Fujiology Archive/fujiology_archive_v1_0.iso/!MAGS/JEO/JEO_0401.ZIP/JEO_0401.TXT

Text File | 2000-12-31 | 263.8 KB | 6,164 lines

 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 :: Volume 4, Issue 1      JAGUAR EXPLORER ONLINE      December 31, 2000 ::
 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 ::                                                                      ::
 :: JAGUAR ............. News, Reviews, & Solutions ............. JAGUAR ::
 ::    EXPLORER ........... For the Online Jaguar .......... EXPLORER    ::
 ::       ONLINE ................ Community ............... ONLINE       ::
 ::                                                                      ::
 ::      Published and Copyright (c) 2000 by White Space Publishers      ::
 ::                          All Rights Reserved                         ::
 ::     """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""     ::
 ::     Publisher Emeritus Plus .................... Michael Lindsay     ::
 ::     Publisher Emeritus .............................. Travis Guy     ::
 ::     Editor/Publisher ............................ Clay Halliwell     ::
 ::     Lynx Editor .................................... Carl Forhan     ::
 ::     JEO Mailing List Maintainer .................. Joachim Vance     ::
 ::     CompuServe Uploader ......................... Richard Turner     ::
 ::     America Online Uploader ....................... Lonnie Smith     ::
 ::     FidoNet Uploader ................................ Troy Cheek     ::
 ::                                                                      ::
 ::                             Contributors:                            ::
 ::                       (voluntary and otherwise)                      ::
 ::                       """""""""""""""""""""""""                      ::
 ::               Scott Le Grand, Jeff Minter, Lee Krueger               ::
 ::                                                                      ::
 ::                      Telecommunicated to you via:                    ::
 ::                      """"""""""""""""""""""""""""                    ::
 ::        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: [e-mail]              ::
 ::                                                                      ::
 ::       To subscribe to JEO, send e-mail to the request address,       ::
 ::       with the following line (no subject):                          ::
 ::                                                                      ::
 ::       subscribe JEO                                                  ::
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 ::       Your request will be automatically processed and your e-mail   ::
 ::       address will be subscribed to the list. To unsubscribe from    ::
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 ::       unsubscribe JEO                                                ::
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 ::       to the same request address, making sure you send it from      ::
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 ::       Subscription problems requiring human assistance can be sent   ::
 ::       to [e-mail].  Thanks to Maximized Software for   ::
 ::       hosting the JEO list.                                          ::
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 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


                             Table of Contents

* From the Editor ............................ Atari through the Millennia.

* Jaguar Tackboard .................. Newsletters, Message Boards, Mailing
                                           Lists, FAQs, Codes, Development
                                                List, Mail Order Directory.

* CyberChatter .......................................... Overheard Online.

* BattleSphere News ..................................... The Final Update.

* Llatest from Llamaland ........................................ Yak yaks.

* JagFest 2000: The Aftermath ...................... Let's Mess with Texas!

* CGE 2000: A Classic Games Enthusiast's View ............ Classic Nirvana.

* Shutdown ............................ Around the world and up your block.


                             --==--==--==--==--


   ||  From the Editor
   ||  By: Clay Halliwell
\__//  [e-mail]
       ------------------------------------------------------------------

Here lies before you a testament to the wicked power of procrastination. 2000
had the distinction of being a year in which there was a remarkable spike in
activity in the Jaguar world and in my own life. While BattleSphere and Brett
Hull were going on eBay, I was winding up my Air Force career and
transitioning back to the real world. Songbird released game after game,
JagFest 2K came and went, and I was moving and getting started at a new job.
JEO just kept getting put off and put off and all the while more and more news
kept piling up (Hasbro sold Atari to Infogrames?!), making the task of a new
issue even more daunting. Getting hooked on System Shock 2 (www.sshock2.com)
didn't help either.

So here we are, at the dawn of the new millennium (for real this time), and
I've done the only thing I can... gather up all the "shovelware" JEO content
and do a massive catch-up issue. New articles, cheat codes, reviews, and
interviews will have to wait for next year. My deepest apologies to all the
Jag fans out there whom I've kept waiting so very, very long. At least you've
all had nice new games to play!

Before I launch into a hurried listing of the interesting Atarian events this
year, a question: Does anyone actually still rely on the mailing list,
FidoNet, CIS, or AOL for their issues of JEO?

A moment of silence for two grave losses to our cultural electronic memory.
First, the dearly departed GEnie. Apparently when 2000 rolled around they just
shut things down, taking with them the birthplace of IAJD (Independent Atari
Jaguar Developers), and many a meg of spirited Jaguar discussion. Second, the
horribly-mutated deja.com (formerly the much cooler dejanews.com) took the
bulk of their Usenet archive offline early this year. Currently the archives
only go back to May 15, 1999, meaning that all those old Jag discussions are
now inaccessible, save for what little has been preserved in JEO's
CyberChatter section.

In the Really Old News department, the United States Post Office selected an
image of some kids playing Defender on an Atari 2600 to represent videogames
in the 80's. Here's a link:
<http://www.usps.com/images/stamps/2000/vidgames.htm>

On June 18 of this year, longtime Atari-stuff dealer HardySoft shut down.
Best of luck to you in your future endeavors, Charlie!

Hans Reutter of the CyberRoach site has a very nice interview with Atari
tester Faran Thomason up:
<http://www.cyberroach.com/cyromag/nine/default.htm>

Gorf 2000 for the Jag is, sadly, dead. I received this email from Gorf 2K
lead programmer Steve Scavone:

     "Look for G2K on PC or Dreamcast. Jag is dead, impossible to
     program and just plain futile to bother with anymore. The
     machine was too little too late even though it was the first
     NG machine out. Atari blew it and I am not going to waste
     any more time trying to get a reasonably fast 3D engine to
     work. Too many bugs in hardware to work around and the Jag
     could never pull of what the PC and Dreamcast can do for Gorf
     2000. Sorry for the disappointment but that is how it stands
     at this point. If 4Play licenses its BattleSphere engine to
     us then we may reconsider but I refuse to battle the beast
     known as the Atari Jaguar anymore. Gorf classic will be the
     only title to make it to the Jaguar and that will not be any
     time soon."

Did you know the BCD CatBox wasn't the *original* CatBox? Back in the 80's
Atari made an arcade game test fixture called... the CAT BOX! The "CAT" was
an acronym for Computer Aided Troubleshooter. This info is thanks to a
recent eBay auction of said item. I've included one of the pictures in this
issue's archive. You can see the rest of the images here:
<http://www.flippers.com/auctionimages/>

On March 6th of this year, BattleSphere #1 became the most expensive Jaguar
cartridge ever, going for $1,575 dollars on eBay.

Also in March, The Atari Times editor/publisher Greg George got married.
And in true fanatic Atarian fashion, there was an Atari Fuji cake on hand
for devouring. I've included a pic in this issue's archive, and the full
set is available here:
<http://home.att.net/~greggeorge/wedding/cake.html>

In August, the Dallas Morning News printed an article on collecting classic
game and computer systems, titled, "Megabytes of Memories". The Atari
Jaguar was prominently featured in this article, and clearly declared to be
64-bit! Jag fan Jack Woolfe scanned parts of this article and posted them
to his web page:
<http://home.att.net/~omega.woolf/videogames/jaguar/dmn.htm>

Want to show the world you're a true Atari fan? Head on over to
<http://www.atari.net> and get yourself an @atari.net email address! And be
sure to click on a banner ad or two while you're there.

From out of the blue, 2600 fan (and genius engineer) Benjamin J. Heckendorn
wowed the world with his VCSp, a truly portable 2600. And now he's working
on a second version, dubbed the Vagabond, which aims to be scarcely larger
than a GameBoy Color! These devices are amazing pieces of work, both
functionally and aesthetically. Check out his page here:
<http://www.classicgaming.com/vcsp/>

Thanks to Curt Vendel for pointing out that the Atari building on the
Microsoft TerraServer site linked to from the JEO site is actually a bit
off. This is the correct link:
<http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.asp?S=10&T=1&X=2934&Y=20702&Z=10&W=
0>
Curt had this to say:

     "The building on the right-hand side of Borregas at the
     bottom is 1196, across the street is 1195 and to the left of
     1195 is 1172, above 1195 and 1173 is 1265 (Warner days Atari
     HQ) and the building above 1196 is nothing, non-Atari, the
     next building up which you can't see was Engineering at
     1272, one of the coolest buildings as far as history is
     concerned. Over to the upper-right side of the image was one
     of Apple's first buildings. Atari employees at 1272 used to
     go to the receptionist desk at the old Apple building, pick
     up the Apple stickers, and put them into the urinals in the
     bathrooms so that employees could "pee on Apple computer'."

Speaking of Curt, the Atari Historical Society has managed to track down a
Jaguar II prototype, and has lots of nice pictures online at:
<http://www.atari-history.com/videogames/jaguar/jag2.html>

Ever wanted to use a Jaguar controller on your PC? You might want to try
the DirectPad Pro, a hardware/software combo that lets you interface a huge
variety of console controllers to your PC, including the Jag pad.

Anybody know what the heck is up with this site?
<http://www.atarians.com/>

Back when Elian Gonzalez was big news, someone came up with this amusing
AvP parody:
<http://www.spentbrass.com/art/evp.html>

Finally, much, much thanks to Michael Shaver for sending me a proper ZIP of
AEO 2.2. This issue had been trapped in some weird old compression format.



                             --==--==--==--==--


   ||  Jaguar Tackboard
   ||  Confirmed information about Atari's Jaguar
\__//  Compiled from online and official sources
       -----------------------------------------------------------------

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// 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>


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// 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>


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Atari News Mailing List
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subscribe to the Atari News eGroups list. Be sure to visit
<http://www.egroups.com/group/atari> and get on this list to stay up-to-
date on all the latest Atari-related announcements.

The list covers news items relevant to Atari fans, from unearthed 2600
prototypes to new Jaguar games to Infogrames updates of timeless classics
for modern systems.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Jaguar FAQ
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Robert Jung <[e-mail]> 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/FAQ_-_Jaguar>.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Jaguar Cheats and Codes
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Clay "No Handle" Halliwell <[e-mail]> 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 <[e-mail]> maintains the Concise Compendium
of Frequently Asked Codes, Moves, and Cheats (FACMAC). It's available via
FTP from <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
" " """""                             """   """""""""            """""""""
n   Arkanna                            ?    Storm Works
u C Age of Darkness                    ?    OMC Games
u C Assassin, The                      ?    OMC Games
  J Bong+ 1999                         ?    Just Claws Software
?   Deathwatch                         ?    Data Design
  J Jagmania (PacMania clone)          ?    Matthias Domin
  J Jagmarble (Marble Madness clone)   ?    Matthias Domin
  J JagTris (Tetris clone)             ?    Bastian Schick
  J *NEXT*                             ?    Force Design
  J Painter                            ?    Sinister
? C Soulstar                           ?    Core Design Ltd.
?   Space War 2000                     ?    Atari
    Total Carnage                      ?    Handmade Software
n   Virtual VCS                        ?    Temp. Sanity Designs


//// 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
  BattleSphere                       NEW    4Play                ScatoLOGIC
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
  Hyper Force                        NEW    Visual Impact        Songbird
  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
C Myst Demo                           5     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
  Protector                          NEW    Bethesda/Songbird    Songbird
  Raiden                              6     Imagitec Design      Atari
  Rayman                             10     UBI Soft             UBI Soft
  Ruiner                              6     High Voltage         Atari
  Sensible Soccer                     6     Williams Brothers    Telegames
  Skyhammer                          NEW    Rebellion            Songbird
  Soccer Kid                         NEW    Krisalis             Songbird
C Space Ace                           3     ReadySoft            ReadySoft
  Super Burnout                       7     Shen                 Atari
  Supercross 3D                       5     Tiertex Ltd.         Atari
  Syndicate                           7     Bullfrog             Ocean
  System Test Cartridge               6     Atari                Atari
  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 Virtual Light Machine               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     Team 17              Telegames
  Zero 5                              7     Caspian Software     Telegames
  Zool 2                              7     Gremlin Graphics     Atari
  Zoop                                6     Viacom               Atari

Total Carts     56
Total CDs       15 (counting VLM)
Total Combined  71

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/Firmware 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
Jaguar System Test Cartridge   Atari
Composite Cable                Atari
S-Video Cable                  Atari
Stereo Audio Interface (proto) Atari
VoiceModem (proto)             Atari/Phylon
Controller Extension Cable     Best Electronics
CatBox                         ICD/Black Cat Design
Boomerang controller           Matt (Poland)
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
Jaguar Unmodified Game Server  ScatoLOGIC
Rapid Fire Controller          Songbird
Rotary Controller              JediJeff(?)
Jaguar JAMMA Joystick          GOAT(?)


//// The Short Term Schedule

No projected releases.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// JEO Mail Order Directory
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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    [phone]
Email  <[e-mail]>
Web    <http://www.myatari.com>

//// Best Electronics
Mail   2021 The Alameda, Suite 290
       San Jose, CA 95126-1127
Voice  408-243-6950
Email  <[e-mail]>
Web    <http://www.best-electronics-ca.com>

//// Dentec Distribution
Mail   465 Milner Ave #3
       Scarborough, Ontario M1B 2K4 Canada
Voice  416-292-2996
Fax    [phone]
       416-292-248
Email  <[e-mail]>
Web    <http://www.dentec.com/>

//// GameMasters
Mail   14393 E. 14th Street, Suite 208
       San Leandro, CA 94577
Voice  510-483-4263
Email  <[e-mail]>
Web    <http://www.game-masters.com>

//// GOAT Store - NEW
Email  <[e-mail]>
       <[e-mail]>
Web    <http://www.goatstore.com>

//// Multimedia 1.0
Mail   18 Saint Mark's Place
       New York City, NY 10003
Voice  212-539-1039
Fax    [phone]
Email  <[e-mail]>
Web    <http://www.multimedia1.com>

//// O'Shea, Ltd.
Mail   330 West 47th Street #203
       Kansas City, MO 64112
Voice  816-531-1177
Fax    [phone]
Email  <[e-mail]>
Web    <http://www.oshealtd.com>

//// Songbird Productions - NEW
Mail   1736 Chippewa Drive NW
       Rochester, MN 55901
Email  <[e-mail]>
Web    <http://songbird.atari.net>

//// Telegames
Mail   P.O. Box 901
       Lancaster, Texas 75146
Voice  972-228-0690
Orders 972-224-7200
Fax    [phone]
Email  <[e-mail]>
Web    <http://www.telegames.com>

//// United Game Source
Mail   232 East Eau Gallie Blvd
       Indian Harbour Beach, FL 32937
Orders 800-564-1458
Fax    [phone]
Email  <[e-mail]>
Web    <http://www.unitedgame.com>

//// Video 61 & Atari Sales - NEW
Mail   22735 Congo St NE
       Stacy, MN 55079
Voice  651-462-2500
Email  <[e-mail]>
Web    <http://www.angelfire.com/mn/video61/>

//// 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    [phone]
Email  <[e-mail]>
Web    <http://www.vglq.com>

//// Video Game Source
Mail   Salzbruecker Str. 36
       21335 Lueneburg - Germany
Orders +(49) 4131-406278
Fax    +(49) 4131-406278
Email  <[e-mail]>
Web    <http://www.atarihq.de>

//// Zentanyx Multimedia - NEW
Mail   2910 Illinois Avenue
       Dubuque, Iowa 52001
Email  <[e-mail]>
Web    <http://www.zentanyx.com>


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Announcements and Press Releases
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

//// Index

     10 Jan 00 - Songbird Acquires Unreleased Lynx Properties
     18 Jan 00 - Othello is Coming for the Lynx
     23 Feb 00 - Songbird Now Accepts Online Payments with PayPal
     29 Feb 00 - ScatoLOGIC Releases the Long-Awaited BattleSphere
     18 Mar 00 - Requests for BattleSphere Are Now Being Taken
     13 Apr 00 - Songbird Announces Future Atari Lineup
     21 May 00 - Minor Skyhammer Delay
     09 Jun 00 - Songbird Announces CGE2K Lineup
     17 Jul 00 - Songbird CGE2K Update
     31 Jul 00 - Songbird CGE2K Report
     10 Aug 00 - Songbird is Moving
     14 Aug 00 - Songbird Update
     16 Aug 00 - JUGS is Here
     18 Aug 00 - Jaguar JAMMA Joystick LX Released
     09 Sep 00 - New Games from Songbird
     17 Sep 00 - You Can Now Order JUGS with Your Credit Card
     28 Sep 00 - New Lynx and Jaguar Items
     15 Nov 00 - New Book on History of Video Games
     21 Nov 00 - Christmas Goodies from Songbird
     02 Dec 00 - JagFest 2K1 News
     06 Dec 00 - Infogrames Buys Atari
                 Championship Rally for the Atari Lynx


//// SONGBIRD ACQUIRES UNRELEASED LYNX PROPERTIES FROM BEYOND GAMES

January 10, 2000

For immediate release:

ROCHESTER, MN -- Continuing the trend of supporting orphaned Atari
platforms, Songbird Productions recently acquired full rights and source
code to three unreleased Lynx properties from former Lynx and Jaguar
developer Beyond Games. The three properties are: Cybervirus, Ultra Vortex,
and Mechtiles.

Cybervirus is an incredible first-person perspective, mission-based action
game based on the Lynx BattleWheels engine set in an apocalyptic future
where rogue computers and virus-infected robotic warriors threaten the very
survival of humanity. Ultra Vortex, the original Lynx version of what
became Ultra Vortek on the Atari Jaguar, is an awesome two-player fighting
game. Mechtiles is a multiplayer game of giant robot combat, also based on
the award-winning BattleWheels engine.

Carl Forhan, owner of Songbird Productions, said, "Beyond Games has been
enthusiastic about getting these properties transferred so that Songbird
may pick up where they left off. I'm excited to have the opportunity to
finish up these games and publish them for the benefit of Lynx fans
everywhere."

At press time, Songbird anticipated that Cybervirus would be the first game
completed and published later in 2000. The other games will be evaluated
for their relative completeness before being put on schedule. All the
acquired games are the sole property of Songbird Productions.

To keep up to date with the latest news at Songbird Productions, be sure to
visit the company web site at http://songbird.uni.cc, or send an email to
[e-mail].

Copyright 2000 Songbird Productions. All rights reserved. This article may
be reprinted in its entirety.


//// OTHELLO IS COMING FOR THE LYNX

January 18, 2000

Long-time Lynx hobbyist Harry Dodgson is releasing Othello for the Atari
Lynx in February 2000 through Video 61. This excellent port of the classic
board game includes multiple play modes (single player, head-to-head, and
more), attractive graphics, and crisp audio.

You may contact Video 61 by visiting their web page, located at:
http://www.atarisales.com

Ask about Othello for the Lynx, and tell them you heard about it from
Songbird Productions!

Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions


//// SONGBIRD NOW ACCEPTS ONLINE PAYMENTS WITH PAYPAL

February 23, 2000

Songbird Productions now accepts online payments with PayPal. Simply visit
the link below, sign up for a FREE PayPal account, and PayPal will even
deposit $10 into your new account (no strings attached).

https://secure.paypal.com/refer/pal=forhan%40yahoo.com

Show your support for Songbird, and create a new PayPal account today.

Also, don't forget, if you have the $10 Songbird coupons, you need to place
an order by 3/1/00 to use them. Check out the Songbird catalog at
http://songbird.atari.net.

Finally, Hyper Force balance payments and new orders are now being taken.
Please send in your balance or new order ASAP. Email [e-mail]
with any questions about the new Jaguar games.

Sincerely,

Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions
http://songbird.atari.net


//// SCATOLOGIC RELEASES THE LONG AWAITED BATTLESPHERE(tm) FOR JAGUAR
     AND DONATES ALL PROFITS TO DIABETES RESEARCH

February 29, 2000

For immediate release:

CAPITOLA, CA -- Scatologic Inc. is pleased to announce that the long awaited
BattleSphere(tm) for the Atari Jaguar platform will soon ship, and that all
profits from the game will be donated to diabetes research.

BattleSphere(tm) is the awesome full 3D networked action shooter for the Atari
Jaguar. The game was developed by renowned Jaguar, NUON, PSX2 and PC developer
4Play, which recently merged with Scatologic Inc. to form the newest industry
powerhouse development team.

The highly anticipated BattleSphere(tm) combines the fast-action gameplay of a
first person shooter with the nonlinear aspects of a strategic campaign
simulator. Also included on the same cartridge are several additional play
variations which range from a pure classic arcade action game to a multi-
player networked deathmatch mode, where up to 32 players can dogfight for
control of the Universe. The game garnered acclaim from players when it was
demonstrated at the World Of Atari show in 1998, and it has received glowing
praise from industry leading publications like Next Generation Magazine and
Diehard GameFan magazine.

BattleSphere(tm) was completed several years ago, but the release has been
pending for some time due to the fact that the Jaguar ceased to be a
mainstream platform, and the software, tooling, and procedures required to
produce cartridges were lost and had to be recreated.


//// REQUESTS FOR BATTLESPHERE(tm) ARE NOW BEING TAKEN BY SCATOLOGIC INC.
     WITH NO PRICE INCREASE.

March 15, 2000

For immediate release:

CAPITOLA, CA -- ScatoLOGIC Inc. has begun taking requests for the eagerly
awaited BattleSphere(tm), the infamous game which recently rekindled interest
in older videogame systems.

In spite of the high costs of producing cartridges in small quantities,
ScatoLOGIC has announced that the price of the game will be the same $69.99
that mass produced games for the Jaguar originally listed for, and all profits
from sales are to be donated to diabetes research. "By taking our time and
carefully working out the details of purchasing materials and manufacturing
with companies who aren't out to gouge the classic gaming community, we were
able to keep our costs down to a level which is the same as these cartridges
were at when they were made in large-scale runs." said Stephanie Wukovitz,
ScatoLOGIC CTO. "We feel that our new price point is the maximum reasonable
price which people would be willing to pay for a 32-Megabit cartridge game. Of
course, even at this price there will be a very nice profit left over for
diabetes research." added Douglas Engel, ScatoLOGIC COO. Scott Le Grand,
ScatoLOGIC CEO also added "We've had such great support from the gaming
community that we put extra effort into meeting this price goal."

Requests for the first batch of BattleSphere cartridges are now being taken on
the ScatoLOGIC/BattleSphere website. Go to http://www.scatologic.com or
http://www.battlesphere.com to place a request.

BattleSphere(tm) is the awesome full 3D networked action shooter for the
Jaguar. The game was developed by renowned Jaguar, NUON, PSX2 and PC developer
4Play, which recently merged with ScatoLOGIC Inc. to form the newest industry
powerhouse development team.

Copyright 2000 ScatoLOGIC Inc. All rights reserved. This article may be
reprinted in its entirety. BattleSphere(tm) is copyright and trademark
4Play/ScatoLOGIC. All rights reserved.


//// SONGBIRD ANNOUNCES FUTURE ATARI LINEUP

April 14, 2000

For immediate release:

ROCHESTER, MN -- Songbird's fourth new Jaguar title in six months isn't
even out the door yet as word of more Atari Lynx and Jaguar projects has
surfaced. Carl Forhan, owner of Songbird Productions, remarked, "The
response of fans thus far to new Lynx titles and particularly in recent the
months to the new Jaguar titles has been substantial. I'm thrilled to have
been a part in bringing out some great games that might have otherwise been
lost forever, and equally exciting is the opportunity to discuss some
future projects for the Atari world."

Heading up the list is Cybervirus (TM) for the Atari Lynx. This incredible
3D mission-based action game will be a hit with every Lynx fan, since it's
based on the same game engine that gave Lynx fans BattleWheels. Next on the
list is Championship Racing (TM), a cool super-smooth overhead racing game
featuring multiple tracks, tight control, and multiplayer options! Finally,
Planar Wars 3D (working title) -- a game that puts you in the cockpit of
the last surviving defense starship -- and Ultravore (TM) -- an explosive
comlynxable fighting game -- will give Lynx fans even more to look forward
to down the road.

At press time, Songbird hopes to have at least one new Lynx game completed
in time for CGE2K but further details were unavailable.

Lest Jaguar fans lose hope, several future Jaguar projects are also under
consideration. One potential bright spot appeared recently as Songbird
acquired complete rights and source to the Virtual VCS, which emulates the
classic Atari VCS (or 2600) games on the Jaguar platform. Additionally,
Songbird has prototyped and will be producing a Rapid Fire Controller for
the Jaguar. This controller has been a hit with early testers, and greatly
enhances the gameplay in button-mashing games like Raiden and Zero 5.

New pages have been added for several upcoming releases on the Songbird web
pages. Be sure to check out:

http://songbird.atari.net

for the latest information! And be sure to stop by the Songbird booth in
CGE2K (http://www.cgexpo.com).

Copyright 2000 Songbird Productions. All rights reserved. This article may
be reprinted in its entirety.


//// MINOR SKYHAMMER DELAY

May 21, 2000

I'm sorry to report that due to unexpected manufacturing and real-life
complications, the release of Skyhammer will be delayed approximately one
week. Because of the late change of plans, no pre-orders can be shipped
early as I have tried to do in the past. I will attempt to ship as many
"Nov 1st, 1999" pre-orders as soon as the carts arrive, with most of the
international and remaining orders shipping within two weeks after that.

Also, Songbird is phasing out credit card processing via Multimedia 1.0, as
it was a temporary arrangement to help me handle a large volume of orders.
It would greatly reduce my expenses and also simply order tracking if
customers who wish to use credit cards could pay online via PayPal. It's
always free and very reliable. Check it out at:

https://secure.paypal.com/auction/pal=forhan%40yahoo.com

If you're already a PayPal member, simply send your payment to
songbird(at)atari(dot)net. International customers will need to send a
check or money order drawn on a USA bank (it should read "Bank of New York"
or "Bank of Delaware" or something similar on the front), or an
International Postal Money Order. Money Orders drawn on foreign banks can
_not_ be accepted and will be returned uncashed.

Thanks in advance for your understanding, and for the tremendous support
displayed by Atari fans over the last year. I've been very happy (though
often exhausted!) to be a part of releasing these "lost" games for the
Jaguar, and look forward to finding more products, both old and new, for
release on the Jaguar platform in the coming months.

Sincerely,

Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions
http://songbird.atari.net


//// SONGBIRD ANNOUNCES CGE2K LINEUP

June 9, 2000

For immediate release:

ROCHESTER, MN -- Songbird Productions recently unveiled its plans for new
products to be available at Classic Gaming Expo 2000, which will be held in
Las Vegas at the Jackie Gaughan Plaza Hotel during July 29-30.

