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Interview with: Atani

Homepage: http://www.Atani-software.net/

Date: 2001

The Interview

Wraggster: Could you tell us about yourself? Where you work, go to school and where you live etc..?
Atani:I work for a major software company near San Francisco, CA. I am not currently attending school, since I got married to DovieAnn.

Wraggster: When did you first get into computers and coding?
Atani: About 10 years ago i started playing with a Commodore 64 and then started working with my mom's old 386 computer...

Wraggster: What made you choose the Sega Megadrive/Genesis To Emulate?
Atani: I always loved the systems and felt that i should try to emulate them since other systems were being emulated as well as the SMD/Gen. I just wanted to give it a shot...

Wraggster: What problems have you had and how did you overcome then?
Atani: The biggest problem was dealing with the VDP chip. I originally started out with code borrowed from other emulators that had released source code but in the end i re-wrote the entire thing to use my own code that i wrote based on the learning of the internals of the system(s).

Wraggster: With 2 emus being written for the Sega Megadrive/genesis has that made you more determined to complete your project and also have you teamed up to overcome problems that have been halting your progress?
Atani:As of right now the project is more of a fun project, I don't really care if there are others doing similar projects and if they do by chance finish before me then so be it... I will still release mine eventually, meaning when it has been completed and tested...

Wraggster:What is your opinion of the Sega Megadrive/genesis emulator that is in the Sega Smash pack Volume 1?
Atani:I haven't really messed with it much but i have heard it lacks a few things... [Ed: SegaGEN as it has been termed is of course illegal aswell.]

Wraggster:When you`ve reached the end for this project, do you have any new projects in mind for the Dreamcast?
Atani:Plenty :) I am tossing around porting parts of allegro over to the DC via libDream or KOS. If this does happen then I might work on porting other programs to the DC...

Wraggster:Can you tell us anything about your Role Playing Game for the Dreamcast?
Atani:The RPG that i am developing is currently in the beginning phases of development. I have most of my gameworld tile-based engine working on the PC and will be porting that to the DC this week. Once this has been completed the world maps will be entered into the DC and tested... The game will be something similar to the old classic style RPG of Final Fantasy 1 or the Dragon Warrior series from NES... I am planning on making the entire RPG 2D with some 3D if possible and maybe some cut scene animations using MPEG or similar depending on speeds... I have a few faster MPEG decoders than currently available...

Wraggster: What is your favourite Dreamcast emulator?
Atani:If you mean an emulator that runs on the DC then i would have to say all of them... they are all pretty cool... If you mean DC emu for the PC then i dont have one... none work under linux :(

Wraggster:What is your favourite game for The Sega Megadrive/genesis?
Atani:I would have to say the Phantasy Star series and after that the Sonic series..

Wraggster: What is your opinion of the Dreamcast Scene and what would you do to improve it to make it more accessible?
Atani:Right now the 'scene' is kinda quiet and it is nice... i prefer to have it a little quiet and with less annoying emails asking for roms or isos etc..

Wraggster: May i say thank you for your time and good luck with your project(s) on behalf of Boob Dreamcast Research and all the fans who follow the great emulation/development scene.