Jaguar 64 FAQ - Part 3
Created and maintained by Robert Jung

All you need to know about the Atari Jaguar and more... (not for the faint hearted! - Ed) MyAtari presents the third instalment of the Jaguar 64 FAQ by Robert Jung.
 

What's the information on the virtual reality headset?

Atari Corp. and the Virtuality Group had signed a contract whereupon Virtuality would develop virtual reality hardware and software for the Jaguar. In return, Virtuality would get the rights to port Jaguar VR games to their Virtuality arcade consoles.

Though announced, the Jaguar VR was never produced. Unofficial reports conflict on whether the unit was cancelled, suspended, and/or reworked. Reasons given for the inaction ranged from Atari's needs to reassess their investments and focus on core business, to the high suggested retail price of the Jaguar VR headset, to Virtuality's problems in trying to create a mass-market headset that could track head movement fast enough to avoid motion sickness after a few minutes of play.

As originally reported, the Jaguar VR package consisted of two components:

1. A lightweight headset (weighs less than one pound). It can be adjusted for fit and works with or without glasses. Game graphics are provided by a single 7", TFT active-matrix color LCD screen, with a resolution of 260 by 400 pixels and up to 65,000 colors. Dual temple speakers provide sound, and a built-in microphone allows player communication in future networked games. A custom optical system projects a binocular image to both eyes; it is aligned at infinity, so focus adjustment is not needed. Two degrees of freedom (left/right and up/down) are available. Field of view is 52 degrees horizontal by 40 degrees vertical.
2. A tabletop-mounted tracking station. The station senses the position of the controller and the headset with "V-Trak" infra-red tracking. The tracking speed is 250 Hz, with a lag time of 4 milliseconds, four times faster than Virtuality's arcade hardware. The tracker has a range of approximately 100 degrees; multiple trackers can be daisy- chained together to provide a complete 360-degree tracking range, but most Jaguar VR games will not require a full 360 degrees.

The Jaguar VR equipment was designed to be played while sitting down, so as to avoid injuries. if a player moves out of the tracking station's range, a safety cutoff would have been triggered to suspend the game.

Jaguar VR games would have been written for use with the regular controller, as well as a two-button "virtual gun" hand-held joystick. The licensing agreement between Atari and Virtuality permitted authorized Jaguar third-party software developers to write their own VR titles.

One product did come out of the Atari/Virtuality agreement. MISSILE COMMAND 3D for the Jaguar provided virtual-reality type play, without the need for special equipment or controllers. The game was later transported to Virtuality's arcade systems.

Clint Thompson owns a working Jaguar VR headset prototype (one of two known to exist). User reports, photos, screen pictures, and other related information is available on his web site, http://www.AtariVision.com

What's the "Panther"?

Quick history lesson: Sometime in the late 1980s, Atari Corp. was doing research and development on "next generation" video game consoles. There were two systems, a 32-bit machine called the Panther, and a 64-bit machine called the Jaguar. It is reported that work on the Jaguar was progressing better/faster than expected, so Atari abandoned the Panther to focus their energies on the Jaguar instead. Supposedly, if both machines were fully developed, the Jaguar would have followed the Panther only two years later.

Reports of development work on the Panther have been whispered since 1988; some people have erroneously mistaken those rumors to be about the Jaguar.

The Panther reportedly was considered a "32-bit" machine by Atari, though for reasons unknown. It featured three chips, consisting of a Motorola 68000 running at 16Mhz, an object processor called the Panther, and an Ensoniq sound processor called Otis, featuring 32 sound channels. The Panther could supposedly display 8,192 colors from a palette of 262,144 colors, and could display 65,535 sprites of any size simultaneously.

According to Jeff Minter, the Panther's sprite hardware was very similar to the object processor in the Jaguar, to the point where both had the same limitations. Putting too many sprites on a single scan-line, for instance, would require too much time to draw the line and caused a "tearing" effect in the affected row.

Stefan Walgenbach is the proud owner of a working Panther prototype. He has a web page at http://www.HomeComputer.de/ devoted to all sorts of information on the Panther.

What's the "Jaguar II"?

There's been a little confusion with this topic, since at least two separate machines have been called a "Jaguar II". The first was to have been an integrated Jaguar/Jaguar CD-ROM unit. That project has since been cancelled, making the point moot.

