What is Jagware ?

Jagware is an online community whose aim is to gather as many talented people as possible, in order to develop games for the Jaguar 64 bits console.

What does Jagware offer ?

• Support from experienced Jaguar enthusiasts, including some professionals (coders, graphic artists, musicians, mathematicians, electronics engineers...), all interested in working together.
• Public forums open to everybody.
• Private forums for team projects. Teams leaders can freely choose to whom they grant access, so discretion is assured.
• An IRC channel (#jagware on irc.worldnet.net).

During a previous discussion on Jaguar programming, we made a deal with SebRmv.
Once I get an accurate Jag development kit running, I will try to make a Jaguar game...

Last week, as it becamed obvious we will meet during the AC2008 show in France, we defined the following rules.
He had to instal on my laptop his cross compiler, the remover slibrary, give me some advices during coding, and I had to make a game engine during the week-end.

This post is a transcript of how the things have gone during the WE.

Start of the operations : saturday noon

As I wanted to have a Linux on my laptop, and as Seb is more aware of Linux things rather than windows, he choosed to install a XUbuntu, then to create the cross compiler, install the libraries...
Ok, first big point, I had a Mandrake on this laptop but it was wrashed. We wanted to use the partitions, so we add to recover the partition table .Thanks to pmdata who managed this with succes and gave me some fears...
During the afternoon (we had some presentation to do for the show for Y, so we were not full time on the installation), everything is OK, Seb tried to compile one of his example and it worked, the big part of the deal has to begin.
Second point, imagine this, there is no usable texte editor on Xubuntu, OK, there is vim, but 15 years after, I forgot everything about vi commands.
And nano is not really useful too, so we had to run Abiword, yest a word processor to write code... Amazing !!!
finally, we manage to find a terminal version of Emacs on a slackware distribution...

I had a pretty acurate idea of what I wanted to do, selected the needed graphics from the freeware "Yastuna2 Graphic Pack".
A king of game you can find easily on XBLA, Palm, or PC. 2 players in coimpetition. Some special features in order top make it my own concept, and not a clone.

First, some theory on Jag coding, as I was not aware of how a Jag works, how to code it, how to use the Removers library.
Yes, this was a kind of crash test for his libraires...

Jag programming for beginners challenge just begin


We quickly got the first screen diplay on screen (background + sprites). Great...
Let start to code the basis of gameplay.

As this point, I must admit something, I began to write the skeleton of the game on my own, and then, Seb came and helped me to include display...
OK, we must declare all sprites at the beginning, if we add one, we declare it, add it to the layout..

Hey, just a moment, I have a procedure called Affichage() (it means display for english readers), called in the loop.
But, we do nothing in this. Yes, it means you declare your sprites at the beginning, manage them, add some or remove others. But you do not have to manage physical or logical screen, display or something. No, you just have nothing to do once it is initialized...

Jag coding is so easy. Impressive !!!

So, ce have a screen, some sprites are moving when they need to move...
Then came GT and his special jokes "Hey, you are writing games aven quicker that I write bugs"

Of course, this was the beginning of the knightmare, then we got some tricky unexpected results, also called bugs. Thanks you GT
During the night, when Seb has to left the show, there was still some tricky bugs. I will have to find them on my own during sunday.
After a short night, and some replexion, I think I have the solution... It seems to work, well, I thought it work.
So came Kuk... Kuk is a nice guy, he helped me a lot on Yastuna 1, but we can call him black cat. Give him a Falcon, the harddisk will crash or burn. Show him a game in development, there will be some bugs or freeze in game.
I took the pad, explained the concept, and... imagine what happened... the bugs were still here. Thanks you Kuk

They appeared randomly, after some minutes of playing, there are still some bugs coming from time to time without a single idea of what, how, and why...

We made some tests with Orion_ and GT, in order to discover a logical reason, bu it didn't seem at this time that there was something logical behind this.

I had 2 option, the spirit one, put Kuk into a closed room, the practical one, search for the what, how and why.
I choosed to do the both...

Sunday noon, it's better, I know what happens, but the how and why still miss.
During testing, I finally managed to reproduced the bug whan I want, I got the how, so the why can now be corrected.
The game is ready, it's time to begin final testing.

