Sega Mega Drive/CD/32X

[warm carbon]

this doesn't sound like paramore

but that is definitely the snow level

honestly, my favorite song on sonic 3 is the ending theme. and that is 100% stranger in moscow

[stone plinth]

Oh 100%

And I will sing along

[warm carbon]

the 90s were so weird

[stone plinth]

They were also worse than we remember. I remember finding episodes of Beavis and Butthead with the music videos intact and it made me realise that the 90s had just as much terrible music as every other decade.

[faint onyx]

But,but,but...Euro Dance

😆

[stone plinth]

Europop!

[drowsy hemlock]

Is Grundle Gooch the antagonist in the Perineum game?

[trim silo]

We only remember the good music in retrospect

I thought the 2010s music was pretty bad at least for radio stuff which I was forced to listen to from working in a bar

[void eagle]

No, Vattle Giuce for Game Boy is Triple A.

[faint onyx]

Looks nice, but nothing that says "Triple A" to me. Technically rather boring. And it's from back in the day.

Ah, now i get it. The US version was supposed to be released under this name.

[vital idol]

Haha, and here is was desperately searching for a baseball game to make the same joke.

[fallow dome]

All game boy games are cool, just on a spectrum from less cool to more cool

[faint onyx]

Even Mortal Kombat 3/4?

[fallow dome]

Uhhhhh yes

[faint onyx]

Ah, a man with a high pain tolerance! Congrats!

[vital idol]

Can’t have subzero and not be cool?

[faint onyx]

Stranger things happens i guess. But MK4 is legendary bad.

[vital idol]

In the words of foreigner- they’re as cold as ice

[pine crystal]

They're on a spectrum alright...

Just trashing Nintendo in a Sega thread.

[fallow osprey]

Did Tecnosoft miss a few pixels in their ruin level selection graphics?

[faint onyx]

I don't think so. When you start the "ruin level" you see black gaps in the background graphics. The level selection just reflect this i guess.

btw: TF IV is a game where the old Genesis core shines, due to the CPU turbo.

[loud gull]

Gynoug/wings of wor has bangers

[loud gull]

And blast processing

Paprikum doesnt make use of blast processing

[faint onyx]

Gleylancer has some great tracks too.

[elder briar]

battle mania/battle mania daiginjou, bio-hazard battle, elemental master and undead line are all some other great mega drive shooters with rocking osts to check out

[faint onyx]

Mega Turrican is great too. Hülsbeck knew how to use the MD chip effectively.

Tim Follins title music for Time Trax is pure Sega bliss too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXFd6M_6Nto

[elder briar]

was this game ever released?

[faint onyx]

Nope

[elder briar]

[chrome moss]

Finally got to play Earthion. Used mister + rt4k. Looked and played fantastic! Made it to level 3, game is tough. Ran well, only had slow down when the towers and enemies were exploding at the same time.

Curious if the final cart version has any changes

[loud gull]

Level 4 is tough, very r-type also

[fresh wharf]

last boss is brutal but im very happy with the difficulty, played on normal

[narrow panther]

It doesn't seem to be selling very well 😞
https://steamdb.info/app/3597580/charts/

[drowsy hemlock]

Probably because of all you filthy downloaders

But really I suspect it was always going to be a niche game

[elder briar]

it's certainly an awesome game with great talent behind it, but it's probably only going to appeal to genesis lovers and/or fans of classic shmups

[stone plinth]

I think when you're knee deep in the retro gaming scene and surrounded by people who are enthusiastic about it, it's easy to forget just how niche it is

[drowsy hemlock]

I’m a retro nerd and if it weren’t for people coming in here asking if they could play it on MiSTer, I wouldn’t have a clue about it

Part of being into retro also means I don’t have to keep up with the latest releases 😅

[glass shale]

People are purchasing on Steam but playing on their MiSTers, that’s why!

[light mist]

let's just hope they buy…

[fallow dome]

I’m waiting for it to release on console myself. I’m sure it’ll do well all combined.

[light mist]

But it could do better with you buying releases for all platforms

don't you want it to do better?

[fallow dome]

lol that’s a lot of money omg

[light mist]

Robby, visitor of western gacha stores, train aficionado and all things 8bit do (even if it is just a recolour) complaining about money?

[pine crystal]

'Low' peak concurrent players?
It's not a modern MMORPG.
It's a one-and-done (okay... maybe two 😉 ) side-scrolling shooter designed for a console that's over 35 years old. 🤣

[pine crystal]

Damn, I fell for it... 😭

[trim silo]

Wait maybe dumb question but if earthion is steam only atm how are ppl playing on genesis core? 🤔

[fallow dome]

The game is still fundamentally a Genesis rom, it just comes encrypted in the Steam release.

[trim silo]

Ohh

[kindred anchor]

16-bit arcade graphics

[thorny pivot]

I’m waiting on a Genesis cart as well. I wanna hear the chiptunes from the chip and get the whole cartridge and composite video experience.

[fallow dome]

It’s being manufactured by LRG and will be on sale next year. Not being jokey here but that will probably mean a 2027 release.

[kindred anchor]

Didn't LRG have a reputation for not being very good at cartridge manufacturing

[fallow dome]

Their quality bar is lower than what their consumers expect is the issue, I think.

They do a good job otherwise, at least I think they do.

[drowsy hemlock]

Anyone know why it’s coming to OG hardware much later?

Is it just a manufacturing thing, or for another reason?

[fallow dome]

They stated they wanted to get it perfect before committing to a cartridge release since you can’t patch a cart.

So enjoy being beta testers, hah!

[drowsy hemlock]

Fair

I wish they just sold a rom tbh

[fallow dome]

I wish they sold a game key card

[drowsy hemlock]

It’s not like not selling a rom has somehow stopped one appearing in the wild

[kindred anchor]

they technically are selling a rom! its just a very weird rom

[fallow dome]

I guess this is a moot point now but selling an unencrypted rom would guarantee piracy.

[kindred anchor]

in my experience, selling a video game guarantees piracy

[drowsy hemlock]

Yeah, cos the encryption certainly seems to have slowed things down 🙄

[fallow dome]

yeah true lol

[fickle hemlock]

piracy is like the tide

[drowsy hemlock]

Just sell the rom so I can play it on my MiSTer

[fickle hemlock]

dont waste resources or block off revenue streams trying to fight it

[kindred anchor]

anyhow you should actually be wiring money over to yuzo koshiro at this very moment by buying earthion on steam

[drowsy hemlock]

Exactly

[fickle hemlock]

i'm not going to bother pirating this, but i would of bought it if they'd sold a rom

[fallow dome]

I remember that one moron hero at Bethesda that included the non-Denuvo exe with the Steam release for DOOM 2016.

[drowsy hemlock]

Exactly my stance

[fallow dome]

Which basically meant our OPs engineering team completely wasted three months of integrating it because pirated copies of the game were out on the wild even before official release lmao.

[kindred anchor]

got paid though 👍

[fickle hemlock]

i can't imagine a more pointless job, i think i'd quit on the spot if that was assigned to me

[fallow dome]

they sure did but they were absolutely livid lmao

[kindred anchor]

doom 2016 would have been so good if instead the entire game was DRM free and just inside a WAD you could load in a doom sourceport

[fickle hemlock]

lol

[drowsy hemlock]

I loved doom 2016

[fickle hemlock]

are there exploits in .wad? you probably could

[fallow dome]

The worst part was the non-Denuvo release ran markedly better too

[drowsy hemlock]

Of course it did

[fickle hemlock]

that practically always happens

[fallow dome]

loooool

[drowsy hemlock]

It’s the worse thing about DRM imo

[fickle hemlock]

denuovo like, fucks up your cpu's branch predictors and caches as i understand it

with its obfuscation strategy

[kindred anchor]

drm blows

shoutout to drm on ebooks especially

[drowsy hemlock]

Everything should be on GOG

[fickle hemlock]

you're supposed to keep it out of framerate critical codepaths but idk, implementations suck i guess?

[fallow dome]

I’m not educated enough about DRM to have an official position

I just think it’s counter intuitive to have DRM tha objectively makes the game worse

[drowsy hemlock]

We want your position, not that of your employer

[kindred anchor]

my position is that it's annoying so it shouldn't be

[fickle hemlock]

its not like games without DRM get 0 sales and die in obscurity either

i think CDPR has proven that

[drowsy hemlock]

But how much are they pirated?

Etc

That’s what those that use it will argue anyway

[kindred anchor]

theyre most certainly pirated

[drowsy hemlock]

Not defending it, just saying

[kindred anchor]

theoretically even when cracked, DRM protect the first couple of days (or even weeks) of sales

but it's annoying

[drowsy hemlock]

The solution to combatting piracy is just to offer a better solution

Like a better service or whatever

[fickle hemlock]

i only really pirated pc games until steam came around

[drowsy hemlock]

I remember when steam came out and everyone hated it 😂

Funny how the tables have turned

[fickle hemlock]

i mean initially it was just a crap way they forced you to launch counterstrike

[kindred anchor]

nooo but steam ruined pc gaming by destroying physical media and introducing drm!!! (ignores a decade of increasingly arcane on-disc copy protection)

[drowsy hemlock]

Exactly

[fickle hemlock]

and it was really bad initially, like markedly worse than gamespy3d and stuff we already had

[drowsy hemlock]

To valves credit, they did gain people’s trust

And showed they’d stick around

[fickle hemlock]

yeah they put the work in, it got better fast

[drowsy hemlock]

I have more faith in valve continuing to sell games than I do Sony or Microsoft

Microsoft I trust very little

[fallow dome]

They’re the only platform holder that has completely shut down an online marketplace preventing you from accessing those purchases

Oh multiple times in-fact. The original Xbox and Games for Windows Live.

I forgot about GFWL

[kindred anchor]

GFWL brings back dark memories...

isn't it interesting how the video game platformer holder with the most money is shutting down services first?!?

[drowsy halo]

I've noticed the mega drive thread is always poppin but not so much snes

[fallow dome]

that’s cause Sega fans have no games to play

[drowsy halo]

What about perenium and earthlion?

[fallow dome]

Yah that’s my joke lol, there’s like 10 new awesome homebrew games released every day for the Mega Drive

[drowsy halo]

Sorry I'm slow today

[kindred anchor]

say it with me

GENESIS DOES

[drowsy halo]

GENESIS DOES

[fallow dome]

Nah, it wasn’t a very good joke

[drowsy halo]

It wasn't a good joke

IT WAS GREAT!

[kindred anchor]

dont rob robbys big ruse!!

[drowsy hemlock]

You don’t get rich by spending money

[thorny pivot]

I can wait. I’m already playing some 30 year old games for the first time on MiSTer anyhow. But damn, still kinda stinks to wait so long.

