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Scrobins

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  1. The Mega Cat Chronicles A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 2: Rocket Panda Introduction: Working in such a creative industry as video games can bring some fun people together, giving rise to great working relationships. With time and more collaborations under their belts, real friendships develop, as well as a shared idea for a project of their own. The work I’m honored to do with Mega Cat is a fun example, but right now I’m thinking of two developers who have worked together since the days of the first PlayStation. Though they have collaborated on a number of games over the years, coming together to form Space Pants Games represented a new phase in their partnership, one in which the potential of their new games will launch them into the stratosphere. For this entry, I’m covering Rocket Panda, a jetpack action-adventure for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive developed by Space Pants Games. As of the time of this writing, Rocket Panda is live on Kickstarter through Space Pants Games, with fulfillment by Mega Cat Studios, and a special VGS variant designed by @T-Pac. You can still pledge for the campaign here. Development Team: Ben Everett: art Julian Scott: programming That CIB is a sweet treat indeed, just don’t dunk it like a StarTropics letter And HERE is our own handiwork, which will look lovely next to your copy of Diamond Thieves Game Evolution: VGS’ connection to Rocket Panda began early in its collaboration with Mega Cat. James and I often share games we think would be good projects to publish together. One of them was by Space Pants Games, which had recently released Gunslugs with Retro Room Roo. In this case though, that initial game was Rocket Panda: Into the Unknown, which had a more Space Harrier vibe. The developers were flattered but felt it wasn’t a big enough game to warrant a full release, so instead VGS was included in the imminent campaign for the main game. Space Pants Games initially published the demo for Rocket Panda on itch.io on April 13, 2021, continually working on the game as it neared completion. A few years later it was ready, and on February 15, 2024, the Kickstarter campaign launched in earnest. Screenshot from Rocket Panda: Into the Unknown With thousands of dollars already pledged from hundreds of supporters, Rocket Panda launched with a full tank of gas. Backer tiers were organized in typical Mega Cat fashion: with tiers sharing the game’s confectionary themes. Fans could receive the game’s rom, cart-only, CIB, a VGS variant with unique cover art, a limited-edition CIB, poster, stickers, postcards, pins, keychain, artbook, decorative wooden cart, and your name in the credits. The campaign also offers a stretch goal, offering a mini game to all backers whose tiers include digital rewards. Gameplay: Rocket Panda describes itself as a jetpack adventure. You play as Rocket Panda, working your way through a series of labyrinthine lands to free your badger buddies who have been kidnapped by the evil Biscuit Head. Collect biscuits for points, tea for dash power, and rescue your friends across 60+ levels set within 7 different worlds in a deliciously themed game. Controls are easy to learn: navigate using the D-pad, press the A-button to dash, and press the B-button (or Up) to activate the rocket, noting that not using your boosters will cause you to drift slowly to the ground. I’ve heard of strong tea but THIS is ridiculous! (I’ll show myself out) Review: Rocket Panda is a cutesy adventure that will test your precision as you navigate your jetpack through mazes of enemies and hazards. In essence there are two types of difficulty: that built into the levels themselves, and your playstyle, dependent on how aggressively you activate your boosters and finagle Rocket Panda through danger. Of course it’s all wrapped in an adorable package that easily lulls you into a false sense of security. This is a fun for all ages game: players of all skill levels can pick-up-and-play and have a fun time, having high score challenges with each other. As observed in the VGS Discord, this is the rare Genesis homebrew that doesn’t try to be gritty. The game tells you what you need to know, easing you into its controls, and the HUD helps you track items you’ve collected/yet to collect, thus making it accessible to those who may not immediately know what they should be looking for. The color palette is bright and sunny, with an art style that emphasizes being silly (how else would you describe a boss battle against grumpy toast?) and probably hunger-inducing. As much as the levels themselves, the various screens, ranging from the title and credits screens to the game over screen boast stunning animations that mesmerize, encouraging players to explore the entirety of the cart’s offerings and the breadth of its developers’ talents. Musically the game is delightful, like the background to a happy stroll rather than a tense rescue mission, further underlying Rocket Panda’s all-ages accessibility as opposed to the Genesis’ reputation as the edgy older brother. This is a game hearkening to the roots and learned backgrounds of its developers, eager to show off once again that the limitless possibilities of homebrew are for everyone. Interviews: I got the developers to spill all the tea behind this game and their backgrounds. For