Dreamcast-Scene.com will present the Dreamcast scene to the public, media and leading developer(s / teams) with an own booth at this years Games Convention in Leipzig/Germany.

The Games Convention is held from 23rd to 27th this month and it is the largest and most important European videogame exhibition.

If you live in Europe you want to contribute by borrowing some nice rarities of your Dreamcast collection or D.I.Y stuff to DCS for presentation at the Games Convention, now it's the time to do so. You'll get all your items back along with a nice present.

Have a look at this topic over at the Dreamcast-Scene.com forums to see what we already got and what you could contribute:

http://www.dreamcast-scene.com/commu...pic.php?p=7484

Of course coders are welcome to present their projects as well.

Send your stuff out to: ''Van Basilco c/o Max Scharl Prinz-Ludwig-Strasse 19 85354 Freising n. Munich Germany / Europe''

I was hoping it would turn out better but due to lack of sleep adding up now out of time, a few corners were cut.

Anyways go try out my neoflash compo entry. I probably will only get 3rd place for this.

Do note tho, I plan to update the game this week to fix for stuff I did not have enough time to do.

The greatest thing about sandbox is the fact it's all setup by theme.ini files. You can easly modify exsisting themes or even create your own.

Another nice feature is I setup AT3 playback in a way that the game should still be 2.0+ compatible. Just have to pop in an old game.

I just entered my first public release of the viewer to NEO summer coding contest 2006
(http://www.neoflash.com/compos.htm).. so here is the details:

MAP THIS! GPS MAP VIEWER FOR PSP
-------------------------------------------------

short video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nitCHViaCU

DISCLAIMER
----------
This software is distributed under GPL license and provided for education purposes only.
It is not fully tested and therefore should be used with caution.
I shell not be responsible for any damages and/or legal problems which may arise from using this
application & underlying hardware setup.
This software acquires image data from Google Maps online service. Please read and understand Google Maps' "Terms of Use"
agreement before using this application.

MAIN FEATURES
-------------
- Scroll through large (up to 65536x65536 pixels) maps.
- Zoom in/out. The number of zoom levels depends of on the size of the map.
- Large coverage. The program uses imagery from Google Maps, which currently have pretty good coverage of
North America, Western Europe, Australia, Japan. Visit Google maps, to find out if they provide required
coverage for your location.
- Customizable map size, level of detail and coverage.
- Ability to display zipped maps (currently buggy)
- Ability to display satellite and hybrid maps from Google.
- WIFI map retrieval: ability to acquire and store map data to memory stick over WIFI
- Linux/Cygwin script is also provided to generate a map of given size and detail for a given location.
- GPS support: ability to read and interpret NMEA sentences from a GPS receiver communicating through PSP's serial port.
Rather simple DYI hook up with GPSlim 236 receiver from Holux is explained in following thread:
http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=30035
In GPS mode there are following features:
- Speed, direction, altitude, latitude, longitude, number of satellites in view.
- NORTH UP mode: map is displayed with NORTH always on top. The arrow in the middle turns to shows current direction.
- TRACK UP mode: map rotates so that direction of movement is always from top down.
- Record GPS data (captures NMEA sentences in gps.txt file for later replay)
- POI/Attractions data support. Ability to select and display different types of attractions.
- PSPSDK compatible source code provided.

INSTALLATION
------------

1.5 users: copy contents of 1.5 folder to ms:/PSP/GAME
1.0 use EBOOT.PBP from 1.0 folder with data files from 1.5 folder
2.0+ try using EBOOT.PBP from NOGPS folder with data files from 1.5 folder
2.7+ generate maps of up to 32x32 size with provided cygwin script and html files,
copy them on MS and view through the PSP's browser.

View the attached README file for further details...

I just entered my first public release of the viewer to NEO summer coding contest 2006
(http://www.neoflash.com/compos.htm).. so here is the details:

MAP THIS! GPS MAP VIEWER FOR PSP
-------------------------------------------------

short video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nitCHViaCU

DISCLAIMER
----------
This software is distributed under GPL license and provided for education purposes only.
It is not fully tested and therefore should be used with caution.
I shell not be responsible for any damages and/or legal problems which may arise from using this
application & underlying hardware setup.
This software acquires image data from Google Maps online service. Please read and understand Google Maps' "Terms of Use"
agreement before using this application.

