Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs Reconstruction for PCE/SuperGrafx Arcade CDROM2

[gameblabla]

Here is my Reconstruction of the cancelled release of Saber Rider & The Star Sheriffs, based on the 1 level demo and spritesheets & assets released on social media.

A PC engine version was actually planned as a stretch goal, albeit only for Super CDROM2.
Obvious concessions had to be made compared to Saturn version but the game's content is (mostly) there.
The version as is has a few (visible) graphical issues that i hope to fix at the end of this week.
Let me tell you that the game as is would have not been possible on Super CDROM2 without major cutbacks or simply put, an entirely different game.

This was recorded from Mesen.
It was not tried on real hardware yet but others have tried it on MISTer. I will report back once someone does but fairly confident it will work as is but i believe it will work with little issues.
Supergrafx enhancements are mostly additional background layer, foreground layer in platforming segments and a little more. It works on both consoles.

You can download the release here :
https://github.com/gameblabla/SaberRiderStarSheriffUnOfficial/releases/tag/1.1-pce

Fun fact : Aetherbyte / Arkhan were planned (or rather, Chris said he would use their services) for the PC engine version but obviously nothing was made. What you may not know are the circumstances :
no money was exchanged, no design document and Chris was certain the demo release and its graphics could have been done on PC engine Super CDROM2 without major concessions.
Arkhan said that was not possible, and that he was full of himself. (basically, i am paraphrasing)
After which no attempt was made to even make the PC Engine version a reality, in spite of Chris taking money from backers for said version.
(No refund was issued after the fallout of discussion, nor was another programmer found for the PC engine version)

[NightWolve]

The legendary Saber Riders that rode off with all that Kickstarter backer money... Riders gonna rrrride after all...

But yeah, isn't AI pretty amazing allowing for fast salvaging of abandoned Kickstarter projects like this ?? There has also been an explosion of PC Engine localization projects thanks to it as well! Exciting times!

Fun fact : Aetherbyte / Arkhan were planned (or rather, Chris said he would use their services) for the PC engine version but obviously nothing was made. What you may not know are the circumstances :
no money was exchanged, no design document and Chris was certain the demo release and its graphics could have been done on PC engine Super CDROM2 without major concessions.
Arkhan said that was not possible, and that he was full of himself. (basically, i am paraphrasing)
After which no attempt was made to even make the PC Engine version a reality, in spite of Chris taking money from backers for said version.
(No refund was issued after the fallout of discussion, nor was another programmer found for the PC engine version)

Oh, him... nah, we're all better off that never happened, it'd be another disaster! Arkhan Dildovich is a vicious, deranged cyber bully and from what I hear lately he's jumped on the psycho anti-AI crusade. I was told by a developer he was harassing someone for using AI, I know he harassed Aaron Nanto about it for his AI music, which got him blocked on X/Twitter... If he knows/learns you're using AI he'll crash out about it - he's one of those types/fanatics!

It took Aaron Nanto many years post-PCEFX to finally figure out why he should be banned from interacting with other people (wish he realized that sooner in 2019 before unbanning him in my face), everywhere he goes he causes drama, harassment, bullying and so far has destroyed 2 PC Engine groups (one on Facebook, the TG-16 group by Aaron Lambert and this place, PCEFX). He's half the reason this PCEFX club/group was broken apart, not just because of Nullity and his weird DarkKobold gang of bullies...

But yeah, those are some additional fun facts that should be pointed out if mentioning Arkhan/Andrew Dildovich and his AetherButtHurt... Basically he's a cunt that thinks we should've been treating him like a rockstar for porting some shitty Atari 2600 games to PC Engine CD and that no matter how much of an abusive, harassing bully he can be, he must NEVER be banned! He's one of the Turbo Trolls that thinks he's unbannable much like Nintega, same manchild mentality...

My advice, since you know about him, is to stay as far away as you can if you don't want your projects potentially sabotaged down the line, especially if you're heavily using AI. Just on principle alone to avoid unnecessary drama, headaches if he decides to crash out on you! He tried to cyber bully Dave Shadoff on this forum many years back about documentation of all things but I didn't speak up against it then to maintain relations... It was cowardly actually, I shouldn't have let him get away with it then, but oh well...

