Battlemorph is criminally underrated

[Austin]

6 minutes ago, GoldLeader said:

So...

 

This is a tiny taste of the Jaguar Forums I've heard so much about?

 

Well,  If ya need me, I'll be in a different forum...

 

No stick around!

 

Just be sure to have popcorn on hand.

[+GoldLeader]

6 minutes ago, Austin said:

No stick around!

 

Just be sure to have popcorn on hand.

 

Yeah! I'm sure it's all brotherly love under the surface...Just seems you guys like to poke at each other and take way more pot shots, all the while acting like you get offended more easily...haha...It is truly entertaining, though.  I wouldn't change a thing.  I just wanted to throw something in, kind of say hello, but I don't have a Jaguar so can't really contribute or say anything substantial;  Figured I'd make a quick joke

 

Cheers!

[+LS650]

The little exchange back there was pretty mild as far as the Jaguar forum goes...

 

Wait until folks get a good whiff of the plastic fumes, then you'll really see the sparks fly.

[Lostdragon]

On 1/9/2022 at 11:26 PM, JagChris said:

 

Yeah it's totally beyond the Jag abilities to have done something different with those power lines. Like make them diamond shaped rather than squares Or put some kind of electrical bit map in there that would have looked cooler zipping by. Maybe even lit up a little. Also beyond it's abilities is for the ship to shoot anything but orange colored tennis balls.

 

None of my friends liked Battlemorph. Most of them like Cybermorph. One even played it all the way through it. But none of them that weren't jag fans liked Battle Morph. Similar with the previous poster. Other games you sighted as surreal were popular games. People didn't run away from them. Or guess that the developers were frying balls then decided to make a video game. Something about that level of surreal turned them off.  As if that level of surreal by design came from carelessness rather than thoughtfulness. 

 

These views are all opinions just like yours. It doesn't take anything away if you personally think the design is brilliant. Enjoy it. Maybe they really did put tons of thought into it but missed the mark in the view of some. And nailed it to others.
 

I did some checking, when ATD were out there, after being briefed by Atari, doing interviews with the UK Games Press, Battlemorph was presented as being an opportunity to put everything they couldn't fit into Cybermorph. 

 

 

Chris Gibbs talked of the team having expanded, was now 14 strong and ATD being in the process of setting up their own in-house graphics department. 

 

So it does seem to suggest all the art direction choices were made by ATD and approved by Atari,when it comes to Battlemorph. 

Edited January 16, 2022 by Lostdragon

[Barone]

I think we should always consider that a lot of/most of these companies developing for the Jaguar were either new as companies or new to 3D games development.
So, as much as I enjoy pouring some conspiracy salt into my views, I have to assume that when these same companies got to work on the PS1 and SAT they were naturally more experienced; not only in creating 3D games source code and assets but also in terms of knowing how many people and how much time they actually needed to complete a decent game.

As a result, I would put far more weight into incompetence than on "bad faith" when conjecturing why most of the Jaguar's 3D games look so awkward and feel so unpolished.

Also, if you're developing games for a company which is providing you with buggy hardware, lacking documentation and also forcing you to swallow gameplay-impacting decisions for payment; well, your level of motivation and dedication might not be the same as if the conditions provided were actually fairly decent. 
And, again, that wouldn't be a function of the developers plotting 24/7 against the Jaguar but rather just for being treated roughly by Atari.

[agradeneu]

Spoiler alert: 

 

 

One of the many brilliant design ideas of Battlemorph I still fondly remember is lobbing grenades into the open skull of a boss. 

 

Battleships dropping waterbombs/mines on the player when underwater is another cool attention to detail.

 

In the last cluster, there was a mind bending teleporter puzzle. 

 

And much more cool moments....  I really need to play this again.

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by agradeneu

[agradeneu]

2 hours ago, Barone said:

I think we should always consider that a lot of/most of these companies developing for the Jaguar were either new as companies or new to 3D games development.
So, as much as I enjoy pouring some conspiracy salt into my views, I have to assume that when these same companies got to work on the PS1 and SAT they were naturally more experienced; not only in creating 3D games source code and assets but also in terms of knowing how many people and how much time they actually needed to complete a decent game.

As a result, I would put far more weight into incompetence than on "bad faith" when conjecturing why most of the Jaguar's 3D games look so awkward and feel so unpolished.

Also, if you're developing games for a company which is providing you with buggy hardware, lacking documentation and also forcing you to swallow gameplay-impacting decisions for payment; well, your level of motivation and dedication might not be the same as if the conditions provided were actually fairly decent. 
And, again, that wouldn't be a function of the developers plotting 24/7 against the Jaguar but rather just for being treated roughly by Atari.

