In BrewOtaku #003, we had the opportunity to speak with Jean-Michel Girard (also known as Alekmaul), a developer who focuses on creating software for various retro platforms. His work involves porting and developing titles for systems like the Super Nintendo, Sega Mega Drive, and various handhelds. He has built an extensive portfolio of homebrew projects over the years, so make sure to explore his impressive contributions to the scene!
Hi Jean-Michel. Please let us know who you are.
Hello, I’m Alekmaul, a Papi coder (currently I am 57 years young). My real name is Jean-Michel Girard. I started coding in the 80ies and I still continue to code, because it’s my hobby. I like coding games and updating ‘PVSneslib’ for the community. It’s a software development kit.
Express the fascination of retro game development in one single word.
Alive!
What is your favourite retro system to code on, and why?
Well, my favourite one is the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, because you have enough memory to store whatever you want. The graphic possibilities are gorgeous, and the sound is fantastic. Except the CPU, which is really poor in terms of power and speed. You can do almost whatever you want.
What system is your biggest nightmare, but you still won’t abandon?
The same one, the SNES! I can’t abandon this console, because I want to push and improve my coding skills. I want to understand exactly why something is not working when you code it, or why the executed code runs too slow. The final goal is also to push the SNES’s limits to new heights.
Many of your games, emulators, and development kits are open source. Why do you do that?
My goal is not to make money, but to share my little knowledge with everyone out there. Sharing is caring. I want to help the community to code on SNES and other great platforms. This is the knowledge you don’t learn in a school or a university. The only reason where I do make money is to cover the running costs of my webpages and new hardware, where I can test my games on it.
If you recommended a newbie to code on an old system, which one would it be?
Well, I think the first thing to understand is that you MUST know how to code. The second point is that you MUST know the old system you want to code, after all the CPU will have influence on what you need to learn. With that knowledge, you are ready to code something. Personally, I think Nintendo systems like the Game Boy or the Nintendo Entertainment System are easy to understand, especially with the help of tools like ‘GB Studio’ or ‘NESmaker’.
‘PVSneslib’ and ‘PVColib’ offer the possibility to anyone developing for the SNES or ColecoVision. How did this idea develop?
The first development kit I created was PVSneslib. I made it for a friend who wanted some help with SNES coding using ‘C’. The first version has been released on the 20th anniversary of the SNES. PVColib was released shortly after that, as I had to code something on the ColecoVision. As PVSneslib was an easy-to-use SDK, I thought that doing the same thing for Colecovision cannot hurt. I literally helped myself, to code more for this system as well. All my ColecoVision games were created using my own SDK. The ColecoVision is a wonderful console. Certainly, also all my SNES games use PVSneslib!
Your favourite PVSneslib project, which is not yours and why?
I like Dr. Ludos’ ‘Yo-Yo-Shuriken’. It’s addictive and fun to play — just like a game should be.
Your favourite PVColib project, which is not yours and why?
Well, I don’t think someone is using PVColib for a real project right now. If you do create a game with it, please get in touch and let me know.
Which development scene has the biggest stronghold?
Without any doubts, it must be the Sega Genesis / Sega Mega Drive scene. My French friend ‘Stephane Dallongeville’ created SGDK. This devkit is very advanced and basically the up-to-date standard. There are tons of tutorials and even videos, showing how to utilize it best. I could imagine very well that even Sega themselves must be happy with the overall quality and handling, but they had their own tools back in the day.
Some of your own games are physically available. Can you make a living out of it?
Of course not! I make games for pleasure. For sure, I want a little amount of money for each game and some CIB (Complete In Box) version for the games to sell them during various French conventions.
You work with few commercial publishers. Do you rather prefer the commercial or homebrew aspects in terms of creating and distributing new games?
100% homebrew aspects! No pressure, as you code when you want, no release date to stress you during development. As I said, it must stay for pleasure, not a living out. 😉
Visit: https://www.portabledev.com/
