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Initial D single vs pair question

winteriscoming

winteriscoming

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I was at a local arcade expo last weekend and someone brought an Initial D pair and had it listed for sale. Wanting to see if the seller would break up the pair and just sell me one, I texted him to ask. He replied back that it wouldn't work as a single and the game requires to be linked to another.

Now, the pair had ID2 booted and I'll admit to never having booted ID2 at home, so not sure if it behaves differently than ID3, but I was pretty sure the seller was mistaken and I proceeded to let him know that.

He maintained that it required a pair. It wasn't in great shape for the asking price, so I gave up arguing and didn't pursue the purchase of the pair.

So what's the deal? Are there stock versions of ID software that require a linked pair?. I know I could ultimately netboot any NAOMI2 version I want and that the ID3 I've been booting up to this point is fine as a single.
 
Is it possible to set one up to expect linking to where an error would be generated when no link is present? The seller claimed to have tried running a single unit before without success.

I totally believe you. I'm just curious about the seller's claim.
 
yes, it must be correctly configured in game options as standalone, master or slave, otherwise game will not boot or comm. features will not work.
same is true for I think all Naomi or Model3 games with comm.board support.
 
Interesting. Maybe I will take a look at settings and be better prepared for an argument with a seller next time. :P

Thanks for sharing, @MetalliC!
 
Are you sure he wasn't referring to the cab itself?

A lot of these Sega game (some versions of Initial D included) share a single coinbox and service panel between the two machines. They usually also share a single power cable and switch on the P1 side.

This is why they're called "twin units" they're essentially conjoined twins that can't be fully separated because they share some vital components.

So while you can technically separate them; assuming you keep the coin box with the P1 unit to make it fully functional: the P2 unit will be missing an number of parts necessary to power up and run.

Some initial D cabs are single units but some were also sold as "twin" units that shared components and can't be separated... Nothing to do with the software or the NAOMI units and everything to do with the way the cab is wired for 1 coin box and power input across two machines.
 
The conversation definitely veered more towards it being a software issue. I told him I netboot ID3 as a single with no issues and he remained adamant that his twins would give an error message.

It was a twin unit with shared coin box, and perhaps power cord/switch. I'd have been able to work around any hardware requirements to get a single unit running, if I took the "slave" cab.
 
I believe the Initial D twin units share a card reader too so you'd lose that taking the slave as well. They also tend to NOT have the plastic panels/side art in the center.

I know on my Virtual On (which is a twin unit) Assuming you're going to run it in free-play anyway the biggest issue after the AC power input is likely the volume pots as they're in the coin box as well.

Personally it makes me irrationally angry when I see people split up twin units, as even the Master side ends up looking incomplete since there's typically no side panels on the coin box leaving the guts exposed
 
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