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Pier Solar about to ship!
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13-12-2010 8:43pm#1
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Retr0gamer wrote: »It's no phantasy star 4 and the frametrate is crap.Retr0gamer wrote: »Hmm. Think I might take the plunge if they get copies in.
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Master of the UniverseJoin Date:Posts: 35097
Right now I just want the damn thing so I can see if they included my name in the booklet/credits.
Okay it'll take me a while to see the credits but the booklet will be a pretty quick confirmation.
Sad, I know... but I've been waiting two years!
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Master of the UniverseJoin Date:Posts: 35097
Retr0gamer wrote: »I just hope the game is good and not a load of arse. Sure if it turns out bad at least you can be sure you can sell it for a lot of money.
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Nice little interview with the developers here. Wonder what the January surprise is that's mentioned below, maybe a 2nd print run. Hopefully o1s1n you get yours before Chrimbo and can give us a review of sorts.
With only days before Pier Solar arrives on our doorsteps, RetroCollect has secured an interview with the developers, WaterMelon Games. Discussing the ins and outs of the game, the delayed release and what to expect.
Having waited for quite some time, our inner 16 bit child can once again relive the excitement of a brand new game arriving for the Sega Mega Drive. So without further ado, let's jump straight into the deep end and find out what the developers have to say about their project, Pier Solar. We will be speaking to both Zebbe and Fonzie from the team, who had plenty to say about their project.
Interview with WaterMelon Games
Having started out as a relatevely small project on Eidolon's Inn under the name 'Tavern RPG', did you ever anticipate the game seeing a worldwide commercial release spanning multiple versions and regions?
Zebbe: It was always the aim when I joined, but being so far away from where the game stands today then, my mind couldn't grasp the dream actually becoming true. But we continued to work and never gave up, although the thought often came up. Even at the beginning of this year, I was unsure if the game would ever see the light of the day. But months later, after testing had begun and all pieces finally fell to place, the confidence grew with each day and it just felt better and better. As I'm writing this, I still haven't the feeling of the dream coming true, although the game is out. Nobody has received their copy yet, and my copies were sent yesterday. So, it will be an extraordinary feeling to look forward to.
Developing for a no longer supported system must have had it's ups and downs. How did you tackle programming issues with no support and were any of the Watermelon team ex-Megadrive developers from the 90s?
Zebbe: It took Fonzie one year of hit and miss to get a stable file load on Mega-CD, because there was no documentation and he didn't hack any existing code. But doing Mega Drive programming was much easier since the system is a strong and simple hardware. After many years of development and turning the system inside out, WaterMelon probably found some hardware bugs not even Sega knew of!
One of our artists, Armen Mardirossian, did some character art for Working Designs. Steve Snake, creator of the Kega Fusion emulator, had worked on games like NBA Jam TE. He provided us some programming support.
During development, there were many issues that arose unexpectedly delaying the release of Pier Solar. Which one in particular made the biggest impact on the project as a whole and how did the team address this issue?
Zebbe: There was always a problem with people not delivering the goods. People promising things on their mothers' graves, then disappearing like save files on third party PSOne memory cards. It cost a lot of time, frustration and extra work to get people to do things we eventually often had to do ourselves.
Pier Solar is the first Sega Megadrive game to combine the use of the Sega Mega Drive and Mega-CD hardware simultaneously to provide a richer experience. How did this untapped functionality come around and can you give an example of it's benefits in-game?
Fonzie: It's because of my research on Mega Cart. I knew it was possible. And since nobody in the team wanted to drop the disc audio... well I just put on the table the idea that the disc would not contain a Mega-CD game but just audio, and thus would be optional. Keeping all advantages of Mega-CD for audio department, and all the cartridge advantages on the graphics department. All in a single game (and not two).
Zebbe: The PCM soundtrack sounds amazing! Fonzie, our programmer, told me it was higher quality than even Lunar: Eternal Blue on the Mega-CD. But let's not forget the ambient sound effects, such as crowd noise at markets, hammering men etc. which provide a richer atmosphere and overall more unique Mega Drive experience like many other of the game's features.
The game is housed on an impressive 64Meg cartridge (yet again, the first of it's kind on the Sega Mega Drive if we are not mistaken). What required the most space within the game and was the audio moved onto the CD included because of this?
Zebbe: The game actually started out as a CD only game. Then the idea was to have one CD version and one cartridge version. But it was later changed to cart with optional CD because of the memory limitations of the Mega-CD. There is cartridge music on the cartridge, but it came quite late in the development. Tiido's sound engine really saved the cartridge sound. What takes most space in the game is definitely the graphics, as with any game of the era. What really caused lots of discussion because of the memory limit, were the animated monsters in battle. They ate megs for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
On the issue of size, Pier Solar has often been claimed to hold at least 50 hours of gameplay according to a few statements floating around the internet. Do these rumours hold any validity and what can gamers expect from the experience as a whole?
Zebbe: The game should take around 20-30 hours to complete, depending on if you take it slow and explore or move onward as fast as possible, do sidequests or not, grind or not etc. Gamers can expect many, many pleasant surprises they have never seen in any Mega Drive game before. They can expect a traditional JRPG with many new ideas and a fresh feel.
You originally offered both a Standard and Posterity edition of the game, for PAL, NTSC and JP gamers. How many copies of the game exist for each region and has a second print run been planned for those that missed out?
Zebbe: The number of copies is currently confidential. Perhaps it will be revealed in the future. Regarding a second print run, we have a surprise coming in January...
Finally, can the retro gaming community live in hope that there might be another project from the Watermelon team in the near future, or has Pier Solar been more than enough for a lifetime?
