I begun working on Jetpac MD in 2019.
I’m a software developer with decades of experience, but nothing related to videogames, and this was the first time for me working on any videogame, and specifically in something for the Sega Megadrive.
My first computer was a ZX Spectrum +2 which I bought second hand in 1990 - when it was already outdated. I spent hours and hours playing jetpac, which I consider a masterpiece. In 1991 I first knew about the Sega Megadrive and, in 1992, I was lucky to acquire one. The Sega Megadrive is really something.
Years later I got my MSc in Computer Science and I became a professional software developer. Developing for the Megadrive was something which I had sometimes thought about, but I was never a big fan of assembler, and then, one day, I knew abo…
I begun working on Jetpac MD in 2019.
I’m a software developer with decades of experience, but nothing related to videogames, and this was the first time for me working on any videogame, and specifically in something for the Sega Megadrive.
My first computer was a ZX Spectrum +2 which I bought second hand in 1990 - when it was already outdated. I spent hours and hours playing jetpac, which I consider a masterpiece. In 1991 I first knew about the Sega Megadrive and, in 1992, I was lucky to acquire one. The Sega Megadrive is really something.
Years later I got my MSc in Computer Science and I became a professional software developer. Developing for the Megadrive was something which I had sometimes thought about, but I was never a big fan of assembler, and then, one day, I knew about SGDK and that was the starting point for me.
Building a port is the easiest way to begin, and to make it even easier, choose a game whose original hardware is weaker than the target hardware, hence making Jetpac was a straightforward decission, for many reasons.
2026. Jetpac MD is not yet finished. It’s a bigger task than it seems, specially if you start from scratch in all aspects. In addition, some years I spend quit some time working on it, but some other years I’m busy with other things. I’m still not an expert on Megadrive development, but I know much more than I knew in 2019 and I refactor often the Jetpac MD codebase.
I’m not far from the goal. Sooner or later it will be finished.
Comments & remarks are welcome.