Topping off the list is the long-awaited release of Crystal Mines II:
Buried Treasure. This Win-95/98/00 software allows consumers to build,
swap, and download new levels on their existing Crystal Mines II Lynx game
cartridge. Over 50 brand new levels are included, as well as the original
150+ CM2 levels. Plus, it includes all the tools and documentation needed
to help anyone get started designing their own levels. MSRP for CM2:BT is
$29.95 for the CD, and $49.95 for the CD and Lynx-to-PC cable.

In an unexpected move, Songbird also announced the availability of a "CGE2K
special edition" version of Remnant, the highly-anticipated 3D space combat
game for the Lynx. "This is a game no Lynx fan should be without,"
commented Carl Forhan, owner of Songbird and the developer of Remnant. "It
puts the Lynx into high gear -- from the explosions to the 3D scaling to
the audio, Remnant sets a new standard for 'next generation' Lynx games."
This special edition of Remnant is a complete game, and features more than
a dozen sectors to clear in the Arcade play mode. A future version of
Remnant is anticipated to include a Strategic play mode as well, where the
player must repel enemy squadrons and protect friendly outposts. MSRP for
Remnant is $39.95.

Not to leave Jaguar fans out, Songbird also has plans to offer for sale a
new Rapid Fire Controller for the Atari Jaguar. Carl explained the benefits
of the new controller: "Titles such as Zero 5 and Raiden are great games on
the Jaguar, but can suffer from slow fire rates which force the player to
mash buttons repeatedly. The RFC is simply a modified 18-button controller
with a special circuit that allows the player to enable or disable multiple
fire rates on the A and B buttons." The RFC has been tested by several
individuals and received very favorable feedback so far. MSRP for the RFC
is $39.95. Only limited quantities will be available for sale at CGE2K.

Songbird Productions is the premier developer and publisher for the Atari
Lynx and Jaguar. To keep up to date with the latest news at Songbird
Productions, be sure to visit the company web site at:
http://songbird.atari.net.

This message may be reprinted in its entirety.


//// SONGBIRD CGE2K UPDATE

July 13, 2000

For immediate release:

ROCHESTER, MN -- In a further demonstration of Songbird's support of CGE2K,
owner Carl Forhan is pleased to announce some game competitions and special
pricing for CGE2K attendees.

Songbird plans to hold high score competitions for the following games:
Jaguar Protector and Lynx Remnant. Winners will receive selected Songbird
prizes and discount coupons. Only a limited number of entries will be
allowed, on a first-come basis.

Employees and relatives of Songbird and CGE Services are not eligible to
enter the contests. See the Songbird table for the complete rules and entry
forms.

And of course, all the new Songbird Jaguar and Lynx games will be available
for play and purchase, along with a ton of other Atari merchandise. Jaguar
Skyhammer was just recently released to a horde of grateful Atari fans, and
other games such as Protector have also been surprise hits with customers.
Some Songbird items will be offered at special discounted rates, only
available to CGE2K attendees. "I know many Atari fans make a big sacrifice
to attend a show like CGE2K," acknowledged Carl. "I want to give something
back to the fans, by giving attendees-only a chance to buy Songbird
merchandise at great prices."

Finally, CGE2K attendees will also get the first glimpse at future Songbird
titles, such as Championship Racing and Cybervirus, as well as some long-
awaited cheats for games like Ponx, Lexis, Protector, and Hyper Force.

Songbird Productions is the premier developer and publisher for the Atari
Lynx and Jaguar. To keep up to date with the latest news at Songbird
Productions, be sure to visit the company web site at:
http://songbird.atari.net.

This message may be reprinted in its entirety.

Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions
http://songbird.atari.net


//// SONGBIRD CGE2K REPORT

July 31, 2000

Wow, just got back to MN early this morning after a fun but exhausting
expo. Not sure what attendance was like this year vs. last year, but I do
know that Sunday attendance was a big improvement over last year. And I
stayed VERY busy at the Songbird booth the entire time! It was rare that I
had more than 5 minutes go by without someone wanting to try a Jag or Lynx
game, see some unreleased stuff, etc. People got to play Lynx Cybervirus,
Eye of the Beholder, and Relief Pitcher, while on the Jag side we did have
Phase Zero and a prototype 'shareware' cart for demo.

Songbird customers got to pick up the new Songbird Jaguar games at great
prices, and I went through almost all the assorted Jaguar stock I brought
with me. Lynx sales were a little slower than I hoped, but the new games
were still well received and I even found some new customers for Ponx and
Lexis! Not to mention equipping a few former INTV and 5200 developers with
low-cost Lynx developer kits which was great fun... =^)

I didn't get much time to stop by other booths, but it is always great to
chat with Hasbro, Telegames, B&C, CGE staff, and the rest.

Thanks to everyone who made this another incredible event! I hope to see
even more people attend next year. Considering the exclusive game releases,
great deals on new and old merchandise, the chance to meet former and
current game developers, the swap meet, and the one-of-a-kind museum, I
think there are plenty of reasons to make CGE a 'must-go' event for
classic/Atari gamers.

Sincerely,

Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions
http://songbird.atari.net


//// SONGBIRD IS MOVING

August 10, 2000

Songbird Productions is moving to a new location effective immediately. The
new address is:

Songbird Productions
1736 Chippewa Drive NW
Rochester, MN 55901

Please update your records appropriately. Any orders already in transit to
the old address should be forwarded correctly by the US Post Office, but as
always feel free to inquire via email with any questions on a current
order.

Sincerely,

Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions
http://songbird.atari.net


//// SONGBIRD UPDATE

August 14, 2000

Due to the recent move, the Songbird Productions mail order business will
be closed for most of August while we relocate our merchandise. Any orders
received will be temporarily held until then.

Also, Songbird has almost exhausted its supply of new Jaguar products.
Soccer Kid is out of stock, Hyper Force has only one copy left, and
Protector and Skyhammer have a few copies each. When Skyhammer is gone, it
is gone and will likely never be reproduced again. The other games will
have a second run made in the next 2-3 months.

Likewise, supplies of Ponx, SFX, and Lexis are running low, and there are
no plans to reproduce these games once they have sold out.

Once Songbird re-opens, we will offer a bunch of new products for sale,
including Jaguar Rapid Fire Controllers, Lynx Remnant, and Lynx Crystal
Mines II: Buried Treasure. All are limited edition items that may not be
offered beyond their initial run.

Thanks for your continued support, and for your patience during this
transition.

Sincerely,

Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions
http://songbird.atari.net


//// JUGS IS HERE

August 16, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Underground Software Loader comes to Jaguar Platform

The fabled JUGS (Jaguar Unmodified Game Server) proves to be more than just
a rumor

August 14 , 2000 --  In a moved that shocked the Underground Jaguar
Development Community to it's very core, the JUGS Team officially announced
the availability of it's JUGS system today. The JUGS System has been
rumored to exist for many months, but until now it was largely dismissed as
an elaborate hoax. With the addition of this system to the available
Underground Jaguar Development Tools, the ability to load and run
Underground Jaguar Software is now within reach of the masses.

The loss of the key to the Jaguar internal encryption routines has
prohibited many people from being able to load and run software created
since the Jaguar console was declared an open system. Until recently the
only way to use this new software was to own an Official Jaguar Development
System / FLASH Cartridge, or to modify a Jaguar console to circumvent the
operating system encryption routines.

[Note - Songbird Productions has also published new software available in
cartridge format since the Jaguar was declared an open system.]

The JUGS System was revealed via the Official JUGS Website at
www.buyjugs.com to consist of a special cable to connect to your PC
Compatible, a proprietary PC based loading utility program, and
sophisticated server firmware piggybacked within the BattleSphere(tm)
Jaguar Game Cartridge. Using a special code embedded within
BattleSphere(tm), software can be loaded into the RAM memory in any Jaguar
console and then executed. JUGS bypasses the Jaguar's internal encryption
routines by running software after the BattleSphere(tm) game has passed
encryption tests on power-up. The fact that the server code is executed
from an existing cartridge enables the product to be the only one of its
kind which does not require any soldering or cutting of the Jaguar
circuitry.

For more information, visit www.buyjugs.com, or www.battlesphere.com,
or contact: [e-mail]


//// JAGUAR JAMMA JOYSTICK LX RELEASED

August 18, 2000

The GOAT Store's official modification to the popular Jaguar JAMMA Joystick
is officially ready for sale through the GOAT Stores website
(www.goatstore.com). The Jaguar JAMMA Joystick LX is the second version of
the original Jaguar JAMMA Joystick that sports a larger base, as well as a
modified button configuration.

Unfortunately, the GOAT Stores website does not currently have any pictures
of the Jaguar JAMMA Joystick LX, but they are hoping to get some by the end
of the month.  The Jaguar JAMMA Joystick LX's price has been set at $74.90
and comes in a variety of colors. Please direct any questions to The GOAT
([e-mail]).


//// NEW GAMES FROM SONGBIRD

September 9, 2000

Songbird is back, and ready to blow you away with incredible new games and
hardware for the Atari Lynx and Jaguar!

Looking for some cool space combat action on your Lynx? Try Remnant for the
Lynx, brought to you by Songbird! This awesome 3D game features 20
spectacular waves of alien invaders and meteors for you to eliminate. Only
70 copies of this special CGE2K edition were made, and no more will be
produced, so get yours while they last!

The long-awaited Crystal Mines 2: Buried Treasure for your Win95/98/00 PC
is here! This fantastic add-on allows you to design and download NEW LEVELS
to your CM2 cartridge on a real Atari Lynx. Plus, over 50 brand new levels
are included on the CD, along with all the original levels so you can check
out that one puzzle that's frustrated you for years. [CM2 cartridge and
Lynx/PC serial cable not included.]

For Jag fans, the Rapid Fire Controller is exactly what you need to blow
away those high-energy shooter games like Raiden and Zero 5. It features
independent A and B rapid fire support, plus a speed selector for 5, 10,
15, or 20 pulses per second. Don't pass this one up!

New merchandise has also been added, such as the JagLink and Ruiner Pinball
for the Jaguar and Hockey and Robotron for the Lynx.

*** SPECIAL *** Lexis only $29.95 with ANY order! Just mention "Lexis
Blowout" and place your order by October 1st, 2000.

Quantities are limited on all Songbird merchandise, so please confirm your
order via email to [e-mail] before ordering. Check out the web
site below for information and prices on all Songbird merchandise.

Sincerely,

Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions
http://songbird.atari.net


//// YOU CAN NOW ORDER JUGS WITH YOUR CREDIT CARD

September 17, 2000

BUYJUGS.COM is now accepting credit card payments.

The Smash-Hit Underground Software Loader JUGS is now available for
purchase with your credit card via PayPal! No more messy money-orders or
currency exchange woes.

Pay with credit card and get games like NATIVE, ASTEROIDS, and PAINTER
running in less time!!!

What is JUGS? You ask... Simply run on over to http://www.buyjugs.com and
see what JUGS is all about!!!

How can I pay with my credit card??? Just browse over to:
http://www.buyjugs.com/HowCanIGetJUGS.htm and see!

Need a second opinion??? Check out the JUGS review at:
http://addie.voicegateway.com/reviewjag/jugs.html

JUGS: Breathing NEW life into your Jaguar!!!!


//// NEW LYNX AND JAGUAR ITEMS

September 28, 2000

CHAMPIONSHIP RALLY COMING SOON FOR THE LYNX

If you're hungry for a multiplayer overhead racer for the Lynx, with tons
of tracks and player options, check out Championship Rally coming this
Christmas from Songbird! The web site was recently updated with the latest
screen shots, and the game is currently in final beta test.

EXPERIENCE RAPID FIRE ON THE JAGUAR

Songbird has a limited supply of Rapid Fire Controllers for the Jaguar
available for $39.95 each. These awesome modified controllers breathe new
life into games like Raiden and Zero 5!

YOU MUST PROTECT THE REMNANT

Take on the role of the last fighter pilot fending off waves of alien
invaders in this instant classic for the Lynx! Incredible 3D scaling and
big explosions make this game a must-have for Lynx fans. Available now,
$39.95.

DIGGING FOR GOLD

Crystal Mines II will never be the same! Get CM2: Buried Treasure today,
and start designing and downloading new levels to your Lynx. Features over
50 brand new levels, plus all the original levels viewable in the included
editor. (Lynx/PC serial cable also required, not included). Available now,
$29.95.

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS...

Songbird is always pursuing more Lynx and Jaguar titles. Expect more
releases well into 2001, and as always, stay tuned to
http://songbird.atari.net for all the latest on Songbird Productions and
the Jaguar and Lynx!

And be sure to pick up the October issues of GameFan and Next Generation,
for great coverage of new Jaguar products and CGE2K, respectively.

Sincerely,

Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions
http://songbird.atari.net


//// NEW BOOK ON HISTORY OF VIDEO GAMES

November 14, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(cover and author images upon request)

NEW BOOK REVEALS INSIDERS LOOK INTO THE  HISTORY OF VIDEO GAMES

    NOVEMBER 14-MSNBC and Access Magazine video game columnist Steven L.
Kent announced today the release of "The First Quarter: A 25-year History
of Video Games", his long-awaited book featuring stories about the birth,
near death, and metamorphosis of the video game industry.
    Kent, who is has written about video games for such divers publications
as American Heritage and The Japan Times, invested over seven years to
interview industry executives and game designers for this 476-page book.
    "The way I have constructed this book, it is almost half quotes and
half narrative," says Kent.  "Anybody can write a history of video games,
and it may be accurate or it may be full of holes.  My goal was to let
readers learn this history through the eyes of the people who lived it."
    Kent conducted over 500 interviews with such people as Steven "Slug"
Russell, designer of the first interactive computer game; Ralph Baer,
designer of the Magnavox Odyssey; Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and
Chuck E. Cheese; Al Alcorn, Atari's first engineer and builder of Pong; Ed
Logg, creator of Asteroids, Centipede, and Gauntlet; Tom Kalinske, former
chairman of Sega of America; and Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts
and 3DO.
    Granted unprecedented access throughout the industry, Kent logged more
than 20 hours of interviews with Howard Lincoln and Minoru Arakawa,
chairman and president of Nintendo of America.  Ray Kassar, the chairman of
Atari during its 1982 collapse, granted Kent his first interview since
leaving Atari in 1983, and Namco chairman Masaya Nakamura met with Kent
twice.
    Having worked as a mediating voice with Senator Joseph Lieberman on his
annual Video Game Report Card, Kent was able to conduct candid interviews
with both Lieberman and Senator Sam Brownback about their hearings on video
game violence.
     The result of all of these interviews is a high-speed, sprawling study
of how video games emerged from unimportant novelty entertainment status to
become one of the driving forces shaping the information age.  With so many
first-hand perspectives, "The First Quarter" sometimes becomes a forum for
multiple designers and executives giving conflicting memories of how events
occurred.  Nolan Bushnell, Al Alcorn, Steve Wozniac, and Masaya Nakamura,
for instance, all had different stories  about the history of Breakout, and
all four versions are included in the book.
    "The First Quarter" also includes in-depth studies of the five most
influential court cases in the history of video games, complete with
excerpts from court documents and interviews with lawyers.
    "Toward the end of the project, my biggest problem was trying to decide
what stories to leave out.  I had great stories about games like Aladdin,
Crash Bandicoot, and Yoshi's Island; but I needed to draw the line.  The
book was getting too big.  Two days after I handed the book in for layout,
Nintendo announced that its new console would be named Gamecube, not
Dolphin, and drawing that line became a really painful task."
    Kent's book, which will be available exclusively through Amazon.com and
Select gaming outlets, retails for $21.95.
    For more information, contact Steven Kent at [e-mail].

    The address for links to the Amazon.com page featuring the book is:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0970475500/qid=977875158


//// CHRISTMAS GOODIES FROM SONGBIRD

November 21, 2000

For immediate release:

ROCHESTER, MN -- Songbird Productions is pleased to announce some Christmas
goodies for Atari Lynx and Jaguar fans.

Topping off the list is Championship Rally for the Atari Lynx. This
incredible overhead racer features 7 unique tracks, powerups and pitfalls,
tons of options, and highly detailed graphics accompanied by rumbling
audio. Try your hand at solo gaming with Tournament, Single Race, and Time
Trial, or use your ComLynx cable and second copy of Championship Rally on
another Lynx to race head-to-head against a buddy in Versus. Plus, look for
cheat codes, shortcuts, and more! This game is a must-have for any Lynx
fan.

Championship Rally is scheduled for a December 2000 release, and is
currently in production. Look for the official release announcement,
including ordering information, in the next few weeks.

Jaguar fans won't be left in the cold, either. Several Rapid Fire
Controllers are still in stock, but hurry, there aren't many left and at
press time it was unknown if more of these devices will be built in the
future.

Plus, pick up the Songbird C2K (Christmas 2000) Kit, available today! This
kit includes:

* Full-color glossy Skyhammer overlay
* Full-color glossy Worms overlay
* B&W glossy Songbird ad / price list from CGE2K -- great collector's item!

Pricing on the Songbird C2K Kit is as follows:

* $5 for USA customers
* $6 for International customers
* $3 (WOW!) for any customer when you order any other item(s) from the
Songbird catalog

No additional shipping fee applies for the Songbird C2K kit when purchased
separately. Normal shipping charges apply for any other items ordered.

Songbird Productions is the premier developer and publisher for the Atari
Lynx and Jaguar. To keep up to date with the latest news at Songbird
Productions, be sure to visit the company web site at
http://songbird.atari.net.

This message may be reprinted in its entirety.

Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions
http://songbird.atari.net


//// JAGFEST 2K1 NEWS

December 2, 2000 - Go Beyond Tempest at JagFest 2K1

The GOAT Store, an online store specializing in the support of classic
video games, has agreed to host JagFest 2K1 in Milwaukee, WI on June 30,
2001. The fifth annual event that centers around the Atari Jaguar system,
but will be expanding as it has in the past to include all classic video
game systems and even classic computers.

"The event is going to be subtitled, 'Beyond Tempest'," said Dan Loosen of
the GOAT Store, "because with all of the great products that have come out
for the Jaguar in the past year, it is definitely true that we have moved
beyond the storm of doubt and disbelief and can now look at a very bright
future for the Jaguar and all of Atari."

This years event will include an exhibit of every Jaguar game ever made,
rare Atari games, systems, prototypes and many more surprises! There will
also be a vast array of tournaments, with the GOAT Store supplying prizes
to the winners.

Admission for this years event will be $8.00 for pre-registers and $10.00
for tickets at the door. Tickets will go on sale January 1, 2001.

"JagFest is a great opportunity for anyone with an interest in Atari to
explore many rare and one-of-a-kind items and meet some new friends while
doing it!" said Gary Heil. "I think that Milwaukee is a great location, and
we will build on the success of past JagFests to make Beyond Tempest into
the best JagFest yet."

Please make sure to visit the Official JagFest 2K1: Beyond Tempest Web site
at the GOAT Store (http://www.goatstore.com). Dan Loosen can be reached at
[e-mail] and Gary Heil can be reached at [e-mail] for
more information.


//// INFOGRAMES BUYS ATARI

December 6, 2000

Excerpts from press releases floating on the net:

Infogrames Entertainment to Acquire Hasbro Interactive and Games.com

LYON, France & PAWTUCKET, R.I. (BUSINESS WIRE)

Dec. 6, 2000:

Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext 5257) and Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS)
jointly announced today that they have entered into a strategic agreement,
creating one of the foremost powerhouses in the mass market digital
interactive entertainment world. The agreement is comprised of three main
elements, including the Infogrames acquisition of Hasbro Interactive; a
long-term licensing agreement giving Infogrames exclusive rights to develop
and publish digital interactive games based on current and future Hasbro
properties on all existing and future digital interactive formats; and the
acquisition of Games.com.

Infogrames will purchase 100% of the common stock of Hasbro Interactive and
Games.com for $100 million - comprised of $95 million in Infogrames
Entertainment SA securities (approximately 4.5 million common shares) and
$5 million in cash. In addition, Hasbro will receive an annual guarantee
from Infogrames based on sales generated from the licensing agreement. The
agreements are subject to the approval of the shareholders of Infogrames,
regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions. The companies
expect the deal to close early in the first calendar quarter of 2001.

The acquisition gives Infogrames a catalog of titles based on well-known
properties, including:

--The legendary ATARI name and properties, such as CENTIPEDE, MISSILE
COMMAND, and the historic PONG, which pioneered the video game revolution.


//// CHAMPIONSHIP RALLY FOR THE ATARI LYNX

LYNX FANS, IT'S RALLY TIME!

December 6, 2000

For immediate release:

ROCHESTER, MN -- Songbird is pleased to announce December 15, 2000, as the
official limited-release date for Championship Rally on the Atari Lynx.

Championship Rally is an incredible overhead racer featuring 7 unique
tracks, powerups and pitfalls, and highly detailed graphics accompanied by
rumbling audio. Try your hand at solo gaming with Tournament, Single Race,
and Time Trial, or use your ComLynx cable and second copy of Championship
Rally on another Lynx to race head-to-head against a buddy in Versus. Plus,
look for cheat codes, shortcuts, and more! This is the biggest, most
ambitious, options-loaded Lynx game ever released by Songbird, and is a
must-have for any Atari fan.

Orders are being accepted immediately for this exciting new game. Songbird
will make every attempt to fill early orders by Christmas, but based on
availability and the timeliness of orders, it is possible some orders will
only be filled in January 2001. MSRP for Championship Rally is $42.95.

Songbird Productions is the premier developer and publisher for the Atari
Lynx and Jaguar. To keep up to date with the latest news at Songbird
Productions, be sure to visit the company web site at
http://songbird.atari.net.

This message may be reprinted in its entirety.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// New Cheats and Codes
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Lots of new cheats and codes discovered this year, but no time to include
them in this issue. Tune in next year!


                             --==--==--==--==--


   ||  CyberChatter
   ||  Random topics about the Jaguar
\__//  Compiled from online public discussion areas
       -----------------------------------------------------------------

//// Index of Topics

     BattleSphere
     Jag Encryption
     Hyper Force
     Protector
     Phase Zero
     Black Ice\White Noise
     VR Headsets Discovered
     Jag II Prototype Discovered
     Alien vs Predator Prototype
     Jag Chatter on Slashdot
     Kev's Kiosk
     Miscellaneous


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// BattleSphere
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: BattleSphere Soundtrack
Author: Stephanie (dynamic21.pm01.santa-cruz.best.com)
Date: November 25, 1999 at 20:03:46
Forum: rec.games.video.atari

There is the possibility. There are actually two separate possibilities, one
being a CD containing the audio directly from the game -- i.e. sounding
exactly the same. I have all of these in WAV format and could put them in MP3
format, upload them to my mp3.com site (shameless plug: www.mp3.com/sebab) and
make them available for people to buy on CD *tonight* if people wanted
(actually probably tomorrow, as mp3.com has to approve the files first)

This is not the soundtrack people are mostly talking about, though. I've
messed around with remixing kinds of stuff, but I haven't had enough time free
at any point to make a serious effort out of the project. Typically what
happens is that I sit down to work on it and something else happens, like my
computer crashes (that was pretty frequent this summer and fall) or I'm
overwhelmed with work for a bit, or another project takes precedence.

Musically, there are two film producers interested in offering me projects
this spring (don't get excited yet though). If either one becomes a more solid
possibility, I'd start scoring in late February or so, which means that after
I turn in my project for a songwriting class I'm taking in say 2 weeks, I
won't have any other specific music deadlines for at least 2 months. Of
course, if we decide the remix CD's profits go to JDF just like the game's
profits, any paying projects that I get will take precedence.

By the way, if I fade out the MOD file audio and upload them to mp3.com, is
there anyone who would buy the resulting CD, or would I be wasting my time?
(any profits from THIS CD will go to JDF... I would probably charge $6 for the
CD, the minimum mp3.com allows, half of which amount they will send to me and
I will send to JDF)

It also seemed weird to release the soundtrack before the game.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Re: Happy Thanksgiving Wishes
Author: Thunderbird (pool-209-138-192-7.nwrk.grid.net)
Date: November 25, 1999 at 19:23:49
Forum: rec.games.video.atari

>That's a good question - will you make another Jag game, or
>just retire from Jag development secure in the knowledge that
>you have just put out the best ever game for the Jag?

If encryption becomes easier, I can foresee making some 2MB games just for
fun, or perhaps finishing some existing game or taking an unreleasable
licensed title and changing the art so it can come out. But I DO NOT have
anything lined up. It would take someone approaching me with a project like
that, I don't have the contacts to find these things on my own.

Of course, if we actually lose money on BattleSphere (i.e. people who said
they were going to buy it don't buy it and we have hundreds of leftover carts)
then I would probably feel different.

Thunderbird
4Play

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Woo! Battle Sphere track featured at mp3.com
Author: stef of the clef (dynamic41.pm01.santa-cruz.best.com)
Date: November 30, 1999 at 16:02:05
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

The MP3s are up! Either go to my site at:

www.mp3.com/sebab

Or else follow the link at the bottom... maybe we'll get some publicity out of
it :) Doug says he'll have graphics to me tonight for the CD, and hopefully
mp3.com will approve them quickly. (again, remember this is a CD of the sounds
right from the game, not a remix CD... which is still in the works but gets
worked on sporadically)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: The Original BS - Now Available on MP3.com!!!
Author: Clay (woody.dyess.af.mil)
Date: December 07, 1999 at 06:58:05
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>>As the subject says, you can now purchase 'The Original BS'
>>by Sebab on www.mp3.com (see link below).

>Thanks for notifying everyone! This posting is how I found
>out that mp3.com finally approved the CD! :)

Steph,

I noticed the cover artwork prominently stresses the music's MOD origins. Does
this mean the CD includes MOD files instead of MP3s?

Also, I thought the actual BS music was composed using a proprietary, MOD-like
format. What gives?

(already ordered my copy...)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: BattleSphere?
Author: [e-mail]
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 22:37:19 GMT
Forum: rec.games.video.atari

>Can someone let me know what happened with this title?

We finished it, Steph made a CD, now we're doing all sorts of behind the
scenes work trying to get carts made and the encryption thwarted.

>Are we going to get zoned? I've been really looking forward to it.

Well I suppose if Y2K causes a massive nuclear strike which wipes out all of
civilization except for several ragtag tribes of humanity which eke out a
hunter-gatherer lifestyle for several generations until the arrival of a
mysterious stranger brings the promise and threat of the return of technology,
then yes, you will get "zoned".

Otherwise, no, it just takes a horrendous amount of tap dancing to get this
thing made.

>Thanks.

You're welcome and don't forget to listen to the old man in the cave!

Scott Le Grand
Lead Coder
BattleSphere

ObPlug: BattleSphere, linux, e-commerce: what a combo!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: BattleSphere Encryption
Author: Thunderbird (pool-209-138-193-126.nwrk.grid.net)
Date: December 30, 1999 at 13:48:24
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>No jaguar breakdowns??? No software locks????
>Thats some robust code and some sturdy hardware.

