The blog of EagleSoft Ltd!
At EagleSoft Labs, I post about the development of my various retro homebrew and video game mods, Indie video game projects, software, and electronics. I also review software, and post about other geeky/nerdy stuff.
I attended the annual Pittsburgh Global Game Jam 2024 last year, for its "Make me laugh" theme that year. A developer and I created a demo of an Indie Unity/C# video game titled Circus Dungeon VR for Windows 7 and newer.
About
Circus Dungeon VR is a Global Global Game Jam Windows PC video game entry created for 2024's "Make me laugh" theme at the Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon University jam site. It is being created with Unity/C#. The game will be a 3D Maze FPS, featuring randomly generated mazes, human mechanoids, and Nav Mesh guidance of enemy clown bots to navigate through the maze.
Super Sumo Bubble Blaster release! (Pittsburgh Global Game Jam 2025 game entry)
A few Indie video game professionals and I formed a gamedev team named Pico de Doggo and attended the annual Pittsburgh Global Game Jam 2025. We created a multiplayer video game using Unity/C# titled Super Sumo Bubble Blaster for Windows 7 and newer. It support various gamepads, including Xbox 360, Xbox One, XInput, Nintendo Wii U/Switch pro, and limited-support for other generic USB gamepads.
SSBB is a multiplayer arena-battler game, where you play as Sumo wrestlers in a bubble trying to knock your opponent out of the arena. Be the last wrestler standing in this bubble battle royale. Avoid the ever-encroaching ring while trying to knock your opponent into it. Inflate to get bigger and harder to push, but slower. Deflate for a quick burst of speed to counterattack or make your escape. Inflating gives you more air, deflating reduces air, and hitting your opponent reduces air.
Prevent your bubble from deflating too much or over inflating, or you will pop and be defeated! Can you defeat your rival in this epic bubble-filled Sumo wrestling fight? Find out in Super Sumo Bubble Blaster!
Knuckles' Clackers: Sonic Hacking Contest 2023 demo release (v0.2c)!
A new build of Knuckles'Clackers has been released (v0.2c demo) and was submitted to this year's Sonic Hacking Contest 2023 and Bitbridge Halloween Showcase 2023! Knuckles' Clackers is an award-winning, major Knuckles' Chaotix ROM hack for the almighty Sega Genesis 32x.
The game mod features new zones, new music, new artwork, code edits,
engine bugfixes, and restored Knuckles' Chaotix/Sonic Crackers beta
content.
Build v0.2c demo is an accumulative update from the v0.11b Demo.
It features new music, more polish, new artwork, a few new custom objects, and other code edits. Most importantly it features a new Techno Tower Zone Classic Act 4 level, which is a 3-boss rush level based on the first half of Egg Gauntlet Zone (Sonic 2 2013)
The new build was submitted to this year's Sonic Hacking Contest2023 and won a few trophies! The community, judges, and media panel enjoyed the game while playing and streaming the new build. Thank you everybody for judging and voting the game; winning a few trophies this year was both an honor and a surprise!
The build was also featured at the annual Bitbridge Halloween Showcase 2023 in Pittsburgh, on real Sega 32x hardware and on my EverDrive MD v3 flash cartridge. The public had fun having Halloween candy, dressing up in costumes, and testing out the local Indie gamedev scene's video games. Mega Cat Studios was there and showcased their new Indie game, Wrestle Quest, on Steam Deck. It was nice running into and catching up with my former boss and manager at their booth. Mega Cat Studios is an awesome retro game studio, making new games for retro video game consoles (Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, and others) and new Indie games for modern platforms. I highly recommend checking them out, following them on social media, and supporting them with the new Wrestle Quest game release on Steam/Nintendo Switch!
Knuckles' Clackers booth at the Bitbridge Halloween Showcase 2023
Sega Genesis homebrew booths of a friend and I.