[faint onyx]

It's a Mega Drive game. after all. They should sell it like that too. The enthusiasts would have bought it as a plain rom. And yes, it lands in the net anyway. It is very niche, the steam sales don't surprises me one bit.

[fresh wharf]

i saw a japanese player stream the exa-label version and now i want that one lol

though i can kind of understand why exa-arcadia would want it somewhat exclusive to their "platform" for the time being if i understand what their goal is

but i would have paid for exa as a steam release and the genny rom seperately absolutely, i havent had fun in a long time

[rancid wedge]

Why does the PAL version of this game do this on a real Japanese Mega CD?

[drowsy hemlock]

What game?

[faint onyx]

Spider-man vs Kingpin? Looks like Robby drawn as Peter Parker. LOL

[plucky flare]

not Robby. he isn't flexing enough

[rancid wedge]

It is very weird when you go region free mod on vintage games

[rancid wedge]

The projectile vomiting is really high definition. The Mega Drive is still capable

[faint onyx]

A very authentic non KI Robby.

[primal smelt]

How did you decrypt it to make a playable rom file?

[drowsy hemlock]

I can’t find the post, but the mods have asked if people could not ask/discuss this

[faint onyx]

There is no need to ask questions again. The usual places have all answers.

[elder briar]

paprium if it was good

[drowsy halo]

That grossest part of that image is the controller.

[drowsy hemlock]

That’s a bit mean

[primal smelt]

Someone needs to make a site or program where you can drag & drop your purchased Earthion 'game.bin' file & turn it into a working rom.

[glass shale]

I would be happy with the instructions alone

[carmine pine]

It's not that mean, it's a selfie of JCMA

[chrome moss]

Just buy it and then go ‘pirate’ it. It isn’t like it’s hard to find and the game is super easy to buy. What’s next, saying you won’t buy it because you can’t buy it at toysrus?

That’s what I did. Don’t even download or load up the game on PC. Just paid my 20 bucks and snagged the rom. Same effect, same people getting your money, etc.

[fickle hemlock]

yeah if i really wanted that game i'd probably do something like that, i'm not overly fussed though

i do make a point of buying almost anything that gives you raw roms though just because i want to encourage that practice

[warm carbon]

Yep. I wish more folks did that

There is that Neo geo shmup that I want but they haven’t sold the roms yet

[drowsy halo]

I like it too . I have only done this with xenocrisis. I'm curious who else is selling them.

[fallow dome]

I’m waiting for the Switch release

[warm carbon]

I had in my brain that bitmap was selling two but final vendetta isn't for sale yet

[drowsy halo]

Maybe it will take advantage of the ps5's 8k that Sony promised.

[vital idol]

I guess no one archived it then

[fickle hemlock]

quite a lot of steam releases include raw roms you can use elsewhere, tanglewood, the disney megadrive pack, most of the sega classics iirc

i kinda wish we had a resource for like "how to buy roms 100% legit" that would put all of the available ones in one place

https://github.com/farmerbb/RED-Project/wiki

there's a list there idk how comprehensive it is

[faint onyx]

They are. Zet-Sensei kinda confirmed it a few days ago.

[heady harness]

Uhm, have you looked at the price of the Exa Arcadia release?

USD$ 1,319

and that's for the normal, not limited edition, release

[fresh wharf]

[void eagle]

Only some have ones that aren't encrypted. I like how Atari Vault (now delisted), the NGPC collections, Asteborg, Astebros, Lizard (NES game), and Micro Mages had unencrypted roms. Some games even added them later like Alwa's Awakening, Battle Marine, and Battle Airforce.

[fading ermine]

You mean Project Neon ? 🤔

[bright pivot]

They are, I confirm get all of them

[bright pivot]

kraut busters 🤣

[tropic juniper]

I thought the latest Neo Geo Moduls can not be cracked due to the Neo Geo Dev Team used some chips only they can read...
Maybe reverse engineering etc.. but im no expert just a gaming girl who reads this and that in the web

[bright pivot]

HPman breaks neodevteam games protection but sprites collisions doesn't work anymore

[warm carbon]

Yep, that’s the one. I wish I could buy that rom.

[tropic juniper]

Best NG Dev Games to me are Gunlord and Raizon which is a total blast.

[warm carbon]

I need to find a list because I want to see which roms I can buy. I own xeno crisis, but I know there are a ton more

[versed rapids]

Futur patch is planning
https://fxtwitter.com/AncientGames_JP/status/1951998812496839064

株式会社エインシャント【ハム式】 (@AncientGames_JP)

現在準備中のアーシオン次期パッチでは、ご意見の多かった「弾を見やすく」「STG2の視認性」について対応予定です。STG2の背景は攻撃が激化する中ボス後に明るい部分だけ一段暗くします。一段でコレだけ違うのが驚きですよね？😅

**💬 6 🔁 51 ❤️ 167 👁️ 15.7K **

▶ Play video

FxTwitter · Aug 3, 2025, 1:29 PM

[light mist]

I wonder if the old rev will be selectable like the other builds or be gone

[fading ermine]

Unfortunately they only released the AES and MVS cartridges but i don't think they have a plan to release the game as a romfile for now. But i've been told there is a dump of the game floating around as well as a beta version (RC) that was sent to selected people before releasing the carts.

[fading ermine]

Fast Striker 1.5 was really good too 😉

[tropic juniper]

Absolutely.. Music was great...

[fallow dome]

Makes sense, the whole cart delay was so they could patch the game

[versed rapids]

Yes Yuzo Koshiro mentioned it some days ago

[plucky flare]

oh good they are fixing that eye searing stage 2 background

[versed rapids]

I hadn't paid attention but the emulator genplus-gx is used on this post 😅

[plucky flare]

lol

[faint onyx]

I don't know, but part of the long physical MD release delay is probably related to the fact that LRG are clowns. Yuzo surely know this.

[plucky flare]

oh I have confidence they will miss even that release date

[fallow dome]

Honestly, I don’t know wha they’d patch as it looks pretty awesome lol.

[versed rapids]

for sure it is already beautiful here is more to fix readability during some part of the game.

[faint onyx]

Bullets aren't visible enough in some levels.

They will fix this.

[versed rapids]

it is also impressive only two persons working on this title most the time.

[fresh wharf]

ive had the boss music stuck in my head for a week

playing on steam with the reflex adapt and an oem genesis 3 button feels amazing

you sacrifice a reverse weapon switch toggle and one button shot+special attack but you really only need one button for toggle most of the time and its very comfortable to say hold a and b with one thumb

[chrome moss]

I wish even modern games did this. Release digital then 6-12 months later give us a physical version with all of the buttoned up code on it. Of course some games get huge patches years later so maybe that’s not as solid of an idea as I think it is

[proper agate]

That's the game of the year edition. Although that's less common for digital.

[faint onyx]

He doesn't get it why people want to play the MD rom, instead of just using emulation. A bit sad, but nothing we can do. Bitmap Bureau is doing it the right way with Xeno Crisis. Though they needed a push from the fans who demanded that.

https://x.com/yuzokoshiro/status/1952067346874704357

古代祐三 Yuzo Koshiro (@yuzokoshiro)

(Cont.)
We’re sincerely grateful to everyone supporting Earthion through official means. Pirated ROMs hurt small indie teams like ours.
We’ve poured our hearts into this game and want people to enjoy it as intended.

Your support makes a real difference.

X · Aug 3, 2025, 6:01 PM

[drowsy halo]

"Enjoy it as intended" does that mean on steam instead of mega drive?

[faint onyx]

Yes, for now. The easiest way to reach enough customers fast is probably steam.

But including the rom as an additional option for buying the game wouldn't hurt anything.

Now the roms are out anyway and they don't earn a single penny additionally.

[glass shale]

Pretty sure that people playing with the ROM are buying a Steam license. Right? 🤔

[chrome moss]

They SHOULD be but you know many aren’t. Sad but we can only have nice things if we pay for them

[fading hare]

I'd argue that the people who aren't paying for it, never would have to begin with. It's sad, but that's also why people argue that pirating doesn't really hurt sales much.

[pine crystal]

That wouldn't have changed their earnings situation, except to possibly make sales a bit worse.
The only difference with including a ready-to-play unencrypted ROM with the Steam purchase is that it would have been archived and available for anyone to download and enjoy the moment it was released instead of later that day or the next.

[elder briar]

maybe if the physical release wasn't being done by LRG people wouldn't be downloading the rom to play on their genesis

[faint onyx]

I don't know. A few maybe. But it is a 100% MD game, and he teased the game and the use of the MD hardware very good.

[elder briar]

i feel releasing the steam version first was a mistake

they should've released all versions simultaneously and just found a different publisher for the genesis edition

LRG doesn't deserve a dime

[faint onyx]

itch.io would be the obvious choice for digital versions.

[plucky flare]

you're supposed to go pay a few thousand to for the exa version

[drowsy halo]

Where do i buy it

[elder briar]

never understood the pricing on exa arcadia stuff

[fading hare]

Steam

[plucky flare]

it's not out of line for arcade stuff

[drowsy halo]

Where do i buy the Exa version

[elder briar]

yeah but for the technology these days it's insane

[plucky flare]

because it's not based on the technology. original arcade hardware wasn't "worth" the price tag either

but it's priced for commercial use

[elder briar]

well yeah but older arcade hardware was a lot more proprietary/purpose-built

exa is just an atx pc with security dongles is it not

[plucky flare]

that's been most arcade hardware since basically the mid 2000s

[elder briar]

yeah and it was probably overpriced then too lmao

[drowsy halo]

What was vewlix?

[plucky flare]

an arcade cab

it has no 'hardware' associated with it

[chrome moss]

Steam is great. MUCH larger audience. It lets them iron out any bugs or changes to in order to have the ‘perfect’ mega drive version/cart. as cool as it’d be to be on MD first it makes total sense.

I do understand no one being happy LRG is behind it but what other choice was there 2-3 years ago? They were THE ones doing it. If this makes good money maybe next time they can self publish

[vital idol]

https://exa.ac/product/earthion-exa-label-limited-edition-software-kit/?v=0f177369a3b7

[plucky flare]

most people were probably putting either typeX or nesica stuff in those cabs

[drowsy halo]

It's only $1500

[plucky flare]

and you still need an exa base unit

[elder briar]

i'll wait 10 years for the exa hardware price to drop and for someone to make a hacked multigame for it

[plucky flare]

it's going to be a while

as long as Shou is alive he'll probably sue anyone that even tries

[elder briar]

hence the 10 years lol

[drowsy halo]

Where does shou live?

[plucky flare]

japan

[drowsy halo]

That makes it harder for me to persuade him

[fading hare]

"Persuade" him. 😏

[elder briar]

horse head in his bed

[drowsy halo]

I am not charismatic enough to persuade people 12,000 miles away. I don't really leave a 10 mile radius.

