Wolf32X - now at alpha 3! [Archive]

Chilly Willy

02-08-2009, 03:25 AM

Alpha 3 posted!

A = run
B = fire (enter if in menu)
C = strafe/open/operate (escape if in menu)

X = hold and press dpad for weapon change
Y = hold and press dpad up/down for cheat, left/right to change the view size
Z = menu/escape

Holding START while pressing A/B/C is the same as pressing X/Y/Z (for three button sticks). If it doesn't find a controller in port 1, it'll automatically use port 2.

New for Alpha 3: The view size now defaults to 256 wide. You can increase the view size with Start+B+Right/Y+Right, and decrease the view size with Start+B+Left/Y+Left.

EDIT 2009-02-09: Alpha 4 up. Digital sound effects now played.

Wolf32X-a3.zip (http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/2/3/2304902/Wolf32X-a3.zip)
Wolf32X-a4.zip (http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/2/3/2304902/Wolf32X-a4.zip)

kgenthe

02-08-2009, 12:59 PM

mick_aka

02-08-2009, 05:34 PM

If you got this finished and produced in a cart I would sell my soul for it!

Fantastic work, please keep it up!

EDIT: I think some serious rep votes in order here folks ;)

Chilly Willy

02-08-2009, 06:00 PM

I can't believe you are programming for the 32x, very very cool!

Have you tinkered around with the Sega CD at all? What I am getting at is releasing an ISO with your work. I would love to play this on actual hardware rather than on an emulator.

Yeah, right now you need something like the MD-Pro 32 or 64 flash cart to run this. I was thinking about it last night... I think I might be able to make this run as 32X CD. So after I get sound working on this cart version, I'll put together a 32X CD environment and start experimenting.

That will require more interaction between the two sides (32X / everything else). Right now, the Genesis only waits for the vertical bank, then reads the controllers and advances a count. The 32X does everything else. To make the 32X CD work, I'd need to have the Genesis side coordinate the passage of data via DMA from the CD to the 32X. I can do it, it's just more work.

lilmul123

02-08-2009, 06:26 PM

17daysolderthannes

02-08-2009, 07:44 PM

Is there any way we can support your efforts, monetary or otherwise? I suggested someone should try programming for the 32x a while ago, but I'm glad to see someone is finally actively working on the idea. Maybe now we can have a worthy port of Doom!

lol, that would be hilarious, every time people would start talking about SNES doom vs. 32X doom people would be like "yeah, but someone programmed a better version of Doom with way better sound than the SNES version" etc, etc.

Also, at Chilly Willy, if you feel up to it, you think you could make a Genesis ROM-> Sega CD ISO converter so you could boot Genesis games from a CD-R on a Sega CD sort of like a PSX ISO-> EBOOT maker does for PSP? That would be really nice for rare/expensive games and imports for those of us that don't have the proper computer interface to flash a Genesis flashcart and it would sure beat an emulator

Chilly Willy

02-08-2009, 08:43 PM

lol, that would be hilarious, every time people would start talking about SNES doom vs. 32X doom people would be like "yeah, but someone programmed a better version of Doom with way better sound than the SNES version" etc, etc.

Actually, I'm one of those who would love a better Doom conversion. Once I get Wolf3D working on 32X CD, I'll probably do some experimenting on that... see if I can't actually get that working. I believe with what I learned from this cart version of Wolf3D that I could recreate the cart version of Doom, but I'd rather have a CD version that could use the existing wad and patch wad files.

Also, at Chilly Willy, if you feel up to it, you think you could make a Genesis ROM-> Sega CD ISO converter so you could boot Genesis games from a CD-R on a Sega CD sort of like a PSX ISO-> EBOOT maker does for PSP? That would be really nice for rare/expensive games and imports for those of us that don't have the proper computer interface to flash a Genesis flashcart and it would sure beat an emulator

Hmm - I've done projects where I relocated ROMs to different locations (I made a loader that allowed you to use Amiga OS 1.1 on a 1.2/1.3 system - mainly so I could play Seven Cities of Gold on my 1.3 A500). This would be similar but with its own challenges. I'll do some research on it, but no promises. Clearly, carts larger than the SCD RAM would pose a big challenge.

havok666

02-08-2009, 08:45 PM

Yeah, right now you need something like the MD-Pro 32 or 64 flash cart to run this. I was thinking about it last night... I think I might be able to make this run as 32X CD. So after I get sound working on this cart version, I'll put together a 32X CD environment and start experimenting.

That will require more interaction between the two sides (32X / everything else). Right now, the Genesis only waits for the vertical bank, then reads the controllers and advances a count. The 32X does everything else. To make the 32X CD work, I'd need to have the Genesis side coordinate the passage of data via DMA from the CD to the 32X. I can do it, it's just more work.