I'm on the left, in an Eagle costume
Changelog (v0.2c Demo):
v0.2c Demo
Sonic Hacking Contest 2023 demo update HOTFIX (09/25/2023)
Fixed a game breaking bug with TTZ4/Egg Gauntlet zone boss triggers and partner death in 2P mode
If in 2P mode, player 1 dies, and the 2nd player reaches a boss
trigger in TTZ4/Egg Gauntlet Zone, he will be called towards the dead
player 1 (out-of-bounds) from the boss arena.
This bug leads to a soft lock
This bug also causes a ghostly, transparent second Espio to appear in Isolated Island (Intro) act 0 on a new save game
Both bugs fixed!
v0.2b
Sonic Hacking Contest 2023 build (update week, 09/25/2023)
Implemented new Death Egg Zone (Sonic 2 port) song for TTZ Act 4 level
Implemented lava palette cycling for TTZ Act 4 level
Changed graphics for TTZ4 projector screen blocks/tiles (AAZ mini/boss)
Fixed crashes near lava section and from backtracking in TTZ Act 4 (simpler 32x sprite object placement)
Added more right one-way doors in TTZ Act 4, modified level layout for doors
Improved object positioning for TTZ Act 4 level
Improved collision for quarter pipe launch off chunks
Replaced a quarter pipe chunk with an alternate chunk to hide Sega 32x sprite loop spritemasker in floor (TTZ Act 3)
Fixed bug with Shrink powerup effect instantaneously becoming undone
v0.2a
Summary
Sonic Hacking Contest 2023 demo (09/16/2023)
New Egg Gauntlet Zone part 1 level (Techno Tower Zone Classic Act 4, from Sonic 2 2013 mobile)
Implemented engine changes to allow for multiple bosses within an act (boss rush mode)
New Music
Hidden Palace Zone (Sonic 2)
For Proto Palace Zone
Sonic 2 Club Mix (Sonic 2 beta)
For Speed Slider Zone Classic
Credits to LordXernon/DJ Error for permission to port these to Chaotix
Imported Splash (HyperDimension Neptunia Re;birth 1) song
The Indie video game Farworld Pioneers was released for Steam (PC) and Xbox One/Series X(S) on May 30 2023! A PlayStation 4/5 version should be available soon ™. This release marks my (MrTamkis') fourth professional Indie video game release in the gamedev industry that I have contributed development for. The game was developed by Igloosoft Games and published by tinyBuild.
I worked at Igloosoft Games as a contract Unity/C# developer for the game's development on the devteam from Dec 2021-Dec 2022. This was for the main version of the game (PC/Steam).
Duties included:
Creating new enemy creature AI
Designing a character editor
Designing compound setpieces from procedural generation code
Polishing up the game, implementing bugfixes and new features
Iterating on feedback
Participating in private and public playtesting sessions for bug hunting on networked multiplayer games
Farworld Pioneers is an open-world, 2D, sandbox space colony survival game on foreign planets, with Minecraft-like block crafting/world building, PvP colony battles. It has online multiplayer and colonial building for you faction's bases. Similar in design to Starbound but better.
Description from the Steam Store page:
"
Play with friends co-operatively or form hostile factions: In this open-world galactic sandbox, how you play is up to you! Bring your friends into the frontier in your own private server, or make new friends (and enemies) in large public multiplayer servers. Play peacefully in co-op, or use the dynamic multiplayer faction system to band together and split apart dynamically as allegiances change.
Build ships from scratch and travel to new planets: Your first planet is where you’ll learn to survive, but that’s just the start. Build your very own starship and use it to colonise new worlds. It won’t be easy, and only the most successful colonies will be able to pool the resources and knowledge necessary to break orbit. Once you launch, the stars hold brand-new planets, new biomes, bosses and challenges.
Craft, research, loot and exploit your environment: You’ll need to prepare to take on this hostile part of the galaxy. Get mining, farming, growing, developing, researching, and building hundreds of different items, from winter combat gear to advanced laboratories. Find something you can’t work out for yourself. Strap on your handcrafted laser rifle and venture out into the unknown to explore dungeons, procedural bases, NPC stores and much more.
