The Ultimate Jaguar Unreleased/Beta/Source/Dev Master List!

[Clint Thompson]

I'm attempting to compile and document everything known in existence related to the Jaguar - most specifically unreleased games and betas - and make it easily accessible. This is a very rough draft and early work in progress list that I'll update accordingly. I've been talking to a few different people in hopes to make sure all of these are easily available for download - so that's a work in progress as well - but the work on that has already begun as of last week.

 

Looking to continue and update where Cyber Roach or Hans left off, include all the incredible information and legwork provided by Lost Dragon and everyone else who could make all of this possible - I can't even begin to list names from memory. If you have any unreleased examples that aren't on this list, please let me know so that I can update it accordingly.

 

I have verified this list to be accurate and will not include items that have not been verified by myself first-hand, so you can rest assured of its authenticity.

 

***Updated 11-23-2016***

 

Unreleased/Beta
===========================================================================================
CART
===========================================================================================
Alien vs. Predator Alpha
Alien vs. Predator Beta                       - 10/10/93 Build
Alien vs. Predator Beta                       - 04/08/94 Build
Arena Football Field Test Alpha
Arena Football 95 Beta
Atari Karts Beta
Brett Hull Hockey Beta                       - (multiple versions)
Charles Barkley Shut Up and Jam     -(multiple versions)
Cybermorph ATD Demo
Defender 2000 Beta                           - (multiple versions)
Dino Dudes Beta
Double Dragon V Beta
Fight For Life Beta                              - 03/22/95 Build
Fight For Life Beta                              - 09/07/95 Build
Jack Nicklaus Golf Beta                     - 07/04/94 Build (CyberGolf)
Jack Nicklaus Golf Beta                     - 01/16/95 Build
LiveWire Beta
Missile Command VR Beta                - 07/05/95 Build
Native Beta
Phase Zero Beta
Protector Beta
Rayman Beta                                    - (multiple versions)        
Ruiner Pinball Beta                           - (multiple versions)
Skyhammer Beta
Soccer Kid Beta
Space War 2000                               - (multiple versions)
Thea Realm Fighters Alpha
Thea Realm Fighters Beta 2P
Trevor McFur Beta
Tiny Toons Beta
Temporary Sanity Designs VCS
Ultimate Brain Games Beta             - (multiple versions)
Ultra Vortex Beta                             - 5/10/95 Build
Zero 5 Beta
===========================================================================================

Unreleased/Beta
===========================================================================================
CD
===========================================================================================
American Hero GameFilm Beta
Battlemorph Beta                          - 10/10/95
Black Ice/White Noise Revisions 1-23
Blue Lightning Beta                      - 04/13/95
Brett Hull Hockey Beta
Caves of Fear GameFilm Beta
Demolition Man (Source Audio/Video Files)
Iron Soldier II Beta
Robinson's Requiem Beta
Soul Star Beta                             - (multiple versions)
Varuana's Forces                        - (various FMV, sprite editor, level editor, etc.)
World Tour Racing Beta

===========================================================================================

===========================================================================================
Early Dev/Development ROMS/COF/ABS/JAG
===========================================================================================
CES Demo 1995
Cortina WWW Program
Fractal Demo 1
Fractal Demo 2
High Voltage C Demo (TRF Maze)
Jag Synth
JAZ Sound Demo
Jeff Minter's Demo Collection
Kasumi Ninja Test Bed V1.001
Lady Bugged
QSound Demo
Jaguar Netlists
Jaguar 2 Netlists
Jaguar VR Cypress Romsets (VTRACK)

===========================================================================================

===========================================================================================
Source Code/Music/Art/FMV Files
===========================================================================================
Black Ice/White Noise (soundtrack and misc. code)
Breakout 2000
Chaos Agenda
Checkered Flag                           - 10/18/94
Club Drive
Cybermorph
Defender 2000 CD Soundtrack
Fight for Life
Jaguar CD+G Source
Legion of the Undead
Tempest 2000 (source code + mod files)
Trevor McFur Crescent Galaxy

===========================================================================================

 

...more to follow...

 

 

[Justin]

Thanks for putting this list together Clint! Really nice work. We're going to try to incorporate this as part of the Jaguar section on the main website 

[TXG/MNX]

Hi Clint this list is a good start, better that we gonna use a kind of excel sheet or something that support collumns.