Yes, making it 32X CD would be amazing.. I would love to run this on original hardware. As lilmul asked, if there is anything we can do to support your efforts, let us know.

Joe Redifer

02-08-2009, 09:28 PM

Clearly, carts larger than the SCD RAM would pose a big challenge.

Actually I believe the limit would be carts 2 megs in size or less because of the way the Sega CD memory is segmented or whatnot. That's not very many games.

Chilly Willy

02-08-2009, 10:20 PM

Actually I believe the limit would be carts 2 megs in size or less because of the way the Sega CD memory is segmented or whatnot. That's not very many games.

Well, you could always halt the main cpu while swapping blocks of data. It would be pretty jarring, but there really isn't too much else you can do with carts larger than available memory.

djtwok

02-09-2009, 05:28 AM

If you do a 32x cd version you may want to use the 3do soundtrack of wolf ? Also if you convert doom please use the awesome 3do or psone soundtrack.

Chilly Willy

02-09-2009, 07:44 AM

Alpha 4 up! Thanks to Snake, I was able to get Fusion running in WINE. That allowed me to get digital sound effects going. Still working on the FM synth.
:D

The Jackal

02-09-2009, 08:01 AM

Chilly, is Alpha 4 for the 32X still or 32X-CD?

TmEE

02-09-2009, 09:24 AM

32X-CD is not enough for that game :P

http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/09/wolfenstein-3d-comes-to-sega-32x-at-long-last-in-homebrew-form/

And my thumb is famous :D

I'll test this new alpha as soon as I get to my gaming setup

djtwok

02-09-2009, 10:02 AM

I would prefer 32x cd cause if the final game gets bigger than 24 mbit it wont fit on my megacart. Maybe you sell the final 32x carts.

Chilly Willy

02-09-2009, 06:41 PM

It'll be cart-only until after it's done. I don't even know if it CAN be made to work on the CD yet, just that it looks promising.

KnightWarrior

02-09-2009, 08:46 PM

I would buy this in Cart Format..

Try Doom 2 or Final Doom Next

17daysolderthannes

02-10-2009, 01:50 AM

Well, you could always halt the main cpu while swapping blocks of data. It would be pretty jarring, but there really isn't too much else you can do with carts larger than available memory.

well, let me put it this way: they did it with the Sega Classics Collection, so it must be possible some way or another. Though, oddly, all of the sound is encoded in Redbook (at least I think so anyway). If normal carts could bank swap, I don't see why a CD couldn't. I mean, the biggest ROM is like 4mb, that would take like .0001 seconds for a CD drive to read. Hell, if you made some sort of front end, you could probably even make it so that you could dump a full CD's worth of games, now THAT would be awesome.

TmEE

02-10-2009, 02:19 AM

Well, a ROM is instant access, CD is not, you will slowly have to load data off the CD into RAM for instant access... but only problem is that you have 768KB of it, and only 256K is shared between the units....
Filling the 768K should take around 6...7 seconds when data is sequential.

matteus

02-10-2009, 08:59 AM

Chilly Willy you seem to be a bit of a genius like Fonz with the old Sega system programming! But I think it'll be one hell of a struggle to get everything running from the CD surely due to the memory sharing restrictions between units? Unless of course you go for the Hybrid CD and Cart approach ;o)

matteus

02-10-2009, 09:04 AM

Additionally I did speak to the guy who did the 32x port of Doom yonks back :) they went on to do a 3D engine for the GBA!

Might be worth dropping him a line...

http://www.pocketeers.co.uk/

djtwok

02-10-2009, 12:07 PM

Why does the Alpha not run in an Emulator (Kega Fusion, Gens)?

Silanda

02-10-2009, 02:12 PM

Why does the Alpha not run in an Emulator (Kega Fusion, Gens)?

It definitely works in the latest version of Fusion, just make sure you select things in the menu with button B. The sound isn't good, but I'm not sure whether that is due to it not being finished, or Fusion screwing up.

Chilly Willy

02-10-2009, 05:37 PM

It definitely works in the latest version of Fusion, just make sure you select things in the menu with button B. The sound isn't good, but I'm not sure whether that is due to it not being finished, or Fusion screwing up.

The sound is a combination of endian issues that have gone undetected on the PC along with a wonky allocator causing memory corruption. I'm in the process of putting in a new allocator, so the next alpha will be a few days. Hopefully by then it'll be ready to be called beta 1. :D

For the record, I use Gens/GS v2.15.5 milestone 6, and Kega Fusion 3.6.1 for testing. I have a TotoTek MD-Pro 64 flash cart en route from Hong Kong so I can do my own testing on real hardware.

