BitJag

Thank you for the references and support! I will start tackling these things within the next week.

Sorry, but we won't be making too many adjustments from our original release in terms of the general difficulty of dodging pipes. This is because making the game any easier seems to bore play testers. My guess is that if the player has to spend less time focusing on dodging pipes, the tend to focus on their score. Watching your score go up 1 point at a time for ~40 minutes gets old pretty fast. This game has the odd effect of making people want push just a little bit further each time, because of it's difficulty. We understand that not everyone reacts this way though and our compromise for these player is the pipe score multiplier. In the original release, on some play modes, when you collected a coin it would increase a multiplier that would effect how many points were added to the pipe score. We are making this a more general option that you can toggle on/off from the options menu, and will now apply to all play modes. This doesn't decrease how hard it is to doge the pipes, but it does reduce the amount of pipes you potentially need to dodge in order to reach 999 pipe points. This forces the player to still need to practice to get past pipes consistently, but also gives the player hope that they can finish the game by passing just 100 pipes, instead of 999 pipes. This also essentially creates two different types of play for the four different play modes. Endurance (no multiplier) and Speed Run (with multiplier). The high score lists for each game mode will list whether or not the high score winner had the coin multiplier option toggled on or off, and total time spent during the round (until death or if you win the game). We are still working out how we want to organize these high score lists, as the multiplier does throw a wrench into who should be above who on the list. We will probably just end up splitting the high scores into two sets of lists. Those who had the multiplier on, and those that had it off. Then under those two categories list the high scores for each play mode. I will be tackling this in the next couple days along with some EEPROM stuff as well.

Thanks for your interest! Flappy McFur is nearly rebuilt. We need to get SFX and music back in place, and I want to rework the scoring system to accommodate high score charts in the game which will hopefully be saved to an EEPROM (a few details on why we needed to rebuild Flappy are in a previous post). Other than this there are some graphic assets that still need to be tackled in Odd-It Will Be Watching and some gameplay ideas that we would like to test in Odd-Ball. These present a clear path forward for us but there are a few things that we want to do that prevent us from giving a solid release date. EEPROM support needs to be added. This is a new thing for us and may take some time to get implemented. But we will seek help from the great well of wisdom and knowledgeable individuals on this forum to move this forward as fast as possible and to do it right. Thank you to those who have helped us with this already, dreams are coming true because of these people. Along with EEPROM support, we want to get rotary support implemented in Odd-Ball as well. These two things are the biggest chunks left to bite off, and time spent play testing is variable depending on what changes need to be made. We are working with Albert on getting this physically produced through AtariAge, and we want to make sure it is a solid and attractive release for him and for everyone. This is our priority. About a week ago I posted a Q1 release window, this is still our goal. We will make sure to update everyone if this changes. Thanks for your support and patience!

Awesome! A handful of fun games I have been looking to get a physical copy of for a long time. 2019 is going to be great for the Jag.

Its probably fine to get into some more details at this point. The games mechanics are pretty well set at this point, unless play testing reveals something blatant that needs to be changed. Odd-It Will Be Watching at it's core is a resource management game. You have to keep as many of your characters alive for 64 days in a harsh environment. This includes keeping them fed by producing ammunition for your hunter, hunting for food, keeping a fire lit that goes out from time to time, producing medicine and UV protection to maintain health, and talking to each character regularly to keep their mental health in check. The mechanics are based on a "recently" released game The Gods Will Be Watching, with some adjustment to how the mechanics work to create a unique experience. The goal is to figure out how much attention you should give to specific characters and resources, while repairing a broken transmitter to signal a rescue ship, all while fighting the natural dangers of a harsh environment. Odd-Ball is essentially a pong clone. It started as a project to see if I could make pong without using any programming reference, and as I worked on it I decided to work on adding a few elements to it to make the standard table tennis gameplay different, if not more interesting. The result is that there obstructions and items that effect gameplay in the center of the playing field that float upwards. It kind of makes it a hybrid between breakout and pong, with items that stop the floating upwards movement of obstructions and the temporary creation of more balls. Making the player switch between a competition mentality, to a survival mentality if the ball keeps getting reflected back to their side of the field. With initial multiplayer testing, it seems to be quite entertaining since it adds a bit of a random element gameplay, which has the effect of equalizing the skill level of both players. At times it an seem a bit unfair, but people tend to laugh instead of get frustrated with this. I have a few more ideas for items that do things to gameplay, and they may make it into the game depending on how they effect gameplay. Flappy McFur is a Flappy Bird clone with some different play options (faster scroll, different pipe placement). What you see in the video in the first post is what you get, just dodging pipes by flapping until you get to 999 pipe points. Surprisingly frustrating but addictive simple arcade gameplay. There are also awards that are unlocked along the way that have some cute references to the Jaguar and Trevor Mcfur In The Crescent Galaxy. I actually ran into problems when combining all three games into a single ROM because of the old original code for this game. It was my first major project in C code, and my inexperience at the time really shows. I actually had to start from the ground up on the code to fix things, and i am almost finished recoding at this point . This means it is taking longer than I had planned to get the Crescent Memories package together, but the code is allot cleaner and efficient/faster this time around, which will allow for easier implementation of changes and additions. It has also been good to see how far along I have come in first 5 years of coding, its been a good morale booster for me. I hope to have Flappy McFur back to where it was at before the recoding, with some additions, before Christmas. I don't want to spoil too much of the fun before these start shipping out, but I hope that is enough info for now.

