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Starcat

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Posts posted by Starcat

  1. Posted · Report reply

    Hello to all of you!

     

    In case any of you is developing a game, I'd like to offer my help as artist. This is valid for now and future projects (as long as time allows it).

    I have a lot of experience in 2d/3d prerendered art as you may know.

     

    So if you have a project in development and you are still looking for an artist, let me know. :-)

     

    The only important thing for me is, that you have something working already. i.e. I am happy to help out with final graphics to replace placeholders or to create graphics based on your ideas.

     

    Of course this is also true for non-game projects, like JagCF in case you need any graphical support.

     

    Regards, Lars.

  2. Posted · Report reply

    Hey folks!

     

    I have to admit, I still didn't really find the time to try the lib. Although I would love to.

    However there still is one problem for me... I know hardly anything about linux. Or Cygwin. :blink:

    I always used the dos environments or batch files for Jag dev.

     

    Can anybody give me a helping hand or maybe some batch files that let me use the library and C under windows or dos?

     

    Regards, Lars.

  3. Posted · Report reply

    Hi Lars!

     

    That's very cool news if you consider using my own library :)

     

    Concerning your questions about Visual Studio, I cannot really answer to these since I develop mainly with my linux distro.

     

    With linux, you can simply download my shell script that builds a gcc cross compiler to generate 68k code.

    ie download and run:

    http://removers.free.fr/softs/archives/mk_xgcc.sh

     

    then you can get a source distrib of my libs, ie download

    http://removers.free.fr/softs/archives/jlibc-0.5.1.tar.gz

    http://removers.free.fr/softs/archives/rmvlib-1.1.2.tar.gz

     

    and build them (in this order)

    I assume the path you will use are the same as mine

    (I know there is an issue in the Doxyfiles that states explicitly an absolut path on my system :D)

     

    To build, simply run ./build.sh (that are in the archives)

     

    Then, you can start using my library.

    I have already coded some small examples to illustrate how to use it.

    The sources are downloadable at my website:

     

    http://removers.free.fr/softs/download.php

     

    About a documentation of the library, I have started to document the code

    and use doxygen to generate an HTML doc. This is browsable at the following

    urls:

    http://removers.atari.org/doc/jlibc/

    http://removers.atari.org/doc/rmvlib/

     

    I know this documentation is not perfect (far from that), but I hope it can already

    help programmers to become familiar with the library.

     

    I am currently writing a more technical document to explain the internals

    of the library (and in particular the sprite manager that is going to evolve

    quite a bit soon [i hope Christmas vacation will be sufficient to implement all my ideas])

     

    Anyway, I would be pleased to answer all your questions and hear your suggestions.

     

    Maybe it is a good idea to open a new part in this forum (or elsewhere) so that users

    can discuss about the library.

     

    Cheers

     

    Seb

     

    Yes, that's a very good idea. I think the better the dev environment, the more people might want to use it.

    And it's especially important to get rid of the "C is too slow" rumor. Afterall there are plenty of game ideas where C is probably fast enough.

     

    I'll try it out as soon as I can.

     

    Regards, Lars.

  4. Posted · Report reply

    Hi folks!

     

    So far I have always skipped on doing Jag dev in C, as I figured it wouldn't make much sense.

    However after hearing about the Removers lib being used in Frog Feast, I thought it might actually work for some game ideas.

     

    These days I spend most of my coding time doing C / C++ code due to my study, so it would be amazing if I could create some Jag code using C.

     

    If you can point me to a documentation about the removers lib, that would be great too.

     

    In what way is Jag C dev different from asm in terms of setting it up, including own functions, compiling and so on.

    Is it that you have assembler code as object files and you can call them using C commands? or how does it work?

    What tools are required?

     

     

    Also, has anybody ever created a Jaguar project using Visual Studio Express as environment? There are people who use it for DC dev and GP32x and so on.

    I bet having a guide on how to setup Visual Studio for Jag dev would interest many new developers. You can use external linkers and compilers and so on.

    Afterall many people on PC are used to it these days. And you can download VSExpress for free on the M$ homepage.

     

    Just thought this would be a good idea. Anyway, most important to me really is to get a little help getting started in Jag C.

     

    So basically any help on getting started in Jag C is very welcome.

     

     

    Regards, Lars.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    Euro-Jagfest is a annual festival for all all Atari Jaguar and Lynx fans and developers as well as retailers in europe. All open minded fans of other systems are of course welcome too.

