The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
Apart from those of us who use our PCs for more than just downloading music and playing games, most people turn to consoles for their gaming jollies. This has been the case for many years, with the PC (and to some extent, the Mac) being the only source or outlet of creation open to the home gaming enthusiast.
Even with the PC, most of the options you have of creating your own games are pretty hard to fathom before you take a year long course in programming. What is missing is the middle ground, the area that lets those of us with less programming experience come up with something that doesn’t resemble a large piece of nonsense and doesn’t even work, let alone resembling a game.
In the early days of home computing, consoles shared their space with other gaming machines. These were the home computers of their day, they did a lot of the things that PCs do now in the home, but they also let you use a simple basic programming to create something useable, either a game or some sort of utility. The Spectrum, C64, BBC, MSX and Amstrad all had built-in basic language programmes which could be used to create simple games, word processors and even art programs. They were, as their name suggests, basic, but more importantly they were accessible to all. The computers even came with programming manuals, the BBC manual being a huge tome that guided you through everything you could hope to know.
Other simple programming languages grew up from these, including one from Ocean, who were more commonly known for producing games at the time. These allowed you a bit more control over sprites, sound and game rules than their built-in basic counterparts. You could quite easily create commercial games with these packages, and they often included compilers for turning the source code into a fully working game which could be saved to tape or disc. There was even a games creation package for making 3D polygon games, based on the Driller engine.
As gaming grew up a bit, the 16-bit machines came along with more fancy graphics, better sound and more intricate games. Though the SNES and Megadrive were popular at the time, the Atari ST and Amiga held on to the affordable and versatile home computer market. These machines carried on the idea that programming could be made easy, the most famous languages being the great STOS and AMOS, which allowed many more people the freedom to create their own games (even if they were only horse-racing and shooting games).
All things change, however and the rise of the PC as an affordable home computer package meant that a lot of the keyboard based gaming platforms were replaced by a PC and a console. The console was used to play games and the PC for work and art. While the PC did finally find it’s gaming niche, with Wolfenstein 3D, X-wing, Doom et al, the programming was all in C and C++, while even the next level down (Pascal and Cobol) being a lot more difficult to create a decent game from. Most people became happy to play the games that other people created on their new consoles and leave game creation to the experts.
Recently though, there has been a resurgence of programming tools for games. Dark Basic is still being sold as a middle ground for PC games development and Visual Basic can be used to create simple windows games, but they are still far more complicated than the older systems, partly due to the technology on offer. In the meantime, Consoles are still only seen as just a tool to play games on.
Why, then, can’t we have a language for consoles that lets us create our own games as easily as the early basics could? Sony gave us a programming language as part of their PSX package, but it was deliberately cut short of any really useful items due to their wish to provide the full version to basic developers. We should have a third party programming language for consoles which lets us create, save and play games on our consoles. It may not be able to create the next GTA game or even rival Quake, but it would make us feel like we could provide ourselves with a creative outlet on our consoles.
Even with the PC, most of the options you have of creating your own games are pretty hard to fathom before you take a year long course in programming. What is missing is the middle ground, the area that lets those of us with less programming experience come up with something that doesn’t resemble a large piece of nonsense and doesn’t even work, let alone resembling a game.
In the early days of home computing, consoles shared their space with other gaming machines. These were the home computers of their day, they did a lot of the things that PCs do now in the home, but they also let you use a simple basic programming to create something useable, either a game or some sort of utility. The Spectrum, C64, BBC, MSX and Amstrad all had built-in basic language programmes which could be used to create simple games, word processors and even art programs. They were, as their name suggests, basic, but more importantly they were accessible to all. The computers even came with programming manuals, the BBC manual being a huge tome that guided you through everything you could hope to know.
