Talk:Protector (Atari Jaguar video game)/GA1

GA Review

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Nominator: KGRAMR (talk · contribs) 18:06, 1 August 2024 (UTC)

Reviewer: Shooterwalker (talk · contribs) 19:03, 4 August 2024 (UTC)

I'm going to take this one on. Look for more comments within the week. Shooterwalker (talk) 19:03, 4 August 2024 (UTC)

• Let's start with the body and then circle back to the lead.
• Gameplay
• Great first sentence. Very clear.
• "The premise takes place in a future where an interstellar war broke out when alien forces arrived on Earth, however the inhabitants of a planetoid near Earth called Haven-7 were left on their own with the Starblade ship as their only defense." -> "The story is set in a future where an interstellar war erupts after alien forces arrive on Earth. The inhabitants of a nearby planetoid called Haven-7 are left to fend for themselves, with the Starblade ship as their only defense."

 Done

• "The player acts as the protector of Haven-7 in command of the ship and the main objective is to defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting humans." -> The player commands the Starblade, protecting Haven-7 against waves of invading aliens."

 Done

• "The player controls the Starblade ship which flies from left to right with a radar at the top of the screen. The radar shows incoming enemies, hazards and humans across the playfield." -> "The Starblade can fly from left to right, with a radar showing both dangers and humans across the level."

 Done

• "Landers pick up humans and try to take them to the top of the screen to mutate. The player must shoot down the landers to rescue the human." -> "Enemy landers pick up humans and attempt to transport them to the top of the screen for mutation, but the player can interrupt this by shooting them down."

 Done

• "After each level, the player is presented with a shop where items and power-ups like extra lives, rapid fire, shields, and bombs, can be purchased with money dropped by certain enemies when defeated as red orbs." -> "Enemies sometimes drop red orbs, which the player can spend at a shop between levels, allowing them to purchase items such as shields, bombs, extra lives, and rapid fire."

 Done

• "Some enemies also spawn power-ups in the form of green pods when defeated for rapid fire and upgrades such as a hyperspace jump, energy restoration, and "Protector", which nullifies the Landers' ability to pick up humans." -> "Some enemies instead drop green pods, offering power-ups such as energy, hyperspace jumps, or "Protectors" that block enemy landers from kidnapping humans."

 Done

• "... resulting in a penalty for reducing the ship's firepower to its original state." -> "forcing the player to restart the level with only their basic firepower."

 Done

• Production
• Just to clarify, Todd Howard's only role on this was producer?

Yes, as seen in this picture (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10156388221523748&set=gm.1707946059296504) posted by Joergen Bech himself on a Atari Jaguar facebook fan group, which was previously available on Bech's own personal website before it dissapeared (https://web.archive.org/web/20010212030658/http://home1.inet.tele.dk/jbech/protectordevelopment.htm), Todd Howard's role was that of executive producer. However, the final release for some reason ommited his name from the credits but i can remove it if you want... Roberth Martinez (talk) 23:20, 7 August 2024 (UTC)

• "who worked on several ZX Spectrum titles as well as Globulus for Amiga and Spider-Man for the Master System at Innerprise Software." -> "who worked on Globulus for the Amiga, Spider-Man for the Sega Master System, and several other titles for the ZX Spectrum."

 Done

• "Bech left the video game industry due to his negative experience at Innerprise but decided to return as a game programmer after studying international marketing, landing a job at Bethesda thanks to his programming knowledge and an acquaintance who had a connection with the company." -> "Bech had left the video game industry after his negative experience working at Innerprise, but took a job at Bethesda after an acquaintance connected him with the company."

 Done

• The second paragraph seems almost off topic, talking about their work on Datastorm and NCAA Basketball. You could cut it almost entirely. (Or try to drastically shorten it, refocusing the paragraph back onto the production of Protector.)

 Done -- I shortened it. Basically, Joergen Bech was tasked with porting NCAA Basketball: Road to the Final Four 2 to the Jaguar but due to his lack of experience with 3D, the staff decided Bech should spent time becoming familiar with the Jaguar working a port of Datastorm. Roberth Martinez (talk) 23:15, 7 August 2024 (UTC)

• Before we go much further with production/development, I'd encourage you to refocus the section on the production of Protector. People can read about the production of those other games at their respective articles.

Let's pause there. You're off to a good start, and we'll keep working at it. Shooterwalker (talk) 13:57, 6 August 2024 (UTC)

@Shooterwalker:I'll tackle each inquiry after i'm done with my dayjob this evening. Roberth Martinez (talk) 15:00, 7 August 2024 (UTC)

Take your time. Shooterwalker (talk) 16:55, 7 August 2024 (UTC)

@Shooterwalker:OK, first pass done. Ping me when you're ready with the second pass of the article. Roberth Martinez (talk) 23:15, 7 August 2024 (UTC)

Good work so far. Let's keep going.

