Battlesphere. Tell me why it's "so great", or what I "should be doing".

[+remowilliams]

Which is why the whole piracy outcry about BS is a bunch of BS. If anybody wanted to make pirate copies of BS, they could have done so long ago.

 

Yeah those eprom and soldering iron things have been around for quite some time I believe... Didn't stop the asshat brigade one bit carrying on about it for like a decade though.

[SuperDork3000]

Who knows?

 

Yeah, it works. The "encryption" is actually a digital signature, and if you make a bit-identical copy of an existing ROM you don't have anything special to do. The only difference is that Jaguar carts use 16-bit chips that have more pins and are more expensive and harder to find.

 

Which is why the whole piracy outcry about BS is a bunch of BS. If anybody wanted to make pirate copies of BS, they could have done so long ago.

 

I'm pretty sure their are many pirated copies of BS out there, as well as Skunkboard's with BS running on them. Let's not forget flash carts too with BS on them or Alpine boards running BS and so on.

[Zerosquare]

Where is the proof? I've never heard about a single pirate copy of BS.

[sh3-rg]

as well as Skunkboard's with BS running on them. Let's not forget flash carts too with BS on them or Alpine boards running BS and so on.

 

When it comes to Jaguar I have to agree... whatever anyone has on their skunk, Alpine or Flash Carts, it is, without doubt, completely and unequivocally, 100% BS. All of it.

 

#jadedmiserablegrumpyoldfucksuniteandjoinme

[GT Turbo]

If there are a 'pirate copy' you can find it on Jagware (Because they are all pirates !!)

 

 

(This post is a joke on some old stories, i'm joking about that please don't make a flammewar thanks !)

 

 

P.S. I know that Zero (Jagware) got a copy because he got knowledges and got tools for copying bs...... (This is a big joke, because Zero don't want to loose an Eprom for BS for sure that's the only real thing in this post !!)

 

GT

[Isgoed]

"(This is a big joke, because Zero don't want to loose an Eprom for BS for sure that's the only real thing in this post !!)"

 

It's nice to see a thread about Battlesphere that doesn't get locked and -despite the different opinions- is good for a laugh.

[JagChris]

 

It wasn't hate-mongering. There's a market for the game at $100ish or less. Because the supply is artificially restricted, the after-market prices have become insane and the actual coders/publishers aren't benefitting from it in the least. Scalpers are benefitting.

 

Scatologic still pops these things up on Ebay so they are still benefiting.

[+CyranoJ]

In batshit-crazy-fantasy-land-paranoia nobody can hear you scream.

 

Where is the proof? I've never heard about a single pirate copy of BS.

[Rick Dangerous]

Well if it's ever available for $99 clams on the songbird website, i'll happily buy a copy

[Lynxpro]

Well if it's ever available for $99 clams on the songbird website, i'll happily buy a copy

 

Or here at AtariAge.

[+Stephen]

Are you gonna pay for it ? 'Cause it ain't gonna happen in someone's free time.

 

 

I believe at this point majority of jag players should already understand that from technical / 3D standpoint, BS looks only -arguably- marginally better than other, Motorola-only (~10 Mhz) games on other HW platforms.

 

But there's still 2 RISC chips at combined frequency of ~53 MHz, Blitter, and OP chip.

 

 

 

So, no. It does not take a genius to figure out that from a visual standpoint, there's much more to be extracted from the system.

Yeah - I'd pay for it. The same $79 I paid for my 2 BS carts. If they do a Gold version, I'd buy that for the $129 I paid for mine. The Scatalogic team did it in their free time as well, so what's the difference?

[Crazy Climber]

Title says it all.

 

Tell me why it's "so great"

Collectability and Bragging rights of ownership

[mos6507]

 

the supply is artificially restricted, the after-market prices have become insane and the actual coders/publishers aren't benefitting from it in the least. Scalpers are benefitting.

 

OK, so tell me in what way supply is currently being artificially restricted? It's been almost about 15 years since the game was manufactured, right? I know Scatologic's website is still there (almost like a time-capsule) but are they really still operating as if they are a going-concern? This is why I mentioned me adding Scott on LinkedIn because if ultimately what we have here is a case of the people behind Battlesphere kind of holding onto their legacy a little too tightly, maybe they can be talked into letting go. I mean, nothing lasts forever. How many total Jaguar players are even left in the scene??? (I don't currently own a console, although I own Battlesphere.) There can't be anything to be gained from preventing a new run of carts--if the demand really is there.

 

Now, that's assuming the bitterness here has to do with wanting the game and not being able to afford it. That is contradicted by the critiques that have been leveled at the game itself. Either the game is a holy grail and should get a new run or the game is "overrated" and people are irrationally wasting their money. I think the sentiments expressed revolve around the former rather than the latter. People tend to lapse into bashing things they want that they can't get as a defense-mechanism. But you can't have both. You can't bash a game and then bash the producers for holding it back from people who want it. If it's such a bad game, then there's no sin in keeping it off the market.

 

BTW, the game came out long before crowdfunding. Maybe the way to go is Kickstart the second run and if it doesn't reach the minimum, it doesn't happen. That way it's kind of democratic. People can put their money where their mouth is.

Edited August 19, 2014 by mos6507

[Mr SQL]

Title says it all.

 

Tell me why it's "so great".

 

Because it's an incredibly awesome game, because the development team put a lot of hard work, skill and sweat into it and loved what they were doing - that's how the magic happen.