The other Jaguar II was Atari's next video-game console. Though a final design was never reached, initial prototypes were assembled, yielding the following information:

• Main chipset (codename "Midsummer") developed by Motorola.
• Fully backwards compatible with the existing Jaguar. Would have been able to play all Jaguar games and use all Jaguar peripherals.
• Uses new "Oberon" and "Puck" chips. "Oberon" was the next generation of the Jaguar's "Tom" chip, and "Puck" (also identified as "Thesus") was a redesigned "Jerry".
• "Oberon" was so large that it required a dedicated cooling fan, powered by a separate power supply. It's uncertain if this inefficiency was simply due to the unfinished nature of the chip or not.
• Processing speed "two to four times faster than the Sony PlayStation."
• Full C/C++ development package available.

Photos of the Jaguar II prototype motherboard are available at http://www.atari-history.com/videogames/jaguar/jag2.html 

What's the information on the CoJag and CoJag games?

To briefly recap, after the Jaguar was released, Time-Warner Interactive (now a subsidiary of WMS/Midway known as Atari Games) licensed the Jaguar architecture for use in arcade games.

These systems were called "CoJag" games, and consisted of a Jaguar chipset with additional memory, extra storage, and other architectural changes. Two CoJag games have been released:

• Area 51: A light-gun shooting game for two players. The Jaguar's 68000 was replaced with a 68020 or SGI R3K, and ran at 25 MHz. It was also equipped with a four megabytes of RAM and a one gigabyte hard drive.
  
• Maximum Force: Another light-gun shooting game. The 68000 was replaced with an SGI R3K, and came with six megabytes of RAM and a two gigabyte hard drive. While it was rumored that the TWI games "Primal Rage" and "T-Mek" were also CoJag games, this is false; developer Al Vernon has confirmed that those titles did not use any aspect of the Jaguar design or chipset. Finally, funkster@midwinter.com reports that he playtested a third CoJag game, "Freeze," that was never released. Here's a slightly-edited version of his report:
  
  "I saw Freeze a couple weeks ago at a local arcade pinball/video game expo. The game made it to field test but didn't do well, so Atari Games axed it early this year.". Freeze was a puzzle game, most closely related to Bust-A-Move or Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo.
  
  You controlled a character at the bottom of a rectangular grid, five wide and eight deep. You had the following controls: move left, move right, throw, and special. You start with a fish in your hands; when you press 'throw,' you threw it into the grid, where it goes up until it hits something. Once your hands are empty, a fish launcher gives you another.
  "The goal is to get groupings of three or more similarly-colored fish to touch each other, at which point they disappear. Holes are filled in by reverse gravity -- the fish fall up. The game is over when your grid is full of fish or ice. "
  
  Here's where it gets original: when you get a group of fish to disappear, you "freeze" a couple of fish on your opponent's field, starting at the top and working down. A frozen fish doesn't work for groupings; fish are unfrozen by making a group nearby. Empty slots get frozen too (the ice is empty). "The 'special' button is for a special attack. When you start the game, you pick a character, which also decides which special attack you get. I didn't play that much of the game, so I don't know how the special works or when you get it. You could play one or two players simultaneously. One player meant playing against computer opponents, along with a bizarre story -- I usually played the monkey character, who was searching for an alarm clock so he wouldn't oversleep, and he asked his opponents for a clock.
  "The game was pretty fun, and the graphics were nice. It had a look like Trog -- simple 3D, bright saturated colors. It's a shame it didn't fare better in field test."

Pictures of the Freeze prototype cabinet and game screen can be found at http://www.cyberroach.com/cyromag/two/woa.htm

Was there a difference in Jaguar games/units sold in different countries? Do I need to keep track of PAL and NTSC versions of a game?

There is no difference in the Jaguar game software. A properly-written Jaguar game detects PAL or NTSC at startup and changes the playfield size and game speeds accordingly. A properly-written Jaguar game will run at the same speed on either machine. There are no regional or national market lock-outs as there are for other game consoles.

