Mastodawn

🧵 Game dev years, 2/x

The box cover artwork for our Venom Wing Amiga game was painted by the late, great Oliver Frey. As a youngster, I was so proud to see the ad in one of my favorite game magazines at the time: Zzap 64. 🤩

Downloads + more: https://linksta.cc/@seven ➔ Team Hoi

#TeamHoi #GameDev #gaming #games #game #gamer #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #RetroGames #VintageComputing #retro #history #commodore #amiga #computing #IT #tech #graphics #CGI #design #artwork #art #artist #GraphicDesign

#TeamHoi #chiptune #music #ElectronicMusic #GameDev #gaming #games #game #gamer #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #RetroGames #VintageComputing #retro #history #commodore #amiga #computing #IT #tech #technology #vintage #digital #DigitalArt

🧵 Game dev years, 3/x

Our composer Ramon Braumuller's four-channel title track for the Venom Wing Amiga game, published by Thalamus in 1990. The repeating track was made in our own SIDmon Amiga music editor.

Downloads + more: https://linksta.cc/@seven ➔ Team Hoi

#TeamHoi #GameDev #gaming #games #game #gamer #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #RetroGames #drawing #VintageComputing #retro #history #commodore #amiga #tech #technology #vintage #sketch #CharacterDesign #design #artwork #art #artist #arte #arts #GraphicDesign #MastoArt #FediArt #CreativeToots #ArtistsOnMastodon

Metin Seven 🎨

🧵 Game dev years, 4/x

Following Venom Wing in 1990, our next major project was an Amiga platform game called Hoi. I penned down preliminary ideas and sketches in a ruled notebook.

🧵 Game dev years, 5/x

My 320 x 256 pixels intro picture for our 1992 Hoi platform game.

I initially made this in the Amiga's "Half-Brite" 64 colors mode, but the intro's 7-channel music took so much processing power that the image needed to be reduced to 16 colors, hence the harsh sky shades. 🥲

Downloads + more: https://linksta.cc/@seven ➔ Team Hoi

#TeamHoi #PixelArt #GameDev #gaming #games #game #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #retro #history #commodore #amiga #tech #design #artwork #art #artist

#TeamHoi #chiptune #music #ElectronicMusic #GameDev #gaming #games #game #gamer #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #RetroGames #VintageComputing #retro #history #commodore #amiga #IT #tech

🧵 Game dev years, 6/x

Our composer Ramon Braumuller's 7-channel intro track for the 1992 Hoi Amiga game, made in our own Digital Mugician Amiga music editor.

The Amiga only had 4-channel audio via a custom chip, the other 3 channels were added via CPU power.

Downloads + more: https://linksta.cc/@seven ➔ Team Hoi

🧵 Game dev years, 7/x

A scene from level 2 of our 1992 Hoi platform game.

The crane's chain featured a real-time deformation effect.

Downloads + more: https://linksta.cc/@seven ➔ Team Hoi

#teamhoi #PixelArt #gamedev #gaming #games #game #gamer #retrogaming #retrocomputing #retrogames #retrotech #vintagecomputing #retro #History #commodore #amiga #IT #Tech #vintage #digital #DigitalArt #graphics #cgi #CharacterDesign #design #artwork #art #artist #arte #arts #graphicdesign #animation #gif

🧵 Game dev years, 8/x

A review of our 1992 Amiga platform game Hoi in the British The One magazine.

The US publisher of Hoi ripped us off, but reading a review with a 90% score in one of my favorite game magazines was cathartic.

Downloads + more: https://linksta.cc/@seven ➔ Team Hoi

#TeamHoi #PixelArt #GameDev #gaming #games #game #gamer #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #RetroGames #retro #history #magazine #commodore #amiga #tech #vintage #DigitalArt #design #UK #art #IT #GraphicDesign #MastoArt

🧵 Game dev years, 9/x

Our 1992 Amiga platform game Hoi ranked at number 2 in the charts of the British Amiga Mania magazine, above Rainbow Islands (Bubble Bobble 2) and Rick Dangerous.

Downloads + more: https://linksta.cc/@seven ➔ Team Hoi

#TeamHoi #PixelArt #GameDev #gaming #games #game #gamer #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #RetroGames #RetroTech #VintageComputing #retro #history #16bit #commodore #amiga #computer #computers #computing #IT #1990s #tech #technology #vintage #nostalgia #digital

#TeamHoi #PixelArt #GameDev #gaming #games #game #gamer #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #RetroGames #RetroTech #VintageComputing #retro #history #commodore #amiga #computer #computers #computing #IT #tech #technology #vintage #nostalgia #digital #DigitalArt #graphics #CharacterDesign #design #artwork

Metin Seven 🎨Mar 23

🧵 Game dev years, 10/x

The British Amiga Action magazine stitched together screenshots of our 1992 Amiga platform game Hoi into a partial map. 😃

Downloads + more: https://linksta.cc/@seven ➔ Team Hoi

#TeamHoi #PixelArt #GameDev #gaming #games #game #gamer #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #RetroGames #RetroTech #VintageComputing #retro #history #commodore #amiga #tech #vintage #digital #DigitalArt #graphics #CharacterDesign #design #artwork

Metin Seven 🎨Mar 23

🧵 Game dev years, 11/x

Our 1992 Hoi Amiga game was the subject of a competition to win an Amiga 600 in the British The One magazine.