Less than 24h have been necessary to do it...
I like to take risk, we delivered the poor Kuk and I asked him and Gatzee to test the game on their own. It was the first time I let someone with the game without looking the screen. In France, we call this "le moment de vérité.
Then Iceman and SCPCD took a pad and play.
It seems the result is quite positive. Yes, no nasty bug occured during kuk playing time. Can the game be call prooftested ?

Of course, the game is not polished, there is no music or sound right now.
It needs more effects, all the extras (menus, ...), probably some rework on graphisms...
But it appears that the concept is not so bad.

And we met the target.
Yes, as a Jaguar coder beginner, I have been able to write a game during the week-end.
Thanks to the Removers library, Jaguar programming has probably never been so easy. SebRmv and Stabylo really did an awesome work with these libraries.
Thanks to the members of the Jagware team, who gave me advices, support, and also had to listen my complaints. and jokes about how amazingly easy it was to program the Jaguar. But hey, this is true

And also, I would like to thanks those who gave me the motivation to do this challenge, I hope they will appreciate the result



How to play :

Here we go...

"Dazed vs" is here :
http://fadest.free.fr/DevJag/Dazed.bin

How to play :
First, you need 2 jagpad and a friend. This is a convention game, so it must be multiplayer
Transfert the game to your Jag.
On title screen, remove the BJL cable, and plug the second jagpad.
Then press C button on jagpad 1 to begin game.

On main game, you will see 2 grids fillen with sprites and a 2x2 sprite structure at the bottom for each player.
The goal is to make alignment (horizontal or vertical) of 3 or more identical sprites.
You can move your cursor (red square) with D pad.
While pressing C buton and movind D pad, you will swap the 2 sprites. If you create on or more alignment, they disappear.
This is gameplay for the main grid.

The 2x2 structure are the incoming sprite into your grid, after a short time, they will push the sprites in front of them.
If this should let you go outside the screen, then you lose.
You can control this structre with A and B button.
A button make it rotate (not slide, rotate) to the right.
B button, the same to the left.
You can send structure by pressing the jagpad 3 button.

Lucky pro controller owner have the following options :
Right and left triggers do the same than A and B button, but is more intuitive.
X, Y or Z do the same than 3 option, but is more practical.

I just loaded the game into Project Tempest and it seems to work, so even if you do not have a Jag BJL, you can have a look on it.

Enjoy, and if you have any remark or suggestions, feel free to ask.

On the road to the AC 2008 !

We're less than a month away from the opening of the AC 2008, the yearly Atarian French meeting. The event will take place in Congis-sur-Thérouanne (zip code : 77440), located close to Paris, during the April 19 - 20 weekend. Registrations are now open. They are required and don't forget : in order to provide the best accommodation conditions for everybody, the attendance is limited !


A conviviality-based gathering
Each year, during a weekend, the Retro-gaming Connexion organization strives to unite all of the users of the Atari brand. Players, programmers, collectors and mere enthusiasts get together to share their common hobby.

In addition to the large quantity of hardware provided by the RGC organization, attenders are encouraged to bring their own machines to use or demonstrate them, in a 100% "free play" atmosphere : plug, play, use, and program.

On location, you'll find dozens of Atari-branded machines, and hundred of games and other pieces of software that have left their mark on the gaming and computing history. To quote only a few : the Atari ST, the Falcon, the Atari 2600, the Jaguar, the 8-bit computers line (Atari 400/800/XL/XE, etc.) and many other oddities. Have you ever heard about the Nuon ? You'll be able to play it there. But the rarest item will undoubtedly be the Jaguar virtual reality helmet, an unreleased prototype of which there are only two working copies in the world. A unique opportunity to discover it.

Professional and hobbyist software development teams will also be there. You should be able to count on the presence of the Jagware team, which will present an advanced version of its JagCF (a Jaguar add-on), of Rodolphe Czuba, the designer of the CT60/CT63 accelerator board for the Falcon, of the English 16/32 Systems shop... You will also find out about the latest development and gaming-related news. The Atari machines are still alive ! A whole weekend will be barely long enough to enjoy everything.


Practical information
Registering for the AC 2008 is required and can be done through our online form. Practical information (entrance fees, access maps, trains schedules, etc.) is available on our website. More specific information (car pooling opportunities, buying/swapping/selling equipment...) can be found on our forum.