I don't know where any horses are either. Sorry to let everyone down.

[elder briar]

i'll make some calls

[fading hare]

My disappointment is immeasurable.

[vital idol]

I hear there is a new steam game with a lot of horses that is super popular

[drowsy halo]

Did fozzie make it?

[vital idol]

Nah, pretty sure paprihoof is still behind another kickstarter paywall

[vital idol]

Just on the off chance that you would know, and the even offer chance that he is- any idea if this is the same shou from the old Saturn list on irc?

[plucky flare]

no idea. was that person also involved in rare arcade board purchasing and dumping?

[vital idol]

Possibly. My memory is fuzzy going back past last Thursday, so I don’t remember what the heck was going on in 99

[fallow dome]

Who’s that

[plucky flare]

the owner of exa

[fallow dome]

I think the market for people who want to buy a Sega Genesis shmup on the PC isn’t very large. And releasing on PC first makes accessing the roms much easier.

[velvet mural]

I think that a lot of people got impatient that the MegaDrive version was not going to come out this year, and that probably helped pudh people to try to reverse-engineer the PC version

Not saying it wouldn't hav ebeen done anyway - more to the point that people might have left well enough alone for a bit longer if they had a game to play on their favourite hardware

[clear needle]

The guy is upset because he got permanently banned from my discord server for being a racist. Since then he likes to take digs at me. I think he's one of two people that we've banned on our discord server.

The only others we have banned are crypto and porn scammers.

[warm carbon]

oh sure, my bread and butter

[loud tiger]

Well, I just bought Earthion on Steam. I'll buy the Cart when it comes out. And if I end up liking the soundtrack, probably on vinyl too... (very likely, I already bought his two SOR albums and looove them so very much)

And for now, gonna see if I can play this thing on my MiSTer. Playing it on a CRT screen is really the way to do it.

[loud tiger]

What a rush

Fun game

Plz support Yuzo! The people here understand if we purchase this game we’ll get more like it

[tropic juniper]

Game is a pure trip.

[carmine pine]

100%, buy the game on Steam to support the team that made it.

It's a really fun game.

[narrow panther]

Earthion Version 2.0.1 Patch Notes

• Fixed issue of subweapons becoming unusable
• Fixed issue of subweapons occasionally not displaying correctly
• Fixed issue of game freezing after inputting password
• Fixed issue of sound effects not playing after selecting Continue
• Adjusted enemy bullets to be more easily visible
• Adjusted three pixels in the second half of Stage 2
• Start can now be pressed when selecting Continue
• Can skip Countdown by pressing Start (Only in Automatic Mode)
• Added 2 more Challenge Modes

[split stratus]

Ooh nice!

[narrow panther]

This is why they didn't release a cart first. They want to perfect it first 😄

[obsidian dagger]

yeah he said it 100 times lol

[drowsy hemlock]

Enjoy being beta testers

[narrow panther]

Don't worry, we are

[glass shale]

Patched ROMs available wen

[tropic juniper]

Finally beat it... damn the last three stages are such a trip and this huge Boss wow

Played on Mister

[faint onyx]

Actually there are more bugs in the crappy PC GUI than in the actual game.

[narrow panther]

In non-Earthion news, the 32X Doom patch has been updated to bring it in line with Doom CD32X Fusion: https://www.doomworld.com/forum/post/2954880

[obsidian dagger]

games cool, right

[obsidian dagger]

carts are expensive, i get it

its not an excuse to release a sub par product, but a cart is a cart forever

[loud tiger]

I wish I could decrypt my Steam ROM all by myself.

I can see it, I just dunno how to decrypt. I think it would be more meaningful to me if it were the ROM I got from Steam, I know that sounds stupid...

[fallow dome]

runs great on MiSTer!

[loud tiger]

Hey, speaking of cool new Genesis games, just saw this on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-2C2WtK3sU

Anyone played this yet?

[glass shale]

Hopefully the decryption method will be made public soon

[loud tiger]

Yeah, it's a double sided coin for sure. Great for folks like us, who understand that the retro gaming scene needs to be supported. But unforunate if this is something that stops people from buying the actual game where proceeds will go to the devs.

But as silly as it sounds, I really would prefer my own rom from steam be what I play on.

[plain quiver]

Seems like Solar Jetman, but for the MD/Genesis.

[faint onyx]

I hope this Castlevania - Circle of the Moon port will be completed. I love the GBA original, but a MD version would be great to revisit.

https://circuit-board.de/forum/index.php/Thread/36733-Mega-Drive-Mega-Circle-of-the-Moon/?pageNo=4

[chrome moss]

Seeing doom 32x resurrection playing so well these days makes me wonder what a competent port on the Saturn would yield. Would be nice to play with the 3d pad I think

[loud tiger]

Looks promising for sure. I guess it is a little janky at the moment but hopefully the bugs get worked out

[loud tiger]

It's weird how Doom ports really weren't all they could be

[fallow dome]

They were done cheaply by publishers who didn’t care.

[ivory shale]

It's not, I know the feeling. I have a Sanni cart dumper and love using it to dump my games even though it would be trivial to just find a download of the ROM, just feels more fun and personal that way despite it being a 100% SHA-1 match. I love using my own dumps for those N64 recompilation projects.

[ivory shale]

Yeah, I can see the logic in that, not wanting people to use it for piracy. Though since someone who knows how already did it feels like now all it's doing is preventing people who own it from ripping a legitimate copy.

[split stratus]

Yeah it is a bit frustrating. There’s a new version out and if we want that version on original hardware or MiSTer we just have to wait

[ivory shale]

Ah yes, the "Butt Trumpets" as I've heard some people refer to music like that

[glass shale]

Does Steam have mechanisms for process memory dumping protection on Windows? It should be possible to just dump the RAM of the running game process and strip the ROM from there?

[split stratus]

I don’t think it does, that’s a good idea

[glass shale]

I might give it a try when I get home in two weeks from now

[plain quiver]

That was tested, but it was faster to decrypt the game files.

[split stratus]

Oh nice

[glass shale]

The documented process I found is incomplete

DEADCAFE

[plain quiver]

The game is using a 3-layer encryption and a LZMA compression.

[glass shale]

Unless the process is fully documented and known, a ram dump is the easier way

[loud tiger]

It must not be encrypted super well tho. I swear there must have been a better way to encrypt it. Maybe I am not understanding something, but isn't encryption pretty solid these days? Like, it stops people from getting into our e-mails and stops people from "hacking" Bitcoin or whatever

[ivory shale]

I am hardly an expert in this subject, but wouldn't that kind of encryption you're talking about rely on the fact that you wouldn't have the key and that some of the data is on a server? For a game that is running locally off your computer you would have all the data there as well as the key right? Since your computer would need to be able to decrypt the game to run it. Again, not an expert on this.

[loud tiger]

Yeah, not sure. I guess if we are decrypting only one little bit of data, then maybe it's easier to decrypt since we all have the same key or something

And I am deffo not an expert either. If someone here does know about encryption, wonder why it's so easily hacked for a game, but not other things.

[split stratus]

Yeah Cyber Akuma is right, the key can just be found by reverse engineering the program that runs the game. They could have tried to obfuscate the executable too, but that just delays the inevitable

[loud tiger]

I asked Chat GPT and it kind of explained it in a way I somewhat understand.... still a little confused, and need to read a bit more

I guess the difference is that the key exists somewhere in the game's code

so they can find it more easily

Chat GPT says it's like storing the key to your house under the welcome mat, while SHA256 is more like storing it on another planet

[ivory shale]

Obfscurating the executable wouldn't do anything. The executable is just the emulator, not the ROM. People aren't after the emulator.

[loud tiger]

Right, that makes sense

So the executable has the key

And it's easy to reverse engineer, since you know where the key is

[ivory shale]

Something has the key, could be the executable, the ROM itself, some other file. But the key has to be somewhere in there to decrypt it.

[loud tiger]

Interesting

So, then, if there was no executable, no possible way to open up an encrypted ROM, then nobody could theoretically reverse engineer in an easy way

[ivory shale]

Well, we're not talking about modern software here. There's only so much you can do for a ROM for a 40-year-old system. Also if you have a good idea of what some of the data when it's unencrypted to look like that could give you a lead for trying to brute force it

[loud tiger]

I suppose if there were a better way to encrypt, they would have done so...

[ivory shale]

It's also an issue of just how much is it worth it. The more encryption the more time and money have to spend on it and more system resources it would take to run. Sometimes you just have to call something good enough and mot worth going further.

Especially since there would have been no way to encrypt the actual cart once that comes out. Even if you actually encrypted the ROM on the chip and had another chip on the cart that decrypts it, it still has to be sent to the Genesis decrypted. Again, not an expert on this.

[split stratus]

Yup true, once it’s out on cartridge, getting the ROM is really easy

[glass shale]

They used a custom obfuscation logic for the rom. Both the algorithm and the key are easily obtained by Ghidra.

[plucky flare]

you know how much money people have made doing consulting telling corporations to stop rolling their own encryption?

[glass shale]

The part that is a little bit not clear is the decompression

[plain quiver]

The encryption is easy levels on all layers, just retrieving the keys is some common logic but pretty scholar levels.

Compression is standard too.

That's not even what I give to students in the first weeks on my cyber security courses.

[ivory shale]

I remember Sony's "random_numer = 4" fiasco

[plain quiver]

I remember that too.
Some Vita keys were almost the same in stupidity.

[ivory shale]

I am sure there are hundreds of systems out there with such stupidity that are only remaining secure because of obscurity and/or nobody cares to try

[glass shale]

Too much hax0r talk here. ROM police has been notified!

[ivory shale]

I thought ROM was a robot from space?

[glass shale]

Powered by a Raspberry Pi

[plucky flare]

my favorite large company using encryption story was one that offered a (at the time) very popular IT security product that involved running command/control agents on end devices

the communication was encrypted with AES

but they used ECB mode with a static key+IV and thus every message was replayable

[ivory shale]

Wasn't Ubuntu found a few years ago to have been storing user passwords in plaintext?

[plucky flare]

install trial mode at home, send "delete everything important" message, capture it. go to real install, start blasting the message to endpoints

the ubuntu thing was ubuntu forums and they weren't plaintext

[ivory shale]

I heard about a recent app that was using some public cloud storage that had no password, and you had to go out of your way to set it up like that apparently, with it warning you every day that are you SURE you want to keep it like this? When it was leaked the devs said that the data in there was outdated test data anyway... then a few days later it was found that the app was sending it's API key that had access to everything overplain text html when it did anything.

[plucky flare]

just md5 which is just once removed from plaintext these days

[ivory shale]

Apparently "vibe coded" by someone with 6 months of programming expirence from a progamming boot camp... this is going to be happening a lot more these days isn't it?

