Geist Force news!

[Anthony817]

I just read this over at Assembler games forums! Looks like we will have Geist here in a few weeks to 2 months!

Assembler posted:

I wound up having to send the data over by fedex
to the new place.

I got up early today and geist is the focus.

1. We will have contract for discs manufacture
a. We will have good working relationship, so we can get other items
pressed no question.
2. I will be encoding videos for people today to see, full intro and all.
a. There was some panzer dragoon files on the disc I will release as well
3. Thank you for your patience as we have made this happen!

Congratulations on the long road but we are THERE and I expect copies returned in TWO WEEKS for shipping.

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/sh ... post539290

For those that don't know, Geist Force is an unreleased rail shooter game like Starfox, Panzer Dragoon, and REZ for the Sega Dreamcast.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV4OWz1bBiI[/youtube]
Note, the video above was takes on a PC emulator, not real Dreamcast hardware, so some problems with textures show up, but its in 1080p resolution.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyU1YGT9hEQ[/youtube]

Just a little while longer folks, the wait is almost over!

[pcwzrd13]

WOW! That looks pretty sweet! Can't wait to try it out! The graphics look amazing. Very colorful too.

[Anthony817]

Yeah, this game really pushes the system to its limits, so if you can, make sure you have sufficient air to your DC, as it can slow down when it heats up, and can shut off your system on certain scenes.

Assembler said you might as well get an aftermarket PC fan and overclock your DC.

A solution is to just stop shooting your weapons when you see the game stutter.

[pcwzrd13]

Yeah, this game really pushes the system to its limits, so if you can, make sure you have sufficient air to your DC, as it can slow down when it heats up, and can shut off your system on certain scenes.

Assembler said you might as well get an aftermarket PC fan and overclock your DC.

A solution is to just stop shooting your weapons when you see the game stutter.

Hmmm, didn't know that. That kinda stinks. How hard is it to overclock your DC?

[madmax2069]

Yeah, this game really pushes the system to its limits, so if you can, make sure you have sufficient air to your DC, as it can slow down when it heats up, and can shut off your system on certain scenes.

Assembler said you might as well get an aftermarket PC fan and overclock your DC.

A solution is to just stop shooting your weapons when you see the game stutter.

I do not really see anything in this game that would be pushing the Dreamcasts limits. I think it could be straining the Dreamcasts hardware due to unoptimized code more so then the effects or other things.

[Anthony817]

I will post exactly what Assembler said.

Some news on the fixed version. Geist Force code is pre-dreamcast hardware. It
has no vmu, no rumble, no pause.

It also has gigantic draw distance and more polygons than most dreamcast
games I have ever seen.

Having played it extensively for testing, it is possible to overload and overheat the
dreamcast with geist force.

It may be necessary to add a fan to the dreamcast for this game, and for optimal
gameplay OVERCLOCK the dreamcast.

It is fully playable on a normal unmodded dreamcast, it's just required you stop
shooting during slowdown, then machine does not overheat and reset.

Some example:

In one stage the game spawns 4-5 rotating black hole galaxies and
5-10 gigantic planetary fortresses. Add in enemies and the game
slows down considerably. I would consider the visuals to be XBOX
quality and pushes the dreamcast something terrible.

Note: Metal heat pipe units seem to be immune from overheat.

Hmmm, didn't know that. That kinda stinks. How hard is it to overclock your DC?

Not sure about that one. Best to ask somebody else.

[elmagicochrisg]

I will post exactly what Assembler said.

Some news on the fixed version. Geist Force code is pre-dreamcast hardware. It
has no vmu, no rumble, no pause.

It also has gigantic draw distance and more polygons than most dreamcast
games I have ever seen.

Having played it extensively for testing, it is possible to overload and overheat the
dreamcast with geist force.

It may be necessary to add a fan to the dreamcast for this game, and for optimal
gameplay OVERCLOCK the dreamcast.

It is fully playable on a normal unmodded dreamcast, it's just required you stop
shooting during slowdown, then machine does not overheat and reset.

Some example:

In one stage the game spawns 4-5 rotating black hole galaxies and
5-10 gigantic planetary fortresses. Add in enemies and the game
slows down considerably. I would consider the visuals to be XBOX
quality and pushes the dreamcast something terrible.

Note: Metal heat pipe units seem to be immune from overheat.

Hmmm, didn't know that. That kinda stinks. How hard is it to overclock your DC?

Not sure about that one. Best to ask somebody else.

It's not the overclocking part that is difficult, it's keeping the processors cool afterwards...

[mazonemayu]

just throw your DC open & put a huge fan on it, I did that once for 3 months when the cooler of an old pc died & I didn't have money to replace it

[pcwzrd13]

Just looked up an overclocking tutorial. It looks like I would have to buy a few parts and do some soldering. I could probably do it but not sure if it's worth it for just one game. I can still play it but as the website says, I'll just have to stop firing when the game slows down to prevent overheating.

[Neohound]

I'm still hoping that one day the game will be optimised to run a bit better. As for now, I won't be water cooling my DC, just taking care not to overheat it in the first place.

I see it more like an impressive interactive tech demo rather than a completed game. There's enough eye candy to keep me interested in whatever form it's in at present. I'm sure I'll enjoy the ride.

There is an incredible amount of detail in the models and especially the the background textures. As someone else has said the graphics are reminiscent of a late Xbox game rather than an early Dreamcast one.