Unfortunately no. We are currently shooting for a Q1 release. I will update everyone if that changes.

It's been a few years, but BitJag is finally back, in partnership with AtariAge, to announce a new homebrew cartridge release for the Atari Jaguar. Odd-It has returned to the Crescent Galaxy to make sure that the adventures of Trevor and Friends never end. Whether it's dodging pipes as a disembodied jaguar head in Flappy McFur, playing space tennis with a friend in Odd-Ball, or surviving on a merciless planet in order to see another day in Odd-It Will Be Watching, Crescent Memories is sure to bring a little bit of something for everyone to enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZHv5TLGWoM Crescent Memories will include 3 games packed into 1 cart. Flappy Mcfur, Odd-Ball, and Odd-It Will Be Watching. Flappy McFur is based off the unexpected hit Flappy Bird, with some additional gameplay modes and elements to add to the already addictive nature of a modern classic. Flap your way to the Crescent Galaxy dodging pipes and collecting coins. Odd-Ball is a new twist on the familiar table tennis format. With holes at the top and bottom of the screen, and obstacles with game altering pickups that traverse the center of the screen, be ready to create unfamiliar strategies in order to beat the CPU or your human opponents. Odd-It Will Be Watching pits you against the environment of an unmerciful far flung planet. You must survive 64 days trying to keep your crew warm, their belly's full, and sane enough to not give up hope of rescue. If you are going to Portland Retro Gaming Expo this weekend, be sure to swing by the AtariAge booth to play the demo for Odd-It Will Be Watching. Crescent Memories is still in production with no definite release date yet. All three games are in a playable state with only a couple major elements left to be implemented (EEPROM support for hi-scores and rotary support for Odd-Ball). Other than that, ancillary graphics and audio work still needs to be done, along with play testing. Because we are fitting work on this project into our free time, we can't give a definite release date at this point. We will keep everyone updated when we get closer to development finish line. We want to thank Albert here at AtariAge for being our publisher. Making sure that the game is available for the foreseeable future for anyone to buy is something that I personally would have never imagined would happen for Jag games a few years back. Not to mention this allows us to focus more on making the game instead of making cartridges. Also, thanks to Seb, CyranoJ, Shamus, Matthias Domin and many, many others on this forum for the amazing tools, feedback, help, and inspiration they have given us and others over the years. Without these people new games on would only be dream for our little dev team. Thank you!

I was playing this on the NES the other day for the first time. I spent more time on it than I thought I would. Good fun, I am looking forward to playing it on the Jag

This looks great! Sign me up for a copy.

We'll have to wait and see

We are still planning on doing a rerelease this year. Because Flappy McFur is being released with a few other new surprises, it is taking longer than I anticipated to get to a finished product. There is a possibility it will have to be pushed to early next year depending on how long physical production takes. I believe it will be worth the wait though. Currently, there are no plans for doing a CD release.

