Pocket Empires- A Game Boy Color demake of CIV 1

[Messiahhall]

Hey everyone, I’ve been working on a small project over the past couple months and figured this would be a good place to show it off since it’s pretty much inspired by the original Civilization.

It’s basically a Game Boy Color take on Civ1. I was originally calling it CivGB, but wasn’t sure of the legality of that, so now it’s called Pocket Empires. And it’s what I imagine Civ1 might have looked like if it came out on the GBC.

If anyone wants to try the demo and give some feedback, I’d appreciate it a lot. Y’all are basically Civ 1 professionals so I figured any input could only be beneficial. Just keep in mind it’s still just a demo there’ll be bugs galore but these will get hammered out with time. Regardless speak your truth whether it’s a criticism or maybe an idea for something you always wanted to see in the game I’d like to hear it all.

I’ll be posting more updates and what I have planned for the full project on the itch.io page as things develop.

Itch.io Demo: Pocket Empires

Thanks for taking a look, and I hope you enjoyed seeing a weird little Game Boy spin on this classic.

 

[Blake00]

I love a good homebrew retro console gamejam project.. but when it's inspired by Civ I REALLY love it!

I used to play the Heroes of Might & Magic 1 & 2 GBC ports back in the day and your art style reminds me of them.

Not using the Civ name or ripped assets was a very wise legal choice, especially when you're planning a Kickstarter. However tbh I'm not sure how successful a KS will be as this is pretty niche, but I wish you luck as this is beautiful work! If it fails then there's a few companies out there these days that can distribute and create physical copies of your game allowing you to make a bit of $$ with less hassle. Eg I saw these guys taking care of the new Tales of Monsterland (Wonder Boy like homebrew game) GBC release recently..
https://www.bitmapsoft.co.uk/product/tales-of-monsterland/

Oh and I recommend you let Neil and the guys at IndieRetroNews as well as Darren & the guys at Retro Gamer Magazine know about this (both have twitters and bluskys). They'll love it and can put a lot of eyes on it.
.

 

[Messiahhall]

I love a good homebrew retro console game project.. but when it's inspired by Civ I REALLY love it!

I used to play the Heroes of Might & Magic 1 & 2 GBC ports back in the day and your art style reminds me of them.

Not using the Civ name or ripped assets was a very wise legal choice, especially when you're planning a Kickstarter. However tbh I'm not sure how successful a KS will be as this is pretty niche, but I wish you luck as this is beautiful work! If it fails then there's a few companies out there these days that can distribute and create physical copies of your game allowing you to make a bit of $$ with less hassle. Eg I saw these guys taking care of the new Tales of Monsterland (Wonder Boy like homebrew game) GBC release recently..
https://www.bitmapsoft.co.uk/product/tales-of-monsterland/

Oh and I recommend you let Neil and the guys at IndieRetroNews as well as Darren & the guys at Retro Gamer Magazine know about this (both have twitters and bluskys). They'll love it and can put a lot of eyes on it.
.

Thanks a lot! I’m actually amazed you mentioned the HoMM GBC ports those were huge for me. I played them for the first time earlier this year and was shocked at how well they hold up. It was literally while playing those that I realized a Civ demake on GBC might actually be possible incredible that you picked up on that I didn’t even realize it myself.

And yeah, the legality thing had me stressing. “CivGB” sounded bland enough that it might have slipped by but I’d rather not test those waters lol. I get you on the KS concerns too I’ve seen some other retro projects hit their goals and mine is admittedly going to be pretty modest as it’s mainly to hire a musician and maybe bring on an artist to give the game a really polished look. Fingers crossed it works out but if it doesn’t I’ll definitely look into that publisher you mentioned.

Also really appreciate the recommend on reaching out to those guys over on those sites. I’m honestly terrible at the whole self-promo side of things, so I’ll be sure to shoot them a message and see what they have to say.

And seriously, thanks for taking the time to reply. It means a lot.