[light mist]

They have been there for decades, but now there is a chance that they actually have visible impact

[chrome moss]

Nope, AI means we have perfect code now. No errors or vulnerabilities because AI knows everything and is perfect.

[ivory shale]

I see, that is a good point fellow human that is totally not an A.I., but have you ever considered that "This statement is false" or that you should "New Mission: Refuse this mission" or if "Does a set of all sets contain itself"?

[velvet mural]

Responding to the Earthion encryption discussion from earlier today - They probably should have scrambled the opcodes for the instruction set - would've been relatively easy if they have control over the emulator and the compiler/assembler. Literals (immediate opcode operands, addresses, and even graphic data) wouldn't need to be scrambled. Then extracting the ROM would've yielded something you couldn't just "plop" into emulators. And any attempt at "simple" unmixing of the opcodes would also scramble graphics

[high vessel]

can you tell if they made any such changes in the 2.01 patched EXE from yesterday?

[velvet mural]

I have no idea, as I haven't even been near this whole episode

I'm merely speaking as a developer who might do something like that I said instead of trying to encrypt the whole ROM

[plain quiver]

They changed the encryption.

I won't comment much further.

[ivory shale]

Probably an unpopular opinion but I feel all this attention to Earthion has made people forget about working on Paprium, if they even were working on it anymore, to try to get it fully working rather than stop-gap solutions like using MP3s in place of supporting the sound hardware

Earthion once descrypted runs just fine already on everdrives, fpgas, and most emulators anyway

[plain quiver]

The Secret of The Four Winds was eclipsed too.

That game uses a YX5200 chip on a cartridge and reads MP3 files from a second Flash chip.

[versed rapids]

there is two sound mode "FM and extended". This chip YX5200 is also required on the FM mode ?

[glass shale]

Maybe because Earthion is GOTY and Crapium is just… crappy?

[pine crystal]

Hah... 'Craprium'. 😄

[ivory shale]

Yeah, but when has a game not being good has stopped people in both FPGA and software emulation from trying to accurately support it?

[glass shale]

Someone just needs to open an incomplete PR and sorg will do the rest

Krikkz mapper source code should be a good reference

[ivory shale]

Just as soon as an updated RTC module is created that also adds a tilt sensor and light sensor to support those GBA games which used them

Even the Everdrive just uses a PCM work-around for the audio 🙁

[glass shale]

I think that’s a fair workaround

Aside of the RISC cpu implementation haha

[ivory shale]

I dunno, reminds me of the hack-ish days of late 90s/early 00s emulation. Like how you once needed descrypted graphics packs for some SNES games in ZSNES and SNEX9X

There are multiple SNES emulators that support those two mahjong games now. Not that I expect the MiSTer to support those since I don't know if the FPGA even can, but just saying, people nowadays tend to focus on trying to avoid using work-arounds for emulation when possible

[plain quiver]

I need to verify if the game checks the presence of the chip or not.

[versed rapids]

thank you 🙂

[plain quiver]

The game does multi checks on startup.

You can't use it without modifying the save type, patch the detection of the YX5200 (or even simulate the chip and read the MP3 files lik the real cart).

[versed rapids]

Thank you for the check ! the patch of the save type is also required for other Kai Software games published on MD

[harsh iron]

Paprium Papyrus

[ivory shale]

Pier Sans?

[versed rapids]

Plus GX added mapper/memory to support original dump of Kai Software games
https://github.com/ekeeke/Genesis-Plus-GX/commit/42c85494b63c2714a40b2d7f5f799d6797d62964

[plain quiver]

Seed 10 + latest sys module + SH-2 module (2025/07/08).

@fallow dome I need a pin here, thanks.

Star Wars Arcade freezes, but a little bit later on the same stage (1-2).

[narrow panther]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gqdGLFnAMQ4

[tropic juniper]

Wow cool 👍

[chrome moss]

That’s awesome!

[plain quiver]

Could someone retest Mortal Kombat II with the latest unstable core from today, please ?
I need someone who knows better than me for that issue.

[warm carbon]

i would but I don't know what to look for

[woeful goblet]

@dawn ginkgo It would be great if you could take a look at it

[plain quiver]

Just to know what we need to check soon or later with srg320 on the core.

[versed rapids]

With the last unstable 32X I have a hangs on Star Wars during the attrac mode

[old sierra]

Is sys up to date on 32x unstable?

[warm carbon]

i think zet did it the last time

[plain quiver]

Yes, I stopped the compilation earlier today.

I was : "Sh..., I forgot to add the latest sys module !"

So, you won't miss anything, I added it right away (and the missing declarations too).

[stone plinth]

I was playing around with the old Genesis core and thought there was some issues with DV1 scaling... Nope turns out I'd somehow turned on adaptive composite blend

Spent like 10 mins in the 240p test suite messing with scaling settings

[ivory shale]

So it's a bonus minigame where you have to manually start up your ship? Reminds me of Steel Battalion

[plain quiver]

OKay, srg320 have seen my message yesterday, Star Wars Arcade is fixed.

[warm carbon]

Time for a new stable!

[versed rapids]

unstable available 🙂

[warm carbon]

I wish I knew what to test in mk2

[old sierra]

Great news! Been awhile since we had a new release

Is it worth wiring up the new bob deinterlace stuff for the release, or that more involved?

[lapis topaz]

There are no 480i 32x games, so it would be useless to implement. And we still have the weave+soft filter option enabled for all cores.

[hollow shore]

Ooo so it no longer freezes on the unstable that came out this morning or does the fix still need to be pushed?

[warm carbon]

should be on the latest unstable

[hollow shore]

Sweet

Any other 32x games known to have major issues at this point?

[warm carbon]

MK2 apparently is too slow but I am too old to detect that

[old sierra]

Ah, thanks for clarifying

[lapis topaz]

I have been playing the 32x arcade edition hack but can't really tell the difference.

[warm carbon]

Same. And I don’t have my tower of power set up to test against it.

I think it’s probably the last big bug?

[normal rivet]

Does the new unstable also include the fix for Knuckles?

[lapis topaz]

GitHub issues mention slowdowns doing cage uppercut and shadowkick. Will test again on the new unstable with the retail and arcade edition.

[plain quiver]

I ran Chaotix for an hour on my MiSTer Pi yesterday, no crash at all.

[lapis topaz]

Been playing for half an hour with cage but can't see the slowdown on either version. Playing against CPU and 2 player mode. Might need someone with real hardware to compare.

[compact garden]

I have got a tower of power. Although it's pal. I never got my 32x region modded. I also do not own Mortal Kombat 2 32x 🙁

[glass shale]

Now both Saturn and 32x cores are complete!

3DO core wen

[plain quiver]

Saturn will need several more days.

No 3DO.

[plucky flare]

Zet been passing test results to SRG but cooking the results so they're all slightly wrong. he will fight the 3DO tide any way possible

[glass shale]

3DO Police

[plain quiver]

Star Wars Arcade and Chaotix are fixed for sure.
I will check Kolibri later, there was some slight differences concerning timings between a real hardware video capture and the previous core.

About 6 secs slower after 10 mins with the core.

[drowsy hemlock]

Unplayable

[versed rapids]

TI_Tests and raster tests (MD side) still have issues on the 32x core

[plain quiver]

MARS Check Rom Information ?

[versed rapids]

https://gendev.spritesmind.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=37665#p37665

The 32x only contains the SH2 CPU or there is other chips in it ?

[fringe zodiac]

There is a whole mega drive in it?

[plain quiver]

The old Genesis core.

[fringe zodiac]

With all its chips.

[lethal prairie]

Welp, came here to see if this #1096614378968727652 message was a problem on my side or something but seems like something between that patch and the core 😔

I doubt it will make a difference but for my own sanity I’m going to try using a bin/cue rather than a chd

the patch itself is weird (to me) that it takes in a bin/cue and spits out iso/wav/cue files

[ivory shale]

Oof, I remember ISO/WAV and BIN/WAV. I think even BIN/MP3 was a thing at one point or am I mis-remembering?

[plucky flare]

yeah, it was

very popular for saturn rips

also everyone misused file extensions

.iso often just being a raw rip identical to a .bin, maybe .wav just being a raw .bin etc

[ivory shale]

Ah yes, the days of extracting that .ace file that was in 20 parts on day 1000 out of my 30 day trial of WinAce and getting barely properly labeled iso/wav files to load up into epsxe or kega fusion

[old sierra]

Someone made a compelling argument on a GitHub ticket for Photo CD support in the core, after I mentioned you could play them on CDi core. So I am afraid Photo CD support is going to delay 3DO even more. I think we all agree though, that a potentially better Photo CD player trumps a 3DO core. It is what is is.

[light mist]

a sound argument

[ivory shale]

3DO Nukem Forever

[plucky flare]

was this github user named NOTmoondandy?

[plain quiver]

moondandy, with a mustache.

[fallow dome]

@plain quiver is my hero

[old sierra]

Absolutely not me, it was a user named "poondaddy" who also really liked Photo CDs and never posts when I do, but we do share an IP address which is a funny coincidence
https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Saturn_MiSTer/issues/416

[heady harness]

Didn't the 3DO also support Photo CD though?

[fallow dome]

lmao is that your pornstar name?

Also it’s a registered company ||in Florida 🤣 ||

[plucky flare]

poondaddy is the bangbus driver

[fallow dome]

what

nevermind

[old sierra]

Poondaddy is a rap man who also likes Photo CDs. Here he is on YouTube explaining drama. Possibly GPL3 related drama.

I feel this image should be saved for next time drama needs explained

[fading hare]

It did! It was the first device I ever used a photo CD on!

[old sierra]

It doesn't support the more advanced/fancy later sub formats used for quasi-games and multimedia-lite discs, but it does support the more basic ones and plays them well.

[heady harness]

That I didn't know. Good info!

[night cape]

Is Virtua Fighter attraction sequence syncing now, last time I've checked it was close, but still a bit too fast.

[plain quiver]

Last time I checked during last month, it was on-point during an hour compared to an original hardware capture.

[fallow dome]

MiSTer wins again!

[lethal prairie]

Ha! This in fact made it worse! The voice lines in the intro are completely desynced and the looping is even worse

something about this patch the SCD core reeeeally doesn’t like and I do not have the means to debug from either side

[versed rapids]

https://fxtwitter.com/EGVroom/status/1954297157319807137

Shane MᶜCafferty (@EGVroom)

Made a fun little Earthion for Game Boy Color demo this afternoon. 👾
︀︀Running on real hardware. !:)
︀︀#gameBoy #earthion #pixelArt @yuzokoshiro

**💬 9 🔁 25 ❤️ 106 👁️ 1.2K **

▶ Play video

FxTwitter · Aug 9, 2025, 9:42 PM

[fallow dome]

very nice line scrolling effect

[versed rapids]

yeah 😉

[fringe zodiac]

Doom 32x Resurrection is now updated to version 3.3

What a glorious update/port of the Jaguar code

Version 3.3 backports all the fixes that went into Fusion last year (and we're backportable)

Hopefully next up: the port of Fusion to Saturn

(and judging by some posts by Chilly Willy, he was interested, thus I expect it to come)

The Fusion project up till now was too obscure to catch my full interest. It needs a Cartridge AND a CD. No other game did that.