 

Also let us, add the md5 hash for each proto/beta/unreleased item on your list.

This way other people can help out if they got something of the list with another md5 hash, sometimes it turns out the format is different .abs/cof, jag or bin or 1 rom has a good encrypted header and one does have an universal header.
But maybe we can find more different builds.

 

I verified already these

 

Unreleased/Beta
===========================================================================================
CART (Verified)
===========================================================================================
Alien vs. Predator Alpha
Alien vs. Predator Beta                       - 10/10/93 Build
Alien vs. Predator Beta                       - 04/08/94 Build
Arena Football 95 Beta
Atari Karts Beta
Brett Hull Hockey Beta                       - (multiple versions)  3 builds found
Defender 2000 Beta                           - (multiple versions) 2 builds found
Fight For Life Beta                              - 03/22/95 Build
Fight For Life Beta                              - 09/07/95 Build
Missile Command VR Beta                - 07/05/95 Build
Rayman Beta                                    - (multiple versions)    1 build found    
Ruiner Pinball Beta                           - (multiple versions)        only first milestone found no beta
Space War 2000                               - (multiple versions) 1 build found        
Thea Realm Fighters Beta 2P                        
Temporary Sanity Designs VCS
Ultimate Brain Games Beta             - (multiple versions) 2 builds found
Ultra Vortex Beta                             - 5/10/95 Build
Zero 5 Beta
===========================================================================================
===========================================================================================
CART (not found yet/not verified)
===========================================================================================

Arena Football Field Test Alpha
Charles Barkley Shut Up and Jam     -(multiple versions)
Cybermorph ATD Demo              
Dino Dudes Beta
Double Dragon V Beta
Fight for Life                                 1 build found size 4.12mb needs investigation, but runs ok
Jack Nicklaus Golf Beta                     Found 4 builds
LiveWire Beta
Rayman Beta                                    - (multiple versions)    1 build found
Space War 2000                               - (multiple versions) 1 build found    
Native Beta
Phase Zero Beta
Protector Beta                           
Ruiner Pinball Beta                           - (multiple versions) Ruiner Pinball Beta only first milestone found no beta
Skyhammer Beta
Soccer Kid Beta
Space War 2000                               - (multiple versions) 1 build
Thea Realm Fighters Alpha
Trevor McFur Beta
Tiny Toons Beta
Ultimate Brain Games Beta             - (multiple versions) need to investigate 2nd build
 

[TXG/MNX]

Hi,

 

I already started with a list check here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wN9Jm5CKI0BzQ6YlT6UsfMACh6hB0gOJhGe7_UWA--s/edit?usp=sharing

 

Anyone who has something to complete the list let me know.

[Clint Thompson]

Yeah, a spreadsheet was on the list but looks like you already made the jump! =) and while I think the MD5 stuff is awesome, the only problem I find with it is that if someone added a boot header or otherwise to a ROM, it'll change it - so that doesn't automatically mean it's definitely different.

 

Also, I've already uploaded the Arena playfied test, Jack Nicklaus Golf and some others you have listed as 'NO' on the list in the uploads folder. Everything on that list should read yes, I just haven't had a chance to locate and upload everything from my older hard drives.

Edited November 25, 2016 by Clint Thompson

[TXG/MNX]

no problem I always compare roms headerless so pure rom content.

 

Also abs/cof I convert to ROM headerless I found already some duplicates from a few files that I found as ABS but also had in ROM format.

I keep always the version I found, instead of converting it to ROM and keep that version.

 

Some are put to now, because I didn't verify those yet, I got atleast 4 builds of golf. But as you know its a thing I do in sparetime.

This weekend I am busy with family business but every minute I got I will continue.

 

Just upload it sorting will be done later I hope you didnot expect it to be ready within a week ?! :-)

[Clint Thompson]

Hahaha... no, that's awesome and of course not. This is going to be a long work in progress =) I'm glad we're doing this!

[TXG/MNX]

It seems the Zero 5 beta is 4MB and the release version is 2MB can someone verify ?

[TXG/MNX]

Updated the list a bit more will be done later. If anyone has a rom that's verified and has a different md5 hash please let me know. then we may have found a new version that needs to be tested and verified and when indeed different it will be added to the list.

