Mega Everdrive - The next level?

[Barone]

Hi!

I'm posting it here 'cause I'd like to discuss about the new features and possibilities that this new device will provide to the Genesis/Mega Drive homebrew dev and hacking scene.

From assemblergames.com (http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33481&page=13):

try to guess what will be next (:
10mbyte UMKT hack:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8gjfzmt5AU

fast loading. actually loading works a twice faster on this moment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4GKN...eature=related

and that's not all... (:


yes, this is new sega hardware which will be have a lot of new features


about 32x and sega cd
32x implementation in fpga is possible, but on the practic it will be pretty hard to made, so i have no any plans to try to do something like that
about mage cd: full cd unit emulation almost impossible, but may be possible to made a modiffied cd bios which can redirect cd requast to sd card, but i not surre because i don't know a lot about mega cd architecture


what i would really want to do with new mega everdrive, it is a ability to play some games via internet. MK3 for example


Anyway current cart will not be available in this year


currently i don't know the price, may be final boards and parts will be changed a lot, but i pretty sure that it will be cost more than 100 usd. probably between 100-150 for board only version

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/2526/dsc0503s.jpg
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/720/dsc05042s.jpg

About SMS FM support:

no, but i have plan to implement fm chip in fpga


yah, final version also will be use cyclone 2.

by the ways, genesis cpu can reload cyclone firmware from sd, so jtag not need for firmware update any more. also this feature give the chance to build such things like emulators - OS can load software core to rom memory and hardware core into fpga, so custom application can use own firmware and all hardware resources of cart

[Sik]

How will it play games over internet? He mentions Mortal Kombat 3, but that game was never designed for lag nor potentially the consoles going out of sync (which can happen even with two consoles of the same board revision), and we don't have the XBand patch that worked around that.

Also ultimately it seems to be aimed at playing official games, so I wouldn't expect much new stuff from homebrew.

[Anonymouse]

OMG playing over the net would be the best thing EVER!

[slobu]

So, right now we know the new unit will:
* Support larger games like the 10megahamster Ultimate Mortal Combat.
* Copy games to on-board RAM to speed transfer times
* Use a FPGA for future expansion that is not 32x or Mega CD support.

Doesn't sound worth it so far for peeps who already have the first version methinks. And wont supporting larger games mess with the deal they made with Watermelon?

[Lastcallhall]

Not to derail the thread, but I'm more excited for this:


Originally Posted by KRIKzz
honestly i already done pcb for pc engine few weeks ago, so i pretty sure that i will made the cart when i will be have the time

OT: As an Everdrive owner, UMKT sounds nice, as does the net support, but like someone mentioned above, lag and sync issues will need to be worked out, as well as a method for netplay. It would be cool to work the 32x HW into the everdrive, though.

[KnightWarrior]

I like Fast

Is he going to show how fast Master System & 32X games Load?

[Flygon]

If I knew this was going to happen, I'd have held off buying the Everdrive MD. Now I'm broke! :daze:

[NeoVamp]

I'm so gonna buy this just for UMKT support alone!

But I would LOVE Sega CD support, Imagine playing Snatcher or Eternal Champions or Sonic CD straight from the SD card with much faster loading.

I'm very excited.

[Sik]

Imagine playing Snatcher or Eternal Champions or Sonic CD straight from the SD card with much faster loading.
Don't get fooled, one of the biggest issues with emulators is having to deal with the low speed of the drive. Some FMV code assumes the drive is always going at 1x and it will break if the drive goes any faster, apparently.

I don't think Snatcher would be affected though, given it lacks FMVs...

[Barone]

News:

well, mega ed in approach, so probably time to make some thread about new ultimate solution for genesis/megadrive.
mega ed is not finished yet, so i can't say exactly what will be implemented or will not, but here is list of features which is planned, some of them already implemented:
already implemented:
0)instant loading (1-2 sec)
1)large rom suppport - up to 10 mbyte
2)snapshot saves, like on emulator. and regular saves, of course
2x)firmware update without jtag. enough to copy new OS into SD card to get new firmware
3)advanced sms support. codemasters and korean mappers
4)ram cart for mega cd
5)dual sd slot, one internal micro sd and external standard SD
6)fast usb for development, and may be for netplay
7)return to menu by reset button
and below is features which not implemented yet, and may be some of them will not be implemented never:
8)fm sound for sms
9) netplay (mabe i will make a net patches for some games)
10) seriall eeprom saves
11) nes emulation
12) may be something else, what is forgotten (:

Cyclone II FPGA, and 16mbyte of sdram provide a lot of hardware resources, so here is almost unlimited field for phantasy (:

snapshot saves demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkXEr-uV9KE
large rom demo movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8gjfzmt5AU

[Sik]

...NES emulation? Seriously? o_O

[Chilly Willy]

...NES emulation? Seriously? o_O

Yeah, that's no biggy with a Cyclone II, but I'd rather see SVP emulation so you can run VR. :)

[NeoVamp]

Yeah, that's no biggy with a Cyclone II, but I'd rather see SVP emulation so you can run VR. :)

Could you explain the whole FPGA/Cyclone thing a bit more? what can be done with this? and what is it?

Would it be possible to create new games that use more colors or more layers or something like that? or are we stuck with the Genesis specs?

[Thunderblaze16]

OMG! I was never into the Ever Drive since I preferred to get the actual thing, but your saying I could play games like Gunstar Heroes, Adventures of Batman & Robin, Herzog Z. and even Yu Yu from my own Sega Genesis online!?


............its the wonderful time of year......!

[Chilly Willy]

Could you explain the whole FPGA/Cyclone thing a bit more? what can be done with this? and what is it?

FPGA - Field Programmable Gate Array. This is a chip where you can change the logic used to handle inputs via programming. FPGAs have lots of gates/logic blocks that can be selected and set to do different things. So you could make the FPGA be a video chip or a cpu merely by changing the data used to control the FPGA. With a big enough FPGA, it could be the ENTIRE Genesis in a single chip... or Amiga, or C64, or NES, or anything else you can design the logic for.


Would it be possible to create new games that use more colors or more layers or something like that? or are we stuck with the Genesis specs?

Unless you made the FPGA have a better video handling AND had video out on the cart, you would be stuck with the regular Genesis video. That's the issue with both the SCD and the SVP inside the VR cart - both give you more processing power, but are limited to the Genesis video as they don't improve the video themselves. That's where the 32X comes in - it not only added cpus, but better video as well.

[sheath]

Hahah, I would still keep my NES and games if I had this, but it would be pretty awesome to play them on my Genesis instead, especially if the emulation fixes a lot of the hardware bugs.

[NeoVamp]

I wanna see MSX emulation!

NDFLT_nBUjs

Hmm bad framerate, actual game is much smoother.
(I should know, I play it often on my actual msx2 machine)

[slobu]

Unless you made the FPGA have a better video handling AND had video out on the cart, you would be stuck with the regular Genesis video. That's the issue with both the SCD and the SVP inside the VR cart - both give you more processing power, but are limited to the Genesis video as they don't improve the video themselves. That's where the 32X comes in - it not only added cpus, but better video as well.

Couldn't you use the Color Dreams Hellraiser approach and send framebuffer changes to on-screen tiles?

[Sik]

...that's what the SCD and SVP do. You're still limited to the colors supported by the MD hardware.

[Chilly Willy]

...that's what the SCD and SVP do. You're still limited to the colors supported by the MD hardware.

AND you're still limited by the rate you can update the vram.

[evilevoix]

I have to learn how to use these things.

[Dirt Ball Gamer]

Playing NES or MSX on Genesis would be insanely awesome. Online play would cause my head to explode.

[KnightWarrior]

How is he doing NES emulation on the Genesis with the Mappers??

[Lastcallhall]

How is he doing NES emulation on the Genesis with the Mappers??

Blast Processing. :cool:

[Anonymouse]

Online gameplay would be the best thing ever! This would be MASSIVE to the community :-) amazing

[Chilly Willy]

How is he doing NES emulation on the Genesis with the Mappers??

It would be a FULL NES in a chip, with the MD side merely fetching the NES video to store to the MD vram/cram. The sound wouldn't need to be done on the MD side at all since the cart has sound input lines, so the sound would be fully done in the FPGA.

If the cart also featured video out (in hopes of one day emulating things with better video like the 32X or other consoles), the MD side wouldn't even be needed for video. The only thing it would handle then would be the controller inputs.

