Voting is up for DarkSofts Neo Geo Multi Cart Design.

Rot · Mar 8, 2016

Razoola said:
It seems a few people are brining up the CPS2 issue over in other forums and are so caught up that they cannot acknowledge problems reported in their own forums on their creations. There are issues over 5 months old reported still not addressed and probably will never be, just like those reported on the CPS3 device why is years old now. I did register to that forum and make a post just to get perm banned and the post deleted because I guess they did not want their members to know the truth about how darksoft operates.

Why is this important in this thread? They are clearly stating their NeoGeo creation will use the same methodology as their other devices so it goes hand in hand to expect the same issues that plague their other devices.

Yeah...

...That's why I was so hardball on them tbh... I had known about such issues a while back and if they wish to use the forums as a seed forum... I wanted the lads to be protected and have their questions and concerns answered...

The way "I" ... looked at it... it's like you guys going into a restaurant that serves your favourite meals... You've booked MONTHS in advance....

...but when you get there the waitress/waiter refuses to give you any info on the meal you wanna go for.... amd the service is terrible...

At that stage... I'd prob decide not to give them a tip...

xROTx

PS. I hate to say... I told you so...

EDIT: ....BUT... FUCK...I told you so....

greedostick · Mar 8, 2016

I'm definitely glad I started this thread. I've pretty much decided I'm not buying this thing. Its going to perform stellar, which it seems obvious now it will not. I might as well drop down $70.00 for a 161 cart. Seems this will perform about the same.

Razoola · Mar 8, 2016

I'm not saying don't buy it. I'm saying just be aware of what your going to be getting for your money when comparing what that same money can buy already or what may come in the future.

It's not going to be what they initially made it out to be which is something that played all original NeoGeo ROMs (even if you take decryption only into account). Its not going to truly act like genuine multislot hardware (if it can hold more than one game). If it did do either of these things correctly then it might be worth a buy if it has a good interface for swapping games and a good pricepoint. I'm glad to see that they have started to tone down their talk more in line with reality to what it will really be. If they keep it that way I think that will keep many people happy who have concerns.

Electric Grave · Mar 8, 2016

If the 161-1 had a nicer presentation and got rid off all them hacks, people wouldn't bash on it so hard but as is...I think it's a tremendous piece of hardware regardless. Raz why not edit the hell out of it, or is that unethical? And I don't mean add games, just edit the splash screen, gui, game list...all that good stuff.

Edit: Also adding Memory Card Support would be awesome.

Razoola · Mar 8, 2016

I would not base it on how the current multicarts (161in1) are it would be altogether new and better. I'm lucky in that I already know how the software side must be (because of the unibios) and what the hardware side must be capable of doing to bring what people really want. Hacking up the current multicarts would not really improve what they already are.

Niko · Mar 8, 2016

Really, at the end of the day. If I can just play the games I want without having to scroll through 200 shitty hacks and without weird sound/graphical glitches. I'll be happy.

Electric Grave · Mar 8, 2016

I hear you man, I was just thinking of a facelift more than anything just 'cause the presentation and setup is so horrible. The main thing, no matter what is to layout the games in alphabetical order at the very least, lol, but in all seriousness if you are to go for it, a full official release romset is all we need, hell we can even boycott all them mahjong and quiz games...and LoSJ for that matter.

Razoola · Mar 8, 2016

I got you, I think they need a lot more than just a facelift. Like you mentioned memory on the cart to hold all game settings is a must. You don't want to be changing settings every time you play a game. Arcade hardware is not like consoles so things must be done differently.

aoiddr · Mar 8, 2016

ElectricGrave said:
If the 161-1 had a nicer presentation and got rid off all them hacks, people wouldn't bash on it so hard but as is...I think it's a tremendous piece of hardware regardless. Raz why not edit the hell out of it, or is that unethical? And I don't mean add games, just edit the splash screen, gui, game list...all that good stuff.

Edit: Also adding Memory Card Support would be awesome.

There's a post over on that-forum-that-shall-not-be-named by a person named aarkay14 that is along the lines of reverse engineering a 161-in-1 into a 148-in-1 or something:

"Hi All,
I am new to this forum and am slowly building confidence to work on reverse engineering the 161 in 1 to build the ultimate 148 in 1 multi-cart for the SNK Neo Geo MVS. The cart would have NOR flash just like the 161 in 1. I wish to know how many are interested before I put some serious effort in building this cart. It will have a menu to choose your game, I came up with a design like below:
how many are interested?
[ img - http://s13.postimg.org/abhl00o07/Screen_Shot_2016_03_05_at_5_02_00_PM.png ]"

It doesn't sound like he's experienced enough to make a 148-in-1, but who knows, maybe there will be a few different multicarts out there sooner rather than later.

transam5.7LS1 · Mar 8, 2016

Interesting thread, I never thought creating a flash cart for the MVS would be so difficult based on operating system and the technical ability to make it work.

Rot · Mar 8, 2016

transam5.7LS1 said:
Interesting thread, I never thought creating a flash cart for the MVS would be so difficult based on operating system and the technical ability to make it work.

n00b....

