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Volgarr the Viking for Dreamcast (yeah, you read that right)

F

Fractal

Banned
That's right where it belongs... it's a type of a game which pretty much exclusively targets the niche audience of retro enthusiasts. Tried it recently, and without a healthy dose of nostalgia it simply couldn't work for me.
 
A

Arm73

Member
Kind of makes me wish to dig that DC out of the attic just to be able to play this on a CRT TV. This style of game just feels at home at 240p/480i .
I wish there was a way to hook up my PC to a CRT TV so that I could play all my retro stuff on it. Also things like Shovel Knight, Cave Story, Axiom Verge etc.. would look better then ever, but unfortunately modern video cards don't support it anymore.
That's one of the reason I keep using my Wii.
But I totally forgot about my DC ! If there is more stuff like this I'll definitely find a way to hook it up again.
 
M

mr jones

Ethnicity is not a race!
The amount of folks in this thread who have let their Dreamcast fall by the wayside hurts my heart.
LLShC.gif
 
L

Leynos

Member
How does one run CD-Rs on a Dreamcast? Modchip, software mod, paperclip trick, etc.?

I actually bought Volgarr (along with Shovel Knight) for the Xbox One since I had some Microsoft points that were set to expire, but I don't actually have an Xbox One yet. Would actually like to give it a try.
 
M

mr jones

Ethnicity is not a race!
Leynos said:
How does one run CD-Rs on a Dreamcast? Modchip, software mod, paperclip trick, etc.?

I actually bought Volgarr (along with Shovel Knight) for the Xbox One since I had some Microsoft points that were set to expire, but I don't actually have an Xbox One yet. Would actually like to give it a try.
Click to expand...

You go here, read the quick tutorial, download and install the software in tutorial, burn disc, play game.
 
B

BOTEC

Member
Never had much interest in Volgaar before, but this is pretty awesome. Since it's unofficial, I'll buy the official version to give these guys some support.
 
R

_Ryo_

Member
gotta dl this when I get some cd-rs.


New dreamcast games in 2015. :D



I wonder if Shovel Knight would have worked on dreamcast. lul
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
Leynos said:
How does one run CD-Rs on a Dreamcast? Modchip, software mod, paperclip trick, etc.?

I actually bought Volgarr (along with Shovel Knight) for the Xbox One since I had some Microsoft points that were set to expire, but I don't actually have an Xbox One yet. Would actually like to give it a try.
Click to expand...
I don't know if this article is out-of-date, but it suggests v2 Dreamcasts needed some sort of modchip: http://wololo.net/2012/11/12/sega-d...rks-and-how-it-was-hacked/?PageSpeed=noscript

Another site suggests a BIOS change would allow v2 Dreamcasts to run CD-R's so maybe someone can chime in with better information than me.
 
R

Rubikant

Member
You can also grab the files directly from http://www.volgarrtheviking.com/dreamcast if you have troubles with downloading from the link in the first post, though its just a straight ftp and not a cool designed page. The "latest" version is recommended.

Also, whomever runs that main site could totally take the Steam version of the manual and host it/link to it for printing out. Its the same manual that was printed out for the faux-Genesis copies of the game that were made for the kickstarter. Full color with nice illustrations and all that, includes the backstory for the game and many details not in the game itself. Of course some of the stuff in there won't apply to the Dreamcast version but most of it is universal. Can be obtained directly from here: http://store.steampowered.com/manual/247240

Also someone on Reddit made a cover for the DC version here: http://imgur.com/P07he9S
 
V

Voysa Reezun

Banned
Oh shit yeah. Gonna burn this to CD and put it in my Dreamcast, then buy a PS4 copy at full price just to thank the devs for offering yet another game for my favorite console ever.
 
Shpeshal Nick

Shpeshal Nick

aka Collingwood
edit: UK done, now just need US

Bmb0wBN.jpg


s5uecXI.jpg


Need to head out now, but I'm going to continue to tweak and I'll work on back/spines too.
 
