Horror Double Whammy: New Survival Horror Dreamcast Indie Title and Alone in the Dark Ports Incoming

You can never have too many horror games on the Sega Dreamcast. Of course, it already boasts some exceptionally terrifying titles, from survival horror classics like the Resident Evil series to lightgun shootfests such as The House of the Dead 2, but there’s always room for more. Well, I’m happy to report that the Dreamcast’s horror library is about to get just that little bit plumper, with these two fresh news bites I have to share today. So, picture a gothic Ryo Hazuki as I say: "let’s get spooky."

I couldn't find a goth Ryo on Google Images, so here's Richmond instead.

Brand new survival horror indie title in the works from JoshProd!

Not much is known about this project yet, but the concept alone has the horror heads in the Junkyard team rocking back and forth with manic glee. A brand-new, fully fledged horror title is something the Dreamcast’s indie and homebrew scene has been missing, with Wolfenstein total conversion mod Witching Hour standing as the (sort of) lone torchbearer for a while now.

On Saturday, Philippe of JoshProd announced that development had started on a brand-new, currently unnamed "3D survival horror game" with a "dark atmosphere", which will release exclusively on the Dreamcast, and will be a "love letter to the classics". It will feature fixed camera angles, as is traditional survival horror fare.

It’s refreshing to learn that this title will be developed from the ground up specifically for the console, especially since JoshProd and their publishing arm PixelHeart have typically focused on porting existing titles over the years, to varied reception.

JoshProd hasn't shared any gameplay screenshots or artwork, just the image you see above of a very dusty Dreamcast. If yours looks like this, perhaps it's time to play it more. Maybe play this upcoming JoshProd horror game on it? We've been informed by Philippe that we'll hear more about this project in the summer, so keep your eyes peeled.

Alone in the Dark ports coming to Dreamcast — Preview build available

"The Dreamcast already has Alone in the Dark!" I hear you cry. And you’d be right. Infogrames and Darkworks' Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, the sole Dreamcast entry in the series, is a great game (and especially lovely visually), but soon, you’ll be able to play three more Alone in the Dark entries alongside it on the system. Don't worry, I'm not talking about the much-derided 2008 game (although that would be quite an impressive feat technically), but instead the very first —and highly influential— Alone in the Dark, its two sequels, as well as the short promotional game Jack in the Dark. 

After over a decade in the oven, developer Corbin (aka Corbachu) of Isotope Softworks has released a Dreamcast preview build of "Dream in the Dark", which is a modern, hardware-accurate source port of the original Alone in the Dark trilogy's engine. It is a complete rewrite of the Free in the Dark engine, and features a number of bells and whistles that my simple brain doesn't quite understand, but you can read all of the technical fine print in Corbin's announcement post over on the DCEmulation forums.

This newly released preview build (which you can download here) includes the demo versions of the first and second game, along with Jack in the Dark as a bootable CDI which you can burn to a CD-R or run on an emulator. An Alone in the Dark 3 demo is missing from this build as that game is not fully implemented yet.

Speaking of development, Corbin mentioned at the end of the announcement that this release functions as an apology for "past problems shipping games", most likely referring to the previously announced —but still unreleased— Dreamcast titles SLaVE and Hypertension. The post was then signed off with "this is far from the only major announcements we have for this year"... Could 2026 finally be the year we hear more about these two titles? Well, watch this space, I guess.

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It sounds like 2026 could be be a good year for fans of the Dreamcast and survival horror. Leave an "eeeeeeek" in the comments if you can hardly contain your excitement.

Isotope Softworks Reveals SLaVE Running On Dreamcast Hardware

It seems like forever ago that we last had some news to share about Isotope Softworks' awesome-looking first person shooter/puzzler SLaVE. Numerous bug fixes, an appeal for a Dreamcast coder's cable and various other delays have beset the development process of this ambitious, neon-soaked extravaganza. Now though, lead developer Coraline Ash has shared a brand new video on YouTube, demonstrating SLaVE running on actual Dreamcast hardware.

"We told you it was coming, and now here it is! First off, we apologize for the lousy capture method used (PC Webcam), but we hope this accurately depicts what you've all been waiting for!

SLaVE is a masterpiece of both design and technology, and it works perfectly on the Dreamcast. If only I had a mouse and keyboard, I would have totally PWNED it, since I'm so lame I never really figured out how to play properly with a controller. Oh well, I didn't do too bad! ;)

Only a few more issues to be worked out as witnessed in this footage capture (skybox generation, minor speed issues with dynamic lights), but I sincerely hope this proves beyond a matter of a doubt -- SLaVE is so close now - those pre-orders will be worth it my friends!!"

- Coraline Ash, Isotope Softworks

And here's the video in all its glory:

The YouTube description also goes on to describe that SLaVE will make use of the mouse and keyboard and even the Twin Stick controller, along with Dreamcast rumble pack support. There's still no concrete release date for SLaVE, but this video proves that development has come along leaps and bounds. What with Xenocider from Retro Sumus and a bunch of other things we've been asked not to announce just yet, 2017 is set to be a very interesting year for Dreamcast gamers. If you'd like to pre-order SLaVE, head over to GOAT Store here.

Developer Interview: Isotope SoftWorks' Coraline Annis

Isotope SoftWorks is a developer with a plan - a plan to bring independently developed first person shooting action to the Dreamcast. Isotope currently has two such titles in development - SLaVE and Hypertension: Harmony of Darkness. Both are FPSs, and both are coming soon via GOAT Store...but they really couldn't be further apart in terms of aesthetics and narrative. The Dreamcast Junkyard really wanted to know more about what makes Isotope tick, and so we got together with founder and lead programmer Coraline Annis to discuss the exciting projects currently under way and due for release in the near future.

DCJY: Hi Coraline, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. Could you give a little bit of background to Isotope SoftWorks and TDG Mods? Who are you and how did you form as a developer?

Coraline Annis: My name is Coraline Annis (Corbin) and I’m the founder and lead programmer for Isotope SoftWorks. TDGMods stands for “The Doom Gods Mods” and was the name of my first independent mod team that formed Hypertension. The name change was done to move away from the “mod” and “Doom” mindset, and to differentiate that the current team working on Hypertension is completely different from the previous. The TDGMods monikor is only kept on to honor the previous developers throughout the lifetime of the game itself.

I was very small when I figured out I wanted to work on computer games. I got my start through a utility called DeHackED for DOOM, and BUILD for Duke Nukem 3D in my early years. It was awhile before I tried bigger things, but I got my start pretty much like everyone else in the 90’s industry. Determination led to the formation of TDGMods in high school, and many failed projects later, we are where we are today. Isotope SoftWorks is the ultimate culmination of all of our hard work to get where we are now, and believe me, it was very hard and complicated. None of this was started with a plan, we just kept rolling with it until we had enough to say “Hey, check us out!”

Hypertension features some impressive lighting effects

If you notice, historically, we have always presented our games with actual media, and not a bunch of concept art or babbling to a camera. In the end, I think that’s why people still believe in us, because we have never been big on ‘talk now, show concept art later’ - it’s always like, here’s in-engine material, suck on that! Haha!

And, despite my formal name being Corbin, I underwent a transition and now go by Coraline, but you’ll see my legal name accredited simply because it seems to confuse a lot of people or they don’t have the maturity to show respect towards me. I’ve never really addressed that part of myself publicly in detail, so there might be a time when I will, but for now it’s not important. I’m still the same person that’s worked on these things all these years anyway. Just prettier ;)

Isotope SoftWorks' new logo.