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DREAM RIDE for Sega Dreamcast (and emulators)

by Matt Sephton — Sun, 05 Jan 2025 23:59:00 +0000

Over the Christmas break I had a spare week after a trip to Ireland was cancelled. What should I do with the time? I was already aware of the upcoming DreamDisc ‘24 game jam and had done some reading a couple of months back scoping out a Lua-based SDK called ANTIRUINS Engine that looked familiar enough to me with my experience of LÖVE (love2d) and Playdate SDK. But what should I make with it?

If I could get something fun up and running as quickly as possible it would prove the point and keep me motivated. Sounds like a plan. Also, it’s easier to make something that has already been planned out, so all the effort goes on implementation rather than design. I remembered my unreleased game Daily Driver…maybe I could get those little cars moving around the screen? But what would make it more Dreamcast? Simultaneous 4-player action and CPU opponents! OK, let’s do this!

It took a bit of effort to get the build process setup, but after that I hit the ground running. I got the physics and 4-player control working pretty quickly. Then the sprites went in, albeit in the wrong colours. Physics equation and sprites are the only two things shared with Daily Driver. Next I added a variety of game modes, power-ups, new sounds, all within a few days. Then I picked at it over the next week to polish it as much as possible before the game jam deadline. I thrive on deadlines.

Many thanks to Bertholet, author of ANTIRUINS Engine, who has done a great job and was very gracious with his time helping me through the initial hurdles.

I’ll do a full post-mortem and “what’s next” after the game jam results are announced. But I’m really happy with how it turned out. The cars look great in colour, and even with 8 of them on screen things are a rock solid 60fps, I really need to see how far I can push things.

Download

gingerbeardman.itch.io/dream-ride

Play DREAM RIDE on real hardware (tested on my original imported NTSC-U Sega Dreamcast from 1999, fitted with a GDEMU) or in an emulator on your favourite console or handheld (tested with Flycast on macOS, GameForce Chi, Powkiddy RGB30, TrimUI Brick, and a modded Nintendo Switch).

Future versions of the game with improvements and new modes will require payment, after all I’m a full-time indie developer and my caffeine intake needs to be maintained. Thanks for your support!

Video

Below is a video where I forgot to switch audio source so it recorded audio through my Mac’s mic. 😅

Dreamcast GDEMU installation

by Matt Sephton — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Difficulty: 5/10
Cost: ~ £100

My Dreamcast is an NTSC-U model that I bought in the middle of the Dreamcast’s short life. It was a special order from UK mail order firm Madeira Games based out of King’s Lynn, Norfolk, and is chipped to play import games. It has a replacement UK PSU and has served me well over the years. I’d resisted GDEMU, making do with a serial USB Micro SD adapter. But I eventually decided the ease of use and ability to play certain WinCE games like Super Runabout was enough reason to upgrade.

I ordered a bunch of stuff and then fitted it. There’s not much to say. The replacement lid release mechanism was the most difficult part to fit.

After install I wasn’t impressed by the noise reduction but after measurement it is as advertised on the fan box. But it’s far from “silent”. So, I’d say that the GDEMU is the only essential upgrade. You can probably live without the fan, riser, etc.

Whilst trying a few things I noticed when putting the lid on that it increases the noise levels due to echo in the now much emptier shell. Quick measurements showed somewhere around 3dB. So I put some plastic board along the edge of the GDEMU effectively halving the inside space whilst creating a direct passage from the fan directly to the PSU. This idea isn’t mine, it was something I’d seen/read that came back to me when I heard the noise increase as I put on the lid. I believe it’s done for air flow reasons but I did it for echo noise reduction reasons. New fan noise measurement <20dB which is as Noctua advertise.

Review: ChuChu Rocket!

by Matt Sephton — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:01:00 +0000

The Dreamcast was the first truly online home video game console, and brought with it the first wave of fantastic online multi-player games that could be played on your TV. ChuChu Rocket! was one of the best, an outstanding action puzzler with a glorious multi-player mode.

