Zero 5

[sciarpo]

Wow were the reviews on this game right. It is HARD. I'm still stuck on mission 1. Just been a couple of days though. One question: regarding the trench mode and hit-pack mode- do you play these modes on later missions? So far mission 1 is only bambam mode.

[+LS650]

Mission 2= BamBam (like Tailgunner) and Mission 3 = trench mode.

Mission 4 repeats Mission 1 - but it's even harder.

It keeps repeating that sequence.

[sciarpo]

How do you beat those red stars that come in after the blue stars, I shoot them and nothing happens and then they shoot the living hell out of me.

[Willard]

Look here

 

You can also use some sort of automatic chain shot (you get 3 per level) that will weaken the enemies or clear the screen. All enemies are destructible by standard fire tho

Edited March 15, 2007 by Willard

[bones]

Try to get a hold of a rapid fire controller, Songbird had them at one point. Rapid fire helps _tremendously_ in this game.

[Gorf]

Its ridiculous hard.

[sciarpo]

I've tried the smart bombs on the red stars, and nothing happens. I have gotten to the point of destroying everything without having my shields harmed or using the 3 smart bombs. I get towards the end of the mission and destroy the blue stars, and then the red stars come out ,and I get destroyed. I've tried the smart bombs on everything else in the mission and it destroys them. The smart bombs do nothing to the red stars, plus shooting the hell out of them does nothing. What am I doing wrong?

[Clint Thompson]

It's a really hard game but it's addicting and keeps you wanting to come back. The mixture of both music and gameplay is great!

[SCPCD]

Hi !

 

Wow were the reviews on this game right. It is HARD. I'm still stuck on mission 1. Just been a couple of days though. One question: regarding the trench mode and hit-pack mode- do you play these modes on later missions? So far mission 1 is only bambam mode.

There are 3 modes :

- bambam mode (ex : level 1)

- hit-pack mode (ex : level 2)

- trench mode (ex : main part of level 3)

 

After these 3 "training" levels, their 3 modes are shuffled, so for exemple there are levels with hit-pack & bambam mode or trench & bambam mode but the main mode of the game is the bambam mode.

 

I've tried the smart bombs on the red stars, and nothing happens. I have gotten to the point of destroying everything without having my shields harmed or using the 3 smart bombs. I get towards the end of the mission and destroy the blue stars, and then the red stars come out ,and I get destroyed. I've tried the smart bombs on everything else in the mission and it destroys them. The smart bombs do nothing to the red stars, plus shooting the hell out of them does nothing. What am I doing wrong?

Red stars at the mission 1 are boss of this level and there are 2 of them in Novice & Cadet mode (and 1 blue stars then 1 red stars more in Expert mode)

To destroy red stars, it's important to have the highest powerfull weapon of bambam (4 red shot instead of 2 "low" red shot) so for that you should destroy all enemies of the level and take all bonus to have the shoot level bitmap in green (top left of the screen) (after that you could change to '2' or '3' to have energy or high-score bonus )

 

When you have this weapon, and arrive to red stars, you should find & take the right position and shoot very quickly to destroy in same time enemies shoot and enemies and use smart bomb when it's necessary.

 

if you would like to see how is the 10 first level of the game in Expert mode : (it's a video of me playing Zero5 in August 2006 with a standard pro-controller)

Zero5 (mission 1 -> start of mission 10 - Expert Mode)

 

It's a really hard game but it's addicting and keeps you wanting to come back. The mixture of both music and gameplay is great!

Exactly !

 

It's for me the best game of the Jaguar

 

 

Regards.

[+LS650]

It's a really hard game but it's addicting and keeps you wanting to come back.

IMHO... It's a really hard game and it's irritating and makes you want to play something that's actually fun. Save the brutally difficult game play for, say, level 5. Starting off with the level so overwhelmingly hard is about as much fun as accidentally slamming your fingers in a car door.

