Custom cart PCBs would be an excellent albeit slightly larger project.
- Thread starter 98pacecar
- Start date
I mean really you'd only need the secondary cart PCB with the mask ROMs from my picture above, the only other things on there are a couple of 74 series logic chips and a couple of caps so it'd be a pretty simple design without many parts to source. You could use an original main cart PCB since the program ROM is socketed. I think some main cart PCB have a SMD sound ROM but dealing with one SMD ROM is a lot easier than dealing with 8 of them.
xodaraP
Legendary
So for those who haven't seen them already - these are the boards from a Killing Blade cart, or at least the one that I got today. The boards are indeed very different from the KoV2 boardsets above, but since it's a totally different game I guess you'd expect that
It does have the same locations as specified for the KoV2 -> Ketsui conversion, but has through hole spaces rather than SMD, so if it's possible to do the conversion on a Killing Blade, it's not the same way as KoV2 which I guess is to be expected, but I do need to figure out what needs to go where and whether the same devices are used.
U8 is the same (I assume U8 is the program cart on all PGM boards)
U14 appears to be the same as U21 on the KoV2 prog board?
None of the GF
SAMPLES board seems to match up. I assume this means the PAL will need modification in a completely different way as well.
I think without finding someone who has a Killing Blade converted to Espgaluda or Ketsui this conversion is a no go for now.
It does have the same locations as specified for the KoV2 -> Ketsui conversion, but has through hole spaces rather than SMD, so if it's possible to do the conversion on a Killing Blade, it's not the same way as KoV2 which I guess is to be expected, but I do need to figure out what needs to go where and whether the same devices are used.
U8 is the same (I assume U8 is the program cart on all PGM boards)
U14 appears to be the same as U21 on the KoV2 prog board?
None of the GF
SAMPLES board seems to match up. I assume this means the PAL will need modification in a completely different way as well.I think without finding someone who has a Killing Blade converted to Espgaluda or Ketsui this conversion is a no go for now.
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xodaraP
Legendary
I assume by checking the MAME driver I can find which run ROMs on Killing Blade match the ROMs to replace, then it's just a matter of working out how to rewire the PAL
I'll have a look later
I'll have a look later
xodaraP
Legendary
Ok I've done some research into what needs to go where for the conversion - using the MAME driver I've confirmed what the positions are for which data on both games, so I then just need to work out how to adjust the PAL
Before I post any more info on what I've found so far, I'll get the ok from @Darksoft first.
Before I post any more info on what I've found so far, I'll get the ok from @Darksoft first.
xodaraP
Legendary
Sorry for the delay guys - but here is the info I've managed to work out so far
Killing Blade ROM information pulled from MAME:
Tiles - U14 Prog board
Sprite Colour Data - U9, U10, U11, U12, U2 Char board
Sprite Mask/Colour Index - U13, U14, U15 Char board
Samples - U1 Char board
Ketsui:
Tiles - U19 Prog board
Sprite Colour Data - U7, U8 Char board
Sprite Mask/Colour Index - U1 Char board
Samples - U17 Char board
So with this information we know that on the Killing Blade cart
Ketsui U19 Prog board -> Killing Blade U14 Prog board
Ketsui U7, U8 Char board -> Killing Blade U9, U11 Char board (Skipping U10 to put the second ROM in the correct position in the memory region map with the larger sized ROMs)
Ketsui U1 Char board -> Killing Blade U13 Char board
Ketsui U17 Char board -> Killing Blade U1 Char board
The biggest problem I see is that Killing Blade seems to use Colour Data ROMs of half the size to Killing Blade. KoV2 uses ROMs the same size, which is I guess why it's more commonly used for the conversion.
I'm hoping by putting the new ROM in the correct position for the memory map that this will still work (in much the same way many conversions work on CPS2)
The bad news is that Oriental Legend Super uses the same ROM board as Knights of Valour 2 (according to MAME) and the smaller ROM type, but is not listed as a potential conversion candidate.
