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I've updated the Jaguar version of Frog Feast. Both frogs can now be controlled using seperate controllers. Frog Feast website If you test this on a real Jaguar , you will notice flashing graphics when you jump and stick out your tongue. The graphics are also corrupt when you enter the water. This fixes itself the next time the frog is moved or updated. This seems to happen when an object is added to the object list. I can update the position or data pointer and it doesn't happen. I've tried rebuilding the object list at different times in the frame.

I guess it does really need the two branches at the beginning of the list.

I've gotten the demo to the same level as the Neo Geo CD and Sega CD (2 player interactive demo). But, I'm having a problem with the heads of the Frogs (the top 6 pixels) not being displayed. I'm using a very slightly modified version of the build function in the joypad demo. I've removed the O_DESC field, and adjusted the size to 24. The graphics data is moved to 0x163000 in RAM (to ensure it's properly aligned), and to allow it to work as a ROM. I was doing the object list building in the vblank (when it changed), which would shift the screen down and show the top of the frogs. It does show correctly in Project Tempest, and the frogs are not being shifted up.

I found another problem. Compiling some of the stuff with -O4 causes a problem with variables in the COMMON group (global variables). Changing it to -O2 fixes the problem.

Luckily my game won't require major horse-power, so the 68000 should work fine. If I was doing textured 3D graphics, etc. The GPU would almost be required, I think. It's also convenient, since 3 other systems I'm working on are 68000 based. Learning the GPU, and it's issues, would eat up quite a bit of time.

I just played Shark! Shark! for the first time this weekend. I'd played a Java version before, but didn't realize, at the time, it was based on Shark! Shark! Looks like fun, can't wait to see this.

I'm using a 320x224 screen (rather than the normal 320x200). Could this cause problems (outside of parts of the screen not being visible)?

That's all that happens for now. Tonight I will get a chance to add in the sprite stuff. Once that's done the game will be 'interactive'.

Thanks for the comments. I basically get 4 systems for free, once the low level stuff is written for each system. The code to load up graphics and switch between screens is seperate, but the game source file is the same, with the exception of a custom header file. The custom header file defines stuff like the edge of the screen and sprite/tile numbers. And the FM Towns Marty only requires small modifications, since it uses an earlier version of C. I just have to write the CD boot track and test it out. Is there a way to create a CD image, rather than burn it to CD each time?

I've uploaded an early preview version of Frog Feast for the Jaguar. Frog Feast Website. This is the BJL version of Frog Feast. It will also run under Project Tempest. The demo only switches to the game screen when the 'A' button is pressed. This version should improve quickly, since it will be based off of the same game source file as the Neo Geo CD and Sega CD version. I only need to add in object management routines. The goal is a Jaguar CD version.

This does work on a real Jaguar, loaded through BJL.

I bought the wrong EPROM cartridge from B&C (my fault, not theirs), and they exchanged it without any problem. They are very friendly, and remind me of the old mom and pop computer store. I just bought a composite cable for the Jaguar from Carl. It's the best price I've seen.

There is one potential prroblem with the code. It places the Bitmap data at 0x20000, which could be overwritten by the program, if it grows. I fixed this by moving it to 0x140000, and making the text segment only 0x100000 in length (In the linker script). Also, in the linker script the raw(?) memory definition should be 'rama' and the second should be 'ramb'. I have a question about the image though. When running the program in Project Tempest, I see a border on the right side, and my image isn't 320 pixels wide. When I run it in MESS, I have a border on the left side. Where is this controlled from (Address) (Is this a scroll issue)? Is this an emulator issue or code issus?

I've posted a new version of the Jaguar GCC example source and Visual Studio build environment. It can be downloaded from Jaguar GCC Example. The link to the compiler is NeoDev GCC compiler (m68k). This new version includes a C source file. The bitmap is filled from the C source. I've cleaned up most of the Initialization stuff. It no longer displays the licensed screen or the delay. All of the initialization has been combined into one file, rather than creating two seperate object lists. The same has been done for the Vert. Blank interrupt. In addition, I've incorporated the atexit function required for the C stuff, and moved the BSS initiailzation and clearing stuff before any graphics are initialized. The old way was causing a problem. This hasn't been tested on a BJL or EPROM Cart, but I will try doing that in the next few days.

That's where I got my Arcadia. The Arcadia is about as good as an Intellivision in game quality. The only reason I got mine is that I had one when I was 9 or 10. They charge outrageous shipping rates though.

Thanks for the link justclaws, I've tried to get a composite cable on EBay many times. $14.95 + shipping is a good deal!

Try UserPort, it'll work on XP. I'm not sure if DosBox will help. Bu,t you need to get cwsdpmi.exe (google 'cwsdpmi') and place it in the same directory as lo.exe.

Using UserPort (UserPort Webpage), I was able to get it to work on Windows 2000. Userport isn't too hard to use. Drop UserPort.sys in \WinNT\System32\Drivers, or \Windows\System32\Driver, depending on your system. If you start UserPort.exe without moving UserPost.sys file, it will tell you where it expects to find it. You have to press the start button. I think this has to be done if you reboot the system also. I also lowered my Wait Value to 5 (-w 5), probably not critical. It takes 5 secs (or so) after the transfer stops to start the program, I think. The screen goes blank, and shows some random noice. then it starts. This isn't as appearant, or doesn't happen under Windows 98.

Yes. In Windows NT/2000/XP direct hardware access is not allowed. I have Windows 98 and 2000 on the same computer. It works fine in 98, but does nothing under 2000. I haven't tried GiveIO (or one of the alternatives), to see if it would work on 2000.

This is a pretty amazing collection of information about a bunch of game systems: http://www.armchairarcade.com/aamain/matri...order=14&view=8

Sorry, there is no source. This is a repackaging of some repackaged software. (I know this is at least the third release of this software.)

That link should be http://www.emuvibes.com/JaguarGCC.zip

In a previous post I mentioned using the NeoDev GCC compiler to compile Jaguar (Cart and BJL) programs without needed MAC and ALN. This allows the compiler to run under Windows 2000/XP. I've updated the example http://www.emuvibes.com/JaguarGCC.zip. I found that I wasn't correctly aligning the obj list. I've also included a make file to make a cart and encrypt the cart using the updated 'jagcrypt' (the version that handles making single file carts). In the conversion rules, Rule 6 is changed to: 6) '.phrase' needs to be '.align 8' and '.dphrase' needs to be '.align 16' I was able to successfully run 'FrogBJL.jag' using Protecter SE. This is the TestRGB demo modified to use the NeoDev GCC compiler. I intend to add a makefile to support making Jaguar CD compatible binaries. I haven't look into it yet.

I got mine to work reliably with a wait of 20 (-w 20) in either ECP/EPP or Standard. It also works under Dos and Windows 98. This is on a 800 Mhz desktop PC. I think I had a problem with a wait of 100, so it may be possible to set wait too high.

I was just looking at the CD encryption stuff yesterday. Is there any reason the CD encryption wouldn't work with an emulator? My thoughts were to modify the emulator to emulate the Jaguar CD even if a CD isn't booted, and add a save state option. Could the encryption be pulled out of the save state? Also, is there source available for the Jaguar encryption routine? It would be nice to modify the routines to write some sort of marker around the encryption data, so it could easily be extracted from a save state.