Showing posts with label independent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label independent. Show all posts

Upcoming Dreamcast Indie releases - 2021 and beyond!


We're quite lucky to be Dreamcast fans at the moment, living through what feels like a renaissance for the machine -  with Sega giving a little bit of merchandise love to the machine, a proliferation of hardware mods that allow access to older titles, full HDMI support, new controllers, a growing collection of Dreamcast related literature, ports of Atomiswave arcade titles, and an ever impressive indie library. There's a remarkable amount of activity around a machine which is approaching 23 years of age, and we here at the Junkyard are embracing it with a smile on our face, a VMU in our pocket, and a dwindling bank account as we welcome the second coming of our digital dream box. And long may it continue!

The year 2021 is set to be the biggest - by some way - year for indie releases in the systems history though. There is a quite staggering number of titles on their way - more than 30 by some counts - and a fairly large number of those will be in our hands sooner, rather than later. Whilst most of you will have already backed the titles you've seen, there's a good chance some may have slipped you by, or maybe you've just not been aware of the tremendous indie barrage about to assault the console. Fear not, for we're hopefully going to set that straight today.

Before we list all the indie titles on their way, we want to make a couple of observations. This list only includes titles that are set for a physical release. That will preclude some of the homebrew software being developed, and of course won't touch on any ports being developed. We're also not going to include anything which is *only* based on rumours. As you can imagine, we have heard several of these! Furthermore, expect some *big* announcements of titles in the coming months - we can't say anything about them at the moment (we're such teases), but this article will be updated as new titles are announced!

On with the list!

Alice Sisters

Published by JoshProd - set for release early 2021

The first of numerous JoshProd titles in this list, Alice Sisters is a follow up to previous indie platformer Alice's Mom's Rescue, a quite charming little game from prolific previous indie developer Orion. Like the original, this appears to be a 2D platformer, but with the interesting addition of co-op mechanics. Each player guides one of the sisters (or a single player can switch between them) through a promised 28 stages, each using different abilities to combat the games puzzles. 4 game modes are also promised, and screenshots show a charming, colourful world, very much in the style of Orion's previous titles.

A DC release was hinted at in the summer of 2019, but little was revealed for this cross-platform release (a Steam and Mega Drive/Genesis release are also on the cards), but the trailer dropped by JoshProd in February 2021 has the game running and looking as charmingly fun as I hoped it would. I'm looking forward to this one, a proven developer, a genre we've not seen much of, and an intriguing co-op mode which could be very enjoyable indeed.

You can pre-order the PAL version here, the US version here and the Japanese version here.
You can also download the PC version of the game from Orion's itch.io page here.

Andro Dunos 

Published by JoshProd - set for release September 2021

Whilst Pixelheart / JoshProd made a big deal about the release of a brand new sequel, going as far as presenting a special event on Youtube for it's launch, the pending release of the original Andro Dunos went a little under the radar. It's perhaps not surprising though that this early 90's horizontal shooter is making it's way to the Dreamcast. It'd been rumoured for months, the acquisition of Visco's library by the publishers made it an obvious choice, and for many DC players, they've been enjoying the game via emulation for some time anyway. A decent, colourful example of the genre, it's become a minor cult favourite with some fans, and certainly won't be out of place in the plentiful supply of indie shooters the system is home too. There are possibly a few issues regarding how the emulation (presuming it will be played via emulation, like other Neo Geo ports from JoshProd) will work, and it's own sequel is now taking much of the attention away from this release, but it's a welcome addition to the library.

You can pre-order the PAL version here, the US version here and the Japanese version here.

New Dreamcast Indie release review - Drascula: The Vampire Strikes Back

It's shaping up to be a momentous year for the Dreamcast's already active indie scene, with (literally) dozens of titles on the horizon. After the unbridled success of titles such as Xenocider and Xeno Crisis (Indie games not beginning with X are available), and some very tasty offerings in the pipeline from JoshProd, Senile Team and Headup Games, there's never been a better time for the scene - and certainly, never a more active one. 