They didn't scale my graphics properly for the page layout though. 😅

Downloads + more: https://linksta.cc/@seven ➔ Team Hoi

#TeamHoi #PixelArt #GameDev #gaming #games #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #RetroGames #retro #history #commodore #amiga #tech #vintage #nostalgia #magazine

🧵 Game dev years, 12/x

A demo version of our 1992 Hoi Amiga game on an Amiga Action magazine cover diskette.

The "1 meg only" notice indicated that the Dithell's Wonderland game needed 512 KB of so-called Fast RAM on top of the Amiga's default 512 KB Chip RAM. Hoi didn't need that. 🙂

Downloads + more: https://linksta.cc/@seven ➔ Team Hoi

#TeamHoi #PixelArt #GameDev #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #amiga #art

🧵 Game dev years, 13/x

Following the 1992 release of our Hoi Amiga game, we were asked to create a custom game for a 75-second Calvé peanut butter TV commercial.

The game was also played in a children's TV show called Telekids, where kids could win their height in stacked peanut butter jars.

The image shows my 16-color game background. You controlled a character while scrolling across the rooms, dodging foes and obstacles.

#TeamHoi #chiptune #ElectronicMusic #TV #GameDev #gaming #games #RetroGaming #retro #RetroGames #VintageComputing #retro #history #commodore #amiga #tech

🧵 Game dev years, 14/x

A short, looping 4-channel chiptune track by our composer Ramon Braumuller, made for the "Peanut Butter Power Game" we developed on an Amiga for a 75-second Calvé TV commercial in 1992.

The game was also played in a children's TV show called Telekids, where kids could win their height in stacked peanut butter jars.

🧵 Game dev years, 15/x

Our next project was a small-scale puzzle game called Cognition, published in 1994 by the Dutch Amiga Magazine.

I grabbed the video from internet. The player could have solved the puzzles in less moves. 🙂

Turn on the sound to hear some of the title music and the in-game sounds.

#TeamHoi #PixelArt #puzzle #GameDev #gaming #games #game #gamer #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #RetroGames #retro #commodore #amiga #tech #design #art #GraphicDesign #MastoArt #FediArt

#TeamHoi #chiptune #ElectronicMusic #music #GameDev #gaming #games #game #gamer #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #RetroGames #RetroTech #VintageComputing #retro #history #8bit #16bit #commodore #amiga #tech #vintage #nostalgia #digital #DigitalArt #art #MastoArt #FediArt #CreativeToots

Metin Seven 🎨4d ago

🧵 Game dev years, 16/x

As the video of our 1994 Cognition puzzle game in the previous post only featured a short snippet of its title tune, here's the full 4-channel Amiga tune by our composer Ramon Braumuller.

Metin Seven 🎨3d ago

🧵 Game dev years, 17/x

Next to our Cognition puzzle game, we also developed a puzzler called Clockwiser, published in 1994 for the Amiga (OCS + AGA), CD32 console, MS-DOS and Windows 3.1.

You can play the MS-DOS version online:
https://dosgames.com/game/clockwiser

#TeamHoi #PixelArt #GameDev #gaming #games #game #gamer #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #retro #history #commodore #amiga #IT #tech #CGI #design #artwork #art #artist #arte #arts #GraphicDesign #MastoArt #FediArt #CreativeToots #ArtistsOnMastodon

#TeamHoi #chiptune #ElectronicMusic #music #GameDev #gaming #games #game #gamer #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #RetroGames #audio #VintageComputing #retro #history #commodore #amiga #tech #vintage #digital #DigitalArt #art #MastoArt #CreativeToots

Metin Seven 🎨2d ago

🧵 Game dev years, 18/x

Our composer Ramon Braumuller's energetic title track for the 1994 Clockwiser puzzle game.

It was made in the 7-channel version of our Digital Mugician music editor, adding 3 CPU-powered audio channels to the Amiga's 4 channels.

Metin Seven 🎨2d ago

🧵 Game dev years, 19/x

The box front + back of our 1994 Clockwiser puzzler, featuring my game graphics.

