philipj

Nintendo basically did what Sega did by going to an industry standard when they made the N64 back when Mario would make appearances on electronic bill boards in basketball game as a real-time CGI; they basically went the way of SGI (Silicon Graphics) type technology IMO... Same way with Sega when they created the "Virtual Racing" arcade game, however it seems like Sega was trying to do their own thing based on the "sprite based" arcade games that they were already doing with such games as "Out Run, Space Harier," and so-on thus the Saturn hardware seem to reflect some lessons from those proven technique. The good thing is that the "Atari Jaguar" seems to be right on the heels of the kind of graphics Sega was producing with the "Object Processor" originally designed for the Panther... I can go on and on about that sort of thing so forgive me if it seems like I'm coming out of the blue. The only problem with the Atari Jaguar is the "Video RAM" or lack there of in comparison to systems like the "3DO, Sega 32X (which has less RAM then the Jaguar, but better access to more memory than the Jag), and the Sega Saturn" which has more than enough video memory to give the Playstation 1 a run for a short time.

Well... I was young when I got into collecting Jaguar stuff... When I sold my Jag collection on ebay I thought I was finish with the Jaguar, but I started kind of missing it a little so the first thing I did was I got a Jag from ebay along with a couple of skunkboards and decided I'm in for the long haul; would be a shame to put all my Jag knowledge to waist... But it would be even nicer to have some new fresh perspective from some a newer generation of Jaguar enthusiast... Someone out of the wood-works would probably want to see the system push to the limit at some point in time like I did once they find out how powerful the Jaguar really is... And how flawed and buggy the system is as well unfortunately. Anyone crazy enough to program the Jaguar find that they have to take the good with the bad just like the programmers before them.

Well... I'm still messing around with QB64... I remember a conversation I had some time back with someone telling me if I really want to learn to make games, start making them on the PC first before programming the Jaguar. Well I'm listening now thus I'm still watching online tutorials whenever they post things... I'm using QB64 as a prototyping tool for game concepts this way I can make what I want on the PC without the Jaguar's bottleneck. Better to have somethings in place before tackling the Jaguar hardware although I do have to say I still have the Atari ST "Realtime 3D Programming In Assembly For The Atari ST" book that I've been reading on and off... I did however run into this book called "The Revolutionary Guide To QBASIC" published in 1996 by four different authors that talks about making realtime 3D in old-school QBASIC, which is pretty astounding if you ask me... There was even articles on a 3D engine in QBASIC that supported texture-mapping on a platformer game where they had a frog hopping around a mapped 3D world all written in QBASIC... Some engines supported gouraud shading but were only seen in demos. They seem to have been a tight little community for QBASIC back in the day that lasted until early 2000s when DOS was becoming obsolete; they made games, demos, push boundaries with QB until it got old and people went their separate ways. Today QB64 the newer people in the community has really been trying to push people into making games because the world has seemingly moved on with just a few games made using QB64... I Didn't mean to ramble on like that, but that's the current state of affairs with me right now... Don't want to throw this topic off track. So back to the topic...

True that man... That Tempest mod track demonstrated a lot of how you can make the most of the four channels of sound... That whole mod tracking scene really did push boundaries almost beyond what a professional recording studio could produce and people are still producing four channel music today on their 16bit computers. Dude...! WTF are you talking about??? Once again you assume things about me that you know nothing about... I rarely post stuff over here that much and already you're on that BS without any reasonable purpose other than to get people out of character... But carry on Zero, your rep for attacking people with no real reason has proceeded AA with a flood of Jag fans lighting the forum up waiting to meet the great "Zerosquare". I never claimed to be a rock star, I'm just enthusiastic about what I talk about, but don't confuse enthusiasm with being arrogant and egotistical...

I looked at "Time Sharing" at one point in time to address the bus issue... If I was to make a game engine for the Atari Jaguar, it would probably be centered around a "graphics and sound buffer" using a "non parallel" way of processing everything where each CPU would take turn using the main bus similar to old-school "Time Sharing". It's a bit crude in theory, but seem to hold some benefits like allowing each processor to have full access to all of the systems resources for more potent processing potentials, but that's just a theoretical remedy I came up with till I can get a better understanding of the Jaguar. It would be all about maintaining the graphic and sound buffers which would probably mean the use of a "double or triple buffer" situation to ensure smooth data flow for fast action playability... At least that's my game plan; I haven't tried it yet so I wouldn't advise others to do so (do at your own risk), but that's where my head has been for a while now. I know most would rather shoot for that fast on the fly real-time action, which is usually a good policy especially for real-time 3D stuff and I'm not knocking it, but given the bottleneck troubles with the "main bus", I would try my hand with the "Time Sharing" thing... Now back to the topic. lol

I gotta try my hand with a mod tracker... Definitely on my to-do list. My only issue is the 4 channels to work with; I'd like to do more with the DSP's synth capabilities using more than 4 measly channels... Other than that, the track sounds great dude, I'd love to see SF on the Jaguar.

I'm interested in getting a couple of skunks... Can't wait for the release.

The first time I saw "Cybermorph" on the Atari Jaguar was in 93 or 94 when it was displayed at a "Sams Club" store... At that time I thought the game looked pretty impressive for that time period. It certainly looked better than "Starfox" for the SNES.

