Space Channel 5 Dreamcast prototypes
The concept chosen for Space Channel 5 is a visual and auditory delirium that sets this software apart in the world of video games. The atmosphere and the gameplay could confuse a lot of players. Its designer, Mizuguchi Tetsuya, will later create the mythical and unclassifiable game "Rez". His unbridled imagination had no limit, he will leave his mark in history with these two crazy games.
With its fluorescent colors, its seventies look, and the choreography of its protagonists, one would believe oneself in a trip under acid, it would only miss the music of the Grateful Dead !
Ulala, a charming 22 year old girl likes to dance in public and to improvise herself as a journalist for the TV channel Channel 5. She is asked by the director of the channel to do an unusual report covering the invasion of aliens on Earth. The heroine will only complete her report if she eliminates all the Mororians (the name of the ETs) who cross her path. She saves several of her compatriots before facing her Machiavellian rival.
Ulala must reproduce the dance pattern she has just seen while keeping the rhythm, a relatively simple concept. The aliens state the sequence of buttons to press. On paper, it looks easy but once the controller is in hand, it's a different story.
The realization of Space Channel 5 on Dreamcast does not lack originality. The levels are all in computer graphics that scroll progressively. Ulala and his recruits move in real sequences in Mpeg, in real time 3D. The mix is as amazing as it is explosive.
Debug Menu and Development Options:
This prototype of Space Channel 5 is dated April 20, 2000. It contains some development options and a Nindows Debug Menu. The Debug Menu can also be activated on the final version with a hack.
Nindows is a "Windows-like" Dreamcast debugging GUI system used by developers using the Ninja library. It comes with a number of built-in functions and features such as system metrics, texture viewer, device information, memory usage of Ninja models etc.
Games using the Nindows Debug Menu (non exhaustive list) :
- Crimeon OX
- Grandia II
- Vermillion Desert
- Scud Race Dreamcast SET 2 tech demo
- Sonic Shuffle Jan 11 2001 - Prototype
- Skies of Arcadia V0.830 - Prototype
- Maken X Feb 9 2000 - Prototype
- Maken X (USA)
- Tower of Babel Tech Demo
You have to connect a Keyboard in the D port of the console in order to access the Nindows Debug Menu. Some sub-menus will only open during a game and not in the different menus of the game.
The buttons to use for the Nindows 1 Debug Menu :
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Insert : The mouse cursor appears, the Debug Menu is activated. I don't know how to move the cursor.
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F1 : "Audi" sub-menu
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F2 : "Adx" sub-menu
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F3 : "Camera" sub-menu
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F4 : "Input" sub-menu
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F5 : "TaskMemory" submenu
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F6 : "Console" sub-menu
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F7 : "Ninja Info" sub-menu
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F8 : "Texture Viewer" sub-menu
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F9 : "Peripheral Info" sub-menu
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F10 : "Desktop" sub-menu
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F11 : "Debug Info" sub-menu
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F12 : "Performance" sub-menu
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Ctrl + L : "Light" sub-menu
Audi
Adx
Camera
Input