At first coup d’oeil , Backyard Baseball ’ 97might seem like a nondescript rerelease . It ’s a straightforward , no - frills Steam version of Humongous Entertainment ’s kids ’ game that kicked off the integral Backyard Sports franchise . Outside of Steam accomplishment , it ’s as if the original game , first free in 1997 , is range on your modernistic PC . That might seem simple , but after speak to the developers behindBackyard Baseball ’ 97 , it turn out that bringing back this classic require a slew more effort than might initially forgather the optic .
Playground Productions worked withWrestlequestdeveloper Mega Cat Studios to bringBackyard baseball game ’ 97back , but it did n’t even have the germ computer code to work out with . It consider the combined efforts of experienced read-only memory hacker , Backyard Baseball modders , and a lot of trial and error to flim-flam forward-looking PCs into think they ’re the correct computer hardware to playBackyard Baseball ’ 97.Never take a rerelease like this for grant , as it can take a circumstances more effort than meets the centre .
How Backyard Baseball ’97 came to be
Sometimes , certain gamers have a desire to engage with the games they play on a mysterious level . For me , that came in the physique of writing about games . For senior technologist John Simon , that came in reversal engineering his favorite plot .
“ Every once in a while , I play a game and really make love the game , but there ’s no replayability . So what do I do ? I set forth reverse mastermind the game , modding the game . And even for the more niche games I do this with , there ’s also been a biotic community that ’s appreciative of it , ” Simon tells Digital Trends .
Simon started withDarksiders , make tools that speedrunners still use to this day before finally turning his attention to Backyard Sports . He created modding tools that function as the vertebral column for theBackyard Sports Onlineproject , which come to on-line maneuver in some later titles in the series . That caught the attention of Mega Cat , who Playground Productions had partner with after find the rightfield to Humungous Entertainment ’s Backyard Sports series .
Mega Cat co - founder James Deighan severalise Digital Trends that most of Mega Cat ’s developer “ met through fixed storage - hacking and retro gambling communities . ” One such developer is senior engineer Luke Usher , who had experience in ROM - hacking and create an Xbox imitator for mod PCs . After Mega Cat struck a deal with Playground Productions and hired Simon , a team of around 10 developer give out to work on bringingBackyard Baseballback .
Playground Productions divvy up many disks and files full of information relating to this long - running serial . There was just one job : Even with all those files , Mega Cat Studios did not have the source codification for the originalBackyard baseball game .
“ If we were modifying a game where we had source computer code , it would just be a matter of pulling a stock C++ compiler off the shelf , compiling the plot , and pick up from where the original developer left off in 1997 , ” Simon says . “ We did not have that luxuriousness , unfortunately , so it was quite a challenge reverse direct the original format , decompiling the scripts , and then recompiling the script so that the biz would ladder again . ”
When it come to a remaster likeDoom + Doom II , remaster developers often have the sumptuosity of work up on the original game ’s source codification . At times when they do n’t , we get full - on remakes likeSilent Hill 2 . Playground Productions desire Mega Cat to re - turn the firstBackyard Baseballgame on Steam , though , so it had to find a elbow room to get that done . Mega Cat did so by employing tricks primarily used in the modding and ROM hack shot .
To do this , Usher explained to Digital Trends that Mega Cat had to make a “ patch up framework that hijacks the plot when you seek to load up it . ” From there , the team would “ have a probability to go in , fix bugs , and make the change needed to get it up and running . ” In my interview with the Mega Cat team , it became clear that this was a protracted process of trial and error , as Humungous used a LucasArts point - and - cluck game engine calledSCUMMthat had a pile of weird eccentricity that would n’t work for a game released on Steam in 2024 .
Looking at the viscera of the hackedBackyard Baseballdisc and code , Simon says the original was an “ mad technological achievement ” as Humungous Entertainment grow a 3D sport game working on a 2D peak - and - click biz locomotive engine . Still , Mega Cat Studios required very “ specialized ” workplace , even for smaller additions like achievements . The outcome is something that is n’t so simple to excuse .
“ It ’s kind of heavy to put a specific password on it , like emulation . It ’s not quite emulation , ” Simon says . “ It ’s more that we ’re running the original game , and we ’re building an environment around that original game where it thinks it ’s running on a data processor from 1996 fly the coop Windows 95 , even though it is n’t . ”
Just the beginning
The release ofBackyard baseball game ’ 97today is n’t the goal of the road for Mega Cat Studios , as Playground Productions anticipate to bring Backyard Sports games to more platforms and eventuallyturn it into a multimedia system franchise . In the short term , Mega Cat is dubious thatBackyard Baseball ’ 97can come to consoles . Deighan says that ’s “ indefensible ” with the current “ not quite emulation ” version of the secret plan they have because of “ what you take to do on New consoles to meet their political program monetary standard . ”
Playground Productions and Mega Cat Studios ’ partnership will continue , with the couple already committing to the releases ofBackyard Soccer ’ 98 , Backyard Football ’ 99 , Backyard Baseball ’ 01 , Backyard Basketball ’ 01 , andBackyard Hockey ’ 02 in the future . Deighan trust the studio apartment ’s “ foundational ” learning fromBackyard baseball game ’ 97can be lend oneself to any possible rereleases of the other Backyard Sports plot that used the SCUMM engine . Deighan think the Mega Cat Studios team is quick to do that because , in practice session , these take exception hark back to the “ first harmonic of fixed storage hacking ” that many Mega Cat developer are familiar with .
The source code is lose for everything other than the Game Boy Advance and PS2 Backyard Sports game , so it ’s doubtlessly a challenge Mega Cat Studios will continue to face as it helps Playground Productions animate this beloved series . The rereleases will take a sight more grit and effort to produce than it might ab initio seem . While Simon seems eager to go along to turn over into a series he loves and want more of , he is also hopeful that a Humongous Entertainment developer can come forward with the root code and help fast - forward this long - look revival .
“ Just from a preservationist or historical angle , it would be so nerveless to see the original source code , ” Simon say . “ I ’m hold out promise that one of the Humongous developer has a box in their noggin with a crowd of floppy disk , and we ’ll get to see it one day . ”
Backyard Baseball ’ 97is available now for PC on Steam .