Actually, I didn't want to admit it, but I ruined a couple of days work when I
moved the setup out of the way for Thanksgiving and I restarted the system
with the data from the previous weekend. I didn't catch it until it didn't
make sense to restart.

With chip prices the way they are, I'm certainly not in any hurry to get the
solution. :-(

Thunderbird
4Play

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: battlesphere.com?
Author: BattleSphere Bob (dynamic58.pm01.santa-cruz.best.com)
Date: February 17, 2000 at 10:28:08
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>I never got the CD, but I did try battlesphere.com a
>couple of times to see if was registered... when I saw
>the "under construction" page, I just went on to other
>sites thinking that somebody else beat 4Play to it...

Actually, someone else DID beat 4Play to it in 1996. Fortunately, since they
appear to have been a bunch of lamers that saw one of our BattleSphere pitches
and then decided to do the game without us, they didn't get very far. The
company folded in 1998. The domain freed up last September and I grabbed it.
It will be the place from which to order your BattleSphere carts. But I didn't
plan to activate it until we could place those orders.

Scott

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: battlesphere.com?
Author: stefoclef <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: February 16, 2000 at 22:46:03
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

When battlesphere.com came up for grabs, the company which had started out
designing a BattleSphere-looking clone (coincidentally named "Battle Sphere"
but changed to "Sphere Warriors" when we mailed them indicating we'd caught
them red-handed) did not re-register it, I think mostly because they'd gone
under.

Scott grabbed it but has not as yet attached any webspace to it. I'd love to
see some webspace attached since then I could upload some junk there.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: 4Play Acquired By Scatologic
Author: BattleSphere Bob (dynamic1.pm01.santa-cruz.best.com)
Date: February 20, 2000 at 12:51:09
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Somewhere in the Known Universe - 4Play, developer of the upcoming Jaguar game
Battle Sphere, is pleased to announce its recent acquisition by Scatologic, a
Delaware corporation. Scatologic CEO Scott Le Grand happily looked into a
mirror and told 4Play CEO Scott Le Grand that this merger promised improved
service and reliability to existing 4Play customers. Mr. Le Grand was then
wheeled off to Groom Lake AFB for his daily shots.

Meanwhile, COO Douglas Engel found enough time in his busy schedule to
duplicate himself in a transporter accident and take over the COO roles of
Scatologic. No word is available at this time as to whether the new Scatologic
COO is the "evil" or "good" Doug. Please stay tuned for further details.

Finally, 4Play CTO Stephanie Wukovitz quit her job for a new higher-paying
position at Scatologic. "Those losers at 4Play couldn't ship a game if you set
their butts on fire" she was reported to say as she cleaned out her desk. The
4Play logo and name will remain on all 4Play products. However, they will now
be published by the Scatologic corporation. Check out the DNS entry for
scatologic.com for future news until the new web site is complete.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Atari Forever
Author: Leo (tc02-100.imcnet.net)
Date: March 13, 2000 at 13:42:10
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Hi all,
In case you were wondering...
The limited edition signature appears in this manner.

When you start the game and don't do anything, it goes into attract mode. When
that happens, a screen with burning fire appears, centered is the message:

Battlesphere Limited Edition
personally created for:
Atari Forever

or something to that effect. looks cool, and its a signature I can share with
all of you :)
(After winning, the thought occurred to me I should choose something shareable
so we all can enjoy it)

Leo
Time to BS

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: BS impressions
Author: Leo (tc02-073.imcnet.net)
Date: March 18, 2000 at 03:58:48
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Hi,
I played BS some and wanted to rave a little.
First, some differences from standard Jag games:
No volume control on pause screen for music, SFX, etc. You can turn music
on/off and engine noise on/off in setup. I find that the volume mix is
perfect, and I have no desire to change anything anyways.

I love Steph's music, and engine noise don't bother me. Also, Star+Pound
brings you back one screen, i.e. from game to ship select, in stead of
restarting from the beginning. Also nice.

I tried, most recently, single player free for all, fighters only, against 1
computer opponent, set at the easiest (I believe), 10 kills. I tried the
O'catanut arrow first. Not too hard, but I could only maintain three kills
above the computer. (sometimes, I would kill him, but didn't swerve around the
explosion and got minced myself.)

I then tried S'mgheed annihilator as it has awesome Lasers, but little else.
Linked the two lasers. I think I was against a cobra slith, but not too sure.
Cool lasers, killed with one volley. However, with not great shielding, I died
quickly. So I adapted and learned to shoot and bank away real quick, fly
around slowly to regain shields, and try again.

I actually made it to 10 kills and got on the high score list. (I actually got
killed when I made kill number ten but the victory took precedence, whew.) I
love the manner in which you get to choose 6 letters for the high score
tables. It is a circle of letters,!,*,-,.,backspace, and end. The selector is
one of them glass globes. The magnification effect is cool to watch. Good work
4Play and that little detail. (In general, the selector are glass balls. Nice
job guys.)

I then tried Se'babs Mark I, as it had high speed and acceleration, and almost
the highest turn ratio among the fighters. My luck, I was pitted against the
oppresor's acrosome (I laughed when I first saw that name. Having a Bio degree
in Molecular Genetics, I took development and learned all about the acrosome
:) for the rest of you, it's a actin filled vessicle at the tip of the sperm)
That little bugger moves (higher turn ratio then Mark I for example). I
couldn't keep it in my sights. It killed me plenty of times. So I tried flying
the acrosome a bit, nice. (Also, I payed attention to the terminated screen
when I died. I could see the acrosome fly about my wreckage... cool)

Finally I tried ejected pilot with jetpack. WOW, you need to be a master. The
view is the same as any ship except no radar. Ever tried to hunt down an enemy
ship without radar? Anyone who plays with this on Minter is a true BS legend.
(Hmmm Doug, Scott, and Steph? Anyone at Scatologic master ejected pilot on
Minter?)

I truely like the game and want to play more to continue to work out how each
ship handles and flies. I am happy I figured out the S'mgheed annihilator, but
the more agile ships are seductive.

That Acrosome is one tough bugger. Next time I hit it with a stasis bolt, I
need to remember to stop dead immediately to make it easier to pepper him with
torpedoes. That was the only high note on that battle, I froze him with a
stasis bolt (kind a cute the way he hangs there with tail wiggling.) But I
didn't think to stop and had trouble shooting him on the fast flybys...)

I would like to try pilot/gunner configuration with a friend. I would love to
network, even just two jags. The colors are awesome, framerate smooth, and the
lens flare is a nice touch. (here's an idea if Nuon BS occurs (as many
suspects). Lens flare for the ship's engine/rocket glow as well as the star,
if nuon has the power to handle it (which it probably does).) or would that be
too distracting?...

I am starting to tell the difference in how the slower turn and faster turn
ships differ in turning speed. Hopefully, I can master handling of each one.
The ships look good. Decal mapped, gouraud shaded polygons look GREAT. at
least these ones do. Truthfully, they fly by too fast to truely appreciate ;)
OK, that wraps it up. I see it is less about BS and more about how dismal I
play it ;) Don't worry, I'll get it soon enough.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Re: BS impressions
Author: Thunderbird (pool-209-138-19-55.cmbr.grid.net)
Date: March 18, 2000 at 07:59:19
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>I played BS some and wanted to rave a little.
>First, some differences from standard Jag games:
>No volume control on pause screen for music, SFX, etc.

Try pressing while paused. That's the way the official developer's
specifications say it should work...

>You can turn music on/off and engine noise on/off in setup.
>Amongst other things...
>I find that the volume mix is perfect, and I have no desire to change
>anything anyways.

Cool! Thanx.

>I love Steph's music, and engine noise don't bother me.

Sometimes I like to CRANK the music, just for the fun of it!

>Also, Star+Pound brings you back one screen, i.e. from game to ship
>select, instead of restarting from the beginning.
>Also nice.

That was something we added at the end of development, when Atari was out of
the loop. Their official developers spec. says that #* should reset the game.
However, we figured that this was dumb and reworked the idea.

>I tried the O'catanut arrow first. Not too hard, but I could only
>maintain three kills above the computer. (sometimes, I would kill him,
>but didn't swerve around the explosion and got minced myself.)

Why don't more other games work like this?

>I then tried S'mgheed annhilator as it has awesome Lasers, but little
>else. Linked the two lasers. I think I was against a cobra slith, but
>not too sure.
>Cool lasers, killed with one volley. However, with not great
>shielding, I died quickly. So I adapted and learned to shoot and bank
>away real quick, fly around slowly to regain shields, and try again.

Gee... and people said that ship was too slow and worthless? HAH!

>I actually made it to 10 kills and got on the high score list. (I
>actually got killed when I made kill number ten but the victory took
>precedence, whew.)

"Victory Terminated?" HAHAHA! I believe this was an oversight in the
programming that we didn't plan on but when it happened we decided that this
was the right thing to do!

>I love the manner in which you get to choose 6 letters for the high
>score tables. It is a circle of letters,!,*,-,.,backspace, and end.
>The selector is one of them glass globes. The magnification effect is
>cool to watch.
>Good work 4Play and that little detail. (In general, the selector are
>glass balls. Nice job guys.)

Don't you mean "Nice job, Doug"? (Those screens are all my work.)

>I then tried Se'babs MarkI, as it had high speed and acceleration, and
>almost the highest turn ratio among the fighters. My luck, I was
>pitted against the oppresor's acrosome (I laughed when I first saw
>that name. Having a Bio degree in Molecular Genetics, I took
>development and learned all about the acrosome :) for the rest of you,
>it's a actin filled vessicle at the tip of the sperm)

That's probably a lot funnier when you see what the ship looks like and how it
flies ;-)

>That little bigger moves (higher turn ratio than Mark I for example).
>I couldn't keep it in my sights. It killed me plenty of times. So I
>tried flying the acrosome a bit, nice.

The variety of ships and their different abilities makes for a really varied
gameplay. Replay value is really high, considering you have to develop
different strategies for each type of ship!

>(Also, I payed attention to the terminated screen when I died. I
>could see the acrosome fly about my wreckage... cool)

Sometimes you can see them fly through the debris and kill themselves by
hitting it! Wait until you play on a skill level when you can get taken out by
a missile volley... missiles continue to fly into the wreckage and blow up!

>Finally I tried ejected pilot with jetpack. WOW, you need to be
>a master. The view is the same as any ship except no radar. Ever
>tried to hunt down an enemy ship without radar? Anyone who plays
>with this on Minter is a true BS legend. (Hmmm Doug, Scott, and
>Steph? Anyone at Scatologic master ejected pilot on Minter?)

I don't think I ever even tried. I'm sure it's possible, but too time
consuming for me!

>I truely like the game and want to play more to continue to work
>out how each ship handles and flies. I am happy I figured out the
>Smg'heed Annihilator, but the more agile ships are seductive.

Glad you like them!

>That Acrosome is one tough bugger. Next time I hit it with a
>stasis bolt, I need to remember to stop dead immediately to make
>it easier to pepper him with torpedoes. That was the only high
>note on that battle, I froze him with a stasis bolt (kind a cute
>the way he hangs there with tail wiggling.) But I didn't think to
>stop and had trouble shooting him on the fast flybys...)

Ever been hit with a stasis bolt??? Heh heh heh

>I would like to try pilot/gunner configuration with a friend. I
>would love to network, even just two Jags.

Trust me, it's FUN!

>The colors are awesome, framerate smooth, and the lens flare is
>a nice touch. (here's an idea if Nuon BS occurs (as many suspects).
>Lens flare for the ship's engine/rocket glow as well as the star,
>if Nuon has the power to handle it (which it probably does).) or
>would that be too distracting?...

Believe me... the next one will have lens flares all over the place!

>The ships look good. Decal-mapped, gouraud shaded polygons look
>GREAT. at least these ones do. Truthfully, they flyby too fast to
>truely appreciate ;)

I know.... it's a shame too!

>OK, that wraps it up. I see it is less about BS and more about
>how dismal I play it ;) Don't worry, I'll get it soon enough.

It takes a certain knack, but you will improve.
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
I'm so pleased that you like it, and we appreciate everything you've done for
us!

Thunderbird
ScatoLOGIC

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Rejected!
Author: Grumpy Bob (dynamic27.pm01.santa-cruz.best.com)
Date: March 19, 2000 at 01:40:41
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>>Why did you make the run of cartridges BEFORE the pre-
>>orders arrived????
>Because we've gotten quite a bit of feedback indicating
>that because of a former 4Play member's handling of
>preorder money for a non-4Play item, they wouldn't
>preorder from us.

And on top of that, just imagine the threats to take us to court, register
complaints with the attorney general, and otherwise make our lives miserable
if we hit the tiniest snag between taking pre-order money and delivering the
goods. It was not an option, period. Enough BattleSpheres will be produced for
all that want it. If that's not good enough for you, then I suspect it is time
for you to move on in life.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: NOT DENIED!
Author: Thunderbird (pool-209-138-175-187-nwrk.grid.net)
Date: March 19, 2000 at 06:16:49
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>And to be honest, the possibility of a second run does little
>to mitigate my frustration at this point. Give me a break...I
>have to feel *some* letdown after all this time, no?

Believe me, I know how you must feel. I think WE probably feel worse than you
do because it was our screwup that put you in this situation, and we have
ALWAYS put our customers feelings high on our list of priorities. We feel very
badly about this.

>>We're really sorry that you feel this way. I hope you take
>>into consideration that fact that were are not taking any
>>pleasure from having to turn people away temporarily.
>Of course, I can't imagine that you would. Certainly it must
>seem like, after all these years, you've got more fans and
>supporters than perhaps you had originally supposed. And now
>you'll have to disappoint some of them (but possibly temporarily,
>but possibly forever) by turning away their orders for a Battle-
>Sphere cart.

Exactly.

And be assured that we are trying very hard to make the second run happen. We
have a couple of obstacles to overcome (like running out of printed boxes,
etc.), and the chips we need are on "allocation" (meaning that the "important"
customers can get them).

>>There are no guarantees for anything in life, really. But give
>>us a little credit here... don't you think that we will be trying
>>really hard to make sure that you a copy as well?
>Sure, I imagine that you'll be trying hard. But, as you said,
>there are no guarantees.

We're just being on the safe side. We don't want to PROMISE anything that
we're not 100% sure we can deliver. We have been bitten before by the 1%
chance something could turn out wrong and we said otherwise. It's made us very
cautious in what we promise.

>Well, it's good to hear. The higher price will still, no doubt,
>be justified once we all have our copy of Battlesphere.

I'm pretty sure that we're only talking about a few dollars more. It's not a
huge amount I'm very sure.

Thunderbird
ScatoLOGIC

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Rejected!
Author: stef <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: March 18, 2000 at 23:25:11
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Frustrated,

Me too. Aside from the actual pain of the clerical work (I did everything by
hand... and by the way, whoever it is who spammed us with the profanities, uh
thanks) 'twas pretty awful seeing all the familiar names go by and knowing we
couldn't provide for all of them.

We had to put up the capital among the three of us -- that was actually
supposed to be the job of a particular team member when we were 4Play, but we
all know what happened there.

We really do want a second run, and Doug's made some progress inquiring about
it. I wanted to have more to say about that when I sent out the confirmations,
but I couldn't really delay much longer :(

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: battlesphere price
Author: Thunderbird (pool-209-138-19-42.cmbr.grid.net)
Date: March 19, 2000 at 14:58:35
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>well you can get the goddamn shells for jaguar games at
>best electronics for like 4 or 5 bucks a piece with screws
>and the pcbs for 1.25 i think. i must say i think everyone
>is a bit pissed at the price change.

If YOU can arrange to get the components for that price and sell them to us at
your cost, then by all means PLEASE DO. Our dealings with BEST have been the
"Worst" we've encountered. They quoted us one price and then raised that price
3.00 when we went to order (thinking they had a corner on the market or
something) and THEN when I tried to negotiate back to what we had they came up
with some lunatic counter offer where they would get a TON of BattleSphere
carts for LESS THAN OUR MFG COST and they'd sell us the materials at the price
$1.00 higher than the original quote. (which was WAY higher than the prices
you list)...

(sigh)

Thunderbird
ScatoLOGIC

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: battlesphere price
Author: Thunderbird (pool-209-138-19-42.cmbr.grid.net)
Date: March 19, 2000 at 15:32:00
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Gives us a good look inside your daily problems, eh? I
>understand how you feel.....

You don't know the half of it. This has been hugely frustrating. I personally
did ALL of the purchasing and production that our abandoned member was
SUPPOSED to do. And NOBODY out there seems to give a crap that this is for
CHARITY. These guys see us coming and see big $$$$$ profits.

It's not like many more people are going to be asking them for cart pieces.
One day they are going to wind up taking palettes of these things to the dump
and WISH they has sold some at a reasonable cost.

Thunderbird
ScatoLOGIC

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Perspective, it's a funny thing.
Author: Big Al <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: March 19, 2000 at 11:45:00
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

So you're angry because you couldn't get a BS cart this time? Look at it from
Scatologic's perspective:

1. When they first started the game, they probably expected Atari to release
it. Lucky for them, Atari walks out on everyone and leaves fans totally strung
out to dry.

2. Tom Harker (the 4th person in 4Play), who I bet they expected to release BS
and handle all the distribution/logistics, etc. decides he'll do like the
Steve Miller song and "take the money and run". So not only do they have no
distributor, they now have to try and shed the reputation of a former partner-
thus, no pre-orders for BS.

3. So Doug, Scott, and Stef are left holding the bag. Now they're not
marketing/distribution types, they're just fans who made a game. They promised
it to us, so they have to go it on their own (not to mention, I bet they
_want_ to share their game w/us).


4. By the time they can release the game, the Jag has been abandoned for 4
years. Honestly, how many would you realistically expect to sell if you were
them? Yeah, so some people filled out their form on the internet- that really
holds about as much weight as, oh, a form you can fill out on the internet. (I
wonder how many people on the Jaguar petition, who _swore_ they'd support the
Jaguar, have ordered BS- or any of Carl's games, for that matter.)

5. Much to their horror/wonder, they are featured on /. and demand goes
through the roof.

6. Much to their horror/wonder, demand far outstrips supply. Really, it
doesn't surprise me, this is ScatoLogic's first release and noone exactly has
an MBA from Harvard. How do you select who gets it? That's not a question I'd
want to have to answer.

I think the most telling thing about the whole situation is how T-bird has
handled himself. I've accused him of being too quick to jump on the flame-
wagon, but he has done nothing of the sort. Rather, he's been nothing but
apologetic and tried to sympathize with the people who lost out.

ScatoLogic understands and sees it from your perspective, do you see it from
theirs?

(I should note that I'm not getting BattleSphere. Not that I don't want it,
but I flat-out can't afford it. My best hope for getting a copy is buying it
off eBay a couple years from now.)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: A small Battlesphere question
Author: Thunderbird (pool-209-138-172-168-nwrk.grid.net)
Date: March 22, 2000 at 03:33:30
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Are you not still making profits when selling it to Go Atari?

Nobody from that particular dealer has contacted us regarding the purchase of
BattleSphere. However, I have trouble justifying the act of selling to a
dealer at some reduced "dealer price" so they can turn around and make money
off of something that would otherwise go to charity and none of which goes to
myself.

There are some dealers who have assisted us in the past, and have been helpful
in getting BattleSphere produced, and they will be the ones who would have a
chance of getting some carts at a special price. Other dealers have tried to
gouge us and will definitely not get any.

All of this is pure conjecture because we are too busy trying to organize a
2nd run to worry about these matters.

Thunderbird
ScatoLOGIC

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Battle Sphere shipping update
Author: stef (dynamic2.pm01.santa-cruz.best.com)
Date: March 23, 2000 at 16:37:06
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

My arms are still a little unhappy, so after resting them a tiny bit longer
today I will start packing some of the 45 orders (not sure how many carts yet)
we received today. 5 orders went out today.

Still need to try and do a few hours of work (the kind that keeps up housed
and clothed and fed :P ) from home tonight, then if things feel ok, back to
doing some Battle Sphere site stuff incl the order checking script.

Cheers...

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Battle Sphere shipping update
Author: stef (dynamic35.pm01.santa-cruz.best.com)
Date: March 23, 2000 at 21:56:34
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Sean,

Appreciated! Some rest did me good -- I am up here working on the mailing
list, trying to get it into a format Excel will read (which I should have done
initially) -- this will make the script's job easier too.

Scott is downstairs packing carts and yelling at the cat to stay away (he
enjoys perching on the big boxes o'sphere in the kitchen but now that we're
unpacking them he seems distressed... er I mean the cat, not Scott)

Back to typing commas and hitting the delete key, which really isn't all that
taxing, thankfully.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: 30 BattleSpheres Shipped Today...
Author: BSB (143.186.161.53)
Date: March 24, 2000 at 17:55:19
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

75 payment envelopes received...

Ran out of packing supplies last night but since it was about 1:30 AM by that
time, things were winding down anyway...

More to go out tomorrow...

So where is that Kendler guy anyway???

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: JDF Contribution... wow, that was easy!
Author: stef of the clef (143.186.161.46)
Date: March 24, 2000 at 17:56:37
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

FYI,

I'd been busy and hadn't gotten around to sending the money from the mp3.com
Battle SPhere soundtrack to JDF. I sold 31 so far, BTW, meaning I earned $93 -
- I rounded it up to a contribution of $100. Anyhow, I hit the site (link
below) intending to get the correct address to send the check, and found, to
my delight, that they take credit cards. So I sent the contribution... here's
the results page text:

--------------------------------

Thank You

Thank You for your contribution to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Through
your contribution you are helping us find a cure for diabetes and its
complications through the support of research.

You will shortly receive an acknowledgement via e-mail. If your contribution
was for $250 or more, you will also receive a written acknowledgement.

Your reference number is: 20000324203213.

If you need to contact us for any reason about this transaction, please send
an e-mail to [e-mail] and include the above reference number.

Again, thank you for your contribution.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: 30 BattleSpheres Shipped Today...
Author: Thunderbird (pool-209-138-171-226-nwrk.grid.net)
Date: March 24, 2000 at 18:05:34
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>So where is that Kendler guy anyway???

I think he's in the hospital with Crow Poisoning.

Kendler be gettin' his stomach pumped! Betcha he don't like that charcoal they
put in him!

Thunderbird
ScatoLOGIC

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Kendler Sucks Cheese Orbs!!!!
Author: T. H. Undirberdt (pool-209-138-194-90.nwrk.grid.net)
Date: March 25, 2000 at 05:50:43
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>"Doesn't he owe you $100 or something? That's probably where
>he's been, trying to find a job to pay it off >:->"
>What? I thought he was an accomplished Jaguar programmer!
>He should make that $100 in a second! Riiiiight.....

Kendler is a loser. He always was a loser. He will always be a loser.

Losers don't like to be reminded that they are losers because it makes them
feel like losers compared to the losers that are ignorant of the fact they are
losers.

So, loser is not a browser of JI2 currently, since it make him realize that
he's the loser's loser.

Thunderbird
ScatoLOGIC

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: BattleSphere Friends and Family
Author: BSB (dynamic11.pm01.santa-cruz.best.com)
Date: March 28, 2000 at 08:34:35
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

OK, I think we can thank the Slashdot Effect for the other BattleSphere
auction and I've already covered the first one. With that in mind, here's a
modest proposal. I'm expecting a good 1/4 to 1/3 of the BattleSphere carts of
the first run to go unclaimed. Doesn't mean that's how it will go, but that's
just a prediction based on the ever-decreasing number of envelopes in our mail
box each day.

So, here's a task for all of the people we know by name. Could you guys vouch
for anyone you know who didn't get a cart? There are a lot of unfamiliar names
on our list along with some familiar ones. We'd like to sell the remainder of
the first run to people who will at least play our game for a while before
offering it up on eBay.

And yes, consider this round to be a giant conspiracy since most of you guys
get to be in on it. You know where to reach me.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: I drank my urine today
Author: Stephen Anderson <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: March 28, 2000 at 10:07:21
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Well, I got home from a particularly crappy day at school, only to find my two
BS boxes waiting on my kitchen table!!! I drank a cup of urine for each game,
and (after puking them back up) went off to play. I was fortunate to play the
game WAY back in Oct.96 at the Toad Atari Fest in Maryland (I met Tom Harker
there BTW - before the CatBox fiasco).

Anybody that says the Jag is only as powerful as an SNES has obviously never
seen this game in action. It could easily be a 2nd generation PSX title.

I don't really know where to begin. The music is excellent, the box, artwork,
and in game menus are top notch, and of course the game itself is truly
awesome. Oh, I also immediately recognized the sound of a starbase being
destroyed! Haven't heard that in quite some time.

Only problem is that I suck. I have always been good at driving games, but the
3D flight sims have never been a strong point for me. I'll be spending a LOT
of time in the training mode.

Stephen Anderson
Got his BS after nearly 5 years of waiting!!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: BS Superships
Author: Thunderbird (209.138.243.192)
Date: March 28, 2000 at 15:05:19
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Is it me, or are the superships in Battle Sphere nearly invincible?

That depends on what play mode you're in. Some of the modes enhance the
player's shields in the beginning levels and gradually reduce them to the
standard level. It makes the game fun for people just starting out.

Once you are a master, those levels are laughably easy (almost boring, in
fact). Luckily, there are tougher skill-levels.

Thunderbird
ScatoLOGIC

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: THE BOX (aka Battlesphere!)
Author: Brian R. <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: March 28, 2000 at 17:48:47
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

I came by home today during lunch to check my mail on the chance that my copy
of BattleSphere had arrived. And guess what? It had!

Although I had to go back to the office, I immediately opened "the box." I was
amazed. The box, manual and cartridge all look top-notch professional. You
couldn't tell this came from "hobbyist developers." It looks just as good as
anything you'd buy at the mall. (And it plays the same way.) Excellent work!
(I haven't bought any of the Songbird games yet so this is my first experience
with such games. But I'm looking for Skyhammer next!)

I had to get through the rest of the work day until I was able to come home
for an hour to try it out. I played the pilot training level. The controls
were surprisingly easy to figure out. I got killed at the end of level five
after I flew through the last ship's fireball with too low shields. But I had
to go anyway.

I was worried the controls would be complicated. When I saw how slim the
manual was I was either happy there were no complicated instructions or
worried there wasn't enough documentation. But they are very, very simple to
learn.

But then I had to go back to work for an evening meeting. I just got home, and
now have to go through the formalities of eating, putting out the garbage and
visiting JI2 to type my praise and check on the discussion before getting back
in the cockpit.

