DreamArena 3 - New Browser Development

[Roareye]

Great work!
Maybe it is worth adding a VMU collection by @Streeker to one of the subpages with his permission - he prepared a nice swf that works great in DP and links to restored Dricas pages.
Here is VMU Archive topic : https://www.dreamcast-talk.com/forum/vi ... f=2&t=5276

I can't find any links to download the VMU collection anywhere in the topic. Maybe I missed it?

I'd be happy to include DLC downloadables - that way people can download to VMU without bother direct from the site. Since I'm including the VMU manager, it makes it easy for people to manage their VMUs as they save new data too. I'm not up on my DLC to be fair, so any assistance with that would be much appreciated.

[deluxux]

https://www.dreamcast-talk.com/forum/vi ... 22&t=13068

[Roareye]

A few screen grabs from my mobile phone (sorry) of the revamped game pages. Quick question, what sort of features would you guys want to see written on game pages? I'm struggling with what info to put in them lol

[-drez01-]

Loving the pixel art! Those are some thicc rappies

[Roareye]

Loving the pixel art! Those are some thicc rappies

Thanks, none of them are mine but they're all great. Oddly the Rappys and Locust are from Phantasy Star 4 on the Mega Drive! I couldn't find any other creatures that jumped over to PSO though.

Ryo is a custom set (I think) from the Spriters Resource and Ivy/Sophitia are from a cancelled Soul Calibur II mobile game.

[Roareye]

https://youtu.be/z3sGLEaCTLc
New comparison video of some refinements to DreamArena 3, via both Dreamkey 4 BETA and Dream Passport 4 BETA browsers. Still lots of pages and features missing, but it's coming together.

My replacement BeharBros Gekko cable arrived (Thanks BeharBros!) so I was able to take footage at the correct 4:3 aspect ratio at last. This very clearly shows the height advantage to Dreamkey over Dream Passport, however I modified the 4 announcement images to show a clean set in both browsers, and all pages have been/will be modified to work flawlessly across both versions.

Essentially Dreamkey will be the best possible browser to use, but BBA users will have to use Dream Passport as Dreamkey isn't BBA compatible - I'm hoping to ensure that it's not a weaker visual experience as much as possible by tailoring the site to fit both.

There are big changes coming up soon in regards to a standalone DLC section, I'm looking to incorporate Dreamcast Now so you can see current players online direct from the browser, and I'm still trying to find a purpose for the game pages. Some of those navi buttons may change if the functions can't be rebuilt (VoIP Calling, Private Messaging etc - they require knowledge of SSL and other such coding I know literally zero about). At the end is a bit of a test page, designed out of an early meme, to test how close to online video I could get

Let me know what you guys think! ^_^ And any suggestions for what info you might like to see on the site.

[Treamcaster]

Absolutely love this project! The Arcade page is super well made, the music, the animations... not to mention the upcoming functionalities.
Looking forward to the DLC section and Dreamcast Live/now integration. Could it be possible to add a VMU section as well (featuring Streeker's VMU ARCHIVE files)? Maybe it would also be cool to have a link section to all the upcoming official and defunct dreamcast game websites (I know there's a revival project underway, so these could be used). Also another link section to dreampipe, dreamcast live, dreamcast-talk, dreamcast junkyard and all the other awesome dreamcast fan websites/blogs/servers.
Could be nice to have an IRC channel. A section dedicated to old dreamcast magazine articles featuring interviews to Sega staff and other curiosities; also dreamcast game tips; news about game translations and Atomiswave conversions... Haha, I'll stop for now, this is a lot already Keep up the great work Roareye!

[Roareye]

Absolutely love this project! The Arcade page is super well made, the music, the animations... not to mention the upcoming functionalities.

Thanks Treamcaster! ^_^ I've just finished up the DLC section, and been a bit clever. With some HTML trickery I have been able to play a single track (uninterrupted) across multiple page loads in that section. When you go into the DLC area, the music will start and it won't stop until you leave the DLC section, no matter how many DLC pages you load (There's not many, one for the main page, one for the Games List and one for each of the DLC enable games). Just tested it on hardware and it works! Huzzah for trickery! Here's a video of the trick working on real hardware ^_^
https://youtu.be/FzYPRJkO4q0

Could it be possible to add a VMU section as well (featuring Streeker's VMU ARCHIVE files)?

I discussed this with -drez01-, who is the person rebuilding and recompiling the browser software (I'm literally just buggering about with HTML pages and doing the website graphics), and we've had to take note of space on the disc being at a premium. Dream Passport isn't too bad, as it only has one language, but Dreamkey's multi-language option (which I'd like to keep for everyone's ease of use, especially with the request for Spanish earlier in the thread) takes up quite a bit more space.