[Anonymouse]

I think a 32x on a chip is excessive, especially if you have to add video out. There isnt enough good 32x games to warrent this.

[NeoVamp]

But 32X would be nice for homebrew purposes, more colors and no mushroom needed.

But I agree an extra video out would be annoying.

[Flygon]

It would be a FULL NES in a chip, with the MD side merely fetching the NES video to store to the MD vram/cram.
I hate to ask a dumb question, but can the Mega Drive really fetch the NES video at 256*224 while chugging along at 60fps?

[Sik]

I hate to ask a dumb question, but can the Mega Drive really fetch the NES video at 256*224 while chugging along at 60fps?
No, which is why the only real option for this is a passthrough like for the 32X...

Honestly, this whole thing sounds too ambitious to work.

[KnightWarrior]

Is he going to make a fast Master Everdrive, GG Everdrive and the SNES Everdrive??

[NeoVamp]

Is he going to make a fast Master Everdrive, GG Everdrive and the SNES Everdrive??

Do the Master System and Game Gear really need a faster one?

With Snes I could understand your question but those 2?

[Chilly Willy]

I hate to ask a dumb question, but can the Mega Drive really fetch the NES video at 256*224 while chugging along at 60fps?

You wouldn't fetch the finished video, you'd fetch the cell data and etc, semi-processed by the FPGA to better suit the MD. The FPGA would generate ints to the 68000 when cell data/etc changed so it would know when and what to fetch.

But like Sik says, it's a lot of work. It sounds too ambitious to me as well.

[Barone]

Is he going to make a fast Master Everdrive, GG Everdrive and the SNES Everdrive??

He answered "no" for this question at the assemblergames forum.

Also, when he began to work in this "Mega Everdrive" he said that he loved MD and always want to do new things for it, etc...

[StoneAgeGamer]

http://youtu.be/v7G0iwXruTY

[SEGAretro]

youtube video

Be prepared, going to order one at your store when it's ready!! :rock:

[omp]

I cancelled my everdrive recently in anticipation for this....

[Flygon]

Spring 2012?

...okay, so... Autumn 2012 for Austr... :shock:

It comes so soon!

[streetsofrage]

glad I didn't buy the first one , ill wait to see how good internet play is before buying

[sheath]

Yeah, if I wasn't so happy with my Everdrive I'd wish there was some sort of trade/upgrade option. What I'm really waiting for is that PCE Everdrive, that thing is going to rock my world. Then all I need is an NES Everdrive.

[Barone]

glad I didn't buy the first one , ill wait to see how good internet play is before buying
It will be implemented "in the future"... So nobody know how much time you'll have to wait.

Actually, I'm glad to have the first model (last revision though)... It will keep me calm enough to wait for bug fixes and community feedback before drop my money again. I still can sold it or pass to some good friend.

[Melf]

I can't wait for this. I was about to buy the Crimson when it restocked, but I'll save up my pennies for this instead.

Save states FTW!

[SEGAretro]

Then all I need is an NES Everdrive.

As far as I know that won't happen... :(

[Greg2600]

Is he going to make a fast Master Everdrive, GG Everdrive and the SNES Everdrive??

Krikzz is going to be making the SD2SNES boards, which was designed by ikari_01 from Germany. It's the most advance SNES flash card to date. And most expensive.

Obviously the Mega Everdrive will be a decent bit more expensive than the old ED-MD, so keep that in mind. For me I like the dual SD car slots, and the yet unseen new GUI. The EverdriveMD was pretty fast in terms of loading, and it's a testament to the completeness of that product, that it's still a worthy alternative.

[streetsofrage]

I'm surprised some guy in china didnt copy his desgin and release cheap knock offs

[NeoVamp]

I'm surprised some guy in china didnt copy his desgin and release cheap knock offs

Well its not even out yet, but I'm sure this too will be copied by China just like the Everdrive was.

[StoneAgeGamer]

Well its not even out yet, but I'm sure this too will be copied by China just like the Everdrive was.

Maybe, but KRIKzz has stated that both the EverDrive64 and the Mega EverDrive will have some type of anti-piracy ability. Obviously hardware can be cloned, but without software to run it then its useless. This was the issue with original ED-MD. He has FW and OS free to download and all they had to do was copy board and use his FW and OS.

[Chilly Willy]

That's the problem if you make a board too simple - it's too easy to copy. By using an FPGA to do everything, all the logic is in the FPGA, and you can set a security bit that prevents people from reading the FPGA programming. So they could copy the board, but without the programming for the FPGA, it would be fairly useless.

[Christuserloeser]

Well its not even out yet, but I'm sure this too will be copied by China just like the Everdrive was.

The Everdrive was copied ? Is there a link or something ? I never heard about that before.

[NeoVamp]

I remember there being a fuzz about some Asian guy copying the Everdrive and then later becoming the official Everdrive distributor in China or something,

Is my mind failing me here? it's been a rough year..

[SEGA.GENESIS1989]

Neovamp, I think early to mid last year someone actually posted on the forums that the device was copied. I remember seeing that post as well.

[TmEE]

it won't take much to copy the FPGA board, you only need exact same chip though. CPLD has internal configuration that cannot be read out, FPGAs are all requiring external configs which can be intercepted and stored elsewhere and used as is. FPGA makes the board more expensive and possibly less attractive for a pirate.
I certainly like the FPGA board myself, lot of power in there.

[StoneAgeGamer]

The Everdrive was copied ? Is there a link or something ? I never heard about that before.

I can't get into all the specific details, but it was pirated. KRIKzz came to an agreement with the guy who pirated that he would only sell it in China.

The Chinese version is an older PCB and KRIKzz offers no support to customers who buy this version. I also do not think newer firmware works on this version either. Although KRIKzz says he is a official re-seller on his site, its more of a gray market item since he offers no support for the Chinese version. Obviously KRIKzz was backed into a corner. He technically could not stop the guy from selling them, but luckily the guy was "nice" enough to abide by some rules. How much he abides by them though is not known.

I think this was a big reason why KRIKzz started working on the Mega EverDrive. Genesis/MD is his favorite system and there are threats of the ED-MD becoming pirated in the future as well since it has no anti-piracy protection. Although he will continue to make both products maybe he felt if the ED-MD pirates get out of hand he still has a better product to fall back on that is harder to pirate.

[NeoVamp]

I think this was a big reason why KRIKzz started working on the Mega EverDrive.

Actually it was because I threatened to chop his nuts off if he didn't make a cart that could run those 10mb MK hacks.

[Chilly Willy]

Actually it was because I threatened to chop his nuts off if he didn't make a cart that could run those 10mb MK hacks.

Why would you want a cart that held 10 milli-bits?? :confused:

[NeoVamp]

I'm a rebel, I refuse to remember the correct meanings of MB/Mb/mB/mb/etc.

A rebel! or just plain lazy.

[Chilly Willy]

I'm a rebel, I refuse to remember the correct meanings of MB/Mb/mB/mb/etc.

A rebel! or just plain lazy.

Hehehe - I know what you meant, but I just GOTTA razz people over that. It's particularly important on older consoles where games are often given in Mb instead of MB. Of course, as a programmer, I don't cotton to all that MiB/KiB shit that mathematicians are trying to force on programmers. If they can't remember the basic unit is 1024 instead of 1000, they can go suck it. :p NO ONE was confused by the difference in units... except maybe them. To arbitrarily change well established units and symbols without input from the people affected rankled most programmers. So I refuse to EVER use the units they came up with.

[Lastcallhall]

Hehehe - I know what you meant, but I just GOTTA razz people over that. It's particularly important on older consoles where games are often given in Mb instead of MB. Of course, as a programmer, I don't cotton to all that MiB/KiB shit that mathematicians are trying to force on programmers. If they can't remember the basic unit is 1024 instead of 1000, they can go suck it. :p NO ONE was confused by the difference in units... except maybe them. To arbitrarily change well established units and symbols without input from the people affected rankled most programmers. So I refuse to EVER use the units they came up with.

"You must spread around some rep, yadda yadda yadda..."

Just want to say AMEN!