[Foxsolo2000]

I never liked it. I spent £60 getting a copy and after a few plays I thought the reviewers had been smoking dope. Mind you I sold it £75 so it wasn't all bad

[Gorf]

I think technically it is one of the better games to show off the JAguars ability but the game is hardly exciting. BattleSphere is easily the most bang for your buck all around. I had high hopes and hearing the lies that it was like Galaxian 3d is just ridiculous. An insult to a great classic

and hardly worthy of that praise. IT was an ok game but hardly the best on the system. I was disappointed and felt ripped off quite actually.

[Gorf]

I cant post a movie here it seems or I'd show you all what a

REAL Galaxian 3D should look like on your Jaguar.

[walter_J64bit]

Yup, I hate the way the controls is set up in this game. I need to play in god mode!

[Willard]

Zero5 isn't all that difficult until the later levels, it just requires alot more strategy than a space shooter would lead you to believe. Unless you can effectively use your smart bombs and upgrades, however, it is definately total hell. But, once you can, the game is much, much better

 

The Trench and Hitpack levels are much easier, and more fun, than the Bambam levels tho.

[Gunstar]

I think technically it is one of the better games to show off the JAguars ability but the game is hardly exciting. BattleSphere is easily the most bang for your buck all around. I had high hopes and hearing the lies that it was like Galaxian 3d is just ridiculous. An insult to a great classic

and hardly worthy of that praise. IT was an ok game but hardly the best on the system. I was disappointed and felt ripped off quite actually.

 

In Zero 5's defense I would like to point out or remind people that this was another case of a beta release. There was an interview with one of the programmers and he stated that it took them completely by suprise when Telegames released it, as they had never gotten payed by Atari and never sent the final version that was much more tweeked and polished gameplay wise. But it's not suprising with Atari Corp. they did it with World Tour Racing, Supercross 3D, Fight for Life, that I know of for sure, and then there are obviously a few other titles in the Jaguars library that ones suspects to not be quite done. But it's not just telegames releases, as all the other by them seem to be true final releases, and then you have to look at other post atari releases that are also betas and not quite complete to varying degrees. It would not suprise me in the least if it was a planned, common practice for Atari to release beta's instead of paying the developers and getting the final versions. Even Rebellion said they never got payed the final amount they were owed from Alien vs. Predator, though in that case Rebellion unwittingly gave Atari the final version before getting payed. similiar stories run rampant among Jaguar developers. It would be sweet if some of the TRUE final versions ever started showing up...from the hands of these developers, lost on some hard drive somewhere...

Edited March 16, 2007 by Gunstar

[ovalbugmann]

Very interesting information Gunstar, thanks.

[Gorf]

I think technically it is one of the better games to show off the JAguars ability but the game is hardly exciting. BattleSphere is easily the most bang for your buck all around. I had high hopes and hearing the lies that it was like Galaxian 3d is just ridiculous. An insult to a great classic

and hardly worthy of that praise. IT was an ok game but hardly the best on the system. I was disappointed and felt ripped off quite actually.

 

In Zero 5's defense I would like to point out or remind people that this was another case of a beta release. There was an interview with one of the programmers and he stated that it took them completely by suprise when Telegames released it, as they had never gotten payed by Atari and never sent the final version that was much more tweeked and polished gameplay wise. But it's not suprising with Atari Corp. they did it with World Tour Racing, Supercross 3D, Fight for Life, that I know of for sure, and then there are obviously a few other titles in the Jaguars library that ones suspects to not be quite done. But it's not just telegames releases, as all the other by them seem to be true final releases, and then you have to look at other post atari releases that are also betas and not quite complete to varying degrees. It would not suprise me in the least if it was a planned, common practice for Atari to release beta's instead of paying the developers and getting the final versions. Even Rebellion said they never got payed the final amount they were owed from Alien vs. Predator, though in that case Rebellion unwittingly gave Atari the final version before getting payed. similiar stories run rampant among Jaguar developers. It would be sweet if some of the TRUE final versions ever started showing up...from the hands of these developers, lost on some hard drive somewhere...