Zebbe: Most team members are certain to do another project, but you will see that. Hopefully we will announce something new next year!
Thanks to WaterMelon Games for the fantastic insight into the project overall. If you haven't already pre-ordered Pier Solar, we wish you luck in securing a copy soon via eBay or the potential second run being announced. Until then, await our official review of Pier Solar once it arrives.0 -
Master of the UniverseJoin Date:Posts: 35097
The plan was that if it arrived for Christmas I'd bring my Nomad out to my parents and spend a few hours playing it. (I love the buzz of a new game on christmas)
But seeing as I'd be missing out on the Sega CD functionality I might just save playing it until I get home.0 -
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Master of the UniverseJoin Date:Posts: 35097
Nice one!
As much as I hate to say it, it's worth buying for the resale value alone. The original copy is currently selling for between $120 - $150 on ebay. There's one even up listed for €300. Not that it'll sell at the moment, but it shows you the way things might go.0 -
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Master of the UniverseJoin Date:Posts: 35097
It arrived! It finally arrived! I just got a grainy text message from my mam and you can just about make out the Pier Solar logo.
Unfortunately I probably won't be able to pick it up until Saturday. But knowing it didn't get lost in the post between here and China is enough to make me happy right now 0 -
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It arrived! It finally arrived! I just got a grainy text message from my mam and you can just about make out the Pier Solar logo.
Unfortunately I probably won't be able to pick it up until Saturday. But knowing it didn't get lost in the post between here and China is enough to make me happy right now
1) - Don't even open it, pack it away & leave it be.
2) - Rely on your 2nd edition copy, which will obviously be worth less in future.
3) - Add time, say twenty years.
4) - Retrieve the 1st edition, list on ebay.
5) - No need for ??? with this one
6) - Retire to your own private manmade island on the bahamas, which you had designed & built in the shape of a Megadrive.0 -
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I say go for it dude. How else will you see if your name really is in the credits.
Heh I bet you had your poor mother demented with a text every morning: "Anything come in the post for me??". :pac:
/Edit: Do'h, sure your name will be in all the versions won't it? Meh, open it anyway. 0 -
Oh no, I was hoping to rely on you folk to say '**** it man! open it up and feast on the beautiful insides!'
If it were me personally, I'd just wait for your 2nd edition copy. Ya gotta think ahead man, think of that Megaisland, you could be called Captain o1s1n, swarms of naked female servants everywhere you go wearing only megadrive joypads in the appropriate places, your car could be a replica of Robotnics hover thingy...it's all there for the taking man :pac:0 -
I say go for it dude. How else will you see if your name really is in the credits.
Heh I bet you had your poor mother demented with a text every morning: "Anything come in the post for me??". :pac:
/Edit: Do'h, sure your name will be in all the versions won't it? Meh, open it anyway.
Oh yeah the credits...I'm assuming they've left the credits in tact for the 2nd release o1s1n?0 -
Master of the UniverseJoin Date:Posts: 35097
morning: "Anything come in the post for me??". :pac:
Hahaha yep, that's exactly it. She was even sending me updates every day to say there'd been no post. lolIf it were me personally, I'd just wait for your 2nd edition copy. Ya gotta think ahead man, think of that Megaisland, you could be called Captain o1s1n, swarms of naked female servants everywhere you go wearing only megadrive joypads in the appropriate places, your car could be a replica of Robotnics hover thingy...it's all there for the taking man :pac:
If you can build me this dream island with your soldering iron then consider yourself comissioned
The problem with waiting is the reprint isn't being shipped until February. So I'd have to wait a while. Plus I also want to have a leaf through the colour booklet as the reprint is in black and white.
But ah, I dunno! The version I have at home now is the EU posterity edition. I would imagine most EU versions are being bought to open and people picked up the Japanese ones to hold on to. An unopened posterity copy will be worth a lot of a few years time.
I'll see how the mood takes me once it's in my hands 0 -
Hahaha yep, that's exactly it. She was even sending me updates every day to say there'd been no post. lol
If you can build me this dream island with your soldering iron then consider yourself comissioned
The problem with waiting is the reprint isn't being shipped until February. So I'd have to wait a while. Plus I also want to have a leaf through the colour booklet as the reprint is in black and white.
But ah, I dunno! The version I have at home now is the EU posterity edition. I would imagine most EU versions are being bought to open and people picked up the Japanese ones to hold on to. An unopened posterity copy will be worth a lot of a few years time.
I'll see how the mood takes me once it's in my hands
You've waited thus far man, is another 6 weeks or so gonna kill you I can't comment re the book, all I know is sealed stuff > opened stuff for reselling value. It could be the next stadium events! 
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Lol I was just about to post "not like its going to be in the Stadium Events league" but hey what do I know. Maybe EnterNow is correct.
There were only 80 of the Posterity edition made? Would it make much difference if it's opened or sealed though, long as all the contents and boxes still present.
/Edit - Some pics here of the Euro posterity edition. Incase you decide not to open it.
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Master of the UniverseJoin Date:Posts: 35097
I can't remember how many posterity were made. I have the figure 200 in my head for some reason.
As far as the packaging goes, there's a transparant blister pack sealed with a sticker.
Someone over on Sega-16 said they managed to remove the sticker that seals the blister pack without damaging it.
Might be an option. Devious, but an option 0 -
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Jack burton wrote: »Just ordered the reprint there
Big thanks to Andrew76 for the favor with the funds!
Didn't realise Andrew was handing out cash money. Can he please send me some so I can buy stuff:D0 -
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