Difference between revisions of "Ship"

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| developer=[[Technopop]]
 
| developer=[[Technopop]]
 
| system=[[Sega Mega Drive]]
 
| system=[[Sega Mega Drive]]
−
| romsize=128kB (prototype)
 
 
| sounddriver=[[GEMS]]
 
| sounddriver=[[GEMS]]
 
| peripherals=
 
| peripherals=
 
| players=1-2
 
| players=1-2
 
| genre=Shoot-'em-Up
 
| genre=Shoot-'em-Up
−
| status=Source code found, compiled
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| status=Source code found and compiled, cartridge found and dumped
 
}}
 
}}
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'''''Ship''''' is an unreleased [[Sega Mega Drive]] game by [[Technopop]]. The source code of a very early prototype was unearthed by drx of Hidden-Palace.org on 24 September 2007 as part of a development kit for [[GEMS]],{{ref|http://www.hidden-palace.org/?releases/43}} implying that the game may have been a mere demonstration of the sound driver; if not, development did not progress much further before it was cancelled.
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'''''Ship''''', also known as '''''Visitors''''', is an unreleased [[Sega Mega Drive]] action game developed by [[Technopop]]. A basic clone of the early arcade game ''[[wikipedia:Spacewar!|Spacewar!]]'', it was commissioned by [[Sega of America]] for distribution to third-party developers as sample code for the then-new 16-bit hardware.
  
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The game is very simple in design. The player controls a ship similar to the one in ''Asteroids''. {{B}} accelerates while the {{left}} and {{right}} allow the ship to turn. When held down, {{A}} activates a shield, and {{C}} allows the ship to fire. Ships are manipulated by the gravitational pull of a star in the centre of the screen, and if a ship touches this star, it will be destroyed.
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==Gameplay==
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Two ships fight with ''[[wiki:Asteroids (video game)|Asteroids]]''-like controls and a toggleable shield, all while maneuvering against the gravitational pull of the star in the screen’s center. Numerous physics and gameplay features can be altered via the options screen, like reversing the gravity or arming each player with infinite lives.
  
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The game defaults to two-players with five lives each. There is a one-player mode in the prototype, however as there are no on-screen enemies the only thing that can occur is death. There are no sounds and the graphics are minimal, however numerous physics and gameplay features can be altered via the options screen, including reversing the gravity or arming each player with infinite lives.
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==History==
 +
[[File:Ship MD cart alt.png|thumb|280px|The cartridge produced for ''Ship'', labelled with a standard [[Sega of America]] visitor's sticker.]]
 +
In the Fall of 1990, [[Technopop]] founder [[Randel Reiss]] was approached by [[Sega of America]]’s VP of Product Development [[Ken Balthaser]] about creating a sample game for the still-young Sega Genesis, whose code could be distributed to interested third-party developers. As Reiss would be the first American outside of Sega to develop for the 16-bit platform, his experience could greatly aid in Sega of America’s kickstarting of the American game development market. Thankfully, he accepted.
  
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==ROM dump status==
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Choosing to recreate one of his favorite games - 1962’s ''[[wikipedia:Spacewar!|Spacewar!]]'' - his first challenge became addressing the significantly-limited [[Mega Drive]] technical documentation he was provided, and with only [[Technopop]]’s self-developed and rudimentary development tools at his disposal. In the span of only ten days, Reiss was able to fully program ''Ship'' with a Sega logo, title screen, detailed menus, sprite rotation and scaling, and two-player gameplay. The title screen was sourced from conceptual artist Gary Jones, and sound effects were created by Reiss verbalizing them into his computer’s microphone.
−
{{romtable|
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−
{{rom|MD|sha1=95bab798ecd769567300e1dddfbed3aeee206e87|size=128kB|source=Compiled source code|prototype=yes|file=Ship (prototype).7z}}
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Upon its completion, a single cartridge of the game was produced. Originally housed in a blank Genesis cartridge, Reiss decided to humorously affix a spare Sega of America visitor's sticker to the cartridge - fitting so cleanly it appeared like a proper cartridge label. Due to this title, and in reference to Technopop’s frequent visits to Sega, Balthaser and others began calling the game '''''Visitors'''''. Its source code was soon purchased by Sega of America and distributed to third-party developers interested in making games for the Sega Genesis. It also saw distribution alongside numerous revisions of the company’s [[GEMS]] music driver.
 +
 