[sega16]

If they can't remember the basic unit is 1024 instead of 1000, they can go suck it. :p
Tell that to all the sd card manufacturers I hate it when I go buy an sd card and in tiny microscopic print is says 1=kilobyte=1000bytes it is 1024 not 1000 why do they have to be so cheap and scam me out of 500 megabytes when I buy an 8gb sd card

[Chilly Willy]

Tell that to all the sd card manufacturers I hate it when I go buy an sd card and in tiny microscopic print is says 1=kilobyte=1000bytes it is 1024 not 1000 why do they have to be so cheap and scam me out of 500 megabytes when I buy an 8gb sd card

That's marketing, and they aren't confused at all - they are following the old principle that "bigger is better" even if it just SOUNDS bigger. It's exactly the same reason old cart were measured in Mb instead of MB - it sounded bigger, so it sells better. The "solution" isn't to make up new units that go against industry standard, it's to enforce existing laws about deceptive advertising. Has defining new units solved the problem with marked drive capacity? Hell no! All it's done is confuse people even more.

If anything, I see the new units as an excuse to get the advertisers out of trouble with the law - "Sorry, Your Honor, but TECHNICALLY speaking our ads are right - people are just thinking of the wrong units!" So instead of making things better, they've eliminated the ability to get rid of deceptive ads since they are now TECHNICALLY okay. It's YOUR FAULT for not knowing the difference between GB and GiB.

[AlecRob]

I'll totally be selling my Everdrive MD deluxe and ordering this if this has netplay! *excited*

[StoneAgeGamer]

Mega EverDrive (Deluxe Edition) pre-order starts Sunday, March 4th, 2012 at 12:00PM EST (noon). Pre-orders will be limited to only 35 units. Once those are sold, that's it. No more pre-ordering and you will have to wait until they go up for normal sale. The Mega EverDrive PCBs should be shipping from Ukraine any day now. We expect to ship pre-orders early April. However it may happen a little earlier or later than that.

Please visit the Mega EverDrive (Deluxe Edition) page to go over Pre-order Agreement and other things so you are prepared Saturday to order quickly.

http://stoneagegamer.com/mega_everdrive_deluxe.aspx

[NeoVamp]

209 Dollars.. I'm.. I'm normally the kind of person who jumps on this stuff right away, but 209 is steep even for me.

No, guess I'll pass.. shame.

[Melf]

OMG, I'm so tempted to buy this, but I don't get paid until the 15th!

[Benjamin]

That's what credit cards are for. :) I'm getting it for the save state feature alone. That cures the biggest headache playing older games now that I don't have time to devote hours and days to replaying and mastering. Just need to decide upon a color.

[Dirk Funk]

The Loading speed of the current unit is not a problem for me at all. . . it takes like 15 seconds to erase and flash a new game.

Netplay and save states. . . these weren't available in Genesis games to begin with.

Meh. . . I'm content with the current model.

[Barone]

Save states will. In the very first demo by KRIKzz it was already working...

What's up with some people in this thread? Just read the fucking list with attention, geez!

[TrekkiesUnite118]

I'm kind of tempted on this too, but I'm not sure if I'd want this or if I'd rather go with the NeoMyth one. While this one says it might add FM emulation for Master System games in the future, the NeoMyth has the actual chip built in. Though this does support larger Roms and has the possibility for emulators.

Decisions, decisions...

[sheath]

I have always been against save states, I only use them for longer games that should have had saves of some sort anyway. Actually, I don't use them at all. Save states are cheats and nothing more.

[Lastcallhall]

Yeah, while this all sounds incredible with regard to what it can do for the Genesis (and the SNES with it's counterpart), I think I'll skip this one. Save states aren't that big of a deal to me - like sheath said, they're used to cheat more often than not - and I can get by without playing (i.e. not pay for) a hacked Mortal Kombat. Netplay? Meh, I've always been a lone gamer. FM support? Never had it so why bother? Don't get me wrong, for the right person this is the Rolls Royce of Genesis flash carts, but it's just not for me.

[Benjamin]

I agree that save state usage can't be entirely considered normal play, but it's hardly the same as taking a Game Genie and altering the game's mechanics with infinite lives and such, though I'd also agree that you can't say you've beaten a game until you've played it without any such enhancements as well. It's still a great feature for when you want to play through a tough game without having to start from the very beginning on death or to revisit later levels when no stage select is present without having to play through an entire game from scratch. It's great to see such modern features being made possible while playing on the actual console.

The netplay feature sounds nice to me in practice, but with so few units in circulation in this initial batch, I have to wonder how useful it would be. Having to leech a connection my running a cable from the cartridge's USB port to an Internet connected PC seems fairly clunky as well.

[Black_Tiger]

Save states are great for pausing a long game like RPGs when you are short on time, so you can jump back in at the same spot next time you play.

[Barone]

Also for games using passwords... Or old games that don't save highscores like Super Hang On and so many others...

Save states are also great for hack/homebrew testing purposes.

[slobu]

The selling points that would get me to bite are up in the air.

"Larger ROMs" doesn't mean my Retrode backup of Pier Solar will work.
"Emulators for earlier systems" tells me nothing about WHAT systems and WHEN.

[Melf]

Save states are great for pausing a long game like RPGs when you are short on time, so you can jump back in at the same spot next time you play.

THIS.


Also for games using passwords... Or old games that don't save highscores like Super Hang On and so many others...


AND THIS.

I don't think I can play older RPGs with the standard "die in a dungeon and go back to your last save all the way back in town" dynamic anymore. I simply don't have the time or the patience for it. It's wonderful to be able to just save a state and shut the game off, and then come back and pick up right where I was. And passwords can just GTFO. Go back and play King's Bounty using the password only. :censored:

I don't have any plans to load this thing up with ROMS. I just want it for import RPGs and homebrew titles (I can't wait to play Chilly Willy's Wolfenstein 3D!). All other games stay on cart for me.

[StoneAgeGamer]

Save States are a done deal. He has already demoed them working.

There is nothing wrong with waiting and seeing what other features get released in the future either. $210 isn't cheap, but the price is what it is. Its a niche market item. The board is expensive and a lot of work goes into Deluxe Edition (not to mention the boards). There is always board only option as well, which I think will be around $150 from Retrogate. We probably won't bother with Board Only off the bat because supplies will be limited and we would prefer to reserve those for Deluxe.

Also there is nothing wrong with original EverDrive-MD. This isn't replacing that product, its just the Cadillac version for people who are into that. KRIKzz has stated he has always wanted to make ultimate Genesis/MD flash cart so he did. There are still many features that will be implemented over time. Some may not make the cut, but there may be others he hasn't even considered that will.

Pier Solar will not work. They implemented their own protection against this. Which is good, because I wouldn't want it to. The MegaED can handle games up to 80mbit. KRIKzz already demoed playing hacked versions of UMK3.

[slobu]

Someone else deciding what personal backup I can and cannot load onto my personal property is a deal breaker. I respect StoneAgeGamers right to submit to such draconian measures though.

What are the proposed ideas for emulators? Anyone have more info on this potential feature?

[sega16]

Pier Solar will not work. They implemented their own protection against this. Which is good, because I wouldn't want it to. The MegaED can handle games up to 80mbit. KRIKzz already demoed playing hacked versions of UMK3.
I hope you mean that Pier Solar has protection and not The Everdrive because if it could prevent one game from working then it could stop another game for silly reasons as in someone doesn't like it and we don't want that.

[Televator]

I definitely wanna wait and see what this bad boy is capable of before I'd potentially drop 210 bucks on it. I'm tempted, but that lure has to dance a little more before I bite. :p

[Assman]

Someone else deciding what personal backup I can and cannot load onto my personal property is a deal breaker. I respect StoneAgeGamers right to submit to such draconian measures though.


I hope you mean that Pier Solar has protection and not The Everdrive because if it could prevent one game from working then it could stop another game for silly reasons as in someone doesn't like it and we don't want that.

The developers of Pier Solar implemented copy protection on their own game, not Krikzz or Stone Age Gamer. No one is making arbitrary decisions to keep you from playing the games you want to play.

Anyway, I got antsy and pre-ordered one of these. I probably should've waited to hear about the board-only release from Retrogate, since as nice as a professionally made cart case, clamshell and all that are, I don't really need them, but oh well; it's done.

[StoneAgeGamer]

Someone else deciding what personal backup I can and cannot load onto my personal property is a deal breaker. I respect StoneAgeGamers right to submit to such draconian measures though.

I think you misunderstood what I said or are confused. First I don't develop the PCB, KRIKzz does so if any restrictions were implemented then it would be his decision.

Secondly I didn't say KRIKzz implemented any restriction because he doesn't even have to. Pier Solar has its own protection. Now if KRIKzz told me tomorrow "I figured out how to break Pier Solar protection, should I put this on Mega EverDrive?" I would say "Hell no". Not because I want to stop someone like you who has a legit copy, but this is a niche community and I don't want to step on someone else's feet when they are release an amazing games like Pier Solar for system long abandoned by its creator.