In short, excellent game, great accomplishment, well worth it. Looking forward
to spending many hours with it. There's always a bit of hesitation when paying
full price for a game you can't try out before buying, but now I know any
concern was unjustified. Worth every penny.

A question - Is there a best ship to use while you're learning the game?

Up next - Skyhammer! (Come on Carl, give us the good word!)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: BattleSphere? WOW!!!
Author: ETHunter <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: March 30, 2000 at 16:05:39
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

I thought I saw all I needed to see of this game at JagFest '99. The game
rocked and couldn't possibly get better, right? WRONG!!! I just got done with
a 5 hour non-stop session with this game. Currently addicted to "Gauntlet"
mode. Got to wave 52 before my brain couldn't take it anymore. The game just
keeps on getting better and better each wave I complete. I never thought there
would be a game on the Jag more addicting than Tempest 2000 but BattleSphere
tops it. The largest thanks humanly possible to Doug, Scott and Stephanie for
getting this game too us all. All your talents continue to amaze me further
with every level I progress.

Micah

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: BattleSphere CRASHES on K series Jags with CD?
Author: Thunderbird (pool-209-138-193-48.nwrk.grid.net)
Date: April 01, 2000 at 05:16:51
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Anyone else have this problem in single player mode? I'll
>reseat everything and try again to confirm. :-(

I doubt that the CD has anything to do with anything, software wise.

BattleSphere was WRITTEN on K-Series Jaguars, and I did extensive testing with
the CD installed. As a matter of fact, I ran the demo mode (which simulates
play very well) for 21 days in a K-series unit with my CD installed.

While it's not totally unthinkable that there are weird bugs in BattleSphere
causing crashes... nobody's perfect (especially the Jaguar hardware)... I
suspect that the crashes are due to a physical problem rather than a software
problem.

In any electronic circuit, every time you pass through a connector, you
introduce small amounts of capacitance and resistance and degrade the signals.
The JagCD has 2 connectors between the cart and the Jaguar. The Jag itself has
only 1 connector. Any sensitivity to noise in your Jaguar will be doubled by
the use of the JagCD.

BattleSphere is especially sensitive to noise on the cartridge port because
BattleSphere reads code overlays and some graphics and samples from the cart
directly -all the time-. Other games load into RAM once at the beginning of
each level and never go back to the cart until the next level needs loading.
Other games load from the cart all the time, but not as frequently as
BattleSphere.

Keep in mind that our jaguars are not brand-new anymore, and the contacts are
getting WORN on the cartridge ports. Remember... I am NOT saying the contacts
are DIRTY... I am telling you that the connectors are wearing out. The spring
tension of the metal fingers in the connectors is getting less and less,
making the cartridge port MORE sensitive to shock or vibration.

Also... I have noticed that some games for the Jaguar are made with a slightly
thicker printed circuit board, which has the effect of spreading the contacts
further apart and making them looser.

I would recommend that people experiencing problems take the following
precautions:

1) Avoid playing through the "stacked" connectors of the JagCD if you have
problems with it.

2) Keep your Jaguar on a FIRM STABLE surface, free from vibrations. (i.e.
don't put it on top of the entertainment center that houses the TV speakers
and subwoofer (BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Great source of vibration!)

3) Keep the Jag off the floor and especially off the carpet.

4) Use long controller cords which you won't yank or pull during the heat of
battle.

I hope this helps.

If it's not, then we must have missed something.

Thunderbird
ScatoLOGIC

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: AATE...
Author: Thunderbird (pool-209-138-170-236-nwrk.grid.net)
Date: April 01, 2000 at 20:35:46
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>TBird, Scott, Stef,
>In AATE, I'm assuming that you can't merge two squadrons of
>friendly fighters into one sector - is this correct? Or is it
>a restriction regarding the number/type of ships trying to merge?

Merging is not an option.

It would have been nice, but would have made some other details difficult.

Thunderbird
ScatoLOGIC

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Some Cool BattleSphere Observances
Author: Mister E... <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: April 02, 2000 at 11:44:28
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

For those of you who haven't really tried out the Free For All mode, here's
some cool things you're missing. I've got the game set to include 15 ships,
skill level of starfighter, all types of ships involved, 20 kills to victory
and a respawn time o5 25 seconds.

It's very cool to see two ships battling it out and then come up on the
attackers rear and blow him out of the sky (only to have the ship being
attacked turn on you and take you out! :) )

Or how about setting up that perfect shot - lining up the target nicely when
all of a sudden laser shots come flying from the right of the screen and take
out your target for you..@%&#*#@!

And better still, having a good run, taking out three or four ships and
continuing to survive only to realise that those 3-4 ships have since
respawned - all with a lock on you! Before you know it you've got 3-4 ships
chasing you down - VERY COOL!!! :)

Now, for Gauntlet (I haven't been playing this mode very much - yet) - I
cleared Level 19 only to be awarded 6120 points, 3 extra starbases and 1 more
starbase restored - don't ask me how I pulled that off though! I also find
that Gauntlet is heavily tweaked in your favour - enemy fire doesn't seem to
do quite as much damage as it does in the other modes.

Finally, does anyone have any favorite ships that they like to use yet? I'm
definitely preferring the Claw right now.

Mister E...(I've had the game crash on me twice so far - once in Free For All
and once in Gauntlet IIRC)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: BattleSphere opponents
Author: BSB (dynamic47.pm01.santa-cruz.best.com)
Date: April 05, 2000 at 09:52:57
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Are the ships you face randomly selected when you continue
>like that?

There is a component of randomness in many of the level elements. This was
done on purpose to prevent too much memorization as well as enhance
replayability.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: I've got a secret... (WARNING- BSCODE)
Author: the UA (rh001h26.east.iit.edu)
Date: April 05, 2000 at 18:08:11
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Check your BattleSphere box.
There is a number that has no real purpose on a game box.

Have fun...

shhhhh....

Fard

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: BattleSphere Second Coming
Author: Thunderbird (pool-207-205-163-132.nwrk.grid.net)
Date: April 06, 2000 at 16:28:44
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>>Anyway, good luck then and hope that it is possible for
>>the second run to become a reality. Thanks for the
>>insight as well. CYA

Actually, if anyone out there knows someone with some purchasing clout with
any of the big electronics chip distributors, please email me. The EPROMs we
need are almost impossible to find now, and they want to sell to the "big"
guys first. We're too "small potatoes" for them!

Thunderbird
ScatoLOGIC

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: The Julia effect on the BS Cart
Author: Thunderbird (pool-207-205-161-32.nwrk.grid.net)
Date: April 07, 2000 at 18:31:48
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>The Julia effect in the background of the story of Battle-
>Sphere during the intro. Was this code the same code from
>the Virtual VCS code that Carl acquired?

Ours is BASED on that code, but had to be heavily reworked to run with my
music engine. The algorithm is the same, and the basic structure is the
same...

Thunderbird
ScatoLOGIC

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: The Julia effect on the BS Cart
Author: BSB (143.186.161.53)
Date: April 07, 2000 at 18:48:24
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>So- the fractals are supposed to react to the music, or is
>it that the code would interfere with the music?

Actually, one of my seldom seen NUON demos both rendered Julia sets and
reacted to music at 60 fps. I think they showed it at WCES '99 and never
again. Don't ask me why, I just worked there.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Code 101 (WARNING- REAL BS CODE AND HINT)
Author: Codeman (rh001h2.east.iit.edu)
Date: April 10, 2000 at 22:28:55
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!
The following post has a BattleSphere Code in it- as well as instructions on
how to enter them.
DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU WISH TO FIND IT BY YOURSELF.
You have been warned.
Here goes... scroll down.
.
.
.
All right. Now that the coast is clear...
Look on the bottom right hand side of the back of the box (or on the back
flap- your preference....)
There should be a 12-digit number.
372663-536823 (1)

A similar number is on the BattleSphere Cart Label.
328635-372663 (2)

How are they similar?
Look at the sequences. The first six numbers of (1) and the last six numbers
of (2) are the same- also the last six numbers of (1) and the first six
numbers of (2) are reverses of each other.

If you follow the pattern, the next number in the sequence is 328635-366273
[sequence (2) with the reverse of the last six digits.]

How do I enter them?
Go to the Setup Menus. Now go to the Gameplay Options Screen. Press some
number keys. You'll hear some Atari 800 Star Rai... um... I mean...
BattleSphere Plasma Bolt sound effect. Enter the code. You should hear the
trademark Doug Engel "Awesome" sound effect- the code is on. Enter it again.
You should hear the BattleSphere Warp Sound Effect- the code is off. Enter it
one more time and leave the Gameplay Screen.

Now what?
Go to a game of Free-for-All.
Wreak havoc... if you eye your weapons correctly :)

What does this code mean?
Look to your touch-tone telephone dial.
After a couple of hours of decoding, I find that the code translates to "Eat
Me Leonard." Looks like the folks at Scatologic were angry at the Atari Corp.
when making this easter egg.

Are there any other codes?
Yup. I'm on the search right now.

Have fun- and let slip the dogs of war. :)
Fard

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Battle Sphere is Ah Ah Ah Ah Awesome!!
Author: Chad Tindle (pm520.bardstown.com)
Date: April 15, 2000 at 07:17:39
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Man I couldn't wait to play this game the day I got it, hell I can't wait to
play it again today. It opens with an awesome looking 4Play logo unfolding
down the screen with transparency I believe. The opening music inspires awe as
it gives you that "this game is awesome feeling" and your about to do
something awesome.

The menus are really high quality and your cursor is this cool reflective
bubble actually three of them that bobs in and out around your selections.
Some cool effects as you switch between menus, they break into horizontal
parts and fall away. I got two copies so I got my other jag hooked up in my
brothers room and I hooked up an extremely long phone cord between us and I
believe we tried Gauntlet first.

When we both selected Gauntlet at the same time it was unable to find any
players so a quick check of the connections and a retry didn't work either. So
I looked at the cable that came with the Jag-Link and noticed it had 4 wires
inside and I took a look at the cord I was trying to use and it only had 2 so
I found another 4 wire cable and we were back into action.

It probably wasn't the wisest choice to go with network play modes first
because me and my brother couldn't work the radars and didn't know what all
the buttons did just yet. So the first couple of play modes were uneventful as
we couldn't figure out what was going on. So the next play mode we tried was
Free-for-All which is the best multiplayer play mode if you're just beginning
to play. We quickly figured out the controls and radar, which after you learn
is very effective.

You get several ships to choose from, a lot more than in single player mode
without any codes. All the ships are very cool designs and you can even be an
ejected pilot if you wish but you'll be throwing out your radar if you do so
but you will be very hard for other ships to hit because you're so small. All
the ships have a decal on them showing what race owns them. The selection
screen shows you several different stats about each ship and they're
transparent and you can even control the transparency and you can tilt the
ship around a bit to get a better look.

The cockpits are very nice looking and mostly they don't detract from your
field of view like Hoverstrike. You won't believe this is a Jaguar game once
you're flying around at 60fps!!! Like the FAQ says the stars aren't moving
past you but there are random pieces of space debris so you know you're moving
forward and unlike other games you can actually get right up on a chunk of
debris so it is actually in the game not just a fake overlay. When you turn
you actually bank from side to side so you get feeling of true flight.

It's nice to see every button be used on the Jagpad and that's not bad because
the really important ones are not on the keypad. There are also cool nebulas
and things you learn about in astronomy in the background and also a star that
is much closer than you that lens flares as it passes through the glass of the
cockpit. It is a very cool effect especially because the star has this cool
pulsating effect when you stare straight at it just like the real thing. All
of the HUDs are transparent but you can still see them, they don't just fade
away but their color distorts, a very cool effect.

All of the ships handle very differently and drain your lasers at varying
amounts and some are faster or stronger than others but each ship is unique.
There is a cool lock-on tracking system that your on-board computer does that
lets you aim at exactly the right spot of the ship you targeted taking in
account its velocity and turn rate. Your crosshair becomes more precise and
the beeping sound quickens as your aim is dead center. The lasers you shoot
are made of polygons and fire away from your ship very realistically. The
sound of the engine also corresponds to how fast you are moving and it sounds
very real just like something out of the movies. The music is all very well
done and changes quite frequently to the mood of safety and danger.

When you destroy an enemy ship it actually breaks apart and you can hit the
chunks doing some damage to your ship and the explosions are very well
animated and I really like the blueish tint to the smoke, just seems like what
an explosion would look like in space. When you're firing at a capitol ship
you blow off chunks of it and its explosion is even more dramatic as a shock
wave leaves its core, very cool. The AI is very impressive and relentless at
higher stages of Gauntlet and you can select the level of AI in Free-for-All
mode, one such choice is "Minter" which I have not yet dared to try. Another
cool thing is that each race has its own starbase design.

There is so much more about this game that I don't know yet and I'm going to
go play some more. Put simply this is an excellent game worth every penny if
not more. It is great to see such an awesome game made for a system that
really deserved it. I can only hope there will be more like it in the future.
I hope the second run comes very soon so all can enjoy it and I wish CatBoxes
were produced by a trustworthy company because I would buy more Jags and
copies of this game in a heartbeat to get as many friends in Free-for-All mode
as possible.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Where are the codes?
Author: ETHunter <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: May 12, 2000 at 16:34:48
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Been wondering why there haven't been any postings of Battle-
>Sphere codes yet. If there has been, I haven't seen it.
>Surely, there must have been more discovered by now than just
>the two I'm aware of - pilot eject and the one Fard listed.
>Is everyone keeping them a secret? I thought the idea was going
>to be for the codes to be posted with credit given to the person
>who first found them.

There was talk about credit being given to the first to find them but it never
materialized. To help out a few of you and give you pilots a fighting chance,
I'll post the code below that gives you another alien race and their ships.

"INTRUDER" ALIEN RACE CODE:
874633746537

This will give you much better ships to fight with and will aid in your
advancement.

Oh, and one more thing...your welcome! ;-)
Micah

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Rein BattleSphere Manual [CODE HERE]
Author: Tennis (billions and billions served)
Date: August 24, 2000 at 18:30:12
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

It's not a code; it's a key to seeing that the BattleSphere codes actually
spell something when placing it through the phone pad.

Look on the bottom right hand corner of the back cover of your BattleSphere
Manual. You'll see this number:

37465-9687-87463

What does that spell? The ol' PG-13 BS slogan:
"Drink your Urine."

Fard Muhammad- Webmaster of the BSEC.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Nuon Gripe
Author: BSB (52.216.6.64.reflexcom.com)
Date: November 02, 2000 at 00:15:13
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Well, it's still early and there are still only a few
>games confirmed as to what is being worked on. ScatoLOGIC
>said they were developing for NUON once didn't they?

There is zero zip nada null chance of a NUON edition of BattleSphere. Some
people from old Atari just can't let go of the past. But before y'all make a
stink, there are plenty of other people who can, so all you'd do is make their
lives miserable. Please don't do that. BattleSphere's future, if it ever has
one, lies elsewhere.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Re: Nuon Gripe
Author: Thunderbird (pool-63.53.78.214.nwrk.grid.net)
Date: November 02, 2000 at 03:39:03
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>I'm just curious... have you tried Sega? SegaNet seems like
>the perfect thing for multiplayer.

Let's put it this way: every place we ever try, and every contact we ever made
absolutely LOVED the game and wanted BADLY to produce it. However, these
people we seem to meet are not high up their company food-chains to actually
be able to get us produced or get any money for us. It never gets past the
"Wow! This is GREAT. Let me go tell my boss and we'll get you a contract."
stage.

Thunderbird
ScatoLOGIC

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Re: BattleSphere / Star Raiders conversion
Author: [e-mail] (Scott Le Grand)
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 22:31:08 GMT
Forum: alt.atari-jaguar.discussion

>Will BattleSphere be ported over to the PC or Playstation?
>They beefed up Pong. Why not a killer Star Raiders game?

Well, since Hasbro doesn't own BattleSphere, that would leave Star Raiders
since no opportunity to "beef up" BattleSphere on anything but our own time
and till has ever been presented to us.  Since we enjoy eating and paying the
mortgage (highly recommended), such an effort is not exactly lightning fast.
However, Hasbro has supposedly been developing an updated Star Raiders for
over a year. Since nothing has been heard of it since 1998, one might guess
that they are encountering "difficulties".  Since they just had a massive
round of layoffs, one might hypothesize about what has become of this effort
but who knows for sure?

Scott Le Grand
Lead Coder
BattleSphere

ObPlug: BattleSphere was developed under Linux. Aren't we cool?


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Jag Encryption
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: JAG BAG - Jag emulation
Author: Thunderbird (pool-207-205-162-202.nwrk.grid.net)
Date: December 16, 1999 at 16:36:45
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>>If you could disassemble the boot ROM, would there be
>>anything stopping you from porting the section that
>>performs encryption validation to 80x86 code, then using
>>that version to brute-force the checksum for a ROM image
>>at speeds far in excess of 8 Jags?
>
>Better, I won't have to try every combination, it will
>encrypt it right the first time. Don't hold your breath though.

I won't, since you WILL have to try every combination. It will NOT encrypt it
right the first time unless you rewrite the code as an ENcoder (right now all
you have is a DEcoder).

Also, the code which everyone is going ga-ga over runs on different processors
at once and is very large. Manually converting to X86 is possible but you're
converting a TON of RISC code to X86 which is very difficult because of the
SIZE of the code which makes it time consuming for the programmer, AND the
dearth of registers in the X86 (Intel Sux) and the Big-endian/Little-endian
differences in processors. You'd have more luck writing a GPU emulator.

But doing all that is a big pain in the butt.

Thunderbird
4Play

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: JEO Vol 3 Issue 1 Dealing with BS encryption
Author: Thunderbird (pool-209-138-0-142.nwrk.grid.net)
Date: March 27, 2000 at 15:33:25
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>I was just wondering why they had to setup the encryption
>process they did since according to the below statement
>they already had the key and software to do it. They were
>just waiting on Hasbro to make the Jag public domain. Just
>wondering and thought it was interesting.

Because we were going on the word of someone at Hasbro that they had
everything we needed, they just needed permission from the top brass.

As it turned out, it was all a lie. Probably constructed to piss us off.

Thunderbird
ScatoLOGIC

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Hardware Encryption Bypass
Author: Thunderbird (pool-209-138-169-230-nwrk.grid.net)
Date: December 01, 1999 at 20:58:38
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Hey t-bird, I asked you about the encryption,

I wasn't referencing your message. You have a legitimate question. I was
referring to someone on ICQ apparently trying to create friction against 4Play
to promote another encryption scheme already ruled out by 4Play almost 2 years
ago (for various reasons).

>It was not a shot. However, don't you think that it is
>strange that a good amount of the time is up and it still
>has not been cracked. I check here every day expecting to
>see a post so I still have my fingers crossed.

You have to understand that my scheme works like those old briefcase
combination locks... remember the ones with 3 wheels with the digits 0-9 on
them? If you start at 0-0-0 and try 0-0-1, 0-0-2, 0-0-3, 0-0-4, etc.
eventually you open the lock right?

Well, when you're trying 5-1-7, 5-1-8, 5-1-9, 5-2-0, etc. would you think it
was strange that the lock didn't open yet? What if the owner set the
combination to 9-9-9? It would take every try to open it, right? Well, that's
where we are.

>Talking about strange things, what do you think about this
>"my copy of protector did not work, because the room was
>cold". From my understanding this should not affect the
>Jag or game at all. It seems like the I-war glitch. Good
>thing 4-play is not going to use the bypass that might be
>some of the problem. What do you think?

Atari had a lot of problems with their bootup/initialization routines they
provided to developers. There were several updates provided and they
eventually got tired of developers being too lazy to use the new code and they
made it a requirement to get approval from Atari. They never did say what the
changes were in the code but my understanding was that the early code didn't
work right on some Jaguars. Perhaps the people who wrote most of Protector
didn't bother to update the init routines?

That's my best guess.

We'll have to wait until Carl releases more of his games to determine if the
bypass is causing the problems or not. If all his games have the same problem
then we can be pretty sure it's the hardware bypass.

Thunderbird
4Play


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Hyper Force
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Jaguar Hyper Force news
Author: Posted by Carl <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: March 18, 2000 at 09:47:42
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Songbird has good news and bad news regarding the impending Hyper Force
release for the Jaguar.

The bad news is:
Due to minor production delays and real-life obligations requiring me to be
out of town for a number of days, the official release date of Hyper Force is
being moved to April 10, 2000. I apologize to a number of customers who will
have their shipment delayed as a result.

The good news is:
I will have the "first wave" of pre-orders sent out by Monday. Due to the
aforementioned obligations, I will not be able to mail all pre-orders early as
originally intended. Your understanding is greatly appreciated. Also, quite a
few pre-order customers have not yet sent in their balance, so their copy of
Hyper Force will be held pending that payment. Please send your balance in
ASAP to avoid further delays in your shipment.

Finally, Skyhammer is still slated for a May 2000 release. This is a great
time to be a Jaguar fan!

Thanks,
Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions
http://songbird.atari.net

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Hyperforce Review...
Author: Dan <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: March 21, 2000 at 00:04:31
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

As I've mentioned, I received Hyperforce today in the mail. Here's the review.
(feel free to copy and post this where ever you please by the way all you site
owners. Just tell me that you did it.)

I was quite happy to get the package and spent a good three minutes trying to
rip it open. Finally, the priority box opened and I pulled out the lovely
looking Hyperforce box.

Of all the Songbird releases, the front of the box is the most appealing one
so far. The graphic is bright and uses all types of colors. The words HYPER
FORCE look absolutely stunning and my expectations of the game started to
climb much higher then originally anticipated. I removed the cartridge and the
instruction manual.

Where'd the color go? The same HYPER FORCE graphic which looked so incredibly
cool on the outside of the box seemed to blend right in with the black of the
manual. The cart was almost the same way. If you look at it from about 10 feet
away, it appears to say HYPCN TONLE. Oh well. That doesn't really matter in
the long run.

I plugged in the cartridge, turned on the surround sound and was immediately
blown away by the stunning opening music! I don't remember hearing the music
on the JagFest video, and if it was there it didn't sound this good! I happily
pressed the "fire" button awaiting my first mission. The screen went blank
and... it stayed blank for about five seconds. I hit another button, fifteen
seconds... blank. Thirty seconds... tried the reset buttons... what the...

Manually restarted the game. Game loaded 100% fine. Funny things our Jaggys
are.

I commenced running around. At first I thought the game looked like a version
of Metroid with large graphics. Unfortunately, no. The control is extremely
touchy and whenever you crouch the screen immediately drops at a high rate.
UuGgHh! If you hit down too much, the game starts to look like a ride on a
tilt-a-whirl... The jumping/flying thing gets kinda annoying too. After the
jerky crouching, the jerky flying doesn't help control much. It's really too
bad because this is the only thing that caused me trouble in enjoying the
game.

Your hero is very big, but unfortunately he isn't animated nearly as well as
the rest of the game. The enemies on the other hand are large and animated
extremely well. I also like how most of them operate. Many of them resemble
cartoon animations and not video games. Unfortunately, since you are so
freakin' big along with the enemies, it's very hard to avoid them. Some things
that are indestructable are nearly impossible to pass as your guy bounces back
whenever he hits them. This size/bouncing imbalance makes it quite annoying to
pass certain areas. You must either run and hope you get it after two or three
blitzes, or wait and try to time it just right. Most of the time, you're
timing is off.

I kept playing of course and was quite happy to find out that even with the
sloppy controls I could still get along in the game and find a lot of
redeeming qualities. I played until the third or fourth level, at which point
I had to leave the house.

I am still impressed with the games music. I found out you could save, but I
haven't tried this yet -- a definite plus for a game like this. I liked Soccer
Kid a lot but the stupid codes for countries was just too much for me. The
game is well paced with both puzzle solving and platforming tasks.
Unfortunately, most of the puzzle solving is the "throw the switch" or "get
the key" type of thing that is in so many video games, but HF's puzzles seem
to be a little more easy to find and balanced. It's platforming action on the
other hand is what I would expect from a game of the genre. The only thing I
was disappointed in was an inability to jump instead of using your blasters.
It makes some things harder to do.

Once I was used to the controls, the game had stopped making me sick. It
surprised me by being better then I originally thought it would be when I
ordered it, and it is a good attempt to fill a void in the Jag's "adventure"
category. While it is only a mediocre game, with the recent rash of Tomb
Raiders and other horrific 3D adventure games, it's pretty darn good.

dan

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Hyperforce Review...
Author: Carl <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: March 21, 2000 at 07:02:50
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Where'd the color go? The same HYPER FORCE graphic which
>looked so incredibly cool on the outside of the box seemed
>to blend right in with the black of the manual. The cart was
>almost the same way. If you look at it from about 10 feet
>away, it appears to say HYPCN TONLE. Oh well. That doesn't
>really matter in the long run.

The Hyper Force logo appearing on the box cover was not available at the time
of the label/book production, sorry. Instead, a graphic was captured from the
title screen, which, while not perfect, at least matches the game.

>Your hero is very big, but unfortunately he isn't animated
>nearly as well as the rest of the game. The enemies on the

If I would have had the source, I would have definitely improved the
size/animation of the hero. It's OK, but not as fluid as it could have been.

>I kept playing of course and was quite happy to find out that
>even with the sloppy controls I could still get along in the
>game and find a lot of redeeming qualities. I played until the

Yes, the game is fortunately forgiving when it comes to damage to your hero
(unlike Aircars, where you get blown away every few seconds!).

>I am still impressed with the games music. I found out you
>could save, but I haven't tried this yet -- a definite plus for
>a game like this.

Absolutely. The game saves are critical later in the game.

>Once I was used to the controls, the game had stopped making me
>sick. It surprised me by being better then I originally thought it

Thanks for the honest opinions and kind words on Hyper Force!

Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Hyperforce Review...
Author: Jesse (logan241.modem.xmission.com)
Date: March 21, 2000 at 08:12:13
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>I plugged in the cartridge, turned on the surround sound and
>was immediately blown away by the stunning opening music! I
>don't remember hearing the music on the JagFest video, and if
>it was there it didn't sound this good!

The music on the little AVI of Hyper Force that I downloaded from Songbird or
Jagu-Dome immediately enchanted me, and was what first made me want to buy the
game. Besides, it looked like a fun game. I can't wait to get it! Because a
few others received it yesterday, I feel it is likely that I will receive it
today (that's what happened with Protector, anyway). I hope so, anyway!

This is going to be an AWESOME week! Hyper Force and Battle Sphere (two games
with awesome music!) in one week! Admittedly, I've been waiting for BS for
approximately five years longer than I have been for HF, but still.... ;)

Jesse

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Woohoo, Hyperforce!
Author: Kevin <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: March 21, 2000 at 14:38:05
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Just had to share that I got my copy of HyperForce in the mail today! Yes! I'm
about to go and give it a good playing, but the box-art does look quite
excellent.