I downloaded Streeker's VMU Archive and it's only 22MB (approximately) but I haven't booted it up. To be honest with the DLC on the site already, I'm not sure what can be gained by adding it. Is there something more to it I'm missing? Is there a reason any additional files couldn't be on the server instead of on the disc? Considering Dreamkey and Dream Passport come with a built-in VMU Management tool so it wouldn't be needed for that.

Maybe it would also be cool to have a link section to all the upcoming official and defunct dreamcast game websites (I know there's a revival project underway, so these could be used).

Considering I'm one of the main people reviving the defunct Dreamcast websites, I'd say that's a dead certain Dreampipe are hosting this currently, and if they're happy to it'll likely remain on their servers - as such the revived sites will be linked as a matter of course.

Also another link section to dreampipe, dreamcast live, dreamcast-talk, dreamcast junkyard and all the other awesome dreamcast fan websites/blogs/servers.

If you could get me a list with the DC compatible URL addresses, I'll compile a Affiliates section of some kind and add those, no problem.

Could be nice to have an IRC channel.

So Dream Passport can handle IRCs natively, I believe it's the only browser that can. That being said it is currently offline, or perhaps I just need an IRC url to test it with. As I've never used IRCs (or at least haven't for over 15 years) could you give me a link of some kind to test it with? If I can get that feature running it'll be made available on the Passport version of the browser.

A section dedicated to old dreamcast magazine articles featuring interviews to Sega staff and other curiosities

Hmm, I'll be honest I'm not sure on adding these. Might be interesting as a later addition, but it's a monstrous undertaking and I don't have the source materials - though I could likely find some of them online. I'm just curious as to why you'd read them via the Dreamcast's low resolution browser instead of via a modern PC or the real thing?

...also dreamcast game tips

I could add some. What sort of tips? GameFAQs kinda removes any point in trying to be a one-stop shop for that kinda thing, but perhaps some more niche tips, such as Widescreen Codebreaker codes, or advice of which versions of games to get to get the most features (Japanese Power Stone 2's online multiplayer, US NFL 2K2's online multiplayer, Japanese Soul Calibur's online leaderboards and DLC, Japanese Buggy Heat's DLC and leaderboards etc)

News about game translations and Atomiswave conversions...

Might make a cool section in itself actually. I wasn't thinking of doing any "news" style stuff because the layouts always have to be bland as hell and tbh if you're gonna read news you'll read it on mobile or PC (I'm also a screenplay writer, not a journalist, so any writing is focussed in that direction). But having a page noting what is available and where to get them would certainly be very useful.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give the site a go over and see how much can be added

[Infomaniac95]

Been doing some reading, and checking out videos of your work on DreamArena...

This might legit be the coolest things i've seen in a while. I already found it cool how the Dreamcast can go online, and do various things that would take a little while for other consoles to adapt into their arsenal (online gaming, downloading dlc, web browsing, etc.), but to see a website that is basically designed just for use on Dreamcast, is amazing. These videos make me wish DreamArena 2.0 didn't get scrapped, but I am more than happy to see you are reviving the idea for the modern day.

I wish you the best of luck on finishing it all, and I hope we can all experience it on our Dreamcast console's for ourselves, in due time!

[Roareye]

Could be nice to have an IRC channel.

Well, I managed to get the IRC functions working on Dream Passport 3! Because of the language problems it was tricky to navigate, but once the browser is translated it should be a lot easier. It does require you to save the IRC link to your VMU before you can use it though, so remember to have 2 Blocks handy to do that - otherwise you won't be able to connect anywhere.

I connected to Dreampipe's IRC at irc.choopa.net:6667/#dc-chat - it connected and let me leave a message. Huzzah! Integrated IRC exists in the browser already ^_^ Here's some shots;

When this is ready to go, and fully translated, remember to go into the browser settings and turn OFF the disconnect timer. It might murder your enjoyment of the IRC chat otherwise

I'm not going to set up my own IRC, mostly because I don't have the time or patience to run one. However there are multiple other IRCs for Dreamcast, I'm happy to have those stored as pre-set links (if possible) in the refit browser to ensure conversation is easily accessible.

DREAMCAST NOW
I'm going to work with -drez01- to see what we can do about connecting with Dreamcast Now in the browser. I certainly can't do it on the website itself right now. The reason is that the Dreamcast Now website actually uses modern coding (CSS, modern in relation to DC) that the Dreamcast doesn't understand - so the DC simply doesn't try to load it. The code I'm using works, as it shows the Dreamcast Now site in my PC browsers, but the Dreamcast itself won't.

Does anyone know of a Dreamcast-friendly version of DC Now? I couldn't find a link to one. If I could get a link to a DC-friendly version of Dreamcast Now, I could very easily integrate it into the site.