Pier Solar may be released soon?!?

Arkhan Asylum · 01/10/2011, 09:42 PM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 01/10/2011, 12:55 AMI haven't even looked at the extras on my disc yet. It started skipping after about 5 seconds so I said "Eff dis" and made a CDR which works perfectly.

One of the team members tells me that perhaps the materials used to make CDs these days are different and can't be read as well by the Sega CD. Ummm... OK.

Oh ffs. What a moronic statement.

Look at Insanity.

Pressed for your playing excitement on OLDER FUCKING HARDWARE.

give me a break. a goddamn SCSI CD drive reads the discs fine.

when are they going to admit Changs Speedy CD Plessing Hut fucked up and gave them a crappy batch of discs.

Instead of coming up with excuses why not call the guys up and go THESE ARE MESSED UP. REFUND US. SEND GOOD ONES. DO SOMETHING.

In fact Insanity is read by my Sega CD. I went and checked.

*shrug* Whatever.

BlueBMW · 01/11/2011, 11:41 AM

My Sega CD plays CDRs a whole lot better than my Duo. Ill agree modern CDrs aren't as good as the old ones but how does one screw up a proffessionally pressed cd?

OldRover · 01/11/2011, 01:01 PM

Chinese CD manufacturers do not adhere to the rigid standards of pressing houses in the USA. Manufacturing CDs is a very delicate operation that has to be done under the highest level of care and expertise. This is especially the case for making the glass master... the environment in which the master is made has to be precisely controlled, and even the replication process has to always follow a strict standard of environmental conditions. One piece of dust gets in the process and the thing's fucked... might as well toss it out and start all over again. When it comes to glass mastering, that's even more literal... one piece of dust really WILL fuck the whole thing and you HAVE to start over... at least during replication, a piece of dust will only fuck the current disc (though it's still ruined and has to be done over). The problem is that this issue is all too common with Chinese CD manufacturers... and they don't fucking care. If you get a bad batch of CDs from a Chinese manufacturer, good luck having anything done about it aside from sucking it up and taking a loss. Pressing in the USA will cost you more but at least you know you're gonna get a working product.

Cart manufacturing, on the other hand, is just a matter of paying attention. Yes, manufacturing ROM chips also requires a strict environmental standard, but assembling a cart only requires that one pays the fuck attention to what they're doing and doesn't drill a screw through the ROM chip or circuit board (or both if you're doing glop-tops).

ParanoiaDragon · 01/11/2011, 01:33 PM

I played it a bit on my CDX, seems to work just fine, there was maybe one time where it took the music a bit to load.

Joe Redifer · 01/11/2011, 02:53 PM

Actually there are no ROM chips used on the board. It's ROM "Goo", kind of like PC Engine HuCards.

NecroPhile · 01/11/2011, 03:26 PM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 01/11/2011, 02:53 PMActually there are no ROM chips used on the board. It's ROM "Goo", kind of like PC Engine HuCards.

Funny pic, but what do you think is under that 'goo'? Like HuCards, that's a glob top protecting the components and allowing use of smaller (flimsier) wiring.

Joe Redifer · 01/11/2011, 07:38 PM

You can see three things if you look closely.

OldMan · 01/11/2011, 07:49 PM

The "Goo" is actually insulator/sealer. It takes the place of the plastic carrier you normally associate with chips, protecting it from harm.

And, if you are real careful, you can peel the goo off, and see what the actual chip die looks like. You can also split a plastic carrier (hot razor knife works) and compare them. But either operation will most likely rip the tiny wires off the die, rendering the chip useless.

At least, the chips I used didn't work afterwards... :-)

oldskool · 01/12/2011, 01:36 AM

My Pier Solar US edition has been working flawlessly for me in BOTH my CDX, and my X'Eye. Not sure if I am lucky, or if people just have worn out hardware.

And to those who have not played it yet, I assure you, it's an AWESOME game. And I am not even a big fan of Japnese style RPG's. It has some unique features in the game that I have yet to see in other RPG's. Not to mention the graphics and the sounds are amazing.

Did anyone here post a link to an official ISO copy of the original disc? If not I can dupe mine. And if it doesn't work in your hardware, then maybe it does have something to do with worn out lasers - since I know mine works great.

As one of those people that "patiently waited" for over 2 years - I do have to agree that it kind of sucks for the people that are still interested in it to have to pay more and get less. But it is what it is. And what it is, is an awesome Genesis game for $45 (Shipped).

