I've recently bought a sample/possible prototype of Sonic Pocket Adventure for NGPC from Japan: I've ordered a dumper and will be providing a dump when it gets to me. The total cost to me was around $380 if anyone would like to chip in.
Here's a link to the page about the sample cart that's already dumped, if anyone else was wondering if this one is different: (From the photo above, it looks like it's not the same, which is good) http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_Pocket_Adventure:_Trial I had to look it up, so figured I'd save someone else from asking.
The dumper finally cleared customs after a month of waiting. After a few bad dumps it turns out to have quite a bit of differences! A legitimate prototype. I'm planning to release it later this year (my release queue is insane). Some screenshots: As you can see it has the prototype pose mentioned here: http://sost.emulationzone.org/sonic_pa/specialstage/index.htm Nobody has donated so far but it would be much appreciated (even a bit would help): [email protected]
I'll happily drop you a few dollary-doos when I get paid next drx. Mind explaining the 'release schedule' though? I thought you just uploaded the rom somewhere and said "have at it".
I recently got back into releasing prototypes (and updated Hidden Palace) and I want to do releases properly. Take a few high quality photos of the cartridge, have some comparison screenshots between the prototype and final, research it a bit, write it all up, etc. This takes time and I have like 700+ prototypes to release. Don't worry though, it'll be released soon enough.
700+?! proto's to release any other sonic protos in that 700?!?! Wow, well I just donated to Borman for his endeavor, I'll donate the same to you that I donated to him, but it'll have to wait a few weeks.
I'm not worried. Don't get me wrong, I'm not rushing you. I have almost 0 knowledge on what releasing a proto really entails, so I was just asking.
I'd like to think for the Sega stuff at least, people would step forward for you. Eventually. I know not much was done with the 2008 haul but, idk, you shouldn't be doing everything :v: Then again Sonic Retro's coverage of all those Chaotix prototypes still amounts to a few bullet points. Nobody having touched those pages in six years. Despite this all-powerful wiki software and huge knowledge base.
This is part of why I'm doing these week by week now, to avoid people being overwhelmed and ultimately not really going through them like in 2008. Although we will be revisiting the 2008 release over the new few years on the new wiki. Thanks! Means a lot. Thanks to Jelq God who donated $20 AUD as well.
Oh wow, no green eyes outside of the Special Stage? This makes it the superior version already! :v: Also, "King Relics" and "Mad Aquatic" instead of "Aquatic Relix"? Now that's intriguing... Thanks for sharing this!
I'm almost tempted to say that the lack of coverage on the Chaotix protos is due to 1.) not very many people have "grown up" with or played Chaotix enough to be able to catalog differences off the top of their head, so jotting notes down is far more intensive; and 2.) I could've sworn when I read through the topics there were some issues running specific protos in emulators. Wasn't one of them super difficult to do without straight-up hacking due to a bug with the sound driver? That said, if people were to write more down there'd be more for me to read and catalog!
There's at least one known issue caused by an HW revision during 32X development: PWM in early versions doesn't work correctly. You hear a loud screeching noise instead of the correct audio. EDIT: I'm not sure if that's actually the case now. The earliest known prototype is 1994/12/07, and the 32X was released in the US on 1994/11/21. Maybe the Chaotix devs were still using old hardware at that point, I don't know...
Nobody grew up with Chaotix - it was on the 32X :specialed: You have to jump into the deep end with this stuff. The problem is, very few people even go near the pool. I mean genuinely here's a job right now for Sega Retro - writing down somewhere which prototypes exist. And then later we can work out build dates, and then obvious changes, and less obvious changes, and someone can dig into the ROM and find something fun. Small starts are better than nothing - a screenshot of every prototype title screen would be a useful first comparison right there and it should take seconds.
You should take a look at what I'm doing with Hidden Palace. I'm basically doing this for all prototypes out there. Sonic Retro is still necessary to go into them in-depth though. I have some ideas about to approach the Chaotix prototypes, as honestly the task is incredibly daunting, more on that later.
I think retro really needs a prototype forums section, its not easy to dig threw the general topics to find prototype/ early build / beta / alpha topics. Everything isn't always up on the Wiki.
This is awesome, drx! Thanks for sharing yet another prototype with us. I've just sent $20 to you, I hope it helps
http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showforum=39 There used to be a proto subforum, it's in the archives now. I think it was created when drx did his massive proto leak in 2008. Since drx is actively releasing stuff again, I think we really need a new proto subforum. Perhaps we should take it to Site Affairs? Anyways, nice to see you back in the game again drx. Looking forward to any surprises you have in store for us!
And it should be - that's the poiiinnntt That being said I hadn't seen the recent contributions from drx and co - the existence of dedicated pages on that Hidden Palace wiki. This is exactly the sort of thing I wanted to see on Sega Retro - whether it's worth re-inventing the wheel now is a different story. Life is better when all the information is in one place, but I don't want to be a dick and undermine the work that's gone into this so far. Also we've had a six year head start so its our own fault for not jumping on this sooner. Top tip though - the ISO date format helps with sorting.