     

    Atari Jaguar Europe Festival 2007

    The Atari Jaguar Europe Festival, short "e-jagfest" is taking place this year on 24th november in Kaarst. It's a meeting of Videogame fand of europe. In the center of attention is Atari and all their systems. Those of you who want to experience the fun of playing Jaguar, Lynx, VCS 2600, 5200, 7800 or the old homecomputers of the 80s has found just the right event.

     

    There are several modified systems to look at. Ever seen a VCS 2600 handheld with analog controls? Ever played a tournament of "Worms" on a lovingly silver/blue painted Jaguar? Or played Tempest with the one and only true "Tempest Rotary Controller"? Visit Euro JagFest. These are just some examples of highlights of the last years.

     

    Of course other classic consoles are welcome too. Frequent guests are the NUON with games like Iron Solider 3 and Tempest 3000 among other exotic systems. However having a blast playing games, is just one part of the event The event is also frequently used by homebrew developers from all europe to show their new developments and some were even exclusively for sale. One example was the limited e-jagfest edition of Starcat's "Jag Mind Bomb Squad" for Jaguar CD, as well as other "Starcat Developments" releases.

    There also were some new VCS 2600 games such as "Raster Fahndung" and "Encaved" on display. Matthias Domin was a frequent visitor too, always with different demos and games to show.

     

    This year we offer visitors something very special. Gaztee from England, owner of one of only two working and never released Jaguar-Virtual-Headsets took our invitation to Kaarst. Of course he won't keep his biggest treasure hidden away. Unless something unexpected happens, you will be able to experience and unveil the myth of the Jaguar VR-Helmet yourself. You may be excited.

     

    Some people have the priviledge of owning a rare prototype game. E-JagFest is a great opportunity to discuss about it on the event and let people experience it themselves. Another topic is network play. You rarely ever have the chance to play Battlesphere networked, and thus enjoying one of the rarest and best Jaguar games with theoretically up to 16 people. Four player duels in Checkered Flag on Lynx (no, not the Jag version ;-) ), are also very popular on the event.

    Smaller fun competitions such as "Club-Drive" or Kazumi Ninja" guarantee a great mood.

    In the last years there also always was at least one retailer attending, to offer new and used Jaguar games. Nick Harlow of "16/32 bit Systems" has announced his visit already.

     

    On E-JagFest we don't know the meaning of boredom. All of you who want to chat with fellow gamers or developers or who enjoy playing games are welcome, regarless of their favorite system.

    In case you do not own an Atari system, don't panic! Just bring your favorite classic system with you, or drop by as visitor only to enjoy the atmosphere and games and let the spirit amaze you. There is always room for you.

     

    This year's event is the 7th e-jagfest and taking place for the fourth time in Kaarst.

     

    Entry is on 24th november at 10:30 in the morning. Entrance fee is 5,00 Euro.

     

    The official e-jagfest website recently moved to www.jagfest.org/euro the home of all european Jag fest and the site is currently under construction. More information about the event will be online very soon.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Hi folks!

     

    There now is a solution to Starcat Developments CD problems some of you may have had in the past. All who ordered games from me can get a cd image and burn the game onto a disc their drive likes better than the original disc. Everybody who has a working drive can be sure he can play the games. So now people can order without having to worry about it.

     

    Starcat Developments SOLVED the CD problems of the past.

     

    Regards, Lars.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    Hi SCPCD!

     

    Hi !

     

    I have tested JagWorm ;)

     

    Graphics are very nice :) and it's a fun game :)

     

    But I have noticed that the game crashes, when it is starting, whith the JagCF connected into the cartridge slot.

    Does your game read or check something in the cartridge memory map ? (included EEPROM/GPIO1/2/3/4) (I haven't implemented yet all of these things on my JagCF so it could be the problem ;))

     

    It would be fine that we found the origin of this problem, so I could add your game into my CF demos & mini games ;)

    Regards. :)

     

    To be honest, I am not sure if this version checks the E2PROM. But there was one that does. This *could* be the reason. I don't have a dev kit at hand where i am right now, maybe somebody can try it on BJL or so? If it is the version that supports the e2prom it should ask you if you want to save.

     

    Regards, Lars,

  16. Posted · Report reply

    Hi folks!

     

    Is there something like a Jagware banner to use it for links?