It is awesome that you are working on your game, and that you are taking feedback into consideration. I am sure that the game will be better for it. What's unfortunate is that you have essentially charged people the cost of a finished game to play test a game that seemed to have play testers that were willing to playtest for free. I understand that you will refund or replace these customers' copies if they want later on. But is this really the best approach to making your game better, when there are people around that are willing to help? I am not trying to be antagonistic. I am just trying to figure out the benefits of this kind of production strategy, when it obviously is causing problems with potential customers. At this point I understand that controversy creates allot of talk and therefore more awareness for your game. Which I am sure leads to more sales. But to me, because of controversy, I don't even consider purchasing your games. Its not personal vendetta towards you, but instead it would be adding fuel to that controversy if I supported someone who is intentionally or unintentionally causing problems because of the way they do things. Those of us who develop games for the Jaguar have a profound good or bad effect on this small community whether we like it or not. There have been plenty of examples of developers in the past who have been able to produce and release games for this console without so much strife, so I know it isn't because we are all terrible people you are experiencing so much blowback for your work. This will be my last comment on your work unless there is noticeable change in your production strategy the breeds less controversy. Best of luck.

Story? This is what people are saying when you requested a review of it from a buyer. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/271948-jagzombies/page-18?do=findComment&comment=4105190 You can ignore my question about feedback if you want, but I think answering the second question could go along way helping others understand where you are coming from. Reworded to fit your quoted comment Why would you sell a game that you are still working on?

A quick followup. I am genuinely interested in honest answers to these questions, because I completely don't relate to, or understand why someone wouldn't want to listen to feedback on their work in order to make it better, in order to create at lease a somewhat fun experience for the player before releasing a game.

You beat me to it Zerosquare, but I am going to post anyways, just to show that their are people interested in genuine answers, from Jeffery_Bones, to some important questions. @Jeffery_Bones, Why would you ignore feedback from people who seem to be trying to help you? And a followup question based on CJ's post that plainly lays out that the game probably shouldn't have been sold to any customer looking to have a at least a half decent experience with your game. @Jeffery_Bones, Why would you sell a game that obviously needed more work to get it to at least a decent playing experience?

I apologize. I assumed you were talking about Eric Chahi when you said "imaginary" people, because it is pretty obvious Eric Chahi has the rights to licence this game out anyone who wants to publish it. A quick look at wikipedia reveals that (look at how many publishers this game has had, not normal if a larger entity owned those rights). Whether or not he charged a licensing fee is between him and the Removers, there are probably only a handful of people that actually know that. Two people I can think of that might have an answer are Eric Chahi and Seb of the Removers. Why not ask them directly, are they that unapproachable? There is a slight possibility that there could be another entity above Eric, but because I can't find anything online that shows evidence of an entity trying to stop Eric from working with publishers to get his game onto as many platforms as possible, this seems really unlikely. The links I provided give a pretty good idea of what the relationship was like between owner and producer/publisher. Yes, it doesn't answer your question with finality, but I think the evidence clearly shows that the owner of the game gave authorization for a producer/publisher to bring it to the Jaguar. Just because money may not have exchanged hands doesn't make the deal illegitimate. Why would we need to know if there were licensing fees or not if the Remover's were working with Eric directly, and the game was released with positive reaction from the owner and original creator? While reading back through the thread to find out where your question is coming from, I found another tidbit that helps establish the relationship between owner and producer/publisher. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/206660-another-world-jaguar-pre-order/page-51?do=findComment&comment=3594231 Take note of the word "Courtesy". To me this implies that there weren't licencing fees, but that there was approval from the owner of the game to bring it to the Jaguar. But again, whether or not the money changed hands, and according to the information we do have, the game seems to have been brought to the Jaguar with approval from it's owner. Please provide evidence to the contrary. Not everyone makes games for a dead console for the money. Copying and pasting part of my previous post because it seems that it was not actually read.... If you want a reason for why there hasn't been another run, here is my assumption. It's the sacrifice of unpaid time, relationships with family and friends and loss of health that are usually placed on the sacrificial altar to get these kinds of projects finished and delivered to a sometimes ungrateful audience (not everyone who buys this stuff is ungrateful of course). I would first assume that the sacrifice to put more time into producing and delivering more copies of the game, and dealing with customers, out weighs the return for the Remover's at this point (It's been over 10 years since they started). In other words, it's not their life's work. If I were in their shoes, I wouldn't make copies of any game indefinitely, even if there was a demand (especially if I didn't have someone else to make the physical product for me), because I would want to move onto other things that could also be self fulfilling or lucrative (which ever is more important to me). The ideal would be to have someone pick up on what you leave behind, but I don't think that is a realistic expectation to have for a console that didn't do well when it was alive, and doesn't really have a big enough market to support anyone financially today (hence my attitude to be grateful for what we have, because it is kind of a miracle that these creators even care about the Jag). If you can make the Jag market bigger (2000 minimum guaranteed buyers within 4 months of release), then maybe we can all start complaining about limited runs. Or, there may be a more creative approach to solving this problem that hasn't been thought up yet. My point is, we can't completely blame creators for limited runs, it's not that simple. Most of us know that limited runs suck, but complaining about it doesn't solve the problem. Thankfully we have publishers like Atari Age who are willing bet on a game as a long term investment and provide a service to solve the limited run problem, legitimately. The Removers didn't have this option as far as I know when they began releasing Another world. It would be interesting to see if they would be interested in selling it again, but through Atari Age. But I believe this has already been proposed in this thread.

