Attention! Coders Wanted!

[Melf]

Curt Vendel, designer of the Atari Flashback 1 and two and curator of the Atari History Museum, emailed me about some coding jobs that need to be done:


I have a client that I consult for, they currently produce a Genesis on a chip product line. They have a license to do Atari games, and without having to re-invest in doing new hardware, the discussion came up about looking for some homebrew coder(s) to do some ports of Atari arcade games (Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, Super Breakout, Lunar Lander, Tempest, Crystal Castles...10 titles in all) So thought coming to you would be a good place to start. Let me know if you can point me to some good coders that are looking for some work.

Any coders looking for some legit experience that pays? If so, email Curt at curt.vendel@legacyengineer.com.

Thanks!

[Sik]

Any ideas of when does the project need to start? Because I'm technically busy right now but I would like to take a look at that one.

EDIT: though coming to think on it most likely I wouldn't end up in an agreement on the licensing terms anyways =/

[Kamahl]

Even if I had the skills, I'm far too busy currently :?.

[kool kitty89]

Curt sent me a message about that too yesterday. (specifically in the context of Sega-16) I wasn't sure on the details (just that he wanted some capable MD homebrew programmers for a possible job) and I just listed the coders I knew of on the forums with a few details on what they'd done (if I knew -like Tiido's sound work, Chilly Willy's various projects, etc). Not sure who would be interested specifically though.

I also suggested looking at Spritesmind since that's much more programmer-specific than Sega-16.



I wonder which Genesis on a chip that would be . . .

[Thunderblaze16]

Curse my young age!, I'm actually studying graphic design and its ways to code for commands.

[eddiespruce]

I wish I knew how to program, but unfortunately it would be impossible for me to learn it.:(

[Sik]

Not sure who would be interested specifically though.
I already showed this to Tiido and he said he was too busy. I told Curt to see if Watermelon could take the job =P (I offered him to use my sound engine since technically its license would allow for it)


I also suggested looking at Spritesmind since that's much more programmer-specific than Sega-16.
It's more hardware-oriented than programmer-oriented =/


I wonder which Genesis on a chip that would be . . .
Probably the emulated crap we're used to see lately =P

[kool kitty89]

I already showed this to Tiido and he said he was too busy. I told Curt to see if Watermelon could take the job =P (I offered him to use my sound engine since technically its license would allow for it)
Chilly tends to be pretty busy too, but maybe he'd be interested. (I know he's into some of the atari stuff too -and he is on Atariage)


Probably the emulated crap we're used to see lately =P
If that was the case, why bother with Genesis programming? (why not write software directly for the ARM SOC?)

It could be the chip used in the FC3 or RetroN3, which one could only hope (given the sound amps paired with that hardware), but it also might be something along the lines of the TecToy/Radica/GenX/GNTwin. (true hardware clone, but some issues -including awful sound amps, far worse than the worst case of Sega's bad models)

[Chilly Willy]

I'm beyond swamped at the moment. I didn't even have time to review games/apps for the NeoFlash Summer Compo, which pays money for both entries and reviews, by the way.

[Sik]

If that was the case, why bother with Genesis programming? (why not write software directly for the ARM SOC?)
Touché.


It could be the chip used in the FC3 or RetroN3, which one could only hope (given the sound amps paired with that hardware), but it also might be something along the lines of the TecToy/Radica/GenX/GNTwin. (true hardware clone, but some issues -including awful sound amps, far worse than the worst case of Sega's bad models)
It could also be that clone that actually has 96KB of VRAM instead of 64KB... And more colors. I know this from disassembling some of the ROMs they offered, but couldn't go further because, well, I had absolutely no way to test it without access to the actual hardware >_<

[kool kitty89]

It could also be that clone that actually has 96KB of VRAM instead of 64KB... And more colors. I know this from disassembling some of the ROMs they offered, but couldn't go further because, well, I had absolutely no way to test it without access to the actual hardware >_<
Is that what that Guitar Idle thing used? (or maybe that was just a MD+separate chipset for the guitar game portion)

The Genesis 3 used a 256 kB 16-bit wide SDRAM in place of VRAM and PSRAM, but I think only 64+64k were addressable. (and seen as separate buses by the chipset, and dual ported on the VDP's end -with heavy buffering to allow that)

[Sik]

Is that what that Guitar Idle thing used? (or maybe that was just a MD+separate chipset for the guitar game portion)
No, pretty sure the Guitar Hero wannabe was a Java game. The system I'm talking about has a Wiimote-like controller -_-'


The Genesis 3 used a 256 kB 16-bit wide SDRAM in place of VRAM and PSRAM, but I think only 64+64k were addressable. (and seen as separate buses by the chipset, and dual ported on the VDP's end -with heavy buffering to allow that)
Or maybe at the time it was easier to get those chips and it still only addresses 64KB. There isn't any concrete proof that the ASICs could address more than 64KB =/

[kool kitty89]

Or maybe at the time it was easier to get those chips and it still only addresses 64KB. There isn't any concrete proof that the ASICs could address more than 64KB =/
Yes, like I said, I think onlythe original 64k+64k (video/WorkRAM) were usable. The SDRAM chips were the same as those in the 32x And Saturn (VDP1 frame buffers and VDP2 RAM), and it must have been cheaper to use those chips than the VRAM and PSRAM chips of the MD2.

[Sik]

Oh, I thought you meant 128KB of VRAM (since it was rumored some ASICs can access 128KB of VRAM, though no game makes use of that - and really there is no concrete proof of such a thing).

[kool kitty89]

Oh, I thought you meant 128KB of VRAM (since it was rumored some ASICs can access 128KB of VRAM, though no game makes use of that - and really there is no concrete proof of such a thing).
I thought it was established that there is support for a second 64k bank of VRAM on the MD VDP (or at least early models). Doesn't the SMS VDP have support for a 2nd 16k DRAM bank as well? (as used in the System E)

Didn't the C-2 use added VRAM? (I know it used the external color DACs via the 10-bit pixel bus from the VDP)

[Sik]

I thought it was established that there is support for a second 64k bank of VRAM on the MD VDP (or at least early models).
No, it was speculation taken from reading some manual, and the assumption is that only later ASICs could support 128KB, while early ASICs couldn't.


Didn't the C-2 use added VRAM? (I know it used the external color DACs via the 10-bit pixel bus from the VDP)
Don't think so, though I know there are some arcade games that chain together two VDPs (in which case you'd indeed have 128KB of VRAM, but that's still 64KB per VDP).

[kool kitty89]

No, it was speculation taken from reading some manual, and the assumption is that only later ASICs could support 128KB, while early ASICs couldn't.

Hmm, OK, I thought the speculation was around the "mystery bus" that Tiido mentioned before (I think in the Sega CD Super VDP thread). He mentioned that the 10-bit pixel bus was removed from later VDP revisions (starting with the VA7 MD1 iirc), but that other unknown bus was retained on later models too.

[Sik]

To support 128KB you only need one extra line, not an entire bus =P

Also, looking at this model 2 clone I got here, Tiido told me the ASIC is 100% compatible with what Sega used (I guess they were decapped and copied or something like that). The problem is that Jorge said pin 14 was unused, yet for some reason here it's going somewhere (and I can't even tell because eventually it goes under the chip making it impossible to follow). I wonder what is it doing o_o;

On that note, I need to find a way to fix the cartslot. The hardware is definitely working (it gets warm) but it still won't boot. Some of the cartslot pins are bented so I'm gonna guess that. The D0 pin is the one in worst shape, out of all the pins >_<