     

    Btw, I hope to check out this great forum more often now :D Cheers to GT Turbo for his encouraging words and his invitation to the JagWare community. :D

    Long live the Jaguar.

     

    Regards, Lars.

  18. Posted · Report reply

    Hi folks!

     

    All I can say is, you guys RULE! It sounds most amazing!

    If this baby gets the support it deserves and if it proves to be as powerful and great as it sounds (which I hope :) ) it will be THE greattest addon for the jag ever and the best thing that could happen to the jag.

     

    I wanted to make Eerievale a CF title. Now all I need is to get my hands on the CF cart and some good librarys and I'm a LOT closer to a Jag version than it ever was while working with CDs.

     

    So now that we talk about it, how far are libs and examples in development? and when will the cart be available and for how much? So many questions, so much excitement. :)

     

    Another question, what DSP is it exactly? Is there any chance that there is a good C compiler for it maybe? I'm sure that would encourage many new developers who are still afraid of too much asm ;-)

     

    Regards, Lars.

  19. Posted · Report reply

    Hi!

     

    As long as you keep the video timings compatible with TV standards, there should be no problem (beware with that -- you can easily fry some monitors with incorrects settings. I use a TV capture card for testing.)

     

    I guess you already know how to do the horizontal part, but just in case : set the PWIDTH field to 1 in the VMODE register to get about 690 pixels in 50 Hz, or 700 pixels in 60 Hz. It will work on all Jags.

     

    The vertical part is trickier. You need to enable interlacing to get 574 lines in 50 Hz, or 482 lines in 60 hz (note that the pixels won't be squares). I've written some not-yet-released code to initialize all video registers properly both for 50 Hz and 60 Hz (it's not present in the demos I released several months ago) and verified that the video signals are correct with a logic analyzer, but I put the project aside. What needs to be done is to check the compatibility with all Jag models, and figure out some OP-related things I haven't investigated yet.

     

    No major modifications are needed in the code. Apart from the video registers initialization, you have to take into account that you now have 50 or 60 interlaced, alternating half-images per second. This affects the way you setup the object list, and there's a little trick without which you'll only get half of the VBL interrupts. Remember also that the picture will be more "flickery" - some kind of graphics are particularily affected (sharp edges, etc.).

     

    I've not released mine yet, but I'm willing to share it with you. :) Symmetry of TNG can probably give you a hand also.

     

    That would really be great! Could you send me something to try via PM? or via e-mail?

     

    Regards, Lars.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    Hi folks!

     

    I know there are people on this board who did some experiments with high res graphics on the Jag. I did some experiments myself in the past with rather bad results except for horizontal res, so I have a few questions and maybe somebody who knows more about this can give me a snippet of code that helps me out.

     

    There is a project I am working on which would really profit from high res graphics. I think only the mode close to 640 is useful to me, as most tv sets can't display anything higher than 720 pixels in width or so.

     

    So here are my questions:

     

    1) How "save" are these modes to use? Do they work on all Jags and all tv sets? (PAL / NTSC)

    2) What exactly needs to be modified? Just the video setup or more parts of the code?

    3) Is the source code available to those examples? I think I saw it before, but all I can find now, are binaries.

     

    Thanks a lot.

     

    Regards, Lars.

  24. Posted · Report reply

    Hi!

     

     

     

    Yes, an option to add data to a CF after encrypting it would be cool, for example to add levels or own graphics or so. Just like allowing games to write to the CF as well for saving for example.

     

    But not sure how exactly this could be done while still using an encryption.

     

     

     

    About an upload, it would be cool to have one that can load to RAM such as BJL as well as the CF card.

     

     

     

    Regards, Lars.

  25. Posted · Report reply

    Hi !

     

     

     

    Another thing that just popped into my mind are the chances to get new developers interested in Jag dev using the CF adapter...

     

     

     

    I have had people mailing me in the past who wanted to code the Jag, but didn't want to spend much money just to try it. Most people consider CD the only medium for new games at the moment (as CF isn't finsihed yet), so somebody who is starting might have to spend like $100 on hardware to get started... (Jag, JagCD, BJL)

     

     

     

    So if they don't have to get a JagCD anymore, but can use the CF cart, that would for sure get more people interested.

     

     

     

    So in that sense, I got another idea... Why don't you include some kind of boot menu in the boot rom of the CF adapter, that lets people start a BJL uploader?

     

    I think that would be great and it's not too difficult to do either.

     

     

     

    Regards, Lars.

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