In order to organize this meeting in the best conditions, we invite you to register early, and to contact us as soon as possible for any special query (projects, specific hardware you'd like to present, etc.)

Thanks for your future attendance and see you in April !

The RGC organization team



About the AC
Inaugurated in 2002 under the Jaguar Connexion moniker, the event initially gathered only a handful of Atari fans. Five editions later, the Jaguar Connexion becomes the AC, to cover all machines - consoles and computers - of the well-known brand. Users, collectors and mere enthusiasts now meet at a yearly gathering.


About the Retro Gaming Connexion organization
This not-for-profit organization has been created in 2005 by six retrogaming fans with various backgrounds (a journalist, a leisure professional, a pool technician...). Since the beginning, the group has been aiming to organize various events in order to bring users together. The Jaguar Connexion, which enjoyed five editions, has been met with a great success and rapidly became one of the references in its category. The activities since diversified into organizing events such as the Retro Gaming Connexion (non-specific) and the AC (100% Atari-related), as well as creating and distributing various retrogaming-related products.


The RGC organization website :
http://www.retro-gc.org

The RGC organization forum :
http://www.yaronet.com/forum.php?s=172

The Atari forum of the AC 2008 gathering :
http://www.yaronet.com/forum.php?s=9


Contact information :

Telephone : +33 6 14 52 41 70
Email :

The AC 2008 will take place the week-end of the 19th and 20th April

The 100 % atarian French convention, will take place as usual in the small town of Congis sous Thérouanne, in the near from Paris. Take note of this date!

Like always, this edition will be under the sign of cosiness, relationship between, coder collectors, gamers. The Atari scene is still alive and dozens news productions sold every year. Come and test them or if you want just to discover again the game you have played during your childhood.

Travel information will be announced very soon.

If you wish to come to the AC2008 do not hesitate to contact Arethius

With best regards

The Retro-Gaming Connexion Team

About the AC:
Launched on 2002 under the name Jaguar Connexion, the convention only gathered a few atarians. Five conventions later, the Jaguar Connexion changes names in AC Connexion, in under to concentrate on the Atari Brand.

About the Retro-Gaming Connexion association.
Association under the law 1901, created in 2005 by 6 video games fans from different origins (journalist, multimedia animateur, swimming pool technician…), this association aim to set up conventions in order to gather the gamer in a unique atmosphere. It begun with the Jaguar Connexion which became shortly a reference in France, after 5 editions it was time to move on. Now the Retro Gaming connexion organises two conventions per year :
- The Retro Gaming Connexion : for all gaming systems
- The AC : For all the Atari gaming systems
If you wish to have further information on the activities of the Retro Gaming Connexion do not hesitate to contact us.

The Retro-Gaming Connexion association official web site:
http://www.retro-gc.org

The RGC association forum :
http://www.yaronet.com/forum.php?s=172

The Atari forum of the event :
http://www.yaronet.com/forum.php?s=9


Contact :
Arethius
0033 6 12 52 83 16
Mail :

But if you have questions, you can ask here

A long time without news, yes we'are overbooked !! Working on a lot of projects, a lot of them will be present at the A.C. party in april (News of the A.C. when we will got the english translation).

The great thing for jaguars developpers are sources that Curt Vendel give to the community, look on Atari Age forum here :

Checkered flag sources :

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...t&p=1461728

Breakout 2000 sources :

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...t&p=1462634

Cybermorph sources :

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...t&p=1462633

a very big thansk to Curt Vendel for all this gifts !!

GT

It seems that the forum software currently is temporarily unable to send email messages.

Consequently, do not use the "Archive Messages" in the Messenger area. You will not receive your messages, and if the "Delete messages after archiving" option was checked, they will be lost !

We're sorry for the inconvenience, and we'll try to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

Hi,

A little news, for giving you some infos about Jagware website, now Azrael, Zerosquare and me (GT Turbo) are admin, that means if you have any problems or questions, don't hesitate.


GT


EDIT by Zerosquare : I've made a few changes in the way the forum is administrated. Hopefully I've not broken anything ! Let me know if something's wrong with your account.

Yeah !! Everybody !!

2008 is near !! We want to wish a happy new year to all Atarians all over the world !!



