#Tag · bonfire.cafe

Once #BarrenPlanet had been tested it was time to launch it into the world, this being April 2023. I've launched three projects since, maybe four by the time you read this, and the process hasn't changed much. You can read about the launch process in a blog post at http://dos.cyningstan.org.uk/post/201/barren-planet-out-into-the-world #gamedev #ibmpc #msdos #cga

The Barren Planet title screen, the first thing a player sees when they launch the game. This is a 3D render of barren terrain bearing a few of game game's most iconic units: the Mining Base, a Gun Platform, a couple of Ground Rovers and a few Hoverbugs. This image is used in full colour for the manual cover, but is here reduced to the four-colour palette for the CGA title screen.

Cyningstan

@cyningstan@mastodon.social · 5 days ago

Here are the three #BarrenPlanet campaigns running on a Hewlett Packard #hp100lx. You can download the game from https://cyningstan.itch.io/barren-planet, where you will find links to the two DLC campaigns. #hp200lx #msdos #cga

A photograph of a Hewlett Packard 100LX running the downloadable Barren Planet campaign Waterworld, showing the Nuvutech briefing for the first mission.

A photograph of a Hewlett Packard 100LX running the downloadable Barren Planet campaign The Polar Expedition, showing the Nuvutech briefing for the first mission.

A photograph of a Hewlett Packard 100LX running the default Barren Planet campaign First Landing, showing the Nuvutech briefing for the first mission.

Cyningstan

@cyningstan@mastodon.social · 2 weeks ago

Cyningstan

@cyningstan@mastodon.social · 3 weeks ago

Testing #BarrenPlanet wasn't an afterthought. After more than two years of development, I needed to make sure that the game worked. Sure I could put patches online, but this is a 1980s style game, and I wanted to go with a 1980s approach of getting it right before launch. I discuss the testing process in a blog post at http://dos.cyningstan.org.uk/post/200/barren-planet-putting-it-to-the-test #gamedev #ibmpc #msdos #cga

In the absence of any image specific to testing, here's a debriefing from one of the battles from First Landing, the campaign supplied with the game. The Nuvutech player has apparently annihilated the attacking Avuscorp forces, which are therefore nowhere to be seen.

Cyningstan

@cyningstan@mastodon.social · 4 weeks ago

A lot went on in the 2½ years it took to develop #BarrenPlanet. Planning, the creation of a wargame library, the coding itself, and building the content for the supplied campaign were all major phases in that time. I talk about this in a blog post at http://dos.cyningstan.org.uk/post/199/barren-planet-the-process #gamedev #ibmpc #msdos #cga

The campaign definition file for the First Landing campaign. One of the major phases of development was building this content. Each of the sixteen battles had a briefing for each side, a victory debrief for each side, and a defeat debriefing for each side: a total of six short documents for each battle: 96 in all. This added to all the battle details like the map and unit disposition, and the graphics for the campaign, was a lot of content.

Cyningstan

@cyningstan@mastodon.social · last month

The feature list of #BarrenPlanet, while it never spiralled out of control, was one of the main reasons it changed from a 1-month jam project into a major 2½ year project. And I think the game is all the better for it. PBM play and a better computer player than its predecessor were well worth waiting for. I discuss the features I added in a blog post at http://dos.cyningstan.org.uk/post/198/barren-planet-the-features #gamedev #ibmpc #msdos #cga

A screen shot using Barren Planet's monochrome option, which displays the graphics in 640x200 monochrome, with dithered patterns replacing the colours. The game's "Remote Turn" screen is shown, where turn files received from a human opponent are processed, and the opponent's moves played back. PBM mode was one of the new features of Barren Planet.

Cyningstan

@cyningstan@mastodon.social · 2 months ago

I got inspiration for #BarrenPlanet from a number of sources. It was built on a combat engine of my own design, but included elements from computer games like the #BattleIsle series and Steve Jackson's #Ogre board game. I discuss these sources of inspiration in a blog post at http://dos.cyningstan.org.uk/post/184/barren-planet-the-inspiration #gamedev #ibmpc #msdos #cga

A screenshot from one of Barren Planet's sources of inspiration: Battle Isle 2, also known as Battle Isle 2200. The landscapes are different: Battle Isle's green and pleasant terrain contrasts with Barren Planet's dry deserts; the desert theme was inspired by the board game Ogre, partly because one CGA palette fit very well with that theme.

Cyningstan

@cyningstan@mastodon.social · 2 months ago

#BarrenPlanet didn't have a straightforward development journey. Conceived as a port of an old project, an easy 1-month game jam entry, it ended up taking two and half years to finish to my satisfaction. Shortly after development in 2023, I posted the story of how the game came to be. You can read the first article at http://dos.cyningstan.org.uk/post/180/barren-planet-from-the-dev-diary. #gamedev #ibmpc #msdos #cga