I can't believe you guys managed to create free moving sprites. A while back, I went wandering through MZX's source code just to see (since it's on SDL after all...) how hard it would be to do pixel perfect stuff in MZX, and it looked like a completely insane chtulu-like nightmarish amount of work. You guys did a really, really great job with this release. I can't wait to see what people do with the new features.

Man, the good old irc room is gone now huh? I feel so old now I will totally drop by the discord. I'm pretty tired tonight, and I have work tomorrow, so you might not see me around much until Friday or so (I get home from work at like 10:30PM), but still. Thanks for the invite!