• Loose ends
• "The game also has a multiplayer option that allows two players to play alternately." -> it's unclear what the word "alternately" is doing here. Like not at the same time?

 Done -- I clarified said sentence with the following line: "In addition, the game also has a multiplayer option which allows two players to play by alternating turns." Roberth Martinez (talk) 22:18, 8 August 2024 (UTC)

• Just to be safe, let's replace "co-produced" with "executive produced".

 Done

• "Betheseda received free Atari Jaguar game development kits from Atari and Bech was initially tasked with converting NCAA Basketball: Road to the Final Four 2 to Jaguar, but he had no experience with 3D programming and the staff decided he should spent time becoming familiar with the hardware and work a port of Datastorm as a solo test project in 1994." -> "Bethesda got free Atari Jaguar development kits and initially tasked Bech with porting NCAA Basketball: Road to the Final Four 2 to the Jaguar. However, due to his lack of 3D programming experience, they decided he should first familiarize himself with the hardware by working on a solo port of Datastorm in 1994."

 Done

• Development
• " Bech planned not making a direct conversion, as the Jaguar's capabilities exceed those of the Amiga and wanted to make a game closer to Defender (1981)." -> this would make a better sentence to finish up the previous section.

 Done

• "All code was written in assembly to get the game running at 60 frames per second, while game logic was done by the Jaguar's Motorola 68000, as Bech could not fit it into the GPU's limited memory." -> "Bech decided to code the game in assembly, in order to maximize the game's frame rate and work with the Jaguar's limited GPU."

 Done

• "Sprites were kept small in size to avoid memory issues with the Jaguar's object processor, while the number of active objects on-screen was maintained by lists indicating how many enemies appeared at once, but some enemies were made more aggressive." -> "Sprites were kept small to prevent memory issues with the Jaguar’s object processor, while the number of active on-screen objects were maintained by lists." (the aggression of the enemies feels out of place with all this technical information)

 Done

• "The graphics and backgrounds were taken from a CD containing royalty-free images, while the hyperspace jump effect was done with Alias PowerAnimator using an SGI workstation and pre-rendered sprites were done by Bech using 3D Studio." -> "Graphics and backgrounds came from a CD of royalty-free images. The hyperspace jump effect was created with Alias PowerAnimator on an SGI workstation, and pre-rendered sprites were made by Bech using 3D Studio."

 Done

• "while the title screen was a cropped scan of the box art for Datastorm." -> "and the title screen used a cropped scan of the Datastorm box art."

 Done

• "The game, now titled Protector, was fully playable by March 1995 but Bethesda found out about Defender 2000 and Atari did not want to publish it under their label." -> "Now titled Protector, the game was fully playable by March 1995, but Atari did not want to publish it due to perceived competition with Defender 2000."

 Done

• Make sure "Protector" is consistently italicized.

 Done

• "In 1998, Bech discussed about the game on Usenet where Carl Forhan noticed his posts. Forhan had started researching what it would take to create games in his spare time when Atari dropped support for the Jaguar. He began searching for companies that had worked on unreleased Jaguar games to see if they would be willing to license the games to him." -> "After Atari dropped support for the Jaguar, a programmer named Carl Forhan began searching for unreleased Jaguar games that he might license and finish on his own. In 1998, he saw Bech discuss Protector on a Usenet forum."

 Done

• " In 1999" -> "The following year"

 Done

• "In 1999, Forhan founded Songbird Productions after licensing several unreleased games with former Atari developers to support Atari consoles including Jaguar." -> "The following year, Forhan founded Songbird Productions to complete Protector and other unreleased games he had licensed from former Atari developers."

 Done

• "That same year, Hasbro Interactive declared the Jaguar as an open platform, releasing the console's patents and rights into public domain after much lobbying from Atari fans, allowing software developers to make and release games for Jaguar without a licensing agreement." -> "That same year, Atari fans successfully lobbied Hasbro Interactive to release the console's patents and rights into the public domain, transforming the Jaguar into an open game development platform."

 Done

• "Forham proceeded to finalize the game for release by adding a reworked enemy AI, a power-up scheme, among other improvements." -> "Forham proceeded to finish the game with his own improvements, including a reworked enemy AI and power-up scheme."

 Done

We can pause there. There are a lot of things to work through, but it is definitely on track. Shooterwalker (talk) 13:23, 8 August 2024 (UTC)

@Shooterwalker:Second pass done! Ping me once you come with the third pass of the article. Roberth Martinez (talk) 22:47, 8 August 2024 (UTC)

Looking good. Let's see if we can complete a pass through the whole article.