a taste of their sweet stories, read on… Space Pants Games @games_pants Ben Everett -Before we dive into Rocket Panda, I would love to talk about you and your background. What first inspired you to become a game artist? What is your origin story? I started out as a 3D animator in TV and games back in 1996. I’ve always been a gamer and had been studying 3D Animation. Then I moved into games design, which is where I met Julian. We worked on Starsky & Hutch for the PS2, Xbox and PC. After a few years in commercial games, I really wanted to do my own thing and work on smaller projects that didn’t take up years of life. Julian was at that time working for himself making Flash games so I joined him as an artist/designer. Our first game was Driftrunners and did pretty well. A couple of years later we cooked up Rocket Panda (Flash), a homage to Space Harrier. We’re both Sega fans, and Space Harrier is one of my early arcade faves. Screenshot from Driftrunners -Who are your influences? And whose work are you watching closely now? Growing up, I always liked the fantasy art of Roger Dean and John Harris and the anime style of Katsuhiro Otomo, Masamune Shirow and Yoshihisa Tagami. Video game wise, I was a fan of all the Sega games and consoles, so Yu Suzuki and Yuji Naka were my influences. I’m a bit out of the loop these days so I’m not watching anyone closely. -Do you feel your artwork has a signature aesthetic that is uniquely you? How would you describe the feel of your work? Not really no. It varies from project to project. I’m generally trying to emulate someone or something else! -In your opinion, what makes good pixel art and game animation stand out? I appreciate a good choice of palette more than anything else. And anything that is bold and visually clear - in a lot of game screenshots I can’t even make sense of what is happening sometimes. -What tools do you use to create? For 2D I use Aseprite and Affinity Photo. For 3D I use Cinema4D. I’ve been doing a lot of little projects in Godot over the last few years, and that’s really robust and fun to use. -Do you have a preference creating for a particular genre? Does your process differ when working within a different set of limitations or sense of rules? I always like the faux-3D games such as Outrun, Afterburner and Doom. And arcade and racing over adventure and strategy. I think I just like really big pixels! I love the original Gameboy titles, and these days I’m generally playing the Switch. When you’re older you don’t have the time for massive games that take 30+ hours. I do like to wander around and admire the scenery in modern games, but I never progress very far. My process doesn’t change much. Generally it’s sketch it out on paper, then get a decent working prototype for sizes, then start creating. -Tell me about your creative process while working on Rocket Panda? How did you transform the concept art from the page to the screen for this game? How do you maintain the important details of that art given the limitations of coding for a decades-old gaming console like the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive? Well, there wasn’t really any concept art. We used the existing objects and characters from our Flash shooter as a base, but I just drew everything from scratch after sketching out a rough plan. I probably spent most of the time with tile sets, trying to get a nice biscuit and candy flavour to things. Limitations are good in my opinion, they keep you focused on what you can or should do. -Ever since my first episode, artist M-Tee planted this idea in my mind that a game’s protagonist serves as the player's point of immersion in the game, informing how we understand the game's world. I also believe that the protagonist’s design serves as a reflection of its designer. What is the intention behind the protagonist’s design? Do you see yourself in them? What is it about pandas that resonate so strongly with you? Wow. That's quite the question. No intention really. I don't see myself in Rocket Panda. We just like Pandas (and other black and white animals). Flying pandas are amusing to us. I guess from a design perspective, chunky animals make for a better collision box fit too -What was the working dynamic like with Julian? I’ve been working with Julian over 20 years now so it was no problem. We generally agree on things, and we’re easy going. It’s just a game so it isn’t worth arguing when we’re basically headed in the same direction. Rocket Panda (Genesis) was kind of an experiment that blew into a full game, so lots of trial and error along the way, but nothing disastrous. -What new challenges or surprises surfaced in your work on Rocket Panda? What lessons did you learn that you would like to share with the people who aspire to follow in your footsteps? If anything I was surprised at how straightforward it all was. I think that’s down to good tools and modern emulation. Because we already had characters and a setting, as well as some visual style from the previous Panda games we had made, it was fairly smooth process converting to the limited pixels and colours of the Mega Drive. Getting the palettes right early on will save you a lot of time and effort though! -Is there another project after Rocket Panda on the horizon? Another dream project that you hope to bring into existence, video game or otherwise? We are working on a couple of Mega Drive projects, one being a shoot-em-up and the other a ninja action