Joe Redifer

02-10-2009, 06:03 PM

I can't believe the 32X forum has actual activity going on. This is great!

matteus

02-11-2009, 04:39 AM

I can't believe the 32X forum has actual activity going on. This is great!

Until wolf is perfected then it'll go quiet again :P

Chilly Willy

02-11-2009, 05:04 PM

Until wolf is perfected then it'll go quiet again :P

... until the next 32X thing I do comes out. ;)

There are others in this area, but it IS very quiet for a scene. :|

mick_aka

02-11-2009, 06:53 PM

I eagerly await the Saturn port ;) lol

matteus

02-12-2009, 07:40 AM

... until the next 32X thing I do comes out. ;)

There are others in this area, but it IS very quiet for a scene. :|

Haha what else did you exactly have in mind? Doom? Doom 2? A low res, low texture version of Quake maybe? lol

wizzzard77

02-12-2009, 05:00 PM

Rise of the Triad. It runs on the Wolf 3d engine and is an awsome game.

Chilly Willy

02-12-2009, 06:07 PM

Rise of the Triad. It runs on the Wolf 3d engine and is an awsome game.

No, ROTT uses the BUILD engine (Duke3D, not Wolf3D) and is probably beyond the 32X. Quake would also be beyond the 32X. At least both would need a complete rewrite to work on the 32X, not just modifying the code as I've done with Wolf3D, and id did with Doom. I'll probably look into a better version of Doom, but there are other things that could be done that would be interesting. An Atari 400/800/5200 emulator would be pretty interesting, and within the power of the 32X.

David J.

02-12-2009, 07:30 PM

Are you really sure that ROTT uses the Build Engine? Are you really 100% sure...?

Silanda

02-12-2009, 07:37 PM

Are you sure it uses Build? Ken Silverman only gets a special thanks credit, which would be a bit of a kick in the teeth if it used Build considering he wrote it.

David J.

02-12-2009, 07:39 PM

It uses more advance Wolf3D tech... but not Build. Hell, the level editor that came out recently for ROTT is like... awesome.

Chilly Willy

02-12-2009, 08:25 PM

You're right... I was obviously confusing it with something else. If you look at Tom Hall's notes in the ROTT source, he says this:

With a game called ROTT, and a bunch of DIPs, you're heading for some derision. :) We had a fairly inexperienced crew: me, inexperienced at management; the rest of the guys, fairly new to the industry. It started as WOLFENSTEIN 3D, Part 2 -- a "transition project" my heart wasn't in, really. It wasn't my idea to do it, but it was something to do. Once we parted ways with that idea and id's involvement, things got rewritten, changed, and we came up with s-Quake functionality crammed into a Wolfenstein Plus/sub-DOOM engine. It was an example of pushing a technology to do what it really can't do well. We had a fun engine, but one that looked ugly, especially in the masked platforms -- they were paper thin! You could have had a fun game without doing what it couldn't do... but we were trying to beat the Joneses. And once we split ways with the id thing, I made three bad decisions: a) to keep the art we had already, b) to not redesign a new game and c) not to move over to the Build engine, where we could have had a Duke/DOOM level game going decently quickly.

So I guess I probably should look at ROTT. It might be doable.

TmEE

02-13-2009, 03:07 AM

ROTT would be really sweet to have on 32X, BUT the game is so big it has to be scaled down quite a bit to fit it on a cart...

Metal_Sonic

02-13-2009, 03:21 AM

ROTT would be really sweet to have on 32X, BUT the game is so big it has to be scaled down quite a bit to fit it on a cart...

Sega 32X/CD?

Flygon

02-13-2009, 03:47 AM

The only thing to top this would be a Duke Nukem 3D port. =P

Or a commerical game like Pier Solar.

Dirt Ball Gamer

02-13-2009, 01:03 PM

The atari emulator would be very cool as would ROTT.

Collision Cat

02-14-2009, 09:49 AM

Chilly Willy

02-14-2009, 04:27 PM

Cool, but the sound is a bunch of garbled glitchy noises, like what you might get if you take the cartridge out of a GBA without turning it off. Is this meant to be the case, or does Kega Fusion not like the ROM? :p

I know... there's something funky going on with the sound I haven't been able to track down yet. I suggest people stick with alpha 3 until I can fix that. Also, Kega doesn't like my 6 button controller code. Those are the two big bugs on my list right now. At least my rewrite has gotten rid of the memory corruption issue... and made the thing about 1 MB smaller, so the next release will run on those 24 Mb carts they sell aimed at the SEGA CD. What's really funny is the rewrite has the exact same sound issue as the previous code. :?

The joys of programming...
:D