Razoola · Mar 8, 2016

I'm a big believer that most of the time its better to demolish and start a new than to build on top of something already there. I guess if you were going to take something from the current multicarts it would be the flash memory only, the rest is only really fit for the scrap pile I think. The PCB would need to be new.

transam5.7LS1, building these carts is not difficult, its only about the people with the knowhow wanting to spend their precious time doing it. At the end of the day its an illegal product.

Electric Grave · Mar 8, 2016

aoiddr said:
There's a post over on that-forum-that-shall-not-be-named by a person named aarkay14 that is along the lines of reverse engineering a 161-in-1 into a 148-in-1 or something:

"Hi All,
I am new to this forum and am slowly building confidence to work on reverse engineering the 161 in 1 to build the ultimate 148 in 1 multi-cart for the SNK Neo Geo MVS. The cart would have NOR flash just like the 161 in 1. I wish to know how many are interested before I put some serious effort in building this cart. It will have a menu to choose your game, I came up with a design like below:
how many are interested?
[ img - http://s13.postimg.org/abhl00o07/Screen_Shot_2016_03_05_at_5_02_00_PM.png ]"

It doesn't sound like he's experienced enough to make a 148-in-1, but who knows, maybe there will be a few different multicarts out there sooner rather than later.

His idea is cool, his idea of a decent GUI leaves a lot to be desired though, funny the only thing he could actually do was his very only flaw so far, lol. Too much unpractical clutter, keep the list long and add any arts or instructions to the side. No need for more SNK logos as the arts for each game would have said logos. I think just a regular Splash/Start screen per game should suffice.

Razoola · Mar 8, 2016

I though the same about his gui design but he does have the right idea at least about how it should be.

Electric Grave · Mar 8, 2016

Do it with 15 games per page thus only 10 pages, makes sense and easy to remember where games are. Up and Down for single slide and Left and Right for page slide, done deal.

Razoola · Mar 8, 2016

I personally would not use pages at all for a on screen game select.

Electric Grave · Mar 8, 2016

Would you have the whole selection in one screen? Could be done...

Razoola · Mar 8, 2016

No, I would have a scrolling list in alphabetical order that you can scroll up and down or jump into a few games at a time.

Electric Grave · Mar 8, 2016

Sort of a page, maybe I didn't explain it right, but yes Left to Right to skip 15 games at a time or just Up and Down for a scroll...

Fygee · Mar 8, 2016

Raz, is there something brewing terms of a possible product, or is this just what you'd like to see should someone else take the reigns on doing a project like this?

mastamuzz · Mar 8, 2016

Raz why not doing a joint effort with NTM and MKL you three together have the knowledge and experience needed to make something really happen not just pipe dreams? You and NTM have worked together before on the CD UB.

Given they want to do it, given is still an illegal matter... Just to show some kids how things have to be done.

Edit: A few years back someone from another forum in Spanish asked if the multi cart could be rewritten to just erase the annoying hacks, and or add titles, of course not possible for any to accomplish such task, but I thought if I were to buy a multi cart what could be the way I wanted it would be divided in 3 carts not just one full cart, one the bigger would be of course fighting, the second action adventure, and third puzzle, driving etc... With alphabetical list and button A scrolls up 10 games, button B chose and button, C scrolls down 10 games.

But again pipe dreams.

Nostromo · Mar 8, 2016

Razoola said:
I'm not saying don't buy it. I'm saying just be aware of what your going to be getting for your money when comparing what that same money can buy already or what may come in the future.

Is that a hint or I'm trying to read into it a bit too much

?

One more thing, if there was to be decent multicart with games (like the 161-in-1) and getting all games to fit would be a problem, why not split the collection in two, one cart with non-fighting games, and the other the rest?

Razoola · Mar 9, 2016

Fygee. I do have a very clear vision of how I would want a multicart type device to be on NeoGeo, it is quite different from what darksoft has planned at present. I don't care that darksoft or anyone else is looking at making one, my issue with him has nothing to do with NeoGeo projects. Is there room for a project by him, or course... I do have ongoing concerns however as a valid member of the NeoGeo community on their language used on their NeoGeo plan as it was painting a picture of a device they either could not build or did not want to build. This thread has been used to keep a reality check on the situation given it was clear people were getting pulled in by this talk and the different messages coming from different people involved with his project.
darksoft while still not being totally clear on his final plan on NeoGeo has at least now made more clear how his device will work which I feel is a positive move on his part.

Fygee · Mar 9, 2016

Of course. I suppose getting more to the meat of it, since you have a clear vision on how you would like the device to be, do you feel that its a project you would be willing to take on, be it solo or working with others, since you have a wealth of Neo knowledge both hardware and software?

Razoola · Mar 9, 2016

I think this was talked about in a previous thread somewhere. One thing is clear, I would not do it solo. I would work equally with others who have the same level of skill that I have on the NeoGeo software/programming/interaction side but it their respective fields on the hardware logic creation side. Also it would be important that a common vision was there and also a special level of trust.

Voting is up for DarkSofts Neo Geo Multi Cart Design.

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