Just to be clear KRIKzz never has said anything like that. He has expressed to me that he is also happy Pier Solar has this protection since its still (as he put it) an "alive" game.

[slobu]

I think you misunderstood what I said or are confused. First I don't develop the PCB, KRIKzz does so if any restrictions were implemented then it would be his decision.

Secondly I didn't say KRIKzz implemented any restriction because he doesn't even have to. Pier Solar has its own protection. Now if KRIKzz told me tomorrow "I figured out how to break Pier Solar protection, should I put this on Mega EverDrive?" I would say "Hell no". Not because I want to stop someone like you who has a legit copy, but this is a niche community and I don't want to step on someone else's feet when they are release an amazing games like Pier Solar for system long abandoned by its creator.

Just to be clear KRIKzz never has said anything like that. He has expressed to me that he is also happy Pier Solar has this protection since its still (as he put it) an "alive" game.

That's about as good as a clarification as one can expect. As long as KRIKzz hardware isn't supporting copy protection he can have his own opinions.

Back to my question: anyone have any idea what the "emulators" possible feature is?

[StoneAgeGamer]

Back to my question: anyone have any idea what the "emulators" possible feature is?

Yes. The FPGA on the MegaED is pretty powerful. The idea is to emulate other systems such as the NES on the FPGA. I know KRIKzz has been working on a NES emulator for the MegaED. I am unsure if or when it will be completed. He has also expressed interest in a 2600 emulator and possibly some other First and Second generation systems.

Before anyone asks, no he can't do a Game Gear emulator. He has already expressed its not possible since the Genesis VDP can't show Game Gear colors.

[sega16]

Secondly I didn't say KRIKzz implemented any restriction because he doesn't even have to. Pier Solar has its own protection
Oh ok sorry about that yes I was confused I thought you meant the everdrive has protection but it is peir solar and I think it is good that people can't pirate peir solar.

[Barone]

He has also expressed interest in a 2600 emulator
That would be awesome. Pitfall, River Raid, Pole Position, Enduro, Beamrider... All those great games and memories on the Mega drive? Jawsome.

[SEGA.GENESIS1989]

Yes. The FPGA on the MegaED is pretty powerful. The idea is to emulate other systems such as the NES on the FPGA. I know KRIKzz has been working on a NES emulator for the MegaED. I am unsure if or when it will be completed. He has also expressed interest in a 2600 emulator and possibly some other First and Second generation systems.

Before anyone asks, no he can't do a Game Gear emulator. He has already expressed its not possible since the Genesis VDP can't show Game Gear colors.

If KRIKZZ is working on a NES emulator for the Mega Everdrive, I would definitely be interested in picking up this device.

On a related note, I always known that it isn't possible to emulate Game Gear games on the Genesis. But I've always wondered whether it was possible to emulate/play Game Gear games on the SEGA Master System and if so, why hasn't a converter been created to play Game Gear games on the Master System?

[Lastcallhall]

If KRIKZZ is working on a NES emulator for the Mega Everdrive, I would definitely be interested in picking up this device.

On a related note, I always known that it isn't possible to emulate Game Gear games on the Genesis. But I've always wondered whether it was possible to emulate/play Game Gear games on the SEGA Master System and if so, why hasn't a converter been created to play Game Gear games on the Master System?

Not possible. The GG had a palette of 4096 colors with 32 on screen at once. By comparison the Master System had a palette of 64 colors with 32 on screen at once.

[TmEE]

One can always drop the LSB and have stuff work, you will lose some color fidelity but it will look much nicer than those GG to SMS ports.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

I thought the Game Gear had a palette of 512 colors, not 4096.

[Guntz]

He has also expressed interest in a 2600 emulator

Last I checked, good 2600 emulation needed a really powerful CPU, since so many games require every last ounce of what the 2600 was capable of (both it's flexibility and flaws). So unless the Mega Everdrive itself emulated the 2600, I can imagine the emulation would be shoddy.

[Lastcallhall]

One can always drop the LSB and have stuff work, you will lose some color fidelity but it will look much nicer than those GG to SMS ports.

There's that...


I thought the Game Gear had a palette of 512 colors, not 4096.

http://www.giantbomb.com/sega-master-system/60-8/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_game_console_palettes

[Chilly Willy]

Last I checked, good 2600 emulation needed a really powerful CPU, since so many games require every last ounce of what the 2600 was capable of (both it's flexibility and flaws). So unless the Mega Everdrive itself emulated the 2600, I can imagine the emulation would be shoddy.

It's easy to do a 6502 in an FPGA. The TIA would be the part needing the most work. Most older processors (including the 68000) already have public implementations for popular FPGAs (done as verilog or VHDL code). You can find 6502, Z80, 68000, MIPS, x86 (older versions like 8086, not new versions)...

[sega16]

Are we going to be able to use the fgpa in our programs? I relay hope so just imagine all the stuff we could high quality 3d on the genesis imagine that.....

[StoneAgeGamer]

Last I checked, good 2600 emulation needed a really powerful CPU, since so many games require every last ounce of what the 2600 was capable of (both it's flexibility and flaws). So unless the Mega Everdrive itself emulated the 2600, I can imagine the emulation would be shoddy.

Of course it would be the Mega EverDrive's FPGA doing the emulation as I already stated regarding the possible NES emulator.

[Lastcallhall]

For those interested:

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?36123-Mega-EverdDrive&p=571313&viewfull=1#post571313

[Barone]

What is more appealing to me is the implementation of Korean and Codemasters mappers for the SMS games. There are so many, SO MANY, interesting Korean dumps that I'd like to try...

[Cholkavich]

THIS.



AND THIS.

I don't think I can play older RPGs with the standard "die in a dungeon and go back to your last save all the way back in town" dynamic anymore. I simply don't have the time or the patience for it. It's wonderful to be able to just save a state and shut the game off, and then come back and pick up right where I was. And passwords can just GTFO. Go back and play King's Bounty using the password only. :censored:


This exaclty! I love kings bounty but fuuuuuuuuuuu i hate the stupid password system

[cowboyscowboys]

If you purchase one of the "stripped" down versions of these Mega Everdrive's does this SD card work I am technologically impaired for the most part. If this won't work can anyone link me to one that will.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/200732154341?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

[cowboyscowboys]

http://tinyurl.com/85kvvqh Will this SDcard work with the Mega Everdrive? I am technologically impaired. I want to buy a stripped down version of the Mega Everdrive save $$$ so if this is wrong can someone link me to one that would work thanks.

[sheath]

Yes, that's the kind of card you need, at least it's the same kind as all of the other Everdrives.

[StoneAgeGamer]

The Mega EverDrive has both a normal SD card slot and a microSD card slot. So if you are someone who just loads all ROMs and never messes with it again then microSD may be the way to go because it will require less modification to the cart shell.

[StoneAgeGamer]

Mega EverDrive (Deluxe Edition) [PITCH BLACK]

4744

4743

4745

4742

[StoneAgeGamer]

Mega EverDrive (Deluxe Edition) [FIRE RED]

4749

4746

4748

4747

[Archer]

I really can't wait to order a red one I don't mind waiting, but do you have a date of when a (pre)order can be made?

Also some technical questions:
- is there technical documentation? (like a memory map, usage of the usb port, access SD-cards)
- Can a "game" access the extra RAM after it has been loaded to write stuff there? Unpacked sprites, larger level data?

The MEGA Everdrive will be my development cartridge and i have some plans for it. I originaly was thinking about buying loads of RAM and FLASH to build something my self, but then i read about the MEGA Everdrive i decided to wait.

I plan to pickup my SuperTux MD project again when i get it.

[sheath]

I like to use a regular SD card so I can load homebrew ROMs when they pop up.

Also, I asked this question somewhere else and it got swallowed up in the mist of unsearchable posts. Can the FPGA eventually emulate the 32X?

[StoneAgeGamer]

I really can't wait to order a red one I don't mind waiting, but do you have a date of when a (pre)order can be made?

Also some technical questions:
- is there technical documentation? (like a memory map, usage of the usb port, access SD-cards)
- Can a "game" access the extra RAM after it has been loaded to write stuff there? Unpacked sprites, larger level data?

