Happy Easter Driving Updates

Alright, so...we're back.  Happy Easter and have a great day.

Let's cut to the chase--there's a couple of reasons why I've been posting less.  The main thing I've been at work for a month already.  It's a 9-hour workday (includes the 1-hour lunch) in a office with a bunch of nerds floating about.  I'm adding new features to the game but just last week, I've had to play the role of that guy who needs to find the needle in a haystack--basically, solve an easy chicken-shit problem that takes days worth of trial and error to crack and every passing hour puts your job security even more in jeopardy.  I'm kinda bummed out about work now but I'm hanging in there.  Only a matter of time before I get the experience to work at Sumo Digital, I pray to God...

And even worse is that there's really nothing going on Sega-wise...  We got The 90's Arcade Racer plugging along without me.  I'm still bitter about that.  Then there's Sega All-Stars Racing which is getting a patch to fix all the bugs and the difficulty issues but that doesn't change the fact the game has devolved into talking about two things--glitches (they're still at 'em) and tier lists.  The mystery DLC character hasn't been revealed yet and still, if that's the only extra character we'll ever get, that's a bit of a letdown IMO.  Then there's the Supermodel emulator which has basically stalled (Bart's getting a Doctorate, give him a break).  And, well...it's up to me to pull things outta my ass now.

There was also a rainstorm in Orlando which was a 30-minute hurricane that descended upon my house...really strange cause there was a very tiny red blip over where I was.  Huh, okay so it's worth posting about.

But anyway, it's really the little things now that get me by these days.  Like driving to the airport to pick up a friend while accelerating around the terminal blasting AC/DC and Metallica.  God forbid I drive 10 MPH over the speed limit but it was good fun to pretend to be a NASCAR driver.  Then there was this--on a simple trip up the road to a Checkers drive-thru, I drove through a verdant wavy part of International Drive by the convention center, near the Dave & Buster's I visited twice already.  And what I experienced was rather wonderful...

I wish I saw more happy things like this in my racing games.  More trees, more colors, more fancy architecture, more blinking signs (like those in Scud Race and Daytona 2 that flash "3 LAPS TO GO"...why don't they have those anymore???).  And how funny is it that I'm near the place that inspired the Sega-AM2 crew to make Daytona 2 as colorful as it is.  Check out the Saturn Magazine Interview with Makoto Osaki and how he mentions going to Daytona International Speedway and then Disney World & Universal Studios (on this page).  I'm so close to where this magic happened and yet I feel like all these game designers are trying to beat me down.  It's like...people don't even try to make their racing games feel good anymore--it's basically "let's make it as gritty realistic as we can and drown out all the fun."  Boo, hiss, go away bad game designers...

On the other hand, Eutechnyx may not be as bad as we thought...

But one more thing, I was on my way to work one day when I found this fun-tastic van next to me.  Tell that Aggressive Appliances of Orlando didn't take AGES to get that good, did it...???

Want to talk about the NASCAR stuff going on (like Joey Logano who "killed" Denny Hamlin) and other garbage later.  Like THIS:

A Merry Sega Racer Christmas To You

Merry Christmas you bastards, now here's my NOT AT ALL HASTILY MADE Christmas card (two hours of this BS).

Outside the famous Daytona International Speedway, the Sega gang is all here for the big Sega race, giving away free Dreamcast 2 consoles to all attendees!!!

I wish.....

EDIT: I really should've done this sooner but here goes.
LIST OF PEOPLE/CHARACTERS FOR INFORMATIVE PURPOSES:

Toshihiro Nagoshi: Tan dude with white shirt/pants, dead center.  Producer of Daytona USA, Super Monkey Ball, F-Zero GX, and Yakuza.  Currently the Main Creative Director of Sega in general.

Yu Suzuki: Smiley guy at bottom right.  Producer of OutRun, Hang-On, Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter, and Shenmue.  Considered "best game producer ever" by many Sega fans for bolstering their arcade division to first-class.