 

And it's equally awesome because there's a lesson in it; everybody loses. "how homebrew games piss me off" threads like this thing and the other one epitomise it well

 

Developers writing this stuff are internally motivated and love what they do; snarky posts are pretty much the only way to demotivate them.

[+remowilliams]

They essentially prevented anyone from doing another run by making demands that nobody is going to meet - super exacting production requirements and donating all proceeds to charity.

[Mr SQL]

They essentially prevented anyone from doing another run by making demands that nobody is going to meet - super exacting production requirements and donating all proceeds to charity.

 

LOL! That's perfect!

 

Translation: crying foul repeatedly with snarky posts resulted in the development team pointing all profits to charity but then still more crying!

 

Give me a break you can't have it both ways... sounds like the snarky posters deserve games written in two days by wannabe programmers who are the ones really looking to make a quick buck but incidentally cry the loudest when they see a game written in an extended timeframe by highly skilled devs

 

ROFL :) Please keep it comming ...

[+remowilliams]

Well that was their terms for a third party to potentially pick up production.

 

The original release terms of Battlesphere required them to donate all profits to charity as part of a deal to allow the legal release. No such terms applied to BSG sales, or the continued 'oh look found another copy in the stash under the bed' sales. Or the BSGs that were sold to raise 'anti-piracy funds'

[Rick Dangerous]

Battlesphere is currently a toxic presence in the Jaguar community.

 

 

Someday, if it is re-released, I hope to enjoy the game for what it is. Another decent space shooter.

[+remowilliams]

Battlesphere is currently a toxic presence in the Jaguar community.

 

Eh, I wouldn't say that so much. There's always going to be rare stuff in any scene that everybody can't have that might want it.

 

What was toxic was the BS asshat 'anti piracy' brigade and the people hanging off Douggie's nutsack, and their fucking up the scene for the better part of a decade. Luckily that has passed and all the fucknuts (mostly) are safely locked into their own private dead little forums now.

[Crazy Climber]

 

Scatologic still pops these things up on Ebay so they are still benefiting.

Yes, I acquired a sealed Battlesphere Gold through a "second chance" offer on Ebay from Scatologic. I was about the 7th person back in the bidding so I imagine the six in front of me also got BSG's This was a good few years back though, do they still do the annual BSG charity auction?

[GT Turbo]

Yes !! Now the Jaguar Scene is nice and cool ! Like Isgoed told before, a battlesphere thread not locked where people laugh !!! It's awesome !!

Edited August 19, 2014 by GT Turbo

[Goochman]

 

OK, so tell me in what way supply is currently being artificially restricted? It's been almost about 15 years since the game was manufactured, right? I know Scatologic's website is still there (almost like a time-capsule) but are they really still operating as if they are a going-concern? This is why I mentioned me adding Scott on LinkedIn because if ultimately what we have here is a case of the people behind Battlesphere kind of holding onto their legacy a little too tightly, maybe they can be talked into letting go. I mean, nothing lasts forever. How many total Jaguar players are even left in the scene??? (I don't currently own a console, although I own Battlesphere.) There can't be anything to be gained from preventing a new run of carts--if the demand really is there.

 

Now, that's assuming the bitterness here has to do with wanting the game and not being able to afford it. That is contradicted by the critiques that have been leveled at the game itself. Either the game is a holy grail and should get a new run or the game is "overrated" and people are irrationally wasting their money. I think the sentiments expressed revolve around the former rather than the latter. People tend to lapse into bashing things they want that they can't get as a defense-mechanism. But you can't have both. You can't bash a game and then bash the producers for holding it back from people who want it. If it's such a bad game, then there's no sin in keeping it off the market.

 

BTW, the game came out long before crowdfunding. Maybe the way to go is Kickstart the second run and if it doesn't reach the minimum, it doesn't happen. That way it's kind of democratic. People can put their money where their mouth is.

Mos - it would be great if somehow BSG found itself back into production. Maybe with the Jagtopus boards some '3rd' party person would be happy to work out 100-200 copies with proceeds going to charity. Not somethin Telegames or Songbird would obviously do.

 

Not holding my breath but I dont think anyone would complain. I owned a BS and BSG cart at one time and sold both. Never had time to commit to playing and enjoying. When I needed some cash for household repairs they were the first to go but Id pick up 2 if they were released again for multiplayer.

[mos6507]

Mos - it would be great if somehow BSG found itself back into production. Maybe with the Jagtopus boards some '3rd' party person would be happy to work out 100-200 copies with proceeds going to charity. Not somethin Telegames or Songbird would obviously do.

 

Since BS works best in lan-party multiplayer, you'd really want to get as many carts made as possible, and also get some Catbox equivalent out there as well. I'm just brainstorming here, as I have no idea how many active Jag players are left (although there probably would be more of them if this were to go through).

 

My point, though, is that whatever hold-up was happening years ago isn't necessarily going to still be a factor today. Presumably both the Catbox and BS are protected intellectual property, but the real-world market value of all that IP has depreciated to nothing. So there's no reason to not allow a 3rd party to come in and do another run--if there really is demand.

[ZylonBane]

The problems with BattleSphere ultimately come down to it being managed by the sort of people who thought "4Play" and "Scatologic" would be good company names (i.e., talented but also very childish individuals).

 

Scott and Doug kind of remind me of Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Yes, in that order.

[Rick Dangerous]

the sort of people who thought "4Play" and "Scatologic" would be good company names

 

Lets not forget "JUGS"....lol