type game. You’ve got to have a go at the classics. I’d ideally love to do an Out Run homage... -Are there any homebrew games in development that you are excited to play? I’ve not been looking around much at the minute as I’ve been too busy. -I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me and share your experiences. Is there anything else you would like to tell readers and fans? Thanks for listening. The Mega Drive is alive and well. Blast processing is the future Julian Scott -Before we dive into Rocket Panda, I would love to talk about you and your background. What first inspired you to become a game developer? What is the origin story of Space Pants Games? Like many people I had a home computer in the 1980s, and back then everyone learned to program, mostly because that’s all you had! So I got reasonably good at it and got a job in the industry in 1990. Been doing it ever since. Space Pants Games is a brand Ben and I invented purely for Rocket Panda, and we carried on using it for other games. -Who are your influences? And whose work are you watching closely now? My programming influences are mainly the people I worked in the industry. I learned a lot from many other people during my career. -What tools do you use to create? For the Genesis I use a simple assembler for writing 68000 code. I use a variety of IDEs, depending what I need to do. Different IDEs have different plugins available for 68000. I generally use Rider, but I use VS Code when low level optimizing, as there’s a good instruction timing plugin. For tools I now use WinForms, but for Rocket Panda I made a toolset using Unity. -In addition to Rocket Panda, you’ve developed Rocket Panda: Into the Unknown, Gunslugs, The Firebird!, and Super Maximum Overkill, among other games. These games represent a wide variety of genres. Is there an intention behind this variety, such as challenging yourself, or is it more that you are focused on making the games you want to make in that moment? Some of these games were made for Game Jams, so they were made to match the theme of the different Jams. Others, like Gunslugs and Heroes of Loot were conversions of other people’s games. These were mostly used as development work for my engine / tooling, as it’s simpler in some ways to make a conversion of an existing game. Don’t have to worry about gameplay! I’m happy to work on pretty much any type of game! Screenshot from Gunslugs -Tell me about your creative process while working on Rocket Panda? I like an iterative approach. I always try to make tools with fast iteration times. The more times you can change something, and test it, (without getting bored) ... the better. I usually freeform draw maps, then think about what could go where. I’d add new enemy types, code them up, and if they worked then Ben could make them look pretty! As time goes on, you get a larger palette of behaviours to work with, and combining these in different ways can often give surprising results. -What to you are the necessary elements of an action game? Not many boring bits. I don’t like too much time when there’s nothing much to do. If a cutscene isn’t skippable I’m likely to rage-quit -How did you first connect with Ben? What is the working dynamic like in your collaborations? Ben and I worked in the same company in the early 2000s. I think he was working on a game called Sheep, and I was working on Noddy’s Magic Adventure, both for the PS1. We since went on to work together on probably over a hundred games! It’s very easy going. I think the main thing for both of us is to *finish* games, so we’re never going to get worked up over small details. There’s no *one thing* which works when making games, there are always options, so we try not to take much time over decisions. -How did you first connect with James and Mega Cat Studios? Sorry, I can’t remember. I suspect we just emailed them blindly! -What new challenges or surprises surfaced in your work on Rocket Panda? What lessons did you learn that you would like to share with the people who aspire to follow in your footsteps? Nothing much really. I had to re-learn 68000, but it came back to me quite quickly. Once you’ve made plenty of games, there’s not often much new to do, though I’m always aspiring to make the tooling ever better. We had some issues with palette management, but that’s fixed now going forward. For me, putting the work in is most important. Can’t rely on inspiration, but you can rely on some kind of work ethic. -Is there another project after Rocket Panda on the horizon? Another dream project that you hope to bring into existence, video game or otherwise? No dream projects, but we have a number of games in the works. I like doing technically challenging things, trying to bring something new to the Mega Drive, so I sometimes focus on that part of it. But doing tech for tech’s sake can be dodgy. The game comes first! I’m sure we’ll make some kind of Outrun game eventually. -Are there any homebrew games in development that you are excited to play? No, I’m not really aware of many others. Conclusion: Thanks for tuning in to this latest episode of the series that highlights the latest treats coming to the cartridge, thanks to Video Game Sage’s collaboration with Mega Cat Studios. What are your thoughts on Rocket Panda and its incredibly talented developers? What homebrews are you eagerly looking forward to? Perhaps you’ll see it here soon in the next tale of…The Mega Cat Chronicles!
