Xeno Crisis coming to Neo Geo

GadgetUK

GadgetUK

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erock said:
Seeing a hard reset of board if SSVSP is in slot 1 and Xeno is in slot 2. Didn't see this posted elsewhere.
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I believe that's something fixed in the latest firmware too! They spotted a problem with the Neo SD causing that, but it could occur with other carts too I suspect. If you have a Neo SD in another slot and it resets, that is fixed by the latest firmware too.

The exact behaviour caused with Neo SD is the when the slot cycles to XC, or you press SELECT to change to XC slot, it would reset. They asked me to test (and I did, with the original firmware on 2 slot and 4 slot - I could re-create it exactly). Problem went away with latest firmware. They have almost finished testing now I think, but it's all looking positive. There are no outstanding issues as far as I can see.
 
smokey

smokey

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They really should have done more testing beforehand. Hopefully they learn from this for their next game. THey do make awesome games
 
KGRAMR

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Damn, it really sucks to see the Neo Geo version having issues that SHOULD have been ironed out at this point and time :(
 
ysselcneogeo

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KGRAMR said:
Damn, it really sucks to see the Neo Geo version having issues that SHOULD have been ironed out at this point and time :(
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With all the dates on stuff saying 2018 I'd assume other than assembling more carts that everything was done in 2018 and it was never meant to be delayed this long.
 
Neo Alec

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ysselcneogeo said:
With all the dates on stuff saying 2018 I'd assume other than assembling more carts that everything was done in 2018 and it was never meant to be delayed this long.
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The title screen has 2019. That's when I believe the main game code was mostly done. The Dreamcast version is based on that code. The Neo Geo version was supposed to be done around that time, but the delays were due to hardware issues.
 
ysselcneogeo

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Neo Alec said:
The title screen has 2019. That's when I believe the main game code was mostly done. The Dreamcast version is based on that code. The Neo Geo version was supposed to be done around that time, but the delays were due to hardware issues.
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Its weird to print cases with a 2018 copywrite date on it in 2019 but crazier things have happened.
 
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PGorath

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GadgetUK said:
I believe that's something fixed in the latest firmware too! They spotted a problem with the Neo SD causing that, but it could occur with other carts too I suspect. If you have a Neo SD in another slot and it resets, that is fixed by the latest firmware too.

The exact behaviour caused with Neo SD is the when the slot cycles to XC, or you press SELECT to change to XC slot, it would reset. They asked me to test (and I did, with the original firmware on 2 slot and 4 slot - I could re-create it exactly). Problem went away with latest firmware. They have almost finished testing now I think, but it's all looking positive. There are no outstanding issues as far as I can see.
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This is happening with my cart regardless of which slot I put it in or which other carts are in the other slots. The first time it will boot up normally but every other time it will reset loop. Are you saying there's a firmware update to fix this? How exactly do I get it?
 
GadgetUK

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PGorath said:
This is happening with my cart regardless of which slot I put it in or which other carts are in the other slots. The first time it will boot up normally but every other time it will reset loop. Are you saying there's a firmware update to fix this? How exactly do I get it?
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Yes, there's a firmware update to fix that problem! Testing went well, but from what we understand there's a problem with a 1C out there that needs further investigation. Once that's addressed it will be rolled out. My understanding is you will be able to send it somewhere (shipping covered) and have it returned with updated firmware, OR you could flash it yourself with a Raspberry Pi - I think they will be putting a guide up with links etc depending on what you decide to do. It's just taking time to check out this issue with the 1C. I've ordered a 1C myself so I can test it extensively on the 1C too.

I think the CPLD code will be made public, so anyone that picks up a cart that was never updated officially will be able to update it with a Pi, or send it someone else that can update it etc. So all bases should be covered. It's just annoying that after all the successful testing, the 1C that was targetted as the final release candidate ran into a sound related issue... Just be patient and we should get closure on this!
 
TMOSteel

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GadgetUK said:
Yes, there's a firmware update to fix that problem! Testing went well, but from what we understand there's a problem with a 1C out there that needs further investigation. Once that's addressed it will be rolled out. My understanding is you will be able to send it somewhere (shipping covered) and have it returned with updated firmware, OR you could flash it yourself with a Raspberry Pi - I think they will be putting a guide up with links etc depending on what you decide to do. It's just taking time to check out this issue with the 1C. I've ordered a 1C myself so I can test it extensively on the 1C too.

