::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: Volume 2, Issue 2 JAGUAR EXPLORER ONLINE July 20, 1998 ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: ::
:: JAGUAR ............. News, Reviews, & Solutions ............. JAGUAR ::
:: EXPLORER ........... For the Online Jaguar .......... EXPLORER ::
:: ONLINE ................ Community ............... ONLINE ::
:: ::
:: Published and Copyright (c) 1998 by White Space Publishers ::
:: All Rights Reserved ::
:: """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ::
:: Publisher Emeritus Plus .................... Michael Lindsay ::
:: Publisher Emeritus .............................. Travis Guy ::
:: Editor/Publisher ............................ Clay Halliwell ::
:: JEO Mailing List Maintainer .................. Joachim Vance ::
:: Genie Uploader .............................. Clay Halliwell ::
:: CompuServe Uploader ......................... Richard Turner ::
:: America Online Uploader ....................... Lonnie Smith ::
:: FidoNet Uploader ................................ Troy Cheek ::
:: ::
:: Contributors: ::
:: (voluntary and otherwise) ::
:: """"""""""""""""""""""""" ::
:: Doug Engel, Scott Le Grand, Stephanie Wukovitz, ::
:: Don Thomas, Carl Forhan, Wes Powell ::
:: ::
:: Telecommunicated to you via: ::
:: """""""""""""""""""""""""""" ::
:: GEnie: ST/JAGUAR RT Library 15 ::
:: AOL: VIDEO GAMES FORUM Hints, Tips and Tricks II Library ::
:: CompuServe: ATARIGAMING and VIDGAME Forums ::
:: FidoNet: ATARI_ST and VID_GAME Echoes ::
:: ::
:: World Wide Web: http://www.atarihq.com/jeo/ ::
:: ::
:: E-Mail Request address: JEO-request@maximized.com ::
:: ::
:: To subscribe to JEO, send e-mail to the request address, ::
:: with the following line (no subject): ::
:: ::
:: subscribe JEO ::
:: ::
:: Your request will be automatically processed and your e-mail ::
:: address will be subscribed to the list. To unsubscribe from ::
:: the JEO list, send the following: ::
:: ::
:: unsubscribe JEO ::
:: ::
:: to the same request address, making sure you send it from ::
:: the same address you subscribed from. ::
:: ::
:: Subscription problems requiring human assistance can be sent ::
:: to JEO-help@maximized.com. Thanks to Maximized Software for ::
:: hosting the JEO list. ::
:: ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Table of Contents
* From the Editor ................................... Puttin' the Moves On.
* Jaguar Trivia Challenge II: The Questions ............ Strain Your Brain.
* Jaguar Tackboard .................. Newsletters, Message Boards, Mailing
Lists, FAQs, Codes, Development
List, Mail Order Directory.
* New Cheats and Codes .................................. Mmmm, Fresh Kill.
* CyberChatter .......................................... Overheard Online.
* BattleSphere News ..................................... 4Play Marches On.
* Llatest from Llamaland ........................................ Yak yaks.
* VoiceModem Update ..................... Reach Out and Decapitate Someone.
* The Two Cybermorphs .......................... Skylar, We Hardly Knew Ye.
* JagFest '98 ............................................. Latest Updates.
* Alastair Lindsay Interview ............... Imagitec Tunesmith Takes Note.
* Worms Review ................................ Let Loose the Worms of War!
* Big Code Hunting ................................. The Search for Cheats.
* The Big Spin ................................................. Don Talks.
* Pecking at the Scraps ..................................... Don Talks On.
* Jaguar Trivia Challenge II: The Answers ........................... D'Oh!
* Shutdown ............................ Around the world and up your block.
--==--==--==--==--
|| From the Editor
|| By: Clay Halliwell
\__// halliwee@dyess.af.mil
------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, there's certainly been a whole lotta changes goin' on since the last
JEO came out. The big, albeit old, news is of course the sale of JTS's
Atari assets to Hasbro. It's still too early to tell what Hasbro will do
with this rich portfolio. For now, it looks like they're sticking to the
still-cresting retroware craze.
Anyone interested in the full details of the Atari sale should go to
http://www.freeedgar.com/search/WL.asp?C=941167&F=8-K&D=3/9/1998, where
the full text of the Form 8-K is available.
Of more immediate concern to Jag owners, Worms was finally released about a
month ago. This is a fantastic game, and well worth the somewhat high
purchase price.
And the final big change... JEO has moved! We've got a nice comfy new home
at that bastion of Atarian goodness, Atari Gaming Headquarters. I'd like to
thank Frans Keylard for hosting the Atari Explorer Online and Jaguar
Explorer Online pages for the last few years, and the guys at AGH for
taking JEO in.
Stephanie Wukovitz of 4Play has requested that all Jaguar owners still
interested in purchasing BattleSphere go to http://www.best.com/~sebab/
dvidgames/dsphere and complete the survey there, even if you've already
done so in the past.
Speaking of BattleSphere, it's looking very likely that the BattleSphere
soundtrack CD will be published. The petition at Jagu-Dome (http://jaguar.
holyoak.com/bspetition.html) just hit 113 copies!
As of this issue, I've finally gotten around to removing Brett Hull Hockey
and Charles Barkley Basketball from the Development list. The license for
Brett Hull expired long ago, and Charles Barkley was never finished (no
great loss, if you go by reviews of the finished version on other
platforms).
Included in the ZIPped version of this issue is a full-color keypad overlay
for use with Worms. Print it out at a size of 3.13" x 2.21".
--==--==--==--==--
|| Jaguar Trivia Challenge II: The Questions
|| By: Carl Forhan
\__// forhan@millcomm.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Here's another trivia quiz to see how well you know your Jag library.
1. Which two games were announced on CD, but released as cartridges instead?
2. What words are in the Fight For Life title song?
3. Which two companies, besides Atari and Telegames, released games for both
the Lynx and the Jaguar?
4. What's the difference between the control schemes in HoverStrike cart and
HoverStrike CD?
5. What mode is enabled in Tempest 2000 once you beat the game the first time?
6. Which Jaguar game (besides WMCJ), came with something other than the
cartridge, overlay, and manual?
7. What was the last Jaguar game published directly by Atari?
8. Which published game(s) share the same title on both the Lynx and the
Jaguar?
9. Which character in Atari Karts appeared previously in another Atari game?
10. Name two unreleased Jaguar peripherals announced by Atari.
BONUS QUESTION: How many Aircars cartridges were manufactured with serial
numbers on the cart label?
--==--==--==--==--
|| Jaguar Tackboard
|| Confirmed information about Atari's Jaguar
\__// Compiled from online and official sources
-----------------------------------------------------------------
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Atari Times Jaguar Newsletter
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Greg "Fruitman" George (greggeorge@worldnet.att.net) has
decided to discontinue publication of his Atari Times fanzine.
However, the online version is still available at:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/8341
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Jaguar Message Boards
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Anyone with web browsing capability can join in on the discussions on
several web-based Jaguar message boards out there on the net. Note that,
due to the rapid message turnover and instant-update nature of these
boards, they have a tendency to burn through topics in a matter of days
instead of weeks (or hours instead of days).
Just point your browser to:
Jaguar Interactive II (hosted by Atari Gaming Headquarters)
http://www.atarihq.com/interactive/
Atari Times Boardroom (hosted by The Atari Times)
http://venus.beseen.com/boardroom/c/17653/Date
JagTalk (hosted by Toad Computers)
http://www.ataricentral.com/wwwboard/jagtalk.html
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Jaguar Chat
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Anyone with web browsing capability who wants to chat in real-time with
their fellow Jaguar enthusiasts, but has no access to IRC, should take
advantage of this Jag chat page:
JFPN's Jaguar Chat
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/5916/chat.html
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Jaguar Discussion Mailing List
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
It would appear that the Jaguar mailing list has been deactivated. A moment
of silence, please.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Atari Underground Mailing List
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Anyone with Internet e-mail access can request to be added to the Atari
Underground mailing list. This is a read-only mailing list maintained by
Matt "MHz" Bruce, generating periodic messages describing current events of
interest to Atari Jaguar owners.
To subscribe to the list, send an e-mail request to MHz@earthlink.net.
Please do not confuse the Atari Underground mailing list with the Jaguar
Underground hackers.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Jaguar FAQ
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Robert Jung (rjung@netcom.com) maintains the Jaguar FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions) file, a continually updated list of Jaguar specs and facts. The
Jaguar FAQ is posted to rec.games.video.atari on Usenet around the first of
every month, and can also be found at http://www.digiserve.com/eescape/atari/
Atari.shtml.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Jaguar Cheats and Codes
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Clay "No Handle" Halliwell (halliwee@dyess.af.mil) maintains the Atari Jaguar
Game Cheats and Codes FAQ. It's available by e-mail request or from Atari
Gaming Headquarters http://www.atarihq.com/jaglynx/jag/jagcheat.txt.
Lonnie "The Mage" Smith (themage1@aol.com) maintains the Concise Compendium of
Frequently Asked Codes, Moves, and Cheats (FACMAC). It's available via FTP
from ftp://users.aol.com:/TheMage1/jaguar, or from http://users.aol.com/
TheMage1/jaguar/jagcodes.txt
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// JEO Development List
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The following list of game titles has been confirmed to the best of JEO's
ability as of publication. Entries in the "S"tatus column reflect any
"u"pdates, "n"ew titles, or "?"uestionable listings since the last JEO
list. Entries in the "M"edia column reflect whether the title is "C"D-ROM
or "J"aguar Server/BJL (blank entries indicate cartridge software). "NEW"
indicates titles released since the last issue of JEO.
ETA dates are dates that have been provided by the developer or publisher.
//// Titles in Development or Limbo
S M Title ETA Developer Publisher
" " """"" """ """"""""" """""""""
? Arena Football ? V-Real Productions
BattleSphere 1998 4Play 4Play
J Bong+ 1999 ? Just Claws Software
? C Creature Shock ? Argonaut
? Deathwatch ? Data Design
? C Demolition Man ? Virgin Interactive
J Gorf 2000 ? Krunch Korporation
? Hyper Force ? C-West
J Jagmania (PacMania clone) ? Matthias Domin
J Jagmarble (Marble Madness clone) ? Matthias Domin
J JagTris (Tetris clone) ? Bastian Schick
J Painter ? Sinister
? Skyhammer ? Rebellion
? C Soulstar ? Core Design Ltd.
? Space War 2000 ? Atari
//// Current Software Releases
M Title Rated Developer Publisher
" """"" """"" """"""""" """""""""
AirCars 5 MidNite ICD
Alien vs. Predator 9 Rebellion Atari
Atari Karts 6 Miracle Design Atari
Attack of the Mutant Penguins 6 Sunrise Games Ltd. Atari
C Baldies 6 Creative Edge Atari
C Battlemorph 10 Attention to Detail Atari
C Blue Lightning 6 Attention to Detail Atari
C BrainDead 13 5 ReadySoft ReadySoft
Breakout 2000 7 MP Games Telegames
Brutal Sports Football 6 Millennium/Teque Telegames
Bubsy 5 Imagitec Design Atari
Cannon Fodder 8 Virgin Interactive C-West
Checkered Flag 4 Rebellion Atari
Club Drive 5 Atari Atari
Crescent Galaxy 3 Atari Atari
Cybermorph 7 Attention to Detail Atari
Defender 2000 8 Llamasoft Atari
Doom 8 id Software Atari
Double Dragon V 4 Williams Enter. Williams
C Dragon's Lair 5 ReadySoft ReadySoft
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story 6 Virgin Interactive Atari
Evolution: Dino Dudes 6 Imagitec Design Atari
Fever Pitch Soccer 6 U.S. Gold Atari
Fight For Life 6 Atari Atari
Flashback 7 Tiertex Ltd. U.S. Gold
Flip Out! 6 Gorilla Systems Atari
C Highlander I 8 Lore Design Ltd. Atari
Hover Strike 5 Atari Atari
C Hover Strike: Unconquered Lands 7 Atari Atari
Iron Soldier 9 Eclipse Atari
C Iron Soldier 2 CD 10 Eclipse Telegames
Iron Soldier 2 10 Eclipse Telegames
I-War 4 Imagitec Design Atari
Kasumi Ninja 5 Hand Made Software Atari
Missile Command 3D 8 Virtuality Atari
C Myst 9 Atari Atari
NBA Jam: Tournament Edition 9 High Voltage Atari
Pinball Fantasies 6 Spider Soft C-West
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure 8 Imagitec Design Atari
Power Drive Rally 7 Rage Software TWI
C Primal Rage 7 Probe TWI
Raiden 6 Imagitec Design Atari
Rayman 10 UBI Soft UBI Soft
Ruiner 6 High Voltage Atari
Sensible Soccer 6 Williams Brothers Telegames
C Space Ace 3 ReadySoft ReadySoft
Super Burnout 7 Shen Atari
Supercross 3D 5 Tiertex Ltd. Atari
Syndicate 7 Bullfrog Ocean
Tempest 2000 10 Llamasoft Atari
Theme Park 6 Bullfrog Ocean
Towers II 7 JV Enterprises Telegames
Troy Aikman NFL Football 6 Telegames Williams
Ultra Vortek 8 Beyond Games Atari
Val d'Isere Skiing/Snowboarding 7 Virtual Studio Atari
C Vid Grid 6 High Voltage Atari
C VLM 9 Llamasoft Atari
White Men Can't Jump 6 High Voltage Atari
Wolfenstein 3D 7 id Software Atari
C World Tour Racing 6 Teque London Ltd. Telegames
Worms 9 NEW Team 17 Telegames
Zero 5 7 Caspian Software Telegames
Zool 2 7 Gremlin Graphics Atari
Zoop 6 Viacom Atari
Total Carts 50
Total CDs 14 (counting VLM)
Total Combined 64
Pts Stars JEO Ratings
""" """"" """""""""""
10 ***** THE ULTIMATE - Flawless, beautiful, deviously addictive.