The MEGA Everdrive will be my development cartridge and i have some plans for it. I originaly was thinking about buying loads of RAM and FLASH to build something my self, but then i read about the MEGA Everdrive i decided to wait.

I plan to pickup my SuperTux MD project again when i get it.

I don't supply any technical documentation, but I think KRIKzz plans to. There is section in manual about home brew, but it doesn't get technical:

Homebrew Development

USB Port allows the user to load the ROM file from a PC to cart memory and then run it. This is much quicker and easier than transferring to SD card for testing and debugging.

The USB port also allows the transfer of data back and forth between the PC and homebrew software.

Homebrew software can load its own customized firmware into the FPGA.

[StoneAgeGamer]

I like to use a regular SD card so I can load homebrew ROMs when they pop up.

Also, I asked this question somewhere else and it got swallowed up in the mist of unsearchable posts. Can the FPGA eventually emulate the 32X?

I asked KRIKzz this and he said the FPGA may be able to emulate, he's not sure, but it really doesn't matter because you still need AV in/out that the 32X has, which obviously the cart doesn't have. So he said he doesn't believe there is anyway to do this. So unless someone can provide a way to make it possible through the Genesis/MD AV port then there is no way to do it at this time.

[StoneAgeGamer]

Mega EverDrive (Deluxe Edition) [BLIZZARD WHITE]

4795

4794

4796

4793

[sheath]

I asked KRIKzz this and he said the FPGA may be able to emulate, he's not sure, but it really doesn't matter because you still need AV in/out that the 32X has, which obviously the cart doesn't have. So he said he doesn't believe there is anyway to do this. So unless someone can provide a way to make it possible through the Genesis/MD AV port then there is no way to do it at this time.

The A/V Out! Urgh I hate it when I ask questions I already know the answer to.

[David J.]

I'll get one of these some day, for now I'll enjoy my reg Everdrive. :D

[Archer]

I don't supply any technical documentation, but I think KRIKzz plans to. There is section in manual about home brew, but it doesn't get technical:

Homebrew Development

USB Port allows the user to load the ROM file from a PC to cart memory and then run it. This is much quicker and easier than transferring to SD card for testing and debugging.

The USB port also allows the transfer of data back and forth between the PC and homebrew software.

Homebrew software can load its own customized firmware into the FPGA.

I did read that section in the manual and that is why i asked for more documentation on how to use it. I did not expect you to supply the technical documentation your self, that is of course up to KRIKzz. I was just asking if it was available. I would also like to know when you expect we can make a (pre)order. Don't mind waiting for the cart itself, as long as my order is in the queue :D

[Assman]

I did read that section in the manual and that is why i asked for more documentation on how to use it. I did not expect you to supply the technical documentation your self, that is of course up to KRIKzz. I was just asking if it was available. I would also like to know when you expect we can make a (pre)order. Don't mind waiting for the cart itself, as long as my order is in the queue :D

The pre-orders started about a month ago. They were limited to 35 and are already gonna start shipping out pretty soon. You can still place an order for the next batch, though, as far as I know.

http://stoneagegamer.com/mega_everdrive_deluxe.aspx

[StoneAgeGamer]

I did read that section in the manual and that is why i asked for more documentation on how to use it. I did not expect you to supply the technical documentation your self, that is of course up to KRIKzz. I was just asking if it was available. I would also like to know when you expect we can make a (pre)order. Don't mind waiting for the cart itself, as long as my order is in the queue :D

Looks like he has begun adding information for homebrewers: http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?38350-Homebrew-development-with-MegaEverdrive

[Archer]

Looks like he has begun adding information for homebrewers: http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?38350-Homebrew-development-with-MegaEverdrive
Sorry for the late response.

Good to know all the hardware will be available for homebrew. Thanks for sharing.

[cowboyscowboys]

Anyone buy one of these "stripped" down Mega Everdrive's. I bought mine from Retrogate.com and then bought a 16G SD Card from eBay. In short I don't have a f'in clue but I am doing something wrong. It says I need to put MEGAOS.BIN in--> /MEGA/folder that must be located in root of SD card. WTF? I can get the MEGAOS.BIN from Krizz website but I have no clue about this /MEGA/folder in the root of the SD card.

[Assman]

Anyone buy one of these "stripped" down Mega Everdrive's. I bought mine from Retrogate.com and then bought a 16G SD Card from eBay. In short I don't have a f'in clue but I am doing something wrong. It says I need to put MEGAOS.BIN in--> /MEGA/folder that must be located in root of SD card. WTF? I can get the MEGAOS.BIN from Krizz website but I have no clue about this /MEGA/folder in the root of the SD card.

It seems like the ED would automatically create those folders on the SD card when you fire it up, but I got the deluxe version from Stone Age Gamer that already had the card setup with all the folders it uses, so I don't know for sure, especially if it can't find the OS.

Just create a new folder on your SD card, name it "MEGA" and put the OS in it. I'd imagine that'll work fine.

[cowboyscowboys]

It seems like the ED would automatically create those folders on the SD card when you fire it up, but I got the deluxe version from Stone Age Gamer that already had the card setup with all the folders it uses, so I don't know for sure, especially if it can't find the OS.

Just create a new folder on your SD card, name it "MEGA" and put the OS in it. I'd imagine that'll work fine.

That's what I did I figure I got a jacked up SD card from eBay.

First thing I did was put the (straight out of the pastic) SD card in the Mega Everdrive and booted it up (I thought I needed to format it in the Everdrive). never worked. Then I made the Mega Folder and put in the MEGABO.BIN folder never worked. Then I just put in the MEGABO.BIN file without a folder never worked.

[Drakon]

I picked it up simply because it uses ram instead of flash so it'll basically last forever. I went for the retrogate model so I got it in some regular genesis cart case with holes cut in it. I removed the label and all is good:

http://imgboot.com/images/Drakon/genesisfromhell.jpg

I don't need it to fpga a 32x the real thing is just fine. But sega cd fpga I'd love to see simply because cds and cd drives break so easily. I'd also love to see the master system fm support get done and it probably could happen since there's audio pins on the cartridge slot (that's how the 32x mixes its audio). Here's a recording of a classic being played from the mega everdrive for anyone who's curious:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C34yavsK8gg

I highly recommend this cart. It's a flash cart for 3 systems (genesis, genesis compatible master system roms, 32x roms) and it potentially can do a whole lot more. Also I honestly didn't believe this kind of loading speed was possible until I saw it for myself.

[Greg2600]

Don't think you could ever run a CD game from a cart. How would it utilize the CD processing?

[sega16]

Lets just pretend that sometime down the road someone who does not want to pay $75 dollars for a flash cart comes along and offers a self programing genesis flash cart with high performance micro-controller maybe something like this: http://www.atmel.com/devices/AT32UC3A3256.aspx?tab=overview how would you mega drivers react? I know I would buy it.

[Drakon]

Don't think you could ever run a CD game from a cart. How would it utilize the CD processing?

fpga? But it's highly unlikely that would happen.

[Greg2600]

At that point, you're emulating the SEGA-CD on the FPGA, and just feeding it to the Genesis. Would prohibit CD sound though.

[Drakon]

blasphemy maybe the fpga could play..like...I dunno....mp3s? Although this's all highly unlikely. Master system FM on a fpga might be doable though.

[cleeg]

Just found out about this last night, I've ordered one from Retro Gate in (the?) Ukraine, looks pretty awesome. I'll now keep the old one with my Nomad, and one at home. Let's see if I can sneak it into the house unnoticed...

It's been posted to my Mum's house first, just for safety's sake. The new Retrode I bought was found out and declared an instant waste of money, which it was I already have the previous model which works fine. So I suppose this is too then.

At least I can save state the bonus rounds in S3&K now!

[keropi]

let's hope Krikzz makes some extras for the card now that TurboEverdrive is finished, I have the MegaED since ~1 month now and it's brilliant :)

[slobu]

It's all about the extras. Needing save states is an on-the-go thing. I can afford the time to play fair when at home so the standard EverDrive is more than enough. IF, however, someone puts an MSX emulator in there.. oooh man! That would be crazy good! By now there must be plenty of MSX cores to shoe in.

[Greg2600]

let's hope Krikzz makes some extras for the card now that TurboEverdrive is finished, I have the MegaED since ~1 month now and it's brilliant :)

He has said that is his plan. I would suspect Mega Everdrive and Everdrive64 will be his focus.

[Drakon]

Really the whole save-state thing was the last thing I could care about. I like the idea of it using a ram chip and being able to re-create the fm hardware from the master system.