I think the CPLD code will be made public, so anyone that picks up a cart that was never updated officially will be able to update it with a Pi, or send it someone else that can update it etc. So all bases should be covered. It's just annoying that after all the successful testing, the 1C that was targetted as the final release candidate ran into a sound related issue... Just be patient and we should get closure on this!
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If I can update it myself, fantastic. That being said, it depends on what that entails. I was under the impression we wouldn't be able to do this ourselves, and without any interface on the boards that I've seen, I'm not sure how a Pi of any model is going to interface with the boards.
 
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PGorath

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GadgetUK said:
Yes, there's a firmware update to fix that problem! Testing went well, but from what we understand there's a problem with a 1C out there that needs further investigation. Once that's addressed it will be rolled out. My understanding is you will be able to send it somewhere (shipping covered) and have it returned with updated firmware, OR you could flash it yourself with a Raspberry Pi - I think they will be putting a guide up with links etc depending on what you decide to do. It's just taking time to check out this issue with the 1C. I've ordered a 1C myself so I can test it extensively on the 1C too.

I think the CPLD code will be made public, so anyone that picks up a cart that was never updated officially will be able to update it with a Pi, or send it someone else that can update it etc. So all bases should be covered. It's just annoying that after all the successful testing, the 1C that was targetted as the final release candidate ran into a sound related issue... Just be patient and we should get closure on this!
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Thanks for the info. So was it just certain batches that were affected like mine? It seems like a pretty catastrophic level of failure to not be caught by testing?
 
xb74

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Good QA is abundantly missing in game development of all budgets these days.
 
GadgetUK

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In general I agree! What I would say in BB's defense here - the audio issue was easy to miss based on their testing stations, and the fluke chance that a CPLD change done in the middle of lockdowns and covid meant that tiny change was overlooked and not picked up in the final testing. The risks with a hardware release like this are huge, so you can bet your ass off that they put a tonne of time into testing, but overlooked something obvious =/ They have 30 AES and MVS to test each change against too.

I think things are nearing the point whereby the update will get rolled out. I purchased a 1C myself to support testing against the 1C, and I see no problems with that model, using the latest firmware.
 
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PGorath

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I understand the audio issue was easy to miss, but I don't understand how the cart literally not being able to boot after the first time in a 4 slot was not caught during testing.
 
Neo Alec

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PGorath said:
I understand the audio issue was easy to miss, but I don't understand how the cart literally not being able to boot after the first time in a 4 slot was not caught during testing.
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Even official carts have all kinds of issues mixing with other carts in multi-slot systems. It's maybe not so hard to miss.
 
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GadgetUK

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They did specifically test it against other carts and it was designed (very carefully) to co-exist. I think the problem does lie in the final testing stage. They definitely need to test the final version of their next Neo Geo game against all 30 boards, and pay attention to sound, and testing against other carts (and Neo SD etc) in multislots.
 
Neo Alec

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Maybe I'm naive, but 30 boards seems like a bit much. I'm curious what's different about the 1C to make the audio patch not work. Or the other 1-slots with graphics glitches.
 
xb74

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Could I get a no BS assessment from you guys - is this game worth playing on the Neo?
For reference, I played the DC version and liked it a lot.
 
Neo Alec

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xb74 said:
Could I get a no BS assessment from you guys - is this game worth playing on the Neo?
For reference, I played the DC version and liked it a lot.
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I believe the DC version is basically the Neo version running on an emulator, as they share a code base. So the Neo version should be almost the exact same thing. So if you like that, and want to pay a lot more for the privilege of playing it on the Neo, with cumbersome controls, then go ahead. Otherwise I'd just get the Neo CD or Neo rom release if you still want it on the Neo.
 
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I have/played the Genesis ROM version and liked it so ordered the MVS version as well that showed up yesterday! Pretty fun to play on an MVS Candy Cab and/or with a friend!!! You get used to the control differences so not a big issue. And yeah no sound issues here on a 4-slot!!
 
GadgetUK

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monads said:
I have/played the Genesis ROM version and liked it so ordered the MVS version as well that showed up yesterday! Pretty fun to play on an MVS Candy Cab and/or with a friend!!! You get used to the control differences so not a big issue. And yeah no sound issues here on a 4-slot!!
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Recent purchases (after the initial release batch shipped out) all have the update applied, so they should be fine anyway! Expecting an update shortly regards people getting their carts updated. I do know that they've had covid at BB though this past week!
 
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