Post a Comment On: The Dreamcast Junkyard

[Image]DeeDee Planet sample box artwork, sourced from Sega Retro.
Update: Since this article was published, Dee Dee Planet has sucessfully been brought back online thanks to the living legend known as Shuouma! You can find out more at Dreamcast Live. Original article continues below:Just over a year ago, we brought you news about a fully playable beta version of a previously unavailable Dreamcast game being released to the public, thanks to the investigative work of a Dreamcast community stalwart, PC Wizard. The development of DeeDee Planet, a multiplayer single screen combat game intended to be a successor to ChuChu Rocket!, was fully complete, with the game slated for an official release in 2001. Alas, this never happened. Instead, the game was shelved (allegedly due to some pesky network related bugs) and for 20 years the closest we got to experiencing DeeDee Planet was forlornly gazing over snippets of gameplay and advertisements featuring artwork and screenshots.

Now, it seems that DeeDee Planet is imminently due to be playable online, as it was meant to be, in all its hectic glory. Over the last few weeks, Shuouma (Jonas Karlsson), has worked his magic to create a server and modify the game to ensure it communicates properly with this. PC and Shuouma have been putting this setup to the test and report that the game is running smoothly, with no appearances of those aforementioned network bugs, which may well have been present on the original Sega servers but haven’t dared rear their ugly heads here.[Image]Enjoy lobbing projectiles at your mates? Want to do it from the safety of your own home? DeeDee Planet has you covered. Screenshot of online play during testing courtesy of PC Wizard.
For the enlightened readers with an internet-connected Dreamcast at the ready, here are some of the key details to know:The game is not Broadband Adapter compatible, so you will need to connect via a DreamPi, PC-DC server, or real dial-up - respect to anyone still cracking on with the latter!You will require a patched version of the game to play it online – something which Shuouma and PC will be releasing into the wild in the near future.An updated DreamPi image is not necessary, so you can keep those SD cards slotted safely away for the time-being.Online play will require a username and password to be setup, which can be done in-game, as is the practice with ChuChu Rocket!. These details will be tied to your console ID, so try not to forget them!The gameplay is almost exactly the same online as it is offline, so if you want to be a champion from day one of the server going live, then get some practice in on the version of the game that is already available.Although it is the Japanese edition of the game that is being worked on, most of the online menus are in English and can be easily navigated.
As I write this, loose ends are being tied up and final touches are being applied, primarily relating to player stats and rankings. Those wanting to stay tuned on the latest progress can follow the Twitter accounts of Shuouma and PC, and should also keep an eye on the Dreamcast Live website. Of course, we will be sure to announce the release of the patched online version of DeeDee Planet when that happens too.[Image]Where do you recognise those icons from, eh? Answers on the back of a postcard (or in the comments) please. Screenshot of the online lobby for DeeDee Planet, courtesy of PC Wizard.

If you haven’t got online with your Dreamcast yet, then this is probably the best time to do so, what with online play for DeeDee Planet, Driving Strikers, and a whole heap of Capcom games likely to arrive soon. Ok, there aren’t quite the 6 billion players touted by Sega in their marketing campaigns at the turn of the millennium, but there are dozens of us. Dozens! Dreamcast Live, Dreamcast-Talk users, and the Sega Online discord group are all active in organising online sessions. Be sure to say hello and get involved.