[Arenafoot]

would be nice if someone could finish "Arena Football 95"!

[Clint Thompson]

Great work on the list updating TXG!!

[TXG/MNX]

Thank you...  if someone can verify the zero 5 beta/rom size. It's a mistery why the beta is 4Mb and the release version 2MB did they remove stuff for the release ?

[TXG/MNX]

a few updates added

 

More to come this following week ...

[TXG/MNX]

more updates today...

[Clint Thompson]

more updates today...

Nice... also, not sure if it came through but I requested edit access.

[Clint Thompson]

Once we get the majority of things up on the JagServer, we should also add the dates of the original rom builds just before the MD5.

[TXG/MNX]

yep this round its a quick round to elliminate the duplicates or find new roms, the second round we complete the details and double check then we should have a very accurate list.

[Clint Thompson]

Just noticed the beta of Crescent Galaxy is 4MB where as the released version is only 2MB. It was such a turd that I've completely overlooked this. Wonder how much better or different the beta is in comparison!

[Clint Thompson]

Did a file comparison and I'm not sure why but there's a huge gap or empty block, not sure if that's what is making up the extra space or not. Either way, the annoying intro music is gone, the title screen is slightly different and the level select is different with all levels appearing to be endless and forever.

[Clint Thompson]

I don't believe any of that really exists and none of it really grabs me as I've gotta see or have the desire to see it. There's really little left to be uncovered for the Jaguar worth uncovering imo and the things that are worth while will be incredibly difficult to obtain, if ever. The legwork to preserve what we have now and to actually document it properly is what's important so people don't continue to assume things don't exist or pay outrageous prices for things that have been around for 10+ years.

[Clint Thompson]

Well said Lost Dragon.

 

There's not really much I personally hope to surface after all this time but now going over the Kasumi Ninja 2 CD documents, it would appear as though some work was actually done on this and I'm curious as to where it's sitting.

 

 

Comments on KN II Technical Specification

These comments are, in general, confined to the assumptions, about the Jaguar, that I infer from the document.

 

1) Page 6: The second block of pseudocode never calls InitFMV. Where was this meant to be?

2) Page 7: It is not clear that you realize that CD reading occurs "in the background"

3) I do not see what requires the leap to a multitasking system. If you mean that the CD reading must occur in the background, it is already done.

4) The error rate on the CD is VERY low. It is unclear if it is worth it to go to much effort to maintain smooth operation in the case of recoverable data errors when the data errors are so low.

5) Page 7: What processor do these engines run on?

6) Page 8: What IRQ stuff do you need to do that involoves the CD?

7) Page 10: I hope you use incremental backup!

8) Page 11: The balancing of resource usage is a skill that applies to all endevours. The bus bandwidth in a Jaguar is NOT infinite. Therefore it can be overloaded. You must balance the time required for the Object Processor with the speed of the blitter etc.

What did the Object Processor do KN? Why is the balance likely to change?

9) The CDBIOS will change over time. Giving you source will mean that KN II will not work with future revs, this is unacceptable.

10) The CD system is cannot be reentrant. It cannot instantly switch from reading one spot on the disc to reading another. Is this what you mean by "be able to multitask the BIOS"?

11) The question of whether or not "the hardware is capable of the required task" is only valid if the software is perfect. This is not likely to be the case. A more resonable question is whether the system (hardware and software) can be made to perform as required. Note that this also calls the system design into question.

12) Page 12: I think you mean 26.6 x 10⁶, not 26.6^6.

13) 100æs seems VERY short. The range is however quite reasonable at the top end so wy not?

14) Page 13: What computation resulted in the number 128kb for the size of a CD buffer?

15) Double buffering the screen DOES NOT" relieve object processor bus overhead".

16) Are you aware that we supply a LZSS system on the BBS.

17) Page 14: What does "Loading ... into a register file..." mean? The GPU can ONLY load into and store from registers. The Blitter is quite efficient at loading GPURAM.

18) Page 18: You state that a file system is an important requirement, why? Is this a general concern or only as a result of some engine that you already have?

