Search found 60 matches

by Flygon
Thu Oct 12, 2017 2:56 am
Forum: Blabla
Topic: Make a wish / What if : Genesis
Replies: 21
Views: 25353

Re: Make a wish / What if : Genesis

Wasn't the choice of going with 9-bit RGB instead of the full 12-bit mostly to do with the cost of the RGB DACs involved? I'm not a particularly savvy man, but I understand that the cost difference was pretty strong. Cheapness has to be the explanation as to why the Atari ST also initially had such ...
by Flygon
Thu Oct 12, 2017 2:53 am
Forum: Megadrive/Genesis
Topic: What does S/TE mean?
Replies: 2
Views: 3458

Re: What does S/TE mean?

I'm going to take a - probably pretty bad - stab at assuming it may mean Transparency or Translucency.
by Flygon
Tue Oct 10, 2017 11:31 pm
Forum: Blabla
Topic: Make a wish / What if : Genesis
Replies: 21
Views: 25353

Re: Make a wish / What if : Genesis

Pretty much what Stef said, and some kind of audio buffer to put PCM audio into, rather than the existing method of essentially banging the DAC. It's a bit of a shame - I'm pretty sure a bit over half of what Stef described is what the hardware originally had! EDIT: To clarify - I meant before the c...
by Flygon
Sat Jul 22, 2017 3:46 am
Forum: Megadrive/Genesis
Topic: Cartridge copy protection
Replies: 9
Views: 7806

Re: Cartridge copy protection

Remember the golden rule of sales. If it can't be pirated within 3 months, you've buffered yourself against the worst of piracy. Never mind the unwritten rule among emulation authors to not go scrambling after emulating new commercial homebrew releases. There's a reason the Pier Solar mapper hasn't ...
by Flygon
Thu Jul 20, 2017 5:48 am
Forum: Megadrive/Genesis
Topic: Cartridge copy protection
Replies: 9
Views: 7806

Re: Cartridge copy protection

How much would going the full bore, and adding a CPU and/or soundchip the game is dependent on onto the cartridge on deter piracy?

Of course, that makes manufacturing and design a whole lot more expensive. :lol:
by Flygon
Thu Jun 22, 2017 1:31 pm
Forum: Tools
Topic: How to do pixelart? Any tool???
Replies: 7
Views: 12316

Re: How to do pixelart? Any tool???

Only Modes 4 and 5 are usable on the Mega Drive VDP. Modes 0 through to 3 completely removed, for Master System software too. This is why F-16 Fighter doesn't work, it used one of the removed VDP modes. I tend to draw entirely in a combination of Paint Tool SAI and Paint.NET for my pixel art needs. ...
by Flygon
Thu Jun 01, 2017 11:47 am
Forum: Megadrive/Genesis
Topic: Please help consolidate Megadrive info for pixel artists
Replies: 11
Views: 10495

Re: Please help consolidate Megadrive info for pixel artists

But why would you want to stretch the 320-wide image to 16:9 ratio? So that you can crop 32px from each side of the screen, and render the scene for 4:3 displays using the 256-wide mode. You use the exact same art assets for both 4:3 and 16:9 modes. Compatibility with both types of TV. Or so the th...
by Flygon
Wed May 31, 2017 2:15 am
Forum: Megadrive/Genesis
Topic: Please help consolidate Megadrive info for pixel artists
Replies: 11
Views: 10495

Re: Please help consolidate Megadrive info for pixel artists

A lot of software used the 256-wide mode. Shining Force is the first series to come to mind. I'm actually quite curious as to if anyone's tested out seeing if the pixels are the same shape with 256-wide mode stretched to a 4:3 aspect ratio, as 320-wide mode stretched to 16:9. Close enough pixel rati...
by Flygon
Sat Apr 22, 2017 5:52 am
Forum: Sound
Topic: too many YM2612 infos ?
Replies: 14
Views: 20587

Re: too many YM2612 infos ?

I agree with separating out particular discussion points into separate threads.

It makes it a hell of a lot easier to fish through specific material, than shuffling through a monolithic 50+ page thread.
by Flygon
Mon Apr 17, 2017 2:49 am
Forum: Megadrive/Genesis
Topic: Paprium and it's sound engine
Replies: 16
Views: 16362

Re: Paprium and it's sound engine

If you're manufacturing your own custom mapper, you might as well implement an 8+ channel ADPCM sound processor while the price per unit is still cheap. :P
by Flygon
Sun Apr 16, 2017 2:01 pm
Forum: Demos
Topic: OVERDRIVE II
Replies: 29
Views: 42723

Re: OVERDRIVE II

Whelp. Sat though this and watched with some friends. Will need to see on a real Mega Drive to avoid compression artefacts.

But much of what I saw? There were utterances of words too rude to say in this post. Some incredible work!
by Flygon
Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:44 am
Forum: Megadrive/Genesis
Topic: Paprium and it's sound engine
Replies: 16
Views: 16362

Re: Paprium and it's sound engine

The cartridge has it's own onboard soundchip, and uses an onboard DAC to output the result through the cartridge slot's analog audio input pins. It's entirely possible to supplement the existing sound hardware. It's why the 32x audio can wind up being spit out of the MEGA CD, and why MEGA CD audio c...
by Flygon
Thu Mar 09, 2017 5:12 am
Forum: Megadrive/Genesis
Topic: Aggregating Code Snippets
Replies: 6
Views: 6729

Re: Aggregating Code Snippets

There was a Mega Drive Wiki being made, but interest seemed to tail off, somewhat.
by Flygon
Sat Feb 11, 2017 7:37 am
Forum: Megadrive/Genesis
Topic: Please help decide on projection
Replies: 12
Views: 9641

Re: Please help decide on projection

For an RTS, the first would produce an easier-to-see playfield.
by Flygon
Wed Oct 12, 2016 12:51 am
Forum: Demos
Topic: Mega Marble World
Replies: 54
Views: 69145

Re: Mega Marble World - Fail!

We really need a way to make cartridges that don't involve somebody trying to hog the whole thing for themselves. Maybe even cartridges on demand, because the demand isn't very high. That'd also kill off the assholes that try to hoard cartridges then resell them for a large price on eBay. That woul...