RuneScape 2 is Coming to Sega Dreamcast

Ah... RuneScape. I have a lot of nostalgia for the countless hours I spent roaming the blocky world of Jagex's famous JAVA-powered MMORPG. Being called a "noob" by random passers-by for the crime of being a lower level... getting my rune armour stolen by a guy who claimed he could trim it with gold... Formative experiences were had, and life lessons were learned.

Interestingly, the friend who owned the Dreamcast that I'd play when I was younger also sort of got me into RuneScape. Of course, the browser-based game I played back then called "RuneScape" wasn't the same game that is retroactively referred to as RuneScape Classic, which was the original version of RuneScape. The game I spent my entire life playing back in 2005 was actually "RuneScape 2"... which was also reissued in some capacity later as Old School RuneScape? You lost yet? Anyway. The reason I'm bringing all this up is because for the past year or so, a developer who goes by "Lobotomy" has been working on getting RuneScape Classic running on the Sega Dreamcast with a project known as "RuneCast". With some kind of wizardry, Lobotomy has somehow managed to get RSC playing online on Dreamcast at close to 30 FPS, as well as implementing mouse and keyboard support.

Runescape Classic running on Dreamcast.
Photo credit: enfilade.

RuneScape Classic was something I didn't really play much back in the day, but was a fun little novelty for the limited hours I spent on it, probably when my RuneScape 2 friends were offline. The nostalgia for Classic was never really there for me, so I am yet to play this Dreamcast version. Regardless, the fact that Lobotomy managed to pull it all off is as impressive as a blue party hat, or actually seeing Zezima in-game (impressive, basically).

Ever since the news reached online spaces about Lobotomy's triumph, I was as desperate as a dude standing in Varrock bank spamming "buying GF" to know if my beloved (to be honest, it was actually kind of shit, but nostalgia blinds) RuneScape 2 would ever make it to Dreamcast. Lo and behold, on the 27th anniversary of the Dreamcast's North American launch, Lobotomy would post to the Dreamcast-Talk forums to announce it was in the works. "DreamScape", as this version will be known, has been confirmed running on a stock Dreamcast, although the large town of Falador is currently not available to be visited (maybe for the best, as it is still a location that brings back traumatic memories for some), but that will get sorted at some point. Lobotomy is also working on getting a server up and running for the online play.

The hours I spent here farming goblins for experience...
Screenshot credit: Lobotomy

Do you have nostalgia for RuneScape? Would you be interested in playing either RuneScape Classic or RuneScape 2 online on your Dreamcast? Did you know that Junkyarder Harvey (Pizza Hotline) actually produced an officially licensed RuneScape drum and bass remix album? Let us known in the comments below or on our socials!

Farnation: Gameplay Footage Surfaces of Unreleased SEGA Dreamcast MMORPG!

Credit: fuperslizzle

"Farnation" is a name that is probably more familiar to the most diehard of SEGA Dreamcast fans. The game's existence was first revealed in August 2000 by GameSpot. The site's staff would then go on to be shown the game in private at the end of the same year, and were impressed by the amount of gameplay mechanics that were shown off, along with the visuals. Confirmed to be an online-based massively multiplayer role-playing game (MMORPG) that was to serve as SEGA’s answer to EverQuest, the game's development was eventually confirmed to have been shifted from the Dreamcast to another console in 2001 (with sources within the industry believing the new console in question to be the Xbox). For a great summary of all information known about the game, I highly recommend checking out this Reddit thread by Useitorloseit2.

A whole 23 years later, footage has finally surfaced of this long-lost MMO, courtesy of a Reddit user called "fuperslizzle". About four months ago, they posted a photo of the title screen, which you can see above. When asked for more, they replied with "I'll be blowing your collective minds shortly with actual video." Today fuperslizzle has released not one, but two videos of Farnation; one showing off the gameplay, and the other showing off an in-game menu that displays all the different textures available for use in the game.

Credit: OG_JoeCain (YouTube)

In a Reddit post that was posted early this morning (UK time), fuperslizzle explains that the footage "is from a legit disc belonging to a friend of [theirs] who worked at Sega during the time Farnation was in development." They finally sign off their post with the words "rest assured, more is coming!" You can see both of the gameplay videos below.

Update: a third video has been uploaded, this time showcasing some character movement and exploration.

Well there you have it. We've finally got to see a taste of what those GameSpot employees got to see all those years ago. Maybe one day we can get our mitts on the game’s disc image to play for ourselves. What do you think of the footage shown off? Let us know in the comments below, or via one of our many social media pages.