philipj

September 3, 2020

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.

September 1, 2020

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

August 31, 2020

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

June 9, 2020

On 6/7/2020 at 12:39 PM, Cyprian_K said:

I wonder why they claimed about that 64bit access in case of DSP. If I'm not wrong, it has 16bit access to the main RAM.

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

May 31, 2020

8 hours ago, Austin said:

I think he just wants you to stop talking out of your ass without explanation. I.e., lay off stuff like, "Durr, I bet the Jaguar could probably do this and that, even though I have no idea how the Jaguar actually works, but because I imagined the idea, it clearly can." Not only is it annoying, but it makes you look like a complete doofus.

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. ?

9 hours ago, Sauron said:

Fair enough. Hopefully though at least now you know where you stand. No one wants you banned from here.

That's good to know.

5 hours ago, Lost Dragon said:

Thread back on topic?

Yes please... Let's get back on topic.

May 31, 2020

Yea... I just returned before this turn into some kind of crap show...

1 hour ago, Sauron said:

he doesn't operate in the shadows like a certain Kieren Hawken does.

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.

1 minute ago, Sauron said:

LOL, really? No, neither CJ nor anyone else wants you banned from here. The troublemakers are long gone, and you've never been considered one of them. Considering your membership in Kieren's old FB group, there's certainly some wariness, but that's far from wanting to have you banned. If CJ corrects something you've said, it's because he knows better than you. That's it. He's not trying to push your buttons, and he's certainly not trying to get you banned. If anyone has tried telling you otherwise, they're full of shit, plain and simple.

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.

May 31, 2020

18 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Yeah, that's something I'd like to know as well. I know CJ pretty well. Despite appearances on here, he and I haven't always agreed on things, but I would NEVER question his character because I know him to be an upstanding person. And "underhanded shenanigans" is certainly NOT the way he operates, if you haven't figured it out by now. He's not the most diplomatic person, to put it lightly, but there is never any doubt where he stands, and he doesn't operate in the shadows like a certain Kieren Hawken does.

In short...if you have something to say, philipj, then say it instead of trying to besmirch someone's character with vague accusations.

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! ?

May 31, 2020

40 minutes ago, CyranoJ said:

If I was going to be a character, I think I'd be a giant, blue, capital T.

If you want to post absurd comments with no proof or code to back them up I suggest you go off and consult with the folk in Moley's facebook group.

However, when those comments get corrected having the "whatever" attitude and not stepping up and admitting you are wrong is a mark on your character, not the people leading you towards to light. It's not the first time this has happened, either...

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.

May 31, 2020

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.

1 hour ago, sd32 said:

The bad rep the Genny has with soumtracks, come from a lot of american developed games that used the GENS sound engine, which wasnt the best...and also suffered a lot from mediocre midi conversions.

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.

May 31, 2020

5 minutes ago, Zerosquare said:

Shows how little you know CyranoJ. He's quite a character.

That he is...

May 31, 2020

3 hours ago, CyranoJ said:

Fixed it for you.

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.

May 30, 2020

7 hours ago, JagChris said:

They got some pretty clean polygons out of hover strike CD

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.

May 30, 2020

1 hour ago, Zerosquare said:

No.

Whatever...

May 30, 2020

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.

May 30, 2020

1 hour ago, marcio_napoli said:

I was doing 3d animation since 1994, and anti-aliasing was a very, very time consuming feature. It required very powerful hardware.

When the N64 was released, I remember being wowed to no end realizing it could do f##ing anti-aliasing in real time.

People hardly realize how impressive that was for 96's hardware because A) Nintendo honestly chose a bad implementation, over doing the amount of blur, and B) today's computers are so powerful that people no longer realize anti-aliasing was, at some point, an impressive feature to be had in real time.

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.

May 30, 2020

I had them both including the Sega CD so it made very little difference to me at that time... I did have to cut a few yards to get both systems in my teen years; I was very impressed with the SNES sound capabilities. The Geny had better sound than the NES, but was still a little limited with the FM sounds; at least until "Streets of Rage 2"... It was the only game that was on par with SNES like sounds as far as musical depths and quality. Very few Genesis games really push the sound chip they SOF2 did. Even Konami, who made some of the best SNES music, didn't really do too much justice for the Genesis, but looking back today SOF2 had a lot in common with arcades that had FM chips with PCM playback capabilities embedded on the chip... They made good use of the PSG sound chip as a PCM playback mechanism.

7 hours ago, Lost Dragon said:

The Apple II is a system that is completely alien to myself, never seen one, used one etc.

So it was interesting to hear John talk about that platform.

My school had an Apple II in my early teens, I've never really used one before, but I've always been curious about them.

May 29, 2020

On 5/27/2020 at 11:56 AM, Lost Dragon said:

Not sure if this is of any interest to you, but John Carmack talking about the SNES version and why they would not do an APPLE II version :

I've received a fair amount of mail about this in the past couple of
weeks. The bottom line is that we have no plans for a IIGS port.
There are two major reasons (feel free to pass this around):

1: (The technical) The SNES implementation of wolf is the absolute
borderline of acceptable gameplay. The GS is simmilar, but not quite
as capable as the SNES.

The most time consuming parts of the program are the clearing of the
screen, the scaling of the walls, and the copying to the video
memory. The SNES can do all of these thing faster than the GS.

