Xeno Crisis coming to Neo Geo

kingcuckmelon1

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Well, that's not good. They should have incorporated an SD slot for patching in the event anything came up after release (bugs, glitch, no sound - oh, wait...). No way 2+ people can play test better than 100+ customers. I don't like the idea of having to send anything to anybody once it's in my hands.
But how much $$ would an SD card slot add to the package? People would be complaining about that then!
 

TMOSteel

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It's not my problem, but it was crowd funded -
The Neo Geo version wasn't crowdfunded, the Sega / Mega, Dreamcast, Switch etc. was. Honestly, I can't believe this actually got released like this. I'm really waiting for the "April Fools" joke to be announced on the sound ...
 
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acem77

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Got my neogeo version in, seems like all the music plays 90% louder in the left speaker. I swapped to another game and it only happens in xeno crisis.

Also I don't see the specific neo enhancements like bullet casings and scaling? Maybe the scaling is later levels. Did they program the chips with a beta version? Or do I have a defective cart?

Maybe I am mistaken, in swear one web site some listed some extras for the neogeo version? But I can't find it now?

For now in have more expensive Genesis game with messed up stereo sound... At least i can use the unibios on my aes cart to get unlimited everything.. fun for a chill play through with a buddy.

Update: there is some scaling on the continue pill animation.

2nd thought on audio issue maybe a unibios fix to shift the music balance, hope it's not a left mono recording...

After listening is the music on this and the Genesis, is it a prerecorded track vs true chip tunes? Seems prerecorded. As the Genesis sounds exactly like the neo.
 
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GadgetUK

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I think there are a lot of lessons to learn from this mistake tbh! eg. send out perhaps 5 or 10 carts to key people to test them and give feedback, THEN send the rest out. Sending out all stock on same day is a bad move with something that cannot be updated by the user.
 

bubba966

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IMG_20211008_131810.jpg

And it's arrived. Hype for it's been tarnished with the issues it's apparently got with no easy way to fix. Esp since the serial number sticker is sealing the shell closed...
 

Shuri

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Unbelievable that the game was released in this state. Especially after making such a big deal of testing it on different hardware..
 

TMOSteel

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I don't think they fitted an SD slot or USB port - From what has been mentioned, the solution maybe someone in each region that will update the carts. I did wonder about the possibility of them developing some small board that could be used with a Raspberry Pi or something. If they did that, it would allow many people to be able to update their own, and help out others in their region. I would assume there is a programming header of some kind on these boards - its just a case of getting something to talk to them correctly and updating with a new ROM file (or files).


You can see the boards here (I don't imagine they changed much) - https://www.kickstarter.com/project...ame-for-the-sega-genesis-mega-d/posts/3193877

And below that photo is what looks like a programmer or something perhaps?
Yeah, I went back and looked most likely these have to be programmed by them with their "devkit" which will not be good.

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ggallegos1

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That is unfortunate. We'll see what happens for us US consumers to get it fixed. The soundtrack is fantastic
 

Neo Alec

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But how much $$ would an SD card slot add to the package? People would be complaining about that then!
It's not as simple as just putting the card slot on the board. It also needs to be engineered to update itself from a file on the card.
 

max 330 mega

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Why do i feel like they are just gonna email us all a rom file with corrected audio and tell us to play it on our flash carts and to just deal with the shit audio on the actual carts. I hope not at least :/
 

GadgetUK

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Why do i feel like they are just gonna email us all a rom file with corrected audio and tell us to play it on our flash carts and to just deal with the shit audio on the actual carts. I hope not at least :/
In theory, because we seem to be dealing with perhaps just the VROMs - it might be possible for them to develop something that works with a Raspberry Pi, but you would likely have to power the board, and solder a number of wires. That's one way these could perhaps be fixed at low-ish cost, but of course warranty seal would have to be broken, some soldering etc. Alternative would be to remove the ROM that holds VROM data, program it off board, and solder it back. I am assuming there's no jtag points and the ROMs cannot be programmed via JTAG. If they can be programmed via JTAG, and theres a JTAG header (is it that connection edge on right of the boards?) Maybe a simple adapter could be shipped out, and a Pi or something used to update them. This all assumes its the VROM or M1 that's wrong. Maybe the PCM IC (done in CPLD) is not right regards to the ADPCM or something? But samples elsewhere in the game are correct, so I think VROM data.
 

GadgetUK

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This is super interesting to me:-


The behaviour there makes me wonder if the VROM and M1 aren't the issue. Maybe a cap is required somewhere, or an update to the CPLD handling PCM. I just dont want to void my warranty investigating. I wish they hadn't put a damn warranty sticker on there...
 

acem77

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"The remaining bits of software development are shrinking by the day, most focus at the moment is on Neo Geo specific polish, things like scaling sprites, extra frames, more palettes, better colour depth than the Mega Drive (like in the HQ above), more sprite details."