MAIN FEATURES
-------------
- Scroll through large (up to 65536x65536 pixels) maps.
- Zoom in/out. The number of zoom levels depends of on the size of the map.
- Large coverage. The program uses imagery from Google Maps, which currently have pretty good coverage of
North America, Western Europe, Australia, Japan. Visit Google maps, to find out if they provide required
coverage for your location.
- Customizable map size, level of detail and coverage.
- Ability to display zipped maps (currently buggy)
- Ability to display satellite and hybrid maps from Google.
- WIFI map retrieval: ability to acquire and store map data to memory stick over WIFI
- Linux/Cygwin script is also provided to generate a map of given size and detail for a given location.
- GPS support: ability to read and interpret NMEA sentences from a GPS receiver communicating through PSP's serial port.
Rather simple DYI hook up with GPSlim 236 receiver from Holux is explained in following thread:
http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=30035
In GPS mode there are following features:
- Speed, direction, altitude, latitude, longitude, number of satellites in view.
- NORTH UP mode: map is displayed with NORTH always on top. The arrow in the middle turns to shows current direction.
- TRACK UP mode: map rotates so that direction of movement is always from top down.
- Record GPS data (captures NMEA sentences in gps.txt file for later replay)
- POI/Attractions data support. Ability to select and display different types of attractions.
- PSPSDK compatible source code provided.

INSTALLATION
------------

1.5 users: copy contents of 1.5 folder to ms:/PSP/GAME
1.0 use EBOOT.PBP from 1.0 folder with data files from 1.5 folder
2.0+ try using EBOOT.PBP from NOGPS folder with data files from 1.5 folder
2.7+ generate maps of up to 32x32 size with provided cygwin script and html files,
copy them on MS and view through the PSP's browser.

View the attached README file for further details...

Here's the list of changes:
Quote:

============================
1.2 version changes:
============================

Dreamcast-related bugfixes:
- Updated the default deadzone values for the controller.
- Fixed the cd_enabled cvar being not registered if there is no audio tracks on the disc.

Common changes:
- Updated BlackAura's e-mail address in the credits screen.



============================
1.1 version changes:
============================

Dreamcast-related bugfixes:
- Corrected the name of mouse button 1.
- Fixed the "Pause" option in the Audio Options menu.
- nxMakaqu would crash when trying to save FrikFiles, because it tried to save them in the CD. Now the FrikFiles are saved in the RAM. There's no way to same them on the VMU yet though.
- The "screenshot" command is ignored now. This was done to prevent crashes, because it tried to save them in the CD.

Windows-related bugfixes:
- Fixed the crosshair being not displayed correctly in some video cards.
- Fixed the network menus (they were disabled by mistake).

Common bugfixes:
- Fixed a small problem with the interpolation (sorry, can't remember what it was).
- Now the translucent viewmodels are drawn over the translucent water instead of under it.
- Fixed the network protocol (demos recorded with some mods were not working).
- Fixed the "cmdline" cvar.
- Fixed some menu options that were not saved in the config file.

Dreamcast-related changes:
- Added an IP.BIN file.
- Modlist support for the /ID1 directory.
- Added support for the file /quake/gamedir/nxmakaqu.ini. This file can be used to set the title and description of the game in the modlist, as well as the sound samplerate, the video resolution, the size of the heap memory, and extra command line parameters.
- Added 320x480 and 640x240 resolutions (640x240 is faster).
- Resolutions up to 768x576 are selectable in the modlist.
- Changed the default audio samplerate to 11025 Hz, thus fixing some games that needs more RAM.
- The default setting for the stereo sound is set accordingly to the DC BIOS setting.
- Added support for volume control of the CD audio.
- The CD audio can be changed between stereo/mono, and the stereo can be reversed.
- The engine can detect the amount of CD tracks and display it on the Audio Options menu.
- Added support for mouse button 3 and mouse wheel. The mouse is fully supported now.
- Significant changes to the analog input support. Now the analog stick's axes can be bound to any command, and the "Axis/Trigger Function" options are gone.
- Added auto-repeat for the keys and face buttons while in the console or menu.
- Added vibration (Puru Puru/Jump Pack) support.
- Added a SVC_VIBRATE (61) message to the network protocol. Usage: SVC_VIBRATE, + 5 writebytes (special, effect1, effect2, duration, controller).
- VMU saves are compressed now, and saves from version 1.0 can still be loaded.
- Replaced the VMU file icon. The new one features colored borders for each game.
- Added a simple VMU LCD icon.
- FrikFiles are opened from the RAM if found in there, otherwise they are opened from the CD. Saving is always done in the RAM.