Defend what you’ve built, or take on the galaxy: Defend your colony with fast-paced combat that utilizes physics like bullet drop, projectile speed and spread. Thwart enemy raids on your base with your stock of handcrafted grenades. Tired of just defending? Lay waste to enemy bases with destructible terrain as you wield everything from rusty old carbines to nuke launchers and energy weapons that harness the power of lightning!
Develop and construct advanced bases for protection: Grow from a tiny outpost into an advanced, nuclear-powered fortress. Manage resources carefully and choose research paths based on the items and challenges you encounter on each planet. Watch out, though: the bigger your colony gets, the more of a target it becomes for raiders (and jealous friends).
Automate work and train up a team: Even out here, you’re not alone. Save AI survivors and build a colony together. A range of unique stats, perks and flaws mean every colonist has something different to contribute. As your AI colonists complete tasks they’ll level up and get smarter, stronger and faster. Best of all, you can assign tasks and orders to NPCs to do the grunt work for you and prioritize their roles based on those skills. Want to take a break from mining to destroy an underground alien nest? Let your colonists handle that for you!
And Remember
Your ship may be in ruins, your ammunition running low, and your teammates scattered across the surface, but remember this:
A new build of Knuckles'Clackers has been released (v0.11b demo)! Knuckles' Clackers is a major Knuckles' Chaotix ROM hack for the almighty Sega Genesis 32x. The game mod features new zones, new music, new artwork, code edits, engine bugfixes, and restored Knuckles' Chaotix/Sonic Crackers beta content.
Build v0.11b demo is an update from the v0.1a Demo. It still features the same 3 acts of Techno Tower zone and the Tutorial Zone, but has more polish, including new music, new SFX and PWM samples, new artwork, and other code edits.
Changelog (v0.11b Demo):
Artwork edits
Menus
New Title Screen road palette/cycle
New 8x8 menu font
Final Fantasy 6 SNES font
Tri-color
New Menu Background artwork
Purple background oval
Sega Neptune console logo
Neptune logo (HyperDimension Neptunia)
Sprites
New Genesis/32x level icon sprites
SSZC (Speed Slider Zone Classic)
TTZC (Techno Tower Zone Classic)
Level icons for Data Load menu (Genesis sprites)
Level icons for HUB level status screen (32x sprites)
Level edits
Final boss edits
Blue Metal Sonic Kai Genesis/32x palettes
Green boss arena (32x polygon palette)
Techno Tower Zone Classic
New tiles, blocks, and chunks for loop sections
Better chunk artwork for player 32x sprite prioirty to go "behind" loop sections
During 2020, I released an update for my DreamPi NOOBS-compatible image (v1.21) for Raspberry Pi for the Sega Dreamcast, built against v1.7 DLE stock image.
A DreamPi
is a customized Linux distro and a set
of hardware created by a fellow named "Kazade" which will create a
simplified dialup network server in order to get a Sega Dreamcast back online for web surfing and online gaming. The DreamPi is a standardized Raspberry Pi setup with dialup hardware and appropriate software to suit. Online gaming is handled via resurrected, private
game servers. The stock DreamPi image is one which must be written to
the entire SD card of the Raspberry Pi, and thus doesn't easily allow a multi-boot setup with
other Linux distros on the same SD card. This DreamPi NOOBS-compatible
image is compatible with NOOBS or PINN bootloaders.
NOOBS is a simple bootloader which allows one to install
NOOBS-compatible distro images in such a way as to allow for a simple
multi-boot configuration, while PINN is an enhanced
version of NOOBS. PINN fixes some design flaws and adds new useful,
convenient features. PINN is highly recommended over NOOBS.
The DreamPi NOOBS compatible image works with both NOOBS and PINN, and allows
one to install a DreamPi distro with others in a multi-boot configuration. During 2020, the DreamPi NOOBS image was upgraded against v1.7 DLE, a few new online games were added to the supported games list within the installation slideshow, and online repository support was added to allow installing DreamPi NOOBS via the internet (PINN support only).