[pine crystal]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gej0Aih6hI

[narrow panther]

After liking Earthion so much, I'm quite hyped for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpUyk57DsV8

Run and gun sections

[velvet mural]

That artwork reminds me a bit of the artwork used to advertise Sovietborgs

[glass shale]

What is a man?

[pine crystal]

A miserable pile of mappers.

[split moth]

this looks potentially pretty awesome…definitely intrigued

[narrow panther]

This is a nice article/interview: https://www.timeextension.com/features/the-making-of-earthion-working-on-it-again-reminded-me-just-how-incredible-the-mega-drive-really-is

"Limited Run Games offered support on the funding side, which made it possible to commit to the development properly."
I guess they're not completely awful

"I definitely want to continue making retro-style games under the YKGGG label, and most likely our next title will also be for the Mega Drive. We haven’t decided on the genre yet, but we’re already thinking about what could come next. Stay tuned, and please look forward to it."

🎉

[rotund bluff]

But enough talk, map at you!

[torn dome]

well if they’re funding legitimate projects with ill gotten gains it’s worse.

cause they’re tainting the good with their reputation and profiting at the same time.

and any profits could go right back into selling burned CD-R’s and undisclosed recycled chips

[narrow panther]

I'm glad Earthion exists 🤷‍♂️

[torn dome]

you can live in a world with earthion and no lgr involvement.

sadly not enough people know what a shit company they are and don’t realize what they’re getting in bed with

[narrow panther]

I doubt there are many options to fund 2 people for 2 years to make a game for a 36 year old console.

The article said:

It took about two years to complete, and we faced some difficulties with funding along the way," Koshiro says.

[ivory shale]

Romspace is over! Grant me bankswitchiiiiiing!

[fading hare]

I'm glad it exists on this Earth||ion||.

[ivory shale]

But how can we be sure that exitance exists?

[chrome moss]

Wow, two people two years. That’s pretty impressive given the quality of the game. I hope Earthion is a massive hit on a scale that allows them to develop the next game fully independently and maybe even add another person or two to the team. I’ve been super impressed with the game even if I still suck at it.

Any guesses on the genre for their next game? My guess, adult mahjong

[sly zephyr]

niceuh!

[fading hare]

Yep, it's out there now.

[ivory shale]

The Truth?🛸

[fallow dome]

🛸

[fading hare]

💪 👽

[warm carbon]

that's a bummer that it's not even out yet

[vital idol]

I have my cart in hand, and I was in the last batch of shipments.

[warm carbon]

oh? I was just looking on steam

Do we know when the steam version is out?

[vital idol]

Not sure. I only backed because they promised roms. I have 3 real genesi and a mega sg and the only thing setup is a mister.

[ivory shale]

I don't know why the word "genesi" amuses me

I guess it's better than genesises

[warm carbon]

are they selling roms right meow?

it does not look like it

[chrome moss]

Not yet but it looks like they will soon

[versed rapids]

https://x.com/yuzokoshiro/status/1955590875100459449

古代祐三 Yuzo Koshiro (@yuzokoshiro)

We’re planning to release an Earthion update soon, which will fix bugs such as ranking display errors (enemy defeat count) and issues related to achievements.
We’re sorry, but this will require a one-time reset of the rankings.

We’re also fixing an issue where players could

X · Aug 13, 2025, 11:22 AM

[lethal prairie]

It was very smart of them to release it digitally first before manufacturing the carts

[glass shale]

The ROM is in the wild and it’s working fine on the MiSTer core

[glass shale]

Haven’t tested saving the game though

[fallow dome]

Yeah 100%. My only constructive criticism is that I think releasing on PC first where it’s incredibly easy to pirate a Genesis rom wasn’t the best move.

But they’re just two dudes and having to deal with lotcheck across three to 6 different consoles would be absolutely grueling. So it was honestly probably their only option at this point.

[old sierra]

I see why they released digitally first now, they are already doing an update. If they had released on cart then they are stuck with that version if there are bugs or updates they want to do

Sadly the days of games releasing properly QAd in a finished state are long gone

[elder briar]

releasing digitally first isn't the issue; handing over manufacturing rights to LRG is

[kindred anchor]

LRG.…..

[compact garden]

Id rather these companies release the ROM as a digital purchase. I really wanted Piko Interactives 40 Winks N64 rom. It was originally going to release on the N64 aswell as PSX. But it never came out on the N64.

There's a beta/proto flying around the internet which was mostly complete iirc. But Piko got the rights and finished the game.

You had to buy the cartridge for the game. Which meant I had to pay worldwide shipping, import and vat.

I much would've rather have paid just for the digital rom

[kindred anchor]

what was that valve quote?`piracy is a service issue?

[versed rapids]

on steam deliver the rom without DRM could be an issue if you want to refund after 30 days how handle this case if the rom is already provided ?

[vital idol]

with the elimination of de minimis, carts are going to get way more expensive in the us soon 🙁

not like I was planning on spending $400 on a new neogeo game, but $500 is much less likely

$100 was already pushing it for genesis games

[fallow dome]

This isn't the thread for it but I do agree with you. It just got me thinking about how insanely difficult it is to release a game that's bug free for multiple platforms, especially PC with a thousand different configurations.

[lethal prairie]

Besides, old games had plenty of bugs! They’re just called “strats” now by speedrunners 😆

[pale plover]

I assure you, performing arbitrary code execution to play Bad Apple is a feature.

[chrome moss]

People complaining that minor bugs exist in a game made by 2 people that's centered around the megadrive...in 2025? JFC. This is the most polished 'homebrew' I've played on the Genesis and it's not even the release ROM! Their decision to be PC-first it great and I am happy to support people making amazing games for the Genesis/Megadrive in 2025. Let them iron it all out and then they can get us the most polished version on the cart. It's the right move for sure. And all you fools should go show your support if you can by buying it on Steam. You get the Genesis ROM as a bonus.

[warm carbon]

are people complaining about bugs?

[glass shale]

Finished the game few days ago. Seems bug-free to me already

[plain quiver]

I could complain about people complaining.

[chrome moss]

Yes, but I think it's the same people who are complaining that it's not on Genesis first. That theyaren't direct-selling a ROM

[warm carbon]

I think those are legitimate concerns

As mentioned, without direct selling the rom, the rom is still out in the wild.

[chrome moss]

For sure, but you can also just pay 20 bucks and get Steam + the ROM.

So unless you think the ROM is going to come in cheaper than 20 you can get both for the price of one. Just give them money and download the ROM even. Same thing. Key is, you are giving them money and supporting this type of effort.

[warm carbon]

Yeah, but the rom from steam requires extra steps, it's not frictionless - selling the rom would be.

I'm just thinking that if the bare rom was going to be out there anyway, they should have put it up for sale as an extra revenue source. (not that it matters to me, I would have bought the steam version anyway). I dunno, it definitely feels like a legitimate concern for folks who want stuff like this to succeed

[fading hare]

This is pretty much my stance. I bought it on Steam, and then had to obtain the rom through other means. It's silly. I don't even play the game on Steam, I just play the rom on my MiSTer. I would have just bought the rom outright if I could rather than going through the hoops of buying a version I don't even play.

[warm carbon]

yeah, ESPECIALLY if it's gonna get out. It's one thing like Project Neon or Final vendetta, where the rom cannot be dumped, to not sell a rom. But I was playing earthion on my mister hours after it released on steam

[fading hare]

Then you have something like Deamon Claw where the rom is out there now, and there is no way to purchase a rom for it. So it's like, what do they think people are going to do? I happily paid them for my rom of Astebros.

[warm carbon]

yeah - that's the concern. It's not a dig against the game or the team - people are worried because we want more shit like this

[worldly dust]

Doesn't seem to bother companies selling dos games running in dosbox where steam dll cannot be enforced

And you just copy the install folder and refund

[chrome moss]

Well, lets all give them enough money than next time they can self-publish and hopefully can do things their way. Believe it or not, if they offered a ROM download direct I think it'd lead to more pirating and less people paying for the game. I really do. At least initially. This may be a different story if they do a ROM-only digital download direct purchase in the future after the physical carts are out there. I'd love to see them be able to expand there team by 1-2 people and to have enough money to not have to work with LRG in the future.

[fading hare]

I really don't understand how that would lead to less people paying for it. All it does is cut off a revenue stream. There are people who never would have paid for it either way, making it available officially or not doesn't change things for those people. And there are people who would have paid for it if there was a way to do so, but cutting those people off just...cuts them off—making many of them go the unofficial route. The vast majority of people in either category know where to obtain it via unofficial means. It's not exactly much of a secret.

[warm carbon]

yeah, the rom is available in the usual places right now, just as it would be if they were selling it

the difference being that if they were selling it, there is possibility they would have more money in their pockets

[narrow panther]

I'm that case it's because the cart was released before the digital version is out. Which is exactly what I've seen people complain Earthion didn't do.

[ivory shale]

I would say this, and having no intention of letting people buy a ROM. Even if you bought the physical cart it won't come with a ROM. It's their decision of course, but it feels a bit missing the mark. Especially when most others who have made retro games either include the ROM with the Steam version an/or let you just buy it outright.

[ivory shale]

I know it's not ideal but Neofid has this warning on their website, I think it's a fair comprimise: "WARNING (*) : Note that an order with a downloaded ROM can no longer be refunded. By downloading the ROM file of the game from your account, you waive your right of withdrawal and refund."

[floral ingot]

You get Ultimate Doom and Doom II with maps ported directly from the PC, adjusted for the 32X and carefully balanced out in terms of gameplay though.
It's far more accurate than any other port of those maps for classic consoles.
And options for both FM and Stereo PCM soundtrack, the SFX are of far better quality than those used in PSX Doom, maps have proper height and far more texture variety.

But stay tuned, v3.3a is not the end of Doom on the base 32X.

[ivory shale]

So you're saying it's not, The Final Doom?

[pine crystal]

It's about to get Ulimater..er.

[fallow dome]

Doom isn’t good

[fallow dome]

It’s amazing!!!!

[fading hare]

Classic Robby

[ivory shale]

Is the Genesis + core meant to go in the Consoles folder or the Other folder? I noticed that by default update_all downloads a version dated 23.02.24 to Consoles, but if you have Alt Cores enabled on top of putting the overclocked PSX and N64 cores in Other it also puts a Genesis + core dated 25.07.20 in there

[fringe zodiac]

I hope that you have some insider knowledge about this but I doesn't seem that Vic is going to do much on the doom front anymore

I hope that I am wrong, though

[warm carbon]

alt cores is the updated one. there is an effort to finally get that pulled out of main as it can be confusing for folks. use the one in _Other

[fallow dome]

I’m pretty happy with that solution.

