Toejam & Earl 3 - Dreamcast Beta

This is really cool, so many promising titles were cancelled towards the end of the Dreamcast, seeing this sort of thing is a neat look behind the scenes in terms of that time period.

 

GDI files do not need to be cracked on NullDC only CDI files need to protection and media type checks removed. If he made a proper GDI with the raw files if the emulator supported the game it would boot. If he made a CDI and didn't get past all protections and checks of course it will fail. This studio is known for some of their advanced protection when it came to converting a GD-ROM to Mil-CD format. Thus if a GDI was properly made there would be no protections needed to by bypassed for testing on NullDC is what I was trying to say as I have yet to see any GDI that needs to be modified to work if supported by the emulator.

 

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I'm working with FamilyGuy behind the scenes at the moment and he has the resources that he needs. He also knows some russian hackers that can help.
However I'm always open for help from others

A quick status update :
Selfbooting is not realy progressing at the moment but as I said, FamilyGuy is helping out on that
I'm planning to record and upload some gameplay footage tomorrow as I've access to the recording equipment now

 

As CDI files are a representation of a MIL-CD and GDI files represent a GD-ROM, using GDI files will likely pass the copy protection tests while CDI files would fail. Remember, the Dreamcast has different mechanisms for booting MIL-CDs vs. GD-ROMs, and that is what the copy protection would be checking for.


Raziel is the author of nullDC btw

 

Amazing find. Dreamcast just keeps on giving. I know there are also at least semi playable builds of Colin McCrae Rally (2.0 I think) and Take the Bullet still out there too but never expected to see this. Great stuff!

 

Okay, that I didn't know (the Raziel is the author part that is)

Is there any easy way to make an GDI image ? or do I just have to dump it from the emulator through the serial port (the game is only about ~110MB)

 

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I can make you a gdi image quite easily, it may prove better for nullDC. Though it won't help for real consoles.

As for atreyu, he's quite productive and good at making efficient sorttxt.txt,but I don't think he can nail that one, it's a pretty fucking weird 1st_read.bin... Weirder than Geist. I think they implemented a new copy protection on that one, at least one I've never seen. Maybe there's some black magic going on in the ip.bin or whatever, idk for now. I'll make some tests, and try to obtain an un-copyprotected bootbin via ramdumps, once I get nullDC working in a vm (linux-only here) but I'm afraid this game will require proper disassembling and reverse engineering, to which a friend of mine could help.

Maybe simply making a stupid gdi could works though!

Cheers!

FG

 

Interesting, I expected this game to be ultra friggin big . I guess they did a pretty clever job programming wise, with maybe lots of dynamic generated content (ToeJam & Earl signature) and hardly to none voice acting.

 

It's a great find getting the beta version of TJ&E3 for DC in a DevKit, ZakhooiTM.I wish good luck to get it to work in a disc. ^_^

 

Yep that and lacking any FMV would play a big part.

 

Well when you put it that way... I've never had the tools to make a GDI from the raw data and whilst it is not a method I would agree with, the easiest way to make a GDI would be to burn the files to a GD-R, perhaps see if they will work with a System-Disc 2 on a retail unit for the fun of it and then rip the files in whatever method the owner has available (Serial/BBA/SD). I'd be happy to loan my personal System-Disc 2 for this purpose should it be needed, provided the user pays for tracked shipping each way and I get it back sooner rather than later.

The majority of the issues were in relation to firstly finding the time to get involved whilst having a real life to deal with, then finding a plant willing to press the unlicensed discs and the fiasco, if any, was the confusion over over donations and their convolution with the site fundraiser and how it would all work because ASSEMbler seemed to make the process up as he went along (or at least wasn't very clear with explaining his plan from the start). There was certainly no Geist Force fiasco in relation to the cracking the files to make them work on a retail unit.

Performance was not our concern, preservation of the files, their structure and getting them out there was. The less tampering with the integrity of the product the better the preservation of its idiosyncrasies. Whilst I'm sure a more efficient file order helps, 200 copies of the original pressing are out there and I've yet to see anything close to 20 dead DC's, let alone 200. I'd be surprised if there were even 2. If anything would be to blame for dead DCs, it would be the fact the game uses system calls and functions for prerelease Dreamcast hardware which the retail units are not equipped to deal with or even plain old coincidence due to the fact the particular system had suffered some age related wear and tear and working it hard used up its last legs. I'm sure the overclocking some users did in advance of the release certainly didn't help matters any either.

There is a clear distinction as to the nature of the Geist Force fiasco and whilst neither the process nor product was perfect, we got there in the end with lessons learned for the future but ultimately they have no bearing on the task at hand so I will not let your stupidity tarnish the hard work and sacrifices of all involved.

Also a note worth mentioning, whilst atreyu187 is a nice enough chap as a person, he isn't what I would call having the technical expertise to be a hacker or cracker, more of a perfectly competent person using the tools provided for their pursuit of being a quality and/or performance perfectionist, though even my mother, with no technical expertise whatsoever could fire up an app and arrange a sort file in any of the different schools of thought for best performance.

To put the above into perspective, for the Ball Breakers Dreamcast beta, atreyu187 wanted to copy the higher quality movie files from the retail Sony PlayStation version of MoHo. Sure it may make for a better looking product in the end, but the Frankenstein project would be even further away from the beta as originally presented and as such I could not condone his actions.

There is also the general perceived ungrateful attitude (which was perhaps unintentional) such as demanding GDI's instead of CDIs whilst paying nothing for them and then speculating on and publishing suspected names of group members who wished to remain anonymous (I will never confirm or deny the identity of an individual who wished to remain anonymous). As a result of this, a few dozen beta releases from several different collectors which are ready to roll have been postponed indefinitely at their behest so you do have a lot to thank atreyu187 for indeed.

Good to hear

 

Vid is up, posted in main post

 

Thank you very much for this.I own and love ToeJam and Earl 3 on the xbox so this is quite a treat for me.Hmm to be honest Id dare to say it looks like it plays better on the dreamcast. Looks great on the dreamcast, nice to see the dreamcast flex its graphical muscle with what would have been a late in its life cycle game.

 

This game looks like it plays great, im actually surprised with how good it looks. Thanks for the upload

 

OMG!! Holy c**p amazing!!
I could die just if the music could be ripped and available to download!!

 

Yeah, the graphics are very nice, the video was even recorded via composite, VGA looks even better

 

looks awesome...can't wait to play it

 

Holy crap! That video really shows what the Dreamcast can do. Such a shame the console wasn't given a chance to show what it could do (Shenmue aside), I can't understand why this was cancelled by Floigan Bros was given the green light? Also, Sega commissioned NBA 2K2 for release in Europe and that was by Visual Concepts if I remember correctly surely a platformer that was already established on the Megadrive would have made more sense rather than a new franchise attempt and a sport not exactly that popular over this side of the pond - although I'm not taking anything away from either since they are both fun but this looks like a safer option at the time.