Well, it's about time we said something. Better to let a video do the talking, here's the first teaser: (Everything you hear and see is what you'll enjoy on the Mega Drive, except for the last section, which is from the Neo Geo version.)
(https://i.ibb.co/LXZM8kf3/Captura-ZENEKO.jpg)
https://youtu.be/Bf4voWPFino (https://youtu.be/Bf4voWPFino)We are two developers who have been working on this game for the Mega Drive/Genesis and Neo-Geo for several years now, at least three. The game is a run-and-gun worthy of having graced the arcades of the mid-90s, standing shoulder to shoulder with Metal Slug and showcasing what this console is capable of. We didn't want to make a port or a mediocre game; we wanted to deliver a true arcade experience for 16-bit machines. The development time is long, for a few reasons... Initially, given the graphic quality we were working with, we only intended it for Neo Geo (the tiles or graphic patterns of the stages are practically never repeated), but shortly after, I became obsessed with investigating how we could make the Mega Drive/Genesis display the same main stages and sprites as the Neo Geo version... To achieve this, we had to create graphics creation and conversion tools from scratch, as well as a game engine (MS3-GE) that would manage the Mega Drive's resources very efficiently and allow us to maximize the machine's computing power and RAM (on the Mega Drive/Genesis, the Z80's 8 KB of RAM are also being used for graphics; but the Z80 itself isn't being used, only its RAM is being utilized).
In addition, the game cartridge features a sound processor
that delivers up to 12 CD-quality stereo digital audio voices.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Answers to Frequently Asked Questions: What I don't quite understand: 1- Audio output from the cartridge? Where did this oddity come from? Yeah, yeah, the internal audio chip, I know. The game's sound is very high quality, and positional stereo is very important (for example: some enemies announce with a sound which edge of the screen they're going to appear from, and we do that by manually adjusting the stereo; panning the sounds). The headphone jack is for those who want to enjoy the 100% original sound, without the background noise and the distortion, to a greater or lesser degree, introduced by the console's circuitry. That said, the sound also comes out through the console, so that the sound can be enjoyed to each player's liking. 2- Does the game work on any Mega Drive emulator? And is that chip it uses a standard or what? No, the additional hardware included with the cartridge is required. It's a large ROM cartridge, 192 Megabits, and here it's truly utilized, unlike with other titles. The sound processor is a custom design; its firmware has been programmed and tested using three different microcontrollers. In fact, there are three versions of the cartridge, whose components are interchangeable between versions. This is intended to prevent potential component shortages. Of course, this solution, as a precaution, has also increased development time; we prefer to have solutions to potential problems ready-made rather than having to improvise. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This thread will be kept updated.
Kickstarter campaign will be available soon...