[gameblabla]

Here is the Supergrafx build !
It leverages the additional VDC to reduce sprite flickering, additional background layers, foreground layer and a little more.
I don't know if i will do it again, as debugging both builds to ensure parity was extra painful but it was an interesting experience. I can now fully understand why developers did not even bother to add SuperGrafx support as a nice to have.

But yeah, isn't AI pretty amazing allowing for fast salvaging of abandoned Kickstarter projects like this ?? There has also been an explosion of PC Engine localization projects thanks to it as well! Exciting times!

Yes, it was game changing for me.
I'm sure it helps with translators that couldn't find ROM hackers as well as this is a pretty difficult task.

Oh, him... nah, we're all better off that never happened, it'd be another disaster! Arkhan Dildovich is a vicious, deranged cyber bully and from what I hear lately he's jumped on the psycho anti-AI crusade. I was told by a developer he was harassing someone for using AI, I know he harassed Aaron Nanto about it for his AI music, which got him blocked on X/Twitter... If he knows/learns you're using AI he'll crash out about it - he's one of those types/fanatics!

Right, i'm not on twitter anymore but yes, i know he has... strong opinions about AI. I don't think he approves of this either but whatever, the failure is ultimately on Chris Straub (Ride off your moneeey) for not finding another programmer (or refunding the PCE backers).
Very possible that Arkan... interesting character threw him off, but we never got Chris's version on this.
Ironically he does not even like DarkKobold either.
I cannot speculate how his version was going to turn out (not like this for sure), maybe we were set up for disappointment.

I'm not going to stop if that "AI" project bothers them. (not just Arkhan, or whatever)
I will ask them instead why Chris (or anyone else for that matter in the PC engine) has failed on its backers.

I'm not interested in moral purity lessons from anyone, we've all seen the results (the result is nothing but drama). They are welcome instead, to provide an alternative. (besides the existing Dreamcast 1 level demo)

[NightWolve]

Yeah, not surprising he still hates DarkKkobold (Kyle) at least (many of us did), hahaha! He's another argumentative forum bully from day one, and it was a nightmare to finally get rid of him (though I believe he still stalks me)! The root cause was not laying down the law in acceptable forum behavior/lack of serious moderation to prevent escalation, keep the group friendly/professional.

In principle I never should've met Arkhan because if PCEFX had a real mod team like Reset Era/NeoGAF, he would've been tossed out long ago, and he'd be someone else's problem. But since PCE is niche, the groups are so much smaller, it's easier to get away with abusive behavior. And Arkhan, like other arrogant bullies, thinks his game port/development contributions should "protect" him from bans, bestow upon him "rockstar" status as a "a productive member of the PCE community..."

Anyway, it feels a bit wrong to hijack your thread too much in this negative tangent, but there's not much talking here anyway. Sorry about that.

I think the anti-AI mobs though are worth bringing up because they're sabotaging people who are listening to them instead of learning how to use it right now! The future IT jobs/work will require being the best at using AI or you'll be replaced! Abstaining/boycotting may feel good online, but you'll be left behind in the end! I feel I'm already behind the curve, only started learning how to use ChatGPT last August when it launched 3 years prior. There's a lot I want to learn that you've already done, like text to voice for dubbing, songs, etc.

Initially I was really excited about seeing projects finished that were started years ago and other new possibilities but then all these angry anti-AI activists showed up that put everything in a sour mood. AI helped so much for my Langrisser III localization project but now I know admitting the AI usage will lead to it getting sabotaged, called slop, being yelled at, etc. so I don't look forward to publishing it as much as I used to. I thought people would be happy, but now I know different... On reddit, a localizer used AI for Langrisser 5 and they tore him apart, that also put me a sour mood. I wasn't as aware about the AI backlash as I am now, it's gotten really nasty. You have to ignore them I guess and live with it...