SNK-NEO-GEO
Enlightened
more importantly, is one of those on the wall going to be shipped to me?The Wall
DARKSOFT Get your MultiMVS Here:
- Thread starter Darksoft
- Start date
Yup, right there, the top 3, right hand corner, just ship those my way, put them all in one box and send them out International Express. Thank you!The Wall
CPZ - SAVEYOURGAMES
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Order number under 313 will be shipped all this next week
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waiwainl
Professional
Milspex
Professional
That's me ! yay!
udongein
Student
That's me as well... I also perused the current ROM rollup pack and I can't believe I'll be able to play all these games on my actual Neo-geo for the first time (buggy xx-in-1 carts don't count, lol), since I only own a few real carts for the MVS.
540 here. Well...
What puzzles me though, is the description of how to get roms working:
We need to add some FPGA code file to each rom for it to work. I have a bit of a hard time getting this to match "unpatched original roms"?
Also the menu is hardcoded to support a fixed set of roms?
I dont wanna sound antagonistic but that sounds more like a 161-in-1 approach than a freeform flashcart.
What puzzles me though, is the description of how to get roms working:
We need to add some FPGA code file to each rom for it to work. I have a bit of a hard time getting this to match "unpatched original roms"?
Also the menu is hardcoded to support a fixed set of roms?
I dont wanna sound antagonistic but that sounds more like a 161-in-1 approach than a freeform flashcart.
xodaraP
Legendary
The FPGA code is so you can run unpatched original ROMs. I assume the FPGA code is to tell the FPGA on the flash cart which ROM sizes and types are located in which location on the original cart. So rather than modifying the ROMs to all match up with predetermined numbers set on the multi, the multi loads a small file and is told how to operate the original ROMs
The menu is hardcoded to support a fixed set of ROMs for a couple of reasons, the first is to ensure compatibility. There's always going to be the people who want to run super obscure bootlegs that don't run properly on original hardware but run perfectly in MAME, who are going to whinge and blame the multi cart for it not working properly there either. The hardcoded list ensures that all original games run perfectly.
There's also the big problem of those who are going to try and run the NG.DEV:TEAM games - and Darksoft and Mitsu have explicitly stated multiple times they have taken steps to ensure their cart will not run these, I assume this is one of those steps.
I'm sure in later firmware updates some of these issues will be resolved, and it may even end up getting opened up a bit more to allow for development using the cart, but the big issue there is doing so without allowing piracy of brand new Neo games that are in development or recently released.
Only one rom is patched. Metal Slug X. The FPGA file is used by the cart so it knows how to play the game correctly, i.e. "which cart hardware are we mimicking?"
The way the menu is for now is that it looks for certain rom names. If they are there the games display in the menu. If they are not there they do not display. It will most likely be more "free form" in time. I do't see a comparison to the xxx-in-1s at all. You cannot control the content of those carts.
EDIT: @xodaraP beat me to it.
can you tell me.the relation between adding a 3 bytes file called fpga and modifying the roms?
Fpga files are there to tell the fpga which encryption it needs to emulate so that original untouched roms work.
The only thing hardcoded in the menu are the thumbnails to the game is. The rest is completely flexible.
Also 161-in-1 have only 161 games many of them poorly done clones. Here we have over 300
Thanks.
P.S. and @Mitsurugi-w beat me to it.
Well I dont know how the NeoSD guys do that. If they add this FPGA code in their packaging software then at least they are better at camouflaging thingsThe FPGA code is so you can run unpatched original ROMs. I assume the FPGA code is to tell the FPGA on the flash cart which ROM sizes and types are located in which location on the original cart. So rather than modifying the ROMs to all match up with predetermined numbers set on the multi, the multi loads a small file and is told how to operate the original ROMs
The menu is hardcoded to support a fixed set of ROMs for a couple of reasons, the first is to ensure compatibility. There's always going to be the people who want to run super obscure bootlegs that don't run properly on original hardware but run perfectly in MAME, who are going to whinge and blame the multi cart for it not working properly there either. The hardcoded list ensures that all original games run perfectly.
There's also the big problem of those who are going to try and run the NG.DEV:TEAM games - and Darksoft and Mitsu have explicitly stated multiple times they have taken steps to ensure their cart will not run these, I assume this is one of those steps.
I'm sure in later firmware updates some of these issues will be resolved, and it may even end up getting opened up a bit more to allow for development using the cart, but the big issue there is doing so without allowing piracy of brand new Neo games that are in development or recently released.
The fixed menu is a downer for me, honestly. Because if I have to choose running an obscure Bootleg and risking glitches or a crash and not being "allowed" to run it at all I choose the former.