Other simple programming languages grew up from these, including one from Ocean, who were more commonly known for producing games at the time. These allowed you a bit more control over sprites, sound and game rules than their built-in basic counterparts. You could quite easily create commercial games with these packages, and they often included compilers for turning the source code into a fully working game which could be saved to tape or disc. There was even a games creation package for making 3D polygon games, based on the Driller engine.
As gaming grew up a bit, the 16-bit machines came along with more fancy graphics, better sound and more intricate games. Though the SNES and Megadrive were popular at the time, the Atari ST and Amiga held on to the affordable and versatile home computer market. These machines carried on the idea that programming could be made easy, the most famous languages being the great STOS and AMOS, which allowed many more people the freedom to create their own games (even if they were only horse-racing and shooting games).
All things change, however and the rise of the PC as an affordable home computer package meant that a lot of the keyboard based gaming platforms were replaced by a PC and a console. The console was used to play games and the PC for work and art. While the PC did finally find it’s gaming niche, with Wolfenstein 3D, X-wing, Doom et al, the programming was all in C and C++, while even the next level down (Pascal and Cobol) being a lot more difficult to create a decent game from. Most people became happy to play the games that other people created on their new consoles and leave game creation to the experts.
Recently though, there has been a resurgence of programming tools for games. Dark Basic is still being sold as a middle ground for PC games development and Visual Basic can be used to create simple windows games, but they are still far more complicated than the older systems, partly due to the technology on offer. In the meantime, Consoles are still only seen as just a tool to play games on.
Why, then, can’t we have a language for consoles that lets us create our own games as easily as the early basics could? Sony gave us a programming language as part of their PSX package, but it was deliberately cut short of any really useful items due to their wish to provide the full version to basic developers. We should have a third party programming language for consoles which lets us create, save and play games on our consoles. It may not be able to create the next GTA game or even rival Quake, but it would make us feel like we could provide ourselves with a creative outlet on our consoles.
Page:
I used to make games in The Games Factory. Wasn't exactly pick up and play (the programme) despite it not being code related, but it was easy enough when you'd been using it long enough. Most of my games were cack.
I made a game.
It sold 21 copies.
*rejoices*
Shame it took me just over a year and a half to make. Hmmm.
It sold 21 copies.
*rejoices*
Shame it took me just over a year and a half to make. Hmmm.
Apart from those of us who use our PCs for more than just downloading music and playing games, most people turn to consoles for their gaming jollies. This has been the case for many years, with the PC (and to some extent, the Mac) being the only source or outlet of creation open to the home gaming enthusiast.
Even with the PC, most of the options you have of creating your own games are pretty hard to fathom before you take a year long course in programming. What is missing is the middle ground, the area that lets those of us with less programming experience come up with something that doesn’t resemble a large piece of nonsense and doesn’t even work, let alone resembling a game.
In the early days of home computing, consoles shared their space with other gaming machines. These were the home computers of their day, they did a lot of the things that PCs do now in the home, but they also let you use a simple basic programming to create something useable, either a game or some sort of utility. The Spectrum, C64, BBC, MSX and Amstrad all had built-in basic language programmes which could be used to create simple games, word processors and even art programs. They were, as their name suggests, basic, but more importantly they were accessible to all. The computers even came with programming manuals, the BBC manual being a huge tome that guided you through everything you could hope to know.
Other simple programming languages grew up from these, including one from Ocean, who were more commonly known for producing games at the time. These allowed you a bit more control over sprites, sound and game rules than their built-in basic counterparts. You could quite easily create commercial games with these packages, and they often included compilers for turning the source code into a fully working game which could be saved to tape or disc. There was even a games creation package for making 3D polygon games, based on the Driller engine.
As gaming grew up a bit, the 16-bit machines came along with more fancy graphics, better sound and more intricate games. Though the SNES and Megadrive were popular at the time, the Atari ST and Amiga held on to the affordable and versatile home computer market. These machines carried on the idea that programming could be made easy, the most famous languages being the great STOS and AMOS, which allowed many more people the freedom to create their own games (even if they were only horse-racing and shooting games).