It wasn't a major surprise, then, when yet another title was announced for the console just weeks ago. Erbe Software, a Spanish publisher, started a Kickstarter campaign for a port of a 1990's point and click adventure, Mortadelo y Filemon, itself based off a popular Spanish comic. With a low goal, and the community's ever rabid desire to see more DC games, it sailed past its modest funding target and should be with us sometime later in the year. But this wasn't the first we'd heard of Erbe Software. Back in 2020, they announced a similar, rather unambitious Kickstarter campaign for a port of another 90's point and click adventure - Alcachofa Soft's Drascula: The Vampire Strikes Back. This too sailed through its meagre funding target, but little had been heard about it since the campaign. That is, until copies started being received by the modest number of backers, around the time of their latest Kickstarter.

The original PC cover for the game. If only we got this for the Dreamcast version...

Now we at the Junkyard didn't back the game. Whilst we're purveyors of all things 'Dreamcast', we have to admit it did pass us by. But new Dreamcast games, even ports of old PC adventure titles, are never a bad thing. Only, with Drascula, things did seem a little off. First, the original developers Alcachofa Soft had allowed the game to be distributed for a not-for-profit basis some years back. With the wonders of ScummVM, the emulator which makes these classic point and click adventures easier to run on more modern platforms, some Dreamcast owners would, no doubt, have been able to experience the games rather campy, cheesy comedic horror before. 

Now, this isn't unprecedented; Dreamcast owners who've dipped their toes into emulation may have seen a few examples of games being made available via that method some years ago, only for Indie publishers to release them as 'legitimate' releases some time after (Flashback, Captain Tomaday etc. etc.). There's nothing inherently wrong with this - if the rights holders can release the game officially, that's fair enough. But with information so scarce about this release, some did wonder whether this would be a 'bells and whistles' special packaged release, or simply a version of the ScummVM engine running the game. One of these, unfortunately, ended up being the case.

Thanks to friend of the Junkyard Chris Nunn, one of the few people who backed the game on its original campaign, we've managed to grab a hold of the game and...well, we've got some thoughts... 

Developer Interview: Hucast Games' René Hellwig

Based in Germany, Hucast is quite possibly the most prolific publisher and developer of indie Dreamcast games on the planet right now. Since Sega officially abandoned the system, no other outfit has published more games and done more to keep the dream alive for those wishing to purchase new titles for their favourite white box. In our latest developer interview, we caught up with René Hellwig to discuss the latest announcements from Hucast, the appeal of the Dreamcast, and Hucast's stance on the porting of Atari Jaguar games...

DCJY: We’re pretty sure that most people reading this will know who Hucast are, but for those who maybe aren’t familiar, could you give us a bit of an insight into the history of Hucast and what you're all about?

René Hellwig: Hucast started in 2008 right after Last Hope was released for Sega Dreamcast by Redspotgames. I started this because I felt the need to make a modern shmup which was impossible to realize with the Neo Geo. The result was DUX.

Speaking of DUX, Hucast’s shmups are very well known - which shooters of yesteryear did you enjoy playing and where do you draw your inspiration from when designing a new game?

I love R-Type Delta and DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu. But a lot of retro shmups inspired me for my games. For Ghost Blade, I was also inspired by Halo 4 for the look of the game. I'm not sure if anybody would notice this but I chose a very modern sci-fi look. However, in the end I always make my own graphical style, and I hope Ghost Blade looks as unique as DUX looked in back 2009.
Ghost Blade is released in September 2015

Hypertension Update

OK, so I admit straight off the bat that I nicked this information from RetroCollect...but c'mon - this is BIG news! Most of the recent indie games released for the Dreamcast have taken the form of (rather exquisite) 2D shmups or puzzle games, so to have a first person shooter being developed is really quite exciting. I'm a massive fan of the FPS genre so Hypertension: Harmony of Darkness is something I've been following for a while...and I'll be honest - I thought it had been quietly cancelled. But no! It's still alive and kicking, and developers Isotope Studios and TDGMods have released a new trailer showing some new gameplay sequences:



Looks pretty good for an indie game, no? Hypertension runs on a modified DOOM engine and certainly looks superior to Kiss: Psycho Circus and Soldier of Fortune. Apparently the game will feature a two-player co-op mode and will be getting a full physical release later this year...hopefully the delays have now been and gone and we'll get our hands on this great-looking FPS.

All hail the Undead Console!

