The VMU revisited

[wraggster]

http://www.youtube.com/v/ICnUFWOxWok

News via http://www.insertcredit.com/archives/002654.html

The VMU had a lot of potential, in theory. The idea of tiny games playable on a memory card really sparked my imagination, and my interest. But in reality, most of the minigames you got with Dreamcast software was a bit uninspired, and the VMU itself voraciously consumed expensive watch batteries. After the Dreamcast's demise, though, a small VMU scene emerged, and created a number of homebrew games and demos for the tiny console. This video showcases some of the better games out there, all of which can be downloaded via the Dream Explorer software found at BlueSwirl.

Not included in the first video is this Dragon Slayer clone, and there have also been some attempts at tiny 3D engines, including this one, and the more robust "Very Much Useless" demo by Shadow/Noice, which the author claims is running in real time, and is not an animation. The largest source for info on VMU homebrew right now seems to be the author of that first 3D demo, Real Rockin B. Unfortunately though, playing games on the VMU itself will never be that practical, given its battery consumption. Most folks will have to rely on emulators, as the Dream Explorer facilitates

[XDelusion]

Meh...

where's DOOM?!?! :) he he

[wraggster]

watching that video brings back some good memories :)

[mik101]

Does it ever wraggster. I had a bunch of those little suckers, and it was teh dreamcast that got me into console homebrew in the first place. :)

[JLF65]

When I bought a keyboard and mouse for my Dreamcast (last week), I went ahead and ordered another VMU as well (blue... to match my controller). So now I have two VMUs. I've been looking over the VMU developer tools out - I used to love doing assembly language stuff on limited systems (started out on the TRS-80 and Atari 400). It's an odd little handheld device, but pretty cool. I'll definitely have to do SOMETHING for it.

[wraggster]

i must say i really love my dreamcast, still got 2 consoles and a treamcast and just about every controller released for the system, it was way ahead of its time really.

Still the best homebrew console bar none in my opinion

[Darksaviour69]

When I bought a keyboard and mouse for my Dreamcast (last week), I went ahead and ordered another VMU as well (blue... to match my controller). So now I have two VMUs. I've been looking over the VMU developer tools out - I used to love doing assembly language stuff on limited systems (started out on the TRS-80 and Atari 400). It's an odd little handheld device, but pretty cool. I'll definitely have to do SOMETHING for it.

how about a battteship homebrew game for the dreamcast, using the VMU to place your ships, and therefore keep them hidden from the other player.

[JLF65]

If you mean Battleship for the VMU, they have to be hooked together for a VMU to play against another VMU, and the other player would see your layout unless you stuck a big card between them. If you mean on the DC, that would be Battleship for the DC, not for the VMU, and just using the VMU as a display... which would actually work since the controllers are on long cords.

Given the ships are displayed on the VMU, what would go on the DC display?

[quzar]

Given the ships are displayed on the VMU, what would go on the DC display?

DC display could show the two fields as blank with previous attempts and hits. At the very beginning when ships are placed, it would only display on the vmu screen, after that all action would be on the DC's. It's not like you need to keep track of where your ships are for any reason once the game has started.

[JLF65]

DC display could show the two fields as blank with previous attempts and hits. At the very beginning when ships are placed, it would only display on the vmu screen, after that all action would be on the DC's. It's not like you need to keep track of where your ships are for any reason once the game has started.

Right... makes sense. Of course, thinking about the VMU only version, you could set the position of your ships, then it goes to a blank display and waits for you to connect to another VMU. At that point, the VMU would show your hits on the other guy. That would work.

[XDelusion]

There are a ton of 2600 classics I could see running on this..

[wraggster]

surely the vmu isnt that powerful ?

[Darksaviour69]

Right... makes sense. Of course, thinking about the VMU only version, you could set the position of your ships, then it goes to a blank display and waits for you to connect to another VMU. At that point, the VMU would show your hits on the other guy. That would work.

The only thing is the vmu goes though batteries very quickly (unless you wire AAAs to it), I think and dreamcast version would be more useful.

Also if you have 2 vmus directly plugged into each other you can easlly see the other screen

[JLF65]

The only thing is the vmu goes though batteries very quickly (unless you wire AAAs to it), I think and dreamcast version would be more useful.

Yes, unless you were on the road or something. :)


Also if you have 2 vmus directly plugged into each other you can easlly see the other screen

Which is why I said wait until you've set up the pieces and then blanked the screen before you connect the VMUs to each other. At that point, seeing the other display won't be an issue. Your display will show your hits against the other guy's boats.

Both a VMU only and a DC version would make a nice homebrew project.

[GagaMan]

Oh wow, I made this video years ago. Nice that it still grabs peoples attention.

[maxim2boobles]

Thanks for the info on dream explorer