M

Morfeo

The Chuck Norris of Peace
Holy shit. I have this game on steam, so I already payed for it. Great game, definitely burning it for the Dreamcast!
 
M

mr jones

Ethnicity is not a race!
Hey Rubikant, is there any possibility that you could have Mr. Hall talk a bit about his work on the Dreamcast port?
 
D

dancrane212

Member
Good on them! Volgarr is a fantastic game!

I had a blast playing with my brother passing the controller back a forth for a couple hours while we stumbled through the first couple levels on XB1. I'd definitely buy a legitimate printing of this - something not on a CD-R.
 
R

Rubikant

Member
mr jones said:
Hey Rubikant, is there any possibility that you could have Mr. Hall talk a bit about his work on the Dreamcast port?
Click to expand...

In what way? I don't know if he has a NeoGAF account. He might have a forum account on some of the DC homebrew forums though, maybe? Actually though (not sure if he'd want me talking about him this way or not), one thing everyone who knows him would say about Marc - he doesn't like to TALK at all. Its even become somewhat of a running joke amongst his friends. He's the quietest guy you'd ever meet, and you kind of have to work to pry anything out of him. He just doesn't say (or write) anything beyond the bare minimum necessary to answer a direct question put to him. He just smiles and nods during conversations until we all stop and ask him to say something. Whenever I have a text chat conversation with him, its usually about 4-5 paragraphs from me for every single-sentence reply from him. Super nice guy though.

Unfortunately, beyond his own lack of desire to really say anything at all, ever, he's also very busy right now, working on 4 ports of Volgarr - PS4, Vita, 3DS, and Wii-U, on top of his full-time day job. He also did the vast majority of the code work on the XB1 port of Volgarr, as well as assisting me now and then with the ports I did myself: Linux and Mac.

What happened is that he's a big Dreamcast fan and a talented programmer, and wanted to make something for the platform and didn't have any art assets, but conveniently had a couple of old friends (me and Kris) that he knew were, at the time, currently working on an indie game and were willing to give him access to the code and assets for him to use in his little hobby project. But once he showed us his fast progress on the DC port, we decided rather than going with some big porting studio, we'd just hire him alone to help us with our console ports.

He does all this in his free time because he's a programmer's programmer and just likes the challenge. That said, worry not - despite him likely being willing to do all these ports for practically free, we insisted on paying him a large cut of the profits, so he's made way more more already from messing with Volgarr than he ever expected to get from his spare-time hobby, even with the decision to release his DC port for free.

---

On a side note: I think it was Marc that told me once that Volgarr might be one of, if not THE, only 2D side-scrolling platformers actually available for the Dreamcast. Crazy huh?
 
M

mr jones

Ethnicity is not a race!
Rubikant said:
In what way? I don't know if he has a NeoGAF account. He might have a forum account on some of the DC homebrew forums though, maybe? Actually though (not sure if he'd want me talking about him this way or not), one thing everyone who knows him would say about Marc - he doesn't like to TALK at all. Its even become somewhat of a running joke amongst his friends. He's the quietest guy you'd ever meet, and you kind of have to work to pry anything out of him. He just doesn't say (or write) anything beyond the bare minimum necessary to answer a direct question put to him. He just smiles and nods during conversations until we all stop and ask him to say something. Whenever I have a text chat conversation with him, its usually about 4-5 paragraphs from me for every single-sentence reply from him. Super nice guy though.

Unfortunately, beyond his own lack of desire to really say anything at all, ever, he's also very busy right now, working on 4 ports of Volgarr - PS4, Vita, 3DS, and Wii-U, on top of his full-time day job. He also did the vast majority of the code work on the XB1 port of Volgarr, as well as assisting me now and then with the ports I did myself: Linux and Mac.

What happened is that he's a big Dreamcast fan and a talented programmer, and wanted to make something for the platform and didn't have any art assets, but conveniently had a couple of old friends (me and Kris) that he knew were, at the time, currently working on an indie game and were willing to give him access to the code and assets for him to use in his little hobby project. But once he showed us his fast progress on the DC port, we decided rather than going with some big porting studio, we'd just hire him alone to help us with our console ports.