Tahi - The Arocean War

This project is actually pretty old news on most Dreamcast sites and forums, but it is totally new to me so I thought it may have passed quite a few others by as well. So what is it? Apparently, Tahi - The Arocean War is a new(ish) action RPG that is/was being developed for the Dreamcast by an independent outfit called Reticon Entertainment Technology. The thing that piqued my interest is that Tahi appears to be a fully 3D adventure game, using polygonal characters in an explorable environment. True, there have been several high profile indie releases for the DC over the last few years, but in the main they've been 2D shooters, 2D driving games or puzzlers. A totally new adventure title breaks this mould and I'm very intrigued to see what a late 2000s polygonal game looks like on the antiquated hardware.

I say late 2000s because all the evidence suggests that Tahi started its development cycle in 2009, but since then there appears to be very little new info on the game. I emailed the team at Reticon asking for further info but the email bounced back, and the form on the site doesn't work...so for now I guess we'll either have to wait for more info (they appear to have updated their site earlier this month so I guess there's still something going on there)...or just accept that development has halted and Tahi has gone to the great vapourware graveyard in the sky.

Here's a bit of info on the game taken from the dev's website:

Since Tahi was originally for the SEGA Dreamcast, we had physical hardware limitations --
  • 200MHz - SH4
  • 16MB RAM
  • 700-900MB storage medium

When the project was first started in 2009, it was originally programmed procedurally as a 'guess and check' style as we explored the functionality of the Dreamcast and its limitations.  The first attempts were difficult since there was no perfect IDE to use or methods for debugging compiled code, which made (and still makes) for an extremely slow testing environment.

As the project continued, we had to stop coding the game in a procedural fashion, since the code was becoming 'too patched' to function well and the idea of an engine was brought to the table. 

The original engined titled 'ION Engine' was to pack the lower level functions into a much more abstract and easier to use and maintain source code.  

The largest challenges are that of compile testing and programming for the Dreamcast platform.  The Dreamcast has no easy 'how-to' guide to program a game for its platform other than KallistiOS, and even with KallistiOS, there is not much support available for it and how to optimize and really use the Dreamcast's features.  So programming has been a very slow and experimental process of trial and failure.

The next largest challenge for this project is man-power.  A game of this scope and size is difficult for a small team to develop, many of us have to wear 'multiple hats' during this production in order to see to certain goal completions, which does slow down a production significantly.

Here are a few images and a Youtube clip of what has been put out about the game:






On a slightly different note, The Dreamcast Junkyard seems to have vanished from Google's results if you search for us. I've looked at the settings in the Blogger dashboard and everything looks fine...so we're a bit baffled as to why this has happened. The 'Yard still pops up on Bing (all is forgiven!) and other search engines (yep, they do exist!)...so if anyone has any suggestions, be sure to let us know what you think might be the problem! Thanks.

Gunlord named game of the year by Classic Game Room



Mark of Classic Game Room has named indie Dreamcast game Gunlord the game of the year! Check out the video above to see an increasingly drunken Mark go through his list of favorite games before deciding that the Dreamcast is still very much alive. Was it the beer? The SEGA fan in him? Who knows. But the DCJY salutes Classic Game Room!

Gunlord release date!


Just got an e-mail from NG.DEV.TAm about the release date for Gunlord! There are also reprints of Fast Striker and Last Hope pink Bullets on the way, in case you missed out on those before. Here's what the e-mail said.

finally after a long wait we can announce the official release dates for the Dreamcast versions of Gunlord.

Newcomer Bundle DC      21.06.2012
Gunlord DC Limited Edition  21.06.2012
Gunlord DC Double Bundle  21.06.2012
Gunlord DC Regular Edition 21.06.2012

The collector's edition needs a few days more time due to more complex packaging and printing. The three movie size posters of the CE are shipped separately a week or two later rolled in tubes.

Gunlord DC "Dragon Box" Collector's Edition [CE]  25.06.2012

Reprints:

Fast Striker 1.5 DC Regular Edition [Reprint]    19.06.2012
Last Hope Soundtrack Bundle      19.06.2012
Last Hope Pink Bullets DC [Reprint]      19.06.2012
 Looks like Gunlord will be the first 2012 release for the Dreamcast in gamers hands! Looking forward to it!

New Sturmwind screenshots. Phew!

Sega Portal has got their mitts on some new details on Sturmwind, the upcoming indie shooter from Redspotgames and Duranik, including the fact that the game box will have dual cover artwork, so if the big green octopus thingy is not your cuppa tea there is the flip side art of a pilot's helmet. Take your pick I guess!