 

 

 

Then more so why I stand by what I said. Especially because it was beta and I was under the

impression(at the time) was complete, like they say about all ther incomplete games. Release

in complete junk and you should expect to be trashed. Not the developers mind you but

certainly TeleGames. When I started that Telegames Jag remaining title release Petition, I was

kinda hoping they would be reasonable. I have heard a lot of complaints about TG since then.

 

Again Z5 had a lot of potential but it was HARDLY anything like a Galxian 3D. And yes it is very

'unfinished' in it's control and game play. However, to each his own.

[Nognir]

In Zero 5's defense I would like to point out or remind people that this was another case of a beta release. There was an interview with one of the programmers and he stated that it took them completely by suprise when Telegames released it, as they had never gotten payed by Atari and never sent the final version that was much more tweeked and polished gameplay wise. But it's not suprising with Atari Corp. they did it with World Tour Racing, Supercross 3D, Fight for Life, that I know of for sure, and then there are obviously a few other titles in the Jaguars library that ones suspects to not be quite done. But it's not just telegames releases, as all the other by them seem to be true final releases, and then you have to look at other post atari releases that are also betas and not quite complete to varying degrees. It would not suprise me in the least if it was a planned, common practice for Atari to release beta's instead of paying the developers and getting the final versions. Even Rebellion said they never got payed the final amount they were owed from Alien vs. Predator, though in that case Rebellion unwittingly gave Atari the final version before getting payed. similiar stories run rampant among Jaguar developers. It would be sweet if some of the TRUE final versions ever started showing up...from the hands of these developers, lost on some hard drive somewhere...

 

is there any source for this information? It sounds more lika a rumor to me..

[+LS650]

I've read these comments in published interviews with various developers, including Rebellion and the guys who made Zero5 (Caspian?).

[ovalbugmann]

Gorf: Hey, I want to sign the petition to get the remaining Telegames Jaguar titles released by Telegames. Where/How can I sign this petition? How many signatures do you have? Have you given the petition to TG yet?

[Michael_]

is there any source for this information? It sounds more lika a rumor to me..

 

Here´s a link to a very cool and informative interview with Matthew Gosling as conducted by Justclaws for his website:

http://justclaws.atari.org/jagudome/jagu-dome.html

 

 

Excerpt from said interview regarding the question you pose:

 

>19)What's this I'm hearing about you guys not getting paid for this game?....Did you guys get paid salaries for working there?

 

All the people involved in the project were paid by Caspian software, we all got our salaries. When I say we didn't get paid, I mean that Caspian software was not paid money owed by Atari for the development.

 

There was a milestone due when Atari received the beta version, and they didn't pay it. All of a sudden, they decided that they didn't like aspects of the game that had been in there since day 1, and unless we completely change everything they won't accept it as a beta version. They kept us hanging on for a month, coming back to us with utterly ridiculous "bugs" (there was a very very small number of genuine bugs, but most of them were just Atari being stupid), and in the end, the company couldn't carry on, and was "put to sleep".

 

I was laid off, and both me & Chris got new jobs.

 

A couple of months ago, however, I got internet access at work, and nearly had a heart attack when I saw people on rec.games.video.atari talking about Zero 5 being published by Telegames. We thought that someone must have just spread some bullshit rumour, but the Telegames website suggested otherwise. We had absolutely NO idea that this had happened, we were not consulted at all, and we are still not getting paid for it (Caspian still exists, it never went into receivership).

 

Atari still maintains that it was not a beta, and sold it to Telegames on the understanding that it was an unfinished product. This doesn't stop Atari from getting a royalty on sales of the "unfinished product", but that royalty is so embarassingly low that if they're that fucking desperate then they're welcome to it as far as I'm concerned.