GT

A verry happy Xmas 2007 to everybody !!

Hope Santa Claus give you a lot of things !!!

Ayez une pensée pour les enfants hospitalisés, nos amis de chez Mjj on une assocation pour les aider, voila un communiqué du president :

Bonjour
L'association UN JEU D'ENFANTa pour but de divertir les enfants malades hospitalisés, en organisant des ateliers autour des jeux vidéos afin qu’ils puissent s’évader .

Un atelier autour des jeux actuels PLAYSTATION 2, 3 , NINTENDO DS etc ,et un atelier autour des consoles qui ont fait l'histoire du jeu video


merci de visiter notre site pour decouvrir notre association et pour nous aider.

http://perso.orange.fr/unjeudenfant/

Mr Auer
le president



The english version (Translated by me with big help by Patrice Mandin)

Hi,

The "Un jeu d'enfant" association aims to entertain hospitalized children, by organizing workshops about video games, and make them forget the hospital

A workshop about games on Play 2, play 3,Nintendo DS and on old machines who made the video games history.

Thanks you for visiting our website and discover what we do"

http://perso.orange.fr/unjeudenfant/

Mr Auer
the president.


GT Turbo

As some have already noticed (and signaled). There was a problem to create new topic. The editor was completely messed. This was due to an important upgrade i made on thursday. I've basically checked if it was working fine afterwards, but obviously forgot this part.
By the time i can redo the old skin on the new system, everyone will have to use the default one (which is not really different).

[EDIT] On monday the 4th at 1:36 am, the jagware skin is mostly back, a complete refresh of the webpage should do it (shift+f5 or control+f5).

The Outline Party take place this week end, the invitro is available on Dhs.

Some screenshoots :








GT

This news isn't directly Jaguar related, but because i love this photo, i wanted to do a news with on Jagware. Marcer, a nice music-man on Atari machine (Of course), who has done the music from the Kick my Ass'embler demo is father some weeks ago, and he has given this nice photo to the Atari Community :




Marcer, i love this photo !! A very big congratulations, may the Atari god be with all your family Long life to Filip




GT

I haven't a lot of time now for writing a big post about Atari Connexion, so for the moment enjoy all this photos :

from Orion

(Thanks to Thyrex and Moog (Script generating))

from Zerosquare

from Jeff_HxC2001

from Strider

from Sundance

from Jegougou


GT

What's this title ?

It's simple now we will give the last option of the JagCF which is simply a New 96 Mhz DSP !!

Yes, a new DSP running at 96 Mhz, SCPCD and Zerosquare do it !! Featuring a lot of new powerfull instructions.

So the JagCF is a :

- CF adapter
- Two PS2 connectors (for keyboard and mouse)
- 16 Megs of SDRAM
- streaming possibilities
- new UART
- 96 Mhz DSP

That's why the Atari Connexion visitors have seen this week end. Some people have asked about running programms from JagCF, do you want to see Native running from the JagCF ? Do you want to see video streaming ? If yes, look that :

http://onori.free.fr/ac2k7/AC2007_mk.avi

(French text, but you don't need them, just look the JagCF presentation)

Thanks to Orion and MK for this video.

That's hot, when i have seen the streamed video, i think it was a joke but it's not a joke

If you think running Native in 2 seconds is a good speed, you have never seen it runned from a CF, less than 2 seconds

That kick ass !!

I will personnaly want to greets SCPCD and Zerosquare for their beautiful work !! And another beautiful thing, Zerosquare has done a new ZeroBox, called ZeroBox II i don't know if it's the real name, but the thing you have to know, this adapter allows you to use Playstation 2 Pad and DancePad on Jaguar Yes this week at the Atari Connexion we have played to Jag Jag Revolution, a new game like Dance Dance Revolution but on Jaguar with a Play 2 dancePad (Orion One ). When Odie_One (Retro Gaming Connexion team) can give the video, you will see dance specialists

Yes a very beautiful week end for Jaguar owners, some very very great news !!! Hope the community will enjoy all this great news, because the JagCF is here !! And never forget it

We will give others videos and photos during the week, so let's have a look during the next days on Jagware board !! And some others news !!

Stay cool, Stay Atari !! Atari rules !!


GT