Unless I am missing something it is kind of sad that nothing I've seen so far can be played on Gameboy hardware. Are any ROMs forthcoming?
I was surprised too at first (although I already knew GBJam 9’s ‘winner’ was a Clickteam Fusion 2.5 game), but then, thinking about it, it seemed logical: as I discovered in detail by trying myself, actual Game Boy programming is more demanding, as you have many more constraints than merely having four colours: you have all the code optimisation to care about, the sprite limitation (I think 40 on screen, and 10 by line if you want to avoid getting unvoluntary white), the tile-based VRAM graphics, the four-channel audio…
There is a game jam dedicated to genuine Game Boy games that is called Game Boy Showdown. :) It ran in May 2022; I searched information about other editions, but am unaware of them. I like the idea of really asking for true Game Boy games, so I understand your disappointment, but there may be various such game jams! I intend looking for them.
(For the record, I tried partaking with a true Game Boy ROM as an opportunity to learn Game Boy development, but unfortunately, I had big time problems, so my attempt is currently a one-day half-baked prototype of a minigame. Remove the word ‘half ’ and replace it with ‘quarter’. X) I have still uploaded it though not submitted — I am wondering if I should ask for the late entry form, just in order to have some very limited technical feedback and to be able to cast votes —, if you want to take a look, but this is really not much, although I noticed some people still decided to submit their work when it was unfinished; I did not dare to!)
I hear ya - I’ve made more than one for the hardware and it is definitely a learning process. I love that folks still want to hold to the spirit of the gameboy, but without new cartridge games I feel like things can easily shift away from it again. Thanks for the other info as well - I think I’ve seen most of the games from May but it’s definitely worth another look!
without new cartridge games I feel like things can easily shift away from it again.
I do not know the Game Boy cartridge market well, but I know some people still upload their own created games to cartridges and sell them; for example, I know of someone (who took part to Game Boy Showdown, actually) who noticed there is no official Pong for the Game Boy and decided to create and sell one, and apparently, copies sold quickly. I also stumbled very recently upon a similar account from a few years ago for a Breakout clone on Gameboy Development Forum.
This may be a niche, but there seems to be a lively core; I’m sure emulation helps. If you look at the reactions on the game page for the first-ranked game from GBJam 9 (Necrow Co.), you will notice someone suggested adapting it as a genuine Game Boy ROM, and people were willing to buy it if it became a longer, full-blown game, so if some talented folks out there make something new, I suspect success could come knocking. (I am still learning, but interested; we will see!) I also have close family that dealt for some time in buying and sprucing up dysfunctional portable consoles, and there is quite some demand. I am not sure how successful the Thumby is, but this looks like another sign (it has even less colours and pixels!). And heck, the whole retro revival and demand is also totally in line with the Game Boy spirit; there is a lot of (sweet) nostalgia going on, as someone who played great games on it, I would love to see ambitious Game Boy games come out. This is actually one of the reasons that sparked my interest for trying out Game Boy programming. (As a coincidence, looking again today for editions of Game Boy Showdown through Lilo, I noticed two video results featuring the glorious 1994 Donkey Kong, on the thumbnail of ‘10 Game Boy Games that still ROCK in 2019!’ and a remix of its Showdown at the Tower track.)
I also guess GB Studio might help bring new people to it too (and the logical progression if you want to pull more off is to then learn Game Boy coding); version 3.1.0 was apparently a rather big update, and is from only last 11th September. I also noticed through its name that GBDK-2020 is rather recent, and found out about various rather recent tutorials on it (either webpages or videos); I think there is an interest, and since programming for Game Boy seems to be a not-so-common skill, if people are willing to become better at it, they will have a sought-after craft. (Only using C now, but nerdy me cannot wait to delve into ASM/assembly! XD Learned some at university, loved it.) I realized it combines at the same time assembly/C programming, pixel art, and tracker music composing; this is like the ultimate Nerd Skill Machine. XD
Very curious to see what game jam dedicated to the Game Boy have to offer. If there is not enough on real Game Boy games, maybe I will create one, someday. :) Just musing, for the moment!
GBJam is about making gameboy "spirited" games, and not actually needing the technical ability to make a game for the gameboy. With the new leaps forward in the form of GBStudio, however, that barrier for entry is lower than it once was.
Participants are encouraged to make and submit whatever they can in any form that they can.
Incidentally, ours was made with GBStudio and has a gameboy and .pocket version: https://polyducks.itch.io/potbound
GBJam is about making gameboy "spirited" games, and not actually needing the technical ability to make a game for the gameboy.
It can actually be quite a challenge to make something look like a proper Game Boy game using something else, so this is interesting too in itself. :)
With the new leaps forward in the form of GBStudio, however, that barrier for entry is lower than it once was.
I agree, but I think that if you want to have your tailor-made original game, you may have to dig deeper into the code, possibly using the Engine Eject feature. (And if you really need careful optimisation, it may not be enough, as it is built upon C-language GBDK rather than ASM-language RGBDS.) Maybe you used it yourselves for your game, or you managed to circumvent the limitations in some way? (I still have to try it out!)
When touring for a little state of the art on Game Boy development tools, I realized there were some limitations to GB Studio if you want to depart from the ‘templates’, as stated on this tool-listing page, or as the creator of Game Boy Showdown’s Super Jacked Up Tomate Face Johnson said (‘Yeah, I think making a platformer with the current version of GB Studio makes for rather simple core gameplay but i am trying to making it at least a little more exciting with my level designs.’ — he was talking about a previous version, but according to the dates, I guess it was 3.0.3). It can get you going for a classic platformer, shoot ’em up, point-and-click, or top-view adventure, but it is up to you to go further.
Do not get me wrong, I think it is great to allow people to come to the Game Boy through visual scripting and editing (the current GB Studio 3.1.0 demonstration game is well designed and varied enough to show its extent!), and you can get great classic/standard-gameplay games; I just think it is, as you mentioned, an entry point, and then, you may have more things to learn if you want to get outside the box.
(Sorry for my wordy comments, I have been passionately exploring around the whole Game Boy tools information — although I confess I somewhat overlooked WLA-DX as apparently more generic/cross-platform —, I just wanted to give it back in return! I should definitely get a website to write down my musings and refer to it instead of squatting in other people’s places. XD)
I made my prototipe for gameboy 'cause I used the jam as an excuse to try GB Studio, but I've found a couple of games for gameboy too, search for:
Legend of Carrot
PillaDream
The Saga of Sir Thimb
Plants Eat My Zombies
Love Always Runs Away.
Those are some of the actual gameboy games I've found that i really like and want to play on my GBC