Hot Pot Runs - Available Now!

[fcgamer | 4,719]

History:

I approached my brother with the idea for a novel several months back. I had the idea for a book in this style for quite some time, drawing inspirations from both Herman Wouk's The Lawgiver and Thomas Glavinic's Das bin doch Ich. My brother's been managing a blog for awhile, and he seems to enjoy writing, and as I wanted to be assured that the correspondence throughout the book seemed as though it was coming from different parties, I asked my brother to join my team. After initially pitching the idea, he declined, hard pass, but then I created a few email addresses for some of the different characters, wrote a chapter, and my brother was quick to get into the story.

 

Plot: 

The story revolves around the entrepreneur Frankie Wang, and his attempt at "making it big" after several previous failed business attempts. He ultimately drags his friend Eason into his idea, and due to a screw-up, they end up contracting with a team of non-programmers in America to create a NES / Famicom game to display at a Taiwan National Day celebration (October 10th), hoping to get enough sales to not only propel themselves to success but also to pay off their loanshark.

 

Style:

The book is mostly an epistolary novel. Whereas there are places where the novel is being narrated in a typical manner, the bulk of the novel consists of emails between the corresponding parties, notes, developer diary, text messages, instant message, phone calls, transcribed conversations, etc.

 

Our novel is being written in real time - this means that the dates are more or less accurate, even the deadlines we've set for events are more or less true. So if Raj (the game programmer) states in a note that he did something on XYZ day at XYZ time, this is likely when that event actually occurred.

 

The Novel:

I'm still looking into how my brother and I will publish the novel. We will likely go with Amazon for it, as it seems to be convenient and easy, and I want to get involved with Amazon publishing anyway as my friend had asked me for help to market his book on Amazon, which I had made a post about in the Everything Else forum.

With that being said, we might initially look into publishing the book initially exclusively for the VGS (and possibly Famicom World) market. Whether it's just me taking the manuscript down to the print shop and getting it printed and bound, or something more formal, I'm not sure. We're still thinking about it and I'm open to all ideas.

 

The Game:

My brother and I bought NES Maker and are attempting to use it to make the game that the guys in the story are making. The game will be titled Hot Pot Runs, as the game's plot is that the protagonist finished eating a big spicy hot pot meal, and now he has a massive case of diarrhea and must find a toilet, and quickly. It's the sort of experience I think everyone has had at least once or twice over in Taiwan, due to poor sanitation standards regarding food.

The game isn't particularly good, we just don't have the knowledge or experience to make it a AAA game; however, similarly, I think when taken in context with the novel, it fits perfectly. As we are basically going through the exact same thing that the guys in the novel are going through, aside from the loanshark bit of course.

 

The Takeaway:

Although the story will come to a conclusion around October 10th, we won't be finished with adjusting / editing the manuscript and what not until probably mid November. At that point we'll look to sell the book. 

We are making the game purely as a fun item to go with the novel, but it's something that will only be available to you guys - anyone buying the novel through Amazon won't be able to get the game, it's merely an extra.  Similarly, we aren't going to sell the game separately, as preferably, one would read the novel first and then play the game, basically experiencing the same reaction as some of the main characters receive at the end of the book when they try out the game for the first time.

If you're interested in our novel and game, please post below that you want one, and I'll put you on the list. It will really be useful to help gauge how many to make.

Also, I'm not sure if we'll do them CIB or loose cartridges, please specify your preference. 

Finally, please let me know what sort of price point would be fine with you for this project. I have a figure in mind, but it's good to hear what other people think would be reasonable for such a project. 

Thanks!

 

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by fcgamer

[Scrobins | 1,718]

Count me in 

[Murray | 2,447]

11 hours ago, fcgamer said:

 

The game will be titled Hot Pot Runs, as the game's plot is that the protagonist finished eating a big spicy hot pot meal, and now he has a massive case of diarrhea and must find a toilet, and quickly.

I’m in. 

[dockvalentine | 23]

Count me in, too!

[Murray | 2,447]

Please tell me Opty’s going to make a cameo 

[fcgamer | 4,719]

@Scrobins @dockvalentine@Murrayill be contacting you guys over the next day or too about this

[fcgamer | 4,719]

Also for everyone interested:

The price on these will be $80 shipped from Taiwan, I'll autograph them, if you want my brother's autograph as well the price will go up $5-$10 since I'd have to ship to him, and then him to you guys

The price includes book + game cartridge + postage.

if anyone wants one of these please post here or pm me, I'm going to send out invoices later this week, then start assembling these to get them out to everyone by January.

This will likely be the only chance to get the game.

After this sale here, I'll start selling the book through Amazon, and I do think there'll be a way to bundle the game with it.

thanks!

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

Sounds interesting, but with Christmas right here, there's no way I could swing a physical copy.  Any chance of doing some digital sales once you get your production run completed?  Or is that what you're referring to in regard to bundling the game with the book?

[Murray | 2,447]

3 hours ago, fcgamer said:

Also for everyone interested:

The price on these will be $80 shipped from Taiwan, I'll autograph them, if you want my brother's autograph as well the price will go up $5-$10 since I'd have to ship to him, and then him to you guys

The price includes book + game cartridge + postage.

if anyone wants one of these please post here or pm me, I'm going to send out invoices later this week, then start assembling these to get them out to everyone by January.

This will likely be the only chance to get the game.

