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Gunstar

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Posts posted by Gunstar

  1. Posted

    Something I noticed recently while playing the pre-release behind jaggie lines version is that it doesn't have the "errooo!" type of sound when the alien pops up, and doesn't scare me like the ROF version with they added sound. As a matter of fact, BJL has a LOT of little stuff missing from it that really make the game in ROF. If you've only ever tried BJL, you owe it to yourself to get ROF version. I'm comparing the 8-bit versions here, I've never played the 5200 version and don't know what it has or doesn't have compared to the 8-bit.

  2. Posted

    quote:
    Originally posted by Ze_ro:

    I wonder how much extra cartridges would cost if they had an extra t-mapping chip in there. Half the SNES games I have have extra chips in them (DSP, FX, etc), and I got them for the same price, but that was second-hand so who knows.

     

    In an attempt to bring this thread back on-topic (Or at least onto Lynx stuff), I bought Steel Talons for the Lynx, and it's not too bad. It's frame rate is low, but tolerable 85% of the time (When other planes are coming at you firing, things slow to a crawl). Does Hard Drivin' have a similar framerate? I'm really surprised they even tried to port these games to the Lynx in the first place.

     

    --Zero

     

    I recently ordered Steel Talons too, but the copy I got didn't work (brand new too). So I'm still waiting on it's replacement to arrive. I thought the frame rate was pretty good on the emulator, which is generally slower than the lynx (at least on my computer), so I figure it should be prtty good.

  3. Posted

    quote:
    Originally posted by Jess Ragan:

    There is no freaking way the Jaguar's hardware was superior to the 3DO's. I mean, really, compare Way of the Warrior to Ultra Vortek, or even better, Total Eclipse to Cybermorph. You could say both games were breathtaking, but only because Cybermorph kept me laughing until I couldn't breath.

     

    JR

     

    O.k., I'll bite. Total eclipse is a lame "on rails" shooter and it is very easy to get good texture-mapped poly world when it is so narrow and small. Cybermorph was a go-where-you-want, full-fledged WORLDS. Plus it generally had a LOT more polygons on the screen at a time than total eclipse. How you can even compare the two since they are completely different types of games is beyond me. Way of the Warrior? Don't make me laugh!!! That game totally sucks compared to Ultra Vortek, it even sucks compared to Kasumi Ninja! Besides any of that, just because a game may be superior on the 3DO to a game on the Jaguar, doesn't mean it's more powerful at all; it means that the programmers were much better...I could name a LOT of Jaguar games that are superior to a LOT of 3DO games too, but again, this is due to superior programmers doing the game, not necessarily superior hardware...Way of the Warrior...ha!ha!ha!ha!hehehehehehehe what a joke!!! I own that game as well as Total Eclipse, and WOTW BLOWS!! Total eclipse is good for a on-rails shooter, but it would ahve been better if it had entire worlds. Compare Cybermorph's sequal, Battlemorph to Total Eclipse too, T.E. doesn't stand a chance! Do you even own a Jaguar? Or are you just going by screen shots and lame, biased, reviews? PLEASE! There are MUCH better 3DO games to compare to Jag games than those two anyway!!!

  4. Posted

    quote:
    Originally posted by Ze_ro:

    As for the Jaguar, I think the controllers for it are one of the best controllers I've ever used... it fits perfectly in my (rather large) hands, and never has a shortage of buttons. Too bad it uses a weird connector :

     

    --Zero

     

    I have good news for you Ze_ro, Best Electronics (link under dealers in the links section of AtariAge), has a reasonably priced adapter so you can use the Jag's controller with every other Atari system (except the 5200-and the 130xe needs an extension cable due to the recessed ports)!!! This, of course, means that it can also be used with the vic-20, C64, Amiga, Sega mastersystem and possibly the Genesis (don't take my word for that one)and any other system/computer that is compatible with standard atari controller ports...

  5. Posted

    Yeah, i guess we really got off topic hear... I totally agree though. It was a combination of no respect from the mags, lack of advertizing and the 16-bit quality of the first games. I agree that Hoverstrikes frame rate sucks (even the cd), but I classify it in the tolerable range, since it is suppose to be a slow moving vehicle anyway and since I went from the 8-bit atari (where games like Rescue on fractalus and Koronis rift-two of my favorites, only ran at about 3-4 frames a second), to the 64-bit Jag. I even like playing Supercross 3d which quite possibly has the worst frame-rate of any 32/64-bit game in the world (3-5fps). I did play Genesis/SNES games, I just never owned them.

    So my standards on frame-rate was/is lower than other people's standards.

    Battlemorph, Iron Soldier 2, Missle Command 3d and Battlesphere were just starting to tap into the Jag's power and they came out at the end or after, when it was just too late. I do think, however, that Atari gave up too soon and could have been a strong number 3 in the market if they had stuck by their guns and just started upgrading the system with t-mapping/polygon chips in cartridges (and the memory cart for cd), similiar to the way Nintendo extended the life of the SNES with the fx/fx2 chip sets.