He does all this in his free time because he's a programmer's programmer and just likes the challenge. That said, worry not - despite him likely being willing to do all these ports for practically free, we insisted on paying him a large cut of the profits, so he's made way more more already from messing with Volgarr than he ever expected to get from his spare-time hobby, even with the decision to release his DC port for free.

---

On a side note: I think it was Marc that told me once that Volgarr might be one of, if not THE, only 2D side-scrolling platformers actually available for the Dreamcast. Crazy huh?
Click to expand...

He sounds pretty awesome. As someone who works in IT, I have a few friends / colleagues who are men of action, and few words.

Oh, and thanks for the heads up - I'm sure that there are folks who'd love to have Volgarr on their Vita! :D

I... think that he's right. Outside of a few games like Gunlord, there aren't any side scrolling games on the Dreamcast. SO! When you folks get around to developing Volgarr 2, PLEASE keep the poor, neglected DC in mind.
 
Ghost_Messiah

Ghost_Messiah

Member
Yeah this is pretty much the coolest thing ever. It's a great game being re-produced for a beloved console so it's quite amazing seeing the Dreamcast still get so much love after all these years. Kudos to the lone wolf programmer. He made a lot of gamers happy by doing this. On the off-chance he reads this thread: thank you.
 
J

jholmes

Member
mr jones said:
If you have a Dreamcast, go to http://volgarr.rkd.zone, grab the file, burn it to a CD, and have fun. If you have time, come back and let the awesome folks at Crazy Viking Studios know... well, that they're awesome.
Click to expand...

So the readme says if you want to sell copies of the game on Dreamcast and you're not ridiculous with the premium -- a "reasonable fee for distribution," it says -- you're entitled to. It would be amazing if someone with connections to really good printing for the manual and label did a small run of retail-quality Volgarr discs for the DC community, and hey, if they tossed in bought codes for the game on Steam with every purchase, everyone would come out ahead.
 
N

NumberThree

Member
Rubikant said:
In what way? I don't know if he has a NeoGAF account. He might have a forum account on some of the DC homebrew forums though, maybe? Actually though (not sure if he'd want me talking about him this way or not), one thing everyone who knows him would say about Marc - he doesn't like to TALK at all. Its even become somewhat of a running joke amongst his friends. He's the quietest guy you'd ever meet, and you kind of have to work to pry anything out of him. He just doesn't say (or write) anything beyond the bare minimum necessary to answer a direct question put to him. He just smiles and nods during conversations until we all stop and ask him to say something. Whenever I have a text chat conversation with him, its usually about 4-5 paragraphs from me for every single-sentence reply from him. Super nice guy though.

Unfortunately, beyond his own lack of desire to really say anything at all, ever, he's also very busy right now, working on 4 ports of Volgarr - PS4, Vita, 3DS, and Wii-U, on top of his full-time day job. He also did the vast majority of the code work on the XB1 port of Volgarr, as well as assisting me now and then with the ports I did myself: Linux and Mac.

What happened is that he's a big Dreamcast fan and a talented programmer, and wanted to make something for the platform and didn't have any art assets, but conveniently had a couple of old friends (me and Kris) that he knew were, at the time, currently working on an indie game and were willing to give him access to the code and assets for him to use in his little hobby project. But once he showed us his fast progress on the DC port, we decided rather than going with some big porting studio, we'd just hire him alone to help us with our console ports.

He does all this in his free time because he's a programmer's programmer and just likes the challenge. That said, worry not - despite him likely being willing to do all these ports for practically free, we insisted on paying him a large cut of the profits, so he's made way more more already from messing with Volgarr than he ever expected to get from his spare-time hobby, even with the decision to release his DC port for free.

---

On a side note: I think it was Marc that told me once that Volgarr might be one of, if not THE, only 2D side-scrolling platformers actually available for the Dreamcast. Crazy huh?
Click to expand...