• Release
• I think in general there's a little too much detail here and it's easy to lose the narrative. See if you can simplify some elements and hone in on the main points. Here are some suggestions.
• "Protector was first showcased at the 1999 Classic Gaming Expo and was playable at JagFest '99, a show dedicated to the Atari Jaguar scene, planning for release in late 1999" -> "Protector was first showcased at the 1999 Classic Gaming Expo, followed by a playable demo at the Jaguar-focused JagFest '99."

 Done

• "complete with packaging mimicking officially licensed Jaguar releases" -> "with its packaging modelled after official Jaguar releases."

 Done

• "An enhanced edition called Protector: Special Edition was unveiled at JagFest 2K1. The special edition came about when Carl Forhan wanted to add more content and improvements to the game, while also embracing feedback from the Jaguar fan community." -> "Forhan decided to improve the game based on feedback from the Jaguar fandom, leading to the announcement of Protector: Special Edition at JagFest 2K1."

 Done

• " however, copies were available to attendees at the PhillyClassic 3 show" -> just cut this

 Done

• " Concealed within the game " -> is this on purpose? Avoid passive voice. This is the kind of thing where it helps to know who did it and why.

 Done -- I replaced it with "Within the game". Roberth Martinez (talk) 22:16, 11 August 2024 (UTC)

• "An Atari Jaguar CD expansion pack for Protector: Special Edition called Protector: Resurgence was first released as a limited edition at the 2014 Classic Gaming Expo in September, followed by a general release on October 23, 2014." -> "An expansion pack called Protector: Resurgence was released for the Jaguar CD in 2014."

 Done

• Reception
• " Protector and the special edition received critical acclaim " -> this is a little confusing -- are there reviews for the original release, and the special edition? do they review them at the same time, or separate?

There are four reviews dedicated to the original release. I moved one of the reviews references about the special edition and placed it on the paragraph where dedicated to the special edition. Roberth Martinez (talk) 22:23, 11 August 2024 (UTC)

• " in its own right." -> drop this

 Done

• "and praised its graphical quality, soundscapes, controls, intense gameplay and fluid frame rate," -> "praised both its audiovisual and game feel,"

 Done

• "In the years after its release, gaming publications celebrated Protector: Special Edition as one of the best Atari Jaguar games." -> "The special edition eventually earned a reputation as one of the best Atari Jaguar games.

 Done

• " citing its audiovisual department, solid controls, gameplay and difficulty curve." -> "citing its audiovisual elements, game feel, and difficulty curve."

 Done

• " as well as its audio and frenetic action" -> drop this

 Done

• "neXGam commended its simple graphics, sound effects, intuitive controls, fast-paced gameplay, consistent frame rate and extra content." -> "neXGam commended its simple graphics, additional content, and fast-paced intuitive gameplay."

 Done

• "According to Carl Forhan, Protector proved popular and was estimated to have sold at least 100 copies in the first year, while the special edition had sold over 500 copies by 2002, making it Songbird Productions' best-selling Jaguar title." -> "According to Forhan, Protector sold 100 copies in the first year, with the special edition selling 500 copies by 2002, making it Songbird's best-selling title for the Jaguar."

 Done

Let's pause it there. Then we can loop back around for one more full-pass, this time including the lead. Shooterwalker (talk) 20:22, 11 August 2024 (UTC)

@Shooterwalker:Third pass done! OK, i'll be on stand-by for your comments while i try to rescue some stub video game articles. Roberth Martinez (talk) 22:30, 11 August 2024 (UTC)

Let's look at the lead, and look for any lingering issues in the body.

• Lead
• Great opening sentence. Nice clean and readable and comprehensive.
• "Set in a future where an interstellar war broke out when alien forces arrived on Earth, the player controls the Starblade ship to defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting the inhabitants of Haven-7." -> "The game takes place during a futuristic alien invasion of Earth, where the player pilots the Starblade to defeat attacking ships while protecting the inhabitants of Haven-7."

 Done

• ", who joined Bethesda and was initially tasked with porting a sports game to Jaguar. As Bech had no experience with 3D programming, the staff decided that he should work on an adaptation of Datastorm (1989)," -> ". Produced by Christopher Weaver and Todd Howard, the project emerged after Bech had time to understand the Atari Jaguar's capabilities."

 Done

• "but planned not to do a direct conversion and wanted to make a game closer to Defender. Bethesda found out about Defender 2000 and Atari did not want to publish it, while Christopher Weaver refused to publish it as a Bethesda release since the Jaguar platform was in decline and cancelled it." -> "Bech developed a game similar to Defender, but Atari declined to publish it due to their work on Defender 2000, with Bethesda cancelling the project due to the decline of the Jaguar."