19) How would the "emulator" that you mention help you? The time required to sned the data down the parallel cable is SO long that it will be useless for any but the most trivial testing.We agree that the Falcon hard disc swap problem is real. What would be a good solution? Surely you can find a switch box so you need not "swop" hardware!

20) In your discussion you say, "If the main process is busy, so that data is missed, the same overhead applies". What does this mean? Data cannot be missed. It is placed in memory.

21) Short seeks in a CD are fast. It is long seeks that are slow.

22) Why should the CD be kept going? Once the data you need is loaded the CD, can, and should be paused.

23) Why do you need a circular buffer?

24) You talk again about "missed data", how does this happen?

25) Page 19: Why is a file system needed to keep the disc spinning? Just don't stop it, then it will keep spinning!

26) Implementing a forward seek via waiting for data to arrive is NOT a good general solution. The MAXIMUM seek time from one end of the CD toanother is measured in seconds. The wait time for the same "seek" (at double speed!) is more than 30 minutes!

27) Much too much effort has gone into the "problem" of CD read errors! These errors are VERY rare. Errors, when they do occur are flagged. Do a retry, if it still fails, the disc is bad!

28) Storing two copies is an AWFUL idea.

24) Page 23: What do you need this emulator for? (This is a repeat of question # 19)

25) We will be glad to answer your questions about the debugger, but you need to ask them. Stating a need for documentation is NOT the same as asking a question. Tell us the problem you are trying to solve and we will work out a way to solve it. For example, you talk about needing to integrate your "emulator" with RDBJAG. Are you aware of the ! feature of RDBJAG? This allows you to run a program without leaving RDBJAG, does this do what you need?

26) Item three in your list of required information is unclear.

27) If you had the source what you need ANY of the other stuff for?

28) The "whole idea of finding files" is NOT currently under review by Atari. What are you refering to?

29) Page 24: Why would you want to stop the CD before palying Cinepac?

30) Page 33: How do ghost keys happen? In general, a Keyboard Engine Seems like a lot of overkill!

31) Page 44: What do need Square Root for? What is the long forgotten algorithm?

 

There is a phrase that I ahve been trying to instill into the developer support people:

" If you are doing it in the 68000, you are doing it wrong".

In general there is little to be gained in trying to keep the 68k working in parallel with the Blitter and GPU rendering, because the bus is simply not free for the 68k to do anything. The only time that using the 68k can be a performance win is when Blitter is idle and the GPU is not on the bus. This is, in general rare.

 

 

Response to

Response to Leonard's comments on the Kasumi Ninja II Spec.

(I hope this does not go on much longer

the titles will get REALLY silly)

 

Thank you for fixing the numbering (Oops, I was in a hurry!).

Where things are now clear I will not respond!

 

4) Who asked you to cover the error aspect.

5) I fail to see the importance of a "good speed comparison". I understand the convinence of coding first for the 68k. I just want to point out that there are very few cases where t is a good idea to run code on the 68k.

6) I did not asked why the IRQ stuff needed to be re-written. I asked what the IRQ stuff was, please answer this question.

8) Why will the DSP require more of the system bandwidth for KN II? Given that the DSP has its own access to CD data without going onto the bus I would think that it is likely that the DSP will require less bus access. Why is this incorrect?

10) What functionality do you need in the BIOS that you do not have. I have gotten no feddback from anyone on missing features. SPEAK NOW OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE!

14) Without a computation the point you are trying to make, fails.

16) When did you develop your LZSS system. If you had asked for it sooner we may have done one sooner?

19) We agree that a better CD emulator is possible. I am of the opinion that CD-R should be used. By using recordable CDs the emulation problems go away.

20) How can data be missed once it is memory? What would overwrite it?

33) Again, What are you refering to when you say the "whole idea of finding files"?

 

I am not doing this because I enjoy reading dense technical material. I am doing this to increase the quality and improve the timeliness of Jaguar software development. Please answer the questions that remain. In particular:

 

What CD IRQ stuff are you talking about?

 

What BIOS features are missing?

 

When did you develop your LZSS code?

 

Response to Reply to:

Response to

Response to Leonard's comments on the Kasumi Ninja II Spec.

(Now it is silly!)

 

5) I can not make the point strongly enough. Do not use the 68k. The Cinepak performance was improved by ~20% by halting the 68k. This may not be "important like air food or water" but nothing in a game is! This is no longer an issue.