[MEGADRIVE Jeroi]

The problem with me with mega everdrive is why not make new genesis hack all together and sell it 300$? A genny included internal memory and usb connection for external hard disk or usb stick and ethernet for hombrew netgame hacks and such would be cool.

[EclecticGroove]

The problem with me with mega everdrive is why not make new genesis hack all together and sell it 300$? A genny included internal memory and usb connection for external hard disk or usb stick and ethernet for hombrew netgame hacks and such would be cool.

What would all the people with real systems do then? The everdrive is nice specifically because it supports the actual hardware. If someone wanted something like you described they could build a mini PC with emulators easy enough on their own. Building another Genesis clone would probably cost a lot more than $300 a system for the low production run they needed due to research time and material costs. That's not even getting into licensing issues with Sega.

[MEGADRIVE Jeroi]

Well in this forum we have plenty tech people who knows how the machine works so there could be a joint venture to produce megadrive clone which is better than current clone systems. Also adding some everdrive features and cd combatibility like orginal systems. CD combatibility would be rather cheap to build as it dont need any extra connectors only drawing of expansion slot and chip that handles cd system. Also adding powerfull prosessor with usb and ethernet support might not be that expensive in hardware. Only thing is to build firmware for the system makes a lot of man hours. If there would be joint venture the coding part would become less hidious task. Plus Fonzie knows production firms in china so production would be cheaper than in eu or us. And as long as console is not named sega related but supports sega hardware I think there is no licencing problems because Sega has abandoned Genesis way back already. Tbh I am thinking why there is no developer from old days supplied to hombrew scene full developer manuals from 90's from Sega. Are all the game developer firms burned those or what?

Well I have every mega drive system that have been made and also 4 md2 and 3 md1 extra consoles and I would not mind to own proper clone box that has multiplayer possibilites and expanding megadrive games developing further a notch.

[moon]

Tbh I am thinking why there is no developer from old days supplied to hombrew scene full developer manuals from 90's from Sega. Are all the game developer firms burned those or what?

You mean manuals like this (http://nemesis.hacking-cult.org/MegaDrive/Documentation/GenesisSoftwareManual.pdf) one? ;)

[MEGADRIVER1]

How am I going to play with someone off the net? all my friends are in real and don't even play games much less sega megadrives.

[Barone]

Everdrive gives you games to play, not friends to play with. ;)

[Solkia]

Will japanese games still require a region mod to work with this?

[Assman]

Will japanese games still require a region mod to work with this?

It uses MegaKey to play ROMs from different regions, but it's hit or miss and won't work on everything. Some ROMs need to be hacked to change the region (you can use Game Genie codes for that too).

[Drakon]

Atleast until krikzz comes out with the Frienderdrive.


Everdrive gives you games to play, not friends to play with. ;)

Yes. I still have a little toggle switch in the back of my genesis that allows me to switch between japan and american regions. Sometimes I fire up a rom on the mega everdrive that gives me a region screen until I shut the system off and toggle the switch.


Will japanese games still require a region mod to work with this?

[cleeg]

EA Games GG Code Update:

I haven't done full testing, but this is what I have found so far...

Desert Strike: RH9T - 860E
Jungle Strike: R13B - 861A
Urban Strike: R12B - 860Y

All will allow in game menu to work, and allow game snap saves with the caveat that you save where there is no music playing. The game locks up shortly after loading if you do. I save at the start of missions where you are on the frigate.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Road Rash 3: R0TB - 86XJ

Works as with the Strike series above, a good place I have found to save is at the end of a race where one of the 'Rashers' is giving you some words of advice. Otherwise the music sounds a bit janky and the sound effects seemed to be on mute when I tested, but the game still plays.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope this is of help to someone.

Also, if anyone knows, will it ever be possible to save these codes to a ROM, and have them load automatically so the codes don't need entering each time?

Cheers.


There's more on this stuff here - http://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=339.msg3306#msg3306

[NeoVamp]

Also, if anyone knows, will it ever be possible to save these codes to a ROM, and have them load automatically so the codes don't need entering each time?


I've been meaning to ask the same thing to Krikkz for ages now, you should request this on his forum!
I mean the roms already load sram files, so why not simple text files that contain codes and a simple explanation what they do.

[Assman]

Also, if anyone knows, will it ever be possible to save these codes to a ROM, and have them load automatically so the codes don't need entering each time?

Look for a program called GGConverter. That'll actually patch the GG codes directly into the ROM to give you your own personal hacked version of the game. It would circumvent using one the Mega ED's neato features, but if you don't want to re-enter the same codes over and over again, that's the way to go.

It would be really nice if we could edit ROMs on the MED in the future. There's already a hex viewer, so why not a hex editor and a way to move/delete files from within the OS. I'd be all over that.


I've been meaning to ask the same thing to Krikkz for ages now, you should request this on his forum!
I mean the roms already load sram files, so why not simple text files that contain codes and a simple explanation what they do.

I always thought it'd be great to have a .txt file viewer just to make it easy to reference move lists, codes, walkthroughs and my "games to check out" lists. Again, we have already have the hex viewer, but I think a plain text viewer would be more useful for the average gamer.

[Saturn Fan]

So how reliable is the in-game menu system? As in, being able to select & load games right away without having to turn the system off first?

[Chilly Willy]

The in-game menu is about save states for the current game, not switching games. You need to reset to the main menu to switch games.

[Vector]

I have the Mega Everdrive, but I have a few questions.

1) How do I get .gym files or get them to play VG music, and are .gym files wavs ?
2) I heard I can play Video on Mega Everdrive even in my Genesis, is this true ?
3) I can't seem to figure out how to get my Sega CD or ISOs to work with the Mega Everdrive.

This question is for my friend, he wants the cheaper Everdrive MD, does that play 32 x games, it doesn't say it does. He just wants the cheaper board that can play Master System, Genesis (supposedly it plays 32 x) games. If EverDrive MD can do all that in a USA system, maybe I should have just got that and not Mega EverDrive.

Edit : It doesn't say that EverDrive MD plays 32 x games here :
http://shop.retrogate.com/Everdrive-MD-EDMD.htm

[sheath]

My regular Everdrive plays 32X games and loads games with the 32X hooked up and it is one of the earliest revisions.

[Vector]

My regular Everdrive plays 32X games and loads games with the 32X hooked up and it is one of the earliest revisions.

EverDrive MD or Mega EverDrive ? That's the problem, most aren't specific. But I'm assuming you are talking about EverDrive MD as that was earliest (with loading into flash load times), if so, thank you for answer. However I would like somebody to answer my Mega EverDrive questions too.

[sheath]

It is called the Everdrive MD now just because there are so many Everdrives for various platforms now. Originally it was just called Everdrive as it was the first flashcart Krikzz made/sold and it was for the MD/Genesis. I don't own a Mega Everdrive, it's too expensive and I don't care for the new features.

[Vector]

It is called the Everdrive MD now just because there are so many Everdrives for various platforms now. Originally it was just called Everdrive as it was the first flashcart Krikzz made/sold and it was for the MD/Genesis.


Okay, thank you. Do you mind the load flash times ? You notice any game besides Virtua Racing 16-bit that don;t work ? Can EverDrive MD access Sega CD like Mega EverDrive ?



I don't own a Mega Everdrive, it's too expensive and I don't care for the new features.

Okay cool. I think it's great.

[NeoVamp]

I have the Mega Everdrive, but I have a few questions.

1) How do I get .gym files or get them to play VG music, and are .gym files wavs ?
2) I heard I can play Video on Mega Everdrive even in my Genesis, is this true ?
3) I can't seem to figure out how to get my Sega CD or ISOs to work with the Mega Everdrive.

This question is for my friend, he wants the cheaper Everdrive MD, does that play 32 x games, it doesn't say it does. He just wants the cheaper board that can play Master System, Genesis (supposedly it plays 32 x) games. If EverDrive MD can do all that in a USA system, maybe I should have just got that and not Mega EverDrive.

Edit : It doesn't say that EverDrive MD plays 32 x games here :
http://shop.retrogate.com/Everdrive-MD-EDMD.htm

1. You get gym files by downloading them from the Internet, they are just files, and no they are not wav files, more like.. well.. kinda like midi files.
2. Yes and No, the video you saw playing was actually just an enormous slideshow of images taken from a video, which is technically what a video file is, but its not an avi or mpeg, its a collection of images.
(for a good one try the rickroll "video" which can be downloaded here. (http://www.zephoidgaming.net/rickroll.zip)

3. To access your Sega CD/Mega CD you have to have the Sega CD bios files on your SD card, by running one of these it will start your CD system with that bios.
You can not run iso files from your Mega Everdrive, right now it is not supported and there's a very big chance that it never will be possible.

