Master Kyodai wrote:The short answer is "no". The Game only exists as a Dreamcast executable. You can not just convert executables from another system to PC format. The problem is not just that we do not have the source code of the executables - even if we had it it would simply not "run" as the executables, Graphics and sound engines are written for Dreamcast hardware, not for PC.
If we had the sources and some godly programmers it would be possible to make a native PC game out of it, but from the current situation the answer must definitely be "no".
Modding Shenmue would be the smaller problem - if you read this forum you can see that we modded Shenmue a lot so far - not just after the modding forum was added.
The comparision with GTA 3 is not an easy one as it's a game with loads of mods, tools and people interested in it, compared to GTA the shenmue modding community is extremely tiny, i think there's like less than 20 people world wide who really do or did some modding stuff on Shenmue.
There is no tool to convert 3ds or similar formats to mt5 or mt7, so there's no custom models for Shenmue. I am also not sure if this was of any use as unlike in GTA you can't drive 20 different cars or stuff, besides the scenery and characters it would make limited sense in Shenmue to import 3d models. Also unlike in GTA most secrets are not yet revealed. We have a rough idea about how scene files work, how scene actions are triggered, but no real specification.
Emulation is a realistic way to enjoy shenmue and fumble with some smaller modifications.
As ReeceKun said - a PC based remake would also be a solution, but i can't realistically see that any time soon.
I am not sure what the fuss is with the engine, it's a very limited 3D engine, if you just understand the "user interface" as the engine, then let me assure you that adding the neat little compass and watch will be the smallest problem in the process. For PC there are dozens of good 3D engines, i could not imagine why anyone would want to port a slow engine that is heavily focused on Dreamcast hardware to the PC - there's really really much better engines on PC.
Like what engine?
I don't care for the neat little compass and watch.
I want an engine that can have the FREE effect that shenmue has.
I don't care for "pretty graphics"
In my opinion the shenmue graphics are beautiful because they have so much detail
What engine can offer the same kind of detail shenmue has?
ReeceKun wrote:dotsona wrote:.... to somehow extract rig data, but I am not sure if it is possible.
Like I say its possible if someone has the interest and skill. Kinda annoys me though when someone makes a program to extract Tomb Raider Models with textures & bones within a few months of the game being out and yet we wait 10+ years for this lol, Also annoys me that somewhere in japan there is a group of people who worked on the game and could whip a decompiler up in no time lol
We could hire freelancers but sadly there are not many serious fans...
Master Kyodai wrote:
If we had the sources and some godly programmers it would be possible to make a native PC game out of it, but from the current situation the answer must definitely be "no".
Here are the Godly programmers
April 1994 — March 2000 (6 years )
Shenmue (Lead Programmer), Shenmue II (System Design & Program Advisor)
http://jp.linkedin.com/pub/tak-hirai/5/17/81AArtist / 3D Character
Sega
(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; Computer Games industry)
December 1997 — February 2003 (5 years 3 months)
Worked on "Shenmue I (1999, DreamCast)" as a character modeler.
http://jp.linkedin.com/pub/nobuyuki-suzuki/8/A38/A1BGame Director and Artist
SEGA
(Public Company; Computer Games industry)
February 1996 — May 1998 (2 years 4 months)
Shenmue
as a game designer (designed main game system)
and lead technical artist
This guy really went far..
Yoshifusa Hayama
Vice President at Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
http://jp.linkedin.com/pub/yoshifusa-hayama/3/233/308Anyone here a eccentric millionaire? I think that we need a miracle ....
We need money. Money can buy dreams...
I know is it wishful thinking....
I know hiring those guys would take a lot of money that we don't have...
But we could hire in the future some Japanese amateur freelancers.
That would not cost so much. Example this guy
http://jp.linkedin.com/in/naojitaniguchidotsona wrote:We need to start posting on Moddb and look for developers who would be interested in this project. I created a moddb profile for Shenmue which can be found here.
http://www.moddb.com/mods/shenmue-gmod We basically need to recruit some C++ developers who have a background in 3D. Maybe we need to post in the help section. Yazgoo said he would provide all the necessary assets to anyone interested.
Edit: I just posted a job post on moddb, hopefully someone responds, its really our only hope :(
I believe if we want something of quality we need to get people who do that for a living.
Sadly not all shenmue fans are willing to spend money for that but it is just an idea...
But you know technology is improving fast and in 10 to 15 years it would not cost as much sadly by that time most fans would have already deleted shenmue from their life...
As you know a game that took a whole team to make 20 years ago.But now only a single person can make a game like it and even better.