9 ****+ EXCELLENT - Something to throw in the face of N64-heads.
8 **** SMEGGIN' GREAT - Something to kick on the shoes of N64-heads.
7 ***+ DARN GOOD - Plays as good as it looks.
6 *** DECENT - Plays better than it looks (or vice versa).
5 **+ TIME KILLER - If there's nothing else to do, you play this.
4 ** INEPT - The programmer's first Jag game?
3 *+ INCOMPETENT - The programmer's first game ever?
2 * UNPUBLISHABLE - Heaven help us!
1 + INCONCEIVABLE BAD - ...but someone conceived it. Too bad.
0 - EXECRABLE - This is an April Fool's joke, right?
//// Current Hardware Releases
Item Manufacturer
""""" """"""""""""
Jaguar 64 Atari
Jaguar 64 CD-ROM Drive Atari
3-button PowerPad Atari
6-button ProController Atari
Team Tap Atari
Jag-Link Atari
Memory Track Atari
Composite Cable Atari
S-Video Cable Atari
VoiceModem (prototypes) Atari/Phylon
Controller Extension Cable Best Electronics
CatBox ICD/Black Cat Design
Lap Cat/Lap Cat Pro joystick Ben Aein
Jaguar Extreme Joystick Dark Knight Games (modded Gravis Blackhawk)
Jaguar Server devkit Roine Stenberg (Istari Software)
Behind Jaggy Lines devkit Bastian Schick
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// JEO Mail Order Directory 1.2
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The following list of vendors carrying Jaguar software/hardware has been
confirmed to the best of JEO's ability. Please e-mail JEO for additions/
corrections.
//// B&C ComputerVisions
Mail 1725 De La Cruz Blvd #7
Santa Clara, CA 95050-3011
Voice 408-986-9960 (Tue-Fri, 10am-6pm)
Fax 408-986-9968
Email myatari2@juno.com
Web http://www.myatari.com
//// Best Electronics
Mail 2021 The Alameda, Suite 290
San Jose, CA 95126-1127
Voice 408-243-6950
//// Bits of Fun
Mail PO Box 12345
San Luis Obispo, CA
Phone 800-FUN-JAGS
Email ddavis@cwest.com
Web http://www.cwest.com/atari
//// Buy-Rite Video Games
Voice 919-850-9473
Fax 919-872-7561
Email buyrite@interpath.com
Web http://www.buyrite1.com
//// Demand Systems
Voice 805-482-7900
Orders 800-593-0059
Fax 805-484-3745
805-987-1998
Email mbrown@demand-sys.com
Web http://www2.demand-sys.com/demand
//// Dentec Computer Products
Mail 465 Milner Ave #3
Scarborough, Ontario M1B 2K4 Canada
Voice 416-292-2996
Fax 416-292-4075
416-292-248
Email jaguar@dentec.com
Web http://www.dentec.com/warehousesale
//// Flashback Video Games
Mail 2284 Kresge Drive
Amherst, OH 44001
Voice 216-960-1622
Fax 216-960-1663
Email flashback@usa.net
Web http://www.sunmarkinc.com/products/flashback
//// GameMasters
Mail 14393 E. 14th Street, Suite 208
San Leandro, CA 94577
Voice 510-483-4263
Email mchaddon@game-masters.com
Web http://www.game-masters.com
//// Game Pedler
Voice 801-273-0787 (ask for Internet Sales)
Fax 801-273-1357
Email sales@gamepedler.com
Web http://www.gamepedler.com
//// Games To Go
Mail 7632 Lyndale Avenue So.
Richfield, MN 55423
Voice 612-798-5879
Fax 612-869-5925
Email sales@gamestogo.com (orders)
inquiries@gamestogo.com (info)
Web http://www.gamestogo.com
//// Hardysoft
Mail 24 Lawnside Drive
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
Orders 609-883-1083
Fax 609-538-8674
Email hardysoft@genie.com
hardysoft@prodigy.com
hardysoft@compuserve.com
Web http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hardysoft
//// O'Shea, Ltd.
Mail 330 West 47th Street #203
Kansas City, MO 64112
Voice 816-531-1177
Fax 816-531-6569
Email billh@oshealtd.com
Web http://www.oshealtd.com
//// STeve's Computer Technologies
Mail 405 Main Street
Woodland, CA 95695
Voice 916-661-3328
Fax 916-661-1201
Email steves@woodland.net
Web http://woodland.net/steves/
//// Telegames
Mail P.O. Box 901
Lancaster, Texas 75146
Voice 972-228-0690
Orders 972-224-7200
Fax 972-228-0693
Email sales@telegames.com
Web http://www.telegames.com
//// Toad Computers, Inc.
Mail 570 Ritchie Highway
Severna Park, MD 21146-2925
Voice 410-544-6943
Orders 800-448-8623
BBS 410-544-6999
Fax 410-544-1329
FaxBak 410-544-0098
Email info@toad.net
Web http://www.ataricentral.com
//// United Game Source
Mail 232 East Eau Gallie Blvd
Indian Harbour Beach, FL 32937
Orders 800-564-1458
Fax 407-777-3940
Email unitedgame@aol.com
Web http://www.unitedgame.com
//// Video Game Advantage
Mail 6861 Anthony Lane
Parma Heights, OH 44130
Orders 216-843-8815 (24-hr answering machine)
Email vga2000@ix.netcom.com
vga2000@io.com
dw901@cleveland.freenet.edu
Web http://www.io.com/~vga2000
//// Video Game Liquidators
Mail 4058 Tujunga Ave, #B
Studio City, CA 91604
Orders 818-505-1666 (9am-5pm PST)
888-944-4263 (toll free)
Fax 818-505-1686
Email vglq@vglq.com
Web http://www.vglq.com
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Announcements and Press Releases
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// JTS Off the Market
Wednesday, May 20, 1998
JTS Announces Consent to Removal of Listing From the American Stock
Exchange
Monday May 11 4:00pm
SAN JOSE, Calif., May 11 /PR Newswire/--JTS Corporation (Amex: JTS), today
announced that it is consenting to the removal of its Common Stock and 5
1/4% Debentures from the American Stock Exchange (AMEX).
This action became necessary because the Company no longer fully satisfies
all the guidelines of the AMEX for continued listing. The AMEX has advised
that the last day for trading of the Company's securities on the AMEX will
be Friday, May 22, 1998.
The Company expects that a market for its securities will develop over the
counter following removal from the AMEX.
//// Worms Limited Edition
Telegames is pleased to announce its plans for a limited edition cartridge
version of WORMS. We will only manufacture enough products to satisfy pre-
release orders and allow minor inventory stocking.
Each product will be packaged in a full color box and contain a Jaguar
cartridge with 2 color label (red type on black background) and an
instruction manual.
To reward those of you who pre-order and pre-pay for this quality product,
Telegames USA is offering the following promotions:
1. If your order and payment are received between 3/20/98 and 4/03/98, you
will be mailed two $10 Kwik Kash coupons for use on two subsequent
purchases for any in-stock product, excluding any Limited Edition product.
These coupons cannot be combined for use on a single item purchase (i.e.
one product, one coupon).
2. If your order and payment are received between 4/04/98 and 4/18/98, you
will be mailed one $10 Kwik Kash coupon for use on a subsequent purchase
for any in-stock product, excluding any Limited Edition product.
3. If your order and payment are received after 4/18/98, no coupons will be
earned.
(Telegames reserves the right to cancel or modify this promotion at its
sole discretion)
Don't delay, place your order today for this outstanding product!
$69.95 (plus s/h)
Contact: Telegames
P.O. Box 901
Lancaster, Texas 75146
(972)224-7200
sales@telegames.com
http://www.telegames.com
//// JTS Announces Sale of Atari Assets for $5 Million
SAN JOSE, Calif., March 13 /PRNewswire/ -- JTS Corporation (Amex: JTS),
announced the completion of the sale of the company's Atari Division assets
to HIACXI Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hasbro Interactive,
Inc. (Amex: HAS) for $5 million in cash.
"The proceeds from the sale of these non-core assets will be utilized to
support our working capital requirements as we increase our production,"
said Joseph Prezioso, Executive Vice President, Finance and Administration,
and Chief Financial Officer of JTS Corporation.
The Atari Assets were acquired by the company in July 1996 when the company
merged with Atari Corporation and consisted primarily of Atari home
computer games and the intellectual property rights and agreements
associated with such games.
JTS Corporation is a leader in information storage products. The company
designs and manufactures hard disk drives for personal computers, and
markets them to leading systems manufacturers and selected resellers. JTS
is committed to providing world class hard drives at value prices to
support personal computing. The president and chief executive officer of
JTS, Tom Mitchell, was formerly the President and Chief Operating Officer
of Conner Peripherals and Co-founder, President and Chief Operating Officer
of Seagate Technology.
For further information, contact JTS Corporation at 166 Baypointe Parkway,
San Jose, California, 95134. Phone: 408-468-1800 Fax: 408-468-1619.
Website: http://www.jtscorp.com
SOURCE JTS Corporation
Contact: JTS Corporation; Hasbro Interactive, Inc.
ST: California
IN: CPR MLM
SU:
03/13/98 17:00 EST http://www.prnewswire.com
//// Hasbro Interactive Acquires Legendary Atari Game Property Assets
Business/Technology Editors
BEVERLY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 16, 1998--Leading interactive
games publisher Hasbro Interactive, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc.
(AMEX:HAS), announced today that a subsidiary has acquired copyrights,
trademarks, patents and other intellectual property assets of the Atari
Division of JTS Corporation, giving Hasbro Interactive rights to some of
the greatest video games and play patterns ever created for multimedia
entertainment. The Atari properties and assets include over 75 game
properties including the legendary titles Centipede, Missile Command, Pong,
Breakout and Tempest . Hasbro Interactive plans to release its first Atari
title this fall with Centipede for both the PC and Sony Playstation game
console.
"We are thrilled that the classic Atari game properties will now be a
part of the Hasbro family," said Tom Dusenberry, President of Hasbro
Interactive. "These ground-breaking games helped pioneer the video game
industry," added Dusenberry. "We intend to bring these classics back to
life by updating them with the latest technology and interactive game
design, while preserving their heart and spirit."
Hasbro Interactive has proven its ability to bring beloved arcade
classics successfully back to life with its blockbuster launch of Frogger
in 1997 for both the PC and Playstation game console. Frogger, based on the
1980s' mega video game originally developed by KONAMI Co., Ltd., was a huge
hit over the holidays and continues to hop its way up the best-selling
interactive game charts.
"We plan to implement the same aggressive strategy we used with
Frogger, in bringing back the Atari classics," added Dusenberry. "We will
develop games that appeal to the players who loved the titles as kids,
while attracting a whole new generation by bringing the games up to today's
highest standards. Of course, like all Hasbro Interactive titles, they will
be backed by major marketing and merchandising programs."
With the acquisition of Atari's deep library of game properties, Hasbro
Interactive seeks to strengthen its position in the action game category.
Hasbro Interactive intends to develop various titles for all viable and
available gaming platforms - PC CD-ROM, the Sony Playstation and Nintendo
64 game consoles, among others.
Background on Some Atari Favorites:
The largest insect invasion in history was recorded when Centipede hit
the arcades in the 1980s. "Getting the bugs out" was the mission in this
perennial favorite. The player launched rapid-fire attacks against
persistent centipedes, sticky spiders, mushroom-dropping fleas and
poisonous scorpions in order to re-claim the sacred mushroom patch.
No guts, no glory was the motto in the Atari classic, Missile Command.
Players needed quick thinking and rapid fire to combat the battalions of
bombers, satellites, missiles and smart bombs in this fast-action shooter.
Blow them away first -- otherwise you're vapor!
The two games that gave birth to the video game industry were pioneers
Pong and Breakout. No fancy graphics were needed in these addictive
thrillers - just a good dose of quick reaction and hand-eye coordination
would do the job. Pong, the game of "virtual" handball, mesmerized gamers
for hours as they battled their friends and foes match after match.
Breaking through walls of bricks by ricocheting balls off of a video paddle
was the simple, but very addictive premise behind Breakout. The desire to
get a better score, kept the early gamers coming back for more.
Hasbro Interactive, Inc. is a leading all-family interactive games
publisher, formed in 1995 to bring to life on the computer the deep library
of toy and board games of parent company, Hasbro, Inc. (AMEX:HAS). Hasbro
Interactive has expanded its charter to include original and licensed games
for the PC, the Sony PlayStation(tm) and for multi-player gaming over the
Internet. Headquartered in Beverly, Massachusetts, Hasbro Interactive has
offices in the U.K., France, Germany, Japan and Canada. For more
information on Hasbro Interactive titles, please visit http://www.hasbro-
interactive.com.