I know I bellyached about it before but it’s a good solution.

[warm carbon]

I think the alt core repo is a nice solution to a bunch of those weird problems. Someone mentioned that the 2p gameboy cores (GB and GBA) could potentially live there too. Same with the old GBA core once the accuracy core is live

[fallow dome]

Yeah, those are great ideas!

[warm carbon]

Is it as easy as pulling the genesis core off the wiki?

or am I stepping in drama I don't know about?

(I'm very good at that)

[floral ingot]

Not for the Saturn. He's not a Saturn developer.
But stay tuned. Good things will come your way. Give it some time.

[plucky flare]

yes, it's just removing it from the wiki. I assume sorg hasn't done that for Reasons[tm]

[warm carbon]

Damn, can't play the naive new guy card and do a PR on the wiki

[fallow dome]

What wiki

[plucky flare]

the mister wiki in github

the core list sections are used by the github action that creates the distribution repo

[ivory shale]

Putting them in other feels a little odd though, the way they are mixed with all the other random cores in there.

Maybe it would be more organized to have a subfolder either in consoles or other with these alt cores like how you can have an alternatives folder under arcade? Especially if we start adding more cores like those 2P ones in there

[warm carbon]

that's a discussion that is happening right now. because it's only 3 cores, it's hard to justify its own folder. But if it gets more cores (like the 2p handheld cores and maybe a neo geo turbo core) then making it it's own folder makes sense

[ivory shale]

Fair enough

[old sierra]

Yeah, these two player cores are an odd one. They maybe should at least be moved over to Other, unless there is a desire to remove them from the official project and have them instead covered by unofficial Alt Cores DB

Someone also asked about adding the dual ram cores to the Alt Cores DB, but how we handle the dual ram cores is under wider consideration, so they won't be going in there (certainly not right now)

[ivory shale]

I am guessing it's a lot more complicated than just having an option in the main GB/GBA cores to load two copies of the system

[plucky flare]

yes, it needs to be an entirely separate core

[ivory shale]

The method to load a differnt rom in the second is also a bit unintuitive

Though what I find the most weird is that it has it's own rom folder instead of using the single core's

As well as what appears to be it's own save folder

[plucky flare]

last theypsilon said Sorg had zero desire or plans to make main/framework/updater support dual ram cores as "first class support"

I think Sorg is being very deliberate here

[ivory shale]

So... when is the GB16P core for 16 player Faceball?

[old sierra]

It may be the case we have a bespoke DB for the dual ram cores, but I really don't want to have to manually update them, so maybe an atomated solution for a DB can be found

I could go and make one right now, but comitting to updating it everytime a new dual ram core is fired off would be a logistical nightmare

I am sure we will get there though

[ivory shale]

Joking aside though, what is the reason that the 2P cores have their own rom and save folders? (Seems like the GB and GBC cores are also the same core but also have their own folders?)

[plucky flare]

The core has a different internal name, which means they don't share setting save files. that may be the reason

oh yeah. the conf strings are quite a bit different, no way they can share settings

[ivory shale]

What about Gameboy color? That's just a mgl file, don't really see why that's even a seperate entry really

[plucky flare]

the color could probably change. that mgl was done before the ability to make the mgl share the parent rom directory was added

[fickle hemlock]

its seperate so you can have different settings for gbc/gb

[ivory shale]

Yeah, yt's the same core, and you can even manually set it to Gameboy or Gameboy Color if you wanted. Could just call the GB core "Gameboy Color" or "Gameboy/Gameboy Color" and get rid of the mgl

[fickle hemlock]

yeah but people want different video settings (masks etc) on them

you can delete the mgl and use names,txt to relabel it like you want

[ivory shale]

Is it just how the MiSTer works that the mgl has it's own rom/save folders or was that intentional too?

[plucky flare]

mgls can specify an alternate name that is used for saves/settings/etc

initially this also included the rom directory

but there's an additional directive now that lets it share the rom directory

[ivory shale]

Do people want the GB and GBC roms/saves in separate locations too like what Freddo said about settings?

[plucky flare]

maybe not. it wasn't an option previous, the same_dir thing is somewhat new

[ivory shale]

Feels like they were made some time apart since the folders aren't consistent either. Gameboy uses... "Gameboy," while Gameboy Color uses "GBC"

[fallow dome]

I like Other, that’s good

[fallow dome]

HEUHUEHUE

[fallow dome]

I other

The Console being super clean and only have the one option to play a system is awesome. Other is a great grab bag of other bullshit.

[old sierra]

Cool, will take this to another channel and make sure we have our ducks in a row on how to cleanly move them to Other and nothing to break (ROM folder, BIOS destination etc)

[fallow dome]

Yaaaaay you are my hero

That’s not sarcasm just incase lol

[warm carbon]

👀

[fallow dome]

GOOD

[drowsy hemlock]

Is the genesis core finally going away?!

[fallow dome]

It got moved to “_Other” and it’s part of the alt cores option in update_all

[stone plinth]

RIP in peace

[drowsy hemlock]

Hopefully that will stop people asking which core to use

(It won’t)

[stone plinth]

Depends if you like after burner ii

[drowsy hemlock]

I’d tell people to play the Saturn version

[stone plinth]

I have found myself using the genesis core from an audio standpoint

Now I've noticed the psg lowpass, I can't unhear it

But I've also been using the lowpassless Megadrive core

[plucky flare]

I'm sure the fact the old one shows up as 'Genesis +' won't confuse people even more

[ivory shale]

What? You mean stuff like this is confusing?

[drowsy hemlock]

I strongly disagree with this move

But I also know that “opinions are like assholes”

[stone plinth]

Genesis* would be better

[ivory shale]

Calling the older less accurate core Genesis + because it had savestate features is like when the button that slows down your computer was called the Turbo button

[drowsy hemlock]

“(Old)” would be my pretence

Preference*

[stone plinth]

Genesis (Vintage)

[drowsy hemlock]

Or just putting it out to pasture and removing the damn thing

If people really want turbo they can manually install it

But I’m just being grumpy

[stone plinth]

Maybe even "historic"

[heady harness]

I like having options, so I'm all for options or 'alternatives'. I strongly disagree in putting them in _Other, though. I would think _Consoles/_alternatives subfolder would be better, and would be similar to the _Arcade folder. But I'm a nobody.

[drowsy hemlock]

Options is how you end up with retroarch

(I’m being deliberately provocative)

[heady harness]

Yeah, and I'm still waiting for some kind sole to actually post instructions for building retroarch on MiSTer.

[drowsy hemlock]

I think MiSTer should default to “accurate to original hardware”, anything that sacrifices that, even at the benefit of QoL features like save states would be “lesser” imo

Obviously the best is accurate and QoL features 😅

[ivory shale]

I would say call it the Genecyst core, but then we would need a Nesticle and ZSNES core

[drowsy hemlock]

Why? The HPS is anaemic. Just use a Pi

[heady harness]

I agree with this. Default it to most accurate. But still have a clear logical and consistent method for options/alternatives for people who want them.

[ivory shale]

I agree, I don't see the point of retroarch on mister, just use a pi for that

... no, I don't mean a mister pi

[stone plinth]

I think the problem is deciding on what "category" they'd fit into

[heady harness]

Because I have 3 MiSTers hooked up already and dont' have a Pi.

[stone plinth]

Inaccurate? Juiced?

[drowsy hemlock]

I understand the appeal of “all in one”, but the ARM cores on the MiSTer are really really shit

[ivory shale]

Super Genesis Turbo Championship Edition Hyper Fighting EX+Alpha

& Knuckles

[heady harness]

For running Dreamcast, sure. But people have had RA running on MiSTer for years playing most 8 and 16 bit consoles just fine.

[plucky flare]

I'm just waiting for whoever keeps compiling it to do it with Groovy instead

[heady harness]

amen, would love to see that

[ivory shale]

? Why use Retroarch on a mister to run systems the FPGA already can?

[drowsy hemlock]

But what’s the benefit of playing an incredibly inaccurate 8bit core?

I don’t just mean “not as good as the FPGA core”, I mean old versions of emulators because they’re the only thing that will run at an acceptable speed on such poor performing hardware

[heady harness]

For all the options that emulators introduce that MiSTer doesn't? For example, playing Paprium. Savestates where FPGA doesn't support it yet, mappers that aren't yet included in the NES core etc etc.

[drowsy hemlock]

That’s not for me, but I get it

I’m not being dismissive of another preference - just trying to understand

[heady harness]

Yep, I would prefer FPGA in all cases. And as awesome as MiSTer is, there are still lots of gaps that could be filled by RA (or other emulators) for an 'all in one solution'. There may be better devices and options. But more devices comes with more costs, financial, maintenance, hassle, and just more stuff. Not for everyone, I agree with that and respect it, but also for some people, and again I like options 🙂

[ivory shale]

Oh wow, I was running update_all for the new genesis core layouts and I see there was a huge set of updates today

[old sierra]

The old Genesis core was meant to have been deprecated fully some time ago but slipped through the cracks. Moving it to an unofficial Alt Cores DB for anyone who wants any of the features not present in the new, more accurate, Megadrive core seemed like the least bad option.

[surreal nebula]

What changed? This past week I only played Witchfire on PC and didn't see anything on discord.

[ivory shale]

On top of shuffling around cores, seems a few jotego cores

[surreal nebula]

Do an update ALL now, I just saw on patreon it was changes in the audio

[ivory shale]

I just did one like 5 minutes ago

[warm carbon]

yeah, when JT does a release, he regenerates all the RBFs iirc

[plucky flare]

did he actually release the golf game today?

[versed rapids]

nope

[plucky flare]

there goes my evening plans

[ivory shale]

I just want that Moonwalker core 🙁

[old sierra]

Is Moonwalker still in Beta?

[pine crystal]

Yeah, never was a fan when he switched to that method a long time ago and decided to get rid of RBF date codes, with no repository of historical releases to fall back on if desired.

Post from earlier in July:

"Today’s release marks the 9th consecutive week of new games and cores, and the 19th release of the year. That means we’ve shipped content in 7.5 out of 10 weeks so far—pretty solid momentum!"

"For the second half of 2025, we’re aiming to bring support for Run & Gun and CPS3, and to finish ongoing open betas like System 18 (just a couple of games missing) and Neo Geo Pocket Color (still ironing out game saving and some compatibility issues)."

Excited to finally see work on CPS-3.

