32x prototype help

Discussion in 'Rare and Obscure Gaming' started by badinsults, Jun 20, 2012.

  1. badinsults

    badinsults Peppy Member

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2007
    Messages:
    337
    Likes Received:
    70
    I got my hands on some dumps of random chips from Interplay games, and I believe that some of these chips are from a prototype of the 32x version of Blackthorne. Now, I know almost nothing about the makeup of 32x games (I'm a SNES guy), but it appears that the ROM is interleaved in a strange way. For instance, I found the following string in the ROM:

    I don't think the chips are corrupt. I actually found a section that appears to have the game script, and comparing it with the script from the final version, it definitely looks like it is interleaved.

    Is there anyone who knows about 32x stuff who might be able to give me an idea of what is going on with this?
     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2012
  2. Flash

    Flash Dauntless Member

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2011
    Messages:
    739
    Likes Received:
    67
    It's normal text for any 68k-based system ROM. EAMG = GAME etc. You can try to load these in Kega Fusion first.
     
  3. Nemesis

    Nemesis Robust Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2007
    Messages:
    248
    Likes Received:
    79
    It's interleaved at a byte level, pretty standard for Mega Drive EEPROMs. You have the odd byte set in that particular ROM you posted the string from. You're seeing part of the text from the ROM header data. The full text from the first portion for example is "SEGA MEGA DRIVE". In order to reconstruct the games, you need to try and match up which EEPROM's go with what, and combining the odd/even data into a combined ROM file. The easiest way to do match up the EEPROMs is usually by looking at the ROM header.
     
  4. Nemesis

    Nemesis Robust Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2007
    Messages:
    248
    Likes Received:
    79
    If you can't match them up, and you're planning to post them publically anyway, just release them here and I or someone else can help figure out what goes with what, or I can help you privately if you want, just send me a PM. Even if you have some odd EEPROM's left afterwards that you don't have a matching set for, it should be possible to at least identify what game they're for, and get an idea about how early the prototype is.
     
  5. Bad_Ad84

    Bad_Ad84 The Tick

    Joined:
    May 26, 2011
    Messages:
    8,566
    Likes Received:
    1,309
    GAME byteswapped (which is what you are talking about) would be AGEM
     
  6. chalmo

    chalmo Spirited Member

    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2008
    Messages:
    189
    Likes Received:
    1
    This is what I could come up with:

    (Replaced with image link because of formatting) http://i.imgur.com/csnX3.png

    It goes a bit funky around the "ktho" in Blackthorne, perhaps there's a typo there, either "Blacktorne" or "Blackhorne".

    But yeah, as has been mentioned multiple times, it's just interleaved byte for byte. Trivial to put back together once you have both halves available.

    EDIT: GRRRRR, how do i stop it taking out multiple spaces? that is annoying...
     
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2012
  7. badinsults

    badinsults Peppy Member

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2007
    Messages:
    337
    Likes Received:
    70
    It doesn't look like I have the other half. :(

    I'll be releasing these, as soon as I can find someone in the Sega community who will make an article for it to go along with the release.
     
  8. MottZilla

    MottZilla Champion of the Forum

    Joined:
    Feb 1, 2006
    Messages:
    5,066
    Likes Received:
    102
sonicdude10
Draft saved Draft deleted
Insert every image as a...
  1.  0%

Share This Page