 

There are legal reasons (that I can't go into) as to why Caspian is not suing the ass off Atari/Telegames.

 

Hopefully you can see why the tone of my usenet post came across as a bit angry, you have to understand that I spent a year working flat out (the latter half of which was working around 12 hours a day, 6-7 days a week) on a game that never came out, and that is now being published and cashed in on without any of the people who created it being consulted in any way. It's Atari that are the scum here, I don't think that Telegames knew the situation, they just bought the rights off Atari.

 

The money doesn't really bother me, it's the principle - but hey who gives a shit, I got my break into the games industry, Atari are welcome to their $1.50 per cart (oops ...)

[Gorf]

Gorf: Hey, I want to sign the petition to get the remaining Telegames Jaguar titles released by Telegames. Where/How can I sign this petition? How many signatures do you have? Have you given the petition to TG yet?

 

 

Yikes dude! I would not even know where that is anymore...that was a million years ago...

well at least 8 or so... I have a feeling they have no interest in that petition any longer.

 

[Gorf]

is there any source for this information? It sounds more lika a rumor to me..

 

Here´s a link to a very cool and informative interview with Matthew Gosling as conducted by Justclaws for his website:

http://justclaws.atari.org/jagudome/jagu-dome.html

 

 

Excerpt from said interview regarding the question you pose:

 

>19)What's this I'm hearing about you guys not getting paid for this game?....Did you guys get paid salaries for working there?

 

All the people involved in the project were paid by Caspian software, we all got our salaries. When I say we didn't get paid, I mean that Caspian software was not paid money owed by Atari for the development.

 

There was a milestone due when Atari received the beta version, and they didn't pay it. All of a sudden, they decided that they didn't like aspects of the game that had been in there since day 1, and unless we completely change everything they won't accept it as a beta version. They kept us hanging on for a month, coming back to us with utterly ridiculous "bugs" (there was a very very small number of genuine bugs, but most of them were just Atari being stupid), and in the end, the company couldn't carry on, and was "put to sleep".

 

I was laid off, and both me & Chris got new jobs.

 

A couple of months ago, however, I got internet access at work, and nearly had a heart attack when I saw people on rec.games.video.atari talking about Zero 5 being published by Telegames. We thought that someone must have just spread some bullshit rumour, but the Telegames website suggested otherwise. We had absolutely NO idea that this had happened, we were not consulted at all, and we are still not getting paid for it (Caspian still exists, it never went into receivership).

 

Atari still maintains that it was not a beta, and sold it to Telegames on the understanding that it was an unfinished product. This doesn't stop Atari from getting a royalty on sales of the "unfinished product", but that royalty is so embarassingly low that if they're that fucking desperate then they're welcome to it as far as I'm concerned.

 

There are legal reasons (that I can't go into) as to why Caspian is not suing the ass off Atari/Telegames.

 

Hopefully you can see why the tone of my usenet post came across as a bit angry, you have to understand that I spent a year working flat out (the latter half of which was working around 12 hours a day, 6-7 days a week) on a game that never came out, and that is now being published and cashed in on without any of the people who created it being consulted in any way. It's Atari that are the scum here, I don't think that Telegames knew the situation, they just bought the rights off Atari.

 

The money doesn't really bother me, it's the principle - but hey who gives a shit, I got my break into the games industry, Atari are welcome to their $1.50 per cart (oops ...)

 

 

Ouch.....hehe..can't say I blame him at all though..Like I said. though, I blame Atari/Telegames,

and not the developers. bvelieve me...I know what pains the dev's go through. I will even

take back the Telegames at it is not suprising that Atari told Telegames a line of moopoo.

[Zerosquare]

Gorf: Hey, I want to sign the petition to get the remaining Telegames Jaguar titles released by Telegames. Where/How can I sign this petition? How many signatures do you have? Have you given the petition to TG yet?

 

 

Yikes dude! I would not even know where that is anymore...

Is this it ?