  2. Added Rocket Panda for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, now live on Kickstarter! And if you look among the tiers, you will notice a special VGS exclusive variant with cover art designed by our own @T-Pac!
  3. Added Googie Toons for the NES, now live on Kickstarter.
  4. I’m shutting this down. This thread will now be locked. You have been told to go seek help. Go do it. Nobody here is capable of giving you the help you need. Please heed the advice you’ve been given before you hurt someone.
  5. I’m going to echo what’s already been said in abundance: see a mental health professional. This is a webforum for video game enthusiasts and is a weird place for advice or camaraderie or commiseration for what you’re going through. We are not equipped to help you. And it is getting tiresome that you refuse to accept the overwhelming consensus this community is offering to you.
  6. There's really no constructive benefit to others calling this a troll post. We the staff are monitoring this and at least one of us is in direct contact with the OP. If we thought there wasn't something of legitimate concern here, we would lock the post and ban the OP. We will police this thread and forum, just worry about whether or not you feel like engaging.
  7. Our VGS variant (with art by our own @T-Pac) for Rocket Panda is on Kickstarter!!! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spacepantsgames/rocket-panda-a-delicious-rocket-adventure-for-sega-genesis I will update the list later today when I have a moment.
  8. I was able to get a cart when they released a second wave a few days after the first. No idea if there is a rom out there. You could ask the Retrotainment Guys since it was a 6502 Collective project.
  9. This is the first I’ve heard of something like that. Are you sure you aren’t confusing it with the Zao NES album?
  10. Added The Train Part 2 for the Gameboy, now live on Kickstarter!
  11. I’ll be making a special announcement when that one launches, because VGS is involved in this game!
  12. Added Cherry Rescue for the Gameboy, currently sold out.
  13. Added Jane Austen's 8-Bit Adventure for the NES, currently sold out.
  14. Added Donkey Soldier also known as NeMULEsis for the NES, now available through Dalyen Games.
  15. Added Cyber Rogue, in development for the NES.
  16. I’m thankful you responded without being defensive. I hope you take this opportunity for introspection to understand why you thought that was an appropriate joke to make given the pain that Jim Crow has had on the black community. That said, I’m disappointed you haven’t actually apologized for it. All you’ve said is you were worried about your likeability, and claimed you aren’t racist so you guess you shouldn’t make jokes like that. As a person of color, that just doesn’t cut it, because “I’m not a racist” are just words that anyone can say. You haven’t proven you aren’t racist, you’ve proven you respond when you get in trouble.
  17. Knock off this petty bickering. Any more talk about the Super A’Can where it doesn’t belong gets that person a warning point.
  18. I can email you the one I put together if you want to take a look at it and play with it.
  19. FYI Action 53, Vol. 1 never had a box. I had one custom made a few years ago though I don’t remember if it was fsped or Uncle Tusk.
  20. Added Desolate Love for the Famicom.
  21. Added Flap Happy for the NES & Gameboy, now live on Kickstarter!
  22. Newest episode is up, covering Oratorio for the NES!
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