Star Dust Wars - Director's Cut
A downloadable game
Electric Black Sheep proudly presents Star Dust Wars, a fan-made homage to the legendary Star Wars arcade game that captured the imagination of players worldwide back in 1987-88. This space shooter reimagines the beloved original in what we believe is a more visually stunning environment, combining nostalgic gameplay with modern creative touches. Created purely for the love of the classic and not for profit, Star Dust Wars offers a unique experience with custom-designed graphics and animations. While the sounds may echo familiar tones from a galaxy far, far away, the music – including Star Wars-inspired tracks by Humanoide Media and thrilling War Drum beats by Amaksi originates from freely available sources, adding an epic backdrop to the action.
Dive into Star Dust Wars and relive the magic of the arcade era, redefined for today.
Released on November 30, 2024, this tribute celebrates the enduring legacy of a universe that defined a generation.
Technical:
We don't think that when AMOS was developed, they would have thought that we would use it to implement something like this. A simple FMV game that requires resources, but don't let anyone think it's magic. It's rare to see a similar game on the Amiga, so we thought it was worth a try.
The game is for AMIGA only! It's streamming a lot of content from HDD! So you need to have one with a good reading speed for a good performance.
Game:
- You can Start the Game with two modes (two icons). The second one gives the game a litle extra effect by tilting the screen.
- On the Main screen you can chose MUSIC ON/OFF by push the JOY (UP-DOWN).
You can Chose the Level you allready completed (the progress is automaticaly saved ) by pushing the JOY (LEFT-RIGHT) and press FIRE.
- Controll with JOY or MOUSE.
- SHOOT enemies to gain SHIELD
-HAVE FUN! :)
EHB Version with HAM cutscenes:
For public suggestion we tried to make a more colorful version. WARNING! This is a version that has more color, but because of that it is lager in size and need an even faster HDD than originally. For these reasons we recommend the minimum requirements for this version is to run it on a Vampire. The zip files contains a pre-configured (WinFellow) emulator, with that you can instantly play it on Windows.
Anaglyph 3D version:
Just for fun, we made an Anaglyph stereo version of the trench run level! (This is just one level) This means that if you have RED-BLUE glasses, you can play the game in 3D (at least you will have the illusion of depth on the screen).
Source:
- AMOS source code included
- Gfx included
Fixed since release:
- Enemy fire
- Joy control
- Fade out menu
- To make things easier for Windows users, the ZIP version also includes a pre configured Winfellow emulator.
- A simplified version. Fixed screen, no stars and no score, no collision detection, therefore requires less calculation...so perhaps faster?! (for slower machines, this may also matter)
- F1...F10 keys - Music volume (in menu!!!)
- 0..9 keys - Sfx volume (in menu!!!)
- Enemies can also attack from behind in some scenes. TrenchRun level collision boxes make more sense... more "realistic".
- other improvements and changes that essentially do not provide a visible change.
Recommended:
To start both game, you only need 1mb of chip ram and HDD, but AGA chipset, fast ram and an accelerator are recommended for the right speed. In the EHB version, the required speed can be achieved with the help of a Vampire or a very fast hdd.
Music:
Humanoide Media (https://pixabay.com/users/12661853/?tab=music&order=latest&pagi=1)
Amaksi (https://pixabay.com/music/build-up-scenes-war-drums-173853/
)
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Two New Versions4 days ago
Comments
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The EHB-Version is freaking amazing. Who needs AGA... ;o)
Thanks for the included emulator for quick testing!
The visuals are much clearer and it's easier to distinguish and see enemies. Great - lots of fun! (o:
Wow! I haven't been keeping up with the Amiga scene but this really got my attention. Hard to believe you can play this on an Amiga! Back in the 90s I did a bit of tinkering around with AMOS games and they didn't look like this! Great job!:-)
Thanks!