Time to go crank it up,
-Kevin

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Woohoo, Hyperforce!
Author: Carl <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: March 21, 2000 at 14:47:06
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Just had to share that I got my copy of HyperForce in the mail
>today! Yes! I'm about to go and give it a good playing, but
>the box-art does look quite excellent.

Thanks, Kevin! Tony F. did a great job of depicting my humble suggestions on
what the action should look like. I was quite pleased with the end result.

Carl

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: HyperForce... Just that good!!!
Author: JaguarGod (CLEVA010-0998.splitrock.net)
Date: March 21, 2000 at 15:28:27
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

I have been playing HyperForce since I arrived home from work and found it in
the mailbox. My wife and children are not home yet, and I simply can not stop
playing this game. In my opinion, the Jag finally has a great platformer. (yes
I did like Rayman, but I did not think it was great).

From the HUGE characters to the SUPER-SMOOTH movement, this is a very positive
game for the Jaguar. I can't get over the size of the characters!

Carl, this is a great game with a lot going for it. This is the one I was
really waiting for, and it is a thousand times better than I could have hoped.
Thank you so much for keeping the Jaguar alive, and for all you have done
personally for the Jaguar community.

Jason

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Got Hyperforce!
Author: Justin <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: March 21, 2000 at 17:40:38
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

All I can say is .. wow! Totally not what I was expecting.. Don't get me
wrong, I was looking forward to all the new games, but for some reason, was
not looking forward to getting Hyper Force as much as the rest.. I guess I
just had heard enough "mediocre" talk that it was like "ehh, ok."

But I got it today and wow! It's a LOT of fun, even if I AM totally lost on
the 4th level. ;) The graphics are very VERY crisp and fast and clean, the
control is really pretty dead on (IMHO, I know some people don't agree), the
music goes great... I think this may be my favourite Songbird release yet!
(while I love Protector, I have always been horribly bad at Defender type
games... and Soccer Kid is cute but tough [still can't get past the first
boss!]) Box art is really impressive, too.

But it's fun to have an old fashioned shooter that's quite well refined
considering the situation (picked up after it was abandoned, released as is,
etc).

If anyone remembers the game Obliterator on the Atari ST's and Amigas, it is a
LOT like that. And that was always one of my favourite games on the ST...

While I have only played the game for about 15 minutes, it's GREAT. While it's
nothing earth shattering in graphics or gameplay, it's incredibly solid and a
great addition to the Jag library. Kinda like Pitfall in that sense (nothing
new, but really well done.)

Thanks, Carl!
Justin
(off for dinner and then more HF :) Maybe I can find my way out...)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Hyperforce received!
Author: Bones <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: March 21, 2000 at 18:24:46
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Woo Hoo!

Got it today, and so far, so good. I figure most people will have plenty to
say on the positive side, so here's a few nit picks:

Option menu: Downright cheesy. Looks like the font on my BJL!

"Purchase" screen: Really hard to read the prices on here. Then again this is
on my composite monitor, but that tends to sharpen, not dull the image. I'll
have to try it on my big screen TV and see how it looks there.

Map: Non-existent! It'd be nice to have a mapping option when you get lost
deep in the levels.

Other than that it's great. Graphics are sharp for the most part, and the
controls don't bother me like other posters have mentioned. I love flying
around and looking for secret passageways, good platform feature (:

Thanks for another great addition to the Jag library. Next stop BattleSphere!
Stop after, Skyhammer!

Bones

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: I love HyperForce!
Author: Shaggy <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: March 22, 2000 at 15:04:43
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

I've been playing this since I got home from school, and I LOVE IT! Even my
friends have been playing it and commented that it was a cool game. IMHO, one
of the best platformers on the Jag by a long shot.

Hey Carl, maybe there could be a soundtrack released or something? That music
is so freakin' cool, sorta reminds me of BattleMorph.

Thanks Carl, this is one awesome game! The Jag really needed more of these
kind of games back in the day, probably would've helped it a lot...

Adam

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Hyperforce - Yes!!
Author: Carl <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: March 22, 2000 at 20:19:29
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>The options are also not described in the manual, so some are
>still a mystery to me.

Some are still a mystery to me, too. That's why they're not described in
detail. :)

I'd love to see someone write up a nice web page on the purchase screen for
HF. Also, I'd love to see a Protector page that details a lot of the alien
ships and what strategies you use to survive.

>Thank you Carl. Very nice game, glad you decided to publish
>it.

Thanks! I'm very pleased with the feedback so far.

Carl


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Protector
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Link to Protector Image that shows Copyright 1998 Carl Forham
Author: Carl (socks1b.rochester.ibm.com)
Date: November 30, 1999 at 13:29:30
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Please note my last name is spelled "Forhan", thanks.

>This copyright banner seems to have been removed from the
>final Product for some reason.

That's because the copyright was a placeholder and not accurate for the final
product.

>Also, what 8 bit machines was protector released on? I thought
>Protector was a Jaguar exclusive. I was surprised when I saw
>the 1989 copyright date.

Protector was originally known as/ported from Datastorm, IIRC. I think it came
out on the Atari 8-bit, or maybe it was an old Amiga. I'll have to dig through
my email archive to know for certain.

Carl

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Protector Ported from Datastorm
Author: Ow! Ow! Ow! I forgot my Protector... (dynamic63.pm01.santa-
cruz.best.com)
Date: November 30, 1999 at 15:08:42
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>That may be so, but the Atari 8bit version came first. It
>*was* called Protector in the US, and was distributed by
>Synapse software.

Protector and Protector II were written by Mike Potter who also wrote Chicken,
Nautilus, Shadow World, Imperial Walker, and Sands of Mars. I bought both of
these games. They were a cross between Defender and Choplifter where you
fought baddies but also had to pick up good guys and move them to safety
before they were killed by aliens or by a volcano.

And the guy who ported Protector II from the 800 edition now works for VM
Labs.

In contrast, the Protectors was a short-lived Gerry Anderson series with
Robert Vaughn, Tony Anholt, and Nyree Dawn Porter. And if you remember this
series, you're really really old...

And if you know where my handle comes from, then you're also a hopeless geek
as well as older than the hills...

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: PROTECTOR... better than I had hoped.
Author: Marshall (user-2ivfl3d.dialup.mindspring.com)
Date: November 30, 1999 at 23:29:40
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Well, like many here, I received PROTECTOR today, and have been playing it
since I came home from work tonight, and to be quite honest, it's frankly
better than I had hoped. Unlike what I feel is a lot of you, I really liked
Defender 2000, regardless of the fact that success in it depended largely on
playing by the scanner (I find myself wanting to use the scanner more than I
have to in PROTECTOR), it looked and animated nicely, had decent tunes and
multiple gameplay modes. While PROTECTOR might not have all the notoriety of a
D2K (thanks largely to the YaK), what it does have is dead-on control, nice
graphics (not pastel & gaudy like many in D2K) and good sound (am I the only
one who gets reminded of the classic movie 'the Fly' whenever a human is
abducted?). It just feels right, like a true update to Defender. It stays true
to the formula where D2K strayed in areas, and the areas where additions to
the gameplay are made, like the Meteor Showers, only intensify the gameplay.
The power-up system is handled nicely as well, and the game is truly difficult
enough for you to take a beating, but it also makes you want to keep coming
back for more.

As for the box & instructions, well, this is truly standout work to all those
involved (Carl, Kevin, Doug and the artist Tony Ferguson). If not for the sad
but necessary omission of the Atari 'Fuji' you'd be hard-pressed to tell the
difference.

Congratulations Carl on a job extremely well-done. My only question is, when
can I send in the balance on Soccer Kid ;)

Marshall

PS. Hmmm, $20 in Songbird Coupons. What to do, what to do... LYNX GAMES!!! :)

Life is good for the Atari faithful (all I need now is the IS2 Cart and those
CatBoxes...)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Nitpicky Protector Lover and Critic
Author: Dough (dialup-209.245.39.231.SanDiego1.Level3.net)
Date: November 30, 1999 at 21:49:28
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

That's right. I love to explore the intricacies of a good game. Protector more
than qualifies. The gameplay has captured me. The gameplay can not be
overstated here. D2K never had me feeling this compelled to give it another go
once my game ended. I am proud of each new level I make it to and each one of
Carl's high scores I wipe out ;-) (So far, I am only up to 7th high score :-{
) I think the "Ye old Shoppe" is perfectly adequate. It serves its purpose in
adding a strategic component to the game. If Carl had expanded on the shop, I
think it would have been a little silly. The government sent this guy as the
only defender for the outpost, so how come he has to stop and shop for his own
weapons? How come the only remaining debris from an enemy ship explosion is
the local currency? I guess I like the shop's implementation as-is.

I love to stock up on shields baby! Shields! Buy them cheap! There's a sale on
shields! It's getting close to meteor season, so don't forget to stock up on
shields! Available at all "Ye Old Shops". With over 40 convenient locations
throughout the solar system! Ask for it by name!

I love the backgrounds I've seen so far. Cool indeed. Again, better than D2K,
in my opinion. D2K had too much distraction for me.

So what would I change then? Well, the control configuration screen is a bit
rough for me, because it seems quite touchy as I rotate the different
combinations. Also, speaking of controls, it's been hard for me to NOT expect
to be able to maintain my shooting direction as I maneuver my ship ala-D2K.
While that's probably just a matter of breaking an old habit, I kind of miss
that. Also, unless you reset the game, it will never return to the title
screen. Not a big deal, just odd. One can also not reset from the wave select
screen (even though the manual tells me I can reset anywhere in the game ;-)
Another completely insignificant item: Why is there a small group of color-
cycling pixels in the extreme lower left corner of the screen? Curious. And
yes, I have been having "the blank screen" thing. For me it seems to occur
more often with the CD player than without, but that may be an incorrect
perception. It has been only a very slight delay in my Protector fun, however.

The only instances of slowdown I have seen are when I use a smart bomb on a
screen filled with a lot of baddies who, upon destruction, not only erupt with
their beautiful explosions, but also "give birth" to a number of smaller
baddies while releasing power-ups too. It does not hamper game-play at all,
due to its extreme brevity.

Thunderbird, upon extremely close scrutiny, I can find only one nitpick for
the box. This may be more due to my ignorance of formatting protocol. On the
back of the box, after the game synopsis, there is a bullet list of game
features. Each one is preceded with an asterisk. Only one item in the list is
two lines long. I think that perhaps it would have looked better if the first
letter of the second line was aligned below the first letter in the line above
and not below the asterisk. Just like my nitpicks to the game itself, I had to
try to be extremely anal to come up with this. BTW Thunderbird, what is that
small white space on the bottom of the box for? UPC? Holographic Jaguar
sticker? ;-)

Now that's some super minor nitpicks huh? Golly, I love this game!!! In fact,
I am going to go play it again.....

-Dough

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Prot... Wha...?
Author: Carl (pmroch7-113.rconnect.com)
Date: November 30, 1999 at 20:37:02
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Anyway, I won't bore everyone with the same, "Protector is
>great!" stuff. Instead, I'd like to nitpick a little. And I'll

Don't worry, I never have a problem with a thoughtful critique!

>1. CEF for every high score? Carl, couldn't you have made
>up a few high score names?? Oh, like PAT, SAM, TAT, TED,
>GOD, BZO, YAK, KEV... Shoot, I hardly ever use my own
>initials on the lower scores.

:-) Really, that wasn't vanity! Honest. The game was defaulted to AAA for
every high score, and it was easy to change that to CEF. Changing each entry
to a unique value was certainly doable, but a lot more effort.

>2. I like the parallax scrolling, BUT: Some parallax stars
>would have been cool too.

Agreed. I had at one point thought about adding more layers, like several
ground layers. Again, doable, but a lot of work for a "[long] nights &
weekends" project. Might be nice if a sequel was ever made, though.

>3. Could the title screens been done in a higher resolution
>or with more colors? Some kind of animation on the title
>screen would have been cool. I was giddy when I saw the
>Songbird logo! Too cool!

:-) See above.

>4. Not really a nitpick, but man, it's hard to get those
>powerups sometimes!

Consider yourself fortunate. A few months ago, you'd almost never get a
powerup in the game! I stepped it up by a factor 4 or so.

>5. I had hoped this would be included, but it wasn't: No
>shooting of the meteors allowed? Drats.

Hey, a few of the foes have to be pretty tough, you know... ;-)

>6. The "shop" part could have used a little character. I
>always think of the dude from Hydra when I think of a shop.

Did I mention my limited time and paltry art ability? =) Fair enough, the shop
could have been enhanced quite a bit.

>1. The ship looks just like a Viper from Battlestar
>Galactica! I've always wanted to fly one of those puppies!

I thought that, too.

>2. Eyes glued to the game, not the scanner.

Just the way it should be!

>3. It's FAST! I'm still taking it a little easy because
>I'm used to getting vexed in one shot with D2K, but I forsee
>some fast & frantic blasting in the near future!

:-)

>4. The whole package is amazing. I commend everyone involved
>it producing it. It's such a good job, I hope we don't get
>let down with future releases!

There was clearly an advantage (cost-wise) to being able to buy parts and
printing all together. Hard to say what would happen with future games if only
one was being released.

>Thanks Carl and everyone else involved. Protector is
>something to be proud of.

I am absolutely thrilled to have been able to bring Protector out on the
Jaguar. Enjoy!

Carl

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: I am now Protected
Author: Stephen Anderson (a14s160.neo.rr.com)
Date: November 30, 1999 at 16:27:19
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Excellent - I received Protector today (and Atari Karts
>yesterday), and I don't have to go to work either - I'll
>post my thoughts on the game after I get some play time.
>The box and manual are excellent though!
>
>Stephen Anderson

Well, I must admit it - I suck!!!!! I was never a good Defender player, and
man does it show. This game is pretty tough! Graphically, it is well above
average. I have not experienced any slowdown yet, even in the middle of a
meteor shower (very cruel addition to the game). It must be because I am used
to Defender 2000, but I am having trouble adjusting to how fast the ship
stops, but I'm sure I'll adjust.

Overall, this is a very professional package. Carl did a great job finishing
up the game, and T-Bird did a great job on the box. Kevin - the manual is
awesome, and I am jealous -  I have never had my name in a video game before:(

Protector is definitely a game worth showing off, especially to those who are
not familiar with the Jag. I love the number of enemies on the screen at once
during the intro screens. Makes me wish the Jag's library was 85% excellent 2D
games. It is quite obvious this is what the system was designed for (sprite
manipulation) - too bad it only has 2MB ram.

This game is perfect for the arcade joystick I made for the Jag some time ago.
Even the pro-controller cramps my hands relatively quickly - the joystick is
lap sized, and nearly indestructible.

Stephen Anderson - very happy - I got to open TWO new Jag games in the past
two days!!!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: No probs w/ Protector.. 'cept it's hard!
Author: Justin (sc-24-31-59-48.socal.rr.com)
Date: December 01, 1999 at 19:10:00
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Well, after reading all the "problems" with Protector, and knowing my
Jag/JagCD combo is one of the few (only?) that has the exact same problem with
Zero5 (Z5 will NOT play unless the Jag has been on for at least 30 minutes
prior!!) I've been seeing if mine has any problems with Protector, and so far,
no problems at all!

Too weird...

Game is lots of fun. Really is what I wish Defender 2000 would have been. Of
course, D2K has more eye candy (no offense intended to Protector), but I
really get into Protector.

Did have a strange logic situation come up, I finished level 6 and right as it
played the "Well done" sound effect, a rogue shot hit my ship and it blew up.
The game stuck me back at the beginning of level 6. :( Oh well, not a huge
deal (except I'm having trouble getting past that one! :)

(hope this makes sense, I'm still fighting this stupid flu)

Great game!! If you haven't ordered it yet, be sure to!!

Justin

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: PROTECTOR KICKS SOME SERIOUS @$$!
Author: Jonathan J. Hunt <csjjh@ux1>
Date: 1999/12/03
Forum: rec.games.video.atari

Excellent job all around!  Thanks so much for you long work on this Carl -- it
was worth it.  Thanks also for the coupons & Jag pin -- it's so cool -- it's
going on my jacket right away.  Here's my review (note: I've only played it
for like two hours -- I got 125,000 & reached level 8):

Packaging: 10
This is just as good as any professional release Jag game.  Box, cart, label
is all authentic.  The cart is the standard Jag type, box fits right in with
all the others.  Good instructions, cool label.  The cart was even wrapped in
one of those plastic baggies!  Coolness.  The only thing different is that the
cart was wrapped with bubble wrap rather than in one of those flimsy cart
holder thingys.  I'm sure the bubble wrap offers better protection anyway.
(Gee, we never used to rate the packaging of a game, did we?....)

Graphics:  9.5
Very fast & very smooth.  Great explosions.  Great animation.  I really like
the player's ship design. Cool looking enemies.  Cool hyperspace effect.  The
action gets real hectic real quick!  Beautiful backgrounds. Nice parallax
scrolling effect.  I love the planets & space scenes in the background.  The
only reason this isn't a 10 is that it would make things easier if the objects
on the scanner were different colors to help identify them.

Sound effects: 10
I've never been very critical of most games sound effects.  What I can tell
you is that everything sounded good to me.  Nothing was out of place or got
annoying after a while.  It was all good here.  I really like the "Help me's"
when a humanoid gets abducted & the "Medic!" when you blow one away.

Music: 10
What can I say, it's right up there with Tempest 2000 & Defender 2000.
Excellent techno music.  Very well done.  I'm recording it to a cassette tape
to listen to in my car!  (Carl, besides the main title track, how many
different in game tracks are there & how far into the game do you have to go
to hear them all?)

Game play:  9.5
Idunno, maybe it deserves a 10.  I did just get it after all & only spent 2
hours with it so far but the difficulty seems a tad bit on the high side but
it's not so high as to be unplayable by any means.  I am new to it & an old
time gamer -- I'm no good at most new games.  It's a blast to play, that's for
sure.  I really like the way power ups are used.  In most games you use them
to build up unbelievably high fire power/defenses, then when you die & start
over with nothing you've got no hope & it's basically game over unless you
luck out & grab a few power ups right off the bat.  In Protector power ups are
used to either purchase after a level or automatically upgrade your ship
during game play.  What you use them for are shields, hyperspace jump
capability (a good one to have!), smartbombs, extra ships & rapid fire (not
that your ship normally doesn't fire pretty rapidly).  That's why Protector is
so playable, they're used very reasonably.

Replay value:  10
Just like all good classic games.

Fun Factor:  9
This to me is an overall score of how much I enjoy playing the game.  I guess
it depends on how much you enjoy Defender-type games.  I love them but the
difficulty of them always a little more than I'd like.  While I love Defender-
style play there are other types I enjoy more so for me it's a 9.

Average:  9.7
That's after my first impression.  Needless to say I'm very pleased.

Now, on to the inevitable comparison to Defender 2000:  I'd rate them both at
about the same level of excellent quality.  One could spend countless hours
nitpicking both games, there's some areas where the graphics of D2K are
cooler, some where Protector's are cooler.  Overall, what with the far nicer
player ship design on Protector than either the Plus or 2000 mode on D2K, the
fact that Protector only scrolls horizontally like the original, & that
Protector's powerups don't get carried away I say Protector comes closer to
capturing the spirit of the original Defender.

D2K, on the other hand has three different version of Defender, including
about the funnest port of the original I've ever played & Plasma Pong as a
hoot is a total riot.  Final thought, both are EXCELLENT & different enough to
justify buying both of them.

Thanks again to Carl & all involved in bringing this instant classic to the
Jag.  I truly appreciate all your work.

Later,
JJH

PSubject:  Anyone, help me understand something, if you could.  Why was
Protector able to avoid the encryption road block that still has BattleSphere
hung up & why can't BattleSphere avoid the issue the same way Protector did?

>>==--> Jonathan | E-mail:  [e-mail]                     <--==<<
>>==-->   Jax    | To send e-mail please make sure you use    <--==<<
>>==-->     Hunt | this address - my news reader messes up.   <--

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: I KICKED PROTECTOR'S @$$! I'M THE KING OF THE JAG!
Author: Jonathan J. Hunt <csjjh@ux1>
Date: 1999/12/05
Forum: rec.games.video.atari

:)  Well, kinda.  I managed to defeat the boss on the easy level (was it after
level 10?) which ended the game & rewarded (punished?) me by unlocking the
Insane difficulty mode!  My Score was 187,900.  The boss was really cool.  My
only hint on defeating it:  use a ProController & have that finger on the
index button!

I managed to (I think) get past the first level on Insane (you start out on
level one with no humanoids & a screen full of mutants!) & on the radar it
looked like the humanoids were replaced but when I got to one it was this big
mechanized thingy - not friendly, I think...

Can someone help me figure something out?  Here's my impression:  To complete
a level you have to do it all on one life.  If at any time you die, including
after the wave during the meteor shower or attack of the red ships, you start
all over & don't progress unless you beat the entire level on one life...  Is
that what everyone else is noticing?  Yowzer!

Anyone know how many different music tracks there are & what level you've got
to get to to hear them all?  I'm gonna record them to a cassette tape, they're
cool!

Are there any cheats or codes anyone wants to let out, Carl?...

;)
JJH

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Protector easter-egg
Author: Carl (pmroch7-57.rconnect.com)
Date: December 03, 1999 at 18:20:15
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>I held down 3 and powered up like you're supposed to but
>all it does is tell me that my cart is erasing. I almost
>fainted when I saw that! I shut it off really fast and
>when I turned it back on it works still so I got it quick
>enough before anything was damaged. Whew!
>
>What I wonder is why would anyone put a self-destruct into
>a cart like that and why would they make it so that would
>be so easy for someone to trigger accidentally?
>
>Is this some kind of joke? I am not laughing!

It's not a joke, nor will it erase your cartridge in any situation. It is
simply an artifact of the process used to bypass the encryption -- the Jaguar
has been "fooled" into thinking a flash ROM cartridge is inserted. Flash ROM
carts can play unencrypted games on regular Jaguars.

So basically just ignore the "Erasing" message -- it has no effect on any
Songbird release.

Sincerely,

Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Phase Zero
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Phase Zero
Author: Keita <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: June 30, 2000 at 14:41:55
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Phaze Zero looks like quite a game. Very impressive looking
>from the pics. Has anyone been playing the demo and what are
>your thoughts? I sure would like to be able to play it, will
>anyone like Songbird be able to distribute this game, I would
>buy it even if it's not completed. Anyone want to sell a
>functioning BJL Jaguar??

Phase Zero is far from finished and it's really bad. Only collectors and die-
hard Jag fans would care to pay money for it. Carl would have a LOT of work to
do to finish the game, if he cared to take on the task. Even then, the game is
fundamentally not a good one so it's probably not worth the effort. Skyhammer
in comparison was much more polished, playable, viable and near completion
when Carl bagged it. I think Santora, Scott L. and others can vouch for me on
this.

- Keita

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Phase Zero
Author: Mark Stingray Santora <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: June 30, 2000 at 15:14:40
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Phase Zero suffers from a lot of problems.

1. It's letterboxes and still has a crappy frame rate with no horizon. The
only way to play is to follow along the guide arrow that points you to the
next target.

2. It's buggy. Noticed by the level 5 game hang. There are more levels.

3. There is about as much depth to the gameplay as a teaspoon. Goto A, touch
it, end of level. Goto A then B, end level, or return. Come on guys, I've seen
Pascal code that's better than this. No wonder Atari didn't want to publish
it.

4. The network code is unfinished - and what is there supposedly was written
with much help from the gang at Scatologic. (you know, 4Play).

Basically, it's an interesting graphics demo, and based on it Sony brought the
Hyper Image guys in-house to make two games on a huge budget - and they are
supposedly so bad even Sony won't publish them.

I TRIED to get it out before JagFest for the guys down there, but got swamped.
SO I put it up so someone (most likely Carl) could load it into a Flash ROM
and let people play it at CGE2k - which I will not be at this year...

-Mark

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Phase Zero
Author: Carl <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: June 30, 2000 at 18:13:50
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Phase Zero is far from finished and it's really bad. Only
>collectors and die-hard Jag fans would care to pay money

While Phase Zero clearly has some problems (level 5 bug, as Mark and others
have pointed out, and yet the game is supposed to have 8+ levels built in it),
I wouldn't be quite so harsh. I look at the game and think, "This is what
Aircars should have been like."

It has more interesting terrain, a frame rate that is almost TOO fast (I find
myself sometimes whirling out of control like you can in Jag Doom
occasionally), really cool enemies/explosions, and no annoying "Target
Destroyed" voice. =)

But I'd like to hear more opinions on this game...

Thanks,
Carl

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Phase Zero
Author: Thunderbird (pool-207-205-160-65.nwrk.grid.net)
Date: June 30, 2000 at 18:34:20
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Phaze Zero looks like quite a game. Very impressive looking
>from the pics. Has anyone been playing the demo and what are
>your thoughts? I sure would like to be able to play it, will

It's an AWFUL, AWFUL game. Nice engine, graphics ranging from gorgeous to
wretched. Gameplay ranging from laughable to painful. Save your money. (if it
works on BJL, then it works on JUGS)

Thunderbird

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Phase Zero
Author: Kevin <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: June 30, 2000 at 19:04:34
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Phaze Zero looks like quite a game. Very impressive looking
>from the pics. Has anyone been playing the demo and what are
>your thoughts? I sure would like to be able to play it, will

I thought it was extremely impressive for an incomplete game. The game moves
VERY rapidly and the explosions are really cool looking. Setting the trees on
fire is a nice touch too. Basic "Go here and do this" gameplay that's been
done 1,000,000 times before on the Jag, but it is no doubt above AirCars,
HoverStrike, I-War, etc. At least the cockpit doesn't take up 50% of the
screen in this game like in Skyhammer and Hover Strike to maintain a decent
framerate. Sure it may be letterboxed but just barely.

The smooth flowing terrain is awesome looking, and the fact that the water has
movement is really impressive as well. If completed I'd say it'd be one of the
Jag's best, despite what T-Bird obviously has against the developers.

-Kevin

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Phase Zero
Author: Kevin <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: June 30, 2000 at 19:06:38
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Forgot to mention that it uses Q-Sound too. Very realistic simulated surround
sound from only 2 speakers. The only Jag game to use this in gameplay, AFAIK.
Well done.

-Kevin

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Phase Zero
Author: BSB (dynamic48.pm01.santa-cruz.best.com)
Date: June 30, 2000 at 20:48:58
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Phase Zero is far from finished and it's really bad. Only
>collectors and die-hard Jag fans would care to pay money
>for it.

Indeed, it's nothing more than a 4 level demo that crashes on level 5... Nice
engine though...

>Carl would have a LOT of work to do to finish the game,
>if he cared to take on the task.

