Dreamcast .Dev kit

Would Sega really come down on people using development hardware for a console that was discontinued a decade ago?

Admittedly developing on the Katana would just be too much hassle anyway, seeing as you gotta make a 90s PC to develop on and have all the extras, when it would just be easier to make a game for Android or something. Personally If I had won that auction, I probably would of messed around with some coding just to see what it was like but ultimately it would of just been a collectors piece, maybe someday I'll come across another *sigh*

 

Read the stickies in this forum.
I'm using my dc devkit with a Core2Duo 2.6 ghz & Windows7 64-bit...
and plan to continue when I switch to a Haswell CPU...

 

I thought using it on a modern version of Windows has some compatibility issues? I believe the preferred method is to dual boot Windows 98, but that too can cause hassle on modern day systems I think, and lastly you have to install a SCSI card which admittedly is neither hard or expensive but if you haven't got the space because of graphics cards or sound cards etc, then you gotta keep switching out cards, but this is assuming that you can find a driver for your SCSI card that works with Windows 7.

End point, using 90s development hardware in 2013 = hassle

but what is the SDK like to work with? surely that must seem out of date compared to modern SDKs?

 

There are no compatibility issues whatsoever.
At least,
- not since I made the replacement for wnaspi32.dll back in 2010,
- if you don't try to install some of the very old SDK's (where the SDK installer would crash).
cfr the tutorial in the stickies.

Don't believe that, it's outdated info.
Believe the people on assemblergames

Again, look at the tutorial, there's a link to the driver of the SCSI card that was recommended
by SEGA back when they made the SDK's for the DC.
You can find that card for a few bucks on ebay, and it's still compatible with Win7 64 bits.

As for not having the space for 1 scsi pci card...
I won't argue on that point, it all depends on how serious you are about developping for the Dreamcast...

Just because of the scsi card ?
Believe me, it's worth it.
It's the only way to do serious debugging on the dreamcast.

Compared to what ? UDK ?
Of course it's outdated.
The dreamcast itself is outdated:
16 MB of RAM, 8 MB of VRAM, no shaders, the CPU has to do the 3D transformations, ...
You won't find many SDKs nowadays that can work with such devices.

I can't talk about the SEGA functions (libraries & API), since I don't use that.
I'm developping in VStudio 2008, using my custom library/API.
Once a program runs with OpenGL 4 on my pc, I try it out /debug it on the DC devkit, using the compilers
& debugging programs to communicate/... with the devkit.

Using the SEGA libraries/API is something you legally don't want to do anyways.
Not because they will/will not sue you because you used their libraries.
But because they _could if they wanted to_.
You don't want to take any risk for a program you spent many years to build.

 

For anyone born after 1990 I could see this being the case.

Wrong again.

You can't legally develop with the official Katana kit (who gives a shit though? Seriously, SEGA is a shell of it's former self, the Dreamcast is dead and we just pressed an unreleased Sega game) but there is this crazy stuff out there made by Dan Potter called KallistiOS that seems to be obscure these days. The Dreamcast is basically a dev environment (PC running Windows) and a Dreamcast that allows you to not burn a hojillion discs just to test a new build. This arguement is typically brought in to justify the purchase of a collectors piece knowing full well it is still useful for a practical purpose though personally I'm not aware of too many homebrew types using a Katana kit but I'd wager it's because of the cost due to collector hoarding.

The ignorance being pushed as knowledge in this thread makes me sad.

 

Well that shut me up T_chan haha

Well I meant that due to the progression of technology and old stardards being abandoned with modern technology, as opposed to my technical ineptness but T_chan has explained to me that isn't the case and I do stand corrected, it is entirely possible to set up a dev kit without much effort.

Just out of curiosity however what part of being born post-1990 would inhibit ones ability to comprehend vintage computing? Or would you say that was just your opinion that you ignorantly sterotyped?

Also Adam_K said you can't make games legally on a Katana unit, which you stated was "wrong again" but then you opened with "You can't legally develop with the official Katana kit" so I don't really get what your point is.

I can tell you're very proud of being born before 1990 and I assume your knowledge of vintage computing, and your knowledge of the Katana, but please quit it with the superiority complex? We're all friends here right? no need to act so belligerent

 

This should be turned into a forums rule!

 

Isn't it just easier to use different tools rather than a Katana Dev kit? I'm sure it hasn't got anything to do with collector hording.

 

The DevKit is unbeatable for debugging.

Arguably it could be easier to use other tools to make simple homebrew, but the Katana SDK comes with interesting optimized libraries for more high-end stuff (3D, network, etc.). You'd however need to obtain a license from sega to use them legally.

 

I thought the licence thing may have been the case, am I right in thinking Sega of Japan were the last ones to licence DC development and now they wouldn't even entertain the idea?

Even if they granted a licence, wouldn't the MIL-CD medium make it even harder to release?

 

Another problem with the Dreamcast is that it's so easy to beat the copy protection which means if you intend to sell your homebrew game, people will just rip the .iso and post it online, which is totally uncool of people to do but I suppose it's no different from when people steal stuff from huge companies..

 

Well in theory.... *IF* one would get an license to use the official SDK, one could just burn it on GD-R > rip it > make a selfboot image > send to regular CD pressing factory.

 

It sucks you got hit with customs fees, but the fees are your problem as the risk exists for all importing so the seller is at no fault in this regard. Your claim shouldn't be convoluted etc and should be a purely fascia damage issue which shouldn't cost too much to repair or replace.

 

Hi,

The seller is genuine. Item arrived well packaged and working.

On entry to the main menu without a GDROM inserted it attempts to initialise a game image.
Once in the main menu itself it detects insertion of a CD or GDROM but won't play either from the respective menu.

My conclusion is that it's simply in "emulation" mode as it passes self test (dip 4 down)

I don't remember if it should be capable of playing an audio CD in "emulation" mode

So far so good.

 

Yeh you need the dreamcast Dev kit software and 50pin SCSI adapter and cable.

 

Hi there, new member here but I can confirm that the seller was legit, got mine a few weeks ago and it was very well packed, mind you did message the seller asking for a solid box and top quality packing. Tested it with a few games PAL and Jap and seems fine!

Although a big Dreamcast collector this is new area for me so trying to figure out the dip switches and knob configuration is'nt that easy!!!!

Can anyone point me in the right direction to a guide/manual for this? i have had a look through old posts and the web but no joy.

Would also be nice to find out how to access the hard drive etc.

Thanks in advance.

 

Dyer60... that name sounds familiar...
Oh yes, I picked up Monopoly and NHL from you a few months back!
Welcome to the boards, someone here should be able to point you in the right direction! :encouragement:

 

Thanks Retrojunkie.

Yep thats right you did, hope they got to there new home safe and sound?

 

Hahaha, still trying to find a space to stash them. Anyone interested in a super rare boxed Genesis Activator? :wink-new:
Oh here is some info on setting up the Dreamcast, I knew it was around here somewhere!

 

Don't forget this one: [How To] Use the Katana SDK on Windows 7