Hello all, long time lurker, first time poster. I've recently received my Everdrive 64 (after great esperiences with Everdrive MD and Everdrive GG) and, as a new toy, I'm trying all kinds of games on it. I've found 5 games as of now that don't work on the newest OS, 1.29, no matter what the save type settings are, but work on 1.28 with no problem. I"ve not found anything about it on the forum, so I'm posting it here, to check if other users are experiencing the same issue: ROMs from GoodN64 3.21 Dance Dance Revolution - Disney Dancing Museum (J) [!].z64 Tsumi to Batsu - Hoshi ou Keishousha (J) [!].z64 (AKA "Sin and Punishment", a famous game, so I'm surprised I found no mention of it) Neon Genesis Evangelion (J) [!].z64 Puyo Puyo 4 - Puyo Puyo Party (J) [!].z64 Super Robot Taisen 64 (J) [!].z64 If you are experiencing the same problem, and found another game that has the same behavior, then post it here. My Nintendo 64 is a PAL-M system assembled in Brazil, if this matters. (EDIT: changed video mode to NTSC, colors flicker a bit more on OS screen than M-PAL but no change on game compatibility)
All 5 games work fine on my EverDrive 64 version 1, OS 1.29, with default save settings, although I didn't actually try to save in-game. I have a PAL N64 and ED's firmware is 1.15. Maybe your problems are related to PAL-M?
Might be, since those PAL-M options were added on 1.29. Maybe I should look for a Pal-M -> NTSC mod (or if it is even possible) to avoid those issues.
Or report the problem and let Krikzz fix it If it worked on 1.28, then obviously its a software tweak gone wrong - as it worked before and it can work again.
If the game never seems to start at all (nothing but black screen) then it's the Everdrive not changing the region your N64 is reporting. Each of these games (and the majority of N64 games) will check the 'video region' reported by a console. This is set during bootup , after the bootstrap, just before executing the game's code. In your case, the value is a 2, meaning MPAL. Most games though will read this value and shove themselves into infinite loops if they read a video type that they don't expect. Others will at least display a screen that says something along the lines of "This game was not intended for this region.", and a rare few just run anyway and switch modes. I'm guessing the Everdrive fakes regions the same way you'd do it with a GameShark, setting 80000300 to 0 (PAL), 1 (NTSC), or 2 (MPAL). There must be a bug in the OS that's not doing it properly.
Yeah but why would N64's designers do that to begin with (besides region lockout)? I don't see much benefit in having an MPAL console report itself. Resolution and sync rate are still the same.
Getting a NTSC N64 next week, so I'll be able to fully test this issue. Will report back any findings, and other PAL-M console owners are encouraged to share any info if they are affected (or not) too. And yeah, the problem seems to be as Zoinkity describes. Black screen, low buzz on TV speakers.
Confirmed: On a USA NTSC N64 the games above work normally on 1.29 with the same everdrive cartridge. Seems to be really a problem with game region changing in the Everdrive 64 OS on PAL-M consoles.
