Showing posts with label Port. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Port. Show all posts

Grand Theft Auto 3 for the Dreamcast - DCA3 Alpha Version Now Available

Japanese cover art mock-up courtesy of Dreamcast-Talk user k-do.
Most of you will likely know that a port of Grand Theft Auto III for the Sega Dreamcast has been in the works for some months now. Indeed, those outside the niche Dreamcast scene may have even heard the news given that the project gained coverage across the broader gaming press earlier this year, attracting everything from wide-eyed amazement through to cynical befuddlement. Back then, spectating the porting work was possible because the project was out in the open, with every ounce of progress laid bare for the public to see in real time.

In recent weeks though, this dynamic was lost as those at the heart of the project shifted to working in a behind-the-scenes fashion - most likely to reduce the risk of Rockstar putting the kibosh on the project before it had a chance to bear fruit. As such, we went from hearing near-daily updates, to a radio silence that carried the potential to feed cynical thoughts: where's my freaking GTA 3 already? What are those lazy no-good schlubs doing? Maybe a port wasn't feasible all along! and so on, and so forth. Fortunately though, even with the absence of a cheerleading public, it seems that the rapid pace of development didn't slow down one iota, as today the alpha version of DCA3 (top marks for this pun lads) has been released.

What does it stand for though? Can you do better than 'divine car abduction III'? Let's hear your suggestions in the comments please.

What does this mean exactly? Well, it means that, with a little jiggery pokery, you can compile a version of GTA 3 that will run on your Dreamcast. Given that it is an alpha version, bugs and occasional crashes are to be expected. Nevertheless, many testers have reported running the game for extended periods without issue, and, in my experience, the alpha version looks gorgeous and runs far better than I had expected it might. The controls map quite naturally on to the Dreamcast's regular controller (for the most part), and, perhaps most importantly, those who wish to progress with Claude through the game's infamous gangland story are be able to save progress to a VMU (although using one which is otherwise empty is recommended).

A key reason that you will need to compile your own alpha version, rather than simply download a ready-to-go .CDI or .GDI, is that players are expected to have their own legitimate version of the game. Morals and ethics aside, this is obviously an absolutely essential step to ensure the preservation of the porting project - any moves that have even the slightest whiff of piracy risk incurring the wrath of some extremely well resourced legal teams.

A sight to behold. Not the undecorated walls... GTA 3 on the Dreamcast!

Fortunately, compiling instructions are available. So, as long as you are capable of following these, have bought a copy of GTA 3 for PC (Rockstar offer a digital version with Vice City and San Andreas for a reasonable price), and have a Dreamcast that can play burned discs or has an optical drive emulator installed, then you should be good to go.

It would be wrong to drop this piece of news and not say something about the significance of the release. Really, it's hard to overstate what a monumental achievement the port is. In less than a year, an international crew of enthusiastic developers ('The Gang'), led by the mastermind skmp, have applied their skills to voluntarily deliver one of the defining games of the sixth console generation to the Dreamcast - a game that had begun development on Sega's swansong console, but instead ended up fuelling the stratospheric success of the arch-rival PlayStation 2, shifting 11 million copies for that console alone. 

In the intervening years the possibility of GTA 3 running on the DC has cropped up again and again as a topic of conversation in the scene, whether that be the technical flavour of 'could it be done?' or the alternative history variant of 'what if it had been?' The latter conversation may still plod on forever more, but the former is now totally dead and buried. Evidently, with the right skills and commitment, use of the free development library KallistiOS, and access to reverse-engineered code, it has now been definitively proven that the Dreamcast is more than capable of running this game.

Image created by Brazilian Dreamcast supremo NaiSan.

Of course, what is on offer right now is only an alpha version, but given the team's track record, it seems highly likely that the project will progress on to further iterations that buff out the rough edges. For now, all that's left to do is hear a few words from 'The Gang' themselves...

Doom 64 Ported to the SEGA Dreamcast!

Released back in 1997, Doom 64 brought a levelled up spin-off of the game-changing PC first-person shooter to the Nintendo 64. Since its release, the game has garnered a cult following, thanks in part to its atmosphere, with some even calling the game "terrifying". While Doom 64 saw some great ports to modern consoles in 2020, perhaps more interesting are the various homebrew ports, whether that be converting Doom 64's exclusive content to work with Doom source ports or even a port to the Nintendo DS.

Well, on July 16th 2024, the SEGA Dreamcast got added to that list of things Doom 64 has been ported to, and you’re probably wondering if it’s any good. Hell yes, it is. What the extremely talented Jnmartin84 has created here is equal to that of a AAA port and runs flawlessly. Plus, you can actually see what's going on in this version compared to the original! Doom 64 has definitely found itself a new forever home on the Dreamcast. To see this port in action (with commentary), definitely check out this new video from our pal (and previous guest on our podcast) Video Game Esoterica.

Now that you've watched that delightful footage, to actually play Doom 64 on your Dreamcast (or even an emulator), is a little bit more complicated. Presumably to avoid legal trouble, Jnmartin84 has released the source code for the port on GitHub, along with the tools that you'll need to build and play the game. Obviously you can follow the instructions in the ReadMe there, but it's mighty complicated, so perhaps seek out the .cdi, which I'm sure you'll find if you search around long enough. Does the legality really matter to you if the end result is a guaranteed trip to hell anyway?

Will you be playing Doom 64 for Dreamcast? How do you think it compares to the Nintendo 64 original? Let us know in the comments below, of via one of our social media channels.