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KalessinDB

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As I promised a couple people, here's some pics and a couple quick videos of the 2 KoV bootlegs that are in my possession - the blue label one (which is "40 characters" - more on that in a minute) and the orange label one ("12 characters")

Things I noticed that were interesting/noteworthy in my eyes:

Blue Label
- Says "40 characters", but I think is actually more like 20? The character select screen is 8x5, but there's definite repeats on it. Haven't played it enough to tell if they control differently.
- Has KoF characters in the background of the intro (check the video), but unless I overlooked one, no KoF characters are actually playable, only SF
- Has "VS" on the title screen
- Has 1 windowed ROM (there's a sticker on it, but I could feel the window underneath

Orange Label
- Says "12 characters", has 12 characters
- This one has 3 KoF characters playable, but no SF characters
- Has (C) SNK on the title screen - I personally found that one very interesting. Is this a legit game? Or did they bother going to the trouble for a bootleg?
- Has no windowed ROMs, everything is stickered and factory. Combine that with the point above and I'm super curious about this one.

Sadly, the orange label paid the ultimate price and fell the fuck off while I was opening the cart (what else is new? PGM stickers are abysmal)

Let me know if there's any more requests. I have a GQ-4X programmer with ADP-054 adapter, so if that can dump those socketed ROMs I'll be happy to if someone wants. I'm not confident enough to desolder anything, but if someone trustworthy wants me to ship it to them I will (assuming I'll some day get them back and/or get a multi that can play them ;) )

The goods: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9o8hrKSN48gnf189A
 
Thanks for this!

There are *so many* KoV bootlegs/hacks in hbmame, I just looked recently and was shocked. I wonder how many made it to (or started as) an actual cart.

I have one SF v KoV pgm cart, but oddly it uses the orange label but has a roster like your blue one. I have a few more shipping to me, so when they all arrive I’ll post my results too.
 
Thanks for this!

There are *so many* KoV bootlegs/hacks in hbmame, I just looked recently and was shocked. I wonder how many made it to (or started as) an actual cart.

I have one SF v KoV pgm cart, but oddly it uses the orange label but has a roster like your blue one. I have a few more shipping to me, so when they all arrive I’ll post my results too.
Awesome. Yeah it's a great game (no matter how many fucking times IGS iterated it... made me laugh when SF characters were added because holy fuck they think they're Capcom)... I'm just honestly suuuuuuuper curious about the KoV vs KoF boot that I have and how it appears to be factory made to my untrained eye. Hopefully getting some more info out there will get some of the masters to look and discover.
 
I’ve seen videos of these, and thought it jarring for the character size differences. Really looks like a hack.
 
As far as i know i have all the KOV bootlegs. They all should have there PCBs scanned on my site.
 
Thanks for sharing @KalessinDB, did you check against the footage on archive.org to see if the blue one was the same?

Nice write up, it’s funny if they just wacked SNK on the screen for the hell of it!

Paging @sheep_nova to ask for more information if he knows whether these were in any way “official” from IGS or just hackjobs?
 
There all HACK carts.. none were official carts. BUT there are many official versions of KOV...

Who ever worked on the hack carts had to have help from someone in IGS. They were able to grab the official holograms and tested stickers...
 
Yep, maybe @sheep_nova has some deeper knowledge behind all this. I put official in quotes suggesting they put them out themselves but turned a blind eye ;)

There’s some really good info over on the AO PGM thread, including a user who actually contacted IGS for information on KOV version differences: https://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=29430
 
VA1jUUh_d.jpg


time to see what all these are...
 
VA1jUUh_d.jpg


time to see what all these are...
Impressive and unique set, @ekorz. A few labels I've never even seen before. How many duplicates did you end up with in order to track down so many different versions? Looking forward to the results of your research ;)
 
@ekorz interested to see what the “ANX” and “2009” ones are?
 
Here is a few more...

T.
Awesome. I knew you'd have a bunch of unique ones, @GC8TECH. Until today, I thought there were 4 or 5 unique orange label versions. Now it looks like there are closer to 10 or 12.
I'm only missing the 2009 one that you have. There is also different versions of the pcbs between games of the same type / label.. Which is also interesting.

Another odd thing is they do for a hack cart is run encrypted program roms. Like a real cart... Were as some of the other hack carts don't.
 
Hi KalessinDB,

Your kov bootlegs are in MAME and FBNeo. (but not the same versions)
For the blue label it is Knights of Valour: Luan Shi Jie Ba / Sangoku Senki: Luan Shi Jie Ba

kovqhsgs.png


For the orange label it is Knights of Valour: Quan Huang San Guo Special / Sangoku Senki: Quan Huang San Guo Special. Sadly this one is not yet emulated due to asic protection.

It seems you have undumped versions (ver. 203CN for the blue label and ver. 201CN for the orange label). It will be very interesting if you can dump the socketed roms from your kov bootlegs to see the differences with the ones already in MAME/FBneo.


Concerning the kov bootlegs from ekorz, i could identify some of them.

The anx one with green label is probably Knights of Valour: SanGuo QunYingZhuan / Sangoku Senki: SanGuo QunYingZhuan. It exists different sets in MAME and FBneo.

kovsgqyz.png


The second cart with orange label starting from the top is probably Knights of Valour: Luan Shi Quan Huang / Sangoku Senki: Luan Shi Quan Huang

kovlsqhd.png


The second cart with orange label starting from the bottom is probably Knights of Valour: Luan Shi Quan Huang 2 / Sangoku Senki: Luan Shi Quan Huang 2

kovlsqh2d.png


Of course if ekorz will be able to dumps his kov bootlegs, it will be interesting to check if his versions are the same as the ones already in MAME.

For the rest of the bootlegs (the first one with orange label starting from the top, the one in middle with blue label and the first one with orange label with 2009 starting from the bottom), i couldn't identify them...They are probably not yet dumped.

I know GC8TECH has also dumped some of his kov hacks bootlegs and submitted them to MAME. But after checking the dumps and comparing them with the ones already in MAME, it seems some of them needs redump.

Two of his kov bootlegs which have been dumped (one encrypted and one decrypted, which needs redump) are Knights of Valour: Ao Shi San Guo / Sangoku Senki: Ao Shi San Guo

kovshxas.png


Best regards,
JacKc
 
Last edited:
Hey JacKc, got your PM, didn't get a chance to respond sorry.

Only one socketed rom between the two carts unfortunately (on the blue one) but I should be able to take care of that soon enough for you. Lord knows I'm happy to give back any little way I can for all the good stuff I've enjoyed over the years :)

Thanks for the breakdown!
 
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