Vektorlogic Ltd
, ,
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2000
- Posts
- 156
Having had some conversations on the HNG64 boards, it was suggested that it may be appropriate to put this info on the news section.
Super Bubble Pop Neo Geo was released on 15 May 2004. It is the first game from Vektorlogic on the Neo Geo MVS platform. It has been a long time in the making and it is the first full project, following the initial work that was done on Sparks - Sparks never made it out of concept for a multitude of reasons, the least of which were possible tech and IP infringements against SNK IP - this was discussed in the trade press at the time, but there were no communications from Aruze (at the time) to Vektorlogic directly. SNK were offered the rights to our games, but declined. They did offer to manufacture them at a very high price and then sell them back to us so we could sell them on - I declined. Vektorlogic has done work for SNK customers in the past, with SNK approval, with PC ports and we have entered into NDA agreements in the past - details of which will come out if the new owners want to 'press to test' - just to clarify the situation.
The whole ot the Neo Geo cart system was redesigned including PCBs, plastics, security and banking, plus some other 'subtle' modifications to the design. The system does not incorporate and SNK IP at all within the software. The 68K and Z80 databus protocols are not SNK IP, nor is the data handling system of the Yamaha ADPCM system. The VLSPC functions may give possible leads to use of IP (which would be arguable to say the least) but if only the sprite placing functions are utilized, this is only the basis of pretty much every graphic controller of the time - ie the Kaneko View chips etc.
There are currently 6 titles in development with additional titles to follow, if the project remains financially viable - and that is the major limiting factor here. AES versions will be built if there is sufficient interest - and to that end, the magical number will be 100 for AES, not to make a profit on it, but just to cover the cost of plastics tooling and design costs, plus PCBs and components.
Games - Super Bubble Pop is game number 1. It was developed by some of the guys that work for me and released via Runecraft the developers at the time. A console version has been released and the various versions were handled by Jaleco. The game super bubble pop is now owned by Vektorlogic and it has been modified for arcade format, being released on neo geo now, and another hi-spec version will be released in 8 weeks time, commensurate with our own new game platform, entitled Raptor. The game will initially ship as an upright version for neo, and the cocktail table version will follow in 2 weeks from now. A new cocktail table has been produced for Neo Geo and Raptor systems - more details of that in a week or so when the new site goes live. Raptor will start shipping in about 8 weeks - the full system is running and has been site tested, but we are currently waiting for custom parts for the IO handler. Super Bubble Pop in arcade format, has just been licensed to G Cluster who will provide the game on Cluseter Server TV broadcast formats - in conjunction with Softbank. A provisional agreement has been made to make all neo games available for Ultracade. There are no systems currently in operation from other manufacturers that can handle the 3D acceleration requirements of Super Bubble Pop Raptor, or most of the other games currently in dev for Raptor.
Future games include the following:
Manic Panic - 2d maze game with parallax scrolling backgrounds. 4 way joystick required. Upright and cocktail versions. Music by DJ Jesper Kyd from Nano studios in NY. Screenshots will be available at the end of the weekend.
Tommy K Special Ops - Tommy K will be completed by the end of next month and is a platform shooter. There are 4 different levels: Construction Site; Aztec; Sewer; Train Ride ..and there are 4 stages in each of these levels. These are all playable in 1 player mode. There are additional stages for each level for 2 player mode. 1 Player mode has a puzzle element to it, in that you have to accomplish your mission within a set time, whilst not getting killed. 2 Player mode is more akin to the shootfest of Metal Slug.
Tommy has a variety of weapons and 'toys' at his disposal. Typically, pistol, automatic machine gun, rocket launcher, fire extinguisher, dynomite and a couple of others. In addition you also have to operate equipment such as conveyor belts, computer systems etc in order to accomplish your goal. There are hostages to release, but that will not necessarily be your mission, and may not be the best thing to do sometimes, if you are to complete the level.
There will be a soccer game - name TBD and then a vertical scrolling 3d shoot em up plus a couple of others.
Retail for these items will be $395. which may seem high, but this is the first sale of these games (new SNK games start at around $1500) We have implemented new copy protection firmware and we will not be slashing the price aka SNKP.