In fact, he would have to travel back in time and rescue it from the
hyperimmature clowns who deleted all the source code.

>Even then, the game is fundamentally not a good one so
>it's probably not worth the effort. Skyhammer in
>comparison was much more polished, playable, viable and
>near completion when Carl bagged it. I think Santora,
>Scott L. and others can vouch for me on this.

It could have been a lot of fun. Some of their level ideas were really neat.
Unfortunately, there were some serious ego issues as well so things fell
apart.

Scott

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Phase Zero
Author: Thunderbird (209.138.241.108)
Date: July 01, 2000 at 08:14:09
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>The smooth flowing terrain is awesome looking, and the fact
>that the water has movement is really impressive as well.

The DEMO of the engine they wrote was equally impressive. It was perhaps
BETTER than the game because it was smoother and didn't have enemy AI slowing
it down.

Unfortunately, in a year's time with Atari's money, they managed to make a
game out of the demo that was less fun than the demo itself.

>If completed I'd say it'd be one of the Jag's best,

Well, if by "Completed" you mean they actually corrected the numerous faults
AND put a GAME into it, then perhaps it would have been good.

Considering that the developer to date has never completed a project, I don't
think it would ever get done.

>despite what T-Bird obviously has against the developers.

I was critiquing the game, not the developers. There's a whole different
subject.

Thunderbird
ScatoLOGIC

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Phase Zero - 5th mission
Author: Carl <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: November 09, 2000 at 21:35:52
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Hey, how many people have made it to the 5th mission on Phase Zero? I know the
mission apparently does not end, but I've been trying my best to beat it
anyway. ;-)

The mission log indicates that not all foes will be visible. Perhaps this is a
clue? By searching the entire map, I've found several pockets of enemies that
don't show up on the 'directional indicator' radar. I just stumbled upon them.
Makes me wonder if there are more I've still missed.

If you follow the directional indicator, you'll only find two groups of
enemies. You're supposed to find 8 enemies total in this mission, again,
according to the log. But by doing my random search, I found at least another
10-15 enemies to fight.

The mission log also indicates that you should return to Nav Point A after
completing the mission for retrieval. Makes me wonder -- should you destroy
those pod-thingies on the ground at point A? Or should you keep them around
for your 'extraction' later?

Any thoughts on this would be great! The binary indicates there is text for 8
missions included in the game -- I'd love for Jag fans to be able to reach
them.

Oh yeah, look for some pics from two thought-to-be-forever-lost games (one
Lynx, one Jag) coming in the near future! :)

Carl

P.S. - Thanks, Micah, for the tips on Phase Zero gameplay. I love rebalancing
the shields, and using the extra weapons. Very cool!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Phase Zero - 5th mission
Author: BSB (52.216.6.64.reflexcom.com)
Date: November 09, 2000 at 23:31:01
Author: ji2

>Hey, how many people have made it to the 5th mission on Phase
>Zero? I know the mission apparently does not end, but I've been
>trying my best to beat it anyway. ;-)

According to Paul Good, there is a better binary cut of the game out there
somewhere which includes snow missions with snowmen and igloos and such. What
you really need is to figure out the mission index and skip mission 5 because
it is indeed unwinnable...


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Black Ice\White Noise
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: black ice/white noise
Author: PBMaX <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: November 30, 2000 at 12:30:06
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

The source code exists, and I know exactly where it is.

Unfortunately, due to factors beyond my control, I'm afraid it's destined to
sit and rot for eternity.

PBMaX

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: black ice/white noise and others lost games
Author: BSB (52.216.6.64.reflexcom.com)
Date: November 30, 2000 at 19:23:49
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Patience guys...

Count on human guile and stupidity to ultimately make all of this stuff
available... Just keep up the dumpster diving and it will eventually show up
somewhere...

And then somebody will try to sell it off...

What would really help at this point is the incentive of a working Jaguar
emulator.

Since I know the two people at Atari that worked on BI/WN, I take their
information as the most accurate one can possibly get. The coolest aspect of
the engine (notice there is no game here and there never was) is that it could
stream content off of the CD without any noticeable slowdown. The most uncool
aspect of it is that there was no game. A game does not consist entirely of
walking from place to place (although one could say this is an accurate
description of Daniel Day Lewis in _The Last Of The Mohicans_).

According to other ex-Atarian sources, the entire development budget outside
of Atari was blown in nudie bars by the development team. I trust that source
more than I trust the developers themselves. This is the compelling
explanation as to why there was no game.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: black ice/white noise and others lost games
Author: PBMaX <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: November 30, 2000 at 14:54:05
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

WHERE? -

I once had my hands on a box containing 20 or so CD's that had various builds,
source code, and multimedia from "Black Ice/White Noise".

I know exactly where that box is, as I had to leave it in the very spot where
I found it.

Many, many other boxes full of other interesting things sit in that very place
with it.

WHY? -

You see the contents of that box, and the piles of other boxes I got to search
through that weekend; are not my property.

The owner of that property is generally oblivious to what may be in said
boxes. I made a very concerted effort to raise the owner's awareness of what
they had in their possession. The owner was actually starting to care, and
almost got to the point of authorizing me to do something with the contents of
said boxes. Unfortunately, that's were the story ends as our relationship was
severed without warning on Dec 10 of 1999.

Some select items however, did manage to find their way out of their
respective pile of boxes. Efforts are being made to make some of those items
available to others.

PBMaX

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: black ice/white noise and others lost games
Author: PBMaX <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: November 30, 2000 at 19:52:18
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

I just explained to you (in a round about way) what is in the way of getting
our hands on all kinds of cool stuff.

I've seen it all and had it all in my hands. I don't know how close the game
was to a final or anything like that, but I do know the builds, source code,
and art resources for that (and many other unreleased games) are sitting all
together in a pile of boxes.

PBMaX


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// VR Headsets Discovered
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Anyone have the Prototype of the Virtual Reality thing for jag?
Author: Visionik <[e-mail]-munist>
Date: 1999/11/24
Forum: rec.games.video.atari

Yes, someone does... I held it in my hands and examined it just two weeks ago.

It consists of the "helmet" and a controller unit that has a rather large (5"
diameter) clear red "eye" which I'm guessing is used to track the user
somehow, or perhaps for the wireless "joysticks" that were supposed to come
with it.

The controller unit connects to the DSP port on the Jaguar.  The controller
unit also has a Jag joystick port on the front, and what looks like a DSP
"passthrough" port on the back, perhaps so you can chain other unreleased Jag
DSP port devices.

The prototype came in a box that also includes mock ups of the wireless
"joysticks", basically just different shaped handles with a fire button on it.

Unfortunately, the unreleased version of Missile Command 3D that works with
the prototype was *not* in the box, so the prototype may or may not be
working... there is no way to tell without some software to try it with.
(rumor is that the Missile Command 3D carts that shipped do not have support
for the VR helmet)

Now for the kicker: the person who owns it is not a Jaguarite (he doesn't even
own a Jag!).  He's a full-size arcade game collector.  I was over at his house
to buy some rareish early 80's arcade games, and while moving those 200 pound
particle board behemoths into the truck, I mentioned how much less physically
demanding my home video game collecting hobby was ;-)

He then asked me if I'd ever heard of the "Jaguar" (oh have I...), and within
minutes I had in my hands the Virtuality Jag prototype.

The kicker part 2: He bought it at an electronics surplus store in Silicon
Valley!!!  The store was next to a Fry's, and was named "Weird Stuff" or
something like that.  I've spoken with some other folks in the Jag developer
community, we have absolutely no idea how it would have gotten there, but then
we remembered -- this is Atari we're talking about, of course the only proto
would end up at a surplus store.

I may be back to buy some more games from him in December; I hope to bring my
digital camera along and grab some pics to put up on the web.

-Jonathan Taylor
-Jag developer, "The Artemis Project"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Jag VR (just in time for x-mas)
Author: Ted (201.chicago-01-02rs.il.dial-access.att.net)
Date: December 24, 1999 at 20:07:57
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Well I knew it was coming but didn't expect til 2nd week of 2K and much to my
delight a huge box from overseas showed up today. I got the Jaguar VR Headset
(prototype) w/ the controller. Anyone know of anyone else who has this? I've
sent pics to a couple of people show they should surface after the holidays
(if they put them on there sites). I'll be toying w/ it a lot in the upcoming
weeks if I get it to work somehow i'll let you guys know, problem is the
table-top transmitter is not populated so it'll take a miracle to get it to
work. (i'm assuming, but hey I think it's a miracle I got it) The other
surprise I got was a couple of Alpines, didn't know I was getting 'em. (also
got developer console along w/ 3 Jags (pal), t-shirt, poster, mock-up VR
Headset only says Virtuality across the front. So if anyone knows anything
that could help me out please lmk....

Merry Christmas,

Ted Rusniak

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Jag VR (just in time for x-mas)
Author: Kevin (pm3-a-btv-b-p32.pcom.net)
Date: December 27, 1999 at 20:34:28
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Hmm, could it be a Scuba I believe their called in "Jaguar
>clothing", so to speak? With out a hands on inspection it's
>hard to say. Someone with the right connections could take
>the time to make a bogus copy but at what cost? It would be
>farily easy to scan the Jag/VR logos and with the right
>connections, cut out by a special printer/plotter set up
>via a nice PC, in an adhesive vinyl but you could tell it
>was made that way, if you gave it a little inspection. However
>in a photo it would come across as "virtualy-real" LOL.
>Forceman

Ummm, no he also forwarded me the e-mail from the guy at Virtuality. Did I
forget to mention they also sent him 2 Jag developer boards with it? Believe
it or not, this is legit and I'm actually pretty happy that some of these are
still around...unfortunately I'm not the one in possession of them, but what
can you do ;-)

-Kevin

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Se: Jag VR (just in time for x-mas)
Author: JagVR Boy (dynamic53.pm01.santa-cruz.best.com)
Date: December 24, 1999 at 20:49:21
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Actually, one of them was apparently purchased from Weird Stuff Warehouse in
San Jose for about $25. It is now in the hands of a collector who is alas well
aware of what he thinks he can get for it...

Expect it to show up on eBay one of these days.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Jag VR (just in time for x-mas)
Author: BattleSphere Bob (dynamic25.pm01.santa-cruz.best.com)
Date: December 29, 1999 at 09:56:45
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>>Does the transmitter box look like it had anything in
>>it at one time?
>
>Yes, It appears that it was populated at one time. It has
>a couple of screws on the rear inside that might have held
>a board or something.

Well, then it sounds like you're out of luck until you can figure out what
went in there and reverse engineer it. As I remember, the whole mess plugged
into the Jag's DSP port (correct me if I'm wrong guys), and that would mean
they were screwing with the Jag's UART. That ought to be a bundle of monkeys
to figure out. My best guess would be that they probably made a minimal
version of the "Cortina" board which was to be their proprietary interface to
a keyboard for making the Jaguar into a web browser. I only say this because
Atari shared their best toys with their favorites and left just about everyone
else out in the cold.

Scott


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Jag II Prototype Discovered
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Jaguar II Prototype
Author: Curt <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: October 19, 2000 at 16:22:06
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

For those interested in seeing the Jaguar II prototype, I have just posted
images up on the Atari History Site.

Direct link to the Jaguar section:
<http://www.atari-history.com/videogames/jaguar.html>

Curt

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Re: Jaguar II Prototype
Author: Curt <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: October 20, 2000 at 07:15:24
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Well,

What I'd like to do is take the unit to some of the shows coming up like
PhillyClassic, CCAG so people have an opportunity to see the unit in person
(pictures are nice, but its better when people can see the actual units in
person) and then play a few games on it. Also I'll dump the boot eprom on the
unit and put its .bin up onto the Jag II page in the coming weeks so that
anyone interested in disassembling and looking through it may uncover some
interesting info and facts on the Jag II.

Curt

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Re: Jaguar II Prototype
Author: Curt <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: October 20, 2000 at 16:23:47
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>>So were there any games/demos written specifically for
>>the JagII architecture or is it backwards compatible with
>>original Jag games? Just wondering what would be playable
>>on it ;-)
>Yeah, no kidding! Don't just drop details like that on us
>then walk away... :-)
>Carl

Hmmm, The person who might be able to answer the question on demos and/or
games with enhance Jag II capabilities would most likely be Yak himself. I
have no information on games/demos for the Jag II and I'd kill for a copy of
the Tech Reference Manual for the beast. However, the unit is backward
compatible, I plugged in Tempest 2K and it came up with no hitch whatsoever.
However either there is an overheat problem or just a problem with the design,
but no matter what I do, the Jag II always locks up after 5 mins + of being
on. At one point it just wouldn't come up at all and I let it sit, came back
10 mins later and after two attempts it came back up and worked again for
nearly 15 mins and then locked up again. The cooling fan is rigged up to a
separate power supply and the Tom II chip does get VERY warm, but not so much
that it burns to the touch or anything, but it could use a killer heatsink and
a larger fan for sure.

Curt

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Re: Jaguar II Prototype
Author: Curt <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: October 21, 2000 at 01:23:17
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>I'll check with John M. and see if he's still got his. If
>so, I'll post the info for everyone.
>P.S. - Jag II protos went through various stages, so while
>I've seen the one you have, I've seen quite a few others
>that are quite different in layout and design. I'll put
>up info if I have the time, but I need to work on getting
>commercial games to market first =)
>- Keita

Thanks Keita,

I hope John M. still has his, he did as of Dec 99 so I'm hoping it is still
lurking around. Yeah the Jag II also was in a more Jag 1 shape in a later
revision, it looks more like this was done in this shape specifically for
design reasons and not also for packaging reasons as it does not match the
config of the JagDuo case that is shown in pictures on AGH, so I'm sure it
went through several designs. If the tech ref man is still around someplace
and you can get it, please post it, I know everyone will lose sleep that night
reading through it! :-)

Curt


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Alien vs Predator Prototype
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Alien vs Predator prototype
Author: The Fallen Angel <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: September 14, 2000 at 20:45:06
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

I just got this about 15 minutes ago after coming home from a party at
work...here are my thoughts.

My God, this thing is cool. I booted it up, and it came straight to the
Marine's interface - no title screen or options are present. The interface is
unlike the release version, and identical to the prerelease screenshots given
to magazines very early on in 1993.

This was *definitely* an extremely early version, as the Predator I
encountered has many more frames of animation than the released version, and
the Alien I encountered looked completely different (less quality in the
Alien, but somehow looked great). Shooting them made the Predator disappear
into thin air by way of him accessing his wrist computer and kind of
disintegrating, for the lack of a better word. The Alien simply stops mid-
stride and doesn't move again for about 10 seconds. Then they start bugging
you all over again. Think 'Red light, Green light'.

I might mention there is NO sound, NO AI, and gunfire does nothing. No score
is registered, the # and * do not work to reset the game, and you are only on
Sublevel 2 for this prototype. Elevators do NOT work. You can select weapons,
and oddly enough, weapon number 4 is a KNIFE. You can press the keypad for 1-3
and select them, but your weapon does NOT change on-screen accordingly. And
you cannot press 4 and get the knife. This is indeed strange.

Moving around the map, things were rather ripshod. Elevators were close
together (I mean next to each other!), tiles for doors were varied, and it was
just *strange* wandering around. I finally found my way to the door which took
me to a room whose ceiling and floors were made up of computer terminals (and
a different tile was used for the computer terminals than the released
version, I believe). A massive room about the size of an entire map.

I found a 'loose' tile and was able to access a LOT of strange things. There
are tons of tiles in here that differ from than of the released version,
including one that looks like a computer terminal that belongs in the Med Lab.
A lot of doors also look different. And, of course, the Jaguar tiles that
feature the likeness of the Jaguar from the bootup screen of the Jaguar
system. Absolutely bizarre. I locked myself into an area and couldn't get out,
so I booted down and that was that for tonight.

I might mention that this prototype was very professionally packaged. Came in
a black box that seemed to fit the proto perfectly, and was also padded by a
spongy packing foam. Not sure whether this was Atari's or the seller's doing,
but either way, I am pleased beyond belief with this purchase. Well worth it
for a piece of history made even BEFORE the Jaguar's release. For the record,
as the eBay listing said, this prototype looks to have been hand-assembled.
The EEPROMs look to have been inserted into individual sockets, rather than
soldered into the board itself. Truly wonderful.

Again, this prototype had to have been made before really serious work was
even done on the game. It seems they were just testing the boundaries and
playing around, more than really settling down to make the game when they made
this prototype. I believe this is definitely pre-alpha, and unbelievably early
in development. (Mr. Seller, please correct me if I'm wrong.)

Screenshots will be made when I can find the time to do 'em! Hope this gives
an accurate description of my impressions of the prototype...more will be
forthcoming if I find anything else interesting!

- G


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Jag Chatter on Slashdot
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Ah, the Jaguar... (Score:3, Informative)
Author: John Carmack
Date: Saturday March 04, @09:18PM EST
Forum: Slashdot com
<http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=00/03/02/1430232&cid=119>

I actually dug up all my old jaguar development hardware to give to these guys
a year or two ago.

Unfortunately, it turned out that I had lost the C compiler that I had
retargeted to the Jaguar RISC engines, so DOOM was no longer buildable.

There is something noble about developing on a dead platform -- it is so
completely for the joy of the development, without any commercial motivation.

The quick recap on the Jaguar:

The memory, bus, blitter and video processor were 64 bits wide, but the
processors (68k and two custom risc processors) were 32 bit.

The blitter could do basic texture mapping of horizontal and vertical spans,
but because there wasn't any caching involved, every pixel caused two ram page
misses and only used 1/4 of the 64 bit bus. Two 64 bit buffers would have
easily tripled texture mapping performance. Unfortunate.

It could make better use of the 64 bit bus with Z buffered, shaded triangles,
but that didn't make for compelling games.

It offered a useful color space option that allowed you to do lighting effects
based on a single channel, instead of RGB.

The video compositing engine was the most innovative part of the console. All
of the characters in Wolf3D were done with just the back end scaler instead of
blitting. Still, the experience with the limitations and hard failure cases of
that gave me good ammunition to rail against Microsoft's (thankfully aborted)
Talisman project.

The little RISC engines were decent processors. I was surprised that they
didn't use off the shelf designs, but they basically worked ok. They had some
design hazards (write after write) that didn't get fixed, but the only thing
truly wrong with them was that they had scratchpad memory instead of caches,
and couldn't execute code from main memory. I had to chunk the DOOM renderer
into nine sequentially loaded overlays to get it working (with hindsight, I
would have done it differently in about three...).

The 68k was slow. This was the primary problem of the system. You options were
either taking it easy, running everything on the 68k, and going slow, or
sweating over lots of overlayed parallel asm chunks to make something go fast
on the RISC processors.

That is why PlayStation kicked so much ass for development -- it was
programmed like a single serial processor with a single fast accelerator.

If the Jaguar had dumped the 68k and offered a dynamic cache on the RISC
processors and had a tiny bit of buffering on the blitter, it could have put
up a reasonable fight against Sony.

Now the LYNX, on the other hand, was very much The Right Thing from a
programming standpoint. A fast little processor (for its niche), a good color
bitmapped display, and a general purpose blitter.

Price and form factor weighed too heavily against it.

John Carmack

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Ah, the Jaguar... (Score:1)
Author: Thunderbird
Date: Saturday March 04, @09:46PM EST
Forum: Slashdot com
<http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=00/03/02/1430232&cid=125>)

Actually, I believe you're referring to Carl Forhan of Songbird Productions.
He's the guy who you gave your development systems and DOOM source code to.

He's been trying to come up with a revival of the DOOM code with another
fellow.

Carl is the guy who's been publishing an additional 4 "complete but never
published" Jaguar titles which someone else here already mentioned.

The problem you mention with the Jaguar being unable to run from system RAM
was actually a bug in the memory controller. It was intended to be able to run
from main RAM. There were quite a number of these (fairly crippling) bugs in
the hardware, and we had to work around them to get BattleSphere completed.
The fact that it runs at all is pretty amazing... (I'm not sure if this is
something to be proud of or not.)

Doug "Thunderbird" Engel
BattleSphere Assistant Coder & Lead Artist
Scatologic

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Ah, the Jaguar... (Score:1)
Author: bvmcg
Date: Sunday March 05, @08:07AM EST
Forum: Slashdot com
<http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=00/03/02/1430232&cid=174>

>The little RISC engines were decent processors. [...] the only
>thing truly wrong with them was that they had scratchpad memory
>instead of caches, and couldn't execute code from main memory.
>I had to chunk the DOOM renderer into nine sequentially loaded
>overlays to get it working (with hindsight, I would have done it
>differently in about three...)

Actually, you could execute code out of main memory. You merely had to be
careful about crossing page boundaries because the instruction pointer
wouldn't update properly. I'd say the biggest problem with the processors was
Atari & Brainstorm's documentation. =)

We manually paged pieces in for NBA Jam, White Men Can't Jump and Ruiner
Pinball. Vid Grid sat entirely in one chunk on either RISC with the 68000 just
facilitating major modes. (and you thought 64k games were gone!)

For Dactyl Joust, we were using an automatic memory paging system which was
started with Ruiner. This worked by augmenting function calls to load in each
function in 256-byte chunks, as many as needed, and doing address fixups.
Rarely-called support routines remained in main store, specially tagged to
avoid being loaded in. (See above re: running from main RAM and crossing page
boundaries. The addresses had to be guaranteed by creating a million sections
in the link file. Can you say link file nightmare?) In the end though, C and
eventually C++ use became pretty invisible (read easy and efficient) even on
the GPU RISC processor.

Going back and looking at Jaguar code again when I did Tempest/X3 for
Playstation was a total trip. Even just a couple years later, I'd forgotten
how fun/weird/ugly that beastie was. I honestly miss it though. I really do.
For all its quirks (especially because of its quirks!) it was a great little
box.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Ah, the Jaguar... (Score:1)
Author: bvmcg
Date: Sunday March 05, @04:21PM EST
Forum: Slashdot com
<http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=00/03/02/1430232&cid=189>)

>Dactyl Joust?
>
>I thought that was one of those "Jaguar Urban Legends"
>(a.k.a. marketing hype / vaporware) like MKII and Tiny Toons
>Adventures....

Sure enough, it existed. It was far from finished, however. You could fly
about the arena and bop, lance and fireball things. There was some rather
simple enemy AI, sound and a few keen special effects.

One of the nicer things was that it was RGB based, not CRY, and therefore
rather pretty. Very careful manipulation of the shading let me still do some
depth cues and use the green channel for some pretty wacky field effects.

The game was probably half a year of solid work from completion. But at that
point, everyone who could've paid for continuing development felt it was time
to move on to Playstation, so both Dactyl Joust and TRF [Thea Realm Fighters -
-Ed.] (Mortal Kombat style fighting game - I didn't know actual MK-II was in
the works?) got shelved.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Kev's Kiosk
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: SCORE!! (brag)
Author: Kevin (pm3-a-btv-b-p29.pcom.net)
Date: January 02, 2000 at 12:53:36
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Well I went down to the local game store today and what did I find? A Jaguar
Kiosk! So I ask the guy if he wants to sell it, he says yeah, and now it's
here in my apartment! It even came with the SC1435 monitor, which B&C sells
for $300...I paid less than that for the whole kiosk and monitor together!
Woohoo! I'll take some pics and get it them up on JD soon. It came with some
cool brochures and stuff so I'll get 'em scanned too.

I'm psyched!

-Kevin

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Re: SCORE!! (brag)
Author: Kevin (pm3-a-btv-b-p07.pcom.net)
Date: January 02, 2000 at 14:54:22
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Hmmmm...something tells me there's more to the story than you
>just walking into your local video game store and finding it.
>Veee have vayz to make you talk. Feel free to email if you
>don't want the public to know of your questionable tactics
>for obtaining rare products. :)
>
>Micah

Really, that's all there was to it. It happened so fast I couldn't believe
it...I walked in, saw the Kiosk and went "WOAH!" to myself, walked around a
bit and then non-chalantly asked him if he'd sell it. He said "Make an offer"
so I did...he said "Cash?" I said "sure", I then proceeded to run to the
closest ATM, withdraw the cash, then load it up into my Daytona and drive home
with it sticking out the back.

Just got done playing some Brett Hull Hockey on it! :-) Time to scan in some
of the literature that came with it.

-Kevin


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Miscellaneous
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Manufacturing Costs
Author: Thunderbird (pool-207-205-163-65.nwrk.grid.net)
Date: December 21, 1999 at 03:32:25
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Just a quick question for all the developers out there. I had
>read somewhere that it was cheaper to produce games on CD rather
>than cartridge format. Is this true? If so, then why bother
>selling the games in cartridge format rather than CD?

Because:

1) Games have to be coded with the CD format in mind. Less RAM is available to
the programmer because RAM has to be used for loading from the CD. Rewriting
existing games could range from difficult to impossible, especially if there
is no source code to the games anymore.

2) Fewer people have the CD. Sure, the people online here are super Jaguar
fans and probably all have it, but the general public audience doesn't have
the CD.

3) The CD needs to be encrypted to run on a production Jaguar (just like the
carts) and the encryption tools were lost when Atari went under. The sheer
size of the CD in terms of Megabytes means it is much much much more difficult
to bypass the encryption. To this day NOBODY has successfully cracked the cart
encryption (yet). And the problem has been worked on for quite some time.
Imagine how long a CD would take...

Thunderbird
4Play

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Interesting Jag M-Peg Info
Author: Curt Vendel <[e-mail]>
Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2000 04:29:11 -0500
Forum: alt.atari-jaguar.discussion,rec.games.video.atari

I ran across this tonight, I don't know if the email address is still good,
but this company was working on some Jag related MPEG software and who knows,
perhaps they'd be willing to donate it into public domain:

~Subject: SUBSECTION - Atari

[ Brainstorm is not continuing to develop their MPEG-Player for ]
[ the Atari, really sad :o( Maybe somebody can help them ?     ]

From: [e-mail] (Laurent Chemla)
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1993 14:39:39 +0000 (GMT)

  Frank,

  Of course you're right. Raphael Lemoine replied quickly, directly online on
Compuserve, and as the author of our MPEG software he's quite disappointed by
the little interest there is about.

  As a commercial entity, Brainstorm is trying to sell his work. But this kind
of work is not an easy thing to sell. A few developers asked us about our
software, but couldn't pay for it. An easy solution would be to sell it to
Atari Corp directly, and then developers could get it from Atari at low price.
But Atari licensed Cinepak for this usage, and they aren't interested in
buying our MPEG. So we decided to forget it for a while.

  Our MPEG runs at the same (or so) rate, not depending on the resolution. It
uses some of our 'real time' dithering algorithms on Atari. Added to the work
on the DSP coding, you can see it's a good piece of software Raphael did. But
it's not enough for selling it as a Shareware library, because it doesn't
handle P and B frames nor the sound, and we won't work on it if we can't
expect to be paid for this work. I have personally written a few news about
this software in Atari's Usenet conferences, but only got 3 mails in return,
and nothing really exciting.

