What's new
Status
Not open for further replies.
Razoola over on neo-geo.com mentioned games with extra hardware on the boards (ram) and encryption - and questioned how these were going to be handled.

I think it's a reasonable question - any thoughts, Darksoft?
Are you referring to the NG-DEV games? If so they're not supported.
 
He was also worried about 'Knichts chance', maybe also his own Crossed Swords II mod.
 
Razoola over on neo-geo.com mentioned games with extra hardware on the boards (ram) and encryption - and questioned how these were going to be handled.

I think it's a reasonable question - any thoughts, Darksoft?
Are you referring to the NG-DEV games? If so they're not supported.
Not just NG-DEV games. Neo carts in '99 and onward started being encrypted. Its been a while, but there was a fairly decent roadblock to getting legit KOF '99, '00, and Garou roms back then.

That said, there are decrypted ROM sets so that shouldn't be too much of an issue.

While I'm not a total expert on what carts have what hardware, I'm reasonably sure that there are other carts outside of NG-DEV games that use special chips not found on other carts.
 
games with extra hardware on the boards (ram) and encryption - how these were going to be handled.

I think it's a reasonable question - any thoughts, Darksoft?
We are still in design stage yet, I may add extra ram but will definitely not mix in adding encryption device so it will most probably be patched versions.
 
I will say that when I mentioned that it would play all "original roms" at Neo what I should have said was all "original games". Some roms will need to be patched to work. And there is a possibility that some games will not be available when the cart first comes out but they should be shortly afterwards. Majority will work immediately.

Just to clear things up since Raz felt like splitting hairs over there. Not that I need to answer to him.
 
I may add extra ram but will definitely not mix in adding encryption device so it will most probably be patched versions
Could a more powerful FPGA version run the emulated encryption code?
Negating the need for patched ROMs?

I'm imagining something like SD2SNES playing Mario Kart... IE; SD2SNES has no DSP chip, but it can emulate the DSP in real time, then satisfy the original code without need for patching.

I think (IF possible) the majority of people would appreciate running "clean" ROMs Vs patching.
Honestly it's my only criticism of the CPS2 multi as well... Not that the ROMs aren't "clean" but that they are different than what you find in MAMEs set.
Having shared file support with MAME (snap shot I understand MAME evolves) means an easier time finding files and loading SD cards for most people.
 
I disagree. I think most people just want the game to run properly and don't care whether it's encrypted/decrypted, patched, etc. Obviously the screwed up AF3 and Garou (? I forget which fighter it was) on the 161 are bad, but if they all run properly, why does it matter if they're same as mame? Load your roms once and you're done.
 
Having shared file support with MAME (snap shot I understand MAME evolves) means an easier time finding files and loading SD cards for most people
.
The CPS2 ROMs were pointed to when the kits were released, as long as it's the same with the NG cart, I couldn't care less to be honest. If it runs like a real cart, I'll be happy. If it requires ROMs that are not found in MAME and the consumer needs to find them on their own, well, that'd be a different story.
 
Raz stated that CS2 doesn't have any encryption on it. so... there you have it.

Knight's chance is encrypted, and individualized with serial numbers, so even if it were to be decrypted, it would be easy to see who leaked the roms.
 
Isn't Knights Chance a homebrew? I had never heard of it until Raz brought it up yesterday. Our goal is to play the original games released so I guess I'm confused why he brings it up.
 
I dont mind using "decrypted" roms, or having to use "patched" roms so long as the patch doesnt affect the games play ability.

What I dont want is having to use beta versions or early releases that have potential bugs.
 
I prefer the one game at a time cart. It's cheaper and it takes longer to take a cart out and put in another game. I'm not trying to be mean, but anyone that has problems waiting for a game to load in 35 seconds is just impatient. Or better yet, go load Gradius and get back to me.
 
I'd say leave the homebrew carts alone. Don't implement any encryption/decryption method and do use patched ROMs where needed. No need to make something that must be simple too complex.
^THAT^....^EXACTLY THAT^
 
Yep, personally I agree with that - we're happy with using patched code for the CPS2 multi, and I don't feel any different about the NG side of things.

The 'extra ram/hardware' issue is a little more interesting though, since it flat out will limit compatibility. I'm not entirely familiar with which games have this extra RAM or whatever though.
 
Will this multi work w/ legit games being loaded in the other slots, of a multi slot machine?

For example-in my 4 slot, if I have a 161-in-1, and 3 legit SNK carts all at the same time...things go haywire. Multi-cart crashes, only 2 or 3 games are seen/slots recognized when hitting select button, ect.

My dream is a 7 slot, lol. 4 'virtual' slots, and 3 legit favorites, qued up at once.
 
Chinese multi carts are designed with SINGLE SLOT boards in mind.

The games are modified for adding escape code with certain buttons being held. That resets the Neo Geo by making the game stop ticking the board watchdog. When you change the game with the select button, there's no real reset operation involved, it's all handled by the NEO GEO BIOS.

The menu on the Chinese multicart is controlled by a MCU and it relies on that reset to bring the menu back.
 
OK. Here is a fresh update. I updated also the other posts.


I found out that I miscalculated the loading time with flashes. The longest game would need about 75 seconds to load. Smaller games proportionally less.
Also notice that the battery is optional in the FPGA version, so you don't need it and I'm quite considering even not supporting it. 2 days is not really long and a battery is always a mess.


OPTION 1
FPGA option will cost below $400. It will come with already soldered DDR memories. Will not support any battery but instead, it will write 4 small files in the microSD so when you boot up it will load whatever was loaded when you switched off back to the DDR memories. It can hold up to 4 games simultaneously. Loading time per game is 10 secs. MAX, so about 40 secs in total. It uses QUAD SPI so it reads at top speed from microSD.


OPTION 2
raditional option will cost about $350 and will be as usual holding just one game in the flashes. Loading time per game varies from 20 seconds to maximum 75 seconds.


Both versions will fit inside a MVS or AES Shell (I will release two different versions one for MVS and one for AES). They will automatically boot to whatever game was loaded. If you press a sequence con buttons, it will show up the menu and then you can do load a game (up to 4 in FPGA version).
As you can see both version will be transparent and will allow for extra cartridges in the system, so you can have it in a 2-slot, 4-slot or 6-slot.


You can change your vote if you so prefer. This setup looks quite final to me. Now question si which one to go ahead with. I won't do 2 versions (flash and FPGA).
 
On multi-slot boards/CP's, will the FPGA version be able to intercept the "Change Game" button press so that we can use it to cycle games instead of some other button combo?

I'm in either way, just wondering.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top