Tetsuya Mizuguchi: Guy on bottom left in a pink shirt sitting down.  Producer of Sega Rally, Sega Touring Car, Space Channel 5, Rez, and Lumines.

Yuji Naka: Guy on right center in white suit.  Producer of many Sega hits including Sonic the Hedgehog, NiGHTS, Phantasy Star, Billy Hatcher, and Burning Rangers.

Danica Patrick: Lady in blue racing suit, dead center.  Drove the Sega Sonic car at Texas Nationwide Race.  Spokeswoman for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.

Takenobu Mitsuyoshi: Guy in upper left with yellow shirt and mic.  Sega composer and infamous vocalist of Daytona USA soundtrack ("Rolllingggg sttttarrrrttttt!!!").

Makoto Osaki: Guy in blue shirt, upper center.  Director for Daytona USA 1/2, Scud Race, OutRun 2, and Virtua Fighter.  One of the main guys who fine-tuned these games so damn well but gets no credit.

Hajime Satomi: Guy on TV, lower left.  Founder of Sammy Corporation and current owner of Sega.  Rumored to be a leader of the Yakuza.  Nobody likes him.

Ryo Hazuki: Guy in brown leather jacket and jeans, dead center.  Main protagonist of Shenmue 1 and 2.  Knows martial arts.  Trying to avenge his father's death.

Segata Sanshiro: Judo guy in center of image, arms crossed.  Infamous fictional spokesman for Sega Saturn, known for beating up people who don't play the Saturn and deflecting a giant missile from destroying Sega HQ.

Jennifer, Alberto, Clarissa, Holly: Four people standing on left in front of presents.  Alberto is the "protagonist" of OutRun 2.  The three girls are you passengers for OutRun, Heart Attack, and Mission Modes, respectively.

Hornet Classic: Red and blue car on left center.  Based off a '94 Chevy Lumina, it's infamous stock car from Daytona USA.  Also appears in Fighters Megamix (a fighting car), Ridge Racer Vita (as DLC), and Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed (unlockable character).

Sonic the Hedgehog: Upper center.  Everyone knows who this is.

Axel, B.D. Joe, Gena, Gus: Four guys on right center side of screen.  The four playable characters from the original Crazy Taxi.  Racing around town, catching big air, making huge tips along the way heading for KFC and Pizza Hut.

Ornaments: Cars from the following Sega games from top to bottom--Unicorn from Daytona USA 2001 (DC), Toyota Celica from Sega Rally, Ferrari F40 from Scud Race/Sega Super GT, Phantom Full Force from Daytona USA 2, F1 car from Virtua Racing.

Dreamcast 2: Poster in upper left corner.  Not real (of course) but all Sega fans want to see this (you do too, just admit it).  Rumored to exist through Sega's Ringedge/Ringwide hardware but it's pure speculation.

Sumo Digital: Tiny poster in center of screen.  Game company from Sheffield, UK responsible for porting OutRun  and Sega Rally Online Arcade to XBLA/PSN.  Also made Sega Superstars Tennis and both Sonic All-Stars Racing games.  Considered one of the last bastions of Sega goodness remaining on Earth.

Daytona International Speedway: Backdrop to this image (crap but there's so much stuff in the way so w/e). Located in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA, it opened in 1959, it's home to the most prestigious race in NASCAR (Daytona 500) and lends its name to Sega's 1994 arcade game Daytona USA.

THE MORE YOU KNOW...

Get the full size image off deviantART (please favorite!!!).  Sonic Claus fanart attribution.  Remember to keep Christ in Christmas and have a super day with family & friends.  Oh, and Happy New Year too.

Some More Daytona 2 Pics And Inquiries

My good friend model3 suggested I tried out the Supermodel emulator on another computer.  Sadly, I cannot upgrade this laptop's integrated video card so no use trying to pursue it here.  Let's try it on my dad's computer.  So the game runs much faster--3 in-game seconds/real-life seconds so it is much more playable.  Not too grand however.  The game becomes very choppy (presumably skipping frames altogether) in the Expert course's subway tunnel & grass field.  So even on a good computer I can't see the framerate working out just yet.

