I think people in the RISC OS games scene have the talent to compete. However, there are three big areas that work against us.

[1] Time
[2] Resources (software tools and a decent development environment)
[3] The hardware.

For some types of game, [3] obviously matters. [2] can also be a big problem - often the software that is at the disposal of the big companies is just so expensive that people in the Acorn world just couldn't compete and we certainly need a decent development environment. However, by far the biggest problem IMHO is time ([1]). A lot of us have full time jobs and don't have that much leisure time to play with. If someone could pay us to do the work (!) then a team of the best RISC OS coders, designers, artists and musicians could definitely compete. Look at what Artex are doing with Iron Dignity. From where I'm sitting, that game definately looks capable of competing. However Iron Dignity is a classic example of where the hardware difference comes into play.

Another thing that's worth remembering is that a lot of the 'old' RISC OS games writers have made a successful transition to developing games as a career.

I'm going in circles here. The talent is here, the time, the tools and the money aren't. It depends whether we're talking about talent or products ...

Regards,

Max

[1] I often think just how much more I could do if I were able to work on TEK full time. Mind you, if I did that we'd soon run into the limits of the Risc PC ...

So, I would argue software partly but mainly the willingness of people to collaborate and stay committed until the release of a game which relates to the time factor as you say.

Regards,

Andrew

Everyone is interested in ardware at this moment in time, noone cares about software. It seems a switch around from many years back.

But is it necessary to?
I bought Inferno recently and very nice it is too. The object of it is simple, the presentation is good and the games generally looks well polished.
Most importantly, it's still good fun to play.
Spheres of chaos is another example.

Yes, there are any number of PC games that look impressive, with fancy lighting effects and sound effects that could have come straight from the cinema, but they can also still be crap and no fun to play.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you feel overwhelmed by the task of trying to create a visually stunning work of art to compete with PC games then don't try.
Why not just compete with Acorn games?

It's far more enjoyable playing games like Inferno or Spheres of Chaos (to name but 2) than something that looks great but plays badly.

It makes me sick when people look at games like Sunburst or Overload (to name but 2 more) and say 'This doesn't compare to anything on a PC'

Such people are either shallow, short on brain power, or have never sampled the dubious delights of 'Machine Hunter' or 'War of the Worlds' on their PC's. Or all three!

Above all, a game should be fun to play.

As an avid games player I know that gameplay is key. However these days people expect more. It's a sad fact, but most consumers would rather play Tomb Raider <insert requisite digit> rather than Mr Driller. 3d has overtaken even the last bastions of 2d in the console world are turning to 3d (Treasure with Sin and Punishment). So to compete we need all singing all dancing 3d games...

Trouble is there are various factors inhibiting this tyep of game being developed :

1. Hardware - having to rewrite a fairly hefty chunk of a fairly old game to get a decent frame rate on our top speed machines is fairly sad. Hopefully something will rctify this situation soon...

2. Software - since I'm talking 3d we would ideally need 3d animation software etc... but I'm not holding my breath for that.
A decent dev suite... some aid to the game programmer in the sense of debugging *PLEASE*
A 3d framework - which isn't really much trouble once you have hardware that can cope. Rather than having to tailor everything in a vain quest for speed.

3. Human Resources - you need enough people to make a decent team 10+ to make something equivalent to PC/console schtuff.

4. Financially viable - there needs to be enough of a userbase to buy the game to recoup what you spent in creating it.

In the current state of the RISC OS market and the way the near future is looking I really wouldn't try and compete with PC/console games... unless you have a lot of money to burn.

What RISC OS games should do is innovate. This is how to get games noticed. Look at some of the games that try something different and suceed, such as Bangaioh (sorry I'm a Treasure freak), pretty much every other Treasure game, Mr Driller... these are games created by *small* teams. They don't aim high they go for different. If that fails you can try riding the 2d tidal wave that the fabulous Gameboy Advance will create ;-)

PC/console games are more often than not constrained by the publisher - can't do that with character y, we can't have that in one of our games, blah blah blah - RISC OS games aren't. Also RISC OS games are fuelled by dedication and love of the project, all to many PC/console games are fueled by money. This shows through with the percentage of mediocre games on the shelves...

btw Doctor mentioning War of the Worlds is low, I know one of the artists that worked on that game, you have no idea what they had to deal with.

btw Doctor mentioning War of the Worlds is low, I know one of the artists that worked on that game, you have no idea what they had to deal with.

btw Doctor mentioning War of the Worlds is low, I know one of the artists that worked on that game, you have no idea what they had to deal with.

I actually really liked that game,

Max

...
A decent dev suite... some aid to the game programmer in the sense of debugging *PLEASE*
A 3d framework - which isn't really much trouble once you have hardware that can cope. Rather than having to tailor everything in a vain quest for speed.

This is one of the most crucial areas we need to fix. After all, everyone moans about needing new software. The one thing thing that will make this whole process easier is an integrated development environment with a decent debugger. Make this happen, and more software will follow ...

What RISC OS games should do is innovate. This is how to get games noticed. Look at some of the games that try something different and suceed, such as Bangaioh (sorry I'm a Treasure freak), pretty much every other Treasure game, Mr Driller... these are games created by *small* teams. They don't aim high they go for different. If that fails you can try riding the 2d tidal wave that the fabulous Gameboy Advance will create ;-)
.

What are all these treasure games ? Any links available ?

Max

Gunstar Heroes -> Megadrive
Alien Soldier -> Megadrive
Dynamite Headdy -> Megadrive
Light Crusader -> Megadrive
Guardian Heroes -> Saturn
Silhouette Mirage -> Saturn/PSX
Radiant Silvergun -> Saturn
Mischief Makers -> N64
Bangaioh -> N64/Dreamcast
Sin and Punishment -> N64

There are loads of sites dedicated to these games.