While I do agree that the few of us that actually had faith in them do deserve "extras", I don't believe that we should have got that many extras to those buyers of the second print. I think the omision of the color manal is no big deal really. But I do think that everyone deserves the enchanced CD. It is nice that you still have the option to burn one off if you want to experience it, but I also do agree.

I do think that some people are going a bit overboard about the whole situation too, that's for sure.

I think there is WAY too much homebrew slamming around here, it's pretty pathetic really.

Arkhan Asylum · 01/12/2011, 01:53 AM

Well, when you got people like what was his name, Clessy? Yeah when theres people like that, it really doesn't help the "pro homebrew" side of things.

The games not even the problem here, its really just the way in which the publishing was done. Lots of people got a nice kick to the sack, and a "tough shit" from the dev. team.

The game itself looks kick-ass.

Joe Redifer · 01/12/2011, 01:58 AM

Oldskool, maybe some of the discs turned out OK. They can't ALL be bad.

Anyway, the game design is really starting to frustrate me and I am going out of my way to let the developers know it. Way too many random battles that you can't run from and it takes a very long time to level up. You are trying to solve a riddle and you keep getting interrupted by battles, none of which are ever quick. They need to know that their work has begun to annoy and frustrate me. And not because I suck at gaming as I've beaten tons of RPGs. Instead it is due to design flaws. I have noticed that homebrew games tend to be more difficult than real games, not sure why that is.

Mathius · 01/12/2011, 02:05 AM

Yeah, I have noticed that it takes FOREVER to level up in PS. It took a took an eternity to go from level 2 to 3. Level increase should come fast in the beginning, and then level out.

Arkhan Asylum · 01/12/2011, 03:18 AM

I often wonder why games that take so many years to complete have problems such as this.

Like you mentioned basically, if you've PLAYED RPGs before, you should know what works and what doesn't, especially if you are talking Genesis RPGs.

There are do's and don'ts.

Anyone remember that awesome mirror maze in Lunar 2? Fuck that. With random battles in between? it was a lesson in patience.

nikdog · 01/12/2011, 03:21 AM

I guess when I got an offer to beta test it I should have took it.

"This shit's too hard! Make it easier!"

OldRover · 01/12/2011, 08:26 AM

Quote from: oldskool on 01/12/2011, 01:36 AMWhile I do agree that the few of us that actually had faith in them do deserve "extras"

Emphasis mine. Never put faith in anything. Ever. EVER. And that goes for everything.

And furthermore, that statement is arrogant and self-serving, which is really what people are opposed to. I don't see any homebrew-slamming in this thread at ALL. Do you even know what homebrew-slamming looks like? No one's ragging on the game because it's homebrew, it's because of the ultimately idiotic things that some of the dev staff and die-hard zealots are saying. It's no different than when people (although this happens in the magnitude of MILLIONS, not just dozens) rag on Blizzard for whatever they fucked up this week. If it was homebrew-slamming, it would involve people making half-assed comparisons to commercial games, saying that this game sucks because it wasn't made by a licensed third party, etc etc etc.

NecroPhile · 01/12/2011, 10:36 AM

Quote from: The Old Rover on 01/12/2011, 08:26 AMNever put faith in anything. Ever. EVER. And that goes for everything.

I have faith that I'll get a copy of Mysterious Song... eventually..... probably before I die....... maybe.

Arkhan Asylum · 01/12/2011, 12:56 PM

yeah theres a difference between bashing the game itself, and bashing the pretty moronic publication events that are transpiring.

Honestly, they've done no better than SFT because of this. The initial print may be of a higher quality, but the broken CD and events that followed post-launch along with the planned quality of run #2 don't really set them above SFT.

Maybe slightly, since the cart itself has the neat little guy on it and stuff, but..... yeah.

OldRover · 01/12/2011, 03:13 PM

Well, I'm not so sure if WM's people are approaching SFT-level nonsense, but it seems as if people are getting more and more upset. That's never a good thing.

Necromancer, we might have found someone to fill in for B_T while he's away, so put that faith away because you don't need it.

Arkhan Asylum · 01/12/2011, 06:47 PM

All I have to say is don't wave your dick around if you don't plan to deliver, or at least be humble when you've screwed up.

