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Game development on the Jaguar
Development on the Jaguar was originally done on a modified Jag system. There was a develoment rom installed in the Jaguar along with a centronix port. Then a very large circut board was inserted into the cartridge slot, this board was called the Alpine board. From what I understand the Alpine board had a reset switch, and two other switches. Information was passed to the Jaguar by either a PC or an Atari ST computer. This way all development could be done on a computer and then transfered to the Jaguar for live debugging and testing. The kit also came with a developers manual and a cd full of development tools to help in the development process. Below are a few snapshots:
One thing bad about the Alpine development system was the cost. It was priced between $5,000 - $7,000. This pricing left out small development houses that could not afford such a large investment. Thus the next development station on our list. THE JAG SERVER. This development kit was created by Roine Stenburg of Istari Software. The goal was to make a development system most anyone could afford. The price was $470. It included development software and Jaguar OS (which could be software updated). The only drawback was it was only for the Atari ST computer. Here is a photo of the Jag Server:
Even with the invention of the Jag Server there was still a hole that needed to be filled, thus the third and final development system. BJL Behind Jaggy Lines created by Bastain Schick. Even though this kit was originally for the Atari ST it was also adopted by the PC, thus filling the low cost PC development system. The kits cost was around $20 for an eprom, some time and a steady hand with a soldering pen. Here are some photos:
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