Jagulator runs Flashback!

[Ze_ro]

Well, sort of...

 

Check it out here and see for yourself. Hopefully RealityMan can keep things up, and we might have a working emulator within a couple of months

 

--Zero

[Mindfield]

That's something I've been anticipating for a very long time -- a working Jag emu. I've had the entire gamut of ROMs sitting dormant on my hard drive since they were released into the public domain, just awaiting the day that someone, anyone finally did a working Jag emulator. RealityMan's progress is showing some real promise finally. Hopefully we can look forward to a real working emulator in a few months' time, and I can blow the dust off those lonely ol' ROMs and bask once again in the glory of those wonderful Jag games.

 

I think this'll be the first emulator that I'll actually collect ISOs for; I'm not into the PSX or DC scenes 'cos for a start they're not dead, and for another I just can't be bothered, but the Jag's a whole different story...

[Albert]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mindfield:

That's something I've been anticipating for a

very

long time -- a working Jag emu. I've had the entire gamut of ROMs sitting dormant on my hard drive since they were released into the public domain, just awaiting the day that someone,

anyone

finally did a working Jag emulator. RealityMan's progress is showing some real promise finally. Hopefully we can look forward to a real working emulator in a few months' time, and I can blow the dust off those lonely ol' ROMs and bask once again in the glory of those wonderful Jag games.

---

 

I wasn't aware that Jaguar games were released into the public domain. I know that Hasbro removed any licensing restrictions, allowing anyone to create Jaguar games without paying any fees to Hasbro, but as far as I know the games themselves are not in the public domain.

 

Here's a page with the press release where Hasbro releases the publishing rights:

 

Hasbro Releases Publishing Rights to Jaguar

 

..Al

[The Helper]

I tried the Jagulator with the latest Drivers from 3DFX with my Voodoo 3 card and got mixed results.

 

The games that did play ran very slow - very very slow. Most games locked up after the intro screens. I have not tried Flashback.

 

I think its great to have emulator project going - I look forward to new releases and will try them all.

 

I am not really worried about the Rom issues. I own almost all the Jaguar games so I am pretty comfortable running the roms on an emulator.

[The Helper]

The Jaguar Games have not been released into the Public Domain. The only thing that Press Release says is that Jaguar Developers do not have to get any OK's from Hasbro to put out games for the Platform. It does not mention anything about the Games themselves, which are probably all owned by there creators.

[The Helper]

One of the reasons I like the emulator is it will make it easy to play the underground Jag Games and demos that are available. I know you can do it by some JUGS or BJL or something like that - but I like the idea of just being able to play those games from my desktop, without having to plug in a bunch of cables and doing a bunch of work.

[Ze_ro]

I usually use emulators to play games that I might want to buy (so I can find out if they're worth it or not), or ones that I intend to buy, but just haven't been able to find yet. I always thought it was strange how many Gameboy emulators are out there... what's the point if the thing isn't portable?

 

--Zero

[Gunstar]

Bah! Humbug!!! Forget the damn emulators, use the REAL thing! YOu can get a Jaguar for about 25-30 bucks, usually with everything you need and even some games. It's so cheap and most games are so cheap, I really don't see any reason to want to play them on some crappy emulator that will NEVER run them as well as the real thing, no emulator ever does...some come real close, but they ALL fall short at least slightly, in some way or another. Besides...if your going to be LEGAL about it, and not a PIRATE, you still have to buy all the game carts and cd's anyway! Plus this emulator doesn't emulate the Jagcd!

Why the hell does anyone WANT to play the Jag on an emulator if they have the real thing anyway? this is completely ill-logical to me! What goes through people's minds that makes them want to play their beloved game carts on a shitty PC? I just don't understand...what makes a man hate another man, help me understand...People are people so why should it be, that you and I should get along so awfully...uhh, ok, I just had an eighties flashback, I'm going to go smoke a "j" and listen to the St. Elmos Fire soundtrack until I puke...

[someguy]

>Why the hell does anyone WANT to play the

>Jag on an emulator if they have the real

>thing anyway? this is completely ill-

>logical to me! What goes through people's

>minds that makes them want to play their

>beloved game carts on a shitty PC?

 

I could not _disagree_ more strongly.

 

I have a 2600 with about 100 carts, a 7800, a 5200, a Colecovision, a Gamegear, an NES, a PSX, an Intellivision and others.

 

I still run ROMs for these on emulators.