Frogger is a registered trademark of Konami Co., Ltd. 1981 KONAMI. All
rights reserved. PlayStation and the PlayStation logo are trademarks of
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. Nintendo is a registered trademark of
Nintendo of America, Inc. 1998 Hasbro Interactive, Inc. 1998 Hasbro, Inc.
--30--ls/bos*
CONTACT: Hasbro Interactive
Dana Henry
(978) 921-3759
or
Agnew, Carter,McCarthy
Cale Barrett
(617) 437-7722
KEYWORD: MASSACHUSETTS
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMED COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS
INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET ENTERTAINMENT MERGERS/ACQ
//// Project X Unveiled
For Immediate Release
May 11, 1998
VM LABS POISED TO REVOLUTIONIZE HOME ENTERTAINMENT WITH 'PROJECT X'
TECHNOLOGY
'Project X' to Add Unprecedented Power to Existing Consumer Electronics
Products
LOS ALTOS, CA -- VM Labs, creators of the long-under-wraps, top-secret
code-named 'Project X,' today unveiled the capabilities of its next
generation graphics and video processing technology. Project X is a
powerful and versatile technology that transforms passive digital video
products such as DVD players, digital satellite receivers and digital set-
top boxes into interactive multimedia centers. As an embedded technology,
Project X will add unprecedented programmable processing power to existing
consumer electronics products, turning the average home entertainment
center into a truly interactive multimedia center with games and other
interactive applications, as well as options like e-mail, Internet access
and video telephone capabilities.
VM Labs is licensing their technology to semiconductor and consumer
electronics manufacturers and nurturing third party software applications.
Products are scheduled to hit store shelves next year.
"Our goal is to bring a powerful interactive experience to the consumer
video entertainment market," said Richard Miller, Chairman and CEO of VM
Labs. "We have accomplished this at little to no additional cost
to the manufacturer."
Project X is a flexible, scaleable architecture that will allow interactive
content developers to create visually stunning software on a very short
development cycle. The broad functionality and minimal cost of Project X
make this technology a catalyst for bringing interactivity into the living
room for millions of people who may have never owned a computer or a game
console, but who already participate in video entertainment through their
television sets. For instance, owners of DVD players incorporating VM Labs'
technology will find themselves with a truly interactive platform that goes
beyond the movie experience. Due to the technology's versatility, all
members of the family will find enjoyment in this interactivity, ranging
from challenging games to children's education programming.
The Project X technology not only adds the capability of playing games and
running other interactive applications, but actually enhances the passive
entertainment element of digital video products. A powerful new media
processor provides the raw horsepower to decode digital video and audio,
while also delivering advanced trick modes and an enhanced user interface.
Furthermore, a rich set of software development tools and APIs support
independent software developers with existing and new applications. The
Project X platform has the flexibility and power to allow developers to
incorporate advanced new graphics and audio algorithms, never before
possible, thus providing the opportunity to truly differentiate their
products in the marketplace.
VM Labs was founded in 1994. Richard Miller, Chairman and CEO at VM Labs,
was previously responsible for Atari's development of computer and video
games, including the original 64-bit system called Jaguar. Nicholas
Lefevre, VP business and legal affairs, has worked with Commodore, Atari,
Sega and many other hardware and software companies over the past 15 years.
Bill Rehbock, VP of 3rd party development, was VP of research and
development and technical support at Sony Computer Entertainment America.
Contact:
BENDER, GOLDMAN & HELPER
Jenny Rosas, Ext. 277/Stacey Johnes, Ext. 263
310/473-4147
jenny_rosas@bgh.com
stacey_johnes@bgh.com
Linda Thurmond
510/653-3010
lthurmond@earthlink.net
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Hasbro to Buy Atari from JTS
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
According to SEC documents and inside sources, JTS will be selling all of
its Atari holdings to a subsidiary of Hasbro.
March 11, 1998
Atari properties will almost certainly be put to good use. JTS Corp merged
with Atari back in July of 1996, but since that time it has done little
with the heritage that it held when it acquired all of Atari's games,
patents and technology. It would now seem that Hasbro has had its eye on
Atari and will be buying the former assets of Atari at a price of $5
million.
According to the Form 8K JTS filed with the SEC yesterday:
"On February 23, 1998, JTS Corporation (the "Company") sold substantially
all of the assets of the Company's Atari Division, consisting primarily of
Atari home computer games and the intellectual property rights and license
agreements associated with such games (the "Atari Assets"), to HIACXI,
Corp. ("HIAC"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hasbro Interactive, Inc., for
$5,000,000 in cash. The purchase price was determined based upon arm's-
length negotiations between the Company and HIAC. The Atari Assets were
acquired by the Company in July1996 when the Company merged with Atari
Corporation. There is no material relationship between HIAC and the
Company, any of its affiliates, any director or officer of the Company, or
any associate of any such director or officer."
The report goes on to detail the exact platforms that Hasbro will gain from
the purchase:
"Atari Hardware Platforms" means the following hardware platforms: Atari
2600, 5200, 7800, Lynx hand-held and Jaguar game system hardware, Atari
800, ST and Falcon 030 computer family hardware, TOS operating system, 8-
bit operating system, and Portfolio palmtop computer."
On the title side of the arrangement, Hasbro will be getting the following
pieces of intellectual property and then some:
"Key Marks" means each of the following marks: Atari, the Fuji logo,
Asteroids, Battlezone, Breakout, Centipede, Combat, Crystal Castles,
Millipede, Missile Command, Night Driver, Pong, Ultra Pong, Tempest,
Warlords and Yar's Revenge."
Hasbro has experienced excellent sales success with its previous retro
title efforts and with the Atari brand and properties to use, it's likely
that Hasbro will continue to ride the retro wave of financial goodness.
A spokesperson for JTS offered little insight into the sale, merely stating
that he could "neither confirm nor deny the sale." He went on to say that
if there had been such a major deal completed there would have been a press
release issued.
Strangely though, as Atari passes into the hands of Hasbro, it ends the
company's jaunt with JTS raising some probing questions. The SEC approved
Atari's "merger" with JTS on the premise that JTS would make a good faith
effort to keep the Atari side of business alive. They "absorbed"
$50,000,000 plus from Atari's coffers based on that premise. In a little
more than a year, JTS sells what's left of Atari for $5,000,000. What
happened to all that money? What investments went into satisfying the SEC
commitments and understandings? Was this fair to ATC investors?
Jaguar titles that were released after the merger had long since been
completed (Fight for Life, Iron Soldier 2, etc.) which means that there had
been no new development of titles. Sources close to JTS have indicated that
at that point only one major project was in R&D at that time (a PC graphics
converter which is obviously far outside the scope of any project Atari
would have worked on).
Numerous Jaguar developers have indicated that after the merger (and even
before the merger was complete), all new contracts with Atari/JTS were
discouraged and milestone rewards for existing contracts were not
infrequently 're-negotiated'. Based upon these accounts, the attempt to
keep the Atari side of the business running didn't quite seem like a 'good
faith effort'.
Next Generation Online is still awaiting comment from Hasbro and the SEC on
the matter.
[This article originally appeared at Next Generation Online http://www.next-
generation.com. Reprinted with permission.]
--==--==--==--==--
|| New Cheats and Codes
|| Compiled by: Clay Halliwell
\__// halliwee@dyess.af.mil
-----------------------------------------------------------------
//// Blue Lightning
Comedy Mode (this one isn't new):
At the option screen, hold 0+1+2+4+5+6+7+9. Thud sound confirms.
Changes voices and adds an extra FMV segment to the end game.
Instant Repair:
Comedy mode must be enabled. Anytime during play, press *.
//// Breakout 2000
Banish Robots:
When robots appear during gameplay, press * + #.
//// Fight For Life
Passwords:
Enter on character select screen after pressing Option.
Demo Mode (default) JAGUARTIME (or 1+5+9)
All Special Moves IWANTPOWER (or 1+3+5+9)
Play Junior vs Junior LOVEJUNIOR (or 1+3+5+7+9)
(Morph as Junior: C+U,L,D)
Shorter Junior Battle:
Defeat Junior the second time with a ring-out. When the next fight
begins, pause and rewind to before the electrocution.
//// Kasumi Ninja
Cheat Codes:
At the Options screen, select Change Code (a lockout code must already be
entered). Hold A+C on controller #2, then type code on controller #1. Various
sounds confirm.
Play as Gyaku/Demon Gyaku 3,7,4,9,6,1
(VS mode only; Gyaku/Demon Gyaku replace Senzo and Habaki)
Allow Same-Character Fights 6,2,1,5,4,4
Sensible Fighter #1 7,4,3,8,7,1
Sensible Fighter #2 8,9,9,2,4,4
(named after the tiny characters in all Sensible Software games)
Reset Parental Lockout 5,2,4,6,4,8
Start w/Key to Temple 6,3,7,4,0,4
Self-Test Mode 9,3,1,4,2,7
(reset and press fire after entering code; cycles through all
player and background combinations one fight at a time;
press A/B/C/Option on controller #1, or Option on controller
#2, to skip to next fight)
Demon Gyaku Moves:
Uppercut A
Fire Breath Toward+A
Earthquake Stomp B
Shake & Toss B (close)
Slam & Taunt Away+B (close)
Jump Kick Jump, B
Head Rip Fatality C+circle clockwise twice
//// SuperCross 3D
Crash Replay:
Anytime during play, press Pause, then 1-5 to replay the first, second,
third, fourth, or fifth crash. After the fifth crash, 5 becomes the most
recent crash, 4 the second most recent, etc...
//// Worms
Cheat Codes:
After the landscape is generated, press B and enter code.
Recall Last Played Level 1471
Allow All Levels ALL
Only Alien Levels ALIEN
Only Arctic Levels ARCTIC
Only Candy Levels CANDY
Only Desert Levels DESERT
Only Forest Levels FOREST
Only Hell Levels 666
Only Junkyard Levels JUNK
Only Martian Levels MARS
Cool Landscapes:
After the landscape is generated, press B and enter code.
62997503 Injun Joe's Hideout - Desert
OUCH King of the hill - Forest
BEN Two sides of the ocean - Hell
24833916 Flat and featureless - Hell
TISSOGDRIT Flat w/evenly spaced statues - Alien
WILTON Flat w/evenly spaced snowmen - Arctic
MYSTEE Flat w/trees - Forest
731931229 Long bridge - Ice
99289 Long bridge - Forest
HOPELESS Long bridge - Forest
BADRAN Long bridge - Desert
SEAGULL Long bridge - Candy
02180719 Big columns, bottomless - Arctic
02182719 Big columns, bottomless - Hell
02184719 Big columns, bottomless - Beach
02186719 Big columns, bottomless - Junkyard
02188719 Big columns, bottomless - Arctic
7373888390 Big columns - Hell
8131166523 Short columns - Beach
02183719 Big dome - Forest
02185719 Big bowl - Alien
02187719 Slope/dome - Arctic
02189719 Slope/dome - Beach
70345 Shallow slope w/bars - Candy
7007230 Big slope - Arctic
416241 Caverns of Viet Nam - Forest
LOSE Outcrop at sea - Martian
66888 Tiny outcrop at sea - Junkyard
980351 Pedestal at sea - Alien
HIDEYHOLE Bigger pedestal at sea - Forest
75912494 Yet another pedestal at sea - Forest
98620 Caverns of Mars - Martian
TRIFECTA Underground maze - Hell
CLITO Underground maze II - Hell
8878942 Trash heap at sea - Junkyard
3333333333 Bridge and land bridge - Forest
//// Zero 5
Cheat Codes:
At the Options screen, select Change Mission and highlight the high mission to
be unlocked. Hold Pause while entering code. Sound confirms.
Unlock Mission 1 0,5,0,5,0,5
Unlock Missions 1-2 6,8,9,2,1,4
Unlock Missions 1-3 1,2,2,1,6,9
Unlock Missions 1-4 6,7,6,3,9,6
Unlock Missions 1-5 4,9,3,1,7,5
Unlock Missions 1-6 3,2,9,7,8,1
Unlock Missions 1-7 7,4,8,6,2,7
Unlock Missions 1-8 2,4,9,3,4,7
Unlock Missions 1-9 (unknown)
Unlock Missions 1-10 2,7,6,5,4,9
Unlock Missions 1-11 1,0,7,8,4,0
Unlock Missions 1-12 2,9,7,4,3,0
Unlock Missions 1-13 9,2,1,7,5,3
Unlock Missions 1-14 3,8,5,1,7,9
Unlock Missions 1-15 9,0,1,9,3,4
NOTE: Entering a mission-unlock code will lock all missions above and beyond
that one, even if you've previously unlocked them.
--==--==--==--==--
|| CyberChatter
|| Random topics about the Jaguar
\__// Compiled from online public discussion areas
-----------------------------------------------------------------
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Jag Internet Interface
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Jaguar Interactive
Date received: 2/12/98 9:51 from bas01.csfb.com
Subject: Jaguar Internet Terminal
Hi everyone,
Just a little tid-bit of info to all Jaguar enthusiasts. I spoke several
evenings ago with an ex-Atari employee who was working with John Mathiesan
in Atari's Jaguar hardware division. Apparently Atari and Time Warner were
inking a deal with which Atari was building an interface board and
cartridge setup for the Jaguar. The interface board could use standard PC
keyboards and Mice and external modems. The cartridge would supply the
browser needed for communication. Although he is still digging around
looking for it, a few prototypes of the interface board do in fact exist.