Sadly, like the US publisher of our 1992 Hoi game, the British publisher of Clockwiser also didn't pay us. Those years were like the Wild West of game development. 😔

#TeamHoi #PixelArt #GameDev #gaming #games #game #gamer #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #RetroGames #VintageComputing #retro #history #8bit #16bit #commodore #amiga #tech #DigitalArt #design #art #GraphicDesign #MastoArt #FediArt

Metin Seven 🎨1d ago

🧵 Game dev years, 20/x

Reviews of our 1994 Clockwiser puzzle game in British magazines: one in Amiga Format and two in CU (Commodore User) Amiga. One of the CU Amiga reviews covered the CD32 console CD-ROM version of Clockwiser.

#TeamHoi #PixelArt #GameDev #gaming #games #game #gamer #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #RetroGames #VintageComputing #retro #history #commodore #amiga #computing #IT #tech #DigitalArt #graphics #CGI #design #artwork #art #GraphicDesign #MastoArt #FediArt #CreativeToots

Metin Seven 🎨1d ago

🧵 Game dev years, 21/x

Our 1994 Clockwiser puzzle game on the cover CD-ROM of Amiga CD32 Gamer magazine. I've photographed the CD-ROM on top of the contents page.

#TeamHoi #PixelArt #GameDev #gaming #games #game #gamer #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #RetroGames #RetroTech #VintageComputing #retro #history #16bit #commodore #amiga #computing #IT #1990s #tech #technology #vintage #nostalgia #digital #DigitalArt #graphics #CGI #design #artwork #GraphicDesign

Metin Seven 🎨21h ago

🧵 Game dev years, 22/x

Surrounding Clockwiser development, we had also started creating Moon Child, a sequel to our 1992 Hoi Amiga platform game. Moon Child was aimed at the then-new AGA Amigas, and featured Hoi as an automated sidekick.

The video shows an early demo version.

#TeamHoi #PixelArt #GameDev #gaming #games #game #gamer #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #retro #commodore #amiga #tech #DigitalArt #CharacterDesign #design #artwork #art #artist #arte #arts #GraphicDesign #MastoArt #FediArt

Metin Seven 🎨13h ago

🧵 Game dev years, 23/x

In 1995, a Dutch media company offered us a steady job where we could develop Moon Child as a semi-independent game dev division.

As Commodore went bankrupt in 1994, we were required to restart MC development for Windows, enabling us to increase the resolution to 640 x 480 pixels.

The game's scrolling is smooth, but I reduced the frame count for the GIF.

#TeamHoi #GameDev #gaming #games #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #retro #windows #tech #design #art #MastoArt #FediArt

Boris Kretzinger 20h ago

@metin It does not have an entry at @gamesthatwerent , does it? Would be interesting to learn more about that. Thanks for sharing!

Metin Seven 🎨20h ago

@Datassette_User 👍 I don't know if @gamesthatwerent covered Moon Child, but here are a few sites with more info:

1️⃣ https://amiga.abime.net/games/view/moon-child

2️⃣ https://archive.org/details/MoonChildGame

3️⃣ https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_Child_(computerspel) (Dutch wiki, can be auto-translated)

#TeamHoi #PixelArt #GameDev #gaming #games #game #gamer #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #RetroGames #RetroTech #VintageComputing #retro #history #8bit #16bit #commodore #amiga #computing #IT #1980s #1990s #tech #technology #vintage #nostalgia #digital

Making sure you're not a bot!

Stefan Ihringer 6d ago

@metin "their height in stacked peanut butter jars"?! wow, that sounds so wrong from today's point of view :-)

@compfu Hahah, yeah, a prize that depends on someone’s physical characteristics would be questionable these days. 🙂

Stefan Ihringer 5d ago

@metin Didn’t even think of it that way bit that’s a valid point. I thought about how unhealthy that would be.

@compfu Haha, yeah, that’s also a good point. 😃

Matthias Rochow / ooRay 6d ago

@metin I loved the Amiga discs. Way better and more sturdy than the wobbly C64 ones. But I wonder why it reads "One Meg only". Is it to promote the efficiency of the code?

@ooRay_creation Yeah, 3.5 inch diskettes were sturdier and easier to handle than 5.25 inch floppies, although I hated it when a shutter had a dent when a diskette was sent by snail mail. Then you needed to tear it off, and make a copy before dust entered the inside. 😅

The "1 meg only" notice means that the game didn't run on a standard 512 KB Amiga. 🙂 It needed 512 KB additional "Fast RAM". Hoi did run on 512 KB Amigas. I'll modify the post to clarify that.

