119 replies to this topic

[sh3-rg]

Reboot of Jagware and RGCD are pleased to announce the imminent release of Kobayashi Maru:Final.



KM:F is an updated and fine-tuned version of Reboot's freely-released game of a year ago. The game is our version of an arcade favourite from the early 80s. Use your rotary controller (adjustable to allow for sensitivity of your particular spinner) or regular Jaguar pad to steer your warpship in this arcade space shooter, battling countless drones and huge boss craft in ever-tougher waves of attack. Featuring subtle use of the Jaguar's RMW graphics capabilities, background graphics blend together as you tear around in the upper atmosphere over 4 worlds.

This version of the game has updated graphics, new sound effects, webscores and of course supports Memory Track game saves. The physical copy comes cellophane wrapped in a standard DVD box with full colour printed inlay and full face printed, glass-mastered CD, direct from the factory (100% professionally produced in the UK). Cost and shipping charges will be available on the RGCD site once the game becomes available (should be by the end of the weekend (Sun 2nd Dec) if everything goes to plan). Attendees at the recent eJagfest 2012 event were offered the game early at a discount as they supported the super-limited mini format release of the original version last year - thanks to all who picked it up at the weekend.

Why are we now using a publisher and not making/selling games ourselves?

We have limited time to work on our games for various reasons - we'd rather use that time making the games instead of assembling boxes and burning discs etc. Reboot's future releases on CD will be sold to generate a profit to be used towards the huge costs involved in manufacturing our (Jagware) flashcarts and allowing us to create bigger, better games in future (for example Rebooteroids) and offer them at a really good price without the need for pre-orders etc. Supporting our releases via our new publisher will hopefully help us reach our target of producing our first jagtopus flash cart-based games in the new year.



Can I contact you directly to obtain KM:F and future releases?

Please don't contact Reboot for copies of the game, we only have our own personal copies. Wait for the RGCD announcement next weekend and order via their site, thanks.

[TrekMD]

Cool, it'll be nice to have this as an official release.

[svenski]

Great stuff, and looking to the future, some new games released on cartridge would be excellent for poor sods like me sans Jag CD.  

[Isgoed]

Awesome!

I am curious to play this game with the updates mentioned

[LinkoVitch]

Was impressive to behold the finished item at eJagfest too.. All super super slick stuff!

Well done guys!

[wozencl]

I don't have Jag CD - damn you Father! - but I can say it looks great.

Quote

We have limited time to work on our games for various reasons - we'd rather use that time making the games instead of assembling boxes and burning discs etc.

Craziness, who'd have thought?  

[bmx]

Yeah, a really nice polished release. Thanks!

[Gaztee]

It also smells great when you break the seal & open it for the first time!

[K3V]

Subscribed to this thread Awaiting that for sale post!

[Stephen]

K3V, on Tue Nov 27, 2012 5:06 PM, said:

Subscribed to this thread Awaiting that for sale post!

Ditto.  Looks like the Jag will be getting some love again

[Gunstar]

It sounds great. I'd like to see some pics or movie showing the improvements and maybe a price point.

[Isgoed]

I am also curious as what the price might be, but I guess we will find out soon enough.

As for the improvements, I'd like it to be a secret until I receive and play the game (of course, speaking for myself)
The current version of KM is a fun game as it is already, and I'm expecting that with the "Final" edition, the Reboot team will deliver a polished quality game that won't dissapoint us

Edited by Isgoed, Wed Nov 28, 2012 2:31 PM.

[sh3-rg]

I think we mentioned on the website or somewhere what we changed. The scoring in the original release could be abused by camping out (leading to some very high scores by not playing the game in the true spirit) - this was the main reason for making another version. It's not possible now. When the boss arrives, shooting drones is only worth doing if done to protect yourself, lets just say points are not going to add up quickly Graphics changes are minor, some sprites sat a bit ugly over the backdrops (harsh contrast). The clouds were altered slightly, colours were altered slightly, as was the logo on the menu. I think maybe the warpship was edited as well, possibly the tunnel colours - it was all done some months ago so it's hard to remember, but nothing major so please don't expect it to suddenly look wildly different... what else... oh the best bit - there's a pause feature added, but it only works on 60Hz jaguars because the european wing of our testing department were too busy getting hammered on stolen German rum. They've all been publicly flogged, images to appear on the website soon if that's something you'd enjoy seeing. Instead, Pause becomes a handy "quit" feature So you could say pause is just an added bonus to our friends over the pond and the cool kids over here who know what a difference that 20% speed increase is like to game play... or you could say that pobody's nerfect... Hey, it's a running theme with Jaguar homebrews having PAL issues, everyone's at it it seems! Did we announce our Jaguar 50/60 modding services - coming soon?

