New Geist Force Dreamcast prototype, in the heart of the milky way
Geist Force was being developed by a new in-house team of developers at Sega headquarters in Redwood City , CA. They were new and relatively inexperienced. This is probably one of the reasons they took so long and why in the end the game was not rated as good enough.
Geist Force's cancellation was due to the game's budget overrun. Japan were unhappy with the title's progress after 18 months of development. Sega Japan decided to stop funding and took the opportunity to cancel all other Sega of America (studio name) games in development.
“I worked as an internal tester at Sega, their headquarters in Redwood City, CA (we then moved to San Francisco ). I tested a few new games there. When I started, the very first one game I was put on was a Dion Sanders soccer game for Saturn that ended up getting canceled. I also tested a shooter for Dreamcast called Geist, which was supposed to look like Star Fox 64 , but it was also canceled "
"If only he hadn't had such a difficult development journey, he probably would have been a success!"
"Geist Force has been canceled because its development took A LOT too long and was not going well. Development started long before the Dreamcast launched and was no further ahead than what we see in builds when the Dreamcast was on the verge of dying out. It's a shame because it could have been a really cool Star Fox clone. "
My trailer including, the intro, stage 1, stage 5 and a new cutscene!
The game Geist Force certainly helped inspire a "spirit" (German translation of geist) of optimism for Sega when it was unveiled in 98 at the Tokyo Game Show . The visual effects of this sci-fi shooter were breathtaking. Nothing had sparked more interest in Sega's new console than these previews of Geist Force . We unfortunately know the rest ...
Video presentation at the Tokyo Game Show
Overall the game is really reminiscent of Starfox . The player evolves on the screen when seeing his ship from behind. It is then necessary to face the adversaries who arrive in waves.
This prototype suggests a game that still had some great trumps up its sleeve. We Weren't Going to Say No to a Lylat Wars Clone ! Kill the most enemies with a single missile shot, we would have asked for more !!!
Geist Force was not going to revolutionize the genre. Some ideas were good, like the possibility of destroying part of the decor. We were going to put people on the streets by destroying their houses!
With a good calibration of the difficulty, an adjustment of the number of enemies present at the same time (there are not enough of them), a tweaking of the graphics, it could have been a good game, especially for one of the first to have to go out on Dreamcast. He could never have dethroned the Nintendo juggernaut.
Information meteor shower from the Kuiper belt
History does not tell us if the Voyager probe encountered Geist Force spacecraft in infinite space.黃心健 Hsin-Chien Huang , the game's artistic director, passed them on his way:
"I was the artistic director in charge of 6 artists + 1 artistic director. The studio, called SEGA of America , consisted of 4 programmers, 2 game designers, 1 producer, 8 artists. "
The storyline was based on a human who arrived on a planet and befriended a local alien. Then a strange creature that had the ability to turn a machine into a monster appeared. So the human and the alien allied to fight it. The model of the game was Star Fox.
"All the artistic elements were done, the basic flight mechanic had been implemented, so that you could fly through all the levels. 2 maps had been made by the programming team (also with the boss of each level). The 6th was to take place in space. It involved special flight mechanics and was not completed. "
"It was fun working on this game. I am very sad that it was canceled, because I think it could have been a great and fun game ..."
Inspired by Alien films and some Japanese manga, the Team's mission was to create a 3D Shmup on Dreamcast. This Rail shooter was unfortunately canceled. The reason was that the management had decided to close the studios after the end of the development of Geist Force. But this information leaked and the programming team decided to quit before being fired.
"Game development is about solving a continuous succession of problems."
Another major info, a 2-player mode was planned, he confirms to us. Probably for Adventure mode!
Finally, he offers us 2 videos related to Geist Force. The first was the initial animation proposal for the game (at 1:00). The second is a technical setup video.
Geist Force, initial proposal animation, video presentation at E3 1998
Geist Force, technical configuration video
After research, the original animation proposal video is the one used at E3 1998 to present the game to journalists. Bernie Stolar had said it was in real time when it was wrong. The trade press had been disappointed when they saw Geist Force at TGS 98 a few months later. An old article mentions a stint of a few seconds with a giant spider in a canyon (0:57) as well as floating islands with towns built on them followed by a fight against a species of jellyfish (2:08).