Battlemorph is a really good game. If this was the result of "plotting" against Atari, I guess they should have pissed off more developers like that!

 

[Lostdragon]

On 1/9/2022 at 11:26 PM, JagChris said:

 

Yeah it's totally beyond the Jag abilities to have done something different with those power lines. Like make them diamond shaped rather than squares Or put some kind of electrical bit map in there that would have looked cooler zipping by. Maybe even lit up a little. Also beyond it's abilities is for the ship to shoot anything but orange colored tennis balls.

 

None of my friends liked Battlemorph. Most of them like Cybermorph. One even played it all the way through it. But none of them that weren't jag fans liked Battle Morph. Similar with the previous poster. Other games you sighted as surreal were popular games. People didn't run away from them. Or guess that the developers were frying balls then decided to make a video game. Something about that level of surreal turned them off.  As if that level of surreal by design came from carelessness rather than thoughtfulness. 

 

These views are all opinions just like yours. It doesn't take anything away if you personally think the design is brilliant. Enjoy it. Maybe they really did put tons of thought into it but missed the mark in the view of some. And nailed it to others.
 

I threw caution to the wind and reached out to a few of the Battlemorph team this afternoon. 

 

 

Doubt i will hear anything back, but given the downright rude and arrogant response received when i also did the same with one of the ATD who worked on Blue Lightning this afternoon, that might not be a bad thing ?

 

 

No idea who has previously approached them and I am a firm believer in giving those with even the most modest roles on even the worst games, a chance to voice their views, if they so wish, but when your referred to as 'you people' (who? ones who bought the games that paid your wages at the time? ?), forget it. 

 

 

Previous ATD sources been nothing but a pleasure to contact, this individual shamed even the most die hard Jane Whittaker supporter i had dealings with ?

[JagChris]

IMO(hindsight 20/20) Atari should have given developers some skin in the game. Let them have the profits for the released game(sans publishing) for the first quarter. Or even sometimes funding them outright to develop whatever they chose then let them have the game.

 

Maybe create friendly rivalries between developers and advertise it in magazines. Fund in full pairs of teams to develop similar games(such as a flat/gourad) shaded racer. Advertising it in magazines. Such as Eclipse vs 4play. Who will walk away in shame? Or perhaps HVS(Doom 2 Jag) vs Atari(Final Doom Jag).

 

And list every member of the team with pic in mag ads. So if they do sub par work everyone, public and otherwise knows who is who. I think this kind of competition would have created an interesting buzz.

Edited January 16, 2022 by JagChris

[Lostdragon]

Doing what I can to find material from the people who actually worked on Battlemorph. 

 

 

Found an old quote from one of the team:

 

 

BattleMorph isn't supposed to be finished until
October, and it obviously won't ship before the JagCD unit.

The 2 MBytes cart size for Cybermorph was very limiting. 700+ MBytes is
rather more, wouldn't you say? However, we are of course aware that most
CD games around are utter crap - gameplay is most important, as it was with
Cybermorph (YMMV - most people seem to rate CM highly in terms of gameplay.)
The engine has been completely re-written for BM, and yes the game will make
CM look very little indeed.

 

Andrew M.S. Howe

[Lostdragon]

One more.. 

 

 

What do you guys/gals think of our game (CyberMorph)?
- good points
- bad points
- features you would have liked to see
- anything
- What would you like to see your Jaguar do ?
(BattleMorph, a texture-mapped sequel to Cybermorph, is under development
and I'm currently working on the graphics engine for a Jaguar port of
Blue Lightning, one of the Lynx's best sellers)

I can't think of anything else at the moment, but if you have any points
I'd be grateful if you would mail me

 

BTW I did the level 'GANTLET' for CyberMorph. What do you reckon?

Andrew M.S. Howe

 

 

So, it looks as if ATD were  at least making an attempt to engage the community and respond to feedback/critiscm regarding Cybermorph. 

 

 

[Flojomojo]

I thought Battlemorph was pretty neat, too. If the Jag CD had come along sooner, maybe they would have sold more copies.
 

If anyone really digs the first-person, low-polygon, drive-around-and-shoot-things super tank genre programmed by Brits, I recommend Battlezone Gold.
 

It’s loosely based on the old Atari arcade game (Rebellion acquired the IP in one of Atari’s many bankruptcies), and unlike Battlemorph, it runs on many different platforms. The PC version is on sale for 8 bucks in the Steam store. 
 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/312650/Battlezone_Gold_Edition/