I also am trying to get good at the game again, but what I think's holding me back is the lack of analog controls.  Basically, turning 100% all the time isn't cutting it because you need to ease in and out of drifts.

BTW, you can use save states.  Press F5 to save and F7 to load.  F6 increments the save state (0-9), but you need to be looking at the console to see which state you're in.

I did manage to come in first on the Beginner course with the Phantom MT.  This is without save states--I'm not a cheater.  I had to take these pics with Print Screen so I only got a few (didn't have Fraps).

 First name you see is Makoto Osaki...cause he's that damn important.

Music credits, it's your famous singer Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, the Daytona 1 vocalist.

 Cool overhead view.

Nice picture, really good angle.  I wish I had snapped it just before the text came up though.

I went to the game assignments menu and turn campaign scoring on.  I hardly knew anything about this until now.  Basically, you enter your initials and your birthdate (press the view change buttons).  Each time you race tacks on more points to your ranking.  I presume the better your position & time, the more points you get.  So that is a cool feature but looks like your score goes away every time you turn off the ROM :(

Now here is the game assignments menu.  Look above at Link ID.  That's where you link up your multiplayer cabinets.  Now look at car number--seven???  That indicates which number car will pop up on this cabinet as opposed to the default #41 paint jobs.  Sad news is this mode doesn't work at all because the emulator doesn't detect a network board.

Psssh--look at this!  The car number goes up to 16?  So you can have 16 players in a local setup?  This is something I remember hearing about years ago.

The reason I bring up the car numbers is because when a cabinet is hooked up to a network, each car number has a different distinct color which replaces the default colors.  In Daytona USA 1, from Players 1 thru 8, it's in this order: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Black, Pink, Light Blue, Orange.  See here.  Now, I only know the Daytona USA 2 cars' colors up to 6: White, Blue, Black, Yellow, Red, Light Blue.  That's because I saw a six-player setup at as NASCAR Speedpark once.

To illustrate, this Daytona 2 car is yellow and is thus Player 4.

That's where it stops for me.  So I don't know what the P7/P8 cars look like.  I'm going to venture a guess and say P7 is Green and P8 is Orange.  I've never seen an actual 8-player Daytona 2 setup so hell if I know.

 Is this Heaven?  No, it's Sega Gameworks (a guess).

Ultimately, what this screen shows however is that you don't necessarily need eight cabinets to get up to P8, you can set the cabinets to any player you want.  So if you want to have a twin Daytona cabinet with P3 and P4, go ahead.  Deviate from the norm.

Now, I only thought Daytona 2 went up to eight players.  But it really goes up to sixteen players.  So you can have P9 thru P16?  Well, what the hell colors are P9 thru P16?  I have no clue--this is like an astronomist theorizing what's inside a black hole--just unfathomable.  I have a feeling that it's just a repeat of P1 thru P8--for instance, P9 is White, P10 is Blue, etc.  My reasoning is that I don't think Sega wants to spend time recoloring 32 more cars (4 per player) that'll never be seen.  IF ONLY I OWNED AN ACTUAL DAYTONA 2 TWIN CABINET, THEN MAYBE I COULD ALTER THE SETTINGS AND FIND OUT MYSELF.

And this is why we have to crack this ROM open and discover what's inside.  My goodness, I'm awfully tired now, I must go to bed.