Hmmm, too bad Sam Tramiel had to have that untimely heart attack (then
again, when is a good time for a heart attack?) and his father Jack had to
step in and just shut Atari down and sell it to his friend over at JTS. If
Sam hadn't have fallen ill, I'm sure a lot of those unbelievably hot
looking unreleased software titles, the Jag Modem and the Time Warner Cable
interface system would have all been released and the Jaguar Duo probably
would have been out. However the bright side to all this is that now
Richard, John, Bill and most of the other top Atari Jag people are now VM
Labs with probably the hottest piece of hardware since the Atari VCS, bound
for glory.
Curt
www.atari.nu
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Towers II Part Deux
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Jaguar Interactive
Date received: 2/22/98 11:28 from jackg.interlog.com
Subject: Towers II (Win 95) is great! ... is Vince out there?
Wow, I just finished playing the Towers II demo on my Pentium 166MMX. The
frame-rate is 30+ fps, the characters talk and things like those blue
globes that shoot out of the walls are transparent. The wall textures are
much better and full of colour. Obviously the storage space isn't a problem
with a PC.
The Jag version is fun (albeit a slow frame rate) but the PC version is
just terrific!
Great work Vince and JV!
Vince, if you are reading .... if you did a Towers II or had a chance to
reprogram the Jag version would you be able to get a higher frame-rate,
transparencies etc... technically speaking, could the Jag do it?
Thanks
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Jaguar Interactive
Date received: 2/24/98 18:19 from pm2-103.vegas.infi.net (Vince Valenti)
Subject: RE: Towers II (Win 95) is great! ... is Vince out there?
> Vince, if you are reading .... if you did a Towers II or
> had a chance to reprogram the Jag version would you be
> able to get a higher frame-rate, transparencies
> etc... technically speaking, could the Jag do it?
On the PC, we used 128x128 textures. The transparencies are software based
algs. On the Jaguar we used the blitter to keep the speed up.
If I reprogrammed the Jaguar version, the textures would be improved, but
not enlarged, because we have a better render. :) The extra size would take
too much internal memory.
I could increase the frame rate, but reducing the rez on the floor an
ceilings, since they are the slowest parts.
And on a 4meg cart, all the voices could be included, at a low sampling
rate....
Thanks for the kind words,
Vince
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// BattleSphere Chatter
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Jaguar Interactive II
Date received: 3/13/98 15:52 from RYLOS.ag3d.com (Scott Le Grand)
Subject: BattleSphere Update
Last night, we may have more or less put together our first candidate for a
final BattleSphere build. Thanks to Doug's tireless efforts, 100% of
Steph's intro will be music to the ears of any lucky BattleSphere buyer.
Tonight, this edition goes out to our playtesters while Doug figures out
how to make sure Steph's intro music syncs properly on PAL jaguars. Barring
the discovery of a whole new species of bug, I think we're done...
Quick not: I personally think the Hasbro deal is for real, but this has no
effect on Jaguar BattleSphere one way or the other as far as I can see.
Sure, it'd be great if there were some way we could get the Star Raiders
license out of them or have them license BattleSphere, but don't count on
it. The industry SUCKS right now, they won't even fund a M.U.L.E. sequel.
In that environment, what kind of chances do we stand?
Scott
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Subject: Re: What the hell is up with Battlesphere?
From: varelse@ucla.edu
Date: 1998/03/30
In article <351f90da.0@blushng.jps.net>,
"Jeremy Holloway" wrote:
>
> What is up with Battlesphere? If they'd just release the damn thing,
> then maybe they could use their former Atari contacts at VMLabs to get
> them a deal and cash to port the game to other systems (like
> maybe...hmmmm...ProjectX?) .... Get the damn game out before the Jaguar
> installed user base dwindels down to the Commodore Pet level....
>
>
I would submit that there are far more Commodore computers out there than
Jaguars :-)...
I'd really love to ship BattleSphere today, but there's this nagging issue
of tiny little cosmetic bugs that are holding the thing back (if Atari's
playtesting department were still alive, this would have been taken care of
many moons ago, but it's not). If this were a PC game, we'd have shipped 6
months ago and we'd have released patches in response to nags from the
game-playing public, but it's not, and we can't.
I'm well aware of the game's irrelevance outside of the Jaguar community
and like the man said, I don't care. The experience we got creating the
thing taught us more about software development than anything else we've
ever done and that has already paid off for ALL of us...
Just don't expect the suits to ever give us a break or even notice us until
we've already created a hit game on a viable platform, shipped the thing,
and obviated the need for them to back us in the first place. All they
know how to play is a giant game of chicken and the egg. We're not ever
going to find funding and we're not going to waste any more time looking
for it at this point...
Good games take time. Look at Starcraft, it's been in full-time
development for 3/4 of the time we've been developing BattleSphere on the
very much alive PC and they STILL haven't shipped (and it will probably be
the first truly great PC game in over 2 years and well worth the wait). In
contrast, we're part-time, zero-funded, based on a system whose creators
died 2 years ago. Wait a little longer, curse us and our ancestors, or
just stop caring, your call. We'll ship when we're done and that's that...
Scott Le Grand
Lead Coder
4Play
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Subject: Re: What the hell is up with Battlesphere?
From: varelse@shell8.ba.best.com (Scott Le Grand)
Date: 1998/03/31
In article <6fs7sr$j49@news.microsoft.com>,
Robert Di Benedetto wrote:
>Hi Scott,
>
>I'm a little surprised by your comments above. I sent a note to Stephanie
>a few months ago stating that I could get Battlesphere in front of the
>right people at Microsoft. She seemed interested at the time. So if
>you're serious about getting some financing for a PC version of the game,
>drop me a note and I'll get the ball rolling.
>Regards,
>Robert Di Benedetto
>Microsoft Canada Co.
Hi Robert, actually, she forwarded that message to me, I sent some email to
you, and I didn't hear any more of it. In any event, I'm responding
publicly in order to say that of course we're interested!
It's best to take it to email from this point onwards methinks :-)...
Scott Le Grand
Lead Coder
4Play
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Jaguar Interactive II
Re: 4Play
Posted by KittyFight (dynamic6.pm06.san-jose.best.com) on April 03, 1998
In Reply to: 4Play posted by Wes on April 03, 1998 at 14:59:48:
>Hey 4Play...
>
> What's the latest scoop on BattleSphere...had any time to work on it?
Well, last night I made some minor corrections to the music (had to be done
on Scott's PC, as I have REMOVED the damn SB16 from mine in order to use a
far superior soundcard which unfortunately isn't supported by Digitracker -
- theoretically I'll never have to touch it again, though I don't think
I've heard all of the final results.
The corrections were minor and involved cutting a few samples short in
order to make a tiny bit more room -- actually shifting them up an octave,
then shifting the corresponding notes in the MOD DOWN an octave, thus
effectively making them 11kHz rather than 22... Digitracker will run but
not make sounds on Scott's PC, so I won't know about the finality until the
music gets incorporated into BS...
Yes, the cart is SO full that it was necessary to remove 25K or so of
samples...you guys are DEFINITELY going to get your money's worth...
As for the rest of the project, I have no idea except that I keep hearing
"we're wrapping up" sounds from the other room...
Talking about music, Wes, did you get that mp3 I sent you? Looked at Jagu-
Sounds this morning and it wasn't up yet -- I can resend if you like!
-Stephanie
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Jaguar Interactive II
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Is Battlesphere coming out? Check NGO...
Posted by BattleSphere Bob (dynamic0.pm14.san-jose.best.com) on May 18,
1998 at 21:27:10:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Is Battlesphere coming out? Check NGO...
posted by Wes on May 18, 1998 at 20:46:39:
The trouble with the game industry these days is that you guys want and
demand perfection, but a lot of you have no idea what that takes. Atari is
gone and BattleSphere is the most ambitious game ever created on their ill-
fated platform. We're not going to make money on the thing, and we'll
release it whenever we all decide it's ready, case closed. In all honesty,
the version I sent out last night after fixing two minor bus had the
statement "Could this be the end?" within the message signifying just that,
but I have NO idea if it is and if our playtesters find a reproducible bug
in the thing, then we're going to fix it. Admittedly, I can understand the
frustration, but that's how it goes. There's no business model that leads
to us making money off this thing (and there wasn't one the minute we
missed Xmas '95) and we're only doing it to show that we finish what we
started.
It's a funny thing, but I expect we could get the same kind of sales with
the thing as one could get with a new 2600 game. The only people interested
in it are the jaguar hardcore and they will get it. Be they 5 people or
5,000.
Now onto VM Labs. Yep, I'm there guys. It's the most fun I've had in years
(well since the salad days of BattleSphere) and the big difference is that
I'm getting paid to do what I love rather than paid to fix other people's
mistakes like at my previous job or paid a pittance to deeply analyze
problems in science and then get forbidden to publish any of my results at
the job before that.
Anyway, back to hacking. I await bug reports on the latest edition of the
Sphere and if there aren't any, the question of when you see BattleSphere
becomes Tom's problem, not mine :-)...
Scott
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Subject: Re: 4Play? Battlesphere update? Anyone else still care?
From: Mark Santora
Date: 1998/06/13
jfolkers@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu wrote:
> Last I heard, the final music assignment was the only thing needed for
> Battlesphere to be finished once and for all.
>
Well, the 4play team has been putting in the last(and must I say an
EXTREMELY KICK ASS easter egg) which took a little while. Then, Doug found
quite a few bugs that only he would find(ie I couldn't find them and he
still plays it too much =-). Last week Scott and Steph moved into a
house(kudos for them) and don't have a phone line hooked up to the computer
as of yet(although I'm sure they check email and stuff periodically on
their voice line). Then Doug's system got fried during the hellish storm
front that crashed through the Northeast. The game is fine, Doug's
computer is not. I have been working 16 hour days for the past 14 weeks on
a couple of films which I can not talk to much about(NDA) and that's why my
BS Playtester's Page has not been updated. Oh yeah, in case you didn't
know, Scott is now hard at work over at VM Labs.
That's the BS update while I recover from last night's pseudo wrap party.
-Mark "Stingray' Santora
4Play Playtester
http://home.earthlink.net/~santora
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Coroner's Report
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Jaguar Interactive II
Subject: Re: *sigh* Why must everything good...
Posted by Oppressor (dynamic11.pm14.ba.best.com) on March 25, 1998 at
22:06:19:
The Jaguar was doomed before it was released...
It was too complicated an architecture for general consumption. Complicated
architectures bring delays. Delays bring the lack of titles and abandoned
efforts. The lack of titles brings the system's doom...
Had the Tramiels waited a year on the system and jacked the processors up
to 40 MHz as well as provide something approaching the quality of the
Playstation's development system (not much of an effort, but an effort
nonetheless), it might have lived.
And that's all she wrote. Here we are in 1998 still dealing with esoterica
of the architecture before we can release our damned game...
Scott
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Those Wacky Jag CDs
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Subject: Re: Copying Jag CD Games
From: Mike Fulton
Date: 1998/03/17
BELJAN E wrote:
>
> In <350d94d5.4267290@news1.alterdial.uu.net> wayne4@bellsouth.net
> writes:
> >
> >Are you positive that they are 790? I was trying to copy Primal Rage
> >and if I remember correctly the game was only a little over 400 megs.
> >Although that could be my prob. Maybe my drive does not see the extra
> >390.
> >
> The capacity of the CDs is different, so they must be compressed or
> something and probably cannot be read in the same way in a standard CD
> player. The game size may vary, but the CDs are 790 megabytes.
The capacity of the Jaguar CD is exactly the same as any other CD. However,
the information is stored somewhat differently than on standard ISO-9660
format CD.
The raw capacity of a CD sector, regardless of the disc format, is always
2352 bytes. The only standard disc format that uses this much data per
sector is "Red book" aka a standard audio CD. (2352 bytes per sector @ 75
sectors per second = 176400 bytes per second, divided by 2 channels = 88200
bytes per channel, or 44100 16-bit samples)
The CDROM standard typically uses the ISO-9660 standard for storing files
onto a disc. Of the original 2352 bytes per CD sector, ISO-9660 uses 304
bytes housekeeping and error detection/correction information, leaving a
total of 2048 bytes available for user data in each sector.
Jaguar CD is a non-standard format and does not use ISO-9660. It uses what
amounts to audio-format sectors even for data. As a result it gets 2352
bytes of useable space in each sector. The downside is that there's no
provision for error correction (errors are still detected by the hardware)
or file system management.
There is also copy protection placed onto each disc. This is encrypted
data which is specially formatted to look like an error. When you try to
copy a disc, the CD-R can't deal with those sectors because it gets errors.
Even if it reads it, it probably won't write it back out the same way.
Mike Fulton
(formerly Jaguar Developer Tools & Documentation Manager @ Atari Corp.)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Jag Bomberman?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Next Generation Online Q&A
April 2, 1998
Q:
UGP online says that Bomberman was finished for the Jaguar, but was never
released. Do you guys know anything about this?
