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Genre: 3D Shooter
Developer: Rabbit Punch / Sega
Publisher: assemblergames not official
Data: August 27, 2012
CD: 1
Format: .cdi
Selfboot: Yes
Леталка стрелялка, чем-то напоминающая Star Fox на SNES. По графике очень даже ничего. Но забагована сильно. Так что играть только для ознакомления, а не ради удовольствия.
Мне тоже удалось поучаствовать в проекте, по получению работоспособной версии этой игры. Поначалу она не хотела запускаться на самой консоли, хотя на девкитах шла нормально. Форум assembler не дал мне полную версию игры, а лишь часть, которую необходимо модифицировать, чтобы игра запускалась на консоли. Я связался с лучшим мастером в области SH4 ассемблера и попросил у него помощи. После некоторых тестов в запуске, у меня кончились болванки и проект перешел к Alex. Они с хакером добились запуска игры и отдали её на форум assembler. Спустя полтора года, американцы всё-таки решили проблемы с тормозами игры и прочим и выпустили её на диске, наподобие официального релиза.
Geist Force is an unreleased Sega Dreamcast game, one of the first games to be announced for the console, and also one of the first to be cancelled.
Not much was known about the game for many years, other than it was a space-ship shooter similar to the likes of Star Fox 64 on the Nintendo 64. It was featured in several magazines and a couple of videos were released, but the game ultimately did not surface for reasons not yet known.
The game was first shown at E3 1998, then again at the 1998 Tokyo Game Show where it was reportedly 80% complete. The two versions differed significantly, with speculation that the E3 version was entirely pre-rendred and used less than "30% of the Dreamcast's power". The project was originaly due to be released as a launch title for the system in North America, but was cancelled sometime after mid-1999 after interventions by Bernie Stolar.
A prototype was acquired by ASSEMblergames after a series of donations in the first half of 2011, with the intention of releasing the game to the general public, with donors receving specially-pressed discs capable of running on Dreamcast hardware. As of early 2012 this has not yet occurred, primarily due to problems in the disc-pressing stage.
Every real Dreamcast fan knows about Geist Force, a game that was originally going to be a launch title for the Dreamcast in Japan. It’s said that this was the first ever Dreamcast game to be in development. The truth is that Geist Force was in development before the final Dreamcast specs were even agreed upon. Could this be the reason why such an early game has such amazing texture work and features effects not seen in any other Dreamcast game to date?
Unfortunately, Geist Force was never released. Allegedly, Bernie Stolar (a man well known for making the wrong decision) said the game wasn’t good enough for a launch title then had it canceled. However there are other stories that say otherwise but given that Bernie knew nothing about what gamers wanted I can honestly believe that story. Some sources say the game wasn’t released because Sega Japan were not “impressed” with the game. This may be true since the game is basically Panzer Dragoon set in a Sci-Fi world rather than a fantasy world as seen in the Panzer Dragoon games. Maybe Sega Japan thought Geist would clash with their Panzer Dragoon series? It’s common knowledge that Sega’s US and Japanese divisions were always bickering.
Geist Force was developed by a US Sega team under the name of Rabbit Punch? And featured CG movies by Netter Digital Entertainment (NDEI), the team behind the effects in the 90’s TV show, Babylon 5. The game went through a lot of changes over the years it was in development. It’s hard to say when development started but it is safe to say that Geist Force was originally intended to be released 10th December 1998 in Japan. The game couldn’t be finished in time for a Japanese release so it was rescheduled for a US launch title on the 9th September 1999. I have my doubts if the game was even on schedule for that release date.
This build I have here is from March 1999 yet only the 1st stage seems to be complete but still buggy. Stage 2 looks like it’s well in to development but yet to be finished. Stage 3 can’t be accessed (as of yet) and stage 4 only lets you progress for about 10 seconds before you hit an unavoidable hill resulting it your ship getting stuck. Stage 5 has a very long real time introduction however there is no collision detection on this stage allowing you to fly right through all the scenery. The stage ends as you come to an entrance of what seems to be a tunnel leading downwards. Stage 6 is very early in development. So early that it has no ground, walls, mountains, or anything. Only 2 poorly textured big ships and one un-textured battle ship. If the names of the disc files are anything to go by this ship should be the Queen Battle ship that you battle against at the end of the game.
So how good is Geist Force as a game? Well, it’s hard to say since only stage 1 is fully playable. I can say that if stage one is anything to go by then this could have been a very good game that fans of Panzer Dragoon would have loved. The presentation is very good with your co-pilots talking to each other as you fly through the stage just like in Star Fox and the well choreographed cut scenes within the levels taking the player on to the next section of the stage. Even the avatars of your co-pilots are well made. The original avatars in earlier builds of the game has that generic US military vibe about them but these newer ones are far more Sci-Fi looking. There’s even one guy who’s face is made of constantly changing ASCII smiles. I can’t believe Sega have never used that concept again in a game. It works so well yet so original.