It's more convenient, less wear and tear on the consoles, and allows me the opportunity to "test drive" rare or expensive ROMs before I decide to plunk down my hard-earned coin.

 

Illegal? Maybe - but then so is getting a parking ticket. If I do find a ROM that I enjoy playing, then I go hunt it down in the thrifts or on EPay.

 

And emulation has let me try playing games on systems that I've never actually seen in real life, like a Vectrex or an Adventurevision. There are a lot of folks out there who are unsure whether it's worth spending $100 for a Jag with a couple of good games. After trying it out on an emulator, they'll be able to make an informed purchase.

 

Maybe the first emulators for the Jag will be slow - but then so were the first emulators for the 2600 five years ago.

 

On top of all that, emulation is just plain _good_ for the hobby. Look at all the home brew games coming out for the 2600, Intellivision, Vectrex, Coleco, etc. Emulation will make it much easier for homebrew programmers to develop new games for the Jaguar and other consoles.

[Ze_ro]

100 years from now, when all known Jaguars in existent are broken or lost, we'll all still be able to play our Jaguar games because of emulators like this

 

--Zero

[Gunstar]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ze_ro:

100 years from now, when all known Jaguars in existent are broken or lost, we'll all still be able to play our Jaguar games because of emulators like this

 

--Zero

---

 

100 years from now we'll all be dead unless we are half cyborg or have cloned bodies and brain transplants...I still hate emulators, if I want to play a game on my pc, I'll play a pc game! I bought my Jaguar to play Jaguar games on it...

[+Cafeman]

OOO! OOOO!

I did not know that Flashback was available for the jag!! I must get it! any advice as to where?!

[Ze_ro]

GoAtari and Telegames have it for $30, The Goat Store has it for $12 (used with instructions), or you could try your luck with eBay, and probably get an even cheaper price. This one seems to be a little hard to find, as the rest of the online stores I browse didn't have it. As far as I know though, there's nothing new in the Jaguar version that isn't in the other versions... so if you just want the game itself, you might want to try getting the PC, Genesis, or SNES versions (I think there's a SNES version anyways)

 

--Zero

[Gunstar]

Just because there isn't anything different about the Jag version doesn't mean you should look for one of the other versions necessarily, the Jag version IS just as good. So why not get it if you have a Jaguar? Actually, I only ever played it on the Genesis and Jaguar, and the Jaguar's cut scenes are smoother and so is the in-game animation (just slightly). I think it has Just slightly more color to it to (although I'd definately have to see them side by side to be sure of this...).

[Ze_ro]

That's why I said this:

 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ze_ro:

... so if you just want the game itself

---

 

Of course, I'm all for Jaguar collecting... but if all you want is the game and don't care about anything else, then go for what you can.

 

--Zero

[Albert]

Just thought I'd throw my two cents in here. I have a fairly complete Jaguar collection at this point, only missing a few titles such as Aircars and Battlesphere. But even though I can play all these games on the Jaguar, it would be very convenient if I could someday play them on my computer as I do most other emulated systems. Sure, the preferrable method to enjoy Jaguar games would be to use a real Jaguar system on a nice, big TV with genuine Jaguar controllers, but that isn't always an option. I'd love to be able to play Tempest 2000 on my laptop while on a plane. Or when I'm away from my collection because I'm in another part of the country due to work or something else. Or if my Jaguar system just isn't hooked up or accessible for whatever reason.

 

I have roughly 500 unique 2600 carts and hundreds of carts for other systems. While they are fairly easy for me to get to, I generally play games through emulators on the PC because it's so much easier, and the emulators are generally quite authentic these days. There are times when I enjoy playing a 2600 game on a TV with real Atari joysticks and paddles (especially when playing with friends), but most of the time I play them on a Windoze box.

 

And emulation has certainly helped along the whole homebrew movement. Authors can write, compile and run their games very quickly thanks to emulators. And now thanks to the excellent Cuttle Cart (review coming soon!) 2600 authors can also easily test their games on genuine 2600 hardware with little effort. Good Jaguar emulation should go a long ways towards opening up the Jaguar homebrew scene. Writing emulators also breeds intimate familiarity with the underlying hardware and this, too will help homebrew authors, as long as the knowledge is shared.

 

Plus, we'll be able to take very clear screenshots of all the cartridge-based Jaguar games once Jag emulation has matured. I had to buy a video card with an s-video input so I can take decent screen grabs from a Jaguar hooked up to my computer. Someday I look forward to replacing those images with snapshots taken from inside a Jaguar emulator.

