[ New Game ] 8Bit Merchant


commander-beef

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Joined
May 1, 2012
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Polandowo
8Bit Merchant:

 

Info:

Fun and educational game set in 70'-90'. You're Merchant who sells computer electronics. 

Its a mix of Hammurabi [buy/selling goods] and Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego [Educational Informactions]

 

Feats:

- Nice ChipTune music

- Nice graphics [created from ground-up]

- Exclusive OpenPandora Game [written from Ground-Up]

- Created for Alive And Kicking Open Pandora Coding Competition 2014

- Achievements..

 

[C]2014 by 4th Floor Development

Graphics by StreaK

Code by StreaK

Music by GoTo80

 

License:

- 8Bit Merchant: Freeware, Closed Source..

- Music by Goto80 on CC v3.0 License:

  http://freemusicarchive.org/genre/chiptune/?sort=track_date_published&d=1&page=2

- AeroPlane Effect on CC v3.0 License:

  http://www.soundjay.com/airplane-sound-effect.html

- Icon on CC v3.0 License:

  http://icons.iconarchive.com/icons/antialiasfactory/jewelry/32/Coin-icon.png

 

Screens:

 

01.png


 

03.png


 

02.png


 

Download:

http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=8bit-merchant-app

 

As a side note: The Game isnt completed yet. Its still WIP. Please keep in mind that if You want to add 1-star rating :p
 
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ToDo list [only if somebody will play my game.. :D ]:

- HighScore

- More achievements / Unlocking Achievements

- Save/Restore [it would be handy because up to mid-90s new software will popup in 8Bit Merchant, like atari jaguar, sony psx.. so on..]

- Finish History dates

- Add more hardware's to sell [and finish hardware quick history]
 
Thx, ED.

BTW. I'm still improving 8Bit.

New feats: 

- Updated History

- More Cities..

- Acheivements*

* - For example, if you decide to buy 100 x Diskettes in 1977, and you'll keep them till 1979 on your stock you'll get 'master of gambling' with bonus 200$. 

- Choosing where to go [what city]

- Collectibles*

* - for example if you decide to go to Warsaw in january of 1986 then you'll get a proposition to buy 100 x RODAN 10 computers. if you decide to buy it and keep it till mid-ninieties, you'll become rich man :D

Download: today [but i dont know exact time :D ]

BTW:

I would like to add every major city in europe to the game, and i would love to get some hints from You what exotic computers you know in your country , that are NOT known very well worldwide. I can create more 'collectibles' then in 8bit Merchant..

For example: in Poland there was a ODRA, ELWRO JUNIOR, MERITUM, COBRA computers, that are not known very well worldwide. 
 
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For example

In Slovakia we had own zx spectrum-like computer series called Didaktik.

They were made in Skalica (town near czech-slovak border)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didaktik

http://www.interface1.net/zx/clones/didaktik.html

Didaktik Gama - first zx clone with unbelievable 80KB of RAM ;)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/l_wonORN2ow?feature=oembed

Didaktik M - was more compatible with specifications to ZX Spectrum

Didaktik Kompakt came with built-in floppy 3.5" 720 KiB drive. Time to load the game was reduced to just few seconds :)

They also made sound interface with AY 3-8912 chip called Didaktik Melodik which allowed for nice AY music also for 48KB ZX-like machines.

EDIT:

If you would like to know the prices of various hardware or software components or the whole computers from that time you can find them in scans of the czechoslovak magazines like FIFO, BiT, ZX Magazin available here: http://zxm.speccy.cz/?m=cas&x=cas
 
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Spectrum clones were also popular in the UK with machines like the Oric 1, Sam Coupe and Jupiter Ace. But there was also a CoCo clone, the Dragon 32 from Wales, for more money than the Spectrum clones, but I remember that hung around for a long time in shops and was available quite cheaply by the end. The Amstrad CPC range was somewhere in between in terms of price, and later the Amstrad PCW (sold concurrently with the CPC) which was more of a business machine that came with a screen, printer and disc drives built in for not much more than the more expensive gaming computers.