If that's not enough they also obtained a whole slew of new screenshots, showing the newly revised hud amongst other improvements. You can check out the rest of the screens over at Sega Portal. Safe to say this game is looking rather good. I mean look at this mean fella of a boss!

Pre-rendered for sure but still massively impressive looking, especially when you see it moving. here's hoping it is fun to match! Still no solid release date yet but we'll keep you posted when we find out!

New Gunlord trailer and release date of 14th June!

NG: Dev Team have released a new trailer for their upcoming run and gunner Gunlord. Once again we get tons of gameplay footage (which if you rather be surprised by some of the level and enemy elements you may wanna skip through like I did) as well as the hilarious opening cut scene. You'll see what I mean. The release date is now confirmed for June 14th. Rather looking forward to this!

In other news Redspotgames have also announced that they can get back to work on Strumwind now that they have solved the issues they had with the production. So that's two DC games for 2012 on the way still! :)

New Hypertension gameplay



Remember this upcoming homebrew/indie Dreamcast release? Well I've been sent over this new footage to show you lot of it, showing off a split screen mode, though it turns out both players are being played by one person here, using a mouse for one player and a keyboard for the other! The team are even aiming for net play with this, however tricky that may be!

GunLord Concept Art & Screen Shots

by cube_b3 of SEGAbits


NG:DEV:TEAM have released the first screenshots of their upcoming Neo Geo and Dreamcast platformer GunLord on their Teaser Site. The images are stamped with the words “ALPHA VERSION” to give us an impression that things might still change.They show off a very interesting art direction, the likes of which we’ve never seen on the Neo Geo or the Dreamcast. Very dark and surreal tones are displayed along with very eerie creatures throughout to give a cryptic feel to the game. The tone is set even more forcefully by what seems to be the game’s theme song by Rafael Dyll of Soniq Factory.

Source: Dreamcast-Scene

Arts & Crafts: Make your own DUX spine card!


Any Dreamcast fan should know what a spine card is. But for those who don't, it's that little strip of paper that wraps around the left spine of Japanese Dreamcast CD cases. You'll also find these on Japanese Saturn games and nearly any other Japanese thing in a CD case. Why do they do it? Well, I'd assume so they can cram even more information on the front cover without littering the actual cover with all that information. Also, the Japanese LOVE little bits of paper. I remember when I first opened my sealed copy of Jet Set Radio, it was like a confetti parade with all the inserts that fell out.


Anyway, I decided to give the indie game DUX its own spine card. Why? Well for one thing, DUX is the only retail indie game in a DVD case that does not feature the Japanese Dreamcast style spine. Instead it's a very stark (but stylish) white. While the special edition of DUX did feature a orange and white spine, it was limited to 500 copies, so you're sure to never see one of those unless you pre-ordered one at the time of release. Another reason I made one was so that anal retentive fans, like myself, can have a more orderly game shelf. I also added "Dreamcast" on the front bit of the card so that you know what system the game is for. Also, I designed two versions: Japanese and English. So you have a choice of language (DUX is such a simple word, that I'm surprised the Japanese translation is twice as long).

Let's get to the arts & crafts! First off, download the DUX spine cards here.

Next, print the file out on a piece of paper, preferably a slightly glossy, thicker (but not too think) paper stock so that you cannot see through the paper. I used 32lb premium choice laserjet paper, and printed it on a laserjet printer to create solid bits of color.


Now, with an x-acto knife and ruler, use the guides and cut out the spine card you wish to use, or just cut them both out. If you're using scissors, be careful and create a straight cut.

Finally, lay the DUX case out flat (like the picture at the top) and slide the spine card in over the cover art. Carefully line up the card so that the spine is in the correct spot. Finally, close the case, adjusting the card if needed. The result should be a clean, convincing spine card.


Enjoy! If you have any problems with the uploaded files, let me know and I'll see how I can help.

Wind & Water Puzzle Battles Arrives on PC for Free! Also free on Wiz and GP2X!


Thanks to Wind and Water Puzzle Battles developer Hao via a reply to my article "5 Indie Dreamcast Games Worth Your Time" over at SEGAbits, it was revealed that the great indie Dreamcast game Wind and Water Puzzle Battles has been released for free on the PC! What more, the Wiz and GP2X handheld versions are also now free. Even more what more, if you scroll down on their main page you'll find that they have knocked down the cost of a custom sprite for a limited time. $10 for a custom avatar sprite, and $15 for a full animated set of four avatar sprites! The sprite can be used in the PC version, as well as on the handheld versions. I'll be picking one up, if only to fund potential future Dreamcast projects (Little Ninja, please?). Hao also mentioned that depending on the feedback for the PC version, they will develop W&W Online with netplay.

