Resolutions 2025

01 January 2025

Some goals, ideas and thoughts for the year ahead.

Let's all meet here again in 2026 and see what happened.

2024 In Review

Resolutions 2024

All glog posts in 2024

Amiga Ireland and Kickstart 02 were attended

Rogue Declan physical editions were released

Lap The Lough 18 was completed (somehow)

The untitled Amiga isometric game was worked on a lot

Rogue Declan MegaDrive port was started

Spectrum Next Something was not started

Rogue Declan physical sales were good, standing at around 170 after eight months in total across all editions. That's higher than Turbo Tomato lifetime sales since 2021 in fact. Sales across all channels are well over 400 units.

I got Mega Declan to the point of having some sensible looking sprites and tiles on the screen, but I've since handed it off to someone else (with extensive MegaDrive experience) to complete. There just aren't enough hours in a year and I've kind of scratched my MegaDrive itch now too. The Spectrum Next "something" was also a victim of time, but it's staying on the list.

I never did go back and finish Metroid Zero Mission on GBA either.

Surprises for 2024 included the Amiga Belfast event that I was organisationally adjacent to. It was low key but surprisingly well attended and I'm counting it as a success. I also drove for ten hours to a half-day meetup in Galway which was definitely something to do once. Another was making Santatron. I hadn't intended making a Christmas game, and wouldn't have if Amiga Addict hadn't asked, but it turned out very well in the end and meant I actually shipped a game in 2024.

I am also pleased I managed to keep posting here for the year! I think the simple text file and rsync approach works for me. The limitations of the GemText format mean I don't get dragged into making perfectly crafted pages. They are quick to write and just kinda are what they are.

2025

LAP THE LOUGH 19

Yeah, it's on the list. I had to take November and December off cycling due to illness and injury, but I've managed to start back on the training bike over the holidays so fingers crossed for August '25. No one is interested in your opinion, knees. And you can be quiet too, hip.

UPDATE: There's no Lap The Lough event in 2025! A January 2nd post on their Facebook page states "Taking a break in 2025", so I guess I am too. I'll still be cycling, but no pressure now.

AMIGA EVENTS

There's no Amiga Ireland this year, which is disappointing of course, but January is going to be busy with family things so perhaps I couldn't have gone anyway. They're taking a break so 2026's event can be planned and advertised properly, starting in the summer.

The big one for 2025 for me, and probably the only one, is the Amiga 40 event in Mönchengladbach, Germany. I've never been to Germany before and I'm excited to make the trip. I'm 75 days into a Duolingo German course as I write this in fact, and enjoying it, which is quite a change for someone who quit modern languages at school at the earliest opportunity. Sehr aufregend, ja?

Tangentally, both kids have started Duolingo Spanish on their own initiative!

I'd quite like to get to Zzap! Live at least once and maybe 2025 will be the year.

UNTITLED AMIGA ISOMETRIC GAME

As yet unnamed (but perhaps not for much longer ;) this remains my main development focus going in to 2025. I am currently deep into making the first sub-area content, but it remains slow going as it still requires creating new entities and systems for new rooms being added. Hopefully this will abate with progress and rooms can start to be added more quickly. They'll need to be or I'll still be writing paragraphs like this in January 2030. And yes, I owe the glog a new devlog on this too, soon.

RETRO GAME DEVELOPMENT

I have another Amiga project in the pipe as well as the large isometric game. It's smaller, an adventure platformer, but not insignificant. It feeds into my desire to (one day) make an Amiga Metroidvania though.

At the end of 2023 I had a poke around development options for my newly-arrived KS2 Spectrum Next but never really went anywhere with it. I think I've since settled on using C with Z88DK so really I just need a project. Maybe dip my toes in with a version of Dodgy Rocks? Writing it in C might open up ports with GBDK2020 too, maybe Amstrad CPC, or even DOS.

Also, in October, I became aware of "Retro Challenge", a month long event to "do something" with a retro platform. While it's unlikely I'd actually enter the event proper, especially in 2025 when October will be filled with Amiga 40 things, I liked the idea of taking a month to focus on making a simple game and try out a new platform. A VIC-20 and Turbo Rascal (TRSE) combination intrigues me for this, and has done for a while.

Amiga, Spectrum Next, GameBoy, Master System, NES, Amstrad, DOS, VIC-20. Yikes. I could easily spend the year working through these, and I'll admit a Year Of Ports is an interesting idea! However, to prioritise the side-side-side projects, the Next has to be top of the list followed potentially by a noodle with TRSE on the VIC.

As with Mega Declan I need to carve out dedicated time for something non-Amiga so that it actually happens (or the itch is scratched at least). Amiga is comfortable, and learning new things is hard. I'd like to ship something in 2025, but I'm not sure what it would be yet.

RETRO CLEAR OUT

I'm not sure if this is a positive or negative thing. I've become aware that a lot of retro computing related /stuff/ has accumulated around here, and a lot of it has never and (despite ambitions) likely never will be used. Like all clutter the awareness of it takes up mental space as well as physical and I'm starting to feel it's time to clear the decks somewhat.

It turns out I lack the time, patience, skills and motivation to do much repair tinkering on old machines, and sold an Apple IIe that had lurked in the attic for a couple of years when all it needed probably was a recap of the power supply. A couple of old PC towers were recycled as well. Feels good, man.

There's an Atari 800XL and STe that have never been plugged in. A crate of Amstrad CPC tapes I was given that really should move on to somewhere they are more appreciated. That A1200 tower Mediator system that I will never rebuild. Hundreds of 3.5" floppies that are all probably now rotted beyond use. And how many Spectrum 48Ks does one person actually need?

I also recently managed to avoid building a Pentium 1 or 486 PC, and resist buying an Amstrad CPC 6128+. The 6128+ is a personal grail machine, peak CPC, but expensive and I already have a 464+ and several other Amstrads. That never get used.

It will take some work to sort through, and honestly it's a real effort to actually organise these things to sell instead of dumping or giving away, but I think the time has come.

I regret not buying that 6128+ though.