10 replies to this topic

[Punisher5.0]

I just came across some information about this game and it sounds very impressive.

"This custom software helps the user create virtual polygon worlds. When asked about the terms used, ASG used a simple comparison to explain the complexity of BiosFear. To sum it up, Cybermorph, StarFox, Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter... all crap compared to BiosFear."

[TXG/MNX]

Yeah but it was never released so now after 8 years I think we better forget about it...

[Gunstar]

There is always a chance a "lost" beta or something may turn up. I never thought I'd see anything for Blackice/Whitenoise and it's coming, if unfinished and just very recently I found out here that Freelancer has some betas floating around (really hope something occurs with this one...), so there is always hope...

[Alex Czarnowski]

True,
I am still counting that someone from Id Software would find lost C compiler used for Jaguar. It could speed up some development efforts for Jag and also there are many people around who don't want to code in assembly (I really don't know why) but only in C.

Cheers,

[t.skid]

There's a lot of unreleased/unfinished Jag games around... we must find them!

[Mad Scientist]

I originally heard of B.I.O.S.Fear (as it was written, IIRC) as a 3DO title in development. I think it was hyped on a glossy card that came with either my first 3DO (a Goldstar) or one of the Panasonic 3DO games.

Check out these two pages:
http://www.atani-sof...X-BIOSFear.html
http://www.gamezero....s/zinc_studios/

The first speculates that it was a Jag title that had potential for 3DO and 32X ports; the site also gives credit to both ASG and "Zing" [sic- Zinc] Studios. That could be correct, if these were truly the same game and not merely a case of two vaporware products with similar names being hyped at the same time.

The second page is an interview with Zinc Studios about their planned 3DO title, which they astutely describe as an albatross. My hopes for seeing a playable version are long gone.

-Eric

[Thunderbird]

Mad Scientist said:

I originally heard of B.I.O.S.Fear (as it was written, IIRC) as a 3DO title in development.  I think it was hyped on a glossy card that came with either my first 3DO (a Goldstar) or one of the Panasonic 3DO games.

Check out these two pages:
http://www.atani-sof...X-BIOSFear.html
http://www.gamezero....s/zinc_studios/

The first speculates that it was a Jag title that had potential for 3DO and 32X ports; the site also gives credit to both ASG and "Zing" [sic- Zinc] Studios.  That could be correct, if these were truly the same game and not merely a case of two vaporware products with similar names being hyped at the same time.

The second page is an interview with Zinc Studios about their planned 3DO title, which they astutely describe as an albatross.  My hopes for seeing a playable version are long gone.

-Eric

So, where did that screenshot come from? It looks like something from an FMV cut scene as opposed to an actual game screenshot. Is this correct?

[Mad Scientist]

"Thunderbird said:

So, where did that screenshot come from? It looks like something from an FMV cut scene as opposed to an actual game screenshot. Is this correct?

It could be from FMV- early in that interview, Todd Sines mentions rendering the FMV. Alternatively, could it be a pic from CES? I don't know if they actually showed anything there (you would be in a better position to know, I'd think). My guess that there is not lilely to be a playable beta is merely my opinion; however, I think that it is supported by several observations: they seemed to describe the project as dated from the onset, they could not give an estimate of completion in April of '95 even though they anticipated a 2nd quarter release, the 3DO market was crashing in '95, etc... At the very least, any appreciable amount of Jaguar development seems unlikely. The same pic is attributed to 3DO or Jag on the few pages that refer to the game.

If anyone has any additional/ more accurate information, please share it!
That includes anything on All Systems Go: all I can find under that name is a (possibly-defunct) online retailer.
BTW- are there archives of Atari Explorer Online that are still viewable? It might be worth checking if Travis & Co. reported anything interesting on the game.

-Eric

[bitrate]

Sorry for resurrecting such an old thread, but I have some relevant information and I see that most of the people participating in the discussion are still active around here, so...

Mad Scientist, on Sat Jan 25, 2003 10:26 PM, said:

The first speculates that it was a Jag title that had potential for 3DO and 32X ports; the site also gives credit to both ASG and "Zing" [sic- Zinc] Studios. That could be correct, if these were truly the same game and not merely a case of two vaporware products with similar names being hyped at the same time.

I don't know about the Jaguar version of B.I.O.S. Fear (maybe there has been an update in the years since this thread died?), but work was definitely put into the 3DO version.

Mad Scientist, on Sat Jan 25, 2003 10:26 PM, said:

The second page is an interview with Zinc Studios about their planned 3DO title, which they astutely describe as an albatross. My hopes for seeing a playable version are long gone.

Let me renew your hopes. I have a playable early beta of B.I.O.S. Fear for the 3DO. I will upload a video shortly.

[sd32]

This is great!, cant wait for the video. Its amazing that games that are considered lost for ever, resurface after over a decade. And why is it that there are so few 3DO lost games resurfacing?, there where a lot of 3DO games that seemed close to be completed that got canceled. Where are they?, we get Jag protos quiet often but its so rare when we get anything for 3DO.

[Mad Scientist]

Here's a page with a description of the game. The author states that the game reached a "pre-beta" stage. I'm not particularly encouraged by this statement:

Quote

All the resources put into this prospective first-person shooter (FPS) were unfortunately for naught, as B.I.O.S. Fear proved to be too graphic intensive for the 32-bit console. Evidently, what would run on a development station would not run on a testing station and the developers found this out just a bit too late.

It's still fun to see betas unearthed, though.

It looks like you've found quite a few of them, bitrate:
Unreleased 3DO games known to exist
I've seen some of them listed before, but I had never heard of C-Runner or Escape From Planet Klamtrop.

Edited by Mad Scientist, Wed Jan 18, 2012 8:33 PM.