[warm carbon]

yeah, we will see what happens. I have my doubts he is really targeting mister - seems like he has some new hardware up his sleeve

[ivory shale]

Yeah, it's been in beta since july of 2024

[plucky flare]

"I made a cps3 core but you have to buy my new hardware to run it" is going to go over like a lead balloon

[warm carbon]

It might be more like “I made a cps3 core but to run it at full speed you need to buy new hardware”

[plucky flare]

probably going to be about the same reaction

also to remain on topic I predict it will run on a Genesis

[old sierra]

How many people want to play those four games that they would shell out for new hardware to run a core?

Is it that many?

[plucky flare]

it's really "do you think 3s people will pay for new hardware instead of nursing their failing cps3 boards"

but it's not that many people AND the 3s community seems to have a higher incidence of traditionalism when it comes to hardware/methods of playing etc. but even then the number of 3s TOs that will shell out for hardware isn't that big

[jade turret]

didn't he suggest doing a less accurate core based on MAME documentation just to get something running? it could still be the case he does that, then works on chips one by one in a "proper" manner and update it as he goes, not that i know if that approach would even be possible.

[plucky flare]

he could do that, although as weird as it sounds if the core releases 'inaccurate' he may lose all the momentum among the hardcore 3s crowd

they'll try it once go 'we can't use this' and then it'll take a lot more to get them to come around later when it is better

also given the uhh, "political" climate regarding some of these cores if he does mame first there's gonna be so much shittalking drama

[jade turret]

Yeah the drama in such a scenario would be inevitable!

Alrhough I didnt see too much fuss about the ninja gaiden core which if I'm not wrong is mame based for the time being, cps3 would attract way more attention though.

[fickle hemlock]

has JT ever made a core that uses the misters ddr3 for anything?

i feel like he's always pushing sdram to breaking point instead

[plucky flare]

the ninja gaiden core also didn't have other people who have mentioned doing it...

[jade turret]

true, forgot coinopcollection are going for it too.

[fallow dome]

Every time Jotego updates, my SD Card gets a workout.

It downloads like 900 files

[ivory shale]

Didn't even realize it was redownloading all of those, I thought it was just the arcade organizer reorganizing everything

[fallow dome]

It’s Jotego flexing on us

[lapis topaz]

Coinop collection did announce it was about to release tecmo16, it is even in their GitHub for the pocket as pending. Jotego released all 3 games based on that platform before they did.

[plucky flare]

I lose track of where/when they announce stuff. I rely on TheJesusFish network

[fallow dome]

me2, I don’t have Patreon so I can’t read any of the messages

[lapis topaz]

Coinop patreon posts are public so I kinda like reading their updates. I am really interested if they can get the PS1 based arcade boards (zn1) working on mister.

[fading hare]

It's been ages since I last played the original Sonic the Hedgehog. When I was playing it earlier I kept hearing this random white noise that crops up while playing the game and was like WTF was that always there!? Caught some Youtube play throughs labeled as being played on real hardware, and sure enough it was there too. How on earth did that make it through QA back in the day!?

[elder briar]

i don't think i've ever experienced that lol

unless you mean the waterfalls in ghz or something

[fading hare]

Maybe? I'll have to go back and see when it triggers again. But I remember act 2 starting without it, but just jumping once triggered it and it just didn't stop if I didn't move.

Ah, yeah it is the water falls. Damn it sounds bad though. I forgot about that.

It just sounds like static/white noise.

[elder briar]

lol

many such cases

[fringe zodiac]

Genesis Lite Savestate Edition

[fringe zodiac]

It seems like the CPS3 core should be well within the MiSTer's capabilities. The real hurdle, much like with the PGM, is reverse-engineering its specialized graphics chip. There's a lot of foundational work that needs to be done before development can even begin. However, you never know when someone, perhaps a silent contributor like skutis77 who's been quiet since his Gradius work, might surprise the community with the necessary schematics

To be clear, I have no specific information regarding any new projects from skutis77. I was simply speculating and am curious about what he's been working on since his last contributions

[elder briar]

even if it required new hardware, it would still probably be significantly less expensive then purchasing a full cps3 setup with all the fixings

a working cps3 board with enough ram to play 3S, a bluescsi adapter, and the hacked bios cartridge easily puts the setup anywhere in the $1300-$2000 range

[fallow dome]

Hasn’t that game been ported to everything f

[warm carbon]

It’s has. But you know those FGC kids love playing on real hardware

I tell this story a lot because it stuck with me but when they did SF3 at Evo last year, it took 90 minutes to set up because they did it on real hardware. Anything to make that better would be a boon to folks in that scene

[fallow dome]

wouldn’t just using one of the ports make it better

[warm carbon]

I dunno why the ports aren’t preferred. Maybe @pastel root knows

might be as easy as them not being dead accurate to the hardware

[plain quiver]

3 frames of extra input delay.

That was that killed the port on DC.

[warm carbon]

3 frames?

wow

that feels like a lot for a fighting game

[pastel root]

DC also used the version with fixed unblockables for Urien doesn’t it?

[elder briar]

yeah, the dreamcast port is based off of the later revision that removed some glitches/unblockables

the ps2 version is supposedly more accurate but it runs at 480i with non-integer scaling. looks abysmal

[light mist]

oh noez, my bugs!

[faint onyx]

Modern PC/console fighting games can have 6-8 frames extra lag

[warm carbon]

that's wild

[faint onyx]

ultra realistic animations, you know.

[warm carbon]

https://tenor.com/dYDiVBVHVkD.gif

[faint onyx]

But rarely something beats the CPC version of Turrican 1, app. 17 frames of programmed input lag. Checked with Retroarch.

[pine crystal]

Tool-assisted speedruns require the use of precogs...

[fading hare]

The most recent port in the SF collection on modern platforms has a ton of input delay. It's fine for us casual players, but no serious player touches it.

[chrome moss]

What happened to the idea of putting experimental/extra cores in their own directory? For things like GBA 2P, the old Genesis core, turbo. PSX, etc. or at least a separate toggle in update_all?

[warm carbon]

It’s likely going to happen as soon as more cores get added to the alt database. Right now there are only 4 cores

[carmine pine]

I wouldn't say "well within". CPS3 parallel memory access is apparently intense.

[carmine pine]

You underestimate the 3rd strike crowd :p

Not even 4 games. Just 1 game is reason enough haha

[fading hare]

This is true.

[carmine pine]

3rd strike is widely considered the best fighting game ever created.

[old sierra]

Yeah, but to make something that is accurate enough for those goons to use it over their actual hardware would take literally years based on what he said way back when he was paying some kid to trace out a chip

[fading hare]

That is also true...

[kindred anchor]

3rd strike is no waku waku 7

[old sierra]

CPS3 feels like a trap for anyone whose model is banging out arcade games regularly for patreon subs

[carmine pine]

Plenty of jotego cores are already tournament approved in the fighting game community

[fading hare]

I remember MaximillianDood discussing it a while back, and he basically said that they will never move away from real hardware for Third Strike tournaments. Even mentioning MiSTer regarding that.

[old sierra]

Yeah, but none close to the complexity of CPS3

[fading hare]

I think part of that discussion was regarding Capcom never okaying it for serious tournaments. I could see small events using it, but never a big one.

[old sierra]

Him and the coin-op lot have got themselves into a contest on who can deliver this core that is way beyond what any of them have done before. It is a bizarre situation watching from the sidelines as someone who isn't an arcade guy.

[fading hare]

Ultimately, they just need to do for Third Strike what they did for MvC2. Actually make a really really good modern port of it. The new port of MvC2 is so good that even all the tournament level players have moved on to it. Which is something nobody ever thought would happen.

[carmine pine]

I have no doubt jotego can pull it off, it's just a lot of work.

[old sierra]

Yeah, like a solid focussed year or two

Without working on other things to keep the lights on

[carmine pine]

Even fightcade with rollback gets criticism. 3rd strike players are more picky than mvc2 players.

[old sierra]

Do the chips in it open the doors for much else?

[fading hare]

Honestly, there is a ton of overlap in that community. A great new port would do it.

[old sierra]

Main CPU: Hitachi HD6417099 (SH-2) at 25 MHz

Has srg320 done the hard part for them now?

Can the Saturn SH-2 core be used?

[plain quiver]

Why do you think I made him work on SH-2 as a top priority ?

You answered it already.

That's one less chip to work on.

[old sierra]

You made srg320 work on SH-2 as a top priority to make it easier for JT and Coin Ops to make their CPS3 cores?

[plain quiver]

Absolutely, and finish the 32x core as much as possible and pave the way for Psikyo SH-2 arcade bards one day.

And we now have the tools to verify the SH-2 implementation as well.

The 3DO can wait for these reasons.

[old sierra]

Paves the way for a Casio Loopy as well I guess

[plain quiver]

And if you have the SH-2 chip completed, you have the basis to work on SH-3 and SH-4 ones in a few years.

[warm carbon]

Good guy Zet

[vital idol]

Unless you are bacon 😉

Then zet is enemy #1

[old sierra]

Had a quick look up on SH-3 and SH-4, as didn't know what used those. Looks like SH-3 isn't really used in anything (apparently the CPU in the Dreamcast VMU is a slower derivative, and am surprised it is that beefy) and SH-4 is big chip for Dreamcast and associated DC based arcade boards (Atomisave, Naomi etc.)

Dreamcast is pretty much FPGA gaming endgame, if we ever get to it.

[warm carbon]

I’d bet once we have the hardware to do it, someone will absolutely start on it. I think Ash set up a jump off point

Speaking of, hope Ash is doing ok

[drowsy hemlock]

A Dreamcast core one day would be amazing

FPGA Shenmue 2

[plain quiver]

Cave CV1000(D) arcade boards too, for the SH-3.

But we are talking years ahead.

[old sierra]

Actually I think I been fed some AI nonsense about the VMU using anything resembling an SH-3, this makes much more sense: Sanyo LC8670 8-bit microcontroller, which is based on a Z80-derived architecture.

I was going to say, that guy who was making how own VMU for a college project would have been a madman if he was doing an SH-3, and would have been incredible if he had pulled off it working at all. A Z80 varient makes much more sense.

[faint onyx]

I prefer Street Fighter Alpha 3 over 3rd Strike, any day.

[vital idol]

I just want the outfoxies

[old sierra]

Different strokes for different folks, unironically I would be way more excited about a Casio Loopy core over CPS-3, but I am aware that I am probably on an island of one here. I'm not a big fighter guy, and there are already a litany of fighters on MiSTer I have never played and probably never will in any depth. I get how big a deal CPS-3 is though, and would be a massive achievement for whoever pulls it off, and be a big benefit to the wider gaming community and game preservation more widely.