 

So I guess my point is that it's nice to have emulation as an option and I believe emulation will allow people to more easily create new titles for the Jaguar down the road.

 

..Al

[WimpMiester]

It will be interesting to see how well an emulator will run/look on a PC considering the Jag has 64-bit CPU/Programmable Video (Game writer could use any resolution/color depth they could think of) and the PC with a 32-bit CPU is just getting around to usable 32-bit video performance.

 

I'm a real Atari fan, still have the old Sears pong, Sears VHS (2600 console), 7800, 1200XL, 130EX, 520STfm, MEGA STE, Falcon 030, and was real sorry to see Atari go under especially sense they made the Jag which is still the most powerful game console ever made. Today’s systems are now up to 32/64MB (Mega-bytes not bits) of memory and the Jag was capable of 400MB, yes 400MB, of hardware compressed memory in a cartridge! Combine that with being able to use CD's and cartridges at the same time and wow. Not to mention it was cable ready (broadband) for multiplayer games and capable of running DVD's all with a cartridge adapter.

 

I was one of the very first people to test a Jag before it went to market and give Atari input on the console and controllers and it was nice to see they really listened to what people had to say. My group couldn't say anything bad about the system (we were in awe) but did ask for some changes to the controller and all our suggestions came to light. I wanted triggers in the finger groves and did see a controller later with that feature. I just wish I had had the money to buy a Jag back then before it was discontinued.

 

P.S. How many people noticed it took years to release Aliens Vs Preditor on the PC after the Jag's release and the Jag version is much better? This system was just too powerful.

 

[ 09-10-2001: Message edited by: WimpMiester ]

[zektor]

Back when we were kids we actually went and got the cartridge off the shelf, brought it over to the console, and pluged it in. Yah lazy *******s!

[Gunstar]

While I do at least see the benefit that emulators bring to a console community as far as support with new developments, there is still a downside that those games may only ever be available for use on emulators and never actually see the light of day on an actual cartridge for those of us you prefer the real thing. CD development can aleviate this problem, but, unfortunately, cd Jag games cannot be developed without a Jagcd development system and that cannot be programmed into an emulator. So, the best that any games made with an emulator instead of a real Jag development system is the ROM image for the cartridge format. Certain systems with new games for them will definately NEVER see the new games on cart for the orignal system. Intellivision is the prime example of this, the Intellivision company themselves said they would stick to strictly emulation, because it's impossible for them to get the pcb boards anymore to put the games on cartridge. So, if something similiar happens to developments on the Jag emulator, then it won't mean squat to me, because if I'm going to play a game on my PC, like I stated before, it might as well be one designed FOR the PC, so I won't get a chance to ever play the game on my Jaguar. Maybe this attitude doesn't seem logical to you guys, but neither does playing a game on an emulator instead of the real thing, to me. If I wanted things "easy" or "convenient," I would never have bought any of my consoles in the first place, and just stuck to PC games, since most console games are available in pc versions or something similiar anyway. I invested in my consoles because I want to play consoles, not so I can let them sit collecting dust while I play all my games on a pc anyway. But then, I've always hated IBM, Intel, Microsoft and all they stand for and never would even have owned a pc if I hadn't been subjectgated by these juggernaut companies into using their lame systems because they ran the competition out of business. I only use my pc for the internet, e-mail and word proccessing even now anyway. So I'll definately never "warm up" to running my beloved systems through one I hate anyway. I'm a die-hard fan of Atari and just can't bring myself to disgrace Atari's memory (IMO)by playing the games made for Atari systems on a machine made by one of the companies that played a role in Atari's demise. Certainly not in the console realm, that was Nintendo and Sony, but PC's were one of the biggest obstacles that were in the way of Atari's computers surviving. But to each their own...so argue in favor of emulators all you want, even if they are valid, logical points, I, being an emotional human that becomes attached and even loyal to people and things, will stay loyal to my ATARI MADE PRODUCTS. Someday I may find myself playing Playstation or Dreamcast games on a PC emulator, a chance that is slim to none, but then, I don't give a rat's *ss about Sega or Sony either and have never built a loyalty or effection for those companies and their machines anyway, so I wouldn't feel I was betraying their memory.

 

[ 09-21-2001: Message edited by: Gunstar ]

[The Helper]

They have made this project open source.