Interesting that Killing Blade is actually listed in MAME as a conversion candidate for Ketsui as well, however the example given in MAME is for DoDonPachi 2 Bee Storm
The worse news is, apart from being able to replace the ROMs themselves, I have no idea how to modify the PAL - which I definitely know I'm going to have to do since I'm going from 8 ROMs for sprites down to 3 - and unless someone actually has a Killing Blade converted to Ketsui or Espgaluda I have no idea where to even start.
Work in progress
Killing Blade ROM information pulled from MAME:
Tiles - U14 Prog board
Sprite Colour Data - U9, U10, U11, U12, U2 Char board
Sprite Mask/Colour Index - U13, U14, U15 Char board
Samples - U1 Char board
Ketsui:
Tiles - U19 Prog board
Sprite Colour Data - U7, U8 Char board
Sprite Mask/Colour Index - U1 Char board
Samples - U17 Char board
So with this information we know that on the Killing Blade cart
Ketsui U19 Prog board -> Killing Blade U14 Prog board
Ketsui U7, U8 Char board -> Killing Blade U9, U11 Char board (Skipping U10 to put the second ROM in the correct position in the memory region map with the larger sized ROMs)
Ketsui U1 Char board -> Killing Blade U13 Char board
Ketsui U17 Char board -> Killing Blade U1 Char board
The biggest problem I see is that Killing Blade seems to use Colour Data ROMs of half the size to Killing Blade. KoV2 uses ROMs the same size, which is I guess why it's more commonly used for the conversion.
I'm hoping by putting the new ROM in the correct position for the memory map that this will still work (in much the same way many conversions work on CPS2)
The bad news is that Oriental Legend Super uses the same ROM board as Knights of Valour 2 (according to MAME) and the smaller ROM type, but is not listed as a potential conversion candidate.
Interesting that Killing Blade is actually listed in MAME as a conversion candidate for Ketsui as well, however the example given in MAME is for DoDonPachi 2 Bee Storm
The worse news is, apart from being able to replace the ROMs themselves, I have no idea how to modify the PAL - which I definitely know I'm going to have to do since I'm going from 8 ROMs for sprites down to 3 - and unless someone actually has a Killing Blade converted to Ketsui or Espgaluda I have no idea where to even start.
Work in progress
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xodaraP
Legendary
Indeed. Interesting. I'm not sure what to make of it. The boards seem to be the same on both though, just the arrangement of EPROMs is different.
In the meantime I've just purchased a KoV Super Heroes from sheep_nova to make a DDP DOJ BL
In the meantime I've just purchased a KoV Super Heroes from sheep_nova to make a DDP DOJ BL
Did you manage to get around to this yet? Cheers.
Not yet, it's a long story, but either soon, or I will buy another from the guy and get it dumped.
edwin128
Student
I posted pics from my carts sometime ago. New pics are good as a comparison point to see the different carts that can be used as donors.
xodaraP
Legendary
No worries. Probably not worth the effort of purchasing another.
If anyone in the UK has the Ketsui Trap Arrange cart and they don't mind it being dumped I've got the tools and would just need the 27C322 EPROM. I'll pay for the return postage.
No problems, I'll leave it in your hands to track it down... cheers.
xodaraP
Legendary
There's no reason the EPROM can't be easily reproduced by copying both ROMs to a single file and burning them to a 27C322
The trick is the switch between the 2, I think there's something done to one of the PALs when activating the arrange version that means it runs on the cart, where it doesn't normally.
I don't think it's a code change or trap15 would know how to make it work. And it's not a permanent hardware change or the standard version may not work correctly
The trick is the switch between the 2, I think there's something done to one of the PALs when activating the arrange version that means it runs on the cart, where it doesn't normally.
I don't think it's a code change or trap15 would know how to make it work. And it's not a permanent hardware change or the standard version may not work correctly
