Anybody roll your own (Arcade Game)?

[Well Fed Games]

Just curious, on this forum we have people creating their own art, cabinets, etc. Have any of you created your own game for a cab? I was just thinking how neat having a one-of-a-kind self designed dedicated game cab would be. With software like Game Maker and Construct, it seems like it could be done without coding. I would think you would end up with a .exe file you could launch the cab into.

[SavannahLion]

It's been done. The few that I can recall off the top of my head are:

Simmer Down Sprinter

The Winnitron 1000 is a group effort.

Then there was this kid who built an arcade cabinet with custom games for a Pizzeria(?) in exchange for free food in some dinky town somewhere in Europe(?) But for the life of me, I can't find the project page. 

[BadMouth]

Then there was this kid who built an arcade cabinet with custom games for a Pizzeria(?) in exchange for free food in some dinky town somewhere in Europe(?) But for the life of me, I can't find the project page.  

Waffles and Oregon?  

http://kotaku.com/5712626/the-waffle-game-that-changed-their-lives

[RayB]

It's crossed my mind to do so, but it's a lot of effort for no return (let's face it, no one here would pay for copies of it, right?)

[Nephasth]

It's crossed my mind to do so, but it's a lot of effort for no return (let's face it, no one here would pay for copies of it, right?)

Depends if it was any good...

[Well Fed Games]

It's crossed my mind to do so, but it's a lot of effort for no return (let's face it, no one here would pay for copies of it, right?)

Depends if it was any good...

I sincerely doubt anything I make would be good, I just wonder if creating a game is where my love affair with video games is going. Where does the nerd rabbit hole go after arcade cabinets? I've been dreaming up games since elementary school (like a lot of folks), but I only now realized that the tools were out there for a beginner (and I happen to have a cab that needs a 2-player twin stick shooter...).

[SavannahLion]

Then there was this kid who built an arcade cabinet with custom games for a Pizzeria(?) in exchange for free food in some dinky town somewhere in Europe(?) But for the life of me, I can't find the project page.  

Waffles and Oregon?  

http://kotaku.com/5712626/the-waffle-game-that-changed-their-lives

Yeah, that's it. Those better be some kick ass waffles.

[compute]

I've been bouncing some ideas for EM-style novelty games, shooting galleries and such.  Nothing but a few drawings yet, though.

[Well Fed Games]

I've been bouncing some ideas for EM-style novelty games, shooting galleries and such.  Nothing but a few drawings yet, though.

That would be pretty sweet. On the video side, I am looking at some software called Game Maker, seems to be able to make what I am thinking of.

[leapinlew]

Konkey Dong

[Nephasth]

Konkey Dong

a one-of-a-kind self designed dedicated game

Not quite... I think TFF is talking homebrew games (like Battle Kid or Super Bat Puncher for NES), not mods/hacks of existing games.

[Well Fed Games]

Yes, Super Bat Puncher is exactly the kind of vibe I am thinking about, or the 2-player Super Crate Box that was released for the Winnitron. Kind of, make one of those "love-letters-to-retro" games, only make/convert a dedicated cabinet for it. It is my current plan for my next full-size project. All I have to do is learn game design. No problem, right? 

Nephasth, I think you mentioned homebrew in another thread... are you making something currently?

Konkey Dong

a one-of-a-kind self designed dedicated game

Not quite... I think TFF is talking homebrew games (like Battle Kid or Super Bat Puncher for NES), not mods/hacks of existing games.

[Nephasth]

No, I lack the skills to create a video game. I barely got my dick wet with C and C++ in high school. But I keep a close eye on the NES homebrew front...

[yotsuya]

At some point, we're planning on coughing up the bucks to have more extensive mods done to Konkey Dong.  I think primarily changing the level order and flipping the layouts, just to mess with people.  Doubtless forum clowns like CheffoJeffo will be lined up to defend us when we sell the modified ROM for $79/copy, too.

You need to work in some kind of mode where you can play as Konkey Dong. Maybe you get to fling barrels and try to keep Jumpman away from the Princess.

[Well Fed Games]

At some point, we're planning on coughing up the bucks to have more extensive mods done to Konkey Dong.  I think primarily changing the level order and flipping the layouts, just to mess with people.  Doubtless forum clowns like CheffoJeffo will be lined up to defend us when we sell the modified ROM for $79/copy, too.

You need to work in some kind of mode where you can play as Konkey Dong. Maybe you get to fling barrels and try to keep Jumpman away from the Princess.

I would love to make a Donkey Kong mod called "Get Pauline", where in a minimalistic tower defense game you throw different types of barrels down a structure at various Mario universe characters trying to make it to the top. I've got a plan written down somewhere, but lack any sort of knowledge to make it happen. Would be fun to play as the villain, for sure.

