Hey everyone, Dave here with my November newsletter. I hope you’re all having an amazing start to the week 👋
In this newsletter I’m going to pull back the curtain a little on my upcoming 2024 book release from Bitmap Books, which is a video game history book all about the run ‘n’ gun genre.
I’m also going to discuss my comic plans for 2024, and how my steps to slow down on comics a little will factor into that. This also includes some early details of Ninja Baseball Spirits #2 and my first wave of comic pitches, which will go out to publishers at some point in the new year.
Lastly, I have some fresh Killtopia: Nano Jams updates, and some random stuff about some recent video games I’ve been playing you should take out (coincidentally both starring heavily-armed robots!)
Before we dive in, here’s a link to my online store, where I’ve started selling digital copies of my books for the first time: https://davecookcomics.bigcartel.com/
Ready? Let’s jam!
1. Run ‘n’ gun: book progress update
I’m currently mid-way through editing the 2010s chapter of this colossal book, so I’m really close to the end now. It’s out in 2024 via publisher Bitmap Books - who also published by side-scrolling beat ‘em up history book, ‘Go Straight’ (named after the iconic song that plays in stage one of Streets of Rage 2). You can pick up a copy here:
It’s been a year and a half since I started writing the book, and in that time I’ve played and written about over 270 run ‘n’ fun shooters, so I wanted to share a little about the process and what the experience has been like.
At the outset, it was a case of hitting Google, Moby Games and many other resources to compile an early list of games that typically fall under the run ‘n’ gun banner. I realised earlier on that the genre is little ‘woolly’ and has a less-clear definition that beat ‘em ups do.
For example, some people believe Shinobi to be a run ‘n’ gun game, while others see it as an action-platformer. Likewise, some see Mega Man as a platformer, while others regard it to be a run ‘n’ gun shooter, so I knew I had to pre-establish my own criteria for which games made it into the book, and others that didn’t make the cut.
I decided to go for side-on 2D shooters like Contra and top-down releases like Smash TV. Multi-directional aiming was an important ingredient, but not always a must. Platforming, multiple weapons, bullet hell enemies, huge bosses and other traits made up my criteria list. There were a few outliers in there, such as the fun Dyna Gear (Google it!) where I explain in the write-up why they barely qualified.
Then it was just a case of scouring the internet to source as many games that fit my criteria as possible, portioning them by release year, then laying them out in a crude flat plan in Google Sheets. This takes a while but it helps you see the size and shape of your book before you’ve even started writing it. It also helped me space out my special features spreads (where I give enemy/boss tactics, gameplay tips, stage walkthroughs and more).
With all of that in place, I started writing. Now, I have a huge collection of actual retro games (it’s something of a hobby) but emulation is the only way to fly when working on these books - as you can save your progress (helpful for capturing awesome screenshots) and play games that aren’t commercially available anymore.
As I play, I note down anything interesting or noteworthy - fun mechanics, inventive stages, major positives or flaws, weird quirks and notes on my overall experience. From my days as a games journalist, you get an idea of when you’ve played a game enough to write about it confidently. Typically it’s when you stop seeing anything that feels ‘new’ for a long while.
Before I start writing up my feature, I tend to search for the game in question on MobyGames - a great resource that helped me confirm release dates, which formats a game came out on, and tonnes of fascinating trivia. I also used Wikipedia, but ONLY information found on a page’s source links (as Wikis can sometimes be tampered with or include errors)
Wiki source links helped me fall into a fun rabbit hole of trivia, especially when the links took me to old website archive or scans of video game magazines from the ‘90s like EGM, Nintendo Power and more. It was so nostalgic, and I loved reading old reviews and features from my youth.
I wanted each write-up to have a good balance of trivia, gameplay tips and overall impressions. I think we should all explore retro games good and bad to broaden our view of the industry’s past, so even when writing about the book’s very worst games, I stayed positive and tried to find something for readers to love (which was painful in a few instances!)
This process continued for over a year until all the write-ups were done, but of course I often realised I’d overlooked a game or wanted to give certain interesting games more space, so my flat plan document was constantly evolving.
Then came fact checking and edits, which has taken about five months now, as it’s important to comb the entire book and get it reading as right as possible. I also hired a few amazing freelance guest writers to fill in some gaps (who will be revealed in due course!) typically with formats I couldn’t emulate easily myself or capture screenshots from - such as a few Sega Saturn and PS1 shooters.
One example is the first potion of Die Hard Trilogy. I still own my copy of that game but don’t have the means to capture screens for it. The game still rules today though 😅
And here we are. It’s been a long process but a fun one. I hope you enjoyed this little dive into how it’s done. There’s so much more to share, but I’m keen not to over share until the book’s out in 2024.