 +
Two copies of ''Ship'' have since been preserved. The first was compiled from the originally-distributed source code, unearthed by drx of Hidden-Palace.org on September 24, 2007 as part of the release of [[GEMS]] 2.5.{{ref|https://hiddenpalace.org/Ship_(demo)}} The second was dumped from the actual cartridge itself - discovered sometime in 2020 by Redditor executiveburrito{{ref|https://www.reddit.com/r/SEGAGENESIS/comments/jxw6xl/mystery_visitor_cartridge/}}, it eventually reached YouTuber [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjFaPUcJU1vwk193mnW_w1w Modern Vintage Gamer] and was finally preserved on December 21, 2020 (with Randel Reiss himself confirming the cartridge’s authenticity).{{ref|1=https://youtu.be/UAJlqOANC0c}}
 +
 
 +
==Quotes==
 +
{{quote|The game is essentially a two-player Space War. I've always been a big fan of the original arcade game and had one of the arcade games for years. In Fall of 1990, Ken Balthaser Sr., the then VP of Development for Sega, asked me, as the first U.S. based licensed developer for the Genesis, if I could make a sample game for general distribution, in source form, to the growing development community on the Genesis. Given extremely limited documentation on the Genesis, I managed to code a fully functional 2-player game, Sega logo, title screen, text menus, sprite animation - scaling & rotation, collision, animated backgrounds, number of lives, sound effects, physics, and of course the game logic.
 +
 
 +
<br>
 +
The title screen uses conceptual artwork by Gary Jones - who did conceptual artwork for me on Spider-man and Zero Tolerance. When I brought the finished Ship game cartridge to Sega headquarters, I was handed yet another visitor sticker - having been on site dozens, and dozens, of times. As a joke, I stuck the visitor sticker on the cartridge and it fit like an official game label. Ever since the demo has had 2 names.
 +
 
 +
<br>
 +
Sega purchased the source code from me and Ship was distributed to every Sega Genesis developer as starting code for their games, for years.|''[[Randel Reiss]]''|ref={{ref|1=https://youtu.be/UAJlqOANC0c}}}}
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==Production credits==
 +
{{creditstable|
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*'''Commissioned by:''' [[Ken Balthaser]]
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*'''Programming:''' [[Randel Reiss]]
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*'''Title Screen Artwork:''' Gary Jones
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| source=Developer statements
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| console=MD
 
}}
 
}}
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==Physical scans==
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{{Scanbox
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| console=Mega Drive
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| item1=Ship MD cart front.png
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| item1name=Cart
 +
| item2=Ship MD cart back.png
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| item2name=Cart
 +
| item3=Ship MD pcb front.png
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| item3name=PCB (front)
 +
| item4=Ship MD pcb back.png
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| item4name=PCB (rear)
 +
}}
 +
 +
==Technical information==
 +
{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Technical information}}
 +
 +
==External links==
 +
*''[https://hiddenpalace.org/Ship_(demo) {{PAGENAME}}]'' release page at [https://hiddenpalace.org Hidden Palace]
 +
*''{{LinkYoutube|video=UAJlqOANC0c|title=I dumped a one of a kind Mystery SEGA Genesis Cartridge}}'' video essay by [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjFaPUcJU1vwk193mnW_w1w Modern Vintage Gamer] at [https://www.youtube.com YouTube]
 +
 +
==References==
 +
<references/>

Latest revision as of 04:11, 4 June 2023

Ship Title.png

Ship
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Developer: Technopop
Genre: Shoot-'em-Up
Number of players: 1-2
Status of prototype(s): Source code found and compiled, cartridge found and dumped
Sound driver: GEMS

Ship, also known as Visitors, is an unreleased Sega Mega Drive action game developed by Technopop. A basic clone of the early arcade game Spacewar!, it was commissioned by Sega of America for distribution to third-party developers as sample code for the then-new 16-bit hardware.

