vanadium

Sent you an email.

My ex-roommate was the graphics designer for The Assassin. Age of Darkness was never seriously worked on IIRC, and The Assassin, well, what you see online is all you're getting, unfortunately. It never really made it past that, but most of the stuff you see in those demos was done by my ex-roommate. I should add, the ex-roomie had to bail on the project due to work constraints, hence why he was left without a designer and probably not pleased with the graphics coming out. Some of the designs were really, really good but never implemented.

And what games would those be? All the games I can think of that were on all 3 systems were better if not far superior on the Jag compared to their 16-bit counterparts. Theme Park - No comparison, Powerdrive Rally - Ditto, Dino Dudes (Humans) - 24-bit true colour backdrops!, Pitfall: Mayan - More colours, Raiden - Same again, NBA Jam: TE - Again more colour, Flashback - Smoother & Faster, Fever Pitch - Better colours and animation, Dragon - Far superior backgrounds and animation, Sensible Soccer - More teams and competitions + more colour, Worms - Far more detail and colour . . . . . There are probaly more but I can't be arsed to carry on as I've already proved the point. We all love the Jag for the same reason we love the Lynx, 2600, 7800 etc. ITS AN ATARI! 935015[/snapback] It's also been noted by gaming rags themselves that NBA Jam: TE was the best-ever console version released for its time.

Where? 931419[/snapback] d'oh! Bad url. That's what I get for upgrading the app and not doublechecking my links. http://www.op9.net/vg/index.php/full_collection/ That'll give you pics of all the protos. There's also a directory at the top where I placed all the screens I've made of 'em called 'Prototype_Screenshots'. Hope this helps.

Y'know what? Screw it, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Even at the average prices these days.

I would LOVE to see someone port Beats of Rage to the Jaguar, actually. I don't see ANY reason why the system couldn't handle it. This would be the best chance to see any kind of "Final Fight" type of beat-em-up on the Jaguar.

Wait, so the behind-the-scenes is still proceeding?

AvP seems like some kind of branch off from the "B&C" version; as mentioned, you can play as the Alien, but you don't have any options and the map is rudimentary compared to the later version. In the B&C version the Alien is non-existant, yet there's a good many more options. It's really weird. I'm still trying to get my ass out of the first level but then again I haven't had a ton of time to play it enough to see if there's even another level available. For Daemonsgate, I'd just love to figure out how to leave the damned city! I've discovered a good many limitations on it, like buying weaponry that doesn't even go into your inventory (you're stuck with the dagger, foo!) and highly limited conversations. However, you can mix potions and royally mess yourself up in the process.

In case you're interested then, I have four authentic Lynx prototypes myself, obtained from a former Atari employee about a month ago or so. They're Alien vs. Predator, Daemonsgate (the CES 1992 version), Lemmings, and Warbirds. You can check them out here: http://www.op9.net/vg/index.php/full_collection There's also a directory of "Prototype Screenshots" (near the top of the page off that link) so you can take a look at some in-game shots. I haven't taken enough of Lemmings or Warbirds yet, but I did post a pic of the big Warbirds difference versus the released version. Said employee also had a couple of other prototypes of unreleased games (Relief Pitcher [title screen only] and Loopz), but I passed on both as well as the rest of his released game protos. I bought all his Jaguar prototypes as well. Said employee was known in the Jag community for a good bit of time. (No, not Don Thomas. Though he and I talked for a good while. )

I'd buy it, depending on the price point. I'd be happy with a cartridge itself if it meant not having to spend an extra $20 for a box and manual, though.

As I mentioned above a couple weeks ago, I'm not sure you have a genuine proto. So far everything you have described is very similar to the "available" proto. 923139[/snapback] My thoughts exactly. There's really nothing evident that it's different from the version B&C released. I think we'd need to know more details and screens in order to conclude one way or another.

Having played Wolf 3D back in the day on my 386 (I was a huge DOS gamer and still am), then playing the Jaguar version, I have to give the clear-cut win to the Jaguar version. Don't get me wrong as I really still love the PC version, but really nothing's better than the Jaguar version in my opinion. Same goes for the DOOM port.

I was thinking the same thing. So far this looks to be the standard ROM someone homebrewed onto their own cart. From what Bruce tells me though this isn't a B&C job as all his clearly state B&C Computervisions on the PCB. (Maybe early ones didn't?) For reference, I've attached a pic of the player select screen from my proto. I'd be all over seeing a copy close to the B&C version but including the actual Alien character. Mine's earlier than the B&C version (and likely yours), as I'm thinking they just took out the Alien for a while until they could flesh out the character gameplay.