I'm pretty sure the regular Everdrive runs 32X roms, the other flashcarts did and I doubt Krikkz would release one that can't even run 32X.

So to your friend I would say :

Mega Everdrive is an amazing cart if you love to tinker with your Sega, it allows you to savestate/run gym music/run 10M roms/instant loading etc,
but if you just want to play the games then a normal Everdrive will do just fine.

[netpredakonn]

Yep, it does run 32x games. All of them. As someone said above, I can't see the point in buying a Mega Everdrive. Everdrive MD can play all the games, except Virtua Racing, and suits me very well.

[sheath]

Okay, thank you. Do you mind the load flash times ? You notice any game besides Virtua Racing 16-bit that don;t work ? Can EverDrive MD access Sega CD like Mega EverDrive ?


The Everdrive MD is one of the faster loading Everdrives available, I don't mind the load times at all. We are talking about less than 20 seconds max I think. Yes, the current Everdrive MDs can load Sega/Mega CD BIOS and you can play games from there from multiple regions.

[villahed94]

1. You get gym files by downloading them from the Internet, they are just files, and no they are not wav files, more like.. well.. kinda like midi files.
2. Yes and No, the video you saw playing was actually just an enormous slideshow of images taken from a video, which is technically what a video file is, but its not an avi or mpeg, its a collection of images.
(for a good one try the rickroll "video" which can be downloaded here. (http://www.zephoidgaming.net/rickroll.zip)

3. To access your Sega CD/Mega CD you have to have the Sega CD bios files on your SD card, by running one of these it will start your CD system with that bios.
You can not run iso files from your Mega Everdrive, right now it is not supported and there's a very big chance that it never will be possible.

I'm pretty sure the regular Everdrive runs 32X roms, the other flashcarts did and I doubt Krikkz would release one that can't even run 32X.

So to your friend I would say :

Mega Everdrive is an amazing cart if you love to tinker with your Sega, it allows you to savestate/run gym music/run 10M roms/instant loading etc,
but if you just want to play the games then a normal Everdrive will do just fine.

Something curious about these video ROMs is that they somehow play just fine , with little stuttering on a Model 2 or a Model 3 but stutter a lot on earlier Model 1s and pretty much any discrete YM2612 powered system..

I wonder if the Mega ED can play VGMs because I haven't been able to play one....

[Joe Redifer]

Mega ED cannot play VGM or GYM. Well it can kind of play GYM but it's pretty awful. You can download VGMs and convert them into a ROM which will run fine on ED or Mega ED.

[villahed94]

Mega ED cannot play VGM or GYM. Well it can kind of play GYM but it's pretty awful. You can download VGMs and convert them into a ROM which will run fine on ED or Mega ED.

Ah, OK. Thanks.

[Vector]

Ah, OK. Thanks.

Thank you NeoVamp, sheath, netpredakonn and everyone else I appreciate the answers, I'll let him know. Amazing the EverDrive MD can play everything AND you can put Sega CD bios on it (I guess to play Sega CD games/cd-r from ED MD ?).

The Mega EverDrive though has virtually no loading time when playing games and you don't have to turn everything off just to start a new game, just hit start>menu>games and you can do other stuff (although I don't know how ha ha).

I'm sure one day the Mega EverDrive will be able to play ISOs.

I will d/l this Rick Roll "video" guy posted, but is there a youtube video showing a "video" playing on Genesis or a explanation how to get it to work ? If it's a gym not avi I'd like to know how to create or convert such videos.

Edit : I got 2 things to say about that Rick Roll video (I know it's a bin but it was previously a gym ?).
1st, that was the worst looking "video" I ever saw, worse than the earliest FMV MPEG - but still cool to see Genesis do it.
2nd, that was some of the clearest audio that ever came out my Genesis. If that was a gym or ftm, it is very clear.
Amazing how they figured out how to get music videos on Genesis now and the audio is crisp out of my JVC model 1 chip, is there any more videos like this or a list of videos or gyms music I can d/l at a site ? What are "VGMs" and where do I get VGMs to Rom/bin converter ?

[Vector]

Do I tell my friend EverDrive MD can't save states or load states ?

[NeoVamp]

Amazing the EverDrive MD can play everything AND you can put Sega CD bios on it (I guess to play Sega CD games/cd-r from ED MD ?).
I don't know what that means, but I do know one thing, you won't be able to play Sega CD games directly from the flashcart,
it will only load the bios file so you can make your Sega CD/Mega CD act like its from another region, to play CD games you will still need the game on CD.


I'm sure one day the Mega EverDrive will be able to play ISOs.
Lets hope so, It would be awesome.


I will d/l this Rick Roll "video" guy posted, but is there a youtube video showing a "video" playing on Genesis or a explanation how to get it to work?
If it's a gym not avi I'd like to know how to create or convert such videos.


Here ya go : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfkDZurZllg
And Gym files are not video's, they are more like midi's.
And I don't know how to create such files, I remember Krikkz once telling me that they are just fast slideshows, and I guess unless you know how to program its kinda difficult to make these yourself without a specialized tool.



Edit : I got 2 things to say about that Rick Roll video (I know it's a bin but it was previously a gym ?).

Why would it have been a Gym file? because it contains sound? that's just raw audio data not Gym music.


1st, that was the worst looking "video" I ever saw, worse than the earliest FMV MPEG - but still cool to see Genesis do it.

Well with the palette limitation of the Genesis you won't be seeing anything better, so if your idea was to use this as a media player you're outa luck :D



2nd, that was some of the clearest audio that ever came out my Genesis. If that was a gym or ftm, it is very clear.
Amazing how they figured out how to get music videos on Genesis now and the audio is crisp out of my JVC model 1 chip,

Yeah that was probably just raw audio data, I remember reading a thread about how to best downsample wav audio to a point where it still comes out very clean on the actual console.
I once messed around with this basigaxor demo that used raw audio, replaced it with my own, cut off too early but was still nifty to see it running on my real Sega.


is there any more videos like this or a list of videos or gyms music I can d/l at a site ?
I don't know, other then Krikkz Simpson's clip I've never seen other Genesis video roms, (and no I don't know where to get that)
you could check youtube and see if they show off anything and perhaps post a link there.[/quote]


What are "VGMs" and where do I get VGMs to Rom/bin converter ?

VGM stands for Video Game Music, and I don't know where to get a convertor, never actually knew a converter existed so please do share if anyone knows of one.
Also Gym music files have somewhat changed over the years, some packs I downloaded wouldn't even run on my Mega Everdrive.



Do I tell my friend EverDrive MD can't save states or load states ?

Regular Everdrive MD does NOT allow you to use save states.

[NeoVamp]

Well it can kind of play GYM but it's pretty awful.

They sound pretty spot on on my setup, guess you just got some bad Gym's.

[sheath]

Just to clarify my point on loading Sega/Mega CD BIOS, it is only to allow other region disks to load. CDRs are a different matter, and the regular Everdrive won't let you load ISOs. Also, while the Everdrive doesn't have save states (thank goodness) it does allow for saving games that allowed that in the real cartridge, so like Sonic 3 or RPGs and whatnot can save. From what I can tell the saves go to the SD card so you can save as many games that natively support it as you like.

[Vector]

Just to clarify my point on loading Sega/Mega CD BIOS, it is only to allow other region disks to load. CDRs are a different matter, and the regular Everdrive won't let you load ISOs.

"Amazing the EverDrive MD can play everything AND you can put Sega CD bios on it (I guess to play Sega CD games/cd-r from ED MD"

I explained this better below.


I don't know what that means, but I do know one thing, you won't be able to play Sega CD games directly from the flashcart,it will only load the bios file so you can make your Sega CD/Mega CD act like its from another region, to play CD games you will still need the game on CD.

Yes I read ISOs or Sega CD games can't be played directly from EverDrive MD. All I meant was it's cool the EverDrive MD can let you put the various Sega CD bios on itself, so if you have a Sega CD plugged in and Sega CD game/cd-r ready to go, you can play the various games. (Japan bios to play Japan cd-r game off Sega CD). Sort of like :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zyjo5WY56sw


Why would it have been a Gym file? because it contains sound? that's just raw audio data not Gym music.