A:
Sure do. Actually, one of the staff members of Next Generation Magazine was
the lead programmer on the project. Essentially, Atari was going to get the
license from Hudson for it (after the game was nearly complete) and then in
the face of the Atari merger with JTS, the project was deemed not feasible
by Atari and canned.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Texturing
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Jaguar Interactive II
Re: Re: T-Mapped Poly-Grip
Posted by Dirk Debuggler (209.24.164.105) on May 05, 1998 at 00:50:23:
In Reply to: Re: T-Mapped Poly-Grip posted by Stephen Anderson on May 04,
1998 at 19:56:07:
>>Did you ever notice how almost all t-mapped polys on the Jag kind of
shimmer and warp around the edges when they move/rotate? I don't see this
on other systems. Why? What is it about our t-mapped polys that make them
dance and flicker on their edges??
>>-Jay
>The Jaguar has no hardware for texture mapping. All the math has to be
>handled in software. This is very slow (time consuming as far as the CPU
>is concerned).
>With better programming, the Jag could do perfect t-maps, but the frame
>rate would probably be single-digit.
>The PSX is better at handling t-maps, but it has its limitations also.
>Very poor z-buffer, tons of polygon "tear" and flicker. Not bashing it (it
>sits right next to my Jag), but it's not perfect either.
>
>Stephen Anderson
OK, let's get down to brass tacks. What you're seeing at the edges is
called texture swimming. It results from using fixed point math to
interpolate the left edge of the polygon rather than a strict Bresenham
Digital Differential Analyzer DDA. In essence, at each scanline, one rounds
down the edge coordinate to the nearest integer coordinate less than or
equal to the fixed point value.
This causes individual scanlines to jump randomly up to 1 pixel to the
left. The low resolution of the Jaguar makes this all the more noticeable.
I'm even guilty of this in BattleSphere because at one time I didn't know
any better and I'm scared poopless to go back in and monkey with the
rendering code so close to production.
But I never make the same mistake twice...
The warping that you are seeing is a result of doing affine (linear)
texture mapping rather than perspective. The texture coordinates vary non-
linearly across an individual scanline and approximating them linearly
causes the warp effect. The solution is to interpolate multiples of each
coordinate by 1/Z. Texture coordinates divided by Z are linear across a
scanline. The problem is that to convert back to the normal texture
coordinates for each pixel, one must perform a divide and this takes
forever :-(. The approximate solution is to do a divide every 8 pixels, and
then use affine mapping within the 8 pixel stretches between any two
divides.
The Nintendo 64 is the only console system that does perspective correct
texture mapping in hardware.
Technical enough for you guys?
Scott
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// M.U.L.E.-Headed
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Subject: M.U.L.E.: What are the suits afraid of?
From: Scott Le Grand
Date: 1998/02/21
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
It's rant time guys, feel free to skip this if you don't like that kind of
stuff. If you're still reading, and you're one of those struggling game
coders who can't get the attention of the suits, here's something to put it
all into perspective.
Danielle Bunten Berry, the legendary author of the equally legendary
M.U.L.E has a rather virulent case of lung cancer and she has been unable
to obtain funding for an updated online edition called Planet Pioneers
because when she shows the original edition, game suits are unimpressed by
the crude 8-bit graphics.
Gameplay? We don' need no steenkin' gameplay...
This sums up the state of the videogame industry today. I've always
wondered why such a no-brainer decision to make a sequel has not already
been made. M.U.L.E remains one of the best video games ever written.
Disagree? Too bad, you're a moron who probably wants to colorize Citizen
Kane, end of discussion. It's still as fun today as it was 15 years ago.
Who the >multi-definition slang for reproduction< are the succubi standing
in the way of giving the gamers a modernized version of the fun I and
millions of others had during another age, getting drunk out of our minds,
inhaling of unapproved substances, and humming the wonderfully annoying but
totally unforgettable M.U.L.E. theme which reverbs in my memories to this
very day right alongside the Kool-Aid music.
What? Do I have to wait another 5 years for the 80s to become nostalgic so
M.U.L.E. is suddenly retro? That's not soon enough, you read the bit about
cancer, right?
In an age where millions are spent on a remake of a third-rate action flick
like _The Taking of Pelham One Two Three_, sequels are made ad nauseum for
Street Fighter long past its natural death, and the gaming media still
thinks Dave Perry has fresh and new things to say, you and I are being
deprived of the right to see a sequel to one of the top 10 videogames of
all time because some pipsqueeks in pinstripes don't remember the thing
because they didn't go concrete operational until after the release of
Doom. With this decision, I'd say the game suits are going for an all-time
personal worst.
It's the gameplay, stupid...
Now I'm not going to pretend there's much that can be done about this. The
industry and its stultified soldiers of suitliness need to consume
themselves in a blaze of bankruptcy and that will take some time, but if
you are a game suit reading this post, and you think M.U.L.E. is outdated
garbage, do the gamers and me a favor: off yourself now, you're beyond
hope. If you haven't heard of M.U.L.E before, go play it. Don't like it?
Go look at all the gamers who do are STILL working out new strategies to
this 15 year old game and make a smart business decision before it's too
late (http://www.mindspring.com/~ozarksoft/biz/). If you're a gamer, be
aware of what has been stolen from you by these titans of terrible taste.
Videogames used to be fun. M.U.L.E. was one of the most fun. Go figure it
out...
Scott Le Grand
Lead Coder
4Play
PS SegaSoft seems to think cloning M.U.L.E in 3D is a good idea so now you
don't even have to be a trail blazer (http://www.10six.com). Just do it
guys before it's too late...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Great Scott!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Next Generation Online
4Play's Scott Le Grand has long been a vocal and insightful member of the
Net on gaming topics. In an informal letter to NGO, he shares his current
thoughts on the industry.
April 29, 1998
Always outspoken, 4Play's Scott Le Grand has been one of the more vocal
developers on such past topics as OpenGL vs DirectX and Atari's
mismanagement of the Jaguar, among others. Recently Le Grand wrote in to
Next Generation Online with his thoughts on the current state of Nintendo,
Sony, and those of the upcoming consoles. Finding them quite insightful, we
figured we'd share them with our readers
It's nice to see that sometimes one actually can predict the future. Back
when Nintendo originally announced the "dream team" of developers for the
Nintendo 64, anyone I knew with more than a year's programming experience
proclaimed it the most incestuous pack of middle-level mediocrity that the
industry had ever seen. Then came the absurd exclusivity required of anyone
who wasn't Williams or LucasArts, and then after a long delay, came the
crappy games and the hits just keep not coming. Hello, McFly?
Sure, compared to the Atari Jaguar, the N64 is a raging success. It even
annihilated the 3DO and it made mincemeat out of the CDI. Wow, I'm so
impressed. And now comes the news that they've alienated their technology
partners and the "Discontinued in America" Sega Saturn outsold them in
Japan. I'm laughing at the superior intellect.
A year in the valley has taught me that all these companies are arrogant
and they all mismanage, it's just a question of degree. Just look at what a
killer position 3Dfx was in a year ago and now they're fighting for their
lives just like everyone else. Ever see Massacre at Central High or
Heathers? It doesn't matter who's on top of the food chain, the mere state
of being there will turn them into jerks until someone knocks their block
off.
Meanwhile, everyone's favorite Colin is dissing on the upcoming Project X,
decrying it as all business model and no technology. Take a look around you
my friend and look at the winners. It's the games, stupid, and Nintendo
didn't deliver them (but they sure whupped that Atari Jaguar! Yee haw!),
coffin closed (ding dong the wicked witch is dead!).
The aptly named X is a big unknown. Yak's demos make it clear that it's
quite powerful in the right hands (so was the Jaguar, whee!), but no one
has demonstrated a killer app on the thing yet nor have we gotten the scoop
on this mother of all business models. Still, it's gotta be more exciting
than yet another venue for a Microsoft OS (gag me).
X and the Katana will rise or fall on the quality of the software
regardless of whether they are light years ahead or parsecs behind.
Technology is irrelevant, whiny developers are irrelevant, you will be
assimilated (and pray you get a good options package before you sign on).
I'd continue this rant, but I think it's time for my daily round of
Minesweeper. Love that gameplay, hope that X and Katana provide some. I
just hate the way my disposable income keeps piling up in bank accounts and
mutual funds these days.
Scott Le Grand
varelse@best.com
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// News Flash: Jag not 64-bit!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Subject: Videotopia excludes the Jaguar
From: robot2084@aol.com (Robot2084)
Date: 1998/06/08
Newsgroups: rec.games.video.atari
The traveling exhibit whose purpose is the preservation of video games as
they relate to gaming and computer history is on tour now in Tampa, FL. I
eagerly awaited its arrival to FL so I could finally play all the arcade
games (some rare) that I played as a kid. (I am now an avid arcade machine
and console collector).
The exhibit is phenomenal. They have every Atari vector game ever on
display (Lunar Lander was down, but I was taken in the back to see it).
The president of the Electronics Conservancy, Keith Feinstein happened to
be on hand and we had some extended conversations (sparked by his
overhearing that I own a very rare Vectorbeam machine called Speed Freak--
he took me in the back to see his, which was not working).
One topic of the conversation which is relevant to this message board is
the exclusion of the Atari Jaguar from the Home Video Game exhibit. The
PSX, Saturn, N64, Virt boy, 3DO, Odyssey, 2600, Pong, Lynx, Vectrex, etc
etc were all on display. But no Jag. I politely inquired.
His answer was short and curt, "Why?"
I said, "Because it was the first 64 bit system."
He said, "It wasn't 64 bit."
I smiled and contemplated telling him to Do the Math. :)
He went on to say that it had two 32-bit processors and blah blah blah.
I told him, "I didn't say 'It was the first 64-bit processor.' I said 'The
first 64-bit system.' The first machine to incorporate 64 bits of
processing power into a console."
He said, "No it doesn't work that way." And continued into a long-winded
overly technical explanation that I couldn't compete with. (I am no
techie. I majored in Zoology :)
I told him the Jag was released in late 93 and competed with the SNES and
Genesis and did things they couldn't dream of. Whether or not the hardware
was designed to fully utilize certain processors and what not is
irrelevant. It made a leap in console game systems.
He said it competed with the 3DO and was not up to its capabilities.
I said the Jag cost 249 and the 3DO cost 699. Two different ballparks.
The bottom line is nothing got resolved and the Jag looks to be left off
the console display forever.
I would like anyone here who thinks they have more to offer Keith than I
did to politely email him with a convincing reason as to why the Jaguar
should be included in the display.
PLEASE be polite. Keith is an extremely nice man and anyone who loves
video games should be thanking him for his efforts in conserving and
educating the public in videogames and how they influenced popular culture
and personal computing as we now know it.
And the exhibit has a HUGE Atari section which confirms the fact that Atari
overwhelmed and dominated the arcades for many years. Almost every Atari
console is there also. So any Anti-Atari conspiracy theories should be
abandoned. (Anti-Jag theories are welcome:)
His email is Keith@videotopia.com
The webpage is videotopia.com
Like I said, please don't be rude and belligerent. That will certainly
accomplish nothing.
Anyone who has an opportunity to visit this exhibit....it is the closest
thing I have ever found to a time machine. Awesome!
Thanks
Jason W Cody
PS..those of you who remember my Tempest 2000 arcade machine project. Hold
on tight. It is close. I am designing the marquee and will be asking
opinions in another post. :)
___________________________________________________
J.W. Cody----Robot2084@aol.com---VAPS Member--FLORIDA
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/1351/JNG.html
--==--==--==--==--
|| BattleSphere News
|| By: Doug Engel and Stephanie Wukovitz
\__// thunderbird@sprynet.com, sebab@melodix.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// BattleSphere Update
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
[from Doug Engel's Thunderbird's Garage home page (http://home.sprynet.com/
sprynet/Thunderbird).]
//// 2/15/98
Okay... so there hasn't been an update for some time. So sue me... What the
heck have those losers at ForePleigh been doing with YOUR BattleSphere all
these past weeks? Well, we have been finishing it up. We have discovered
TONS of little annoying bugs, and repaired them all. I can't begin to
explain how difficult it is for a small team like ours to test a program of
this size ourselves. Last count has 358,000+ lines of code and that was a
couple of weeks ago. This project is immense.
Anyhow, the bugs we're finding now are of the 'non-fatal-but-imperfect'
type. Nothing here is going to ruin anyone's great run at the high-score
with an unexpected crash. The kind of thing we're talking about are bugs
like the way the music would glitch if you reset the game, or some menu
screens having text off-center, or one controller setting not being saved,
or the ship type menu option in one play level referring to the wrong type.
Unfortunately, 4Play is jam-packed with all sorts of perfectionist types
(we could make 10 CD's out of all the music tracks Steph has wrote and
discarded or left on the cutting room floor) and so we really can't stand
these glitches.
The upside of this is that the extra time has also given us the opportunity
to add a couple of extra easter-eggs and some clever touches and redone
graphics. We think we have more easter eggs than any game on the market.
The only things remaining now number very few. First, we have to get all
the music finished. After that, we need to see how much ROM is left over
and potentially add a few more sound samples to fill the ROM. I discovered
a few more things I want to change aesthetically, but those can be fixed in
a few hours. Beyond that, it's a simple matter of writing a manual.
Whew!
In the Immortal Words of 'Gold Leader': "Almost there... Almost there..."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// BattleSphere Brief
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
[by Stephanie Wukovitz, from JI2.]