[Dartful Dodger]

I would love to make a Donkey Kong mod called "Get Pauline", where in a minimalistic tower defense game you throw different types of barrels down a structure at various Mario universe characters trying to make it to the top. I've got a plan written down somewhere, but lack any sort of knowledge to make it happen. Would be fun to play as the villain, for sure.

That would be a perfect game for a smartphone app. It wouldn't require complicated inputs and it could fit on one screen.

In a college I built a simple game where you were controlling an AT-AT and had to kill Ewoks. The game play was done on a single screen with trees. You had to navigate around the trees, step on Ewoks and avoid speeder bikes as they flew by horizontally. It was built with Macromedia Director within a week so it wasn't very involved (or good), but I still got an A for the code that went into it.

I had forgotten about it until I read this post. I’ll have to see if I can find the Syquest disk and drive I used through college.

[Rick]

Five Words: "SUPER TURBO TURKEY PUNCHER 3"

Oh boy, thanks a lot.  Didn't know it was possible, but now... Hmm...

[Nephasth]

Just read in your signature that you want a custom twin stick shooter for your Smash TV. Head over to nintendoage.com and go into the Homebrew fourm. You'll find a thread for Bust A Nut (B.A.N.). It's a game a guy made that requires the use of player 1's d-pad for movement and player 2's d-pad for shooting. Also, check out his other game, Slappin' Bitches. I would link to thread, but work has NA blocked (damn potty mouths).

[Well Fed Games]

Thanks, I will check them out!

Just read in your signature that you want a custom twin stick shooter for your Smash TV. Head over to nintendoage.com and go into the Homebrew fourm. You'll find a thread for Bust A Nut (B.A.N.). It's a game a guy made that requires the use of player 1's d-pad for movement and player 2's d-pad for shooting. Also, check out his other game, Slappin' Bitches. I would link to thread, but work has NA blocked (damn potty mouths).

[jsb98]

A while back, I started programming a game I named "Donkey Pong", which was pretty much a cross of Donkey Kong and Pong/Breakout/Arkanoid. Donkey Kong would launch barrels at you and you'd have to bounce them back, and I didn't really get any further than that. I'll have to see about remaking it.

[Nephasth]

Been a while... Have you started to roll your own yet? Or did you smoke it already?

[Well Fed Games]

Ha, no at this point I am still looking for seeds... I have a fleshed out design doc now, and I just bought GameMaker HTML 5 in anticipation of GameMaker Studio coming out (still in beta- HTML 5 buyers get it free when it comes out), so still in the planning stage. Part of the problem is I have a couple other cabinet projects happening, and I seem to not be making any progress on any of them. I probably need to pick one and just go for it.

One of my big planning challenges about the homebrew game is figuring out if I should design the game in:

4:3 (thus making my cabinet look 100% like an older game from back in the day, using a 26" TV I already have to replace the original 25" arcade monitor that was DOA in the cab.)

or 16:9 (easier, makes the already heavy Smash TV cab lighter, and assuming that the game doesn't suck whenever I am done with it, will fit more peoples' screens if I distribute it.- but without a CRT the cabinet will not look as much like an old school game, at least to those relatively familiar with retro arcade games.)

I am leaning towards 16:9 right now, as while the cabinet was the start to me wanting to make my own game, it seems silly to make it just "for me," considering the time it will take to make it happen. Of course, at the same time, some of my favorite indie games (Super Crate Box, Spelunky, Binding of Isaac) are still in 4:3. Opinions welcome.

[Gray_Area]

I am leaning towards 16:9 right now, as while the cabinet was the start to me wanting to make my own game, it seems silly to make it just "for me," considering the time it will take to make it happen. Of course, at the same time, some of my favorite indie games (Super Crate Box, Spelunky, Binding of Isaac) are still in 4:3. Opinions welcome.

Isn't it easy to include a 'scale' feature?

[Well Fed Games]

I am leaning towards 16:9 right now, as while the cabinet was the start to me wanting to make my own game, it seems silly to make it just "for me," considering the time it will take to make it happen. Of course, at the same time, some of my favorite indie games (Super Crate Box, Spelunky, Binding of Isaac) are still in 4:3. Opinions welcome.

Isn't it easy to include a 'scale' feature?

Hmm... not sure, my knowledge is still pretty limited. I think any sort of scaling would involve "empty" (although maybe something useful could go there, for the widescreen version) space on the edges or skewing things out of ratio.

Right now the plan is for levels to be one screen (robotron, bomberman), although if it was a scrolling game (Alien Syndrome, Total Carnage) I would have some extra flexibility.