Definitely looking forward to more screenshots. Exciting.

Good luck bud! 908614[/snapback] haha

Well, personally I've been talking to Tomy over at Tototek.com (makers of many, many different flash carts from Game Gear to TG-16) on and off for the last six months about creating a new line for the Atari Jaguar that aren't so prohibitively expensive. I finally sent him over the flash cart schematics and says it's possible, but he doesn't have a Jag to test with yet. They can, however, put things into production given the materials (schematics and such) to do so with. (Perhaps this is a solution for production of the CF solution as well. I don't know.) Personally I'd love to see Matthias' ethernet Flash cart brought to light, but I'm not sure how that'd happen at this point unless the schematics were released and everything were 100% ready to go on it. I know Tototek's quality is good as I already own their 64MB MD-PRO64+ flash cart for the Genesis/MD. I'm fairly sure a bunch of us could really talk them into putting a solution into production through them, though, especially if more people wrote them asking if they'd consider it. How feasible this all is, I don't know, but it's something I've been working on and off on for a good while now because at the time I didn't have a flash cart (I got one a couple of weeks ago though) and wanted to find an alternate solution to the problem of distributing new games as well as playing with proto ROMs. I just don't have time to do al the footwork myself dealing with a company in Hong Kong.

Ok, someone's gotta know something here.

I wouldn't be entirely sure. I've seen pics on images.google.com with the Alien Hive and such already, so there's at least one proto out there with multi-level capability if the B&C version doesn't already have it. The ROM I have in Handy also appears to have many of the same characteristics as the one described above... (I haven't played the B&C version [unless it's the same one from AA, which is the same as B&C's] so I'm speculating.) DNME, is the alien playable? What other details you got? I think it could still be a repro (or at least very close to the B&C version), but it might be a real proto depending on additional details. I look forward to checking out whatever you post.

Would be sweet to find a more complete version. There isn't much play value in the current proto.... 908402[/snapback] I haven't played mine enough (maybe 30m, tops) to really discover every little thing. It's definitely earlier than the B&C I'd say, though. If this is a real proto DNME posted and it's more complete, I'm gonna be elated.

From B&C: "Picture looks like an Atari board but I have never seen a label like that on any original test board from Atari." ...however: "All AVP made by us are on boards that say B&C." The mystery deepens.

Agreed. Reminds me I need to pick up the B&C version myself.

Here's a pic of the B&C version, and it looks like it might use the same revision of EPROM board: Might it be that B&C simply used leftover Atari EPROM boards before manufacturing their own branded ones based off the Rev 3? I can see similarities between this one and the original poster's pic. The EPROM label also looks familiar, but I can't quite spot where I've seen it before. These other B&C proto copies also seem to use the same rev: http://www.myatari.com/ebay/lproto.jpg I sent a question over to B&C to see if they can clear this up in the meantime.

Here's what my original looks like: I'm not sure I've ever seen a Rev 3 EPROM cart. I have Warbirds on a Rev 4 and a few on Rev 2 EPROM carts, but never a Rev 3. You say you can actually play through levels; is the alien available, and what kind of enemies are strewn about? I'm curious if there's a later-than-B&C version out there. And welcome to the Lynx! A very worthwhile system to have in your arsenal.

captainawesome.

AvP, possibly a new version: Obviously it's not the B&C copy. This one differs a LOT from the B&C version. Namely, it has the Alien and it's earlier; an early demo of all three characters rather than a more fleshed-out two-character game. No weapons or enemies that I've seen, and each character has its own "radar-like" gadget similar to the Marine. (And it's almost more fun not getting stuck in front of random "enemies" like in the B&C version.) How many other variants on this proto are there, and have any others been found with the Alien in it? I also managed to grab the CES 1992 demo of Daemonsgate that Atari showed. It, too, is earlier than the B&C version but it's fun to run around in. It's clearly marked as "ATARI DEVCOPY" in the game itself when you start playing. Concluding the Lynx front, I also scored protos of Lemmings and Warbirds (the latter with cartoony illustrations rather than the digitized photos between levels). I can't tell if Lemmings is 100% or a WIP. I obtained 8 Jaguar prototypes over the weekend as well, including the only known VidGrid cartridge and very early copies of Brett Hull Hockey and Barkley Shut Up & Jam (way earlier than B&C's). You can check out screens here: http://www.op9.net/vg/full_collection/screens/ Cart pics for each of the protos can be found here near the end of the list: http://www.op9.net/vg/index.php?dir=full_collection