//// 6/7/98
4Play West is moving to Santa Cruz and has been making 2 or 3 round trips
daily from San Jose for the past 2 days. (And um Doug, it's a bit different
when you have to move furniture as well). Scoph and Steff's new house is an
incredible mansion which they are currently painting black with touches of
red clawmarks and yellow eyes. The jacuzzi's broken for the time being, but
the dungeon and moat are in fine shape.
Doug got hit by lightning or something and has acquired telekinetic powers
but also lost his computer in the same incident. He was last seen cursing
Zeus while flying through the air wearing a toga emblazoned with the
Project X logo (which does not in any way resemble the Nutrasweet or
Cinnabon ones).
Tom has not been in contact for weeks but we did hear that his attempt to
be the first human in geostationary orbit without a spacesuit was entirely
successful, and that he's now off to find the giant gasbags on Jupiter...
--==--==--==--==--
|| Llatest from Llamaland
|| By: Jeff "Yak" Minter
\__// net.yak@yak.net
-----------------------------------------------------------------
[All of the following postings are taken from Jeff Minter's web page, Yak's
Zoo (http://www.magicnet.net/~yak/zoo.html). Check it out, and see what
else Jeff has yakked up lately.]
//// 23 March 1998
Hey, it's been awhile. Actually it's been awhile since I have really hung
out online in any form just recently. At first I was just busy, the usual
stuff. Just recently though I have had some lame glandular infection which
is on the way out now but which has had me feeling a little wiped out for a
couple of weeks, so I haven't felt much energy to do much non-work stuff.
Also, and probably a greater contributory factor to my not-onlineness, I
have been going through the throes of eschewing burning cylindrical
objects. Overcoming the craving for the drug that the cylindrical objects
impart really isn't too bad. The hardest part lies in overcoming the habits
which would usually cause me to reach for the cylinders, and I habitually
used to consume many cylinders whilst relaxing at the PC, either online or
updating my stuff. So I have stayed away from such activities whilst I get
the worst part of the withdrawal process over with. Now, two weeks into the
process, I am sufficiently confident that I will continue to not burn and
inhale things, that I can resume my old activities, just without cylinders.
I have already proven to my own satisfaction that I can eat curry without
cylinders, and drink beer without cylinders, and that I do not necessarily
need to have a cylinder after I've finished a particularly satisfying go on
a videogame, so I figure I am safe to resume my usual leisure modes at the
computer.
It'll be good not to get so much ash down the keyboard, anyway.
In the meanwhile, I have been getting on with my usual stuff on the new
system - basically implementing the system which makes it really easy to
have lots of interesting parameters varying rhythmically all over the
place, just the kind of thing that's handy if you happen to have an
interest in lightsynth kinda thangs :-). In my leisure time, I have been
relaxing with MAME 0.30, of course; although I should warn you that a
proper addiction to Star Wars will knacker your mouse. The ball gets dirty,
of course, but that's OK, you just clean it. But I have found that the
continual thrashing of the mouse buttons to fire the laser completely
buggers 'em up. My left mouse button can no longer reliably do a single
click. It frequently double-clicks unintentionally, which means that
sometimes you go to move a window, and it fulls itself instead. This leads,
as you can imagine, to frequent cursing.
I should install a swear-box. It'd pay for my weekly curry, for sure :-)
Oh yeah... brag mode on...
[picture of Yak's pinball room --Ed.]
Hehe... that's my pinball room, which as you can see now contains a stool
shaped like a sheep, a yak on wheels, and an actual pinball machine, which
I have found to be most useful as a displacement activity at times when I
feel an overwhelming urge for a burning cylindrical object. It certainly
helps that the pinball is an excellent game, with much fun to be had with
the Borg Multi-Ball, the little guns that you can fire the ball at targets
with, and the wealth of interesting objectives to achieve. Mucho coolness.
Mind you, they are bloody heavy, pintables. When I ordered mine, I was
under the distinct impression was that it was going to be delivered by a
couple of guys who would get it into the house and set it up for me. In
reality, what happened was that one guy who knew nothing at all about
pinball showed up at my place with the table in a van (and at 8:30 in the
morning, to boot. Why is it whenever I have stuff delivered it's always at
some totally ungodly hour? 8:30 in the morning! Who the smeg gets up at
that time?)... anyway, basically me and him had to horse this huge object
out of the van and into my gaff, at which point I found out that pinball
tables weigh precisely 16.7 million tons. I just about managed to avoid
activating herniated mode, and eventually we got the thing indoors, which
was cool, and a relief to a not-particularly buff geek like myself. (Note
for my UK readers: "buff" is an Americanism for "the state that you get
into when you go to the gym and lift weights". It's one of those words
which sounds extremely weird the first time you hear it in an American
context. To a true Brit, of course, "buff" has connotations of "in the
buff", i.e., starkers. So, when an Englishman hears that an American bloke
likes to go to the gym three times a week to get "buff", he naturally
thinks that there must be some pretty strange gyms in the USA. But, as
ever, I digress).
So, we got the table in the house (barely), and far from hanging around to
help me set it up, the delivery guy buggered off in short order. At this
stage the table still had no legs on and was far from being operational.
Eventually I had to call a mate over to help me finish setup, and then
bugger around for hours actually trying to get it to work. Eventually got
it sorted, though, but I can tell you the bloody thing's not moving from
the spot it currently occupies!
Of course, now there is this suggestive gap just the other side of the
pinball table, which I happen to think is exactly the correct shape to get
filled by a nice, big, coin-op Robotron machine.... hehe.....
You may also be wondering why I haven't yet posted a nice picture of me
reunited with Flossie yet. The reason for that is that she still isn't
home! You would not believe the hassle I have had trying to get the fencing
done on my back field... the first guy came up on the 7th December, walked
around the field a bit, and left, telling me he would be back with an
estimate in a few days. I have never seen him again.
The second guy didn't even get so far as coming up. It was arranged on the
phone that he would definitely, for sure, come up at 4pm on a particular
Tuesday. Of course he did no such thing, in fact turning up several
Thursdays later, whilst the third guy was actually here doing the job.
Yeah, I did get a third guy, and he was actually doing the job. Had, in
fact, almost finished the job. Only a few more bits of fence, and getting
some gates together, and I'd have my back field ready for Flossie, and my
small middle field sorted for goats as yet unspecified. I'm pretty pleased
with my third guy, and he's doing the job well - so what happens? The poor
guy gets mugged. In a small seaside town in Wales, for flip's sake. That
just should not happen. Like, he's OK, not seriously hurt, which is cool,
but he's broken his hand, and as such is unlikely to be able to do any
fencing. I haven't seen him for a week. I am hoping he might have a mate he
could send in to finish off... but jeez, it's gonna be such a relief when
it finally gets done, and I really do get to have my Flossie back again...
it has been waay too long...
Anyway... I'm knackered. I'll upload this now and hope to do more frequent
updates. Really. :-)
//// 4 April 1998
Well, I did promise to keep the page a bit more frequently updated. I've
been busy, as per usual; writing more documentation than code, it seems, at
the moment; although the stuff I'm working on at the moment is well worth
documenting well, because hopefully a bunch of people will be able to use
it to get stuff happening easily with X.
Outside, spring is beginning to happen in Wales. This involves certain
floral entities emerging, my grass looking like it is going to need mowing
soon, and a fairly large amount of descending moistness. Happily, the
fencing I mentioned last time is now actually finished, so it remains only
for me to arrange for the physical transportation of the Prettiest Sheep in
the World and she will be back home at last. Expect pictures in the next
update :-)
In my spare moments, when not pondering the mysteries of X, I have been
relaxing as usual with the latest releases of the emulators; it's been a
while since there was a new MAME, but there are still goodies such as
System16 and Callus to keep one occupied until v0.31 comes out. Callus in
particular is a fine example of the emulator coder's art, running many
fairly recent games at full speed on my trusty Penty 300 (which I am
saddened to see is no longer state of the art, being as Dell are now
offering a Penty 333... hehe... oh well, I knew that day would come... in a
few months my system will be entry-level :-)).
Not really much to report new over the last two weeks, really - nothing
earth-shattering has occurred here. I have had a run of good luck recently
though - a couple of weeks ago, when Wales played Ireland at rugby, all and
sundry from the village around here, myself included, buggered off down the
pub to watch the game. Someone was keeping book, and despite knowing next
to bugger-all about the finer points of rugby, I had a bet, more or less
just by guessing and hoping that Wales would win. I won a tenner, which was
cool, as it paid for a large steak and a few more beers. Then, the
following weekend, I won the pub's Lottery Bonus Ball sweepstakes, which
was on a double rollover, and won 100 quid! Hehe... the Milky Bars were on
me that night :-)
There's more rugby again this weekend, tomorrow in fact, and I am going to
the pub with a video projector and an 8x6 screen to display the match on.
It should be a good laugh, and I'll take down the Nintendo so that everyone
can play large-screen videogames after the match - but I fully expect to
lose my bet this time, nobody can be jammy enough to win 3 weekends on the
trot...
So what else is new?... ummm, my best score on the pinball is 1.9 billion,
which I know isn't a huge amount yet, but I haven't had any really mega
sessions on the table yet, I am still in the familiarisation stage; many
thanks to everyone who wrote to me about ST:TNG. Oh, and speaking of
email... generally, I get quite a bit of email from people who come across
my page, and it's always good to hear from people who have enjoyed either
the page, or the games I've made over the years, or both, or who just want
to say hi. It cheers me up to read such mail, and although I can't hope to
respond personally to every single piece that I get, I do try to get back
to as many as I can, given my other commitments. However, last week, I had
some eejit depositing unsolicited, unprovoked and abusive email in my box
for no apparent reason. I remember a few years ago, when I was living in
the US, there was a guy who maintained an excellent, and amusing site
called the Highway 17 Hall of Shame, where he would depict and humiliate
those drivers he encountered in his morning commute who were obviously
driving in an asinine manner. Now I deplore the old "Information
Superhighway" metaphor as much as the next man, but sometimes I do get the
feeling that there are certain individuals who ought to have to get a
"driving license" before being allowed anywhere near a network access
point, and my friend the abusive emailer is definitely one of these, as a
little research into his behaviour elsewhere on the Net soon revealed.
Unfortunately I don't have a picture of his ugly mug to display in my Hall
of Shame, but I thought at least I could dig up a few good samples of his
abject stupidity for everyone to have a good laugh at. Therefore, I have
made him my Wanker of the Week. Feel free to follow the link if you want a
good snigger at his expense; I do enjoy extracting the urine out of the
willfully stupid; but do be warned, there's quite a bit of bad language down
there. All his, I hasten to add.
Well, that's all for now - I have to go down the cashpoint before I go to
the pub, or I won't have any money for my beer. I was thinking about a
curry too, but my ring is still twitching from the Tindaloo I had the other
night. I think I'll give my poor old chocolate starfish a bit of a break.
:-)
//// 5 May 1998
Bloody hell, I have to admit I have been crap at being on the Internet
recently. At least in any kind of interactive mode, that is; I have of
course done sufficient online time to have downloaded the new release of
MAME and a fat stack of ROM images for it, but I have hardly bothered with
email at all in the last few weeks and didn't update here for a month. At
least part of the reason is the following:
[picture of really cute puppy here --Ed.]
This tiny entity is one of the new arrivals at the Yakly abode, and at the
time the pic was taken she was just 5.5 weeks old (note the floppy disk for
scale). She is by now a fair bit larger at 9 weeks, and subsequently is
getting more energetic and demanding than this picture seems to imply.
Every now and again I get a severe barking at (well, more of a yapping-at
at the moment) and I have to go outside to play football or Chuck the Ball-
and-Sock (the Ball-and-Sock is a dog toy of my own devising, being a rubber
ball with a bell in it, down the end of one of my old socks. The
microcarnivore prefers this device by at least an order of magnitude to any
of the off-the-shelf doggie toys with which I have provided her in a vain
effort to get her to chew things other than Those Which Must Not Be
Chewed).
This entity is named Vindy. Vindy Lou, I suppose the full name would be :-)
Vindy's a Border Collie, which is the default ungulate-herding carnivore of
choice around these parts; both her parents are working farm dogs. You
wouldn't have known it, though, for today, she took one look at the other
new arrival, who got here this afternoon, and fled at high velocity back
into the Pinball Room. The other new entity looks like this:
[picture of a goat --Ed.]
As you can see, a very goaty-looking entity. If you look at this creature,
you definitely think "goat". This is Alastair, the neutered male goat who
has been keeping Flossie company since her other ovine companion, Molly,
unfortunately went discorporeal last year. I would normally not be inclined
to choose a male goat for a pet, coz they can get a bit bolshy and whiffy
at times, but Alastair's a gent, now that he's had his bits off, and is
neither whiffy nor aggressive. It must be cool to be able to scratch your
back with your horns though :-)
I did mention two new arrivals and a homecoming; and it gives me a great
deal of pleasure to be able to finally display the following image:
[picture of (sigh) Flossie --Ed.]