    Of course none of this would have made a difference in my opinion if Atari didn't start actually advertising the Jaguar with more commercials and at prime time, not 2:00 a.m. during Mystery Science Theater on the Sci-fi channel that has a limited audience already...if you don't hear about a product, how are you going to know to buy it?

  6. Posted

    speaking of 60% of the potential, I also read an interview with one of the ScatoLOGIC team (4play-Battlesphere) that basically said the same thing in other words; He said that if he had had more time to rework the polygon engine (which runs at a blazing 60fps as is), he could have DOUBLED the number of polygons...

  7. Posted

    quote:
    Originally posted by someguy:

    >I was mostly going from what I saw of screenshots. Games like Shockwave looked

    >amazing, and far better than the closest that the Jaguar had (Hover Strike).

     

    But Hover Strike is not the closest the Jaguar had. HS is generally known as a mediocre game for the Jag. If you want to see better, take a look at CyberMorph, BattleMorph, SkyHammer, IWar, Missile Command 3D, etc.

     

    I read a quote somewhere from the folks who programmed BattleSphere saying that even that game reaches only maybe '60%' of the Jaguar's full potential. Imagine what kind of games we might have seen for the Jaguar if Atari had "played its cards" better and made the Jaguar a success with developers.

     

    Exactly.

     

    Although, Hoverstrike (at least the cd version which is a LOT better than the cart) does have fantastic graphics and special effects, a lot of people got turned off by the cart version and never really gave the cd version a chance. But, some are turned off anyway because even though the cd version improved everything including the frame rate, it is still slow, but it's a hovercraft and is SUPPOSE to be slow and floaty, people just don't seem to get that or just don't care and give it the thumb down. I on the other hand LOVE the game and it is one of my favorites. I think it really shows some of the potential of the Jag (again, I'm talking cd version), if not in the frame rate department (it's not terrrible, but averages 10-15fps). There are much worse Jag games when it comes to framerate; Supercross3d and checkered flag come to mind...

  8. Posted

    Another example of the BS hype that the biased reviewers spread is in a magazine that came out in the fall of '95 compareing the machines technically; they said the Jaguar had 2 megabytes of memory (true) and the Playstation had 16 megabits of memory (also true), but that is exactly the same amount of memory 16megabits=2megaBYTES. It's was very decieving wording that easily fooled the general public and they did this at every turn...

  9. Posted

    See, that the thing, screen shots can be VERY decieving. The fact is that Shockwave's graphics weren't quite as good as Hoverstrike, and when Hoverstrike cd came out with the improved resolution, lighting and other special effects, it blew away Shockwave's barren landscapes (not that Hoverstrike's landscapes aren't somewhat barren, but they are much better than Shockwave's), Also Shockwave's enemies get a LOT blockier when up close (the t-mapping). But, Shockwave does have a better frame rate, although if Hoverstrike's landscapes were as barren, it probably would have had a better frame rate. Seeing the games in motion is what counts though, you can never go by screenshots (or biased reviewer's opinions).

     

    Sure the PSX and Saturn are more powerful than the Jaguar, but not by a lot and if Atari had included a t-mapping chip in the cd (which they did not), it would have leveled the playing field again, as the amount of raw polygon power (no t-mapping, just plain poly's) for the three machines is roughly equal. It was just too little too late for the Jaguar/Jagcd. But if the Jaguar had been given a fair shake by the Magazines from the beginning, it would have done better whether or not the Sega and Sony machines were luming closer (and some proper marketing from Atari).

  10. Posted

    quote:
    Originally posted by Ze_ro:

    Well, I don't think these failed for the same reason at all. The 3DO had power, and it had quite a few good games (I still have never played one of these, but I'm going by magazine reviews). I think the reason 3DO died was entirely because of it's price... the thing started at $700!!

     

    As for the 32X... I think people realized it was completely underpowered, and instead of just propping up their Genesis for a week, they waited for the "real" next-gen systems to appear. Well, perhaps this is fairly similar to why the Jaguar died.

     

     

    --Zero

     

    I own both of these machines and about 50 games for each. The 3DO is not as powerful as the Jaguar, it is very close, but not quite. It did have built-in texture-mapping that the Jaguar did not, so if you look at screen shots it sometimes looked better...but the reality is that it isn't more powerful. This is what I mean about it being over-hyped. You don't even own one and ARE going by the magazine HYPE. It's a great system, don't get me wrong, I love it, but the Mag's raved about it and axed the Jaguar, hence the misconceptions. Because of the hype surrounding the 3DO, it attracted the 3rd party developers though, so it has about a 150 games (state side, not counting educational and instructional discs-about 50 of those). The Jag has about 65-70 games for it, but they are all games and the percentage of good to bad games is MUCH higher than the 3DO. The 3DO has a lot of good games, but it also has a TON of crap-far more than the Jaguar. So in the end the amount of high quality games on both systems is really close.