The Jaguar consoles themselves were configured differently, according to the country they were sold in. The primary differences were in the video output format (NTSC or PAL) and the power adapters (110 volt or 220 volt). Due to the Jaguar's use of an external adapter, a step-down transformer is not needed. A local PSU can be used so long as it matches these specifications:

1. 9 volt direct current (DC)
2. 1.2 amps
3. Center pin negative

To use an American (NTSC) Jaguar in the UK, the PSUs from old Sinclair computers and Sega Game Gears can be used without problems. To use an American (NTSC) Jaguar in Europe, you will need a new power adapter and a SCART lead to supply the Jaguar's RGB signals to the TV. Some European TV sets might have also required changing the Jaguar display from a 60Hz frame rate to 50Hz. The 50Hz/60Hz frame rate is set by soldering pads on the bottom of the Jaguar PCB. On an NTSC Jaguar, they're located on the bottom of the PCB near the controller ports. The set labelled "R140" determines between 50Hz and 60Hz. Connect the two points for 50Hz, or leave them disconnected for 60Hz, as follows:

60Hz 50Hz
o-o R135 o-o
o o R136 o o (Information courtesy of Martin Zimmer,
o o R137 o o marz@haari.mayn.sub.de)
o o R140 o-o

PAL Jaguars sold in Europe have the R140 pads connected with a zero ohm SMD resistor, which can be removed with a soldering iron. It is possible to wire a switch to the points, allowing the Jaguar to be toggled between 50Hz/60Hz. This is mainly useful for PAL Jaguars to play games at the original speed and screen resolution of the NTSC version.

Russ Juckes (russ_j@raiden.demon.co.uk) gives these instructions for finding the pads on a European/PAL Jaguar:

1. Hold the Jaguar PCB with the Joystick ports to the bottom. On the underside of the board, near the joystick ports, and to the left of centre there are four links, the top and the bottom one bridged. (Both with zero ohm resistors). Above them there is another link, with a brown resistor.
2. The bottom link is the one that needs to be broken. I used a penknife to scratch away the solder, and then a needle-nosed pair of pliers to break the resistor.
3. The links are *not* labelled in any way. As another guide to make sure you are about to snip the correct link, they are placed directly underneath a chip (which is obviously on the top of the PCB!) so if you use a soldering iron, be careful!

Hey! My Jaguar makes a quiet hissing sound! What's going on? Is it dangerous?

Early Atari Jaguars had a rumored problem with the console hissing softly. Atari had cited several reasons for the hissing noise. Some have said that the sound is from the RF generator. The RF shield has holes in it (ostensibly to help air flow and keep the unit cool), and it is believed that the holes produce the noise.

Others said the sounds are produced by coil L29 which is responsible for the proper voltage regulation to +10.0V, together with U38. The coil's copper wire vibrates when the current through it changes abruptly, making the hiss. There are two solutions: 1) Use plastic spray or silicone rubber glue to fix the coil's wire. 2) Replace the original Jaguar power-supply with a variable power-source, using 7.5V DC instead of 9V DC (it is not certain whether the Jaguar CD will require 9V DC, which would make this "fix" unworkable with the CD drive).

In any case, the "hissing" noise was not dangerous, but merely annoying. It was usually audible only if you put your ear next to the unit and listen closely, and is not interference in the audio output. It is roughly analogous to the buzz made by electric clocks.

Most later Jaguars did not have this problem, though a few rare cases have been noted.

My Jaguar comes up with a red screen instead of a game! Is it broken?

Most often, the "red screen" problem appears after the Jaguar logo has disappeared off the TV screen, and is caused by one of the following:

1. Poor contact between the Jaguar and the cartridge (most likely). Make sure that the cartridge is firmly seated in the cartridge slot, and that contacts are not dirty/dusty.
2. Bent pins in the cartridge slot (rare). This may be caused by rough edges on some cartridges. The pins should be carefully straightened.
3. Defective cartridge (rare). If the red screen only appears with one cartridge but not others, the game may be defective. Exchange it for another.

If the Jaguar logo appears without problems, then the Jaguar is probably working fine, and it's only the data transfer between the unit and the cartridge that's causing the problem.

I've heard stories about the Jaguar version of DOOM having network errors when playing with two Jaguars linked together. Are they real? If so, what causes the problem, and can I avoid it?

There is some truth to the reports -- when linking two Jaguars together for multiplayer DOOM games, network errors sometimes appear which interfere with the gameplay. At worst, the game resets to the start of the current level, which can be annoying if you're in the middle of a heated Deathmatch firefight.