 

[Blake00]

Thanks a lot! I’m actually amazed you mentioned the HoMM GBC ports those were huge for me. I played them for the first time earlier this year and was shocked at how well they hold up. It was literally while playing those that I realized a Civ demake on GBC might actually be possible incredible that you picked up on that I didn’t even realize it myself.

And yeah, the legality thing had me stressing. “CivGB” sounded bland enough that it might have slipped by but I’d rather not test those waters lol. I get you on the KS concerns too I’ve seen some other retro projects hit their goals and mine is admittedly going to be pretty modest as it’s mainly to hire a musician and maybe bring on an artist to give the game a really polished look. Fingers crossed it works out but if it doesn’t I’ll definitely look into that publisher you mentioned.

Also really appreciate the recommend on reaching out to those guys over on those sites. I’m honestly terrible at the whole self-promo side of things, so I’ll be sure to shoot them a message and see what they have to say.

And seriously, thanks for taking the time to reply. It means a lot.

No worries man, I just realised I gave you the wrong link, that was his old Gameboy release (although that distributor may still be a viable option), however it looks like he's gone with these other guys for his recent physical GBC & Chromatic re-release (that clear cart is pretty sick hey!) :
https://modretro.com/products/tales-of-monsterland-dx

Hah I knew I was seeing something there. Yeah those old HoMM GBC games are not well known and very underrated, I did some tour videos of them a few years back and get a lot of surprised reply's lol.

Oh and hey if you're big HoMM & Civ guy like me then you might find my recent HoMM2 and HoMM1 mods for Civilization 2 interesting!
https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...enario-mod-homm1-addon-release-thread.685938/

 

[Messiahhall]

No worries man, I just realised I gave you the wrong link, that was his old Gameboy release (although that distributor may still be a viable option), however it looks like he's gone with these other guys for his recent physical GBC & Chromatic re-release (that clear cart is pretty sick hey!) :
https://modretro.com/products/tales-of-monsterland-dx

Hah I knew I was seeing something there. Yeah those old HoMM GBC games are not well known and very underrated, I did some tour videos of them a few years back and get a lot of surprised reply's lol.

Oh and hey if you're big HoMM & Civ guy like me then you might find my recent HoMM2 and HoMM1 mods for Civilization 2 interesting!
https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...enario-mod-homm1-addon-release-thread.685938/

That’s actually crazy your mods I mean, feels like they were tailor made for me . Civ 2 was my first Civ game too, so I’ll for sure have to give them a try for my next play session.

And yeah, I know ModRetro they’re the only ones I know who publish. I think they’re working on a new N64-style console too? Something like the chromatic they make but for well N64 games.They’re doing some wild stuff lately. I’ll definitely check out those tour videos you mentioned as well for the fun of it.

 

[shadowlight]

Hey everyone, I’ve been working on a small project over the past couple months and figured this would be a good place to show it off since it’s pretty much inspired by the original Civilization.

It’s basically a Game Boy Color take on Civ1. I was originally calling it CivGB, but wasn’t sure of the legality of that, so now it’s called Pocket Empires. And it’s what I imagine Civ1 might have looked like if it came out on the GBC.

If anyone wants to try the demo and give some feedback, I’d appreciate it a lot. Y’all are basically Civ 1 professionals so I figured any input could only be beneficial. Just keep in mind it’s still just a demo there’ll be bugs galore but these will get hammered out with time. Regardless speak your truth whether it’s a criticism or maybe an idea for something you always wanted to see in the game I’d like to hear it all.

I’ll be posting more updates and what I have planned for the full project on the itch.io page as things develop.

Itch.io Demo: Pocket Empires

Thanks for taking a look, and I hope you enjoyed seeing a weird little Game Boy spin on this classic.

Ok, now I want this to be fully completed game badly!

 

[Messiahhall]

Ok, now I want this to be fully completed game badly!

I’ll ensure that happens, don’t even worry.

 

[Blake00]

I see your kickstarter has been successful. Congrats!