  Anyway, be sure we will tell you if anything new occurs about that.

Laurent Chemla @ Brainstorm


Curt

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Who wants to be a millionaire?
Author: Big I <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: January 25, 2000 at 18:47:29
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Anyone see Who Wants to be a Millionaire? The question was: "Which of these
brand names, translated into Japanese, means roughly, "prepare to be
attacked":

A. Atari B. Kawasaki
C. Fujitsu D. Nikon

Answer? ATARI! Heheh and here I thought it meant "go"... A was my FINAL answer
though, cuz it was the only one I knew any sort of translation for in
Japanese... hehe

And to make this Jag related...uh... my university closed for the first time
in my four years there due to snow...and the only thing that could cure my
cabin fever was two words: Cannon Fodder. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Atarian Font for Download
Author: JayEm <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: March 19, 2000 at 09:34:57
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

I found a great free font download site at www.1001freefonts.com and they have
a font called Atarian, which is the same font used in the Atari logo...pretty
neat I thought...the link below (which is
http://www.1001freefonts.com/fontsaz/) will take you right to the index page
where the font is listed, but you really should check out the whole
page...beware though...there's lotsa popups...

--JayEm
members.xoom.com/offonline

"A" Links, Atarian, near bottom.... <http://www.1001freefonts.com/fontsaz/>

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: BJL? Help a newbie please?
Author: Thunderbird (pool-207-205-161-127.nwrk.grid.net)
Date: March 25, 2000 at 09:05:19
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Forgive me for slowing down the conversation, but can someone
>give me a rudimentary explanation of what these are and what
>they do? Do these allow playing other games downloaded from a
>computer? What are the benefits and where can I get these?

The BJL is a "First Generation" addon which allows you to play homebrew games
on your Jaguar. There are some cool games and demos which run on it.

In order to use it, you must have a Jaguar that you're willing to modify, and
the skills to solder chips and wires into a Jaguar circuit. You must also have
access to an EPROM programmer, to make the program for the modification. After
that, you can load your own games (commercial games do not work on the BJL).

The "Second Generation" JUGS system performs the same functions as the BJL,
and runs the same homebrew games, but has the advantage of not requiring your
Jaguar to be dissected or modified in any way. Hence, it's portable (take it
to a friend's Jaguar and play on that) and much easier for anyone to use (no
soldering skills required). JUGS will be out shortly.

Thunderbird
ScatoLOGIC

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: The Atari Cake!
Author: GreG <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: April 07, 2000 at 17:00:05
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Ok guys,

I've been holding this as a secret for awhile, but the pictures are finally
back, and I wanted to share this with you... I got married on March 11th, and
we went to London for our honeymoon. (So, I delayed my BS shipment. Monday,
monday, I tell you!)

Anyhow, to make a long story short, the groom's cake (mine) had a nice big
Atari symbol on it. Check out the link below for pictures! This was the most
delicious cake I think I've ever had! And everybody had a piece! I wonder if
that has any symbolic meaning?

I have the greatest wife in the world to allow me to have an Atari logo on my
cake! How many can say that? :-)

Greg "Fruitman" George

P.S. TAT will return...

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Yesterday...
Author: The UA (host71.north.iit.edu)
Date: November 05, 2000 at 15:21:39
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

...marks the 7th Anniversary of the Atari Jaguar's release.

Fard

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Phear
Author: Carl <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: July 15, 2000 at 09:02:25
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

>Hi Carl,
>what about "Phear" aka "Tetrisphere" (N64). The Jag-Version
>was already done years ago. I've heard that just the sound
>was missing.

Unfortunately, the developers of Phear have indicated that all
Phear/Tetrisphere-related products are in the hands of Nintendo. They can't
even supply me with the binary.

How sad...

Carl

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Once upon a Jaguar Secret!
Author: Clint Thompson <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: December 01, 2000 at 00:07:01
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

For the almighty Jaguar Community - I come back from underground..
====================================================

I noticed some saying :

Why are people trying to HIDE stuff from the Jag community... and why can't
they just tell us, show us, give us all this great and glorious stuff.

Good question... I seem to wonder the same time to time.

Would it not make everyone sick if I were to tell you it was possible to
obtain several boxes full of prototype Jaguar2 hardware about 1 year ago, and
for just about nothing? Yeah, it's a shame that MOTOROLA doesn't care to keep
stuff more then 5 years at a time..

-It's called an ARCHIVE my friends.., just damn shame it took me 5 years too
late to realize what they had- (it's also a shame no one else jumped on it
besides me...) ((unless you did and were unsuccessful))

This is one fine example of why many secrets are held within. It's MORE
disappointing to hear about a loss instead of a gain... (sick to stomach)
makes you wish you didn't know about it at all instead of knowing about it
afterwards.

On the other hand, other people are "ONLY I CAN HAVE THIS" and no one else
can, because I'm special and your not.

I'm not sure why people are selfish, mind you, I'm not like that... It's not
like I have excess numbers of VR headsets just to hand out... but if I had
source code... (and didn't pay for it) I see of no harm but to release it to
the OH SO MANY 200 or so current Jaguar fans that are active (from what I see)
- which really isn't that much either...- a shame.

Feel free to call up Motorola...(if you think I'm bluffing) I'm sure you'll
hear the great news.... (sigh) (oh, I guess you would have to ask Curt Vendel
or go to his site to retrieve the serial numbers on the chips as well! -
Motorola will ask for them)

=)

---and they said you couldn't reproduce a CatBox, HA!~

"Perhaps I had a wicked childhood"
and
"That's what I get for _thinking_ like a hacker!"
Care for more secrets? (if that's what you really want to call them...)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: T2K rotary controller, a short review-2nd round
Author: Gunstar <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: December 09, 2000 at 14:54:49
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

I received the T2K rotary controller in the mail today from JediJeff
([e-mail] or [e-mail]). When I first opened it I was
surprised at the quality of the controller.

This thing is well made and a lot of effort went into it. The only complaint I
have is that the dial is not weighted, so it doesn't have that "arcade" feel
to it. I have already fixed this by taking it off, putting about 8 quarter-
inch lugnuts in it and then pouring in hot candle wax to hold them in place.
It works and feels great now. Upon opening the case(I always open stuff up to
see how they were engineered and designed) I noticed it is all either original
jag controller parts or high quality electronics inside. The case itself seems
to be made of a lightweight but sturdy plastic, which has been professionally
coated with some kind of flat black paint (similar to the original Lynx case).

On top of the dial is a really cool holographic sticker of a Jaguar, similar
to the "seal of approval" stickers found on game boxes published by companies
other than Atari. This is an extremely responsive controller that makes T2K a
*lot* more fun to play. One plugs a controller into port 2 to make it easier
to go through the menus and to do the bonus levels (except for the green path
level, which uses the rotary control, and is almost too responsive, but I'm
getting used to it).

It may not be for everybody, as $75.00 is a lot for a controller that works on
only one game. But if you're a big fan of T2K, then you don't want to be
without it. It makes a great conversation piece and collector's item. Thanks
Jeff for making a quality product and for you support of the Jaguar.

Gunstar

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Jag/Lynx article submissions wanted for printed book
Author: Carl <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: February 03, 2000 at 22:55:18
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Songbird is considering the publication of a professionally printed "post-
Atari" Jaguar/Lynx book which would highlight as many released and unreleased
games and hardware items as can be crammed into one ~100 page or so book.

But, we need your help to make this happen. Article submissions need to be
made on each game or hardware item, including screen shots / pictures of said
items. Each author whose work is used in the final book will be credited
appropriately. By submitting an article to Songbird, you agree to give
Songbird complete publication rights to edit and print said article at
Songbird's sole discretion.

Please use the following guide for writing your articles. Proper grammar and
punctuation are musts, do not include vulgar language of any kind, and make
sure any submitted graphics are at least 300dpi.

Try to keep the articles relatively short -- no more than a few hundred words
per section. Multiple submissions will be accepted for each game/item, and the
best submissions will be used or combined as needed.

Any questions, just ask! I hope to read through some great articles in the
next few months. =)

Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions
http://songbird.atari.net

---

Game Title - Jaguar / Lynx
Format: xMB cartridge / CD
Release date: month / year
Developer:
Publisher:

Summary
[Overview of the game/item -- not necessarily a full-blown review, but feel
free to include some "what's great" or "what's not so great" comments]

Strategies
[Games only: suggestions on how to beat tricky parts, general strategies,
etc.]

Hints and Cheats
[Games only: unique hints or previously unknown cheats]

Collector's Corner
[Tidbits and trivia on the history of the game/item, what the developer is
doing now, etc.]

- Author's name

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: Midway drops Atari name
Author: unknown
Date: unknown
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

On a sad note which I have known about for sometime now and have waited for it
to become official, Midway has officially dropped the Atari name from its
products. Atari Games Corp, located at 675 Sycamore Drive in Milpitas,
California has been owned by Williams Entertainment/Midway since 1996 when it
was purchased from Time-Warner. Since its purchase, many have noticed how with
each new game that was released, the Atari name and logo were becoming smaller
and less prominent on their games. Over the last 6 months the www.agames.com
and www.atarigames.com websites have been slowly and steadily changed from
being an Atari dominate look to where Midway dominated the sites and the Atari
name was relegated to a contact telephone # in the sub-menu's. Atari Games
Corp will now be called Midway Games West. Many have already publicly voiced
their opinions that Midway is doing itself and the industry and injustice by
dropping the very name that in itself created the Video Arcade Industry and
that it is a sad day for us all to see the Atari name and logo on the final
product: SF Rush 2049 and for ever more see it disappear from the video
arcades and entertainment centers and leave the very industry it started and
set into motion.


                             --==--==--==--==--


   ||  BattleSphere News
   ||  By: Scott Le Grand
\__//  [e-mail]
       -----------------------------------------------------------------

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// BattleSphere Countdown
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

[from Scott Le Grand's Official BattleSphere Countdown page <http://www.
best.com/~varelse/sphere.html>.]

02/28/2000 - Getting business license and Merchant account for Scatologic,
Inc. so that BattleSphere can ship. The day is nearly upon all of us.
Meanwhile, we're auctioning off the very first copy autographed by all 3
members of Scatologic and which will incorporate a digital signature of the
high bidder.

03/01/2000 - BattleSphere is an IRS Form and a business license away from
full-scale shipping. Nobody in this country seems to know where these forms
can be obtained so when I finally got help from a nice lady at a local bank,
the county offices had closed. Tune in tomorrow when I walk into the right
office and they insist I'm in the wrong place :-).

03/02/2000 - Scratch the business license off the list and place the
acquisition of an employee identification number (EIN) from IRS form SS-4 as
the final obstacle to the merchant account that allows BattleSphere to ship.
This ought to be a slam dunk and I ought to be able to get it by phone, but
the phone number on the form is not in service. It's even inaccurate on the
form downloaded directly from the IRS web server. Somehow, this is of little
surprise to me. Oh well, just a little more time.

03/03/2000 - EIN obtained, merchant account set up. Orders to be announced
shortly from www.battlesphere.com. Stay tuned. The obstacle to the EIN was the
fact that Fresno had an area code split and all the printed IRS numbers are
now incorrect. The employees of the IRS apparently raise this at every staff
meeting, but they are ignored. Big surprise, eh?


                             --==--==--==--==--


   ||  Llatest from Llamaland
   ||  By: Jeff "Yak" Minter
\__//  [e-mail]
       -----------------------------------------------------------------

[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. --Ed.]

//// 30 Jan 2000

Completion, Availability, Good Goat Almighty

It's been a... dense couple of months :-). A lot of stuff happened in a
very short space of time. It's been pretty intense... and finally I'm
through the other side of it, sitting here doing the PC equivalent of
moving house, getting all my favourite bits off my old PC and moving them
over onto my new one, which, when it first came online at VM Labs I gave
the network name of "GoatAlmighty" to, and which has kinda stuck :-). GA is
a 733MHz Penty III completely tricked out for speed (256MB SDRAM,
ultra/fast/wide SCSI HD), and I have it for a very specific reason... which
I shall explain about, in due course.

In the last two months I have been absolutely hacking my tiny brains out
all the hours that Ghu sends, and quite a few that Ghu wanted to keep for
himself but which I nicked anyway. I have consumed sufficient Red Bull to
float a medium-sized battleship, and for me the Millennium was something
that more or less occurred between compiles. I hope it was worth it...

Some of you have been coming to this page for awhile now, and have read
endless waffling about that stuff that started out as Project X, and which
lately I've been working on; and by now it's been going on long enough that
you're probably convinced it's all vapourware, because the two things I
have never mentioned, with regard to either the 'wares I'm working on or
the hardware itself, have been completion and availability.

I have a tale to tell :-).

Last November, I was happily hacking away on Tempest, when I had contact
from work to the effect that we needed to be demonstrating a functional
VLM-2 at CES in Las Vegas, on the 5th of January. At first I was not unduly
alarmed, for, as you will know if you've read last year's updates, I had a
reasonably well-functioning VLM-2, with ten or eleven effects on it,
working since last Summer.

However... since back then, the environment in which VLM-2 has to "live"
(VLM-2 is just a small part of a complex app, written by many coders, that
performs all the functions of the DVD player - MPEG2 decode, audio decode,
special modes, game loading and execution, CD-Audio and of course VLM-2) -
the environment had changed quite substantially since last Summer. So much
so, in fact, that my existing VLM-2 was completely, irretrievably broken.
And that did give me cause for concern, because by then it was the middle
of November, and in December I had one weekend away and over a week away on
holiday with my Mum at Xmas, and I was faced with the prospect of having to
design and implement a completely new VLM-2, and not an awful lot of time
to do it in. Still, I thought, with a few late nights and nonobservance of
weekends, I could probably get something VLM-like happening before the 5th
of January.

However II...as December came around it became plain that what was needed
was going to be more than just something in its early stages exhibiting
VLM-type behaviour. In fact, I would need to deliver a complete, finished
VLM-2 by the 28th of January. A VLM-2, I might add, with 100 effects. And,
since as it turned out I was going to be spending almost 2 weeks away in
the US at the beginning of January, it was evident that the only way I
would get that done would be by shutting down all functions nonessential to
immediate survival, reducing my non-work bandwidth to almost zero,
seriously disrespecting conventional circadian rhythms, and basically
working like a complete and utter bastard.

We did make it to CES, and I had something VLM-oid, with around 24 effects
in it; trouble was, everything had come together so fast that I had spent
most of my time just on implementation, getting the component parts of VLM
actually into existence and working together, and the effects I had I'd had
almost no time to consider the aesthetics of, and so basically most of them
were quite pants. There were one or two that were OK, and those are the
ones I usually demonstrated the most :-).

[pic of Yak posing with a functional VLM-2 --Ed.]

The Grunting Ox in Las Vegas, demonstrating one of the couple of VLM
effects that weren't completely pants.

Once the show in Vegas was over, everyone buggered off back to California
and I managed to get my vector generator back online, which was a great
relief to me because once I got home from the US, I had to produce 100 non-
pants VLM effects in about two weeks... but I realised that, in that time,
I was going to be doing an awful lot of edit/compile/test cycles, and my
old machine was just bloody slow grinding through all that, and so I
mentioned to the powers that be that it would seriously improve my chances
of making deadline if I could have a system that was a bit faster. And so,
a couple of days later, I was presented with GoatAlmighty :-).

GA does indeed blaze through the compile cycle, and I've been very grateful
for that, because over the last two weeks I have worked almost to the
limits of my capacity and endurance; but on Friday night I did indeed
manage to squirt down the wires to VM a fully-functional VLM-2, with 100
effects that I don't think have any aspect of gentlemen's bottom-half
apparel... but fuck, it's been an intense time...

The bottom line is: VLM-2 v1.0 is finished :-).

You may well be thinking that's all well and groovy, but it doesn't do you
any good because you can't get your sweaty hooves on it anyway, and whilst
that may be true at this instant, I would ask you to have a gawp at this:

[pic of the Samsung DVD player --Ed.]

Hardware. Not vapourware.

That, my friends, is a Samsung Extiva N-2000 DVD player, and it will be
available in Spring of this year. You will note the little Nuon logo on the
bottom-left of the machine. You will also note that one of the listed key
features is "Virtual Light Machine" :-). And that is the reason that I have
had so many late nights and had to drink so many cans of Red Bull the last
couple of months - because it's going into production imminently. So I have
been working like a bastard so that you lot can get yer mitts on VLM-2 very
shortly :-).

'Course, you'll also be able to play T3K on it too :-). As well as enjoy
the coolest DVD tech and special modes around :-).

[pic of Yak's workstation and attendant pyramid 'o cans --Ed.]

Aftermath: the Yakly workstation after VLM-2 completion. Note the
ceremonial Red Bull pyramid, which accreted during late-night sessions, and
which testifies to the amount of caffeine consumed during the project.

I must say that I have found Red Bull to be the most excellently effective
coder-fluid I've found; a much nicer experience than the traditional
wirejuice, Jolt Cola (which is, anyway, unavailable in the UK, at least
'round these parts). When it gets to that point at about two in the
morning, your neurons are starting to unravel but you need another couple
of hours runtime yet, just reach for the old purple-and-silver can and suck
that Bull... when I first got in to the US I was a bit alarmed because at
first it looked like there was no Bull to be had out in the Valley, but it
is being introduced over there, and in due course supplies were located. In
fact I became known as a bit of a Red Bull evangelist when I was working in
the office, and random individuals would sometimes drop by my workstation
and hand me a can of the precious liquid :-).

I'm glad I can give it up for awhile, though - there is still a little bit
of work to do, some minor debug of an occasional screen glitch, but nothing
that can't be done in normal work hours; nothing that will require
prodigious feats of continuous consciousness and irrational amounts of
caffeine :-).

Although the work has been hard, especially in the latter days, the
consolation has been that the view from my workstation has really been
getting rather nice of late...

[pic of a VLM-2 effect --Ed.]

A giant, glowing, rotating disk flies over a rolling alien cloudscape,
emitting streamers of gently-coloured plasma. In time to Pink Floyd.

On Friday night, after the deed was done, I sat down and for the first time
actually played with VLM-2 (rather than hack dementedly on it in an attempt
to ram more stuff into it) and... well, I don't think it's too bad a toy :-
). Certainly I look forward to when I can get an actual Samsung DVD-player
in my hi-fi stack and have VLM-2, always there, hardwired, ready to play
with :-).

[pic of another VLM-2 effect --Ed.]

Plasma flows outwards from the centre of the screen; suspended within, a
formation of glowing disks pulsate and emit pale green smoke.

Those of you who remember the Jaguar VLM will, I hope, be pleasantly
surprised when you see VLM-2... there are more effects, and some of them
are things that could not even be attempted using the Jag's old hardwired
graphics manipulation hardware. VLM-2's main aesthetic is based on things
that are not normally considered to be the domain of (at least low-end)
graphics systems - mist, smoke, even fluid surfaces that appear to flow
together and break apart in a natural manner...

[pic of yet another VLM-2 effect --Ed.]

A vortex of blue liquid that oozes, flows together and breaks apart like
mercury on a flat surface, according to the pulsation of the spiral
generator-function that is visible in the centre of the image.

Of course there are some more "trad" kaleidoscope-y effects in there too,
because some people like those as well as the more exotic ones; but even
they are rendered in the Nuon style, heavy on the translucency and neon-
effects; with one or two of them, the influence which inspired 'em will be
obvious, if you happen to be a Pink Floyd fan...

[pic of still yet another VLM-2 effect --Ed.]

A throbbing yellow neon vector llama rotates in the middle of an effect
which, if you have ever been to a Pink Floyd concert and noticed what they
do with the lights all around the edge of their big circular screen, may
look familiar :-).

As I mentioned, VLM-2 has 100 effects (by the way, only two of the effects
I had in Las Vegas actually made it into the final cut of VLM-2) and, if
you're feeling in the mood, if you use the analog joystick, you can "jam"
along quite effectively. Although the interactivity is quite simple - often
just colour/feedback intensity/scale changes - it's surprisingly
satisfying. You can just sit there and kinda "air-guitar" with your thumb
(if that makes any sense) and it looks great on the screen :-). A fun toy
:-).

I'll prolly add some more to this in a few days - more to tell, about the
trip and suchlike; not a lot of nonwork-stuff to talk about (there is some,
just not as much as usual) because there hasn't been a lot of nonwork-stuff
in my life recently :-]... There was, of course, my holiday with my mum,
which was excellent and a lovely bit of calm in the middle of all the
mayhem that came before and after... but I'll tell all about that on
another update, soon. For now, I just wanted to let ya know that VLM-2 is
in full existence, and that soon Nuon will be unleashed at last :-).

More (and very definitely more about Nuon - Samsung is not the only
manufacturer releasing Nuon tech this year) on a later update... right now
I am going back to trying to get a nice comfortable environment sorted here
on GA. Like I mentioned, moving PCs is a bit like moving home - you don't
feel fully settled in your new environment until all your old familiar
clutter is unpacked and deployed, and for the last two weeks all GA has had
on it has been my work stuff - a bit like moving into a new house that only
has a desk and chair in it :-). So I'm bringing over all my goodies like my
emu collection and my Web stuff and my fave sample editors and such... and
it's starting to feel a bit more like home now :-). I need to sort out my
FTP program before I can upload this though - for some reason the thing
thinks it's unregistered, which is a rotten lie :-). Must be some config
file lying around somewhere I forgot to copy over. Doesn't help that one of
the machines is without a network card, so I am having to schlepp
everything over by hand. Thank Ghu for CD-RW, iz all :-).

And... extra thankmodes are due to those very excellent mates of mine who
have been watching out for me and keeping me from getting so far into the
workmode that I forget to run basic self-maintenence (or intervening when
that happens)... to those people who noticed when I forgot to feed myself
and rammed me full of sausages and chips, or who noticed I was overstressed
and forced me to get off the bloody machine for awhile, or who stayed in
touch and kept a part of me human when it felt like the machine was taking
over... much thanks, guys. This one's for you :-).

Thanks are, of course, also due to that bloke on Barbados who sold me some
wicked ganja. But that's for another update :-).


//// 22 May 2000

E3 and Spawning

Baah! Yes I am alive, and occasionally I might even update this page. What
can I say, except that I haven't been arsed to do it for awhile. Too much
T3K and VLM going on... speaking of which, VLM is now all done, bugs fixed
and integrated into the Samsung firmware; in fact mass production is now
underway and the Extiva N-2000 should be hitting the streets in the US
sometime in the next few weeks. It will come with one Nuon game, a puzzle
game called Ballistix that is actually quite addictive in a Puzzle Bobble
stylee; and also a demo disk that will contain demo versions of, I think,
Iron Soldier, Merlin Karting and T3K.

The demo of T3K isn't some pansy-arsed over-in-an-instant stylee demo,
either. It allows you to play levels 1 ("Welcome to the Machine"), 9 ("Hay
Ewe"), 15 ("Dark Side of the Moo"), and, uhh, I think it's around level 24
("Interstellar Overdraft"). The last level in particular is no pushover,
featuring as it does those beastly Pulsars, and Rotors (a new enemy type
that causes the entire web to spin around whilst it's on it - quite
disorienting, especially when you're pussyfooting it around the Pulsars.
Don't try it if you're pissed and full of lager and curry!).

Most of the powerups are available ("Hover" is disabled in the demo), and
if you're really good, and collect *all* the powerups on the last three
demo levels, then you can get into one round of the Bonus Round before the
demo ends. The whole demo also has one of the new music tracks from the
game - the finished game will have all the old faves from T2K, plus some
great new music. The track on the demo, called "Intimidation", was written
by a mate of mine, and it rawks ;-).

In the full version of the game you can expect to see more variation in the
dynamic textures that fill the web, more backdrops, prolly a slightly
higher framerate (I'm not using up all the chip yet) and of course a
shedload more levels and effects - there will be 128 unique levels, and
then if you reach the end of that, webs will be generated by algo, so your
torment will know no end ;-).

I just got back from E3 llast week, and it was quite an enjoyable trip.
There was plenty of interest in Nuon, and quite a few people stopped by to
play Tempest, so I had my first real feedback from actual gamers, and it
seemed to be pretty good. Nobody said they hated it, and some of them even
said they would get a Nuon to play it on, so can't be bad ;-). It was good
to see actual Nuon players out and being used, as opposed to tucked away
behind perspex like they were at CES. I had my video camera with me but not
my digital still camera, and I took a few pics from the video - the quality
isn't great as stills, but you can see what's going on...

[remainder of update snipped -Ed.]


//// 20 Oct 2000

Change returns success, going and coming without error...

(Is it just me being a geek, or does it sound in that song as if Syd took a
particularly heavy trip one day and flashed forward into the mind of a
coder? That lyric seems to describe the successful execution of a procedure
called "Change()". And there's all that business of "darkness++" in the
same song, too. Heh. Okay, I'm too much of a geek for my own good
sometimes).

Er. I'm digressing before I've even started. What was I going to say? Oh
yeah, just a small thing, really.

T3K is finished.

And, you know, it feels rather strange... today is the first day I've woken
up and not had anything to do to Tempest today. And after... what's it
been? Couple of years, at least... that feels really odd. There's a void in
a certain part of my head (well, you knew that anyway, right?) - I mean the
bit which used to be full of T3K-workmode. I'm sitting around here
listening to Underworld and feeling faintly bemused :-).

'Course, I may yet have to do another compile or two. What I uploaded to
work at one in the morning last night was "RC1" - that stands for "Release
Candidate 1", which basically means that as far as I can tell, the game is
complete in every way, it doesn't crash, everything works properly, it
plays correctly - basically it's *done*. RC1 will be scrutinised by a few
more people before it goes "golden" - that is, cleared for release. It's
possible that someone may request a few small changes - to the wording of
menu pages, or minor stuff like that; but such mods should be trivial, if
required. Basically, it's finished :-).

I don't know what to say about it, really, except that I hope that those
who has been waiting for the game aren't disappointed... it's kinda hard
when you work really close to something, especially for so long, to form an
objective opinion about it. Subjectively, I'm pleased with it. It looks
nice, plays well and sounds great. I had a few mates round the other day
and they thought it was very cool. So I hope it really is OK :-).

'Course, there was that time I was playing the game in a dark room, sound
cranked, my nerdly pallor illuminated only by the flickering stroboscopics
of Superzapper discharges and Pulsar blasts, tranced out, deep in the Zone,
and convinced that this was the best game known to Man... but that probably
had everything to do with the fact that someone had encouraged me to burn a
quantity of herbal matter in a small pipe and inhale the resultant smoke
just a few minutes prior ;-).