The music
Music for Geist Force Dreamcast was taken from the prototype. Audio uses the same format as the Saturn SDK. There are 5 different tracks. These are catchy electro sounds that stick well to the spirit of the game.
Geist Force Dreamcast Original Sound Track (Youtube)
Text and audio dialogues
All lines of text and audio dialogue, in Japanese, are present in the game files. Many of them are unused.
While testing the prototype, STAGE 6 is empty, it is not finished. This level has its dialogues which make it possible to understand, to interpret the unfolding of the mission as if the development of Geist Force would have been to the end. We also learn the name of some areas. Here is an example :
stage6,L6C1E1D1,L6C1E1.STR,アルファチーム、よくここまでたどりついた さて、偵察隊によってス・サニア星最大の衛星、ボレアスに敵の基地が存在することが確認された
stage6,L6C1E1D1,L6C1E1.STR: Alpha Team, you've come this far. Our reconnaissance team has confirmed the presence of an enemy base on Boreas, the largest moon of the planet Susania.
stage6,L6C1E1D2,L6C1E1.STR,情報によれば、敵は月の内部に集結しているらしい
stage6,L6C1E1D2,L6C1E1.STR: Intelligence suggests the enemy is regrouping inside the moon.
stage6,L6C1E1D3,L6C1E1.STR,この第７艦隊は周辺の敵をおさえる 君たちはボレアス内部に潜入し、敵基地を襲撃せよ 健闘を祈る
stage6,L6C1E1D3,L6C1E1.STR : This Seventh Fleet will control the enemy in the area. You must infiltrate inside Boreas and storm the enemy base.
stage6,L6C1E2D1,L6C1E2D1.STR,ボレアス…？母さんの月…
Stage 6, L6C1E2D1, L6C1E2D1.STR, Boreas...? Mother Moon...
stage6,L6C1E2D2,L6C1E2D2.STR,え？
stage6,L6C1E2D2,L6C1E2D2.STR,What?
stage6,L6C1E2D3,L6C1E2D3.STR,ルックも覚えてるでしょ、母さんがボレアスで遺跡の発掘をしてたって それが通信施設みたいなものだったんだけど、結局よく分かんないまんま、内戦が終わっちゃって…
stage6,L6C1E2D3,L6C1E2D3.STR, you remember my mother was digging some ruins in Boreas, it was like a communications facility, but in the end, I don't know, the civil war was over and...
stage6,L6C1E2D4,L6C1E2D4.STR,今はどうなってるんだ、その遺跡って？
stage6,L6C1E2D4,L6C1E2D4.STR, What's up now, these ruins?
stage6,L6C1E2D5,L6C1E2D5.STR,そのまま封印されて、ほったらかし 母さんは月を見るたんびに、「あとちょっとで分かったのに」って言ってるけど
stage6,L6C1E2D5,L6C1E2D5.STR,They were locked up and left alone. Every time Mom looks at the moon, she says, "I almost knew."
You can download the Geist Force dialogue pack below:
Textures
As for the dialogues, many of the textures present on the GD-R are not used in game. It is possible to imagine unknown environments, new characters and even what the end of zone bosses could look like with their different transformations.
The 12 different characters (Icon during the dialogues):
Each line of dialogue is accompanied by a talking head file, and in this file there is a face texture, seen above, as well as textures for the body, teeth and optional overlays like helmets and masks. The most interesting part is, if you've been paying attention to the in-game conversations, you might have noticed that they're lively. There are also textures for the teeth. These textures aren't just displayed as static images, but are applied to a few polygons, which are then animated to make the characters talk and give them ambient animation.
Example of a boss not implemented in the prototype (ALIEN QUEEN STAGE 6):
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Looks like when the player fights the Boss , he changes his textures to a bloodier version.
If STAGE 1 contains a boss encounter while playing the Prototype, the Arenas for the Master's encounters on other levels are empty. The Boss textures of all the maps are present on the disc. Animations are also there.