Joe Redifer · 01/12/2011, 07:40 PM

Fonzie says there are many reasons why a CD-R would work better. No reasons were provided. But the fact that a pressed disc is no longer offered says something about it. It would be more reliable to download and burn your own. As for the extras, I finally popped in my disc and checked them out. Basically it is an HTML file that opens in your web browser and plays some flash images and music. It shows a few pics from the development and lets you play back a few of the PCM songs (probably re-encoded to play in Flash). You can also "download" wallpapers to your desktop. There are 3 redbook audio tracks, one long one saying that the game only works on Sega CD in many different languages and then CD versions of a couple tracks. The extras are kind of cool, but not really necessary. I'd put the HTML on my site for people to see/use, but I don't think they'd like that very much. Eliminating this stuff probably made the ISO a smaller download, though I have heard reports of people "padding" the image so it fills the whole CD thus making it behave more reliably, but that doesn't make any sense to me.

OldRover · 01/12/2011, 07:51 PM

A CD-R is going to work better because most CD-Rs are not made in China, but in Japan (extremely strict quality control) or Mexico (under supervision by a company in the USA, so again, extremely strict quality control). Sad, really.

And if anyone actually says that "padding the image so it fills the whole CD makes it more reliable" then you need to shoot them in the face with a bazooka. Ugh... the stupid, it burns...

If I ever make a Sega CD game (don't count on it... I can't stand the graphics limitations, I'd rather do a Dreamcast game), I'd at least have it pressed domestically.

bluespeed · 01/12/2011, 07:57 PM

I'm one of the lucky ones, in the game my CD works on all my Sega CD systems, music plays flawlessly.
But here's the strange thing, the redbook audio tracks don't work on my Sega CD or CD player... they skip. I've NEVER had that problem before.

Quote from: nikdog on 01/12/2011, 03:21 AMI guess when I got an offer to beta test it I should have took it.

"This shit's too hard! Make it easier!"

The game IS easier compared to the beta.
But the game design and layout and everything was already finished by the time beta testing started.

Arkhan Asylum · 01/12/2011, 08:42 PM

It really amazes me what kind of stupid reasonings people come up with for why a CD isn't working.

Padding the ISO? Whuuuuuht? Real CDs are made with things a Sega CD cant read?! whaaaaaaaaat? So how are cheap ass CD-Rs working fine then?

Here is the REAL reason why the CD doesnt frikkin' work.

1) China sucks at pressing CDs

Also, did the master work on multiple machines? If so.. HMMMM, maybe they got a bad pressing. 2400 CDs, JUST the CDs with no booklets and such, would have cost <1$ a disc from where I got things pressed. 500 discs was around 600$ w/ jewelcases and inserts. If you're just printing off CDs with no cases, maaaan is it cheapcheap.

Why they picked CHINA, land of low quality horse shit, is beyond me.

Someone better scan the frigging enhanced CD artwork so I can make my own for my burnt copy.

nikdog · 01/12/2011, 09:24 PM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 01/12/2011, 07:40 PMlets you play back a few of the PCM songs (probably re-encoded to play in Flash)

They are actually MP3s on the CD in one of the folder, it's just a flash-based mp3 player. (It might actually be Java)

Quote from: guest on 01/12/2011, 08:42 PMWhy they picked CHINA, land of low quality horse shit, is beyond me.

Local Shipping. Possibly no shipping.

Joe Redifer · 01/12/2011, 09:31 PM

Quote from: OldRoverAnd if anyone actually says that "padding the image so it fills the whole CD makes it more reliable" then you need to shoot them in the face with a bazooka.

Yeah. I think the person who did it said something like "The Sega CD tries to seek in areas which have no data, causing issues". That doesn't make any sense. You'd have to have a horribly broken TOC or directory to do that.

And Arkhan, I'm sure they picked China because it is el-cheapo.

Arkhan Asylum · 01/12/2011, 09:41 PM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 01/12/2011, 09:31 PMYeah. I think the person who did it said something like "The Sega CD tries to seek in areas which have no data, causing issues". That doesn't make any sense. You'd have to have a horribly broken TOC or directory to do that.

Yeah, if the ripped ISO of the pressed discs works fine..... odds are its not the layout of the disc and its just the quality of said disc.

QuoteAnd Arkhan, I'm sure they picked China because it is el-cheapo.

Well, you get what you friggin pay for.

Did they get pressed in a straw hut and delivered via rickshaw?

oldskool · 01/12/2011, 09:55 PM

Quote from: OldRover on 01/12/2011, 08:26 AM
Quote from: oldskool on 01/12/2011, 01:36 AMWhile I do agree that the few of us that actually had faith in them do deserve "extras"
Emphasis mine. Never put faith in anything. Ever. EVER. And that goes for everything.