Yes indeed, here is the Prettiest Sheep in the World just a few minutes
after arriving back at the Yakly gaff. Her wool is a bit dirty and she
should probably have it removed shortly, and she is a little greyer in the
muzzle than she used to be, but she is still undoubtedly the Ultimately
Pulchritudinous Ovine. And she still has a taste for Digestive biscuits :-
), and enjoys being hugged. I look forward to the next drop of rain we
have, so that once again, after way too long, I can experience... the fine
smell of damp sheep in the morning. And I shall be buying a lot more
Digestive biscuits from the Spar now; when I need inspiration during a
particularly heavy bout of T3K-coding I shall be able to go out to the back
field, feed Flossie a nice biccy and run my hands through her wool, just
like old times. Ahhh, the joyful sound of her melodious bleating...
Speaking of T3K-coding, I have been asked to steer my development work back
in a Tempestuous direction, with a view to perhaps having some fetching new
goodies running in time for E3 (where I shall actually be going, as it
turns out - if you're coming, maybe I'll cya there). This fits in really
nicely, as it happens - a lot of the work I've just been doing is in need
of a "real" game to apply it to, and although I knocked up a working
version of Breakout in about half an hour (sure, not a very demanding game,
but you can build it real quick using my system, and the bricks do break up
into 1000 particles each when you smash them with the ball hehe), but a
much better test will be to apply it to T3K. It also gives me a chance to
develop some ideas I have for fancy particle system effects and a unique
look for some of the enemies...
Bit of a stretch getting Tempest running on top of the new stuff by E3
though - I can feel some late nighters coming on...
Oh yeah, speaking of things Tempestuous, I got a copy of Grand Theft Auto
the other day, and I was touched to see that the designers have used my
Pixelshatter method out of T2K for displaying the incidental scores you get
for various acts of nastiness. Cheers, guys! The game itself is fun indeed,
driving around large cities doing various nasty things, ripping off cars,
squashing peds, planting bombs and generally being a menace to society. The
soundtrack consists of a variety of styles, including a Country and Western
spoof which contains the excellent lyric "The menfolk found their women
scary, because they were so big and hairy". Hehehe...
The massive news on the emu scene is, of course, that MAME v0.31 is
released, with a ton of new games now working. Highlights include Marble
Madness, which many will recall was the definitive, Amiga showpiece game
some years ago; Atari Tetris, the two-player version of which I remember
kicking my mate Mark's arse at on a ferry in Greece one time; and
Liberator, the little-known sequel to Atari's Missile Command, which has
the missiles being launched from bases on a nicely-depicted rotating planet
surface, attacking your ships at the corners of the screen. Many of the
other games have been improved too, most notably all the vector games,
which benefit greatly from some nice antialiasing routines.
Humongous though MAME is, it has yet to cover all the games that can be
emulated, and sometimes you can find a gem or two in the form of a
standalone emulator. One such case in point is the recent I, Robot
emulator. This game was poorly distributed, but fondly remembered by
everyone who played it; I had a mate who had one in his flat, so I got to
know the game very well, and when the emulator was released, I was
overjoyed to see the game again (and I made the day of my mate who used to
have the machine, by emailing him the emulator too). The game is of
historical interest as one of the first (possibly the first) polygon-based
arcade games; it's also of interest just from a fun point of view, because
it's a great game to play! There is no sound yet, but apart from that, the
emu is perfect. More than perfect, in some respects - since it uses polys
rather than bitmaps, you can do cool stuff like run it in a higher rez than
the original, whilst retaining the exact gameplay. The author hints at
extra additions in future releases, such as texture mapping and a higher
framerate. Definitely a cool emulator and one to watch. I wonder if the guy
feels like doing a STUN Runner emu too? :-)
Well, I better upload... with the short time to E3 and the stuff I must do,
I will be more or less completely offline for the next few weeks. Yeah, you
say, nothing new there... but I mean it this time. I may bang up another
update if things are going well and I have time, but otherwise, expect me
out the other side once E3 is done and I am back from the US, bleating
gently into the furry ear of the Prettiest Sheep in the World and plying
her with Digestive biscuits. Proper, McVities ones. None of your cheap,
own-brand rubbish. Nothing but the best for my beloved :-)
--==--==--==--==--
|| Jaguar VoiceModem Update
|| By: Carl Forhan
\__// forhan@millcomm.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Boy, it seems that JVM owners came crawling out of the woodwork since my
brother Pat and I announced the JVM FAQ... well, OK, that's not quite true.
There's less than 100 of these gems, after all. But several modems have been
sold and auctioned off in the last few weeks, and so now I present the updated
JVM owner list for your reading pleasure:
1. Carl Forhan - forhan@millcomm.com
2. Patrick Forhan - pforhan@cs.truman.edu
3. Curt Vendel - cvendel@aol.com
4. John Hardie - jhardie@pipeline.com
5. Keita Iida - keita@mindspring.com
6. Don Rogers - 72172.1412@compuserve.com
7. Dave Stein - dstein@escape.com
8. Mike Etler - mikeetler@aol.com
9. Guy Dupre - guysbad@yahoo.com
10. Ken Dupre - duprek@rpi.edu
11. Mike Szoke - mblood@kcdata.com
Official Jaguar Voice Modem FAQ:
http://cs-sun1.truman.edu/~pforhan/jvmfaq.html
--==--==--==--==--
|| The Two Cybermorphs
|| By: Clay Halliwell
\__// halliwee@dyess.af.mil
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It recently came to my attention that there are TWO versions of Cybermorph
floating around out there, one of which seems to be missing a few
animations and voice samples. JEO contacted Fred Gill of Attention to
Detail, and he had this to say:
"Yes. There are two versions! The second version was commissioned when
CyberMorph became the pack-in game and Atari wanted to increase their margins
- it fits inside 1Mb, hence the missing speech and animations. Not our choice,
but we only wrote it!
"I'm very clear on why the second Rev came about - I had to do all the work
which was around March '94. The 2Mb version was definitely shipped with the
Jag at launch (Atari got us to fill the 2Mb because our code & data took a
little over 1Mb). We filled it with animations mainly. In 1994 we were asked
to generate a 1Mb version so that they could increase their margins while it
was still the pack-in. I'm not sure you can guarantee the version by the
purchase date - it will depend on how old the retailer/distributor's stock
was..."
When asked how so many levels could be packed into 1Mb, Mr. Gill replied:
"The levels on Cybermorph were fractal height maps stored along with
modifications that were made to make them playable. Most levels on Cybermorph
were about 300-900 bytes big (including enemy placement etc). On Battlemorph
they were about 200K. When they give you all that space you just go and use
it!"
Based on user reports, only late-release pack-in Cybermorphs are the 1Mb
version, as are all versions purchased separately.
These are the differences between the two Cybermorphs:
Original Cybermorph Cybermorph Rev.2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title Screen Animated morph sequence Still shot, no animation
Copyright 1993 1994
Skylar Talk "Where did YOU learn to fly?" "Where did YOU learn to fly?"
"Portal now open." "Portal now open."
"Pod in trouble." "Pod in trouble."
"Good luck." "Good luck."
"Good work." "Good work."
"Well done." "Well done."
"Ouch." "Ouch."
"Great shot."
"Avoid the ground."
"Only one more."
Endgame Animated morph sequence Still shot, no animation
To the best of my knowledge, this makes Cybermorph Rev.2 the only 1 Mb (or
8-megabit) Jaguar cartridge ever released.
--==--==--==--==--
|| JagFest '98
|| Compiled By: Clay Halliwell
\__// halliwee@dyess.af.mil
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Remember the JagFest event that Jaguar enthusiasts across America staged
last year? Apparently it went well enough that the organizers have decided
to do it again this year. Sounds like it will be more of what made last
year's JagFest great... networked games galore, weird hardware on display,
and Jaggers of all distinctions coming together for a day of 64-bit
camaraderie.
//// When Is It?
August 1, 1998
9:00am to midnight (and maybe a bit longer...)
//// Where Is It?
Corfu Fire Hall
116 Main Street
Corfu, NY 14036
Kevin says, "This is a good location because it's close to the NYS thruway
exit (48-A), is not IN the city of Buffalo, but still close enough to the
airport (about 20-30 mins east, all on one road). Directions will be posted
on the JagFest homepage."
Accommodations:
The closest hotel is an Econo Lodge. Expect rooms to cost about $65 per
night, unless Kevin can work out a group rate deal (which he will try to
do)... then the price should go down even more from there. Here's the
address and telephone # of the hotel:
Econo Lodge
At Exit 48-A
Pembroke, NY 14036
(716) 599-4681
Other Attractions:
Darien Lake Theme Park and Camping Resort
9993 Alleghany Road
Darien Center, NY 14036
(716) 599-4641 (Administration)
(716) 599-2211 (Camping)
Niagara Falls is also within driving distance from Corfu as well!
//// Who Will Be There?
Dark Knight Games has already committed to attending, and will be bringing
along some cool surprises. Custom controllers anyone?
Looking to buy Jaguar games at the Fest? Well you'll have no problem doing
so since Dentec, a Canadian-based company, has agreed to attend and sell
their large selection of Jaguar games at the Fest. For more info, check out
their page at http://www.dentec.com/WarehouseSale. They have great prices on
even hard-to-find games like Atari Karts, and may even start carrying the
new Telegames titles! Score another for the JagFest!
Scott Walters, of BJL modification fame will be attending JagFest '98, and
with him will come some BJL Jaguars at a special JagFest-only price of $99.
So, for everyone who was a bit wary of buying a modified Jag, you can come
check out all the games at the JagFest, and then pick one up right there on
the spot for a lower-than-ever price!
//// How Much Is It/How Can I Help?
You can order tickets for $10 or pay $12 at the door.
With the purchase of each ticket comes a special JagFest issue of the Atari
Zone fanzine and a set of Jaguar stickers (hopefully some surprises too).
To purchase a ticket, e-mail Kevin Manne (kevinmanne@wycol.com) and
include your name, address and number of tickets, along with a list of
Jaguar/Atari items you will be bringing. Things which are needed are
Jaguars, monitors(!), CatBoxes, AirCars cartridges and (hopefully)
BattleSphere cartridges, and other appropriate video game hardware. Feel
free to bring classic Atari videogames too!
If you decide to bring a monitor, make sure it is one that is CatBox
compatible, such as the Atari SC1224/1435, or has composite inputs like the
Commodore 1702. Here's a list of analog RGB monitors which work with the
CatBox:
Atari SC1224
Atari SC1435
CBM 1084D
CBM 1084S
Commodore 1950
Magnavox Pro RGB 80
NEC Multisync Color
NEC 3D
Sony 1302
Princeton Graphics Ultra
If you want to help promote JagFest, go to the JagFest homepage, grab one
of the premade flyers there, and print some out to hang in your town.
//// Who's in Charge?
Although it's everyone's combined team effort that will pull this off, five
very dedicated Jag owners have taken charge and are constantly discussing
JagFest possibilities.
Head Organizer:
Kevin Manne (kevinmanne@wycol.com)
The hotel-finding, location-setting, business-doing, hard-working, head
organizer of this year's JagFest.
Tournament Organizer:
Dave Homenuck (daveh@netcom.ca)
Will organize all the game tournaments at JagFest. Also doubles as the
JagFest USENET correspondent. :-) If you have any suggestions for
tournament games, drop Dave an e-mail.
Newsletter Dispatcher:
Matt "MHz" Bruce (mhz@earthlink.net)
Has agreed to send out the JagFest newsletters via his Atari Underground e-
mail list in Chad's absence.
Web Master:
Chad Ridgeway (chadjag@geocities.com)
Maintains the JagFest website, sends out JagFest newsletters, and tries to
act like he knows what he's talking about. Currently on hiatus.
Hardware Guy:
Guy Dupre (guysbad@yahoo.com)
Thanks to Guy, JagFest '98 will definitely have an 8-Jaguar network of
AirCars, and Battlesphere if it's released by August 1st.
Feel free to send questions and comments to any of the individuals above.
/// Other Stuff
Kevin says, "This year's Fest will have food! That's right. I have arranged
for there to be plenty of food available right there for everyone's
convenience. As for what will be served, I haven't decided yet. But it will
most likely be something simple like burgers and dogs, unless everyone who
is attending is vegetarian, then there will probably be a menu change :-)
"Jaguar Underground games will be available to play... I will bring my
modified Jag and PC so everyone can check it out. The PC will also be
hooked up with Internet access, so everyone on the Net can stay updated.
"Thanks to Guy Dupre, Jaguar fanatic extraordinaire, we'll be certain to
have an 8 Jag network for the Fest, with 8 copies of AirCars, as long as
ICD delivers before August 1st ;-). In fact, if enough other people bring
Jags, we'll be able to have 2 8-Jag setups running simultaneously! I wonder
what the record is?
"Guy has also agreed to bring his Scuba virtual-reality helmet (designed
from the never-released JagVR helmet), and even to make some Jaguar t-shirt
transfers if he has the time/capability. Go Guy!
"I'm working on getting some Jaguar games and accessories together to give out
as door prizes, and for winners of competitions. We'll be giving away a BJL-
modded Jaguar (courtesy of Scott Walters), a subscription to the Atari Zone
Fanzine, a Prototype Dark Knight Games Rotary Controller, games, some T-
shirts, and a Team Tap. If you'd like to contribute anything, please contact
me (Kevin), and I'll put your name up in lights on the JagFest page :-).
"Also, I've just been informed that the Jaguar Voice Modems will be at
JagFest! I personally can't wait to check them out. Anyone who is not going to
be attending who has a modem and wants to play some Ultra Vortek on August
1st, please let me know so we can set something up."