Since my older v1.7 DLE NOOBS image (v1.21) was released, 1 new game has had their online support resurrected:
I have updated the DreamPi NOOBS-compatible image to v1.22 . This and future builds will be called DreamPiDX (Deluxe) going forward henceforth, and will have community made code patches pre-installed. These patches will further enhance DreamPi with newer features and quality-of-life improvements. This latest build adds better functionality for Dreamcast BBA (Broadband) modem support and Sega Saturn Netlink/XBAND modem online gameplay.
Sega Saturn Netlink modem review
Changelog (DreamPi DX NOOBS v1.22/v1.7 DLE):
First DreamPi NOOBSDX Image release (addons to stock DreamPi image)
Separate image flavors
"DreamPi4 DX" for newer Raspberry Pi models (RPi 4 and newer)
"DreamPi" for older Raspberry Pi models
Patch addons
DreamPi Netlink Tunneler for Netlink (Sega Saturn)
Allows for web browsing, Netlink Zone/features, dialup gameplay for applicable Sega Saturn Netlink/Sega Saturn XBand modem games
If
the DreamPi is using WiFi connection for internet and Dreamcast is
using a BBA, allows to repeat/bridge highspeed broadband connection to
the Dreamcast
Updated slides with latest game listing support (Dee Dee Planet)
You can download the latest DreamPi NOOBS compatible image (for offline install) and read the guide at this EagleSoft page. The latest version can also be installed online as usual through the Tamkis NOOBS Repo; just add the line alt_image_source=http://raw.githubusercontent.com/Tamk1s/Tamkis_NOOBS_Repo/main/os_list_v3.jsonto your recovery.cmdline file at the root of your PINN installation and connect online. The images will be located under "Games" tab.
Download support through
Tamkis NOOBS Repo
For those whom want faster internet speeds and bandwidth on their Sega Dreamcast but cannot afford the rare and expensive BBA (Broadband) adapter, you can purchase and build yourself a DIY BBA Adapter using Xrider's Conversion Kit (RetroRGB article, Dreamcast Talk thread). Just salvage a G2 bus connector from an old Dreamcast dial-up modem, purchase Xrider's kit, find an Atomiswave Communication Cartridge, and solder it all together. The Sega Sammy Atomiswave was an awesome arcade version of the Sega Dreamcast with similiar hardware, more RAM, and a Broadband modem variant built-in (the Atomiswave Communication Cartridge). If you are feeling adventurous, you could also hack up both a Dreamcast dial-up modem and the DIY BBA modem together for a combo modem to have the best of both worlds without swapping out modems. (Both the dial-up and BBA modems handle different sets of games.)
DIY BBA Kit contents
DIY Sega Dreamcast BBA Converter kit tutorial
Have
fun playing online on Sega Saturn (Netlink/XBAND) gaming, and on the Sega Dreamcast with high-speed broadband internet access
Knuckles' Clackers: Project and v0.1a demo release
Since Fall of 2019, EagleSoft Ltd has been working on a Knuckles ChaotixROM hack for the Sega 32x addon privately called Knuckles' Clackers. Other than a few minor ROM hacks and one with a custom engine based on Chaotix (Sonic 4: Cybernetic Outbreak), Knuckles' Chaotix has had very few major hacks made for it. Although disassemblies of the game's code exist (M68k, SH-2, Z80 code), they are IDA Pro databases used for reference, not fully documented, and are not a split disassembly that can be rebuilt. Some research about how this game works has had information spread out throughout the internet, and isn't well documented or had most of its information consolidated into one place.
Knuckles' Clackers aims to be one of the 1st fully-fledged Chaotix ROM hacks. During development, I am further documenting, annotating, and simplifying the old IDA disassemblies of the game's code for research. Development is currently being done using SonED2 and extended ROMulan scripts to modify game data and code.
The ROM hack features some ports of Sonic Crackers beta zones (Techno Tower, Speed Slider), new SMPS32x music, new Sega 32x sprite artwork, restored beta content, and many other features.