All things change, however and the rise of the PC as an affordable home computer package meant that a lot of the keyboard based gaming platforms were replaced by a PC and a console. The console was used to play games and the PC for work and art. While the PC did finally find it’s gaming niche, with Wolfenstein 3D, X-wing, Doom et al, the programming was all in C and C++, while even the next level down (Pascal and Cobol) being a lot more difficult to create a decent game from. Most people became happy to play the games that other people created on their new consoles and leave game creation to the experts.
Recently though, there has been a resurgence of programming tools for games. Dark Basic is still being sold as a middle ground for PC games development and Visual Basic can be used to create simple windows games, but they are still far more complicated than the older systems, partly due to the technology on offer. In the meantime, Consoles are still only seen as just a tool to play games on.
Why, then, can’t we have a language for consoles that lets us create our own games as easily as the early basics could? Sony gave us a programming language as part of their PSX package, but it was deliberately cut short of any really useful items due to their wish to provide the full version to basic developers. We should have a third party programming language for consoles which lets us create, save and play games on our consoles. It may not be able to create the next GTA game or even rival Quake, but it would make us feel like we could provide ourselves with a creative outlet on our consoles.
Even with the PC, most of the options you have of creating your own games are pretty hard to fathom before you take a year long course in programming. What is missing is the middle ground, the area that lets those of us with less programming experience come up with something that doesn’t resemble a large piece of nonsense and doesn’t even work, let alone resembling a game.
In the early days of home computing, consoles shared their space with other gaming machines. These were the home computers of their day, they did a lot of the things that PCs do now in the home, but they also let you use a simple basic programming to create something useable, either a game or some sort of utility. The Spectrum, C64, BBC, MSX and Amstrad all had built-in basic language programmes which could be used to create simple games, word processors and even art programs. They were, as their name suggests, basic, but more importantly they were accessible to all. The computers even came with programming manuals, the BBC manual being a huge tome that guided you through everything you could hope to know.
Other simple programming languages grew up from these, including one from Ocean, who were more commonly known for producing games at the time. These allowed you a bit more control over sprites, sound and game rules than their built-in basic counterparts. You could quite easily create commercial games with these packages, and they often included compilers for turning the source code into a fully working game which could be saved to tape or disc. There was even a games creation package for making 3D polygon games, based on the Driller engine.
As gaming grew up a bit, the 16-bit machines came along with more fancy graphics, better sound and more intricate games. Though the SNES and Megadrive were popular at the time, the Atari ST and Amiga held on to the affordable and versatile home computer market. These machines carried on the idea that programming could be made easy, the most famous languages being the great STOS and AMOS, which allowed many more people the freedom to create their own games (even if they were only horse-racing and shooting games).
All things change, however and the rise of the PC as an affordable home computer package meant that a lot of the keyboard based gaming platforms were replaced by a PC and a console. The console was used to play games and the PC for work and art. While the PC did finally find it’s gaming niche, with Wolfenstein 3D, X-wing, Doom et al, the programming was all in C and C++, while even the next level down (Pascal and Cobol) being a lot more difficult to create a decent game from. Most people became happy to play the games that other people created on their new consoles and leave game creation to the experts.
Recently though, there has been a resurgence of programming tools for games. Dark Basic is still being sold as a middle ground for PC games development and Visual Basic can be used to create simple windows games, but they are still far more complicated than the older systems, partly due to the technology on offer. In the meantime, Consoles are still only seen as just a tool to play games on.
Why, then, can’t we have a language for consoles that lets us create our own games as easily as the early basics could? Sony gave us a programming language as part of their PSX package, but it was deliberately cut short of any really useful items due to their wish to provide the full version to basic developers. We should have a third party programming language for consoles which lets us create, save and play games on our consoles. It may not be able to create the next GTA game or even rival Quake, but it would make us feel like we could provide ourselves with a creative outlet on our consoles.
Page: