Raftronaut | 100 Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 Hello out there, This is my first post here on the forums, so I'll take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Jordan and I am a rock musician from Milwaukee WI. Sometime early last year I started making chiptunes of music I had written for my rock band at the time Space Raft. I had intended it as a joke originally, but actually discovered I found chiptuning to be incredibly fulfilling and started looking for the next logical step in my progression into NESdev. I decided to make a little demo for the Nesmaker Byte Off in spring 2019, which admittedly was pretty poorly made, glitchy, and mostly broken, but I used it as motivation to continue with the project as a learning experience and feel it has grown into a fairly competent game for a first development. I've received a lot of help over in the nesmaker community as I struggle to get my bearings in programming, so many thank yous to that tremendously helpful scene Since it's the end of the year, I thought maybe it would be good to share the progress I've made since then and offer the updated demo to any that might be interested here. The game features music from the band Space Raft, as well as personalities and locations (music venues, bars and record stores) from the Milwaukee music scene. Since this project was essentially meant for the Rock audience (which is where most of the interest in it currently lies) Mainly as a bridge for those who might be interested in finding the NES homebrew scene for themselves. There are a mix of obstacle based scrolling levels in the band van similar to T&C surf design and top down adventure levels where you'll have to clear all the sandwiches before the former bass player Srini (included per his request) gets you, Something like Trogg meets Robowarrior i guess. It's a bit of a romp in the vein of the Monkees "frodus caper" so the premise is purposefully half baked and ridiculous. What I have attached here is the demo ROM I managed to finish for the Portland retro Gaming expo (working steady since then and more updates will me coming soon). The game design is still rather fluid, so many things will be changed before the eventual release. For posterity I will include the link to the original nesmaker thread in case anyone is interested in playing through older builds: http://nesmakers.com/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=2867 My intention is to offer cartridges for pre order at some point, but that will be once development is completely finished. Thanks for looking! Please play LOUD (lol) humbldt music.mp4 SR_prge3.zip 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaverBoy | 20 Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 This looks pretty cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m308gunner | 352 Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 I like that tune. I like it very much. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dale_coop | 162 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Awesome work, Raftronaut. Love the concept, the graphics and, of course, the music! Can't wait to play the final version of your game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raftronaut | 100 Posted January 13, 2020 Author Share Posted January 13, 2020 On 1/1/2020 at 4:36 PM, m308gunner said: I like that tune. I like it very much. hey thanks! It's a tune I'd written years ago which had become our unofficial theme song. All of the songs from the game are songs I had written for the band. Being a musician, the soundtrack came first and the details for the game have been unfolding since then as my skills improve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrobins | 1,725 Moderator · Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 I love the look and sound of this game! I checked your NESmaker thread, and am eager to be one of your pre-order backers when the time comes! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raftronaut | 100 Posted June 12, 2020 Author Share Posted June 12, 2020 On 5/10/2020 at 8:10 PM, Scrobins said: I love the look and sound of this game! I checked your NESmaker thread, and am eager to be one of your pre-order backers when the time comes! Thanks for the interest Scrobins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raftronaut | 100 Posted June 12, 2020 Author Share Posted June 12, 2020 Dropping here with few major updates on this game. 1) Thanks to help from my good friend @dale_coop and his invaluable assistance, the development of the game is nearly completed. A myriad of features have been added and improved. Nearing 100% feature lock at the moment. Currently sitting right around 98% complete. 2) the Rock album this game is tied to has been released , pre order campaign for Vinyl LP's currently going through bandcamp and dusty medical records. I'll link below. Only mentioning it here because the album has been chiptuned and serves as the sound track to the game...It can be streamed from bandcamp at the moment but will be available on all streaming platforms once the physical copies begin shipment. Likely by Mid-July...The record has been #1 on local college radio WMSE here in Milwaukee for the past 4 weeks. Not bragging, just grateful. https://spaceraft.bandcamp.com/ https://dustymedical.com/ 3) Currently working hard to finalize packaging...well this is WAY more work than I thought! 4) I am 90% I am going to pivot and take this to kickstarter, my initial thoughts to offer pre orders through the DMR website was in hopes of pulling in indie rock fans that might have a crossover into retrogaming, but the same could be true vice versa and would have a much better access to retrogaming fans also interested in Indie rock... Attached below are some production photos of the physical production prototypes...also a photo of the game projected onto my VAN..because I lead a charmed life. Thanks for the interest! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrobins | 1,725 Moderator · Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 Very cool! I saw your twitter posts and have to ask...what kind of cake was it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raftronaut | 100 Posted June 13, 2020 Author Share Posted June 13, 2020 On 6/12/2020 at 2:05 PM, Scrobins said: Very cool! I saw your twitter posts and have to ask...what kind of cake was it? ha! are you referring to the cover sculpture of the van? If so, it isn't edible.. it's the result of my inadequate sculpting skills... though making a Van cake now seems a must-have for my eventual release party (when it is again safe to do so).. I had meant it as a pastiche reference to all the great clay cover art from famicom games. Rainbow islands, Princess Tomato, Asmik kun land (for game boy) , and Mother/earthbound. Although as I was making it I was getting more of a Gumby vibe... I haven't done any visual art in a long time, this whole project was meant as an art project basically and and a simplistic way to reconnect with visual art. The sculpture kind of played into that concept so I leaned into it and had a lot of fun playing with modeling clay and painting it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raftronaut | 100 Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 Development is essentially finished on this project. Busy preparing materials for launch now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadeye | 1,596 Homebrew Team · Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 @Raftronaut any of the tiers going in include the model van? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raftronaut | 100 Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 2 hours ago, Deadeye said: @Raftronaut any of the tiers going in include the model van? Haha, that is actually a pretty good idea..I'll have to mull this one over! I've been working to create other promotional materials as well : 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raftronaut | 100 Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 IN more Space Raft nes news. A fully chiptuned version of the album my game is based on has been released onto bandcamp today: https://spaceraft.bandcamp.com/album/approximately-space-raft This was my introduction to chiptune and served as the inspiration for me to make this into an actual NES game. I made this using BEEPBOX which served as a great entry point for me to start wrapping my head around how to approach chiptune. Of course, now I am 100% committed to famitracker but this prototype version of the game soundtrack is still a worthwhile listen although not specific to any one particular sound chip. The actual game OST will be 2A03 obviously, both this conceptual version and the actual .NSF file will be included as a download for all version of the game upon eventual release. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrobins | 1,725 Moderator · Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 1 hour ago, Raftronaut said: IN more Space Raft nes news. A fully chiptuned version of the album my game is based on has been released onto bandcamp today: https://spaceraft.bandcamp.com/album/approximately-space-raft This was my introduction to chiptune and served as the inspiration for me to make this into an actual NES game. I made this using BEEPBOX which served as a great entry point for me to start wrapping my head around how to approach chiptune. Of course, now I am 100% committed to famitracker but this prototype version of the game soundtrack is still a worthwhile listen although not specific to any one particular sound chip. The actual game OST will be 2A03 obviously, both this conceptual version and the actual .NSF file will be included as a download for all version of the game upon eventual release. Thanks for sharing! I bought the album and am listening to it now while I work. It's definitely putting me in a better mood as I put out a few office fires. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erac | 78 Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 I first read that as "office hires" :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dale_coop | 162 Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Thank you Raftronaut, an awseome chiptune album Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raftronaut | 100 Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 20 hours ago, Scrobins said: Thanks for sharing! I bought the album and am listening to it now while I work. It's definitely putting me in a better mood as I put out a few office fires. Ha, I actually put this album together while putting out office fires myself here as well. Out of the fire, Into the fire...hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raftronaut | 100 Posted July 22, 2020 Author Share Posted July 22, 2020 EEEEEE My 1st Kickstarter is live: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spaceraftnes/space-raft-nes 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrobins | 1,725 Moderator · Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Backed! Now I’m craving chicken sandwiches 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadeye | 1,596 Homebrew Team · Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Got to play that epic adventure with a bowling ball. In for a CIB. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raftronaut | 100 Posted July 23, 2020 Author Share Posted July 23, 2020 reporting back that this project was completely funded in just 15 hours. I decided to celebrate last night by inviting a friend over to play this 2017 tecmo bowl hack projected on the side of my van. I lost...oh well, It was an amazing day. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raftronaut | 100 Posted August 5, 2020 Author Share Posted August 5, 2020 Dropping some press round ups here for the game. All Milwaukee news sources with interviews: Milwaukee Record: https://milwaukeerecord.com/arts/now-milwaukee-music-is-playing-with-power-in-the-delightfully-retro-space-raft-the-game/ Milwaukee's WUWM NPR stattion: https://www.wuwm.com/post/milwaukee-musician-creates-video-game-featuring-wisconsin-landmarks?fbclid=IwAR3UNDFqd5Wo2mLlll86OUkaRJdtzgTA7--CkPevDjdMa7NGBbnzkdCDACM#stream/0 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/music/2020/08/05/nintendo-video-game-feayou-can-explore-8-bit-milwaukee-new-nintendo-video-game-starring-local-band-s/3295031001/?fbclid=IwAR2jMfwjQJTfI0u2UgnJydMSa1ewaX90wI_NmnDTO4tYtiPAZPJkFjyqyPw 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fcgamer | 4,723 Posted August 6, 2020 Share Posted August 6, 2020 Glad to see this bumped. Enjoyed reading the articles about it, and just backed the game at the LP level. Pretty cool to combine to things I love, music and NES. Sadly no shipping to Taiwan (but there's shipping offered to Malta?!?...wtf?!?) so I'm having it shipped to my folks. With covid-19 though, I won't be seeing it for a few years I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raftronaut | 100 Posted August 6, 2020 Author Share Posted August 6, 2020 23 minutes ago, fcgamer said: Glad to see this bumped. Enjoyed reading the articles about it, and just backed the game at the LP level. Pretty cool to combine to things I love, music and NES. Sadly no shipping to Taiwan (but there's shipping offered to Malta?!?...wtf?!?) so I'm having it shipped to my folks. With covid-19 though, I won't be seeing it for a few years I guess. thanks for the interest! If you want to shoot me a message in Kickstarter I am sure we can work something out. I didn't offer any shipping to Asia because I don't have any experience shipping there, but mainly because I assumed there would be very little interest. HMU and I can work to make the shipping destination easier for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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