What shooters would you like to see most in the book? Let me know in the comments :D
2. A new comic approach for 2024
In my last newsletter, I mentioned that I was going to be stepping away from my dependency on Kickstarter and moving towards pitching comics to publishers in the first instance.
That’s still my plan, but I’ve had more time to think another what that actually means for me, and my writing work.
Firstly, I’m still going to be crowdfunding BPM: Beatdowns Per Minute, Ninja Baseball Spirits and Bust completion. I still love these comics and the worlds we’ve made with them, and I couldn’t in good consciousness cut them short after so many of you have backed them. That was never an option in my mind - so rest assured they’ll continue, starting with Ninja Baseball Spirits #2 in early 2024. Stay tuned!
Killtopia: Nano Jams will be the last new comic project I take straight to Kickstarter, then beyond that my plan is to just pitch comics straight to publishers instead. I realised that going from Kickstarter to Kickstarter, project managing and fulfilling campaigns one after the other was giving me little time to actually be creative and to make new worlds, characters and stories.
Ideally, if pitches don’t land, I’ll just park the idea until later and move on to something else. I’m pretty hyped to see what new stuff I can come up with, and already have two pretty neat concepts in the works with artists right now. I’ll have more to share on those in the new year.
Second, I’ll also be taking some time out from exhibiting at comic cons. My next booked show is Wondercon sci fi book convention in August at the Glasgow SEC.
Let’s see what happens eh? 😅
3. Killtopia: Nano Jams enters high gear
Here’s a quick update on the Killtopia: Nano Jams anthology, which is currently targeting summer 2024 for Kickstarter.
We recently revealed our third wave of contributors, and you can see the full roster (so far) here: https://killtopia.co/killtopia%3A-nano-jams
I’ve received ten scripts so far, and they’re a superb mix of weird, scary, action-packed and emotional tales all centred around the concept of ‘media.’ I’ve had fun editing the scripts and seeing the superb work coming in. It’s really awesome to be working with so many talented contributors.
I’ve been commissioning a page from each story lately, and I can’t wait to see what comes back.
Stay tuned for more on the project. It’s going to be a blast!
4. Robots. Robots everywhere!
Lately I’ve been focusing my gaming time on two games, both starring robots. If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll likely know that I’m a massive Dark Souls / FromSoftware fan, so I had to pick up the recently released Armored Core VI. I’d never played the series before so was curious to give it a bash.
I’m glad I did, as it’s an exhilarating, challenging game with slick combat and a dizzying range of mech customisation options - so much so, that I’ve called it the ‘Grab Turismo of mechs’ when discussing it with friends. Thankfully, the game offers you new mech components at a decent rate, so it never feels overwhelming.
The customisation is necessary, too, as certain battles are made easier by crafting a mech build that counters particular enemy types, such as making a mech with great boosting potential so it can hover above shield-carrying mechs and skirt around their defences. Similarly, lighter mechs have less health but can dodge way more, which can help you run circles around heavier mechs that have slower fire rates.
Armored Core VI definitely isn’t ‘Dark Souls with mechs’ but I can see why people might say that. It gets savagely difficult at points, with bosses that require you to never stop moving, react quickly to threats while juggle defence and offence.
All of this is coupled with a stagger meter which must be filled to cripple enemies and deal more damage. It’s similar the the stagger mechanic in Sekiro. Unless you attack relentlessly and stagger bosses, you’ll run out of ammo before you destroy them, so there’s a real urgency to make ever bullet count and never stop your assault.
I’d highly recommend Armored Core VI, but it’s not for the faint of heart.
Which brings me to something everyone absolutely should play…
RoboCop: Rogue City has been an absolute blast so far. It’s a mid-budget release that is easy to overlook, but it’s made by Teyon, who also developed the surprisingly awesome Terminator: Resistance. The game is between the second and third movies, and find Murphy trying to apprehend a new gangsters who has just set up shop in Detroit.
It’s a first-person shooter with RPG elements, such as a huge skill tree to give Robo new augments and abilities, dialogue options that impact the story and lots of stolen goods to pick up for bonus XP. You can even install new motherboards in Murphy’s Auto-9 pistol to change its stats and traits.
It’s a bit janky, but Teyon clearly loves the source material and nails the vibe of the movies perfectly. Plus, it has Peter Weller at Murphy, which is just a treat. The gunplay is also ludicrously violent, with popping heads and 80s style squib blood sprays. Check it out and pick up a copy.
That’s all for this month!
Thanks again for your support, folks. Stay tuned for a big announcement regarding my online store on December 1st.
Until then, stay well everyone 👋
-Dave