Besides the music issue anyone discover any interesting neogeo only polish?
Voiced and improved colors for intro / cut scenes, scaling continue pill, unibios / Bios setting (AES select MVS arcade settings) credits and cheat like menus., Scientist Sprite for rescue.
 

heihachi

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This is super interesting to me:-


The behaviour there makes me wonder if the VROM and M1 aren't the issue. Maybe a cap is required somewhere, or an update to the CPLD handling PCM. I just dont want to void my warranty investigating. I wish they hadn't put a damn warranty sticker on there...
So does the AES version come in an MVS style cart with some additional standoffs or something, or does this guy have a converter/modded AES? If the cart has to be opened to fix the sound issue, I suppose that isn’t the worst thing…

Edit: AES version is an AES cart.
 
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TMOSteel

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In theory, because we seem to be dealing with perhaps just the VROMs - it might be possible for them to develop something that works with a Raspberry Pi, but you would likely have to power the board, and solder a number of wires. That's one way these could perhaps be fixed at low-ish cost, but of course warranty seal would have to be broken, some soldering etc. Alternative would be to remove the ROM that holds VROM data, program it off board, and solder it back. I am assuming there's no jtag points and the ROMs cannot be programmed via JTAG. If they can be programmed via JTAG, and theres a JTAG header (is it that connection edge on right of the boards?) Maybe a simple adapter could be shipped out, and a Pi or something used to update them. This all assumes its the VROM or M1 that's wrong. Maybe the PCM IC (done in CPLD) is not right regards to the ADPCM or something? But samples elsewhere in the game are correct, so I think VROM data.
Yeah, I'm not building or soldering something to fix my own cart. Let those guys come up with a solution. This is on them.
 

kuze

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I received my MVS copy and it plays great on an MV1B. I'm using mono sound so no problems there personally, but I did experience the same issues as GadgetUK when using an MV1-FZ. On an MV1-FZ the game often shows banking(?) errors which manifest in duplicate or missing tiles, incorrect text ("hog do lai" instead of "how to play", etc) and the game crashes frequently in attract mode. The room transition effects don't work right either.

On the MV1-FZ it's unfortunately pretty unplayable, but hopefully the Bitmap Bureau team will figure out a fix in time.

That said no issues at all on the MV1B with mono sound, so that's how I'll be enjoying the game for now.

Kudos to Bitmap Bureau for their first MVS release!
 

heihachi

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My AES copy came today. Plugged in headphones to the unit and like everyone else music is 90% left side while other sounds are more evenly balanced.

Graphically, had a couple glitches where the game stuttered for half a second and then some of the sprites (character, dog tags, grenades, ammo) seemed a little screwed up—didn’t make things unplayable. I also kept running into bad contact errors in the Nest so maybe my cart slot just needs to be cleaned. I have another AES I’ll try playing some more on.

As for Neo Geo enhancements to the graphics, I saw the scaling pill on Game Over people have mentioned, and there are some alien crab and bat things that scale in from above the screen. Pretty infrequent though.

Otherwise, control is great and the game is as good as it was before. I like being able to save and resume from certain stages rather than starting from the beginning each time, which I don’t think was possible on Genesis. That and credit feed in MVS mode.

It’s too bad Bitmap Bureau didn’t send out some test copies or make it possible to update these carts like NG Dev does because imo this was only a few fixes away from being a top NG game and the best home brew/indie NG game. The packaging, instructions, label, bonus crap that came with the collectors edition are all on point.

Even with the issues, I’m probably going to play a lot of this…but it would be better if they could be fixed.

Some pictures of the AES cart and packaging:
 
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GadgetUK

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I've been given permission to open my cart and see if I can shed any light on the issues. I made positive progress understanding the 1FZ problem today (it may affect 1 or 2 other boards - I will wait to see if anyone reports graphical glitches / issues on any other MVS or AES). My current understanding is the sound issue - probably will be easily fixed by an update to either the VROM or the CPLD (maybe the M1 but I think not). I wouldn't get stressed if you are thinking you may need to ship to the UK from US etc, they will work out the best and easiest way to accommodate updates to the boards in each region.

Obviously I don't speak for them - they may decide to get them all returned, they may find a super quick fix to the audio issue. These things take time to investigate. The graphical issue on the 1FZ is actually 2 issues, 1 I think I've nailed, I need to look at the other now (affecting the large white text showing the wrong letters). I think the 2nd one is perhaps S related.

EDIT: Nailed it regards the large text showing occasional wrong letter (and it would have still be unstable).

The 1FZ issues (and it may affect the 1C or 1B, or even 1A/X boards) - The address bus and databus are getting some parasitic capacitance I think, or perhps a litte ringing. 3 pieces of copper tape grounded have fixed it on my 1FZ. The reason this doesnt happen on multislots is stuff is buffered.

I might post some photos later, but I imagine most people might not want to apply this to their cart (and break the warranty). So don't do anything to your cart if you have a 1FZ just yet. There might be a more elegant fix - eg. a few SMD resistor arrays soldered inline with the side of the LV245's that go to the cart edge. That may solve the problem (weak pull down / termination), perhaps.

The sound issue still needs BB to look at the ROM or CPLD I think.
 
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wyo

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Did anyone get the NGCD version yet?
 

kuze

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I had a feeling they were going to give you the go ahead to look at it. Good work. BB are a great team, I hope they are no put off another Neo Geo release by this.
Same here, really hope to see some more NG releases from them. Xeno Crisis is an awesome game with lots of replay ability.
 

westtrade

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Can someone please post a scan of the Xeno Crisis shockbox insert?
 
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