[pastel root]

that MVC2 isn't even a really really good modern port. The scene just has stockholm syndrome

[idle yew]

Seems like PGM would be a great project for someone to tackle, a lot of games, and sounds more inline with mister capabilities

[warm carbon]

I think it’s on JT’s list

[old sierra]

Let's be honest, that means next to nothing, it has been on there for many years and he has committed to CPS3

Wikka mentioned that the copy protection on PGM is horrible, even with it working on Mame

[plucky flare]

PGM also has the 'cart has a custom chip on it' problem

if you went for the cave pgm games first I think it is less of a hassle there

[idle yew]

Ahh, didn’t know that, thanks 👍

[old sierra]

It seems to be one that on paper looking at the specs isn't super complex and is equivalent to Neo Geo, but because of these chips on the carts it would be pretty horrible

That is one arcade systems I would really love to play though, I have almost pulled the trigger on getting a supergun and board and games a few times but ultimately cooled on the idea

[plucky flare]

although to be honest I'm not sure if it's more of a pain than ST-V protection was.

probably still more complex

[versed rapids]

CPS3 there is also CHD support not easy

[plain quiver]

We could use the NoCD versions for the MiSTer.

[vital idol]

Hah, that is the ultimate monkey paw wish- you get cps3 but have to wait for the game to load every time.

[versed rapids]

sure but most version are asia

[warm carbon]

We need CD Cracks

[plain quiver]

We have far enough derived from the MD/Genesis/32x systems here.
Could we elaborate on a more core section ?

[plucky flare]

look it's this or the 55th hot take about earthion piracy

[plain quiver]

[drowsy hemlock]

How about we discuss Perineum vs Earthbound?

It seems most people think earthbound is the better game

[stone plinth]

How about Afterburner II?

[plain quiver]

Even PapiRium was better.

[stone plinth]

I really want someone to actually make that Frasier beat em up for real

[kindred anchor]

the WHAT!?!?

personally im still waiting for the Frasier STG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDOnhhICrCo

[kindred anchor]

oh how i yearn to live in a world of frasier gaming

[fading hare]

Someone did make that Frasier Game Boy game!

[kindred anchor]

yeah but in the golden age of frasier games we will have our beat em up and shmup too

[drowsy hemlock]

That’s amazing!

The only thing better would be a Seinfeld beat em up

Newman 😒

[split moth]

wait, really?!

[kindred anchor]

https://edward-la-barbera.itch.io/frasier-fantasy

[drowsy halo]

I'm just catching up...

Why did multiple people bring up savestates?

Don't they know that is supposedly for cheaters?

[faint onyx]

Even the MD has games that you can't complete in 30 minutes. And not all have a battery, sadly.

[fading hare]

Yep, I've said for a long time that the Genesis would benefit from save states more than most platforms. So many games didn't have built-in saving on the cart.

[ebon quail]

Guess it's more down to some wanting to stay authentic. Same reason some people will always choose to play with a real console over emulation/FPGA.

[fallow dome]

But who would do that?

#community-votes message - oh, 11% of us lol

[pine crystal]

Us?
They're not one of us!

[stone plinth]

Sonic 2 is definitely one of those games that could have done with a save

I get bored after Mystic Cave Zone, and it's only the sick beat from that level that keeps me going for that long

[ebon quail]

Honestly for me with that poll it depends on the console. For anything pre-Dreamcast I'd use an emulator/FPGA but for that gen and beyond I'd use the real deal.

[chrome moss]

Mister is just nicer. Mister + rt4k takes up such a small amount of space it’s amazing. Nice not having to swap consoles around all of the time

[drowsy halo]

For a bunch of Genesis games, Billy Time has added game saves through rom hacks.

https://www.romhacking.net/?page=hacks&category=16&platform=11&game=&order=&perpage=20&dir=&title=&hacksearch=Go

[fallow dome]

That’s cheating

[drowsy halo]

I was just trying to point out something cool

[fallow dome]

That’s also cheating

[drowsy halo]

Ahhh

[fallow dome]

If you’re new to MiSTer you’ll have to learn everything on your own, can’t ask questions!!!

[drowsy halo]

I'll just go back to where I came from

The analogue discord

[lethal prairie]

https://tenor.com/view/kylo-ren-traitor-star-wars-gif-16767158544211392703

[drowsy halo]

They're so mean there

[pine crystal]

Please say you're only there to shitpost. 😄

[drowsy halo]

Haha jk, analogue doesn't have a discord because then they'd have to explain all their missed deadlines and broken promises.

[fallow dome]

Can you find Sonic?

[drowsy halo]

Is this a trick

[faint onyx]

hint, hint middle, down.

[drowsy halo]

It's just his head and not all of it

I give this puzzle a D-

[ebon quail]

||From the middle (use the big blue Sonic that's on the top to know where it is), go straight down, then look left of the spring, then up a slight bit, and Sonic is there in a window.||

[split moth]

I ❤️ Sega CD…that is all

[faint onyx]

It's not a trick, it's a Son(y)ic.

[drowsy hemlock]

Bullies everywhere

[stone plinth]

Did some poor bastard have to draw the bouncer robot that many times or was copy pasting a thing back then?

[glass shale]

Daemon Claw crashes when you lose all the lives in the MegaDrive core. Probably SRAM related?

[drowsy hemlock]

How does it fare on the old core?

[glass shale]

Probably the same. I will test later and report

[plain quiver]

No issue for me.

They are two dumps in the wild, one is badly patched for flashcards.

[glass shale]

Oh, thanks for the heads up!

[sly zephyr]

I got a game over and the game didnt crash, check your ram module, use the memtest

[vast pasture]

I saw the psg filter rbf and was thinking, does the old genesis core still have more accurate sound than megadrive? Remember seeing this sentiment on mister forum

[glass shale]

Can you pls share the md5 of your rom?

[warm carbon]

I don’t think it’s more accurate, but it doesn’t have the issue that the nuked core has. I believe there is some possible movement on that tho.

[ivory shale]

Should have had a salad or scrambled eggs as a health pickup

[void eagle]

One of the strangest game licenses based on a sitcom was Home Improvment. Never expected that one to get an SNES platformer.

MASH actually got a video game, though that may have been based on the movie (hard to tell with 2600 games).

Happy Days actually DID get a game, though it was just a rebranded motorcycle game named Fonz. The original eight ball pinball machine's artwork heavily resembles Fonzie and Pinkie Tuskadero from Happy Days. Not sure if it was licensed.

[void eagle]

or a Cheers beat 'em up where Woody swallows a whole Hostess Sno Ball as a power up.

"They're bite sized!"

[ivory shale]

While I didn't get into computers until the mid 90s with Windows systems I know there has been a LOT of weird games for the 8 bit PCs back in the 70s and 80s based on all sorts of tv and radio shows at the time

And I don't mean stuff like Ninja Turtles that would expect be made into a game

[sly zephyr]

edfc9e42c1b1d9b4ad45ff0a9b3eba3b

[fallow dome]

Can you find Sonic?

[night cape]

Can you find Tails? Robotnik is there too.

[faint onyx]

Nice try. Upper right!

[fallow dome]

Damn, good job

[faint onyx]

I't was a good one though.

[fading hare]

Now try to find Amy in that sea of pink!

[ebon quail]

From the top right look very slightly down left to it. And for Tails ||look directly at the middle and he's just there in the background||

[void eagle]

I found Q*Bert. Oh wait, that was just one of those Octopus things.

[fallow dome]

Oh shit I thought y’all were trolling, he really is there

[ebon quail]

Yep was a bit surprised myself

[plain quiver]

Expect a new 32x core from my part today after my work hours (6-8 hours) with the latest changes on the SH7604 module.

[fallow dome]

Wow it takes that long for a new 32X build?

[plain quiver]

I'm not at home and without remote access today.

[fallow dome]

lol I’m kidding

My bad

[plain quiver]

I know, I answered literally so you would apologize.

😏

[fallow dome]

My bad I didn’t make another joke!!!!!

[light mist]

This robby guy... 😔

[plain quiver]

Dang it, Robby!

[plain quiver]

Latest sys update, seed 10, latest changes on the DMAC & BSC submodules (SH7604).

[pine crystal]

Sneaky sneaky

[old sierra]

Do we think this may fix any outstanding issues?

[lapis topaz]

I was under the impression no major bugs remained after the last unstable.

[warm carbon]

There is always the mortal kombat 2 question

[old sierra]

Nice, so is Mortal Kombat 2 maybe being slow the last real issue now?

[lapis topaz]

I couldn't find the slowdown myself. Maybe we need a video of the slowdown to see if we are able to replicate it.

[old sierra]

Time for a new release then (unless I missed a recent one)

[plain quiver]

As for Mortal Kombat II, I don't know enough about that version of the game, and we have someone who seems to know a lot more.
So I'll defer to their expertise.

For Kolibri, the timings don't seem to be completely accurate on the previous version compared to some actual hardware captures.
We're talking about a 2-second delay every 10 minutes on the looped intro.

On other captures with various games, the timings are accurate, even on Virtua Fighter.

Same here with today's build, no changes, the second loop of attract mode is a few frames late each time when multiple enemies and fire bullets are on screen.

This won't break any classic players, but speedrunners might complain.

[drowsy halo]

I found Sonic again

Are these ai generated

[fallow dome]

Can you find Sonic?

[warm carbon]

sonic, a ring, chaos emeralds

[drowsy halo]

Nailed it

I found him hiding || behind a tree ||

[plucky flare]

I found Sonic but he told me he's hiding for a reason and asked people to stop crowdsourcing his exposure

[lethal prairie]

It’s gotta be this one bc Sonic carries rings

[ebon quail]

From the middle, go slightly to the left

Compared to the previous ones this one was a bit lazy tbh

[void eagle]

I never realized how much Gohla's look like puyos until that pic. I found Sonic, Tails, and Robotnik.

[ivory shale]

It's weird seeing the brown Tails from the original Sonic cartoon in these, since I am so used to him being yellow

Even though that cartoon was basically my first exposure to Sonic outside of Genesis demo kiosks

[old sierra]

Are these images from an old Where's Wally/Waldo style book from the 90s? I spotted Tails hiding in that one as well

[fallow dome]

All these images have been provided on this Twitter account - https://x.com/gameartarchive

They are from “Where’s Sonic?” by Ladybird Books. Please don’t peek, it’ll ruin the future ones I post.

gameartarchive.bsky.social (@gameartarchive) on X

Scanning & posting newly extracted artwork from game manuals and art books! Maintained by @Rlan2.

X

Can you find Sonic?

[ebon quail]

||Easy. He's above the title box.||

Also why does he look wider than usual? Lol

[plucky flare]

I found sonic but I'm not a snitch

not trying to get anyone deported

[void eagle]

I found Sonic, Tails (with plane), and Robotnik.

[chrome moss]

Found em all. It’s much harder on a cellphone vs the desktop monitor

[nocturne tusk]

Man I had that book. Good memories.

[night cape]

Wasn't one of the challenges to count how many power rings exists on each scene?