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More Sega Channel prototypes dumped.

Discussion in 'General Sega Discussion' started by Kiddo Cabbusses, Jul 20, 2011.

  1. Andlabs

    Andlabs

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    Writing my own MD/Genesis sound driver :D
    But that's just the Sonic community :| We do have a dedicated Mega Drive community, but I don't know what we're doing (and we still need the VDP and YM2612 decapped :argh: )
     
  2. Sik

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    The SNES community also was lucky that BS-X would actually store the games that were downloaded, so they can retrieve the old games back by looking for BS-X cartridges. Moreover, the BS-X firmware also seems to run as-is, even if the required hardware isn't present (although of course you can't do much other than walking around the overworld, but it works). We can't say the same about Sega Channel, which won't even boot at all, making it much harder to work with it.

    We already have the YM2612 decapped... Though good luck with all the different ASIC revisions.
     
  3. Andlabs

    Andlabs

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    I thought that was various OPL chips (like in the Adlib/SoundBlaster-16).
     
  4. Sik

    Sik

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    I meant Mega Drive ASICs... (VDP, etc.)
     
  5. Andlabs

    Andlabs

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    Writing my own MD/Genesis sound driver :D
    I meant in response to you saying that the YM2612 was already decapped... I read through that thread trying to make a cycle-accurate emulator core, remember?

    Also that reminds me I have to remember to update that list of ideas I started making (I wonder if Go's concurrent programming and nanosecond-based timers can be used to write concurrent cycle-accurate emulators =P )
     
  6. Sik

    Sik

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    Having decapped the YM2612 was the whole point of the thread.
     
  7. Andlabs

    Andlabs

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    Writing my own MD/Genesis sound driver :D
    The thread started because Nemesis found the YM2608A docs =P He did say he wanted to decap the chips, but never got around to doing it because he forgot, then ran out of money. Hell, it should have happened by now; why hasn't someone else done it? (Where can I go to get it done? I live near NYC, and I can just have them decap EVERYTHING in a MD2 =P )
     
  8. On the opposite end of this, there is no SNES ROM hack that is as elaborate as (easiest example here) Sonic 1 Megamix - mostly because the skilled hackers tend to work on fan translations (Der Langrisser is a very technically impressive one for adding fonts and fixing bugs), service revival (bsnes-sx is also working on XBand and, I think, a bit of Ninteod Super System), or making new hardware (I'm gonna be getting a sd2snes soon, and you bet your ass I'm gonna be playing Road Blaster on it.)
     
  9. ICEknight

    ICEknight

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    ...Holy shit, that looks so much better than the Mega-CD version.
     
  10. Some more info on MSU1 stuff here.

    To sum it up, the SNES in it's native hardware could render uncompressed video better than the Sega CD could (though seemingly not anything as high as LaserDisc quality), and I'd assume the SNESCD would've taken advantage of that. Regular cartridges sold at the time obviously couldn't even hold the filesize necessary to store such video, so it never ended up being used.

    Here's another video which shows a Super Mario World hack that's gonna use the MSU1 for audio streaming.
     
  11. Meat Miracle

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    Of course it is better suited, it has more colors to use. (and didn't the SNES also do bitmaps and not just tiles)
     
  12. Sik

    Sik

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    No, that's the GBA. The SNES can only do tiles.

    Also beware, SNES hardware limitations still kick in and can make the idea of using a bitmap a massive pain in the ass - you can only get 256 colors per tile in the tilemap of mode 7, and you only get 128 tiles for the tilemap in that mode, if I recall correctly (EDIT: I think it may have been 16×16 tiles, but even then it isn't enough to fill the entire screen). That isn't useful for large bitmaps at all. So here it's probably using a 16 color mode and taking advantage of the multiple palettes (but it means it still has to cope with color spill). Also there's the bandwidth transfer cap, you can't transfer an entire screen worth of data in a single frame - thereby tilemaps and sprites and such.
     
  13. ICEknight

    ICEknight

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    This topic is blowing my mind with all this SNES stuff, so ironically.
     
  14. Sik

    Sik

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  15. Ok, to bring his back into Sega Channel discussion, let me post the links to whatever JP websites has JP Sega Channel material again.

    http://www.lcv.ne.jp/~mgs1987/segacd/gamecam1.html - most interesting things are the images of the menus and loading screen.

    http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/rig_veda/48897499.html - pics of the box and contents.

    http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/rig_veda/61789942.html - pic of a Sega Channel calling card with the Japanese mascot.

    http://gametanteidan.blog94.fc2.com/blog-entry-113.html - A blog article.

    http://www.geocities.jp/miya635/sega/sega006.html - seemingly has info and a bit of a gamelist.
     
  16. ICEknight

    ICEknight

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    Hey, that's a pretty cool Sonic 2-ish loading screen.
    [​IMG]
    But wait a second... The disposition of the mountains makes it look like a mockup. These might be scans from a press release or something.
     
  17. Andlabs

    Andlabs

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    Writing my own MD/Genesis sound driver :D
    I get a more Sonic CD vibe from that...

    translated game names for anyone who cares:
    screenshot in first link: Monster World IV, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Chelnov (Atomic Runner), Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
    last link:
    OutRun?Wimbledon?Ex-Ranza (Ranger-X)?
    Gunstar Heroes?Kyuukai Douchuuki?Gambler Jiko Chuushinha?Gain Ground?Columns 3?
    Side Pocket?The Super Shinobi 2 (Shinobi 3)?Shining Force?Super Volleyball?Super Hang-On?Super Fantasy Zone?Super Monaco GP?Space Harrier II?Sonic Spinball?Sonic 1?Sonic 2?
    Dyna Brothers 2?Chelnov?
    Party Quiz Mega Q?Battle Mania (Trouble Shooter)?Phantasy Star III?Phantasy Star IV?Puyo Puyo?Bare Knuckle 2 (Streets of Rage 2)?Bonanza Bros.?
    Langrisser?
    STREET OF PAGE 3
     
  18. Combine this with the info from the old thread for "Ecco Jr.", "Earthworm Jim" and "Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure" as well as DB2S and GNKO, and we have some degree of a Japanese game list. Also, shown as downloading in the picture but is not on this list is Sonic 3.

    They do look like they're from a magazine, yes? I wonder what one, though?
    Either way, these are the only tidbits of the Japanese menus I can find. If we're really lucky they might be in the Japanese BIOs can can be dumped, but I wouldn't count on it.
    It's rather unfortunate that so little of the Japanese Sega Channel was fan-preserved.
     
  19. Andlabs

    Andlabs

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    Writing my own MD/Genesis sound driver :D
    Could you point out where in the thread you get htose two abbreviations (I don't know what they are) from?

    I started planning out an infodump program that should help us with this: it lets us collaboratively collect this information and save copies for posterity. The idea a series of 2D "tables" with pieces of information that can be copied or moved around. The thing is: I have no idea about web programming (or secure web programming for that matter). Where is the best place to learn so I can go ahead and do it? Thanks. (I also intend to use it for Sega Pico and possibly the Satellaview if you need it; I want to make it open but base the feature set around what we need for Sega Channel and Sega Pico at least.)