Willard

We were playing co-op (2 player death match just seemed a little empty), so that could well be the case. I didn't do a whole lot of testing because my friend took his Jaguar back home with him and I was disappointed enough that I never attempted to network Doom on the Jaguar again.

I don't think it's a fair assessment to say there's no interest in networking for homebrew games! I think a lot of people would like to see it. But that's up to the homebrew devs. Thunderbird claimed he had patched Doom with his/Scotts network code. Any chance anyone has used your workaround to do the same? I know, it was one of the first questions asked in that thread but it's been awhile

I recall attempting to network doom back in high school (I actually had a friend who had a copy of Doom and a Jaguar ) and we couldn't get more than a minute or two into the game without it crashing. It really sucked. Funny that the manual indicates the game should just restart, which isn't what happened at all. It really shouldn't have gotten QA approval.

nobody that i know of has the source to Aircars... Otherwise I'm sure we'd see functional network code appearing in other homebrews Maybe Doug or Scott have it, I don't recall them discussing their involvement in Midnite Software or Aircars much. we have plans to do reprints of some of our releases, if people want them. Currently I'm working on getting our site back online with some new content (eta is within a month, as most of the work is done now and due to my current schedule there is a specific date I need to have things ready by)... also we'll actually have some stuff in stock when it's back up too!

too bad 3DO company didn't just handle the port themselves, especially if they got involved in the project "Due to the hype" (as if Doom wasn't going to attract any interest ). Probably could've negotiated a better licensing deal too.

One benefit of Raiden was the 2P mode - I had a lot of fun playing Raiden (and even Club Drive ) with friends back when I first got the Jaguar. Although it had already been on other platforms for several years, it was still a solid game and the Jaguar version was a good port. I think the Jaguar could've used other popular arcade games like MK2 and TMNT or the Simpsons to give people the perception it was a great platform for high quality arcade games. I wish I could've played Cybermorph in 1994 but it wasn't until quite a bit later that I got to play it. I would've rather they focus on fewer levels and higher quality. Still, the concept was good and it was a great game to show the direction Atari wanted people to think the Jaguar was headed. Exclusives like that were a good way to say you needed a 64-bit system to play those kind of games. I'd give the edge to Cybermorph as my favorite launch title because it wasn't available on any other platform and being a pack-in allowed you to appreciate it as a tech demo or a game, depending on how much fun you had with it. Dino Dudes and Trevor McFur never really grabbed my attention nor left a good impression on me and I played them for about a half hour before tossing them aside. Later on after playing until I completed the game, I found Trevor McFur to be a little better than I expected (just slightly), so I'd put it at 3rd.

I see, I have never seen it specifically stated and by Doug's stories of Atari and Battlesphere for some reason I got the impression it was internally supported by Atari. Interesting fact I guess.

It is rare (and valuable) because it got a limited print and no more are being produced. You'll see that with a lot of Jaguar stuff these days, regardless of the quality of the game. Battlesphere goes for a bit more because it is one of the few nicely polished and reasonably fun games that show off a 3D engine on the Jaguar, and one of two that have stable network feature. It was intended to be a retail game (and presumably funded by Atari until they folded), then finished by the original devs who got approval from Hasbro to release it. As Jagamer noted, I don't think a Battlesphere or Battlesphere Gold ever sold for $1,700... his range seems more in line with what I've seen. Still not bad for something you forgot you had

There was a character animation program for Uncle Oswald on one of the Jaguar Extremist Pack. I don't think there was enough to really indicate what it was about though. Would've been cool to hear more about Oswald or Legions (state of completion, reason for cancelling .etc).

I think it can be fun, but it is unconventional and could've used some general polish despite whether you can appreciate what merits there are. As PhoenixMoonPatrol mentioned, knowing the value of the powerups and when to use them is important- probably the most important factor in the game. It's not immediately apparent, because you can accumulate so many power-ups that you may not realize you should've been saving them or where you should've used them until it's too late. Combine that with the fact that the game becomes considerably easier (and it is easier to get the power-ups you need) if you complete the levels in a certain order. So it can be frustrating until you figure out how to balance things (or are just really good a shmups). The unconventional aspect that I think puts a lot of people off is that most enemies don't move in patterns and can move unpredictably around the screen. Although I like the creative use of some of the environment hazards (like the stalactites), it sometimes mixes badly with the unpredictable enemy movements. Some areas that i think are just generally poorly done (but not gameplay related): 1. Enemies don't have many frames of animation 2. Would've been cool to see extra background layers 3. Art style is inconsistent, ranging from CG to something like airbrush or hand drawn, sometimes all on the same screen 4. Some silly enemy choices, like the scorpions that just walk all over the screen (including the part that's supposed to be the sky) and blow up into little scorpions when shot 5. Inconsistent perspective of enemies, environmental hazards, and background art 6. Lack of music in-game 7. Lack of variety between the space levels that begin each planet It feels like they didn't put much time into design documents prior to working on the levels. As mentioned in the first part of my post though, after spending some time playing the game, I can see why people might like it. But it never deserved to be a mainstream hit or even a 7/10.

lol

lol @ asking other people in the Jaguar forum if someone is exhibiting abnormal behavior or might possibly have a personality disorder seriously though, it's too bad he doesn't bother to update people, but having no obligation to update people or do any further work on the project I don't get a lot of the reactions to his behavior (or half the stuff that goes on around here anymore, for that matter).