To be fair, this was not possible (on any platform/machine) in the 90s. Too many pre-rendered sequences that can't fit on a cd-rom (and its reading speed is very-very low) and HDDs have less storage capacity. Not to mention the render time and how huge the entire image-sequence is in raw/uncompressed format.
It is much "simpler" today with a machine that can render all this in real time and process it in an "acceptable" timeframe.
..it is possible that if it had been made at that time, it would probably have been made with a kind of stop-motion technique using real models. All in all, I would have liked to have seen something similar, but unfortunately, nothing like this is being made even these days! That was one of our reasons to try this out. :)
Tested now on a real A1200 with Blizzard 1260 (68050 @ 50 Mhz.) and 64 MB Ram. This game even works great with PCMCIA CF-Adapters and SanDisk Cards with 1 GB or above. 😎
Thanks for the info. Which version are we talking about? Just to clarify.... the previous 16 color version or the newer 64 color version? The firs one I think.
I tested the version before the last update, which probably only runs with 16 colors. And now again with the current version. I also applied the patch. I didn't notice a version with 64 colors there. If there is one, I'll be happy to test it again. What I did notice, however, is that the frame rate drops a bit in some complex scenes with lots of enemies, in contrast to WinUAE, but it is still fully playable.
(EHB) Extra Half Bright=64 colors.
It would require a very fast HDD and in the absence of other HW that we could test it on, so I can say that it will definitely run on Vampire. You can find it under the name StarDustWarsVampire, but before download...."Look at The Size of That!" :)
I know about the frame drops. Unfortunately, unnecessary operations also run that it would be good to skip or run in a different order. I consider this a disadvantage of programs coded in basic. It's easy, but it has its drawbacks... and we work with what we know and what we have.
The game is one of the biggest surprises ever seen on the Amiga. The FMVs fit into the game so perfectly that you could almost believe it was being rendered in real time. We have never seen anything like it before. If the game had been released in this quality on the CD32 in 1993 at the time of "Rebel Assault", it could have even put the PlayStation to shame. Our German-language review can be found in our recorded livestream starting at 04:32:26. English subtitles are also available. Subscription to our YouTube and Twitch channel is welcome. 🙂
Nice Game. Simple but brilliantly implemented! :-)
Is that a CF-card? :)
Yes, 1GB, dedicated just to the game.
Disappointed. Have the original SWD for ECS/OCS. This one copied successfully to my '020 8Mb Amiga 600 running AOS3.2, and copied the patch executables into the main folder- and it starts, hit fire, and screen flashes something, then crashes to workbench.
...What am I doing wrong?
PS_ got the same files installed, working on AOS3.1 on my TF330 CD32. Is it not compatible with 3.2?
Based on my experiences with AMOS programs, what can cause freezing is either custom ROMs (unfortunately sometimes even AROS) and the libraries used alongside them. If you have a factory ROM, the problem is not with that, nor with your HW config. 3.2 also works for me. What the game needs is 1 MB CHIPRAM (FREE!). If you have this, then in the absence of more information, my guess is that it could be the mathtrans.library used by the program.
If you started from HDD, there may be a problem with your library, but it is also possible that the one I attached does not match your system.
Try replace the library.
hi,
the patch you can download from the "stardustwars directors cut" site is for the director cut version only! it is not compatible with "stardustwars" wich is on a completely separet site. dont try to mix it together!
you only need to patch the dc version if you have an older version of dc .(so you don' t need to download the whole 800mb zip again.) if you download the full game you don't need to patch it.
thats very helpful
The music is superb!
Thanks a lot for this game. Makes lots of fun on a beamer (and connected to the stereo)!!
It's a shame that an AGA-version is not possible, but nevertheless thanks a lot for the this simple, refreshing and cinematic kind of game.
P.S.: the mouse control is much fun!
Aga is not possible "at this moment"! but who knows? as soon as we have a solution or somehow working it out i am sure there will be one. :-)
The music is adding a lot to the atmosphere! Check out the authors in the description, they have a lot more on their site!
xxx_CD32.ISO run on CD32 ?