//// Where Can I Get More Information?
Official JagFest '98 Home Page
http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/4062
The Fandom Directory
http://www.fandata.com
Dentec Computer Products
http://www.dentec.com/WarehouseSale
Information about the Pembroke Econo Lodge
http://www.hotelchoice.com/cgi-bin/res/webres?propinfo+NY143
Darien Lake's Homepage
http://www.riversidepark.com
An article on the JagFest will appear soon in the Star-Gazette (a Gannett
newspaper in Elmira, N.Y., about a two hour drive from the site of the
JagFest).
http://www.star-gazette.com
Telegames has agreed to send out JagFest flyers with Jaguar orders. So
order something from Telegames!
Also, JagFest will be listed in a magazine called "FanMan's ConFormation
Guide", a comprehensive listing of fan conventions in the U.S. and around the
world. Look for it in July.
--==--==--==--==--
|| Alastair Lindsay
|| Mini-Interview By: Wes Powell
\__// powell@easilink.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Here's an E-mail conversation between Alastair Lindsay from the former
Imagitec Design (creators of some of the best tunes on the Jaguar, if not
the best games), and our own Wes "Jagu-Dome" Powell.
[Alastair Lindsay] Hi there.
Hope you don't mind me dropping you a line, but I've just noticed your
Tempest 2000 soundtrack page on your website, great stuff. Actually I'm one
of the musicians that did the music for that great game and it's very
flattering that so many people like it, even all these years later.
Tempest 2000 was actually my first game release 5 years ago, and I am still
doing music for games, although things have changed quite a bit since then.
I also did Defender 2000, I-War, Bubsy and worked on Dino Dudes.
With regards to the voice samples, well they made me laugh, you've got most
of them right. Bit of trivia for you - "Television is the retina of the
mind's eye" was originally sampled from a film called Videodrome, but had
to be redone by my good self as to avoid any copyright stuff.
[JEO] I'm very glad you dropped me a line! I've been a big fan of your
music for a long time now and I was hoping I could get in touch with one of
you guys. What happened to the Company?
[AL] Well, sadly Imagitec doesn't exist anymore, it was bought out by
Gremlin Interactive a couple of years ago. One of the Imagitec musicians
(Kevin Saville) still works there, but just seems to work on all the Actua
Sports games, not very exciting unless you like sports games.
I now work for Psygnosis Limited in London, UK, and have been there for
nearly 2 years now. Most things that I have done for Psygnosis are still in
development, but I have done 4 tunes on a game called Blast Radius, which
is out in July in Europe, not sure about the US though.
[JEO] I'll have to check those games out. Blast Radius, eh? Sounds
familiar...
[AL] It's very similar looking to Colony Wars, but much better gameplay.
There is one last game that myself and Kevin did at Imagitec that was
released earlier this year and that's I-War (not the same as the Jag
version, in fact it's a totally different game), which is a space strategy
game and has an orchestral soundtrack. The game was developed by a company
called Particle Systems.
[JEO] Ya! I heard about that game and I was wondering how they pulled that
off without getting sued... hehehe.
[AL] Atari allowed them to use the name I-War so there was no problem.
[JEO] Did you have a part in the Zool 2 music?
[AL] No, that was done by someone else before Imagitec became part of
Gremlin.
[JEO] How about Pitfall? How was it working with Jeff Minter? I would've
loved a Defender 2000 soundtrack! Too bad Atari was heading downhill by
that time.
[AL] I didn't work on Pitfall, it was one of the other musicians. Well, I
never really had any contact with Jeff Minter except a few phone calls. D2K
was originally done as CD audio music, because it was to be one of the
first games on the Jaguar CD drive, but at the last minute Atari changed
their minds and decided it was to be cartridge only, so it was a mad rush
to convert all the tunes.
[JEO] Oh yeah! I've been wondering what that bonus track says... is it "Oh
lassie" or "almighty"? I couldn't quite figure it out.
[AL] No, no, it says "Oh Massive" and the other bit says "It's a jungle,
brother". Don't ask me why, we didn't take any of this music seriously, a
lot of it was a piss take of the rave/dance scene that was going at the
time, same with T2K.
[JEO] So, what kind of equipment are you using to create this great stuff?
[AL] Well, my setup is quite minimal but very flexible and powerful. I have
a Pentium II 333mhz PC running Cubase VST, in the PC is a Korg 1212
soundcard which is linked via ADAT optical cables to a Yamaha 02R. I have
an Emu E4K sampler, Roland JV1080 with Vintage and Orchestral cards, a
Yamaha AN1x Virtual Synth, Ensoniq DP/4+ effects processor, Quadraverb 2
effects processor. The 02R is also linked to a Tascam DA88 digital 8-track
which is used to record the separate channels ready for encoding to an AC3
file. Software wise I use Cubase VST, as mentioned above, Sound Forge and I
have a load of plugins for them.
[JEO] Thanks for your comments! I look forward to hearing some of the other
work you've done. Good luck.
[AL] Bye for now.
Alastair
--==--==--==--==--
|| Review: Worms
|| By: Clay Halliwell
\__// halliwee@dyess.af.mil
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Worms. This game of invertebrate warfare is something Jaguar owners have been
looking forward to for a long time now. It's strangely fitting that the Jaguar
version should be released almost two years after it was originally completed,
and only shortly after the release of its sequel on most other platforms. But
we Jaguarians are a patient lot, and now, thanks to Telegames, our patience
has once again been rewarded.
//// Wuzza Worm?
Jaguar Worms is pretty much a direct port of the PC version of Worms... which
is a bit odd, since the original Worms was written on the 68000-based Amiga.
Due to cart space limitations, a few features of the PC version didn't make it
to the Jag. These are noted through the rest of this review.
In any case, for those of you who have been proverbially living under the
proverbial rock for the last couple of years, this is what Worms is all about:
Picture a two-dimensional scrolling playfield, two screens high by three
screens wide. On this playfield draw a randomly-generated landscape, and adorn
the landscape with trees and other objects. Finally, scatter two teams of four
worms each on the landscape. Now take control of one of those teams and try to
blow the crap out of the opposing team!
Combat is turn-based, and rotates automatically through each worm on each
team. That is, worm #1 on team 1 goes, then worm #1 on team 2, then worm #2 on
team 1, etc... This in itself introduces an interesting strategic twist, as
expert Worms players will make note of which enemy worm plays next, and act
accordingly. Also, as worms get whittled away from each side, individual
worms' turns come up more often. This means that the last worm on a team gets
to move every turn... quite a tactical advantage!
When a worm's turn arrives, it has a limited amount of time (usually 60
seconds) in which it can slither and jump across the ground, and use one of
the many weapons at its disposal. Firing or falling from a great height ends
your turn.
While most games will be two-player, Worms supports up to four teams of worms
at once. These can be any mix of human and computer-controlled opponents.
//// I Claim this Landscape in the Name of Spain!
The landscape, as previously mentioned, is randomly generated. If you ever get
a landscape you particularly like, pause the game and it will display the code
used to generate that landscape. You can then write it down and reenter it any
time you like.
Landscapes are composed of the contours of the ground (which can get pretty
wild), random objects like trees, snowmen, devils, et al, and occasionally
bridges spanning the ever-present water at the bottom of the screen. Oh, did I
forget to mention the mines? Every landscape is randomly sprinkled with up to
eight proximity-triggered mines, which do a nasty chunk of damage to any worm
foolish enough to stray near.
There are nine different landscape types you may end up playing on, and the
differences between them aren't merely aesthetic. Each one introduces minor
changes in the environment, which you have to deal with to play effectively.
[] Alien - Very low gravity, slippery ground.
[] Arctic - Very slippery ground.
[] Beach - Kinda average.
[] Candy - Slippery ground.
[] Desert - Rough ground.
[] Forest - Rough ground.
[] Hell - High gravity.
[] Junkyard - Kinda average.
[] Martian - Low gravity.
Junkyard is my personal least favorite landscape type, since the ground is the
same color scheme as the mines. Ouch...
Note that the landscape shape you start out with, won't necessarily be the
same one you end up with. As you'll see later in the weapons section, a major
part of Worms is blasting, bombing, drilling, digging, and shooting chunks out
of the terrain.
//// They Kill Worms, Don't They?
As stated, the goal of Worms is kill every opposing worm. Fortunately, Worms
offers no fewer than three ways to do in the little guys.
[] Wear Them Down
Each worm starts with 100 points of health, which is worn away by various
weapon impacts. When it's all gone, your worm waves goodbye and blows himself
up.
[] Drown Them
Underlying every level is a vast expanse of water. Worms can't swim, so
knocking one into the drink will kill it instantly.
[] Kick Them Out
If a worm ever strays beyond the far left or right boundaries of the
playfield, it's considered dead. This is something to consider when using
explosives...
The guys who wrote Worms must have been Street Fighter II fans, because at the
top of the screen is an SF2-style health bar, complete with "KO" in the
center. Each bar represents the total health of each team, and is a good way
to judge how well (or how badly) you're doing.
//// Weapons
The selection of weapons available to you in Worms is vast. From close-combat
to long-range, there's a weapon for almost every situation. You start the game
with access to every weapon, except the ones marked "Weapon Crate Only".
Weapon crates are dropped every three or four turns, and may contain:
[] Cluster Bomb
[] Homing Missile
[] Teleport
[] Air Strike
[] Dynamite
[] Minigun
[] Banana Bomb
[] Exploding Sheep
Here's the part you've been waiting for, the Worms arsenal--
[] Bazooka - 50 pts (area affect)
This is your basic weapon of choice in Worms. Unlimited ammo by default and
good damage, but hard to aim over long distances, since bazooka shots are
affected by wind. Fire bazookas by setting an angle and firing. The longer
you hold fire before releasing, the faster the shot.
[] Homing Missile - 50 pts (area effect)
Basically a guided bazooka shot, homing missiles take a bit of getting used
to. When firing, you pick a target, then fire the same as a bazooka.
They're unguided for the first half-second or so after you fire them, so
the amount of initial velocity you give one directly affects where it will
be when the guidance mechanism takes over. If you have a straight shot at
your target, aim up and only give about a half-bar of charge... the missile
will gain some altitude and then cruise straight in to its target. If the
only way to get at your target is from above, aim straight up and give it
full power. Depending on the wind and how far away from your target you
are, it often helps to target the missile about a worms-width toward your
worm.
[] Grenade - 50 pts (area effect)
Grenades have the advantage of not being affected by wind, but also don't
explode on impact. Firing is as with the bazooka... set an angle, give it
some power, and fire. You can vary the fuse time and bounce height as
needed for each situation... nothing more frustrating than bouncing a
grenade right off an enemy worm's head, only to have it explode harmlessly
a few feet away. Caution-- don't attempt to fire grenades (or cluster
bombs) when in a tunnel. When your worm attempts to kick the grenade
towards its target, the grenade will become lodged in the ceiling, and
then, well... you figure it out.
[] Cluster Bombs - 50 pts + 30 pts x 5 (area effect)
The poor-mans's airstrike, Cluster Bombs are fired just like Grenades,
except that when they explode, they spit out 5 bomblets (for up to 150
points of damage). These are best used to shower an area with bomblets, or
to Instant Kill a single worm.
[] Shotgun - 25 pts x 2 (area effect)
Unique among Worms weapons, the shotgun lets you fire, move, then fire
again. You can't use the Ninja Rope or Bungee while in the move phase, but
you can fall any distance without ending your turn. The shotgun invites
creative uses-- you can come out of hiding, fire, then retreat. You can
finish off two weak but separated worms. You can blow a hole in the
landscape, then shoot a worm into it. You can even send a mine bouncing
toward a worm. The shotgun has a surprisingly large area effect, so be
careful about using it in close quarters.
[] Uzi - 5 pts x 10
Kind of a disappointing weapon, the Uzi is best used on very weak worms.
You almost never get the full 50 points of damage out of this, since each
bullet tosses the target worm all over the place. An often-overlooked use
of the Uzi is for tunneling. It's not as quick as the Blowtorch, but can
easily be used to extend a tunnel without exposing your worm to the blast
effect of Bazooka shots.
[] Fire Punch - 30 pts
Your worm punches the enemy worm for a flat 30 points of damage. The real
use of this move though, is to toss worms off the screen or into water (or
onto mines). The worm is tossed more up than forward, which is useful for
getting worms over small obstacles. While punching, your worm leaps up into
the air, penetrating any overhanging landscape... so you can use the Fire
Punch to collect Weapon Crates. Be careful you don't punch into a mine,
because-- a) It'll really hurt, and b) Due to an obscure bug, any other
worms you get tossed into will take 30 points of damage, as if you had
punched them too.
[] Dragon Ball - 30 pts
Basically the same move as the Fire Punch, this one tosses worms more
horizontally than vertically. Unlike the Fire Punch, you can be a bit more
than a worm-width away, since your worm actually shoots out a little blue
fireball. This fireball can also be used to push mines a small distance.
[] Dynamite - 75 pts (area effect)
A pretty straightforward weapon. Just drop near your target (or group of
targets), and run away! Since Dynamite falls to the ground in front of your
worm, you can drop it off cliffs. Dynamite is also great for tossing worms
off the screen.
[] Mine - 50 pts (area effect)
Identical to the mines that litter the landscape at the beginning of each
round