Also it kinda defeats the freedom a flashcart should offer (just my humble opinion)
As to the NG.DEV stuff: I dont care for their stuff. But for users who do (or just wanna try it before considering buying) its just another point that will probably push them towards the NeoSD. So I wonder what this actually accomplishes. Besides having some "holier-than-though" vibe
@DenTarr Sorry to point this out but you seem a little neosd biased....about the menu. Read my post again.
The neosd are good at camouflaging as you said. The problem is that then people can't add manually any new games without understanding how their file format works. Thanks to my system you just need to know which protection chip you want to emulate (if any) and you can throw so many new games and bootlegs as you like.
NGDEV games can't work on neosd as they need extra memory that their cart doesn't have. There is only one game afaik has been dumped and that doesn't require extra memory.
Thanks.
The neosd are good at camouflaging as you said. The problem is that then people can't add manually any new games without understanding how their file format works. Thanks to my system you just need to know which protection chip you want to emulate (if any) and you can throw so many new games and bootlegs as you like.
NGDEV games can't work on neosd as they need extra memory that their cart doesn't have. There is only one game afaik has been dumped and that doesn't require extra memory.
Thanks.
Nope, the NeoSD (at least in its current form) will not run NGDev games either, it does not have enough memory to fit those huge games, so it's a hardware barrier.As to the NG.DEV stuff: I dont care for their stuff. But for users who do (or just wanna try it before considering buying) its just another point that will probably push them towards the NeoSD. So I wonder what this actually accomplishes. Besides having some "holier-than-though" vibe
Edit: Oops! DS posted a second before me. Also, order number 284 here, so yay!
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590.... Aaarrgh.. I'm lost.....569 here..maybe two weeks?
But ben, think positive: lots of early bugs will
be fixed when the cart arrives
Sorry to make that impression Darksoft. But I honestly am not. I own a NeoSD AES and use it regularly so it is something I can compare to. I have no other hardware I could use to make a direct comparison. Thats all.@DenTarr Sorry to point this out but you seem a little neosd biased....about the menu. Read my post again.
The neosd are good at camouflaging as you said. The problem is that then people can't add manually any new games without understanding how their file format works. Thanks to my system you just need to know which protection chip you want to emulate (if any) and you can throw so many new games and bootlegs as you like.
NGDEV games can't work on neosd as they need extra memory that their cart doesn't have. There is only one game afaik has been dumped and that doesn't require extra memory.
Thanks.
I bought your MVS cart too, so obviously I believe its a good piece of equipment. I have more of a feeling there is a strong bias here that the NeoSD cart is an inferior product. I am not so sure about that is all. And those points concerning handling romsets puzzled me.
Again maybe the packager from NeoSD is in some way limited too. I cant say. It chewed through the romset I gave it quite well.
So this is NOT me advertising another product but me pointing out that another product does not SEEM to have a limitation that this one SEEMS to have. So SEEMS being the word here. I am always grateful for clarification and inside knowledge. Maybe other readers have similar questions or concerns and just dont voice them.
All good. Just remember also to point out the good things once you get our cart
About the hardcoded gamelist. It was so at the beggining for testing purposes, but that was removed several updates ago.
About the file format...well I believe ours is more clear and easy to modify and create, but that's our opinion. In any case most users will be happy getting a rompack like neosd does.
About the hardcoded gamelist. It was so at the beggining for testing purposes, but that was removed several updates ago.
About the file format...well I believe ours is more clear and easy to modify and create, but that's our opinion. In any case most users will be happy getting a rompack like neosd does.
if I can make a suggestion...
Maybe if the folder name was used as the game name in the list and it looked for a thumbnail.jpg (or whatever image format is preferred to use as the thumbnail that would make things really easy to setup however we like. You could maybe hard code a "placeholder" image that would be used whenever a thumbnail.jpg wasn't supplied.
Mobiusstriptech
Enthusiast
I think this statement from a member of team is where the confusion is coming. According to one of you only certain roms will even show in the menu. According to the other it just won't show artwork.
Those are two very different statements. One makes it sound like only specific games will show up at all. The other makes it sound like you just won't have artwork.
You misunderstood. What Darksoft is saying is that the thumbnails cannot be changed at this time. That will most certainly change in the future but we are more focused on making sure the cart is playing games correctly at this time. Still the menu will not display the game name or thumb if the rom is not present.
Though I can admit I have not had a multi for several months now as we sent it around to testers so I have not played around with the last several updates. So maybe I have missed something new?