Gameplay

Two ships fight with Asteroids-like controls and a toggleable shield, all while maneuvering against the gravitational pull of the star in the screen’s center. Numerous physics and gameplay features can be altered via the options screen, like reversing the gravity or arming each player with infinite lives.

History

The cartridge produced for Ship, labelled with a standard Sega of America visitor's sticker.

In the Fall of 1990, Technopop founder Randel Reiss was approached by Sega of America’s VP of Product Development Ken Balthaser about creating a sample game for the still-young Sega Genesis, whose code could be distributed to interested third-party developers. As Reiss would be the first American outside of Sega to develop for the 16-bit platform, his experience could greatly aid in Sega of America’s kickstarting of the American game development market. Thankfully, he accepted.

Choosing to recreate one of his favorite games - 1962’s Spacewar! - his first challenge became addressing the significantly-limited Mega Drive technical documentation he was provided, and with only Technopop’s self-developed and rudimentary development tools at his disposal. In the span of only ten days, Reiss was able to fully program Ship with a Sega logo, title screen, detailed menus, sprite rotation and scaling, and two-player gameplay. The title screen was sourced from conceptual artist Gary Jones, and sound effects were created by Reiss verbalizing them into his computer’s microphone.

Upon its completion, a single cartridge of the game was produced. Originally housed in a blank Genesis cartridge, Reiss decided to humorously affix a spare Sega of America visitor's sticker to the cartridge - fitting so cleanly it appeared like a proper cartridge label. Due to this title, and in reference to Technopop’s frequent visits to Sega, Balthaser and others began calling the game Visitors. Its source code was soon purchased by Sega of America and distributed to third-party developers interested in making games for the Sega Genesis. It also saw distribution alongside numerous revisions of the company’s GEMS music driver.

Two copies of Ship have since been preserved. The first was compiled from the originally-distributed source code, unearthed by drx of Hidden-Palace.org on September 24, 2007 as part of the release of GEMS 2.5.[1] The second was dumped from the actual cartridge itself - discovered sometime in 2020 by Redditor executiveburrito[2], it eventually reached YouTuber Modern Vintage Gamer and was finally preserved on December 21, 2020 (with Randel Reiss himself confirming the cartridge’s authenticity).[3]

Quotes

“ The game is essentially a two-player Space War. I've always been a big fan of the original arcade game and had one of the arcade games for years. In Fall of 1990, Ken Balthaser Sr., the then VP of Development for Sega, asked me, as the first U.S. based licensed developer for the Genesis, if I could make a sample game for general distribution, in source form, to the growing development community on the Genesis. Given extremely limited documentation on the Genesis, I managed to code a fully functional 2-player game, Sega logo, title screen, text menus, sprite animation - scaling & rotation, collision, animated backgrounds, number of lives, sound effects, physics, and of course the game logic.


The title screen uses conceptual artwork by Gary Jones - who did conceptual artwork for me on Spider-man and Zero Tolerance. When I brought the finished Ship game cartridge to Sega headquarters, I was handed yet another visitor sticker - having been on site dozens, and dozens, of times. As a joke, I stuck the visitor sticker on the cartridge and it fit like an official game label. Ever since the demo has had 2 names.


Sega purchased the source code from me and Ship was distributed to every Sega Genesis developer as starting code for their games, for years.

„

— Randel Reiss[3]


Production credits

Source:
Developer statements


Physical scans

Mega Drive,

Ship MD cart front.png
Cart
Ship MD cart back.png
Cart
Ship MD pcb front.png
PCB (front)
Ship MD pcb back.png
PCB (rear)

Technical information

Main article: Ship/Technical information.

External links

References

  1. ↑ Hidden Palace: Ship (demo)
  2. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/SEGAGENESIS/comments/jxw6xl/mystery_visitor_cartridge/
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://youtu.be/UAJlqOANC0c
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