     

    Also, the Jaguar was extremely powerful for it's day, don't even try to say it died due to a lack of power like the 32x...just don't go there, that's a load of anti-Jaguar propaganda like the mag's put out.

     

    I'm not blowing sunshine up you *ss here, like I said, I own and love both systems. So I know first hand EXACTLY what they are both like and capable of...

  11. Posted

    I'd have to agree that it's a combination of all of the above, but I think there is an order to it. First, the system NEEDS a lot of advertising and good marketing ploys to attract the customers. The Jaguar eventually got some fantastic games like T2k, Avp, Doom, Iron Soldier, SuperBurnout and others by the time of it's nation wide release in '94, but because of a derth of advertising and good marketing, it still failed with only the terrible 32x and overly expensive/hyped 3DO as competition (they all failed for the same reasons). Once the core user base is established, that will attract the 3rd party developers&publishers which will take the system to the top. But if no one knows about the system (just ask the average joe on the street today what the Jaguar or 3DO is and they'll get a glaze over their eyes) it will die. So first and foremost, the game company needs a few good initial releases, good marketing and then good 3rd party support in that order. If it's a case of the company leading the pack or a close second from the previous generation of consoles, that will initially attract the 3rd party developers and then to continue getting the much needed software the other steps come after, if they fail to do so, 3rd party support will dry up again very quickly.

     

    [ 09-02-2001: Message edited by: Gunstar ]

  13. Posted

    That would be my next question...is it an AC or DC power adapter required for this thing? I thought maybe it was DC since it takes DC batteries, like the Lynx. If it is DC, I have a universal AC to DC powerpack I can try. Nothing at all about the powerpack on the box or back of the console, except that it's an extra option.

  14. Posted

    For the most part I think the 7800 versions are better than the 8-bit carts. This is basically because the 8-bit versions are generally older and are only 16k carts. The 7800 versions are 32k+. Although this doesn't hold true with the XE(newer 8-bit) carts that had as much as 128/256k (I don't believe a 256k game was made but it was possible for the carts to go that high). So as far as Dark chambers or Xenophobe and others it may be that the 8-bit versions are as good or better (I've only played the 7800 version of Xenophobe and never tried Dark chambers for either system.-Gauntlet on the 8-bit rules!). Choplifter is an exception in my book; I like the original 8-bit version better even though it's less colorful. All the other classics you mentioned I prefer the 7800 versions, only because they are newer with more memory/better gfx.

  17. Posted

    Today I found a boxed addition of Atari's Video Pinball, 7-in-one console for 3 bucks!

    I believe this is the first one to have the game of Breakout! At least going by the box's promotional description. The console is in excellent condition, but didn't come with a power pack, but, it's not suppose too; that was extra. The console takes 6 "D" batteries to operate. I actually bid on one of these on E-bay and quit after the $50 dollar mark (it was new and never opened), someone ended up paying over $75.00 for it, but now I've gotten it in like-new condition with the box for $3.00! Oh, yeah...

  18. Posted

    quote:
    Originally posted by liquid_sky:

    do you know any more about them>? im curious about the color controls when you win a game, it cycles colors and blocks but each color is set to a certian vertical area of the screen

     

    Sorry, my knowledge about them is all second hand derived from similiar conversations on the "bit-ness" (8-bit, 16-bit, etc.) of systems and the topic of old electronics not really having any "bit-ness" came up and went into more detail about the lack of programmable proccessors...I believe that conversation took place at the classic gaming forum hosted by Atarihq, about a year ago.

  19. Posted

    quote:
    Originally posted by d8thstar:

     

    and i also have some ideas floatin around in this noggin for self centering sticks... maybe we can compare notes

     

    d8thstar

     

    I have an idea about that myself, that I came up with while converting one of my controllers into a paddle. It involves using springs in a way similiar to the older 2600 and 5200 and 8-bit cartridges. If you've ever taken one of those carts apart, then you've had a bear of a time getting that spring back into place when reassembling the cart. Well I'd like to impliment similiar side-sliding springs like that some how onto the two plastic plates that are used to make the two paddle pots in the 5200 controller work as a joystick.

  25. Posted

    No 7800 owner should be without Commando or Ikari Warriors, these games are the tops, and so are the 7800 versions! Pick them up even if you have to pay upwards of $30.00, they are worth it!!! I may soon have two copies of Commando (neither one has the box though), I'm still waiting on some more of my stuff to be shipped to me from California, Commando being one of the games that I haven't gotten yet (my ex-roommate is sending a few things at a time as he gets time to pack em' up and ship em' out). I couldn't wait on the shipment with Commando, so I bought another copy off of E-bay. I'll ask anyone if they want the other copy if and when it arrives (my ex-roomie is a great guy, but he's not real dependable sometimes).

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