The problem stems from several causes. The networking code in DOOM was not thoroughly tested before release, because the game was finished before Atari settled on the final specifications for the JagLink cable (the cable came out almost a year after DOOM did). As a result, this causes some problems due to integration differences. On the other hand, some of the folks playing networked DOOM are using their own home-made link cables, which might not have enough shielding, which also causes errors. There are reports that earlier Jaguar models are more susceptible to errors as well, but the evidence is inconclusive.

Recommendations? Set up your Jaguars in an area relatively clean of electromagnetic interference, make sure you are using a well-shielded cable, and cross your fingers. And remember that, even with an occasional networking error, DOOM is still lots of fun with a friend (or foe).

What's the wiring schematic for the Jaguar controller?

Uwe Roeger (uwer@aragon.bb.bawue.de) reverse-engineered the Jaguar
controller port and dissected a Jaguar controller to provide the
following circuit diagram:

Padport numbers correspond to those on a standard 15-pin SUB-D plug. The colors of the wires may be different in other versions of the controller.

What's this about a rotary controller? What games use it? How do I make one for myself?

TEMPEST 2000 has hidden in it an option for a rotary controller (at the "Game Options" menu, press Pause on both controllers to activate the "Controller Type"). No plans for an official Atari rotary controller were announced, but many TEMPEST fans have been trying to build such a controller, to give the game a feel that's close to its arcade original.

Andy Light has written instructions for taking a Jaguar joypad and an Atari 2600 Driving Controller and building a rotary controller with the parts. His instructions are condensed below. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS THOROUGHLY BEFORE ASSEMBLY -- there are some areas that are left to the whim of the builder, and advance planning is highly recommended.

* * *

ANDY LIGHT'S JAGUAR ROTARY CONTROLLER INSTRUCTIONS
Parts needed: Atari Jaguar controller Atari 2600 Driving Controller (NOT the paddles) 13 wires, preferably of separate colors Buttons A board or box or shell to mount everything on/in.

1. Open the driving controller by removing the two underside screws. Inside is a top-like device or a grey box with three wires coming out of it. This is the encoder. Pull the driving controller's knob off the encoder's shaft, then remove the encoder by unscrewing the nut that holds it in place. Disconnect the wires from the encoder.
2. Open the Jaguar controller. There are four screws on the bottom holding it together
3. Disconnect the wire ribbon from the keypad by melting the solder. CAREFUL! This is delicate work -- get help if you need it. Solder the thirteen wires where the ribbon connection was.
4. From the left side of the board (the side that says "P2"), I've numbered the wires as follows: 1) Common 5) Button A 9) Button C 13) Down 2) Right 6) Button B 10) Pause 3) Option 7) Button B 11) Up 4) Option 8) Button C 12) Left
5. On the encoder, connect wire #1 to the center terminal, #2 to the right terminal, and #12 to the left terminal. The rotary part of the controller is now finished.
6. How to connect the other controls is up to you. I'm using arcade buttons, a thumbpad, and a switch (to toggle joypad or rotary control)< mounted in an Atari 5200 trak-ball controller case. You can mount a joystick, extra buttons, or other features for your own controller. Buttons and empty control boxes are available at stores such as Radio Shack.
   
   Wiring for the other signals are as follows: Up - wires #1 and #11 Button A - wires #1 and #5 Down - wires #1 and #13 Button B - wires #6 and #7 Pause - wires #1 and #10 Button C - wires #8 and #9 Option - wires #3 and #4 Because wire #1 has multiple uses, you will either need to string it or split it for each destination.
7. Reassemble and mount everything according to your design. For better spin, you can glue lead fishing sinkers to the inside of the knob, and lubricate the shaft of the encoder with light oil or silicone lubricant.

That's it! Please forgive me for any mistakes in my grammar, terminology, spelling, etc. If you encounter any problems, feel free to e-mail me at ALIGHT55@AOL.COM. Good luck!

Part IV next issue...
 

Last update: 4th December 2000 

This file is not maintained by, overseen by, endorsed, or otherwise associated with Atari Corp., JTS, or any of its subsidiaries. It's just a collection of questions and answers, with a few news tidbits thrown in. Robert tries to get the latest news and information into this FAQ; however,he's only human, and might miss something important due to real-life demands.

The latest version of this FAQ is available here. Send corrections, news, updates, comments, questions or other stuff to rjung@mac.com.
 

MyAtari magazine - Feature #4, April 2001