 Done

• This paragraph should finish telling the development story. (And we won't need the first two sentences of the next paragraph.)
• Add: "After Atari dropped support for the Jaguar, a programmer named Carl Forhan revived the project by reaching out to Bech on a usenet forum and licensing the game from Bethesda."

 Done

• Also add: "Atari later turned the Jaguar into an open development platform, allowing Forhan to finish and publish the game under his studio Songbird Productions."

 Done

• The last paragraph can start with "Protector and the special edition earned critical acclaim..."

 Done

• Maybe shorten some of these sentences too -- we don't need as much detail as we have in the body.

 Done

• Body
• "Defeating enemies allows the player to advance to the next level." -> Is the objective of each level simply to defeat all the enemies? If so, maybe try "The player advances through each level by defeating all the enemies."

 Done

• " best known for The Elder Scrolls series" -> I don't think this is relevant to the project, especially since the project emerged before TES. It will still be available if someone wants to follow the blue link to read more.

 Done

• " got free Atari Jaguar development kits " -> " received free Atari Jaguar development kits "

 Done

• " in 1994" -> let's move this to just before the development kits. (e.g.: "In 1994, Bethesda received..."

 Done

• " Bech planned not making a direct conversion, " -> "Bech decided against making a direct conversion,"

 Done

• "Weaver also refused publishing it as a Bethesda title because the Jaguar platform was in decline." -> "Weaver decided that Bethesda would not publish it due to the decline of the Jaguar."

 Done

• "After Atari dropped support for the Jaguar, " -> let's move this to the previous paragraph to complete the story. "Atari dropped support for the Jaguar soon after."

 Done

• Start the last paragraph in this section with "Years later, ..."

 Done

• " revised gameplay features" -> " revised gameplay,"

 Done

• It's still a big mystery who included the program loaders. Is this an accident due to some facet of the technology? Is this a necessity due to it being an open platform? Was this some sort of strategy to sell copies of the game by effectively selling the loader?

 Done -- Okay, so i clarified that the JagFreeCD is for playing with unencrypted Jaguar CD titles while BJL aids with homebrew development, hence why the Native demo was included with copies of the game. Roberth Martinez (talk) 23:38, 12 August 2024 (UTC)

• " eventually earned" -> "later earned"

 Done

• Since this is coming later, maybe include dates for the other reviews.

I don't get this part but prior to the GA review, i organized the review paragraphs chronologically. Roberth Martinez (talk) 23:44, 12 August 2024 (UTC)

• Move the sentence about sales to the beginning of the section. We can cover the commercial and critical performance in a quick one-two summary at the start of the section.

 Done

That should cover almost everything. We should be close to GA after this. Shooterwalker (talk) 13:31, 12 August 2024 (UTC)

@Shooterwalker:Fourth pass done! Let me know what else is left to be touched upon. Roberth Martinez (talk) 23:44, 12 August 2024 (UTC)

Let's do one more runthrough with fresh eyes. It's very close, and just needs a few more tweaks.

• "The game was released in 1999, with the enhanced edition Protector: Special Edition released in 2002 and the Atari Jaguar CD expansion pack Protector: Resurgence released in 2014." -> " The game was released in 1999, followed by the Special Edition in 2002 and the expansion pack Protector: Resurgence in 2014."

 Done

• " pilots the Starblade to defeat attacking ships while protecting the inhabitants of Haven-7." -> pilots the Starblade to defend the planet Haven-7."

 Done

• "The special edition is considered one of the best Jaguar games in retrospect." -> "In retrospect, game critics have ranked it as one of the best games for the Jaguar."

 Done

• " within its blast radius" -> "within their blast radius" (smart bombs are plural)

 Done

• " game also has a multiplayer option which allows two players to play by alternating turns" -> " game allows two players to play by alternating turns".

 Done

• "Protector was developed by Bethesda Softworks, a Maryland-based game developer founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986." -> "Protector began development under Bethesda Softworks, a Maryland-based game studio founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986."

 Done

• In the reception section, swap the order of the first two sentences. Start with the commercial performance, and then say something like "the game also received critical acclaim".

 Done

• I know the final paragraph is organized chronologically, but maybe try to include years for the different retrospective reviews. (If it breaks the flow, you can leave it out, but see if you can fit it for some.)

 Done

That's being really diligent. You've done great work here, and the article is near ready. Shooterwalker (talk) 15:18, 15 August 2024 (UTC)

@Shooterwalker:Fifth pass done! Let me know if there's anything else left to be done :) Roberth Martinez (talk) 19:08, 15 August 2024 (UTC)

Great work all around. I'm pleased to call this a good article. Happy editing. Shooterwalker (talk) 02:40, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

@Shooterwalker:Thank you for yet reviewing another Atari Jaguar article :D Roberth Martinez (talk) 02:50, 16 August 2024 (UTC)