The aim of the game is to guide mice (“ChuChus”) around the screen into one or more goals (Rockets) whilst avoiding any cats (“KapuKapus”) that are roaming about. Both the mice and cats move in predictable ways - they always turn right when reaching a wall, they follow corners and they turn around when they encounter a dead end. The player places up to three arrows on the play field, which will direct anything that passes over them - both mice and cats. Arrows cannot be laid on top of other arrow or obstacles, and disappear over time and the oldest is removed if the player lays a fourth arrow. Special mice frequently appear, golden mice being worth many times more than regular mice and pink mice randomly changing gameplay in one of a number of ways. Such a simple premise quickly results in a maddening procession of mice and cats and all manner of confusion as players try to outwit each the positioning of arrows.

Single player mode saw you play against the computer or in puzzle mode where you have to figure out the solution to puzzles by placing your arrows in the correct locations to get the mice to the exit, which was an excellent part of the game in itself. Local multi-player is an absolute riot and has to be seen to be believed - there simply aren’t many other games that are this much fun played with a few friends. Online multi-player was a great backup option to have as you’d never be short of people to play against. It’s something we’re used to these days with things like Xbox Live and as we have all grown up and got on with our own lives it’s often the preferred way to experience multi-player gaming.

With the demise of the Dreamcast the game slowly faded away, briefly reentering the public eye a year later with a release on the Game Boy Advance. This handheld version matched the Dreamcast original feature for feature, with the exception of online play. However it did have slightly simplified graphics and an extra 2,5000 user-generated puzzles taken from the Dreamcast version’s online hub. There was a fan remake for the Atari ST which was an accurate but unofficial version of the game.

Recently a version of the game was released on the App Store, but with features being spread across an iPhone version and an iPad version and it not feat as much content as the older GameBoy Advance version. It’s great to see such an original game get a new lease of life, but sad that it’s still missing important features from the original, showing just how far ahead of it’s time the Dreamcast was. Hopefully the iOS versions of the game will gain multi-player support in the future and finally give us the experience that was so enthralling those 10 years ago.

This review is dedicated to my good friend Morgan, without whom I’d have never bought a Dreamcast. He will always be Mr Sega to me.

Review: Vanishing Point

by Matt Sephton — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 22:57:00 +0000

I’ve recently come back to this game in an attempt to complete it 100%, picking up my 10 year old save game. It’s a great game, though the sensitivity of the controls can be unforgiving at times. But it’s definitely worth persevering with. Think of it like a modern day Stunt Car Racer and you’ll be fine – laying off the accelerator is just as important as keeping the pedal to the metal.

Straddling the narrow line between flat-out arcade racer and flat-tyre simulation, Vanishing Point offered a wealth of cars, locations and driving modes that still stand up today. Time Trial, Single Races and Tournaments as well as a novel Stunt Mode in which you had to throw the cars around various non-race challenges with pinpoint precision. The recent Trials HD on the 360 brings back a lot of memories of Stunt Mode for me, except Vanishing Point had more cones, balloons and chequered flags.

Multi-player modes were Head-to-Head split-screen for two, and Knock-out, League and Winner-Stays-On for up to eight player sessions. The game also took advantage of the Dreamcast’s online function and allowed you to send Challenge Times back and forth with your mates.

Sitting somewhere between Gran Turismo and Ridge Racer the range of cars available was broad but also quite unique. As well as fast cars like the Shelby Cobra and Dodgy Viper, the game also featured alternative choices like the world famous Mini, VW camper van and even some American muscle cars. You had to start with just two default cars and unlock the rest through your own driving skill. The game wasn’t afraid to do things its own way.

All of this was dressed up in high resolution 60fps graphics that made it’s contemporaries look positively old school. It’s a crying shame Clockwork Games didn’t survive long enough to make a sequel. Perhaps it exists in the same alternate dimension where the Dreamcast is still selling millions? Yes, I’d like to go there.

The thorn in the game’s side was it’s overly sensitive default controls, which caused many gamers to not even give the game a chance. But those that did would find a truly complete and supremely rewarding driving game.

Update: I finally completed the game in May 2015. Woop!