Everything about this is cool. I haven't bought Völgarr yet (not really my kind of a game), but I'll make sure to do that ASAP.
 
R

Rubikant

Member
mr jones said:
He sounds pretty awesome. As someone who works in IT, I have a few friends / colleagues who are men of action, and few words.
Click to expand...

Yeah I don't recall if I mentioned this to you in our PM exchange, but he even went as far as creating his own debugging tool for Dreamcast to help him hunt down bugs to finish this DC port. I suggested he consider releasing the tool to the DC homebrew community, not sure if he ever got around to it though.

Of course he does that kind of thing often - just recently he wrote a tool that calculated code file dependencies allowing our 3DS and Wii-U builds to no longer require Cygwin or Make and still build just as fast using a simple .bat file in Windows. Even back when all three of us worked together at Griptonite on games like Shinobi 3DS, we used a tool he made to layout menus, control menu flow, and even eventually craft those animated screen overlays for transitions between maps and the boss intros and such. It was eventually dubbed "M4" which, if I recall, stood for "Marc's Marvelous Menu Maker" :).
 
R

Rubikant

Member
Venfayth said:
Does it have achievements
Click to expand...

It does now!

I uploaded a new version with achievements and a few polish fixes here:

http://www.volgarrtheviking.com/dreamcast/VolgarrDC_2015-10-13.zip

Of course I can't guarantee I didn't break something in the process, since I don't currently have a working Dreamcast that can play CD-R's to test it with. Anyone want to be a guinea pig for me, and if it works inform whomever it is that runs that site everyone is downloading the ROM from?
 
M

mr jones

Ethnicity is not a race!
LOL!

Well, THAT will have to make the rounds. I'd love to be the tester, but...

...I can't pass level 2. ; _ ;

EDIT: Letting the folks at the Dreamcast forums know, so they can start testing...
 
T

Teknoman

Member
Rubikant said:
It does now!

I uploaded a new version with achievements and a few polish fixes here:

http://www.volgarrtheviking.com/dreamcast/VolgarrDC_2015-10-13.zip

Of course I can't guarantee I didn't break something in the process, since I don't currently have a working Dreamcast that can play CD-R's to test it with. Anyone want to be a guinea pig for me, and if it works inform whomever it is that runs that site everyone is downloading the ROM from?
Click to expand...

Someone donate a Dreamcast stat.
 
H

Head.spawn

Junior Member
I made the mistake of lending my Dreamcast out to a friend that I later found out was a bit of a junkie. You know how that story ends up. =/
 
R

Rubikant

Member
Woah, whoops! Okay, this is embarrassing - I actually found an issue with that version I posted myself! When integrating the achievement code over to the Dreamcast codebase (from the 3DS codebase, which is what I originally made the locally-tracked achievements system for), I accidentally left in some test code that made a certain achievement never unlock, as well as a Graphics option on the pause menu that has options that don't actually work on Dreamcast (and probably break stuff if you try turning them on). Here's a version that corrects those errors:

http://www.volgarrtheviking.com/dreamcast/VolgarrDC_2015-10-15.zip

My bad! Hope not too many people wasted CD-R's on that last build already...
 
socksfelloff

socksfelloff

Member
I mage a quick video for you guys looking for footage. I don't know how accurate this is, but handbrake said the average FPS was 46.6. I've never played the game before so I'm not sure just how off it feels but it definetly doesnt feel like 60fps.

I start the video out in 16:9 and then switch it to 4:3 for those interested in how it looks either way. I also quickly run through the menus.

https://youtu.be/PXiOz_DCUdo
 
A

AkelisRain

Member
I actually got this to work on a mini cd-r. I also used Diskjuggler to burn the cd-r because I kept getting an error using imgburn. I guess I didn't add cdi support to make it work.
Code: 
[IMG]http://www.stormmediaonline.co.za/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/b/l/blank_mini_cd_1.jpg[/IMG]
 
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