Tiny Tea Dispatch #023
For the last 2 years or so, I’ve done this YearCompass thing. It’s a booklet which helps you reflect on the past year and look at the one ahead. I don’t know if I use it correctly (I skip stuff) but at the very least it helps to remind me I actually did do something. That might be useful at the end of a year where we had to miss out on a lot. I haven’t filled it out yet (that’s for January) but I thought I’d approach this month’s newsletter in a similar way.
Also of note: november’s retro game interest mutated into a bit of Gameboy enthusiasm. I went from setting up a retro console to wanting to build a Gameboy game and somehow ending up with 4 different types of the handheld device.
So as much as this is an end-of-year dispatch, this issue is a bit heavy on the retro stuff again.
Let’s-a go!
# Making
After writing ‘Transmissions from the Void’, for most of the year, I imagined working on some more comics (like the ASD one I put out in September) but I got drawn more into making physical objects instead. First carving a lino, then building a retro console and now I’ve been modding Gameboys.
The reason for tinkering with those, is simple: I just wanted some original hardware to play my retro games on but since I overthink everything, I tried to improve on it.
It started with the classic ‘DMG’ (the handheld I know best, since it’s what I grew up with) where I wanted a better power solution than 4 AA-batteries. And it all just escalated from there.
I ended up with 4 types of Gameboys and a ‘To do’ list for most of them.
You can see the rest of the pictures on my blog.
I mentioned in a few places, that I was working on a game. These are a few screens for it.
When going through the catalogue of games on previous generations of consoles, one type I was missing, was a slow-paced, exploration game. There’s good reasons for this, of course. For one thing, if we look at how ‘walking sims’ and the likes are built, they rely a lot on procedural generation and open-ended play. With its limited processing power and memory, that’s out of the window for an old-skool Nintendo game.
The closest you get to anything like this, are RPG’s which allow for some discovery within their limited world. Ihatovo Monogatari (which I discussed in last month’s dispatch) is probably the best game to use the potential on the NES without feeling like an RPG. It has a fantastical, fixed story and steps you need to go through to progress, but the settings are interesting enough that you want to spend time in them and the story compelling enough that you want to walk around looking for what else is there.
I set out to find a tool that allowed me to build a simple game with this in mind, and write a Proof of Concept. I wanted a game that feels somewhat endless and exploratory within a limited set of options. The tool I found to build this, is called GB Studio and the theme of the game is simply riding the train. You pick a destination and then progress through a landscape, passing various stops. There will be different game mechanics depending on location (eg. a platform or inside the train) and a reward system but the main point is to sit in a moving train.
I’m still a long way from finishing the game, but I have a handle on the mechanics and a good storyboard. The biggest hurdle will be the music. I know next to nothing about composing music or sound effects. There’s some open source assets to be found for GB Studio and a lively community but those seem like they are the most difficult things to get right for the type of game.
Hopefully I’ll have some more progress shots for you next time, it’ll depend on how busy January will be.
# Seen
I haven’t watched much of note lately. I mean, I saw some things on streaming services but I missed seeing more on the big screen. The only movies I saw in cinema were Birds of Prey and Bad Boys. That’s really no good way to end the year.
As I’m writing this, I haven’t seen Tenet yet but I’m planning to see it (rented) on YouTube. I’m hoping it comes across okay but that’s not the best way to see a Nolan movie.
Future Rembrand here:
It was actually an okay viewing experience on a TV, streaming the movie from YouTube. Without a surround sound system, the audio is a bit off but otherwise, it’s alright. It’s a typical Nolan movie, with its usual quirks and flaws. If you’re a fan of Interstellar or Inception, you’ll probably find this one perfectly enjoyable, even on a TV.
# Written
Two things I’m really proud of doing this year, are turning the newsletter into a recurring monthly thing and consistently writing the ‘Transmissions from the Void’ series for 8 months. It had been a long time since I had a running project to work on. Nice to know I can still do it.
Working with non-visual storytelling was also something I hadn’t tried before. Not as extensively as with the ‘Transmissions’ anyway.
In that respect, 2020 was a creative year and one of new discoveries.
Related to writing, are the pens I collected this year. I mentioned it in the last dispatch, but I seem to get into a new subject every year and this time it was fountain pens. The ones pictured above, are the 2 last ones I bought (both brass pens) and although I have a few still on my list that I’d like to get at some point, I have all the ones I need.
I found my favorite vintage ones (the Pelikans from the 50’s), good ones for inking my drawings (including some modified flexible ones) and a few for my calendar and journals (smaller & thinner to fit in an elastic band or backpack pocket). That’s all I really wanted.
# Played
Contrary to my rise of interest in retro games, I haven’t played a lot of them. I was mostly busy making the things to play them on and finding the roms.
I did play a lot of Minecraft this year. The soundtrack and the slow gameplay are very calming.
Meanwhile, a game I backed 6 years ago finally came out on Christmas. I haven’t played it yet so there’s not much I can say. The artwork and music still look nice.
# Final notes
What a year it’s been, right? I don’t have anything particularly insightful as a send-off. I still have the week off and plan to not do very much. I hope you can take a breather as wekk and we can all recall some of the nice things we’ve got going on in our lives.
Cheers, see you in 2021.
# Links
- Коробе́йники: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBU5THob4pc
- Bach’s French Suite No.3 in B minor (BWV814): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4t1TVxL9sg&list=RDQ4t1TVxL9sg&start_radio=1
- YearCompass: https://yearcompass.com/#learn-more
- Transmissions from the Void: https://transmissions.rembo.me/?date=12019-12-30
- ASD Comic: https://rembo.me/comics/as/
- Gameboy pictures: https://rembo.me/unsorted/gameboy-collection-and-mods/
- GB Studio: http://gbstudio.dev/
- Omori: http://www.omori-game.com/#about