You can download the Geist Force texture pack below:
The differences between the 2 known prototypes
Binary files 1998/1ST_READ.BIN and 1999/1ST_READ.BIN differ
Only in 1998: CDWARNING.PCM
Only in 1999: LEGIT.DMMY
Binary files 1998/MIFF/FONT/KANJI.BIN and 1999/MIFF/FONT/KANJI.BIN differ
Binary files 1998/MIFF/GENERAL/EFFECT/ENVMAP6.MIFF and 1999/MIFF/GENERAL/EFFECT/ENVMAP6.MIFF differ
Only in 1999/MIFF/STAGE6/OBJECT: CONSTRUCTIONDEBRIS.MIFF
Only in 1999/MIFF/STAGE6/OBJECT: REFLECTIVEBALLS.MIFF
Only in 1999/MIFF/STAGE6/PATH: DFAREA.MIFF
Only in 1999/MIFF/STAGE6/PATH: DFAREA_1.MIFF
Only in 1999/MIFF/STAGE6/PATH: DFAREA_2.MIFF
Only in 1999/MIFF/STAGE6/PATH: DFAREA_3.MIFF
Binary files 1998/MIFF/STAGE4/EVENT/CUT3.MIFF and 1999/MIFF/STAGE4/EVENT/CUT3.MIFF differ
Binary files 1998/MIFF/STAGE4/EVENT/CUT4.MIFF and 1999/MIFF/STAGE4/EVENT/CUT4.MIFF differ
Binary files 1998/MIFF/STAGE4/EVENT/CUT5.MIFF and 1999/MIFF/STAGE4/EVENT/CUT5.MIFF differ
Binary files 1998/MIFF/STAGE4/EVENT/CUT6.MIFF and 1999/MIFF/STAGE4/EVENT/CUT6.MIFF differ
Binary files 1998/MIFF/STAGE4/EVENT/CUT7.MIFF and 1999/MIFF/STAGE4/EVENT/CUT7.MIFF differ
Binary files 1998/MIFF/STAGE4/EVENT/CUT8.MIFF and 1999/MIFF/STAGE4/EVENT/CUT8.MIFF differ
Binary files 1998/MIFF/STAGE4/EVENT/SCRIPT.MIFF and 1999/MIFF/STAGE4/EVENT/SCRIPT.MIFF differ
Only in 1998/MIFF/STAGE4: LUC
You can download the 313 differences between the 2 Geist Force prototypes below:
Conclusion of the work of Reverse Engineering
Only level 3 is missing. Level 4 and Level 6 seem incomplete. Levels 1, 2 and 5 seem to be complete, judging by the files.
Geist Force had to be canceled during its assembly phase. It would have taken, no doubt, between 6 and 8 months to complete and polish it.
It would be possible to finish it but it would require the source code of the game. Of course, we could not finish it 100% but implanting the enemies and the bosses in all the levels would already be satisfactory. This would be a long-term project taking many years. This is the first time that this opportunity has arisen!
Thanks to Sifting for his Reverse Engineering work, thanks to him we en learn more about this Dreamcast Star Fox .
The particularities of this new prototype of Geist Force:
Even though Geist Force leaked back in 2012, finding a new prototype version of the game is always nice, a real honor. It is now possible to see the evolution of the title between the 2 betas, the differences being visible to the naked eye. This prototype version is older than the known one.
Before getting to the heart of the matter, the differences game, it is good to recall some commands of Geist Force and that it has a debug menu:
The orders :
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joystick: move the ship
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d-pad: choose between the different bomb attacks of button B
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A button: shoot lasers
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Hold A: Lock multiple enemies, releasing A after targeting allows you to shoot locked enemies.
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B: shoot multiple missiles in a burst.
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X + A: another multiple missile attack
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X: speed increase
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tap X: barrel
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Y: short deceleration capacity
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L or R: tilt left and right respectively, L does not work exactly like R (sometimes you have to press R then L for tilt L to work).
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L and R at the same time: brings the ship up in altitude very quickly.
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L + R + START simultaneously: pauses the game, pressing this combination will pause it.
In 'level selection' mode, unplug and re-plug the controller twice, in order to automatically start the game without a debug menu.
The debug menu (plug in a Japanese keyboard that has the "S3" button in controller port 2):
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S3: Open debug menus
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D: Open debug options
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U: Open user options
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S: pause the game
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T: Button for switching the menu screen
Arrow keys: navigate in the menu (after pressing a letter) -
F12: Suicide the player's ship
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F1: Gives the player's ship 9999 shield points
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Z: rapid-fire laser for the player
When you start the game, you get to a level selection screen. Some are unplayable like stage 3 which does not charge or stage 4 which has an invisible barrier above the snowy ridge. Other lands do not have enemies, however they are explorable, like number 5 or Mike's Room (I will come back to this later). Map 6 is absolute nothingness, you will see !!!