We need to protect operators and distributors from losing huge sums from buying new equipment, so the price will remain stable and hopefully it will take some time before games are copied - without a stable industry, nobody will continue to manufacture, buy or operate for much longer. The games are primarily aimed at amusement equipment operators. I am happy to sell to private buyers but the price will be maintained until the end of the main sale period. Unlike the SNK production runs, we can re-use all of our parts on different games, so there will be no panic selling to clear stock. Prices will fall for used equipment as always in the marketplace.
Like many of the old and bold who frequented rec.games.video.arcade.collecting i started out as a collector who got carried away with it! However, having built up the buying and selling side, it was a natural progression to want to manufacture something for the industry. Most of this has been done as a one man band venture ( probably ill-advised as comms and shipping sometimes fell down during the last 24 months during this dev phase) but hopefully that has now been addressed. I would like to feel that we (the royal we) are putting something back into the business that made some cash along the way - something that most people don't do, they just want to make the money and take it out, then bitch that manufacturers aren't making product for them to sell.
There are a couple of pics below - full kit and mini kit pics, plus 2 screenshots from one of the construction site levels in Tommy K. Constructive criticism is always welcome - it helps to improve things - and destructive criticism ... just gets filed.
If you like the games when you see them in your arcade or wherever, play them. If not, don't and feel free to drop me a line and tell me what you didn't like - you will get a reply and your comments will be passed on to the coders, artists and musicians for consideration. Just keep playing games in the arcades!
PS for the techies - the games are developed using our own tools. Pre-testing is done on Neo Rage X (thanks Janne and Anders, whom I have known for some time now!) and then transferred to hardware testing. None of the emulators work 100% and you can't use them exclusively to develop on - I have 16 weeks of my life lost to verify that fact with bug testing. We use our own GRP and PRG carts with our own custom FPGAs.
New site will be online for the 1st of next month.
Jeff F
Super Bubble Pop Neo Geo was released on 15 May 2004. It is the first game from Vektorlogic on the Neo Geo MVS platform. It has been a long time in the making and it is the first full project, following the initial work that was done on Sparks - Sparks never made it out of concept for a multitude of reasons, the least of which were possible tech and IP infringements against SNK IP - this was discussed in the trade press at the time, but there were no communications from Aruze (at the time) to Vektorlogic directly. SNK were offered the rights to our games, but declined. They did offer to manufacture them at a very high price and then sell them back to us so we could sell them on - I declined. Vektorlogic has done work for SNK customers in the past, with SNK approval, with PC ports and we have entered into NDA agreements in the past - details of which will come out if the new owners want to 'press to test' - just to clarify the situation.
The whole ot the Neo Geo cart system was redesigned including PCBs, plastics, security and banking, plus some other 'subtle' modifications to the design. The system does not incorporate and SNK IP at all within the software. The 68K and Z80 databus protocols are not SNK IP, nor is the data handling system of the Yamaha ADPCM system. The VLSPC functions may give possible leads to use of IP (which would be arguable to say the least) but if only the sprite placing functions are utilized, this is only the basis of pretty much every graphic controller of the time - ie the Kaneko View chips etc.
There are currently 6 titles in development with additional titles to follow, if the project remains financially viable - and that is the major limiting factor here. AES versions will be built if there is sufficient interest - and to that end, the magical number will be 100 for AES, not to make a profit on it, but just to cover the cost of plastics tooling and design costs, plus PCBs and components.
Games - Super Bubble Pop is game number 1. It was developed by some of the guys that work for me and released via Runecraft the developers at the time. A console version has been released and the various versions were handled by Jaleco. The game super bubble pop is now owned by Vektorlogic and it has been modified for arcade format, being released on neo geo now, and another hi-spec version will be released in 8 weeks time, commensurate with our own new game platform, entitled Raptor. The game will initially ship as an upright version for neo, and the cocktail table version will follow in 2 weeks from now. A new cocktail table has been produced for Neo Geo and Raptor systems - more details of that in a week or so when the new site goes live. Raptor will start shipping in about 8 weeks - the full system is running and has been site tested, but we are currently waiting for custom parts for the IO handler. Super Bubble Pop in arcade format, has just been licensed to G Cluster who will provide the game on Cluseter Server TV broadcast formats - in conjunction with Softbank. A provisional agreement has been made to make all neo games available for Ultracade. There are no systems currently in operation from other manufacturers that can handle the 3D acceleration requirements of Super Bubble Pop Raptor, or most of the other games currently in dev for Raptor.