I don't know, I don't even really know what a gym is, just saw a guy on youtube playing VGM as gyms off his Mega EverDrive and thought that is only kind of audio it could play. I don't technically know what it is, bits of audio info directly from cart or somebody who recorded audio off Genesis as a wav, I have no idea. I don't know what "Raw Audio Data" is either, I guess you mean a wav that is downsized into a ROM/bin as it's audio? You are telling me that Rick Roll video is wav, and my Genesis is playing wav ? That's impressive. I don't know what kind of audio was inside Genesis carts or in current roms that is why I am asking about this. The Rick Roll "video" or frames played good on my model 1 Genesis (video looked like an ancestor format to even FMV ha) but sound was excellent.

Yeah my friend isn't going to like not loading save states so he might buy a Mega EverDrive aka "EverDrive Deluxe" as I hear some youtubers call it.

Thanks for replies so far.

A site selling Mega EverDrive said it has a audio player and video player, but if the Rick Roll or Simpsons rom/bin is only "video file" ever made then that is kind of false advertising esp if people don't know how to make those video roms with wav sound or whatever.

Edit : Okay I'll watch youtube video now, thanks.

[Vector]

Did some research on gym, vgm etc and found a site that archives Sega gyms and vgm, offers tutorials and has converter :

http://project2612.org/

"Welcome to Project2612, your one and only source on the web for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive VGM soundtracks. Our mission is to provide you with the most accurate, non-waveform reproduction of Sega Genesis/Sega Mega Drive music to date, using the VGM format. We currently have a total of 627 soundtrack sets, with every single known song (and even some hidden songs not used!) in these games.

The VGM Format originated on SMS Power!, and is actually multiplatform, but for this site's purposes, we'll be focusing solely on the Gen/MD and select games on a case-by-case basis for its derivatives, the 32X and the Sega/Mega CD. For more information, as well as all the formats VGM supports, you may visit SMS Power! by clicking on the above link.

You may be skeptical about the quality of the VGMs over formats such as GYM, GSR, or even MP3s, but with over 3049008 Downloads, how can you be wrong in giving it a shot? Best of all, VGM rips are so easy to do that even YOU can do it. That's right! You need no fancy coding knowledge. You don't need to know the drivers of the game. You don't need to go digging through the game ROM to find the data! All you need is a little patience, a lot of love, a pinch of nostalgia, and, of course, our tutorial, right in that navigation bar up there. It will teach you everything you need to know, from the programs used and proper tagging, to how to cleanly trim a song so it loops flawlessly, like all other songs on this site. :) Also, don't forget to join our forums and come chat in our chatroom, #Project2612.. We hope you enjoy your stay here, and do drop by often - we update all the time!"

[Vector]

I'm not sure how to play these vgms, my windows player, quicktime, Kega etc can't play them.

http://project2612.org/details.php?id=53

[sheath]

I use winamp and a gym plug in. I think Zophar's Domain used to have a good plug in.

[TmEE]

http://vgm.mdscene.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=112

[Vector]

Thank you sheath, you guys are the best. But I used this plug in with WinAmp and vgz don't work http://www.zophar.net/utilities/gym/ymamp.html but (these) gyms do :

http://www.emuparadise.me/roms/olddownload.php?&genmusic-sor1.rar

Great Sega music gym selection :

http://www.emuparadise.me/music/genesis.html

To be honest gyms sound pretty damn good like a mp4 or copressed wav.

[TmEE]

GYM is shit, use VGM instead + in_vgm plugin from the link I gave. GYM does not retain any timing info, while VGM does.

[Vector]

GYM is shit, use VGM instead + in_vgm plugin from the link I gave.


Will that play vgz ?


GYM does not retain any timing info, while VGM does.

Only audio scores I can find are gyms and vgz, but these gyms sound good. I really can't find a site that hosts many "vgms".

[evildragon]

Zophars domain.

[Chilly Willy]

Will that play vgz ?

Only audio scores I can find are gyms and vgz, but these gyms sound good. I really can't find a site that hosts many "vgms".

VGZ is 7zipped VGM. Most VGM players for the PC actually play either VGZ or VGM files. If you can only play VGM files (like the VGM player built into the NeoMyth flash cart), then just run the VGZ files through 7zip to unzip them to the original VGM file.

[muteKi]

Does anyone with an X'Eye know how to use one of these flash carts to play SMS games on it? I recall hearing that, due to a quirk in how the system reset works for the console, booting into SMS mode like that won't work. Did anyone ever develop a cart with workaround for that?

[Joe Redifer]

They sound pretty spot on on my setup, guess you just got some bad Gym's.
I downloaded some different ones and tried them out. Here's the verdict:

Castle of Illusion - Sounds nearly perfect.
Gunstar Heroes - Samples are all messed up which means the percussion and a lot of the other sounds in the music are wrong and sound HORRIBLE.
Herzog Zwei - Sounds much slower than the actual game. Maybe someone in PAL land ripped it? PAL people should not be allowed to make GYM and VGM files as they will sound too slow.
MUSHA - Sounds pretty close but the drums sound a bit off.
Streets of Rage - Sounds mostly fine until sampled sounds come on. The boss theme, for instance, sounds pretty messed up.
Super Hang-On - I think this one sounded OK except maybe the drums sounded different than they do in the real game.
Sword of Vermilion - Some tunes sounded fine. Others were all messed up. Play the song called "3D Mode". Nothing like the real thing.
Vapor Trail - All messed up and wrong. This uses a lot of samples as well.

Another alarming thing is that full GYM sets of only these 8 games takes up a whopping 130 MB of space! I have a ton of VGM-converted-to-ROM files, well over 150 Genesis and Master System games and that takes up 170MB. I can't imagine how big they'd be as GYM files.

[NeoVamp]

Another alarming thing is that full GYM sets of only these 8 games takes up a whopping 130 MB of space! I have a ton of VGM-converted-to-ROM files, well over 150 Genesis and Master System games and that takes up 170MB. I can't imagine how big they'd be as GYM files.

Yeah that's true, thats why I only have 3 game soundtracks on my SD card, they are just too big!

Can't say I noticed that the music sounded off, I blame yeaaaaaars of Heavy Metal.

[cowboyscowboys]

Anyone have advice where to get reliable games. I didn't realize .zip files wouldn't work and getting .bin files has been harder then I thought it would be. I have downloaded a mass .bin file of games only to have a good amount be Pal version and some flat out not work.

Also one of the main draws for me getting a Mega Everdrive was to play hacks
Mortak Kombat II Unlimited (I found a .bin file) Awesome game
Sonic 3 Complete can't find one
Streets of Rage 2 (Which allows you to dash and use Shiva)
Bare Knuckle 3 Translation
etc.

These are all easy to get .zip files but I want .bin ones.

[Assman]

Zip files? You know those are compressed archives and not the actual ROM files, right? Just right-click the zip folder and go to extract. You can also open the archive to see what's in it before you extract everything, and from there you can even drag the files out manually.

Sonic 3C can be found on Sonic Retro, by the way, and SoR Online has SoR hacks up the ass.

[cowboyscowboys]

Nope my technology IQ is real bad.

Fun note... I actually named my Mega Everdrive folder (Mega Folder). Instead of a folder named (Mega) smh at that one.

Forgot to say thanks though for the response.

[Assman]

Oh well, no problem, now you know. By the way, if you run into rar and 7z files, those work similarly (you need a program like WinRAR to open rar archives and 7-Zip for 7z ones). Those come up a lot when you're looking for games.

[NeoVamp]

Mortal Kombat II Unlimited (I found a .bin file) Awesome game

Make sure you have v1.0, its the best and final version!

[Vector]

Have a question for Mega EverDrive. If you don't have 32 x plugged into Genesis, you plug in ED in Genesis and you can play Master System games. Quesion is, because sms parts are in Genesis, can I put SG-1000 roms on ED and play SG-1000 games as well as master system and geneis games ?

[Chilly Willy]

Have a question for Mega EverDrive. If you don't have 32 x plugged into Genesis, you plug in ED in Genesis and you can play Master System games. Quesion is, because sms parts are in Genesis, can I put SG-1000 roms on ED and play SG-1000 games as well as master system and geneis games ?

No. SG-1000 games use TI video modes, which are NOT in the MD VDP, only the SMS video mode. The games work fine, but you see nothing at all on the screen.

[Vector]

Okay thanks Chilly.