There is an old interview with Purple Hampton on this site here (that also explains his nickname, in his own words ). Sounds like he was largely responsible for the transition of AVP to the FPS genre. The contents of the memo are interesting but I imagine actually collecting originals of internal memos is a bit of a niche thing.

i thought it was an okay game. The gameplay is pretty solid and perhaps slightly above average. So if you can judge a game based only on gameplay, and love defender style space shooters, it's probably worth checking out. However, I did have some reservations about it: -Aside from the enemy sprites, the artwork is a little rough like it wasn't completely finished yet. -The music is awful, most definitely would not have shipped with this music -Do not expect mind blowing graphics, they are low color depth and would not look impressive even on the Genesis. I personally sold my copy because those 3 factors kind of gave me an "rugged / unfinished genesis game" type feeling. The music is what really gets me the most tbh, but the other elements play a part too. I liked Protector over Protector SE, but it's been far too long since I sold my copies of them to remember why. I am of the unpopular opinion that Defender 2000 is a good game, so I get my defender fix on the Jaguar from that

There are bosses. IIRC the last level even has you facing all the bosses at once. I like the game, although the graphics take a little getting used to. There is a bit of diversity with the different environments (desert, snow .etc), some decent level design, and the arcade-like shield and weapon system that you noted. I don't think I've ever played a game in the genre that wasn't flawed in some way. I think Aircars biggest flaw is the graphics. I like Shockwave 2 but it's a little too complex for its own good.

well the initial post touches on two substantially different things imo. The whole abandonware for archival and preservation thing seems to be more tolerated by larger companies and does exactly that. There are organizations like web.archive.org that collect millions of dollars to continue such efforts despite some obvious ethical issues (like mapping out the file trees of website, archiving sites with disclaimers that specifically advise against it, and exposing hidden content for sites that don't specifically protect themselves against it). Then there is the second step of actually taking someone else game and modifying it and reselling it as your own creation thus claiming a degree of ownership and credit for someone elses work. I think that is generally much less tolerated by companies, especially on platforms with large consumer bases, because it can cause substantial revenue loss and confusion about who owns the IP / brand association issues. But in the end much of it is technically illegal, the activities just infringe upon the original IP owners to different degrees.

It could also be said the people who haven't experienced the audio glitch might be surprised there are so many people who have I think the question is why this happens considering it's not consistent from cart to cart as it suggests some sort of defect. Wonder if it's one of those issues that affect certain models of Jaguar or something.

IIRC the dot leads you in the direction you're supposed to be going, then when you get within a certain proximity of the objective the dot disappears. Haven't played it in a long time. I've had 2 pretty serious issues that I think put me off of it: (1) sometimes the game crashes and your save gets erased. That really sucks. (2) Sometimes you are in a position where the objective cannot be completed. Like recovering a packet, but you just can't pick it up, or destroying something that won't blow up. I've never had any issue with the audio though.

From a commercial sense I think the ones that had the most appeal were Alien VS Predator, Battlemorph, Battlesphere, Doom, Iron Soldier, NBA Jam TE, Primal Rage, Rayman, Super Burnout and Worms. Improvements could deinifely be made to them but imo they are well polished mainstream kind of games that were ports of games that weren't intended for 16-bit hardware and were relatively new. Those aren't my favorites though. There a recent top 5 thead here.

I still wish it had rapid fire. It's a decent port through if you can get past hammering the fire button the entire duration you're playing.

Nice to see a new thread for the updates, for those interested in following the project. Wish the thread title was more related to the subject though as almost overlooked it.

lol that's terrible for a custom made set. Maybe if it were from an actual case of original packaging that never made it to market or something.

agreed. what jerks. they're ruining it for everyone. Probably on purpose too. It's definitely not the other way around

If you're going to be a stickler to that kind of logic,that statement may as well say "unless you have written the best looking game on the Jaguar, you are not entitled to have an opinion on the potential it has" One reason I don't think people just accept any opinion about the Jaguar from "people with programming backgrounds" is that there are some pretty big differences between many of the engines on the Jaguar, with some people able to get a lot more out of it in a lot less time than others. Missile Command 3D was written in only 6 months and (imo) is one of the better looking games on the Jaguar. Phase Zero was written by a team of amateur programmers who wanted to siphon development funds from Atari into projects for other systems. All that most people really have to go by (from a commercial perspective) are examples of underfunded, understaffed development teams that often didn't take the Jaguar seriously or rushed the games out the door. Most people might be saying "the Jaguar network is buggy, and cannot produce a stable connection," had it not been done, so we now know it is not the case.

I finished Trevor McFur without cheats. Although it's not a very good game, I think using cheats actually makes it worse because the game is definitely not about the level design (which often seems to be just a bunch of random enemy and object placement). It's more about conserving your power-ups, knowing the right time to use them, and being so focused on avoiding losing lives that you overlook many of the shortcomings of the game. Sorry that response is of no help with regard to your intended question though!