Pricing has been finalised with RGCD - we worked together really hard to balance this as best we could and be fair to everyone involved - hopefully it doesn't backfire and leave anyone owing money rather than generating a little income to put towards the cart run. As I'm really, really, massively, incredibly busy right now and will be away from home for a while, and knowing that RGCD are super busy with the end of their C-64 game coding contest (12 new games to be released this weekend!), KM:F will come along when they have time to add it to the site and announce it properly. We've waited this long to get it out in this format, I suppose a few more days won't hurt. So, pricing: as I understand it, KM will cost £24.00 sterling to destinations in Europe and £25.00 ROW with insured delivery (not signed for). xe.com advises this equates to around Euro30 and $40US respectively. It's not a bad price at all for a professionally produced physical copy I think most will agree. Pricing is based on estimated sales volume judging by past releases, hopefully it'll work out. If it goes way better than expected, future releases might be even cheaper still, it all depends what happens. ***EDIT:  Here is a link to a post I just noticed on the RGCD fb page: http://sphotos-h.ak....971033955_o.png - sorry if you can't see it, fb links can be iffy if you don't have an account.



Just a few comments from me now. First thing is the advice we received regarding making pressed CDs (There's a little more to it than approaching any old CD production company with a CD-R and saying "here, make me a spindle of these", due to the Jag CD format). So a big thanks to Carl/Songbird for his advice, reassurances and his open attitude to helping us get to this point with CDs - cheers! Matthias was also helpful discussing this subject, thanks again to him. On a more personal note... I know CJ is really pleased to have his first game pressed to CD, the glass masters/metal stampers thing has always been right up there with making our own carts as something we wanted to get done, and now we know who to use and how to go about it we won't be stopping here. As some of you know (particularly those who can see his posts on fb) he's been going through a lot health-wise over recent times and had an especially difficult period recently. Taking the time to work on Rebooteroids for ejagfest was a really big ask for him but he came through and didn't let us down - great effort, mate - you know we appreciate it! I know he'll hate me for saying all this as it's not something he discussed much, but I just want to big him up here, dedicate this release to his determination to stay positive and keep at it as long as he's still enjoying it. We'll get those carts out and start filling your shelves with our games - nice one, law! OK, end of mushy stuff, normal service resumes...

[CyranoJ]

Aww.. shucks.

[Gunstar]

Cool. $40 isn't too bad, and it's time I pay up for all the enjoyment your free releases have given me.

[janatari]

Sounds great !

[JagChris]

CyranoJ, on Wed Nov 28, 2012 5:02 PM, said:

Aww.. shucks.

Hope you're health stuff works out CJ.. Get better man.

[the.golden.ax]

Sorry if this was covered, but will they keep making them as long as there is a demand or will it be limited?

[sh3-rg]

There won't be any limited releases from us for the foreseeable future that I can think of other than possible special editions of games with hardware extras.

[the.golden.ax]

Very extremely cool guys. I love to support the true ground up homebrew projects. I really hate the pressure to cough up money quick fast in a hurry, or face missing out. Or rather than enjoying a simple little game, think more about IF I should sell it because it's worth a bajillian bucks on ePay. I really enjoy some of your simple little games more than any other Jag titles because I can pick it up for a few minutes (that's what classic Atari is all about) sometimes there just isn't time for a 40hr RPG (hasn't been in a decade for me).

[sh3-rg]

the.golden.ax, on Mon Dec 3, 2012 12:36 PM, said:

(that's what classic Atari is all about)

[masematte]

@the.golden.ax 100 % agree,

i like this 10 Minute Games .....

[108 Stars]

Congrats on the professional release, guys; and best wishes to CJ, hope you will get better soon.

The CD pressing is not so easy, for Pier Solar we had to return an entire production run because it was no good. And even for the final CD we ran into trouble because the ancient Sega-CD-drives have huge trouble with modern CDs; they are probably pressed today with higher demands for error correction or something, but we ended up with perfectly fine CDs, yet half the peoples' Sega-CDs had trouble with the constant streaming (Pier Solar only streamed music from CD, and the laser was constantly in action) and experienced skipping music.

Anyway, now that you have the first professional release and the flashcart isin the pipeline... make another dream come true. Sam Tramiel announced connectivity between Jaguar and Lynx on the first Jaguar press conference; he did not keep his promise, now you do it!

[CyranoJ]

Kobayashi Maru: Final is now available to order from our good friends at the rgcd.co.uk store.

[twoquickcapri]

Ordered