Matthias Rochow / ooRay 6d ago

@metin Thanks for the explanation! I forgot about the specs from then, but I had it all, I think. I must look for some pictures I made of my A1200 before I sold it to a hacker. One thing I remember was that my 250 MB Conner hard disk always had plenty of room. Times have changed 😅

@ooRay_creation 🙂👍

I remember being an early Amiga 2000 owner in 1987 (having upgraded from an A1000 in 1986). The additional 512 KB Fast RAM of the A2000 caused ± half of my game collection to not work anymore. 😅 I think it took at least 1.5 years before most games took the possible presence of Fast RAM into account. 🥲

Scimmia di Mare 6d ago

@metin 512 MB???

@Madmonkey Haha, oops, typo in the first memory indication. Corrected, thanks. 😅

Stefan Ihringer Mar 22

@metin I‘m enjoying your posts about your Amiga game. So many interesting bits and pieces. But did you ever reveal where the name „Hoi“ comes from? It’s a constant mystery for me :-)

#TeamHoi #GameDev #games #RetroGaming #amiga

@compfu Thanks! Haha, yeah, I'll explain the Hoi title… 😁

First of all, "Hoi" means "Hi" in Dutch. Back in the 1980s and 1990s I used to have a cat named Mickey. When he entered my room, I always greeted him by saying "Hoi Mickey!"

As time went by, "Mickey" was left out, and the cat's name simply became "Hoi." 🙂

When I had drawn the cute green critter and showed it to our coder, he and I simultaneously said "Hoi!" And so the game title was born. 😆

Stefan Ihringer Mar 22

@metin ha ha, great! 👏

Jayenkai [ J-N-K ]Mar 22

@metin Gosh, I don't remember that one.
Nearly every week you mention another game, and I'm like "Good grief, he did that one, too!?" but .. nope.. not this one!!
I'll have to track it down.

@Jayenkai 😊 Hoi was our biggest Amiga hit. 🙂 But maybe you're referring to Venom Wing?

When we realized the publisher would not pay us, we released a Hoi AGA Remix for free in 1993. I think it spread quite widely among Amiga users at the time.

Zorro Mar 22

@metin I used to read The One often - great magazine and that's a great score!

Metin Seven 🎨Mar 23

@zorrobandito Thanks! I also loved The One. It was filled with exciting news, in-depth reviews, large screenshots. It was sort a predecessor to the stylish Edge magazine.

gloriouscow Mar 21

@metin

i love his little waddle so much

@gloriouscow Thank you! 😊 The character sprite had to fit in 32 x 32 pixels, so I didn’t have enough space for a proper walk cycle, but that restriction turned it into a cute waddle. 🙂

Goerp Mar 21

@metin
The creature reminds me of a creature was in the C64 game "Eat your greens"

@goerp 😃 It's a new game, so maybe he played Hoi. 🙂

Goerp Mar 21

@metin
Ah yes, that's what I meant.
(But my first draft of the post got lost and I had no patience writing the second version and didn't check my text AT ALL 😄)

@goerp 😃👍

Fijn weekend!

Goerp Mar 21

@metin
Dankjewel, jij ook!

ij Mar 21

@metin 320x256 seems to be an icon on the desktop by today standards.

D‘uh!

@ij Haha, yeah, times have changed. I sometimes miss the clarity and straightforwardness of computing in the 1980s and 1990s, although I try not to romanticize it. I remember already cursing out loud back then when my computer crashed in the middle of a creation session. 😅

Robee? Na! 🌈Mar 20

@metin There needs to be a finished game that looks like those pen drawings!

@RobeeShepherd Yeah, that'd be nice indeed. 😃

Dr. Daniel Dizdarevic Mar 20

@metin @RobeeShepherd In fact, there is a game that uses this idea, and I think it works really well aesthetically:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3150030/Paper_Battlefield/

Save 50% on Paper Battlefield on Steam

A strategy where battles are limited only by the boundaries of the notebook! Experience a unique real-time strategy experience where every battle unfolds on the pages of a sketchbook, and all your units and structures are drawn with ink!

Robee? Na! 🌈Mar 21

@daniel @metin That’s quite a cool idea for a game around pen and ink

@daniel @RobeeShepherd Nice! 😃👍

Lee Schneider Mar 20

@metin Line drawings! Beautiful to behold.

@docuguy Thanks! 😊 Looking back at these sketches, I'm jealous of how nonchalant I drew them straight away using a ballpoint.

These days, if I would still draw on paper, I would carefully start sketching roughly with a blue pencil and an eraser, then clean up with a regular pencil, and then ink the final result. 😅

Dr. Daniel Dizdarevic Mar 20

@metin I absolutely love all your ballpoint pen drawings! They remind me of the sketches I used to make in my school books during boring lessons. But yours are much more elaborate and unique! 🫶

@daniel Thank you very much Daniel, much appreciated! I also made lots of ballpoint sketches in my school books, haha, and rest assured: those were less inspired. 🙂

Zorro Mar 22

@metin so cute! Yoshi vibes...