Unfortunately, Geist Force was never released. Allegedly, Bernie Stolar (a man well known for making the wrong decision) said the game wasn’t good enough for a launch title then had it canceled. However there are other stories that say otherwise but given that Bernie knew nothing about what gamers wanted I can honestly believe that story. Some sources say the game wasn’t released because Sega Japan were not “impressed” with the game. This may be true since the game is basically Panzer Dragoon set in a Sci-Fi world rather than a fantasy world as seen in the Panzer Dragoon games. Maybe Sega Japan thought Geist would clash with their Panzer Dragoon series? It’s common knowledge that Sega’s US and Japanese divisions were always bickering.
Geist Force was developed by a US Sega team under the name of Rabbit Punch? And featured CG movies by Netter Digital Entertainment (NDEI), the team behind the effects in the 90’s TV show, Babylon 5. The game went through a lot of changes over the years it was in development. It’s hard to say when development started but it is safe to say that Geist Force was originally intended to be released 10th December 1998 in Japan. The game couldn’t be finished in time for a Japanese release so it was rescheduled for a US launch title on the 9th September 1999. I have my doubts if the game was even on schedule for that release date.
This build I have here is from March 1999 yet only the 1st stage seems to be complete but still buggy. Stage 2 looks like it’s well in to development but yet to be finished. Stage 3 can’t be accessed (as of yet) and stage 4 only lets you progress for about 10 seconds before you hit an unavoidable hill resulting it your ship getting stuck. Stage 5 has a very long real time introduction however there is no collision detection on this stage allowing you to fly right through all the scenery. The stage ends as you come to an entrance of what seems to be a tunnel leading downwards. Stage 6 is very early in development. So early that it has no ground, walls, mountains, or anything. Only 2 poorly textured big ships and one un-textured battle ship. If the names of the disc files are anything to go by this ship should be the Queen Battle ship that you battle against at the end of the game.
So how good is Geist Force as a game? Well, it’s hard to say since only stage 1 is fully playable. I can say that if stage one is anything to go by then this could have been a very good game that fans of Panzer Dragoon would have loved. The presentation is very good with your co-pilots talking to each other as you fly through the stage just like in Star Fox and the well choreographed cut scenes within the levels taking the player on to the next section of the stage. Even the avatars of your co-pilots are well made. The original avatars in earlier builds of the game has that generic US military vibe about them but these newer ones are far more Sci-Fi looking. There’s even one guy who’s face is made of constantly changing ASCII smiles. I can’t believe Sega have never used that concept again in a game. It works so well yet so original.
Control wise there’s quite a lot to do. Check out the list of controls below.
A = Standard laser
A (Hold) = Lock on laser just like in Panzer Dragoon
B = Multiple missile burst
X = Short Speed Boost
X (tap x 4) = Barrel Roll
Y = Air break
A&X together = Lets off a smart bomb
L = Bank left
R = Bank right
L&R together = Quickly moves the ship up
L&R&STAR = Pause
Analog stick = Moves the ship about
D-pad Up = Resets the “B” button multiple missile burst to default
D-Pad Right = Special missile burst 1
D-Pad Right x2 = Special missile burst 2
You can also use the keyboard in port two for activating the ships weapons. All the controls are the same as using the controller apart from the “Z” key. This acts as a rapid fire laser. Very cool. The F1 key will change your 100% shield in to a 9999 points shield which in other words means it will take a very long time before you run out of energy.
As I said, it's a real shame that Geist Force was never completed but at least all these years later we can finally sample what it may have had to offer. Check out the high quality image gallery and video in the links at the top of this page for some Geist goodness.
A = Standard laser
A (Hold) = Lock on laser just like in Panzer Dragoon
B = Multiple missile burst
X = Short Speed Boost
X (tap x 4) = Barrel Roll
Y = Air break
A&X together = Lets off a smart bomb
L = Bank left
R = Bank right
L&R together = Quickly moves the ship up
L&R&STAR = Pause
Analog stick = Moves the ship about
D-pad Up = Resets the “B” button multiple missile burst to default
D-Pad Right = Special missile burst 1
D-Pad Right x2 = Special missile burst 2
You can also use the keyboard in port two for activating the ships weapons. All the controls are the same as using the controller apart from the “Z” key. This acts as a rapid fire laser. Very cool. The F1 key will change your 100% shield in to a 9999 points shield which in other words means it will take a very long time before you run out of energy.
As I said, it's a real shame that Geist Force was never completed but at least all these years later we can finally sample what it may have had to offer. Check out the high quality image gallery and video in the links at the top of this page for some Geist goodness.