Windows-related changes:
- Removed the CD audio volume control from the audio menu.
- Now the engine knows the difference between CDs with no audio tracks and empty drives.
- The underwater screen buffer is always used, thus making the transparencies run faster on some computers.

Common changes:
- Improved the models of the super shotgun, nailgun, super nailgun, rocket launcher and thunderbolt. These new versions works better with interpolation and transparencies.
- Added a new progs.dat file with many bugfixes and some new features.
- The new progs.dat features a workaround for the solid skies in the original Quake levels. It can be disabled by typing "savedgamecfg 1" in the console.
- The status bar isn't displayed when changing levels anymore.
- The underwater warping effect runs at the same resolution of the video now.
- The camera tilting during weapon recoil is smoother. Now it uses 16-bit angles instead of 8.
- The Thunderbolt's lightning follows the player's rotation and movement smoothly now.
- Created QC support for self.frame_interval, to customize the time of the interpolation for each entity. Setting it to -1 disables interpolation, and setting it to zero uses the default value (0.1 seconds).
- Non-audio tracks are skipped when selecting an audio track in the Audio Options menu.
- Added a 3D stereo mode, using the r_stereo_separation cvar. It has a few bugs.
- Added options for fog and 3D stereo separation in the Developer menu. To disable the fog you must turn the developer mode off.
- Added the Timescale extension.
- Added a sv_compatibility cvar, to allow both network gaming and demo recording compatible with normal Quake.
- Added a sv_makaqu cvar to enable Makaqu-exclusive

OK, here's another build to play with...

gpdc-20060726.zip

Drop that .bin over the top of Warmtoe's last release, and it should be good to go.

Only five changes worth mentioning, most of which aren't that important...

1 - Palettes are now double-buffered. That gets rid of all of the palette tearing effects, or weird blocks of colour on screen when a game was supposed to change the palette mid frame.

2 - Sound channels are now properly synchronised. They were very slightly out of sync before - the right channel was a few samples behind the left. Should result in a slight increase in sound quality. This was needed because the mono output sounded terrible without it (see below)

3 - For those of us who still have to put up with a mono TV, there is now a mono sound output mode. Don't get too excited - it doesn't speed things up, because it's still stereo. It just gets the sound hardware to do a mono mix, rather than a stereo one. It's enabled from the Dreamcast's BIOS (set the sound mode to mono). If you have a mono TV and some sounds were missing (like every other ring "ding" noise in Sonic), check this setting and try with this version.

4 - The sound looping bit from the menu has gone (I never noticed it because it was only the right channel, and I have a mono TV), as has the momentary blip of audio when you start the second (or later) game.

5 - SRAM support has been hooked up. Only works with C68k, and has only been tested with Sonic 3. Seems to work pretty well though - the SRAM save for Sonic 3 takes up a single block, and it still has about 200 bytes free in that block out of 512 total. Loads from and saves to the first VMU only. Error handling is crap, so it might occasionally destroy a save file. The saves from all your other games should be safe though.

No icons though. If anyone wants to draw some (32x32 pixels, 16 colours), feel free. A different one for each game that supports SRAM would be pretty cool. Eyecatch images (the little pictures that appear on the BIOS VMU manager when you have a file selected) might be cool too - they're 72x56 pixels, and can either be 16 color (adds 4 blocks), 256 color (9 blocks), or true colour (16 blocks). Considering their size, I'd probably make them optional.