The Year 2009 in Denial

Post by **Jeff-20** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 11:46 pm

orion70 (one year ago) wrote:Agree- 2008 will be difficult to beat.

What do you think were the most significant events in the year 2009 for Denial?

Consider the previous year. We've had over 32 software releases listed -- twice that of the 16 programs released in 2008. I personally made over nine games! Maybe even more.

Mega-cart, uIEC, Final Expansion 3, GB20, Realms of Quest 3 published, MiniPaint, Denial Collection 3, Omega Fury, etc. etc. etc.

A year ago, I thought Denial might be torn apart, but now it seems stronger than ever before. We had huge fights and resolved them for the most part-- lost a few members over some it but gained some great new ones! Great demos and tech experiments were made. An emulation section was finally born. Great future plans were drawn out for exciting projects yet to come.

I know I'm probably forgetting a ton of stuff. So, I ask you. What do you think left an impression on you this past year on Denial.

Richard James · Post by **Richard James** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 5:14 am

I believe that items like the Mega Cart / FE3 will have a catalytic affect on the community. Leading to more interest in our obscure hobby, and hopefully more software. For example ROQ3 might not have been written if there was not a system for expanding the VIC's memory to 32K in common use.

Therefore every piece of new VIC20 hardware/software/otherware is really part of an organic whole and helps nurture the entire system. With little entropic processes I predict that 2010 will be a better year than 2009.

I hope I don't sound as coherent as a light bulb.

Empa Kendo · Post by **Empa Kendo** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 11:19 am

The thing I value most in Denial is the level of friendliness in the community. Newcomers are welcomed, no question seems too silly to ask. And the level of enthusiasm and fun is contagious.
The MegaCart remains my all time favourite tech purchase of 2009.

fgasking · Post by **fgasking** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 12:54 pm

I think Denial has been a great resource for the Vic 20 and overall its contributed to the Vic 20 increasing in support and releases each year. Thanks Jeff for hosting such a great resource!

This year has been a truly stunning year for the same reasons mentioned - the likes of the Megacart, Gamebase 20, the 30 odd new games and the continuation of new groundbreaking effects/demos coming our way as people begin to push the Vic 20 as much as the C64 has been so far.

I think and hope things will continue and get better this year, and already the glimpse of a potential Vic 20 Knight n Grail is just fantastic (as well as the sideway scrolling shooters and other various games coming soon).

Although I might not be able to contribute much towards the Vic 20 apart from support (I may not get time to learn programming/do graphics for the Vic as well as the C64), I hope that maybe i'll have chance to do some Games That Weren't related work for the machine and help recover some lost/unreleased games in the future, as well as continue to contribute towards Gamebase 20 to give something back.

rhurst · Post by **rhurst** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 1:04 pm

I hope I don't sound as coherent as a light bulb.

Nicely stated ... I agree that Mega-Cart was the biggest boon to me, as I finally had a real VIC that I can configure for any memory expansion. I would have given up my Omega Fury development if I did not have +16k RAM expansion, and trying to buy one off of eBay was not an option (I tried several times).

Couple MC with a uIEC/SD and a real VIC becomes viable for EASY transfer of binaries to and fro without the fuss of using 1980s media (although its fun to do sometimes after a martini).

Happy New Year!

Wilson · Post by **Wilson** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:38 pm

I can't really compare this year to anything, but It's exciting to see the Vic-20 so alive in 2009.
Considering all the hardware releases, 2009 has been fantastic. And like rhurst said, all this new hardware is making software development very easy.

Jeff-20 wrote: We've had over 32 software releases listed -- twice that of the 16 programs released in 2008

So, we should have at least 64 this year, right?

Empa Kendo wrote: The thing I value most in Denial is the level of friendliness in the community. Newcomers are welcomed, no question seems too silly to ask. And the level of enthusiasm and fun is contagious.

I completely agree. A friendly community for the friendly computer.

English Invader · Post by **English Invader** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 5:25 pm

From a personal point of view, 2009 has been a very good year for me. It's put me in touch with a hobby I love and a computer from my early childhood that I never got to experience.

It all started in January when I stumbled across a bootleg emulator disc on eBay. I soon added a VICE emulator to the collection and joined Denial in late April when I bought a VIC.

Since then, I have acquired 10 VIC 20s, a C64, 3 Amiga 600s, an Amiga 1200, 2 Atari STs, 4 Sega Game Gears, 2 Sega Mega Drives and a GBA Micro. The VIC 20 and the Game Gear are the ones I am most passionate about.

Boray · Post by **Boray** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 6:49 pm

English Invader wrote: Since then, I have acquired 10 VIC 20s, a C64, 3 Amiga 600s, an Amiga 1200, 2 Atari STs, 4 Sega Game Gears, 2 Sega Mega Drives and a GBA Micro. The VIC 20 and the Game Gear are the ones I am most passionate about.

Wohooow!

rhurst · Post by **rhurst** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 11:59 pm

I have acquired ...

... and a partridge in a pear tree?

That's quite a store of C= stuff in one short year!

Mayhem · Post by **Mayhem** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 9:42 am

I gained a few cartridges, some tapes, one Megacart and I delivered a baby

Centallica · Post by **Centallica** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 11:13 am

Mayhem wrote:I gained a few cartridges, some tapes, one Megacart and I delivered a baby

That must of hurt from the other end, who's the Father

Mayhem · Post by **Mayhem** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 12:15 pm

An emulated baby... 1,600 strong

InfernalKeith · Post by **InfernalKeith** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 5:27 pm

This is my first year in the Vic world, having just gotten my first Vic-20 up and running a couple months ago.

I've received lots of advice, encouragement, and friendliness here at Denial, and it's really helped me to get to know this great computer. Denial Collection 3 was one of the best Christmas presents I got this year.

My goal for 2010 is to release at least one game for the Vic. I hope I can contribute in a small way to the great new stuff coming out for this mighty little machine. Thanks to all of you for the patience and friendliness toward a n00b, and for keeping sight of the fact that this is a hobby, and should be fun.

Keith

Centallica · Post by **Centallica** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 6:14 pm

Mayhem wrote:An emulated baby... 1,600 strong

Via emulated sex

At least there's wet spot to avoid afterwards

nbla000 · Post by **nbla000** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 8:23 am

My first approach with "retro-ware" was with MAME about 10 years ago, then with UAE (Amiga) and after VICE with C64 and Vic-20.

When Ebay comes up, I bought my old computers, Amiga/C64/Vic-20 in this order and I "played" with them in the same order so the Vic-20 is the last but was also my first home computer in the late 1981...

And as you know, first love is never forgotten

I remember the 2008 for my hard work on Mega-Cart firmware developing and testing but I will never forget the 2009 for the birth of my third baby (after my children) the Mega-Cart of course

For me the Mega-Cart is a dream that comes true, I'll never stop thanking 6502dude for this, I'm happy that a lot of people enjoy this cart, I think it helped the developing of new hardware and software, I really cannot forget the 2009 but now we are on 2010 and new challenges are ahead of us