And furthermore, that statement is arrogant and self-serving, which is really what people are opposed to. I don't see any homebrew-slamming in this thread at ALL. Do you even know what homebrew-slamming looks like? No one's ragging on the game because it's homebrew, it's because of the ultimately idiotic things that some of the dev staff and die-hard zealots are saying. It's no different than when people (although this happens in the magnitude of MILLIONS, not just dozens) rag on Blizzard for whatever they fucked up this week. If it was homebrew-slamming, it would involve people making half-assed comparisons to commercial games, saying that this game sucks because it wasn't made by a licensed third party, etc etc etc.

Yada Yada Yada. Thanks for the attack calling me arrogant and self-serving. Because that is SO me. I appreciate it. Can't ever even get a word in this fucking place without people fucking attacking you.

Emerald Rocker · 01/12/2011, 10:05 PM

Some people here have big mouths. Especially people who promise things for years and, after all that time, aren't even capable of delivering a refund.

OldRover · 01/12/2011, 11:30 PM

Quote from: oldskool on 01/12/2011, 09:55 PMYada Yada Yada. Thanks for the attack calling me arrogant and self-serving. Because that is SO me. I appreciate it. Can't ever even get a word in this fucking place without people fucking attacking you.

Sorry oldskool but that was an arrogant statement and that's the kind of thing that so many people are pissed off about... that particular attitude. It's basically saying that the only people who deserve "the real thing" are the ones who held onto faith, and that those who wanted the proof before the purchase were screwed. That is SO not the way to do things, and as someone who appreciates the real thing more than anyone on this forum, you of all people should understand that.

Arkhan Asylum · 01/12/2011, 11:33 PM

well all the people going WE DESERVE THE CD, NOT YOU, look like real idiots since the reason the 2nd printers arent getting the CD isnt because theyre not deserving, its because they dont frikkin work.

Joe Redifer · 01/13/2011, 12:44 AM

I think everyone who has a Sega CD and this game should have the CD. The cart music is good, but it doesn't sound as good as the Genesis is capable of.

Mathius · 01/13/2011, 02:31 AM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 01/13/2011, 12:44 AMI think everyone who has a Sega CD and this game should have the CD. The cart music is good, but it doesn't sound as good as the Genesis is capable of.

I don't have any idea on how to upload an ISO, but if anyone wants a CD-R copy I can send yous guys one if you cover shipping.

Arkhan Asylum · 01/13/2011, 03:25 AM

Quote from: Mathius on 01/13/2011, 02:31 AM
Quote from: Joe Redifer on 01/13/2011, 12:44 AMI think everyone who has a Sega CD and this game should have the CD. The cart music is good, but it doesn't sound as good as the Genesis is capable of.
I don't have any idea on how to upload an ISO, but if anyone wants a CD-R copy I can send yous guys one if you cover shipping.

give plz.

you know my address, I think?

Joe Redifer · 01/13/2011, 05:21 AM

I can upload the ISO (I have the FTP space), but I am not sure the ISO I create from Toast on a Mac will be compatible with other burning programs. I could take it over to the Windows side if I had specific instructions on what to use and how to do it. But Mathius' offer sounds good for most because you know he won't burn anything at 100x.

OldRover · 01/13/2011, 05:26 AM

ISO is supposed to be a standard format... it should be universal.

Joe Redifer · 01/13/2011, 05:29 AM

Hmmm.... well Toast won't let me. It has its own proprietary ".toast" image, which is just stupid. Also, the disc mounts as two images. One is an audio CD with three tracks, the other is the data stuffs. Burning a CD-R copy is easy, making a combined ISO is not, at least from my shitty Mac end.

Arkhan Asylum · 01/13/2011, 05:57 AM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 01/13/2011, 05:29 AMHmmm.... well Toast won't let me. It has its own proprietary ".toast" image, which is just stupid. Also, the disc mounts as two images. One is an audio CD with three tracks, the other is the data stuffs. Burning a CD-R copy is easy, making a combined ISO is not, at least from my shitty Mac end.

MAC IS WAC.

SEE WHAT I DID THERE?

Mathius · 01/13/2011, 12:35 PM

I am going to need addresses through PM. I know you live in Ohio, Ark, but that's all I remember.