After this sale here, I'll start selling the book through Amazon, and I do think there'll be a way to bundle the game with it.

thanks!

I want @OptOut’s autograph instead 

[OptOut | 8,881]

8 minutes ago, Murray said:

I want @OptOut’s autograph instead 

I only sign tits. 

[Hammerfestus | 3,820]

20 hours ago, OptOut said:

I only sign tits. 

Well then I’ll take 2.

[neodolphino | 267]

I'm in, you crazy man.

[JamesRobot | 5,786]

21 hours ago, OptOut said:

I only sign tits. 

I'll let you sign my moobs if you ask real nice.

[fcgamer | 4,719]

Okay everyone, I've just finished talking with my brother and due to Christmas and all, we won't launch until next year after all, first quarter.

Things had been delayed some as my brother was sick for a spell (luckily not covid).

Thanks for the interest though, we're quite excited to see this one through to the end

[Scrobins | 1,718]

Speaking of Famicom homebrew, how’s this game coming along? Congrats on the Family Bits release!

[fcgamer | 4,719]

On 4/28/2022 at 2:31 AM, Scrobins said:

Speaking of Famicom homebrew, how’s this game coming along? Congrats on the Family Bits release!

Thanks so much!

Regarding Hot Pot Runs, basically my brother and I had a slight disagreement about the direction that the story was heading. As this was my brainchild, I honestly had the authority to override his opinion, but due to being on the spectrum, my brother would have been extremely upset by this, thus it was an action I wasn't going to do. Soon after, he went on a cruise with my parents, and we mutually decided to let things rest for a little while. This had all happened around November or December last year.

Ironically enough, we decided to dust this off about two weeks ago, and had found a solution that was agreeable to both of us. Things are coming along nicely, and will be finished up in about a month or a month and a half, I'd say.

[fcgamer | 4,719]

Things are quickly coming to a close. The story is almost complete, I have about two or three more pages to write, and my brother has about one or two pages to write. The writing will be finished this weekend. As for the game that goes with, it is about 90% done too. We will likely tie up all the loose ends this weekend and next week, aiming for a release date in early June. 

[fcgamer | 4,719]

Text is finished and formatted. Goodnight VGS, this will be available soon

[Gloves | 11,759]

To confirm - no box? Ie not CIB? 

[fcgamer | 4,719]

6 hours ago, Gloves said:

To confirm - no box? Ie not CIB? 

That avatar...what did you do to @OptOut lol.

Yeah, it'll be CIB

[fcgamer | 4,719]

Okay! So the book my brother and I wrote, Hot Pot Runs, is finished and available on Amazon at the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Pot-Runs-Dave-Allwein/dp/B0B1CK6G72

There is also a Famicom Hot Pot Runs game to accompany the book, essentially it's the same game that the team of developers create and produce in the book. We will start building and assembling cartridges this weekend coming up. The game will be CIB, as it seems that's what members here favor, and TBH I prefer CIB too.

Now just to reiterate, this game is not very good, but when viewed from within the context of the book, it fits perfectly, and I think it's still pretty fun to read the story and then be able to play the actual game, for better or for worse. 

 

So how do I get the game?

 1: Order the book and take a picture that you ordered it

2: DM me here with the picture, and then I'll give you payment details for the game

3: After you pay, I'll send out a cartridge. I'll also send you a postcard with a hand-written thank you note on it.

 

Payment for the game:

 1: Postal money orders / cheques 

2: Paypal friends & family

3: "Trade" - i.e. you can purchase for me an item that's of a similar price, and then I'll send you the game

 

Important notes:

 1: Cost of the book is just under $15, which means that the cost for the Hot Pot Runs game will be $65. Shipping is included in this price.

2: I can only send parcels to the countries on the list at the moment, due to Covid-19 (please see image). A few countries I can only send by EMS or whatever, so the shipping would be a bit more. We can figure something out though, as there's always a way to help each other in this lovely community

3: I won't sell the game to people who don't purchase (and hopefully read) the book. The rationale is that the game is just a fun little collector's piece for you guys, but without the book, it honestly wouldn't have been created.

 

Any questions, please feel free to ask. Thanks for the support

[fcgamer | 4,719]

Also, if you guys have young children (pre school to maybe first or second grade), you might want to check out my brother's line of children's stories, titled The Legend of Poo Panties the Cat. There's four stories so far in the series, with a new book being created every month or month and a half. The stories follow a stinky cat and his forest friends, as well as a boy, Willie, who has autism. 

https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AThomas++L+Allwein

I'm extremely proud of my brother for creating these stories, as he is on the spectrum himself and this project has finally given him a way to build his confidence and hash out a better, more meaningful life for himself.

[fcgamer | 4,719]

The game itself is taking waaaay longer than it should, it seems that I have too much on my plate at the moment.

Finished up the packaging, I think the print shop screwed up the manual when printing, making it huge. I sort of think it's fitting though, in an odd way, so I might just leave it like that.

[a3quit4s | 4,091]

Bro she had to go so bad she took off her shoes and socks. I’ve had days like that lol

Are you still taking order for the assuming I get the book? @fcgamer

Edited September 2, 2022 by a3quit4s

[fcgamer | 4,719]

48 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:

Bro she had to go so bad she took off her shoes and socks. I’ve had days like that lol

Are you still taking order for the assuming I get the book? @fcgamer

Yeah of course I think we're gonna lower the price on this too.