- The game can run on CD32 but only from a HDD! (The CD speed is too slow for that.)
- The iso is for emulators. (you can't burn it becouse of the size)
hmmm maybe remove "CD32" from iso name, confuses ;) good work on the game !
it was also a request to make the iso for emulators to make it more easy to start it on emulators or cd32(hdd) by just mounting it as a drive. it is bootable image. Removing it from the file name will still confuse some people. :-)
the info is allready on the site.
Looks amazing, excellent job. I also added it to my new video along with other recently released Amiga games.
Amazing! Would be possible an AGA version with even better colors and smoothness? For powerful systems or emulators
AMOS... on which this game was developed contains a bug...or limitation. The problem is that in the case of anim files, I cannot display frames whose data size (ANIM DLTA chunk) exceeds 32kb. This limit almost been crossed by the current game... In the case of AGA with 256 colors, we are talking about twice this, even with the same image size! I have already tried to solve the problem by manipulating the original AMOS source code, but unfortunately I was not successful.
And another problem... AGA support also available in unofficielal AMOS version only ...or as an extension. :/
Thank You for all the positiv feedback!
Amazing again, Thank You!
Thank you for this astounding work. Here is my tribute...
The ISO is 775 MB do I have to compress it and then burn it on to a CD-R?
sorry but the game is for hdd and has a very huge size. it can't fit into a cd-rom. even if the game ic cut into two disks the cd32 has a very low reading speed on it's drive. it can't handle. the iso is made for an easier setup for emulators.
it's a bit slow but more playable on a regular A500 :) I can shoot fighters not by luck but by decision. With a1200 you can't understand what's going on really. too fast.
And if I activate a500+ADSPEED, animations plays faster but game is still playable.
Plays fine or not, it's still a very nice spectacle! Thanks for all the work.
WOW ! you doing such a great Christmas gift ! and I could tried on my CD32 , but at the time CD32 would be more value with theses sort of games, as a starwars fan I very happy ! thanks :)
That really is quite stunning! I have been thinking a lot lately about what the CD32 could have done and this is one of those things. You have done a supeerb job on it :D
Waw, thats the kind of stuff they wanted to sell interactive CD for i guess ... watching the vid on saberman i first thought wow this is some badass rendering but its written in compiled basic (AMOS is compiled basic, right ?) and i assume by FMV you mean fullmotionvideo (which is what icd / "cd-i" would excell at) with some kindof sprite overlay, without getting too technical. The blend is really good indeed.
Can i ask what software you used to render the video ? native amiga or some modern tool like blender or other (is there still any other i wonder , is lightwave or maxxon still around sometimes with all the ai stuff going on)
i bet starwars and amiga fans will love this thing
hi,
yes, the game is written in amos and that is Basic. a lot of people doesn't like is wery much but , becouse it's slower like it used to, etc. but it is very easy to use and if you stay optimized, don't overstep boundaries like "too much for cycles" or more than 16 colors, stuff that can couse slovedowns it could be prety "enough".
lightwave is still exist (more or less). have new and better features year by year but it is far less popular as the big names of the actulal age.
still.. the models of this game are modelled with a much older version of lightwave. modelled( or more like i made) a low poly version from a much detailed one and baked the surface to it with some ambient to look more appealing (and much-much faster) for a mobile game i made many years ago.
the scene (allthe frames, shps, etc.) is rendered in unity game engine. it was prety good for seeing particle effects (explosions, smoke, snowstorm , even sound..) and the whole thing in real time, recording the flypath. with that rendering the frames is like 2-minutes. that is something i would not dare to do on amiga (not even on a realy fast emulator).
handmade :) that makes it all the more impressive. Thanks for taking the time to clarify that !!!
Awesome!
Stupendo, grazie :)
Really cool game! I get the "what if they did this back in the day" feeling. Super good looking too.
Awesome game!
Thanks!