Nagoshi-San And Osaki-San

I was just looking around for random stuff and I stumble upon more Nagoshi stuff.  Look, I don't 100% know who's "responsible" for the Daytona series.  Nagoshi owns AM4 or Amusement Vision.  However, AM2 was responsible for making Daytona 1/2 and Scud Race, athough Yu Suzuki (AM2 guy) didn't really have anything to do with it.  It kind of sucks that every time you read about Nagoshi, you hear Yakuza and Super Monkey Ball...nothing on Daytona (or even F-Zero even).  But whatever, I've already posted that old interview he gave back in '04 and how lukewarm he was about Daytona games so now you know.  Here's some links:

Toshihiro Nagoshi's blog - Translated for you.  Read the left, likes drinking.  Need any more proof he's an alcoholic?  Most of the posts are "thank you's" and "I did this or that thing," kind of like Twitter.  I guess if you want to dig in and read further, go ahead and tell me what you find.

Toshihiro Nagoshi's book on...making video games and doing good in the neighborhood - Japanese book so I can't read it, fantastic.  Something about inspiring game developers and stuff.  At least it mentions Daytona USA in the description although I really don't know what the book's about.  Translate it for me, please?

Toshihiro Nagoshi some speech thing - Crappy English translation. Briefly goes over Grand Theft Auto and how he doesn't like how immoral it is...also talks about how he was poor and graduated from art school.  A bit long-winded and the translation doesn't help make it more understandable.

Toshihiro Nagoshi Wikipedia - Mostly links to interviews.  Credits him as "Special Thanks" in Daytona USA, but I don't believe that.  I believe he was the producer of these games.  But how much involvement he had with those games I really don't know.

But I'm gonna say this.  I think there's someone who's more involved in Daytona than Nagoshi.  His name is Makoto Osaki.  He's this dude in the glasses who was the director of Daytona USA 2.  As a matter of fact, I have these interviews from him where he spills his guts on the game and demonstrates more enthusiasm on the games than Nagoshi ever did.  Not only that, but I believe Osaki also worked on OutRun 2...so who's the Sega racing mastermind...?

This is an old pic on my computer that I believe was back in '94 or around the release of Daytona 1.  This is the AM2 team.  Osaki is the guy with the glasses in the upper-left corner.  Nagoshi's in the bottom center with the big-ass forehead.  Notice how "normal" Nagoshi looks in this pic.

And more Osaki stuff:

From the Daytona 2 study guide on my Photobucket.  Click on the pics to enlarge them.

Daytona 2 Staff Roll: Nagoshi is producer, Osaki is Director.  Oh and how about this:



Some interview, this one in English.  Click to enlarge.

So I think it's really interesting that we almost got an Egyptian course...in Daytona USA 2?  HA that would've been cool, but they did away with that because it's too Scud Race-ish.  But really, why is it that Osaki traveled around, got his hands dirty, and discussed everything but not Nagoshi?  Where is he?  Hitting up the bars and tanning salons again?

Makoto Osaki Kikizo Interview - Kikizo is a good site since they've got lots of interviews with Sega people, plus they really, really liked OutRun 2.  But anyway, there's little info about Osaki out there...not even a Wikipedia page.  This interview's mostly about Virtua Fighter so you lost me there.  But at page four or five, he deviates to other stuff...like check this out:

Kikizo: So, do you still enjoy first-person shooters...

Osaki: Yes. YES. [laughs]

Kikizo: ...and what have you been playing recently?

Osaki: I've been playing Call of Duty 4, actually. Our clan is really strong, one of the best in Japan! We're definitely one of the best 4, at least. [laughs] I really like Battlefield: Bad Company, as well. I've been playing them all on my Xbox 360.

Kikizo: So are you looking forward to Gears of War 2?

Osaki: I can't play that one at home, though. There's kids in the house! It's way too violent! Maybe after they go to sleep.

HAHA, that's pretty cool.  This guy's my kind of guy...raising his kids, playing fighting games, etc.  Just wish he talked more about Sega racers, but not really.
 
So is this guy responsible for Sega racing goodness?  I don't know.  Like I said, I can't be sure who's responsible for what.  I just wonder who's gonna get the ball rolling on another Sega racer...if there ever is another one, of course.  Let me know more if something comes up.  I got lost in this post so it's mostly informative.  So adios.