Summary of features:
New levels
Ports and edits of beta Techno Tower and Speed Slider Zones layouts and assets from Sonic Crackers
An early v0.1 demo of Knuckles' Clackers has been released for the Sega 32x, as part of 2021's BitBridge Halloween Showcase. Available here as an IPS patch.
It features acts 1-3 of Techno Tower Zone Classic, new SMPS32x music, and art edits.
Stay tuned for more Chaotix research and Knuckles Clackers' development
For those unaware of recent events within the tech industry and Google, in August 2020, Google announced that all Google Sites websites would be required to transition to their New Google Sites system by September 1st, 2021. Prior to this, in 2016 an updated Google Sites experience was deployed, and an announcement in 2017 was sent out that the previous 2016 Google Sites system (now referred to as "Classic Google Sites") would be replaced soon. In August 2020, details on the transition to New Google Sites was released. Full details below in the email screenshot.
EagleSoft Ltd. is a Google Sites website with a custom URL. This blog (EagleSoft Labs) in turn is a Blogger blog, with a subdomain of "blog" nested under the primary domain. EagleSoft Ltd. is a Google Sites website; therefore, it was required to migrate it to the New Google Sites system.
A wave of migrating crowsClassic Google Sites websites for the Fall
^deadline
Although I had a year's worth of notice about the transition deadline, in typical Engineering fashion, I procrastinated until 2 weeks before the Sept 1st 2021 deadline to do the migration 😐. The 1st week was just a single day of auto-converting the website to the New Google Sites system, followed by some more procrastination and finally tweaking and editing around the new website in the web builder interface a week before.
Apparently the New Google Sites system is too simple, too concise, too barebones, and is more tailored to say, Bloggers creating simple websites, not beautiful ones like the old EagleSoft Ltd v1.0 site was. The New Google Sites system lacks some of the great features that Classic Sites did, and is too barebones for power users such as myself. Armed with the knowledge about the New Google Sites regressions from some colleagues, I quickly plowed through a few late nights of work fixing up and reformatting the site to work in time before the deadline.
Almost a year since the v1.2 release, Thwimp,
the modification utility which allows one to view, to rip, and to
encode Nintendo THP video files from/for Mario Kart Wii, has been
updated to v1.2.0.1 today!
This is a minor update to the original v1.2 build with internal code changes and bugfixes. It contains some bugfixes for some application-breaking issues related to parsing and displaying of Single datatypes on foreign machines within the application.
Bug fixes:
Fixed various cultural issues that would cause the application to
break when processing THP videos and to display wrongly formatted data
on foreign machines
Enforced invariant culture for the bugfixes to parse and to display Single datatype values properly
Added more input validation within the THP Viewer/Ripper sections
Fixed a coding typo of handling the video end frame value as a
Single datatype instead of as a UShort in the THP Viewer/Ripper section
Enhancements:
Added a notification MsgBox on successful save of the application's log file
Updated default "Elevator Music" (song.wav) include with application to final version of Mario Kart Wii Menu SMPS32x song from my own WIP Knuckles Clackers game mod
During 2019, I released a newer version of a DreamPi NOOBS-compatible image for Raspberry Pi for the Sega Dreamcast, built against v1.7 DLE stock image. A DreamPi
is a standardized set of software (a customized Linux distro) and a set
of hardware created by a fellow named "Kazade" which will create a
simplified DC-PC server, for getting a Dreamcast back online to connect
to the Internet for browsing and online gaming, via resurrected, private
game servers. The stock DreamPi image is one which must be written to
the entire SD card, and doesn't easily allow a multi-boot setup with
other OSes on other SD card partitions. This DreamPi NOOBS-compatible
image is compatible with NOOBS or (by extension, the recommended, superior) PINN.
NOOBS is a simple bootloader, which allows one to install
NOOBS-compatible distro images in such a way as to allow a simple
multi-boot configuration, while PINN (derived from NOOBS) is a enhanced
version of NOOBS, which fixes some design flaws and adds new useful,
convenient features. PINN is recommended over NOOBS.