The XM was Curt's pet project wasn't it...? Very sad... I really was looking forward to the module being released at some point in time. It would probably be wishful thinking for the module to be released "as-is" in its current state. Very sad state of affairs indeed if the project has been let go at this point; it wouldn't be too surprising, but it would be a little sad. If they do release the XM, I think it should be labeled the "XM Legacy Module or XMLM" (or something meaningful like that) in honor of Curt Vendel himself, but that's probably more wishful thinking. 😥

I first read about it in the EGM magazines in the 90s... Then ran into one on display at a local "Sams" store in the early 90s, but never actually got one until later in the late 90s early 2000s. I accidentally ran into the Jaguar scene after finding an old Atari Lynx at a local thrift store, getting on the internet to find out more about the Lynx and saw that "Native" and other titles were still being made for the Atari Jaguar as well as some Lynx title. By the time I got myself a Jaguar, it was well off of the store shelves for some years... I wanted to make "Playstation 1" game, but settled for the Atari Jaguar instead; been stuck with it ever since.

I know right... What's Atariage without "Curt Vendel"...? He's the official historian here isn't he...? Very sad and very shocking news.

Wow... Just sad man... I couldn't believe it when I first heard the news... Condolences. 😞

That's on account of the Motorola 68000 isn't it...? The interface was designed to work with the Motorola.

Look buddy, you chase your dreams your way and I'll chase mine, thank you... Until I master this programming thing I'll continue to theorize based on what I know and post accordingly. If you can't handle it, that's your problem, not mine... But seriously I'll work harder to keep my post correct as possible, but I get the feeling that's still won't be satisfying to some here so the heck with it; I'll post what I think is best... This is a forum after all, I'll take my chances. Besides most of the stuff I post publicly are based on general knowledge most are familiar with... I haven't even posted the crazy off the wall ideas I have yet for concern folks would really think that I'm off my rockers; I keep that part secret. 🤪 That's good to know. Yes please... Let's get back on topic.

Yea... I just returned before this turn into some kind of crap show... I heard about that little mess... I don't know the full details, but it's unfortunate whatever happen in that regard, we shouldn't be fighting with each other at a game forum of all places. My knowledge of that is from rumors and rumors only, if you're implying I had anything to do with whatever that mess one, please understand that I visit forums and try and input the best types of post that I can put out there to keep the vibe as positive as I can. We all know what flame wars, trolls and other arguments. You posted before I could get my post mine; was still typing when you posted... No one has told me anything, I have a mind of my own. I don't post at AA as often as I use to and when I do, it's usually just one or two or just a few subjects I'll visit from time to time. I know what it is for someone to be worrisome and I try not be that or erroneously start throwing accusations around on people unless I have reason to, but even with that, I usually keep it to myself to avoid situation like this unless someone ask me come out with it. I came out with it so there it is, but CJ came at me first.

I think he wants me kicked out of Atari Age... Saying certain things to try and push my buttons so he can report it and get me banned or get certain topics I frequent locked just so it can be said that philipj is causing problems. You wanted to know, there it is... I'm not one to accuse anyone of anything, but I'm not a fool either... I just call it like I see it. I also take offence to to his "Verbal nappy" comment! 😠

Knowing you CJ and your underhanded shenanigans, it probably won't be the last either... You know I can't code yet, but if I was to code and bring here, you'd probably just find some other way to sneak some insult jab or some smart remark to get someone out character thinking no one is wise to your slick antics. But I get the feeling I'm not the only one to call you out on that... Carry on.

Shinobi 3 had good music... TMNT Hpyerstone music seems to be a direct port from the arcade game minus some instruments. Thunder Force series definitely had good music. A few others you've mentioned, that I haven't played yet, XMEN 2 had some great music on it. I guess the few games I've played on them would better define my statement, but the Genesis certainly had the chops to do great music... I have to admit though that the music I was hearing on the SNES when I first got in 93 certainly blew my mind from games like Super Contra, Super Castlevania, Super Adventure Island that Mr. Street of Rage himself composed for, and I don't won't to forget all of the stuff "Tim Follin" did on both the NES and the SNES... He had such a ear for musical depth and range and was able to convey that on every system he composed on; it was like listen to a full band or an orchestra on NES system let alone the SNES. Yea I heard about that on a documentary concerning the Genesis the mediocre music software Sega gave developers... It's too bad about that; Nintendo pick right on up with supplying the SNES with a better sound chip, but I enjoy them both. But you touched on something, that's mediocrity was just what I was referring to... I ran into quite a few of them at the rental stores.

That he is...

I see you still get a kick out of putting words into other people mouths when you know better... But this coming from a person who some how finds a way to slip insults by way of sarcasm underhandedly. There's always a way to do things, it's how you do it that others are looking at including myself... Coding is great for games and ST pirating, but it doesn't build character, which is something you tend to lack, but then again character means nothing to some people... There's you verbal nappy.

Games like Hover Strike and Native is what encouraged me into the Jag scene... When I saw what the system could actually pull off was close to Playstation 1 graphics with limitations of course.

Whatever...

I forgot about "Gauntlet IV" for the Mega Drive... The music for that game was a masterpiece. I wonder if they used a custom sound engine for that one because the music was not typical Genesis FM mediocrity. Great music; one of few that really took advantage of the FM chip.

I think AA was such a novelty for the average person in the early 90s, one had to be in the computer graphics field to pull off antialiasing. I know for me the only time I saw 3D graphics was at the mall arcade. Reading this reminded me of the "Ultra 64 Demo" I saw on YouTube with them talking about how smooth texture-mapping was back them, which implied it was a very big deal in those days. The Atari Jaguar object processor can possibly mimic smooth textures (AA) using the OP's transparency feature.