The SNES can do the clearing and copying with DMA, which is about
four times faster than the tightest possible pea/pei stack tricked
code.

The SNES rom clocks at 3.5mhz and the ram at 2.5. I am also using
one of the SNES dma registers to fake an autoincrement addressing
mode. This lets the scaling be about 60% faster than the best
possible on the GS.

You couldn't reasonably use more than 16 colors in a scaled GS game,
which would require ALL THE ARTWORK TO BE REDRAWN.

Bottom line: While a GS game would be possible at a lower frame rate
and resolution (or if it required an accelerator), it would not do
justice to the game.

2: (the market) A runaway hit in the GS community might sell a few
thousand copies. Possibly. Our time right now is split between
jaguar ports, retail DOOM, and preliminary work on QUAKE, all big
ticket items. We are a small company, with only six people in the
development effort. We just don't have the time for niche products.

I feel for you (a GS was my first real computer), but we are making
our mark by looking forward, not back.

Sorry.

John Carmack

The SNES was just a well balanced graphics and sound presentation machine with not a whole lot of CPU power like the Jag or the Neo Geo, but was well built for graphics and sound... I thought at one point it was more powerful than the Genesis, but it wasn't when came to the CPUs. I was playing "Aquajack" arcade game a "Retro-Bit" console and it reminded me of "Super Off Road: The Beja" for the SNES with the mode-7 like affect. Games like those just hit a sweet-spot for pseudo 3D like affects using scan-line base rendering techniques, which "Doom" for the Atari Jaguar pulls off nicely. I'd like to see a pseudo 3D engine that fakes unit-vector style graphics as a means of getting the kind of fast rendering of pseudo 3D objects that looks and acts like real unit-vector style 3D math. That's the "Holy Grail" goal I'd like to see on the Atari Jaguar... Fake 3D that looks like it's been rendered using real 3D math. "Road Rash" for the 3DO looks like it has a combination of both scan-line techniques mixed with real unit-vector or affine transform like 3D rolled up into one game. I still get a kick out of looking and reading about the old-school graphics; maybe one day I'll make good use out of the Jaguar's "Blitter Processor" and make a 3D engine that takes advantage of the Jags natural abilities.

May 9, 2020

Well I have my Skunkboards, but I'm on the waiting list for the "Game Drive"... I figure I better try something new in the world; no since in not having one of these for myself. The last time these got released I was trying to get myself a new truck; well I got it now so I can afford the GD now. Although I have to say a 16-MB custom cartridge on ebay seems like something worth looking into for future game developments rather than what they're trying to sell it for.

May 4, 2020

I had "Windows Vista" when the Skunkboard first got released, which was a spin-off from Windows XP... In fact I was one of the first to get the Skunk when Tursi released; great little cartridge. The Skunk will definitely work in XP and Vista as it was released around the time of these two versions of Windows.

April 5, 2020

I got myself an old Laptop where I'm putting old Windows XP on it to get my to get my Skunks working again... At least I'll know the darn thing will work versus trying to get it working in Windows 10... Been having the darndest time trying to get them to work.

March 27, 2020

When the money get right, I'm just going to buy crap load of games for the Jaguar... I wish I hadn't sold my old collection, but I sort-of needed the money, but some point I'm going to get my collection back up... I have a Skunkboard, but there's nothing like having the physical copy. I actually miss having physical copy of the games.

March 18, 2020

22 hours ago, KidGameR186496 said:

Since i'm a sucker for arcade-style top-down racers, i think World Rally by Zigurat Software would be a good fit for the Jaguar, especially since it was distributed in North America by Atari Games...

Oh man I use to play this game at a pizza joint in the mid to late 90s... The arcade cabinet had the "Atari" logo on it so they must have distributed the arcade machine... I thought it was an Atari game for a brief short while till I looked up the company who programmed the game online. This game is definitely suitable for the Atari Jaguar. Another hidden gem arcade is a game called "Great 1000 Mile Rally" by "Kaneco"... Really good game; has a good since of speed and very fun to play... Another pipe dream to aspire to.

March 16, 2020

1 hour ago, phoenixdownita said:

Probably you mean "Air Sea Battle" because in Combat there's only Tanks, Planes and Jets.

Yea that's it... Don't really know why I get those two game confused especially since I played the daylights out of them both in my youth.

March 16, 2020

"In The Hunt" is an Irem masterpiece... For some reason the game sort of reminded me of the submarine game on "Combat" for the Atari 2600. Really almost all of Irem arcade game from that time period has incredible artwork. They really push for a very immersive gaming experience; it kind of make me miss the old arcade days.

March 7, 2020

When I was selling my game collection on ebay, I was able to sell all of it due to other people over pricing their stuff... Most of the stuff I sold, I didn't pay near what I sold it for on ebay, but because people were over pricing the same thing I was selling, I was able to make sales at affordable prices. It was a very good learning experience for me; I'm thinking selling Jaguar at maybe $57 or $65 seems reasonable. If I ever get any games out, I'm thinking along those lines as a way to actually get people to buy the games. The $80 price is very high, but very tempting at the same time, but when selling on ebay I've had to swallow my pride so many times just to get things out of the door less it sits there for a long period of time... That means no one really wants to fork over the cash for some reason so I have to sweeten the honey pot to actually make a sale.

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