That thing with the doo da and the thing, y'know, for the wossname thingy....

Pyongyang wrote: »

Thanks chief, useful info. Makes me wonder how the dlc is going to work, maybe the game code looks to the SD at some stage (e.g. If SD card detected, check directory for xyz file and, if present then change the menu to unlock) and alters the game?

Excuse my dumbed down interpretation of how that could work please!

Anyway, yes, Sturmwind looks super exciting. The level where you fly past the sun looks utterly mesmerizing!

The only thing I get irked about is all Euroshmup soundtracks sound like a cross between a Scooter CD, a Dolby high fidelity sampler CD and that awful "step to the left, lets go lets go, everybody clap your hands" song that I hope to God the person who wrote that is now living in hiding and in squalor.

I'm curious about this DLC bit as well. I suppose its not until an SD card adapter came about there was a sizeable amount of memory a download could write too, other than local VMUs, memory cards or maybe off site saving of data like you'd expect with multiplayer RPGs.

I've not tried downloading the likes of JSR graffiti or Chu Chu Rocket levels yet to get a feel for how much you can actually save to a VMU so I could be wrong and VMU was is just a long overlooked viable DC option.

I suspect it could be "on disc DLC" (I hate that term, and don't exactly like the business model either), and that a unique authorisation data file or a password or something similar is sent over the modem/broadband adapter and written to the SD card which tells the "DL"C on the disc to start co-operating.

But I hope its not done like that. Paying for something thats on the disc already just feels rotten, being extorted is melodramatic about it, but it doesn't feel like I'm getting a fair deal. Plus it just antagonises hackers who otherwise might be working on making the SD adapter do something else cool (say Dreamshell), rather than trying to crack the security on the disc they feel a bit ripped off over.

Asside from the, if it was actually downloaded DLC, sent over the modem or BBA, or (better yet) to any computer that can work with the Micro/SD card, that means the only real upper file size limit to how much content they could make for the game is the size of the memory card, not how much leftover room they had on the Mil-CD after the vanilla card content was on there.

So without card swapping awkwardness that means... 32GB* of levels, new music remixes, new ships, features? Even if its released slowly over a longer period, that means the Dreamcast developers can maintain an income without having to deal with the full complexity and profit splits of the launch of a new title. It'd be nice to know they can maintain a steady income since it means they won't either collapse or abandon the DC since its a sure earner, and so long as they don't throw quality control out the window (horse armour? HORSE ARMOUR?!) everybody wins.

*I dunno what the actual size/speed limits of the supported cards SD/MicroSD adapters are though, but even if the limit is much smaller than 32GB I doubt there's anything stopping the limit getting upped in future on a newer generation of adapters. And I suspect the Dreamcast's serial port will be the limiting factor for read/right speed more so than the card. Again a guess though.

TL;DR I hope they release the MOAR PEW PEW downloadable content in a way that doesn't step on people's toes and it becomes a nice long term earner for 'em, it would be nice to attract more development to the Dreamcast if it was proven to be good business.

waveform wrote: »

+1

All this talk of a custom built Pantry that will cure post recession hunger in Ireland,

and not even a piccy to show us his creation.

Feck the Zero Tolerance dump, I want to see a .jpg dump of your Pantry!

And CideyFuhrer, post up a pic of your collection while we're on the topic!

It's not like you've a load of rare unmentionable stuff that could threaten the security of your home, like Steve SI's secret undisclosed retro items!

Yis are all after me "Rise of the Robots" collection.

.