Make 32X games for just £3,000!

In a thread over on Assembler Games about 32X development, someone has uncovered an old advert offering a 32X development kit for just £3,000!

The advert comes from Issue 17 of Edge, released in February 1995. The product is entitled "SNASM2", and is "the world's most exciting development tool for the Sega 32X". Here is a shortened list of the "benefits" of the SNASM2:

• Hundreds already in use by developers worldwide
• RAPID PORTING of existing code and code samples
• Comes complete with GNU C for the SH2
• Includes the highly-regarded SNASM2 debugger
• Uses enhanced production Genesis & 32X
• Uses Non-Maskable Interrupts (NMI) to all 3 processors
• Simulated boot
• More than a programming tool, not just an EPROM Emulator
  
• High-speed SCSI-2 interface
• Advanced design incorporating dual port RAM and NMI
  
• Supplied with 32Mbit (4MB) of RAM

If you understood all of that then you should hand over your £3,000 straight away! That's about $4,770 to all you Americans, using today's monetary values. A cheaper option would be to buy the "CartDev" 32X kit for just £75 from Andy's Arcade.

Delicious.

I would buy one just so I could say the name - "SNASM2". Or to all you Americans - "S-N-A-S-M-2".

Check out dis '90s attitude!

[Source: ASSEMbler Games, scan Unclejun]

Could Wolfenstein 3D be ported to Mega CD?

You may know that Wolfenstein 3D is currently being ported to the 32X by programmer "Chilly Willy". This has currently moved out of alpha stages into beta, and now features sound, an auto-map and saving. Music looks like the next thing to be implemented.

But what is going to happen after this is finished? Well, you may also know that he mentioned re-porting Doom to the 32X, which is now definite. But before that he is going to work on a Mega CD 32X version, and perhaps even a stand-alone Mega CD port!

Here's what Chilly has said over on the Sega-16 forums: "I am working towards the CD[/32X] version now, so that should help folks who have picked up a CD unit. Once I get that going, I will be looking into a new version of Doom 32X. Wolfenstein 3D is mainly my learning project for figuring out how to make homebrew for the 32X and CD".

Another poster asked Chilly Willy about the prospect of a Mega CD version, to which he replied, "I might take a stab at a plain SEGA CD version some time in the future, but not right away. The Sega CD could handle it, but I'd need to do more work on the graphics: process the textures and sprites to use 16 colors and separate palettes. It would also not be in the same resolution. Instead of 320x200 like the 32X version is, I'd probably run the VDP in 256x224 mode and make the game screen 200x160".

Hopefully he will eventually do a Mega CD version. If the Mega Drive could handle it, then the Mega CD certainly could. But let's wait for the final 32X version to come out before then - keep it up!

Wolfenstein 3D was in development for the Mega Drive

Eat it!

As you may know, Wolfenstein 3D is currently being ported to the 32X. Something you may not know is that the game was in development for the Mega Drive, but never saw release.


On the ASSEMblergames forum, some scans surfaced that showed the Mega Drive version was indeed in development, and would contain everything the PC version had (including blood). The unknown magazine also said that the game would be around 10-16 Megs in size, and was being developed by Imagineer, the same company behind the SNES port.

A preview of the game said that Wolfenstein was to be released in November 1994, although this never happened. There has been no explanation for the game's cancellation - it can't have been because the game was technically impossible, as other first-person shooters had been released on the Mega Drive before.


No rom of the game has ever been found, and only three screenshots exist of the game. Maybe after Wolfenstein is released on the 32X, a stripped-down Mega Drive version could be attempted. Even better would be the original prototype being found.

Is Doom to be re-ported to 32X?

Amid all the news about Wolfenstein finally being ported to Sega's Mega Drive add-on the 32X, the creator says that he would also like to re-port Doom. The console did get a rather rushed port in 1995, done so to get it out before Christmas, but lost some levels and overall sheen in the process. It was widely criticised for having less levels and worse music than even the SNES version.

"Chilly Willy", the converter of Wolfenstein, says that he's "one of those who would love a better Doom conversion" after it was suggested he take on the task after his current project. He says that once Wolfenstein is complete, he'll "probably do some experimenting on that [Doom]".


Wolfenstein may be extended to a Mega-CD 32X version once the cart version is complete. This may also apply to Doom so that it can have CD-quality music. It's all beginning to sound like 1995 again!

The completed games may even be sold on cartridge, although this may pose legal problems. I hope they do get a physical release, but I'll have to get a 32X before I can play them!