I think it's OK. I hope you do too :-).

(Mother do you think they'll like this song?)

Now that Nuon players are actually available (both the Samsung Extiva N-
2000 and the Toshiba SD-2300 are on sale now in the US) some of you will
have already seen the four-level "demo version" of T3K that's distributed
with the players. There's now an updated version of the demo around that is
somewhat closer to what the Real Thing is like, but for those of you who
have the original version of the demo, well, when you see T3K "for real",
you're going to notice quite a few differences :-).

Firstly and most importantly, the final game is faster, both in frame rate
and pace of gameplay. The speed of everything is faster now - in particular
your projectiles, and the speed with which the Flippers make their way up
to the Rim. There are more simultaneous enemies on the Web at one time, and
they come at you faster. This makes the gameplay considerably more intense
than in the demo version :-).

Also, the somewhat sloppy control of the Claw has been tightened right up.
There was waay too much inertia on that original version of the demo. I
played it the other day, when I was at a party with my Extiva, and found
that the control was as sloppy as a bucket of custard :-]. If you've been
playing the demo, you're in for a nice surprise when you get yer hooves on
the real thing.

Fans of T(NT), the composer of the track "Intimidation" that accompanied
the demo, will be pleased to hear that he has provided another three
excellent tunes for the game. There are nineteen tracks in all - four from
T(NT), two from Andre Meyer, one from VML's own James Grunke, and all
twelve tracks from the CD remix of the original tunes from Tempest 2000 :-
). Plenty there to keep you aurally satisfied as you blast your way to
Level 128 and beyond :-).

I should take a moment to introduce T(NT) here, because he's been
instrumental in more ways than one in assisting the completion of both T3K
and VLM. He's also a good mate of mine, and has been supportive beyond the
call of duty at times during the making of all this bollocks when I have
got a little... er... stressed-out :-]. Coincidentally enough, he's even a
fellow goat-keeper (although his are rather larger than my little goatlets
:-). In fact, one of his two goats features quite prominently in T3K.

You'll hear Copper's bleating during the Bonus Round, as well as during
things like menu selection :-). Flossie gets a look-in, too - remember the
Yes! Yes! Yes! powerup trick out of T2K? Well, if you do that in T3K, then
you'll get to hear the Prettiest Sheep in the World going a bit bonkers as
you zoom off into hyperspace :-).

I certainly hope that there will be further collaborations between me and
T(NT) on future occasions. Anyway, you should pay a visit to his website
and meet both his goats :-). They are really very cute (although Copper's
'ard as nails, she'll 'ave ya, she will! ;-).

I'll be uploading an "Unofficial Strategy Guide" to T3K in the next day or
two, so you can start preparing yourselves for the full version of the game
:-). Although "strategy" is altogether too grand a word to use with regard
to T3K - "Agh! There's one of those! Shoot it! There's another one! Shoot
it too!"... heh ;-). Nevertheless, there are a few tricks and tips that I
can pass on, from the ox's mouth so to speak, which will help you rack up
higher scores on your way to Level 128 and beyond (although how far beyond
it is possible to go I don't really know yet. Should anybody actually make
it to level 256, something really evil happens).

So that's it, really - T3K is done. Bloody hell, it doesn't half feel weird
:-].

You may now be asking yourselves, "so what's the smelly old ox up to next"?
And basically I have a few small projects to undertake for VML before I
start on a new game, stuff like making some of the techniques I used in T3K
more accessible to other Nuon programmers, and designing a tool that can be
used to create new VLM effects. This will occupy me for a few months, and
I'll probably be starting on a new game proper sometime early next year. I
already have a design in mind, something original this time, not an updated
arcade game - and again in a unique style, using a custom renderer
assembly-coded for Nuon. I'm very much into having my games look different
from those produced on standard polygon-based libraries, and I work on the
perfect machine for being able to roll-yer-own renderers, so why not ;-).

A word about VLM and the available Nuon players - if VLM is a major
consideration when you're thinking about buying Nuon hardware, then you
should opt for the Samsung rather than the Toshiba. Not that the Tosh is a
baa-d machine; just that on the Tosh there are only 8 built-in VLM effects,
whereas on the Sammy there are 100. Both of 'em will run T3K, of course :-
).

[remainder of update snipped -Ed.]


//// 3 Dec 2000

[massively chunks of sheep fetishism clipped for brevity --Ed.]

Yak and T(NT)'s Big Day Out; VLM (Iteration); some sad news; general
wibble...

[cool "Holiday Greetings" pic on original arcade Tempest --Ed.]

Yeah, I know it's a bit early to put the decorations up. Not that I can
ever actually be arsed with decorations, anyway. But I found this somewhere
and it seems appropriate - apparently the original coin-op Tempest team
made it for a greetings card back in the days.

Work-wise, well, I haven't been idle. T3K is, as I write this, about to hit
the streets in the US in the next few days. It was released to manufacture
awhile ago now, and although there have been a couple of delays since then
getting it actually out there, I can only assume they were due to packaging
or duplication hassles. I'm watching the Nuon boards to see when it finally
gets through to those who have been waiting for it for so long.

After Tempest, I've had an opportunity to go back to the VLM for a while.
This is good news for future European Nuon-owners, who will get the benefit
of some improvements to the VLM itself, as well as a bunch of nice new
effects. User-interactivity has thankfully been restored; if you have a
controller with an analog stick on it, you can twiddle the effects with
your thumb in an intuitive and gratifying manner, as I had always intended.
I've also made it so that VLM can run in a slightly different configuration
that allows for VLM to be concurrent with other, more computationally-
intensive audio playback modes than just straight CD playback; the same
mode also allows you to effectively increase the frame-rate of VLM when you
*are* just doing straight CD playback. Andreas from VM Labs, my
collaborator on VLM and the guy responsible for all the actual difficult
bits of the audio analysis, has also improved the beat-extraction code so
that it's much more effective. A bit of a result for us Euros, it seems :-
).


                            --==--==--==--==--


   ||  JagFest 2000: The Aftermath
   ||  By: The Helpful Gamer, Joe Fix, and the Gang
\__//  [e-mail], [e-mail]
       -----------------------------------------------------------------

There follows all the reports from JagFest 2000 that I was able to lay my
hands on. For all these and more (including lots of pictures), browse to:
<http://jaguar.holyoak.com/jagfest/jf2k.html>

Thanks to Tim "Sauron" Wilson for putting on a great JagFest!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// The Helpful Gamer's Report
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

JagFest 2000 is off to a flawless start!

Scott Walters showed up with a great supply of interesting stuff, Tim is busy
running around, people are playing games everywhere...

I've met a few 'Fest attendees already and it's nice to put a face to the
name.

Throughout the day, we'll be seeing some prototypes, thanks to Scott and
others. It is even rumoured that a game called Leather Clad Turkish Warriors
will be displayed in early, unfinished form.

I did get a chance to play some Brett Hull Hockey. It's fun, but nearly every
hit results in a penalty. Boo!

Richard and I have been having some deadly NBA Jam: TE battles... he won the
last two games, but I beat him handily the first time. There is some action
heating up with the first round of Alien Vs. Predator tournament, as well, but
I have not had a chance to check it out.

I've got one thing to say about Brett Hull Hockey for the JagCD (that's right,
CD, not cart!!): Shoot the between periods reporter! The quality of the
"newsroom" is shoddy at best. We should all thank our lucky stars that this
one never came out... otherwise the suicide rate would be through the roof.
It's actually quite humourous, but if it was released, it would make a mockery
of the JagCD. And who *was* the newsroom man? An employee of Atari?

Richard and I (yes, the REAL Richard... my friend from the bad side of
Lincoln, Nebraska, not the guy from England who, for some reason, thinks that
he's the only Richard on Earth) played some more NBA Jam: TE. He beat me
again, though. It was amazing... I've never seen more men running after a ball
and putting the ball through the hoop. It was UNBELIEVABLE!

I haven't eaten in hours... since I started driving early this morning,
anyway. I had a popsicle before I left. But when I was driving, I was groggy
and I dropped it on my pants.

There are actually a couple girls here at JagFest. I want to talk to one, but
every time I try, odd noises come from inside of me (like a demon or
something) and it smells funny. Like a funny smelling demon!

There are people playing videogames here at JagFest. There's a guy who looks
like Darth Maul here, and another with glasses!

Did I mention that I haven't eaten anything today? Every time I play a
videogame, I get all shaky and thirsty. I feel so cold!

This year's JagFest will go down in history as the greatest ever!

I had a lot of fun... I played Club Drive with somebody (I think it was Dane
Stegman) and beat him in the ten ball race.

Phase Zero... what's up with that?!?!

I cleaned the popsicle from my pants.

This is the greatest JagFest ever!

The Helpful Gamer always says "Remember, kids, club soda will rid you of those
pesky pants stains!"


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Joe Fix's Report
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

There were about 15 people there (if you include the three wackos that just
walked in and sat down and started playing games...)

Total Carnage is totally complete, but the "Option" button automatically skips
you to the next level. Scott seemed to think that part was incomplete - maybe
that's how they were going to leave it?? The game is pretty much arcade
perfect, except for the controls, which use the keypad for 8-direction fire.
We tried hooking up a pro controller to see if that would help with the fire
control issue, but basically the best way to play is to set the controller on
a flat surface and have one hand on the D-pad and one hand on the keypad.
Scott said that Bally(?) wouldn't get together a contract for anyone to
release it, but that Carl was currently trying to negotiate it. Total Carnage
is a definite buy if he ends up working out the details - I'm not aware of any
other Jaguar game of this genre. For those of you who are not familiar with
the game, it is similar in concept to Taito's
old arcade game, Front Line. Very impressive with great sound and graphics.

If you look a few posts down, Mark posted the ROM image for Phase Zero. After
seeing all the stuff available, I'm going to get me a cheap Jag at VGLQ to
mod. Phase Zero is VERY smooth and the graphics are quite good. It is not very
challenging, though. One of the highlights is being able to shoot at the trees
and watch them light up like a torch.

The completed cart version of Brett Hull Hockey was also available for play.
The graphics are so-so and the control is good, but not great. Very easy to
get penalties. I didn't play it enough to see if there were settings to change
to make the penalties less frequent.

Slam Racer was also available to play. I didn't play it, but it looked very
similar to Power Drive Rally, only amazingly smoother. Only one level
available on that one.

As far as I know, they only got the title screen of Arkanna to show up... I
was looking forward to seeing it in action, along with The Assassin, but that
didn't happen either.

Scott brought Carl's new games, of which Skyhammer and Hyper Force got the
most play time, with Protector running a close third. I played Skyhammer and
Protector - I will probably try to pick up Protector as soon as I can hack
together a joystick for the Jag... I couldn't see how you could play it
effectively without a stick.

Scott also brought BattleSphere, but unfortunately he was the only one with a
copy, so there was no networked play. He did, however, bring two Jagmodems
which were successfully linked in a game of Ultra Vortek. The voice was not
hooked up, so that capability was not demonstrated. The two units were sitting
side by side, so it wasn't quite as dramatic demonstration as it could have
been, but oh well. The game would periodically slow down to snail speed,
apparently because of modem communication problems, but otherwise there was no
lag.

There were some great door prizes, including a complete vendor kit for the
Jaguar that include: a vinyl banner, IS and AvP posters, bumper stickers, game
flyers, brochures, and a cool cardboard table display that had tear-off
coupons for a "free controller when you buy a system". Other door prizes
included a Club Drive cart with a Jaguar pin, a Dino Dudes cart with a Jaguar
pin, a Jaguar keychain, and a complete copy of Missile Command 3D. Joel, the
winner of the Ultra Vortek contest (thanks to a cheesy overuse of Lucius'
flying hawk move), won the grand prize of a Lynx system with carrying case
that included a ComLynx cable, AC adapter, sun shield, battery pack, and a
copy of Batman Returns.

The fest was well-planned (Thanks again Tim!) with a room that was very
comfortable (even had couches and cushioned chairs!). Having it in the UT
Union was a great idea, since there was a Wendy's fast food right down the
hall. Chow down on the Biggie Fry and get back to playing games! Scott made
the day interesting with all of his great protos, and it seems that he's
raising his son to be a Jag fanatic too.

I've still got quite a few standard Jag controllers available, and I'm still
looking for Atari Karts and Defender 2000 to trade with someone. Missile
Command 3D is available to trade!

-Joe


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Miscellaneous
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: JagFest rocks!
Author: Richard <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: June 24, 2000 at 13:26:59
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

Take that! I just won my fourth straight NBA Jam:TE game!

JagFest 2000 is rockin'! The competition is heating up everywhere.

My favorite part of JagFest is listening to the Britney Spears CD
constantly... Oops! I Did It Again! on repeat, baby! Of course, I've got a
Discman and earphones, so I'm the only one enjoying it!

You're all missing out now, aren't you?!

Richard

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: The REAL JagFest 2K Report!
Author: Sauron <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: June 24, 2000 at 22:29:09
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

This really isn't much of a report, as I'm about to head to bed. I'll do a
more in-depth one tomorrow. However, I just wanted to let y'all know that
JagFest 2000 was a success! While this year's JagFest may not have had as many
attendees as the previous year's, there were still plenty of us there to
compete handily at Warbirds and have a rousing Ultra Vortek tournament, with a
surprise winner. Also, you won't believe who won the ultimate raffle prize of
the day! Can't put many details down right now, but should be able to
tomorrow.

Tim Wilson
JF2K Coordinator

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Subject: JAGFEST 2K REAL REPORT
Author: eXtreme-Rush <mailto:[e-mail]>
Date: June 25, 2000 at 07:54:25
Forum: Jaguar Interactive II

JagFest 2k was a success. There were not as many people as we had though were
coming but we all still had lots of fun overall. We had lots of Warbirds
tournaments and Ultra Vortek tournaments and Doom tournoments. Also Scott
brought some really cool games like Total Carnage and Phase Zero and the 4 new
Songbird games and BattleSphere which I might add was a really cool game. Just
about every game we had we played at JagFest 2k this year. Well I'm kinda
tired because I wrote this last night and then posted it this morning and I'm
just now correcting my spelling errors and jumbled up sentances. See you guys
later.


                            --==--==--==--==--


   ||  CGE 2000: A Classic Games Enthusiast's View
   ||  By: Lee Krueger
\__//  [e-mail]
       -----------------------------------------------------------------

I attended the Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas over the last weekend. For
me, this year was different than last year's event because I was sharing a
booth as an exhibitor as opposed to being an attendee. I went as an
enthusiast with no particular agenda other than hoping to have an enjoyable
time demonstrating some of my projects and promoting the NorthWest Classic
Games Enthusiasts (NWCGE). I arrived Friday morning, arriving from Seattle
on an internet airfare special that I booked in advance which cost me $210
for the roundtrip. I stayed, like most, at the Plaza Hotel. Unlike last
year, I had no roommate, so I had to pay a little more than I would have
liked. However, the room rates were reasonable and my total costs were $143
for the room from Friday morning night thru Sunday night. When you add the
$100 I spent for the booth and admission, I invested a total of $453
(excluding food and entertainment) to attend the CGE show. Below is summary
of what I got for my money.

I arrived Friday morning around 10:00 a.m. and after checking in I went
directly to the exhibition hall to drop off my boxes and help folks setup.
As I mentioned in my report form last year, the Plaza Hotel is a little
dated and is obviously an older establishment in Vegas. However, the
accommodations were still much better than I have experienced in many of my
other vacation such as the prior 2 weekends where I was pursuing my other
passion, mountaineering. Believe me, the Plaza is much better than sleeping
in a tent on a glacier at 10,000. That being said, I must confess that the
115 degree heat I experienced in Vegas just about caused me to have a
seizure upon arrival. Although I am an avid outdoor enthusiast, there was
no way I was going to spend any significant time outside in this heat (why
they built a city in the middle of the #%!! desert is still one of the
mysteries of man I'll never understand).

Because I was an exhibitor I had the opportunity to meet up with the other
exhibitors and meet some of the volunteers who were helping to set up. Most
of which I have had many email transactions with. I was fortunate enough to
share a booth with my friend Hans Reutter (Cyberroach and NWCGE sponsor)
and Joe Santulli (Digital Press). I knew that I would not get to explore
some of the other booths and exhibits during the show because we would have
to take turns manning the booth so I was able to see that displays and chat
with folks prior to the show opening which was very nice.

On Saturday the doors to the show opened promptly at 10:00 a.m. There was
an immediate mad rush to get to the Intellivision Productions Booth where
there were limited copies of unreleased games such as Atari 2600 Sword
Fight, Sea Battle and Steamroller (Colecovision). Fortunately I was able to
get a copy of each. However, it is my understanding that more copies will
be available on the Blue Sky Rangers website after the show. I really
enjoyed the keynote presentations that I was able to see. They were varied
and frequent. Some of the keynote presentations were repetitive from last
year, but were interesting nonetheless.

The room set aside for keynote presentations was much larger than last
year. As a result there was plenty of seating for everyone at the
presentations and lots of room for the swap meet session. The swap session
didn't seem as good this year. Maybe it was because I didn't make any good
trades.

Some of the booths and displays that were the most impressive are as
follows (no particular order):

Blue Sky Rangers/Intellivision Productions
===============================
Like last year, these folks had the most impressive booth and were very
enthusiastic, especially Keith Robinson. Missing this year was the display
of the Master Component Computer and accessories, but one hardly noticed
with all the excitement they generated during the course of the show. They
had a very cool soundtrack playing from their upcoming "Intellivision
Rocks" CD. On Sunday they celebrated the 20th anniversary of the
Intellivision with a birthday part including cake, balloons and party
favors. Afterwards they had an Intellivision Karaoke contest (mimic the
sounds of an Intellivision game as it was displayed on the video). These
guys definitely get the "Life of the Party" award.

CyberPunks
==================
Glenn Saunders and Russ Perry Jr were on hand to sell their videos of
Stella, both Volumes 1 and 2, along with "Stella Gets a New Brain" Starpath
CD. The videos are a must for any Atari 2600 enthusiasts as is the Starpath
CD. A nice touch would have been to have a couple of monitors playing the
videos and demonstrating the Starpath CD.

Mark Lambright Sales
==================
Mark had many classic games, new and used (mostly new) for sale. The new
games he had ranged from Atari 2600/5200/7800 to the Intellivision and
Colecovision. The great thing about his booth was the prices. Very
reasonable indeed.

B&C Computers
==================
Bruce and Cathy are always a pleasure to meet with. They also have some
pretty cool stuff for sale, including a Jaguar Kiosk and many items
"rescued" from the dumpsters in Atari warehouses during the last days of
Atari. He always has a good selection of prototype hardware and manuals for
all Atari products. They also had great prices on Jaguar and Lynx games.

CGE Services
==================
The organizers of the event had a large booth where they sold everything
from t-shirts to multi-carts to shrinkwrapped games. They also sold limited
copies of prototype games for the Colecovision (Power Lords and Lord of the
Dungeon) and the Odyssey 2 (Autographed copies of Video Pinball by Ralph
Baer). They also had many items for sale behind the table if you asked.

Classic Game Creations
==================
John Donzilla was on hand to demonstrate and sell his wonderful Vectrex and
Colecovision products, including Vecmania and Dacman (Colecovision). Mark
Shaker also shared a table with John and sold versions of new Vectrex
prototypes such as Tour De France, Polar Rescue and homebrew efforts of
Moon Lander, Vaboom!, Frogger, etc. Both Mark and John had great pricing on
all their products. It was a pleasure to meet and chat with both of these
gentlemen.

Digital Press
==================
Joe Santulli runs Digital press and was taking orders for the upcoming DP
guide. He also sold orders for back issues of the DP newsletter.

Scott West Productions
==================
Howard Scott Warshaw (Programmer of Yars' Revenge, E.T. and Raiders of the
Lost Ark for Atari) appeared briefly to sell his remaining stock of "Once
Upon Atari" videos. He seemed to disappear as fast as he came though.

Songbird Productions
==================
Carl Forhan has been supporting the Jaguar and Lynx with new releases.
Among the highlights at his booth, were the new Jaguar cart releases,
Skyhammer, Protector and Soccer Kid. In addition Carl sold new Lynx titles
and some homebrew efforts for the Lynx including his limited CGE edition of
Remnant: Planar Wars 3D. I picked up his rapid fire controller for the
Jaguar (highly recommended) and a couple of other items. He also had custom
made Jaguar arcade sticks. Also on hand were playable demos of some
possible up-coming Lynx Releases, including CyberVirus and Eye of the
Beholder.

NorthWest Classic Games Enthusiasts/Cyberroach/ResQsoft
============================================
This was the booth I shared with Hans Reutter. Hans and myself were there
to promote the NorthWest Classic Games Enthusiasts, a classic gaming club
based in the Pacific NorthWest (Seattle and abroad) Cyberroach also sold
and demonstrated the Jaguar Commercial CD which contains cool Jaguar
Commercials and footage of unreleased Jaguar games. ResQsoft demonstrated
the Trac-Mar 2600/7800 development system. Using this system 2 more Atari
2600 prototypes were dumped and will be announced soon for public
consumption. Also, the last of the Worship the Woodgrain Atari 2600 CD
collection was available for sale and demonstration.

Atari/Hasbro Interactive
==================
They had a booth from which you could play the upcoming releases of Galaga,
Breakout and Frogger II. All three looked pretty good. Play the games and
they gave you a PC version of Atari Arcades Hits 2.

Telegames
==================
They had a booth with lots of goodies ranging from the Atari 2600 to the
Neo Geo Pocket. They also had reasonable prices (Reasonable for Telegames
that is) on all their wares and towards the end of the show on Sunday,
their prices got even better. I picked up a copy of Towers for the Game Boy
Color and Worms to round out my Jaguar collection. I also picked up a copy
of Iron Soldier 3 (previous ones were Jaguar exclusives).

Classic Gamer Magazine
==================
These guys have put together some really nice magazines with the classic
look and feel of the 80's. They were selling back issues and taking
subscription orders. I highly recommend this magazine for all classic
gamers.

Twin Galaxies
==================
Walter Day, Billy Mitchell and crew were on hand to promote their book
"Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records". High scores were
recorded and archived.

United Games Source
==================
These folks had a large selection of NES/Famicom, Virtual Boy and various
other classic game software and merchandise. They even had a portable NES
Player that can only be described as a near clone of the Sega Nomad in
looks.

Overall my impressions of the show ranged from high enthusiasm for the
keynote presentations to a little disappointment at the lack of more
vendors. The ballroom definitely had room for far more vendors and displays
and at times the show seemed a little thin. I would have liked to have seen
more tables for private individuals to display and sell their trade stock.
Attendance appeared to be down from last year, but that could be my warped
perception. At one point I had to assist B&C with two teenage punks on
scooter bikes with a security matter. It seems these punks were attempting
to steal from them (how did these punks get in the door with scooters
anyway). I was very excited to see that the CGE staff are very active in
promoting and releasing unreleased games and prototypes for all to enjoy.
On the downside, there are rumours that the show may not happen next year.
Let's hope that is not the case. Additionally, myself and many others sure
miss the Atari Historical Society, Best Electronics and Don Thomas's
presence. They have contributed a lot in the past. I hope they can attend
future expositions.

Hits:
*****
The Blue Sky Rangers sure know how to drum up enthusiasm
The keynote presentations
Keith Robinson and the Blue Sky Rangers
The new games released for the Atari 2600 - Sword Fight and Sea Battle
Great Pre-Show party with the guys from Southern California (Room 2443
in the South Tower)
Intellivision Karaoke
The new games released for the Colecovision - Lord of the Dungeon, Steam
Roller, Power Lords
Ralph Baer's autographed Odyssey 2 unreleased prototype game Pinball
Great Selection of Classic Arcade Games set on FREE PLAY!!
Meeting Jan Boehm - She was in charge of sending and receiving prototypes
for Atari
Oh, and did I mention.The Blue Sky Rangers sure know how to party in
classic gaming style

Misses:
*******
Not enough Attendees
Not enough Vendors
No Don Thomas
No Atari Historical Society Booth - Curt Vendel
No Best Electronics - Brad where are you?
No private (non-vendor) trading tables and such
No Jerry Jessop - Where were you Jerry?
No Dan Kramer - Dan the Atari TracBall Man
Will Nolan Bushnell ever show up?
Not enough Bally Astrocade Guest Speakers
Not Enough Odyssey Guest Speakers
Too #!%!! hot

Things I missed on my visit:
***********************
A good night's sleep
Boy-lesque show at the Plaza

When I tally it all up... I had a great time for my money. Your mileage may
vary of course.

Many thanks are owed to the show organizers for their hard work and
dedication in organizing and promoting this type of activity. Also many
thanks to their spouses and family members for their understanding and
support. Having organized similar events ,on a much smaller scale of
course, there are many sacrifices that must be made on an individual level
and at a family level as well.

My personal thanks go to Joe Santulli and Hans Reutter for sharing a booth
with me and I also must thank Al Backiel and Mary Katherine who helped man
(woman?) the booth for all of us at one time or another.

Hope to see you next year,

Lee Krueger
[e-mail]
http://home.earthlink.net/~resqsoft


                             --==--==--==--==--


   ||
   ||  Shutdown ....................... Power off, * + #, EOL, Game Over
\__//  -----------------------------------------------------------------

Buzzword Index:
     Buzzword      Occurrences
     Bug           7
     Network       10
     Hasbro        14
     Skyhammer     18
     Fest          39
     CD            56
     Protector     57
     HTTP          73
     BattleSphere  109
     Atari         275

Useless Fact O' The Year: Some of the sound effects in Doom and Jag AvP
were designed by the same person-- award-winning Hollywood sound designer
Mike McDonough. Sound Ideas sells a CD that's all his work. This is a very
popular CD... anytime you hear a computer chirp or servo whine on TV, odds
are it's from this CD!

'Til next millenium!

Your Editor
Clay Halliwell
<[e-mail]>


                             --==--==--==--==--

                 (This issue printed on recycled photons)

                             --==--==--==--==--

                               Salt the Fries

                             --==--==--==--==--

                                   DNFTEC

                             --==--==--==--==--

                   Where do you want to play Atari today?

                             --==--==--==--==--

Jaguar Explorer Online Magazine is a monoannual publication covering the
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Opinions presented herein are those of the individual authors and do not
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herein is believed accurate at the time of publishing. The rain in Spain
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                             --==--==--==--==--

Atari, 400/800, XL/XE, 2600, ST, Mega ST, STe, Mega STe, Atari Falcon030,
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                             --==--==--==--==--

Jaguar Explorer Online Magazine
"Your Source for Jaguar News"
Copyright (c) 2000, White Space Publishers


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 :: Volume 4, Issue 1      JAGUAR EXPLORER ONLINE      December 31, 2000 ::
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