The DreamPi NOOBS compatible image works with NOOBS/PINN, and allows
one to install a DreamPi distro with others in a multi-boot configuration. During summer 2019 , the stock DreamPi image was upgraded to v1.7 DLE.
This has the same features as v1.7, but with the speed stability bugfix
applied and an updated DreamPi WiFi Config Wizard packaged with it.
Since my older v1.7 DLE NOOBS image (v1.2) was released, 3 new games have had their online support resurrected:
Internet Game Pack
Metropolis Street Racer
Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs. Zeon DX (this game looks awesome 😀)
MSG: FvZ DX
Giant robot fighting anime mechs online with the Dreamcast;
what more could I want?
You can read the
previous Dreamcast Live blog post for
information about the Changelog for v1.7 DLE.
I have updated the previous DreamPi NOOBS-compatible image (built against stock image v1.7 RPi 1-3 flavor) to v1.21. This new build features:
Updated installer slideshow
Inserted new Slide F with the 3 new games
Created a marketing.tar tarball archive with the slides_vga slideshow slides (for the online repository server support)
Both repositories allow for NOOBS online distro repository support!
Can download the NOOBS distro from online
Online auto-updating and reinstallation on PINN
Do note that this online repo support is relatively new and beta, and has only been tested with PINN. The v1.7 DLE distro currently hosted is the Raspberry Pi 1-3/Zero flavor; I only just discovered right at the time of this writing that there is a separate v1.7 DLE flavor for Raspberry Pi 4. A separate NOOBS image of the RPi 4 flavor will be built and hosted online very soon, as well as tweaks and additions made to the repository JSON files online to handle both flavors.
In order to access the distro image from the online repository, please read the instructions in the updated DreamPi NOOBS webpage. For both NOOBS and PINN, you'll need to edit your recovery.cmdline file (after first initalization of NOOBS/PINN) at the root of the SD card.
Basically summary to access the repository server:
Using either option and rebooting should allow DreamPi to show up in the "Games" tab, and be downloaded online. In order to allow auto-updating of the distro, any old versions of the DreamPi distro (installed from external media) will probably need removed and replaced from the version downloaded from the online server.
You can download the latest DreamPi NOOBS compatible image and read the guide at this EagleSoft page. The webpage has also been updated with developer information on how to serve a NOOBS-compatible image online in a repository. (NOOBS/PINN are picky on where/how the distro image files can be hosted online.) This online feature is relatively beta.
Have
fun playing online and
having DreamPi multi-boot with other OSes on NOOBS/PINN!
Thwimp,
the modification utility which allows one to view, to rip, and to
encode Nintendo THP video files from/for Mario Kart Wii, has been
updated to v1.2 today! This new update fixes, enhances, and adds the following (summary):
Bug fixes:
Fixed serious, application-breaking bug where pointing to a real
i_view32.exe IrfanView executable would cause the THP Encoder process to
fail.
Optimized THP encoding, especially when handling videos requiring dummy/control padding.
Fixed error parsing String datatype into Single datatype when in a foreign culture.
Fixed KeepInRange() function parsing bugs.
Fixed lingering file I/O from StreamReaders/Writers.
Enhancements:
Added an additional dummy entry as 0th entry in default Mario Kart Wii data fileset
Enhanced and improved GUI.
Added new Thwimp CLI feature!
Enhanced THP Viewer/Ripper
Added new options
Full Log
Logs everything (include call to FOSS co-utilities) to the Logger
Less MsgBox
Suppress informational MsgBoxes when using the THP Encoder
Audio
Enable audio
Elevator Music
Enable elevator music (plays a song when using the THP Encoder)
Added FileSet.txt to Thwimp data fileset (displays metadata about currently loaded fileset)
Added ability to load/save settings to/from an INI file
Added audio to application
Added progress bars/application logger
Furthermore, the user's manual (on the Github page) has been updated with updated images and information
You can view the recent GUI changes and new CLI feature in the following videos:
Download and full changelog available on the release page