Future games include the following:
Manic Panic - 2d maze game with parallax scrolling backgrounds. 4 way joystick required. Upright and cocktail versions. Music by DJ Jesper Kyd from Nano studios in NY. Screenshots will be available at the end of the weekend.
Tommy K Special Ops - Tommy K will be completed by the end of next month and is a platform shooter. There are 4 different levels: Construction Site; Aztec; Sewer; Train Ride ..and there are 4 stages in each of these levels. These are all playable in 1 player mode. There are additional stages for each level for 2 player mode. 1 Player mode has a puzzle element to it, in that you have to accomplish your mission within a set time, whilst not getting killed. 2 Player mode is more akin to the shootfest of Metal Slug.
Tommy has a variety of weapons and 'toys' at his disposal. Typically, pistol, automatic machine gun, rocket launcher, fire extinguisher, dynomite and a couple of others. In addition you also have to operate equipment such as conveyor belts, computer systems etc in order to accomplish your goal. There are hostages to release, but that will not necessarily be your mission, and may not be the best thing to do sometimes, if you are to complete the level.
There will be a soccer game - name TBD and then a vertical scrolling 3d shoot em up plus a couple of others.
Retail for these items will be $395. which may seem high, but this is the first sale of these games (new SNK games start at around $1500) We have implemented new copy protection firmware and we will not be slashing the price aka SNKP.
We need to protect operators and distributors from losing huge sums from buying new equipment, so the price will remain stable and hopefully it will take some time before games are copied - without a stable industry, nobody will continue to manufacture, buy or operate for much longer. The games are primarily aimed at amusement equipment operators. I am happy to sell to private buyers but the price will be maintained until the end of the main sale period. Unlike the SNK production runs, we can re-use all of our parts on different games, so there will be no panic selling to clear stock. Prices will fall for used equipment as always in the marketplace.
Like many of the old and bold who frequented rec.games.video.arcade.collecting i started out as a collector who got carried away with it! However, having built up the buying and selling side, it was a natural progression to want to manufacture something for the industry. Most of this has been done as a one man band venture ( probably ill-advised as comms and shipping sometimes fell down during the last 24 months during this dev phase) but hopefully that has now been addressed. I would like to feel that we (the royal we) are putting something back into the business that made some cash along the way - something that most people don't do, they just want to make the money and take it out, then bitch that manufacturers aren't making product for them to sell.
There are a couple of pics below - full kit and mini kit pics, plus 2 screenshots from one of the construction site levels in Tommy K. Constructive criticism is always welcome - it helps to improve things - and destructive criticism ... just gets filed.
If you like the games when you see them in your arcade or wherever, play them. If not, don't and feel free to drop me a line and tell me what you didn't like - you will get a reply and your comments will be passed on to the coders, artists and musicians for consideration. Just keep playing games in the arcades!
PS for the techies - the games are developed using our own tools. Pre-testing is done on Neo Rage X (thanks Janne and Anders, whom I have known for some time now!) and then transferred to hardware testing. None of the emulators work 100% and you can't use them exclusively to develop on - I have 16 weeks of my life lost to verify that fact with bug testing. We use our own GRP and PRG carts with our own custom FPGAs.
New site will be online for the 1st of next month.
Jeff F
Not bad for 'NOT an advertisement'.
.
), and I'm sure the people currently doing homebrew for the various homebrew-friendly consoles (namely X-Box, GP32 and GBA) would love to test stuff out on the new hardware. Is this the beginning of a fantastic story, in which we make a journey into the cave of Neo Homebrew? Friends, we shall see!