You might be asking "where does the Dreamcast play into this?", well I downloaded the PC version and spotted Mr. VMU himself! Finally, an anthropomorphic piece of SEGA hardware on my computer screen. So give it a download, buy a custom sprite and give the Yuan brothers your thoughts!

Note: While I only operate on Macs, I was able to get the game running flawlessly via the Mac application CrossOver. I'm certain other PC emulating applications will also do the trick.

5 Indie Dreamcast Games Worth Your Time


While there are a lot of great independent Dreamcast games out there, many worthy of a Dreamcast collector’s collection, not every game is worth it for the casual fan. Some games are too short, too difficult or too simplistic. Gamers shouldn’t be expected to pay $20 to $60 for a so-so indie game simply because that money goes towards development of new games. We’re not dealing with charities. People buy games with the promise that the game will be worth their money.


As such, I thought I’d share five independent Dreamcast games that are worth the time and money of not only collectors, but also those who have a Dreamcast console but aren’t into the indie scene. The following five games are just as good, and in some cases better than official Dreamcast games.

click here to read more 

In the comments, let me know what indie Dreamcast games you've enjoyed!

NG.DEV.TEAM bringing GunLord to the Dreamcast in 2011!


Less than a month into 2011 and already we have two games to look forward to on the Dreamcast! RedSpotGames announced the shmup Strumwind, and now NG.DEV.TEAM announced a game called GunLord! Very little is known of the game, aside from a teaser site and logo. However, above the logo are the words "Jump. Shoot. Explore." as well as "A Jump N Shoot Action Game", leading me to believe that the game will play very much like Metal Slug and Contra. An indie Dreamcast game that ISN'T a space ship shmup!? Exciting! Check out the teaser site for a bit of music, presumebly created by SoniQfactory.

Thanks to Anthony817 for the tip! Remember readers, the little comment box on the right column is a great place for comments and news tips.

EDIT: I took a closer look at the teaser image and spotted what I assume to be the star of the game:

Indie Game SQRXZ 2 Brings Free Run and Jump Action to the Dreamcast


While the Junkyard missed the boat on the first SQRXZ (pronounced... hell, I don't know!), developers of the freeware run and jump platformer recently announced that the sequel to the game is now available for the Dreamcast! According to the first SQRXZ (Squirxzey?) website, SQRXZ was originally a computer game developed in 1996. In early 2010, different folks got permission from the SQRXZ creator to remake the original game with improved graphics and new play modes. In addition to being available for computers, the game was also released on GP2X handhelds and our beloved Dreamcast! Better yet, its free! If you know how to burn Dreamcast game discs, check out the download page.


The sequel features ten more levels and can be downloaded here. While I've yet to master Dreamcast CD burning techniques, I have played both games for a bit on my GP2X Caanoo and they're quite fun! Sort of like a faster Mario with improved graphics. The music is definitly a highlight, and it's great to see indie platformers released for the Dreamcast. So if you need a break from puzzle games and shmups, give SQRXZ and SQRXZ 2 a try! All they'll cost you is a blank CD.


Links:
http://www.sqrxz.de/
http://www.sqrxz2.de/

GOAT Store Relaunch Announced!


For those who have no clue why a goat is smiling at them, that's the logo for The GOAT Store. The GOAT Store is an American online retailer of retro systems, games and accessories as well as a publisher and retailer of independent Dreamcast games (no worries international fans, they also ship to other countries). You may have heard of some of their releases, including their most notable: Cool Herders. GOAT Store also published the cool Feet of Fury, which plays like DDR with a battle mode, and includes a second game entitled Typing of Fury. As an indy game, it really is quite impressive!


Sounds pretty cool, eh? Well, luckily for Dreamcast fans, the GOAT Store has announced that they will be relauncing their website on 9-9-10! A recent press release has stated that the store will focus on the history of the Dreamcast releases that have come so far, as well as the people behind them. Anything that keeps the Dreamcast indy scene alive gets a thumbs up from me! Make sure to check them out on the Dreamcast's eleventh birthday and check out their press release for more information.