Edit: It may be a few days before I can respond to any PMs. My computer has to go into the shop for a small repair.

nikdog · 01/13/2011, 12:41 PM

Quote from: nikdog on 01/06/2011, 11:30 AMhttp://rapidshare.com/files/441132710/PierSolarCD.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/441132685/PierSolarCD.part2.rar

Original CD Bin/Cue, Page 13

Mathius · 01/13/2011, 12:44 PM

Quote from: nikdog on 01/13/2011, 12:41 PM
Quote from: nikdog on 01/06/2011, 11:30 AMhttp://rapidshare.com/files/441132710/PierSolarCD.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/441132685/PierSolarCD.part2.rar
Original CD Bin/Cue, Page 13

Why is it in two parts???

OldRover · 01/13/2011, 01:00 PM

rapidshare probably has a file size limitation for free accounts.

nikdog · 01/13/2011, 02:11 PM

Quote from: Mathius on 01/13/2011, 12:44 PM
Quote from: nikdog on 01/13/2011, 12:41 PM
Quote from: nikdog on 01/06/2011, 11:30 AMhttp://rapidshare.com/files/441132710/PierSolarCD.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/441132685/PierSolarCD.part2.rar
Original CD Bin/Cue, Page 13
Why is it in two parts???

Thats how I originally downloaded it. Plus I think that Rapidshare has file size caps.

RoyVegas · 01/13/2011, 04:23 PM

Quote from: OldRover on 01/12/2011, 08:26 AMEmphasis mine. Never put faith in anything. Ever. EVER. And that goes for everything.

Irony.

SignOfZeta · 01/13/2011, 04:49 PM

Quote from: OldRover on 01/12/2011, 11:30 PMIt's basically saying that the only people who deserve "the real thing" are the ones who held onto faith, and that those who wanted the proof before the purchase were screwed. That is SO not the way to do things...

Well, I don't know about that. If you want the latest greatest limited edition Ferrari you have to have already been a customer, be "cool" (in their opinion) and put down a huge non-refundable deposit...and then give them half a mil when they are actually produced. If you wait to see if its a good car, you'll never get one (at least not at the original price).

Of course, Ferrari has a rather good reputation, and they've been around since the 40s, so the amount of "faith" required is considerably less than what you need to believe in a couple of guys making a guaranteed-unprofitable Mega Drive game...but my point is sometimes:

You know...

OldRover · 01/13/2011, 10:29 PM

Quote from: RoyVegas on 01/13/2011, 04:23 PM
Quote from: OldRover on 01/12/2011, 08:26 AMEmphasis mine. Never put faith in anything. Ever. EVER. And that goes for everything.
Irony.

I fail to see the irony.

Emerald Rocker · 01/14/2011, 04:49 PM

Quote from: OldRover on 01/13/2011, 10:29 PM
Quote from: RoyVegas on 01/13/2011, 04:23 PM
Quote from: OldRover on 01/12/2011, 08:26 AMEmphasis mine. Never put faith in anything. Ever. EVER. And that goes for everything.
Irony.
I fail to see the irony.

If you see no irony, then that means you truly have no faith -- which is ironic in an altogether different way.

Arkhan Asylum · 01/15/2011, 02:00 AM

Quote from: SignOfZeta on 01/13/2011, 04:49 PMbut my point is sometimes:

You know...

YOU GOTTA BELIEVE!

KICK PUNCH CHOP I GOT THE FUNKY FLOW!

M I X DA FLOUR INTO DA BOWL!

lolol.

Joe Redifer · 01/15/2011, 03:16 AM

Pier Solar reprint ghetto homeless edition is now sold out. The 3rd edition will be cart only, no boc, no manual, no label. Maybe some scratches or nicks... or soldering iron burn marks. Game name will be scratched into the plastic with an X-acto knife.

nectarsis · 01/15/2011, 03:28 AM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 01/15/2011, 03:16 AMPier Solar reprint ghetto homeless edition is now sold out. The 3rd edition will be cart only, no boc, no manual, no label. Maybe some scratches or nicks... or soldering iron burn marks. Game name will be scratched into the plastic with an X-acto knife.

Will it be $10-20 more?

Arkhan Asylum · 01/15/2011, 03:50 AM

Quote from: nectarsis on 01/15/2011, 03:28 AM
Quote from: Joe Redifer on 01/15/2011, 03:16 AMPier Solar reprint ghetto homeless edition is now sold out. The 3rd edition will be cart only, no boc, no manual, no label. Maybe some scratches or nicks... or soldering iron burn marks. Game name will be scratched into the plastic with an X-acto knife.
Will it be $10-20 more?

YEAH AND IT WONT WORK.