6) I want the IRQ question resolved so that no work is done on things that are not needed. I look forward to Rob's response.

8) Just because you are doing more with the DSP does not mean that it will require more bandwidth. The DSP has its own bus, if the DSP activity is confined, or largely restricted, to this bus it will have little, if any, impact on the rest of the system! I consider this an open question. You seem unable to address this now.

10) Your reply is not appropriate to the demand "SPEAK NOW OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE". I take it that you have no comments at this time but reserve the right to sumbit them in the future. Fine, I reserve the right to ignore if they come too late. This issue is closed unless you try to re-open it.

16) Sorry, if you ask, I answer. I am simply requesting that you let us know what we are paying for. That way we don't pay to have two versions developed and then have one thrown away. This is no longer an issue.

19) No, burning a new CD is not needed every time you need to test your code. The CD will be holding data, the code will be in RAM. When debugging the code that will spool data off the disc, test seek delays, etc the data used in these test can be constant. This constant data would be on the CD. The code under development would be loaded into RAM and run there. To use your words the 'stuff' under development would not be on the CD only the data it is manipulating. This was never an issue, I was simply pointing out a different way to do things. I wish that you would consider that it might have some merit.

Edited December 27, 2016 by Clint Thompson

[Clint Thompson]

There was early Hammerhead gameplay video in one of the E3 videos on YT somewhere but I don't recall it looking any better at all. Not sure about the Dactyl Joust but since it came from Carl Forhan believe it to be of reliable source in being legit, though I suppose there's no proof without the pudding.

 

I was showing OMC's stuff at JagFests like Dark Guardian and The Assassin but there wasn't very much progress on either really, just demo kind of stuff. The artist that was working with James for The Assassin was awesome however. He had some really great scenes created and looked super promising. The intro with the city skyscrapers and Assassin shadow or outline himself was very awesome and most of it was just text placeholder on screen. There was a bedroom/hotel screen that looked awesome but I have no idea where that picture is, though it's possible I still have it on an old hard drive somewhere. Either way, incredibly early stuff, no real gameplay outside of pressing a button and passing through text dialogue really.

@Clint:Maybe you or some other good soul can help me reagrding a few Lost Game issues? 1)Are you aware of early Skyhammer (aka Hammerhead) screens and if so, are they 'real'?.They were supposed to be in-game screens, but running at much higher resolution, have better colour depth and textures on buildings, tanks etc. Could this be early AVP syndrome again? ie visual downgrade once A.I coded and steady frame rate required?. 2)Has it ever been confirmed the impressive Dactyl Joust footage on YT etc is actually running on real Jaguar hardware and not PC and if so, does it even have basic A.I running?. Also was there an earlier version which asked too much of the Jaguar hardware in terms of texture-mapping and thus game design was changed to make it more 'doable' on Jaguar? and was there VR support planned for it?. 3)Were there ever any screenshots/video footage for OMC's Assassin?. I read an interview with the developer on AEO, but never saw anything of game itself.

[Clint Thompson]

I've got the several builds of The Assassin and Dark Guardian but again, neither are much outside of text prompts and a flying ship that just pans around the screen. Cool intro on DG with music and such but outside of that, a lot of empty space. I'll see if I can post some screens when I come across the bins again.

[Clint Thompson]

Turns out I had one from DG on this system, I'll have to track down the others but this gives you a decent idea. It doesn't like emulators very much as the ship is blown way out or proportion and the scene to gameplay bypasses quickly. The text you see here with the same background was a whole lot of what you would see in The Assassin.

 

[Clint Thompson]

I know there were claims MK III was running on cart, with Pro Pad support, 4 playable characters etc at E3'95..yet i've never seen any magazine cover it, it's not on any of the magazine VHS tapes that covered E3 in depth i've seen....

 

You make a very valid point about MKIII on the Jaguar with literally no coverage regarding the conversion outside of 'it's being worked on' sort of talks and basic stills most definitely taken from other consoles as placeholder. There's no doubt though, that like NBA Jam T.E., MKIII could have been an amazing game for the Jaguar if actually developed and released. Pretty sure if there would have been anything left in that regards that Carl Forhand/Songbird would have already worked very hard in getting it produced and released.