SMB2j from Retrousb.com - who has it?

[jpx72]

Can somebody who has this repro send me some pictures of the actual cart?
I would love to see mainly the inside, because I'm really interrested how they managed to make this cart.
Has this cart really a FDS "brains" inside like they mention on the webpage?

EDIT:
Just found a nesdev article about it: http://nesdev.parodius.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=7582
Interresting is also what bunnyboy said about that repro:

It isn't really a mapper hack, its a board that has all the relevant FDS hardware on it. The closest .NES ROM out there would be the one from Kaiser.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

I have one made by Leon.

I see he has Bio Force Ape available now.

[jpx72]

I have one made by Leon.

Emm no, that's not it, the one from retrozone is unique...

[Xious]

I presume it's a CPLD that mimics the FDS hardware: I'd be curious myself, and planned to order one merely to inspect it. I'm also curious what he did to the ROM datum, and how much he changed from a FDS image to get it to work with his custom hardware.

I'm also wondering if he preserved the FM sound capabilities in his CPLD or if he cut that out. 

[Pikkon]

Hmm,I always thought the rom was ripped from the virtual console.

[Xious]

I suppose that is also possible. Does the VC version have the FDS black screen when you load it? 

[Algo Fonix]

Nope, it does not.

[jpx72]

Ah screw it, I'm ordering!

[Xious]

I'll eventually do the same, just to examine it. If you get a chance to dump it, let me know your findings...

I wonder what mapper the VC version is assigned: Iit may be MMC3, which is logical. I'm curious if Brian's version has the black loading screen, but I mostly wonder what he did about the FM sound channels. 

[jpx72]

I don' t think I will dump it, I don't think it will be possible with my limited posibilities, but also from respect to Retrozone...

[Xious]

I'm not suggesting a public dump, not that it would matter, as you'd to R-E the CPLD he has on that board for a ROM-dump to be of use to any other repro-maker. I'd like to dump it to compare it to the MMC3 version, and the FDS disk image datum, and (now that it has been brought to mind) the VC version, and see if it is indeed any of the above, or something totally different.

I have the correct hardware to do a dump, and eventually I'll find the time needed to analyze it too. I would have thought this your motivation to get one, actually, as I thought you were interested in how it works more so than in playing this rendition of the game.  

P.S. I've always wondered about this sort of 'respect', as it never really is directed at the original developer. People have no issues doing a public dump of the original game, or making a repro cart or repro disk, but when someone makes a modified version (whether or not it requires custom hardware) based on a copyrighted game, and people suggest doing a public dump of it, the community goes ballistic. I find it fascinating how many people will defend a hacked game ROM that's being turned into repro carts, when they completely ignore the tonnes of other repro carts made of non-hacked games.

Anyone who states that this hurts no-one is very uninformed, as it lowers demand for the originals , some of which are uncommon to rare, or it lowers the demand for the legitimate (imported) game over a repro-game, and thus hurts dealers and collectors. Someone always foots the bill: Brian reproduced the 'Donkey Kong' Wii version game after it was released on Lostlevels... He's not above using the work of others to further his business, so I don't really see a motivation to go over the top protecting the integrity of his (or anyone other) reproduction games. It's essentially an argument that one should not freely pirate a commercially-pirated work.

I do see the value of protecting homebrew games, which is why you haven't seen me release dumped images of 'Ultimate Frogger', or 'Mystic Pillars'. If the developers of these wish to be able to profit, given the small market, then they should have that right without some idiot in the community dumping their work into the public arena. I still like having them on my PowerPak for portability reasons, but they don't circulate at all, at all and the original games are on my shelf, which is arranged in neat alphabetical order, including some redundancies (and extra games). 

P.P.S. Alright, I'll admit, 'Mystic Pillars' mostly lives on my workbench at present, as I like the game that much, and therefore it hasn't had to rest in the collection as frequently. I wish Sivak would work on another logic/puzzle game, or an adventure game next. I'm sure that 'Battle Kid' is fine and all, but I would like to see his take on a 'Zelda'-style game, or a 'Welltris' (a.k.a. '3-D Block' game.

P.P.P.S. I would love to see a 3-D Tetris for the Famicom 3D-System... I'll just keep dreaming, or dig out a Virtual Boy. Now that I've completely derailed the thread...

[jpx72]

After 16 days since order was made, here it is!


The PCB looks a bit different from the one posted on retrozone:

I can't see the big shiny thing (xtal?) on the left side. Probably a revision.

More photos later...when I get a screwdriver.
Post Merge: December 16, 2011, 04:07:45 am
Well I'm a bit dissapointed. The board is presumably a MMC3 reverse-engineered homebrew PCB (not for sale separately), so I guess the ROM is also a MMC3. Hopefully not Loopy's hack only.
It's build around XC9500XL CPLD, with 32K SRAM and a 27C010 (128kB) OTP EPROM. Look at it yourselves:


(right-click and "view image" to see bigger)

EDIT: I must admit that the gameplay is wonderfull, everything works like in the original and the level select feature where you can jump directly to any world and subworld is perfect! It's not Loopy's hack, and if it is a MMC3 hack, then it's a very nicely edited one!

[satoshi_matrix]

yeah, retrozone uses a reverse engineered UNROM, MMC1 and MMC3. This is MMC3.

[Xious]

I would suspect  that it is indeed Loopy's MMC3 conversion, which IIRC, is based on the Kaiser pirate and has the mentioned level select.