By the late eighties, most of the British computer companies had gone bust. Sinclair computers were still being made, but the company had been bought out by Amstrad. Acorn were still making computers throughout the eighties and nineties, initially with the 6502-based BBC micros and Electron then later (from 1987-88) the ARM-based Archimedes range.


Many machines were imported too, especially from the US with some of the early kit computers being available, as well as Commodore machines (VIC-20, C64, Amiga) and Ataris (400, 800, XL, XE), and of course Apples and PC compatibles later.
 
In Germany, the C64 was king. Not many had a Spectrum (when I was a kid I've never come across one), some had a Schneider CPC though.
 
New feats: 

- Updated History 

- More Countries.. [15]

- Acheivements [15 already]*

- Collectibles [15 already]*

Downloads:

http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=8bit-merchant-app

A little hint how to get first achievement/collectible: "Dont forget to be in Poland in March of 1977" :D

How to find more collectibles/achievements. Easy, if you know (at least small part) computer history, you should know when & where to achieve more hardware stuff. 

After collecting stuff You'll be able to view it..
 
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There were always a few vocal Germans on the old acorn newsgroups, so I assume the BBC was moderately successful over there too, although probably nothing in comparison to sales of the C64. I don't actually know how the Beeb and the C64 compared in terms of sales in the UK, though it's pretty certain that Acorn would have sold far fewer BBC Micros here if it weren't for the government/BBC scheme, and even then the Spectrum was far more common.
 
Thanks for the new game commander! I like how you made use of Pandora's unique controls, makes a complex game very playable.

Feedback for 0.8.0.2: Space bar doesn't open How to Play, and the Hardware Info screen doesn't tell you how to get back to the game (press A). Also, the Pandora Key doesn't seem to exit back to Minimenu.

As for new computers and cities, how about the HC-85, HC-91, and HC-2000 (ZX Spectrum clones) in '80s-'90s Bucharest? :)
 
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Thanks for the new game commander! I like how you made use of Pandora's unique controls, makes a complex game very playable.

Feedback for 0.8.0.2: Space bar doesn't open How to Play, and the Hardware Info screen doesn't tell you how to get back to the game (press A). Also, the Pandora Key doesn't seem to exit back to Minimenu.

As for new computers and cities, how about the HC-85, HC-91, and HC-2000 (ZX Spectrum clones) in '80s-'90s Bucharest? :)
Thx, Alex

Right, Space bar not work yet, and i should add a little info in hardware info screen pretty soon :D

I'll try to add these computers to game. 
 
Commander-beef, just FYI please note that you should refrain from doing significant updates to your application as the deadline is over, and the voting is going to start soon. It wouldn't be fair towards the other entries. So if you could put on hold any significant update to your game until the voting ends, it would probably be preferable.
 
Commander-beef, just FYI please note that you should refrain from doing significant updates to your application as the deadline is over, and the voting is going to start soon. It wouldn't be fair towards the other entries. So if you could put on hold any significant update to your game until the voting ends, it would probably be preferable.
Im doing only cosmetic changes. Noting new in mechanic or code itself. Adding more computers + help menu under [space] key doest expand playablility of game itself. Can i do that?
 
Commander-beef, just FYI please note that you should refrain from doing significant updates to your application as the deadline is over, and the voting is going to start soon. It wouldn't be fair towards the other entries. So if you could put on hold any significant update to your game until the voting ends, it would probably be preferable.
Im doing only cosmetic changes. Noting new in mechanic or code itself. Adding more computers + help menu under [space] key doest expand playablility of game itself. Can i do that?
Adding "data" is fine (as long as the added data is not twice bigger than the original scope of the game).

Cosmetic changes (i.e. new graphics, better looking interface, etc...) may not be fair (if we allow that, then i should also allow slaeshjag to update his PewPewTris with new graphics).

Adding new features would definitely not be allowed. 

If you limit the changes to data + help menu, I think that's fine to be considered as a "minor change". 
 
Okay. 

BTW: New feats like:

- high-scores 

- Online scoring

- Saving/Loading game..

Will be released after compo's end..
 
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