Old prototype
New prototype
Looking at this window in detail, we can notice that the build number, date and time are not present.
Stage 2 has its share of change. At the halfway point, crossing the debris of a crash of an unidentified flying object, the enemies, balls crossing the screen, have a green color and not red. Their appearance is of little importance, they are easily dodged!
Not far from there, at the end of this passage, we should meet 4 monsters which apparently have not yet been implanted. We can therefore continue on our way without fear of having scratches on our space zinc. The bodybuilder must have preferred the old prototype!
Map 5 is the most interesting of this beta. The level's long, endless intro cutscene does not yet exist. We start directly by piloting our death machine that kills. It was impossible to visit it completely due to a limitation of the scenery. No longer present, we can go to a place that was to serve as an arena against a boss, a kind of power generator. (See the video at the beginning)
Old prototype
Old prototype
Old prototype
New prototype
New prototype
New prototype
In the photos above, animations, tiny though they are, do not appear on the screen.
Stage 6, if we can call it a level, contains absolutely nothing at all, the sidereal void. The development of the game had to stop at this point. When starting this area, you should see huge spaceships appear with strange textures. They are not there.
Old prototype
New prototype
Don't expect to find a more complete build one day. We certainly have the most advanced playable prototypes.
By browsing the Geist Force files, we were able to extract 2 videos. They are not present in the game. The first is a cutscene that you will also find in my youtube video (from 6 minutes 50). The second concerns a Panzer Dragon Saga video with music from Sonic CD . We believe internally Sega has it used to experiment with the video codec. They added music to it.
They were already present in the old prototype.
Sequence not used in game
Panzer Dragon Saga, codec test
The advantage of the " Mike's room " option is that it lets fly around the map. By loading the Normally, the ship is stuck on a rail, because it was a " Rail Shooter " type game. The fixed rail prevents full exploration of the different maps.
In the current configuration, the Mike's room is programmed to load files from level 1. It has been shown that rename files for later levels so that they have the same name as level 1 will allow other maps to be loaded and played in the Mike's room (which will make them fully explorable). The downside is that you will have to make / use a new CDI to load a different level each time.
In CDI files, there are directories named STAGE0, STAGE1, STAGE2, STAGE3, STAGE4, STAGE5, STAGE6. These directories contain subdirectories containing level geometries, objects, and scripted events. The technique to load a new level is to replace the contents of the TERRAIN and OBJET directory of Stage0 with the contents of the TERRAIN and OBJET directories of State1 / Stage2 / Stage3 etc.
The trick is similar to the one used for Agartha except that it is impossible to create a compilation as for the survival of No Cliché .
Take a tour in map 4 and map 6v2 of Mikes'Room , you will have funny surprises. You will be able to download them below (the tests of burning on a CD-R were not carried out for these).
Important
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While playing on an emulator, only NullDC can launch Geist Force whether with the CD-I or with the GD-I. The introductory cinematic will remain frozen, it is possible to skip it with the action key. A freeze also occurs in the middle of stage 2.
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By playing with GDEMU whether it is with the CD-I or the GD-I, the kinematics, this time, will work. Unfortunately, the freeze in stage 2 is still present.
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By playing with the console, by burning the game on a CD-R, the kinematics will be problematic but it will be possible to browse the whole of map 2.
You can download it below, it includes a CDI to burn your game, the original GDI dump and all the levels for the "Mike's Room".
Thanks:
Feel free to look at " other canceled games " that I found. For the most curious among you, I have created a " list of all unreleased from theDdreamcast ".
Similar prototypes (Unreleased) : Agartha (DC) - Emulateur officiel Megadrive (DC) - Castlevania Resurrection (DC) - Half Life (DC) - Dalforce XOP (DC) - Flinstone (DC) - 4 x 4 Evolution PAL (DC) - Ring : L'Anneau des Nibelungen (DC) - Ecco 2 (DC) - Kyskrew (DC) - Propeller Arena (DC) - Geist Force (DC) - Scud Race Tech Demo Dreamcast - Shenmue 2 US (DC) - The Red Star (XBOX) - Heaven's Drive ( version japonaise de Burnout 1) pour PS2 - Jekyll and Hyde (DC) - The Grinch Jap (DC) - Worms Pinball (DC) - Quake 3 Arena version japonaise (DC) - Vectorman PS2