Looks like there was some kind of approval to get it produce http://removers.free.fr/AnotherWorld/ . And another source to back up the Remover's source, with some direct quotes from Eric Chahi (the orginal creator of Another World) himself https://venturebeat.com/2013/04/25/consoles-that-wont-die-atari-jaguar/ . Its amazing how "imaginary" people become real people when you do a bit of research. I am not saying there was paperwork in place, but there was obviously at least some serious discussion that led to what I feel is the legitimate creation of Another World on the Atari Jaguar. Reading the Remover's link is quite enlightening to how much work went into the "port" of Another World. Personally I think it falls into a domain outside of a port, almost a remake, as Eric says himself,"It is one of the best versions, clearly", I am sure it wasn't easy to to get the game to a point where the creator says that it is one of best. Also there was allot of work on the graphics to get it looking the best it could on the Jag. Its more akin to the remake of Shadow of the Colossus for the PS4. Yes its a port... but it's obviously much more than that though. It is definitely not as black and white a conversation as you make it out to be, but is a conversation that would need to be wary of hair splitting. Even if pre-orders cover all upfront production costs, in this business of making/porting games for a long dead console, I highly doubt the Remover's made their cost of time back. Anyone who has worked with real product from start to finish knows that "cost" isn't just money, regardless if its a port, homebrew, or a brand new game. If you want a reason for why there hasn't been another run, here is my assumption. It's the sacrifice of unpaid time, relationships with family and friends and loss of health that are usually placed on the sacrificial altar to get these kinds of projects finished and delivered to a sometimes ungrateful audience (not everyone who buys this stuff is ungrateful of course). I would first assume that the sacrifice to put more time into producing and delivering more copies of the game, and dealing with customers, out weighs the return for the Remover's at this point (It's been over 10 years since they started). Villainizing these "imaginary" people as people who want to keep the game rare, or, they are too lazy to get up and make easy money, makes you come across as incredibly ungrateful and naive. It is mind blowing that the few of us still interested in this Jag stuff even have the chance to see a game like Another World come to the console, let alone own a copy of it. At the end of the day, the Removers didn't have to spend their time, talents, and who knows what else, to bring this game to Jag. But they did. Here's and idea, and please, stay with me here. This is probably going to make allot of people mad because the idea is so far out there. Instead of shaming creator's for not spending their time and effort continuously making copies of a game for us, a game that they have obviously moved on from, why not be grateful for their past and present efforts as a way of encouraging them to do more for the Jag in the future? Who knows, that kind of encouragement might actually make them want to do another run Another World in the future.

Sorry about that. Thank you for answering again.

Will there be address confirmation before shipping, or should we contact you now about updating address information? It has been a while since many of us pre-ordered and I am sure a few us have changed our physical addresses since.

It is legit. Here is the thread that it was sold through. It was a second run, done with Gaztee's help. Check the first post of the thread for details. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/268228-orion-re-releases-pre-orders-now-open/page-3?do=findComment&comment=3851229

Love the Myst Series. Orion_'s games definitely scratch that same itch, and Philia is no exception. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

So awesome to see this stuff dug up and restored. Amazing work!

Definitely one to have. I wasn't sure how much I would like it, but it has that Yar's Revenge feel to it and is subtly addicting. I find myself playing it causally a couple times a week.

Don't see this everyday... Mentions cartridges, but doesn't show the front of the one that is in the pictures. And strangely doesn't show it running, with ambiguous comments about it's working condition. Has anyone seen this one in person. https://www.ebay.com/itm/222898551832?ul_noapp=true

This is slick. I love the cascading effect of the piece that disappear and reappear. Kept me on my toes just watching it. Mmmm.... and the tasty, tasty gouraud shading.