Depressed about Dreamcast...

[mankrip]

Dreamcast Scene seems to be still going well. I remember it being overrun by spambots a few years ago, but it seems they sorted it out.

[neogeofan]

It's old, bro.

[DaMadFiddler]

All right, I'm having real trouble finding anything even approaching a comprehensive list of homebrew releases. DCHomebrew was gone long before I ever lost my Dreamcast in the first place. DCEvo is down for repair, Sbiffy! appears to be long-gone, most Internet searches for Dreamcast homebrew end up directing me to a warez site, DCEmu UK still exists but is just as cluttered and useless as ever, this site's new (okay, not so new) wiki approach is a good idea but severely lacking in content (as is Dreamcast-Scene), and most of the other remaining Dreamcast sites appear to be blogs.

Is there anywhere left that has a reasonably complete set of homebrew releases? I'd especially be interested in the two titles I contributed to: BurgerDC and Grizzlies/Toxic Waste.

Failing that, does anyone have a more or less complete set on their computer, which we could use to rebuild the collection on DCEmu? It's really sad to see all that work just disappear.

[Maturion]

SEGA-DC.DE is the most comprehensive database about anything Dreamcast-related at the moment (though it's in German). We have a complete list of all emulators for Dreamcast over there, but our homebrew game database is by far not complete. I hope that one day, dcemulation.org will be as big (or even bigger) than SEGA-DC.DE.

[Christuserloeser]

...is there a way to access the old DCS database ? I spent countless hours adding to that wiki.

[Maturion]

...is there a way to access the old DCS database ? I spent countless hours adding to that wiki.

No, sadly not. I asked Max a while back, but he said there's currently no way to access it. However, he told me that DCS is planning to get it online one day so that all of the existing content could be merged into the "new" DCS. This was about a year ago or so. If you want to access at least some of the old content, you can use http://web.archive.org . It's a shame we didn't manage to transfer all the old stuff to the DCEmulation wiki.

If you feel like writing in a Dreamcast wiki, I'd be very happy to add you as one of the wiki editors on SEGA-DC.DE. If I haven't done so yet.

[RyoDC]

I think the main problem of DC is a lack of qualified developers and good projects. Because mostly team of pro developers use Dreamcast only as a platform to hone their skills, and nothing more. DC definitely deserves much more than stupid similar to each other scroll-shooters. Yeah, I do agree, programming even a 2D scroll side shooter requires a lot of skills and work, but, damn, their idea (and better say, gameplay) is so cliche. Well, I'm not pronounce that scroll-side shooter game can't be innovative and great, have a good graphics etc., but from what I've known, situation around Dreamcast-developed games stills the same.
Of course, developing such projects, like Shenmue, for Dreamcast, impossible nowadays - we lack of resources, people, time. But anyway, if somedays it could happen, and someone would release a Full-value game for DC, it would be unbelievable great.
What I think what would possible help dreamcast scene nowadays - is a fan consolidation and popularization of programming. If we lure some talented developers among people, we can increase our rates to extend the life of the Dreamcast Arena.

[Maturion]

I think the main problem of DC is a lack of qualified developers and good projects. Because mostly team of pro developers use Dreamcast only as a platform to hone their skills, and nothing more. DC definitely deserves much more than stupid similar to each other scroll-shooters. Yeah, I do agree, programming even a 2D scroll side shooter requires a lot of skills and work, but, damn, their idea (and better say, gameplay) is so cliche. Well, I'm not pronounce that scroll-side shooter game can't be innovative and great, have a good graphics etc., but from what I've known, situation around Dreamcast-developed games stills the same.
Of course, developing such projects, like Shenmue, for Dreamcast, impossible nowadays - we lack of resources, people, time. But anyway, if somedays it could happen, and someone would release a Full-value game for DC, it would be unbelievable great.

I wouldn't say it's the lack of qualified developers but the lack of a significant number of end users. We have a lot of talented developers here, I don't think that's the problem. However, although there are still many dedicated fans out there, the Dreamcast scene has become small. Developing and publishing a commercial indie game requires a lot of ressources, not only time but also a huge amount of money. While it's possible to develop 2D games with a small team, it is far more complex and expensive to develop a full-fledged 3D game. To offset the development costs and to then make profit, you got to sell a lot of games. I think there are just not enough Dreamcast fans out there anymore to allow a game developer making a high-end Dreamcast game. I'd love to see a 3D indie game for the Dreamcast (and I'd definitely buy it), but I don't think this will hapen. But well, let's see how Tahi is progressing.

What I think what would possible help dreamcast scene nowadays - is a fan consolidation and popularization of programming. If we lure some talented developers among people, we can increase our rates to extend the life of the Dreamcast Arena.

Yes, I think the Dreamcast scene has always suffered because it was so fragmented. There are a lot of Dreamcast sites that are just languishing (I don't want to name any, though) and would better be merged to existing sites. A cross-website Dreamcast coding competition would be very cool to see.

[vicviper74]

How many years have to pass before people can recreate a console like the NES WAS?
Yeah right, lol Its prolly too complicated.

[Neoblast]

Excuse me, Squatter site?

[Basil]

Damn, dreamcastgallery is gone. Do anyone has a backup ?

[cube_b3]

[Senk]

Isn't it still available through archive.org?

http://web.archive.org/web/201102091521 ... allery.asp

Not sure if all of the images are still around, but it has a surprising amount of them for a backup.

[cube_b3]

Most of the images appear to be intact.

Who was behind DCG anyway?