Hot to make a NES repro for dummies :)

Hi, first of all i have to say that i want to get into nes repros because im tired of paying hundreds of dollars to play homebrews, non us relases, translations, etc. I live in Mexico and the prices are just ridiculous for something that the sellers learned to do on the internet. Most of them they're not even electronics and man! they have just taken my money over the years and im sick of that.

So i want to learn how to make my own repro games because i love to play them on the real hardware (so emulation is not an option), and i like to make the labels and store them on my wall, so a flashcart (wich i also have) is not an option either.

I've been reading a LOT! and so far the process seems "simple".

It will go something like this:

1. Choose what game you want to create a repro of.
2. Find a donor
3. Programm the eprom and "install" the rom
4. Remove the old eproms from donor.
5. Install the eproms (soldering, wiring, etc)
6. Test on hardware
7. Design a label.

So far im think i understand the process and that would be the short short and simplistic version, hehe.

So i need some help and if you dont mind to answer my question i will more than happy.

I will start from step #2


2. Finding a donor
I know that the "bible" to go ishttp://bootgod.dyndns.org/ but what information should i look for to find the right donor?

PCB Class? or how do i know what donor i can use for a Hack or homebrew that would not be listed on that site?


3. Programm the eprom and "install" the rom
Here the things get a little more confusing for me...

Ok i now i know wich donor i need to make my repro, several questions comes:

1. If i remove the original eproms from the donor and i do it very carefully, can i erase them (with the UV Eraser) and program those same eproms and re use them?

2. If the original eproms are usefull how do i know wich new eproms i need to make the cart? I have red that it has to do with the size, right? but how can i be sure of wich eproms i need?

The eternal question... Wich programmer i must buy to do this? i know everyone goes for Willems, but i dont have an old computer with paralel port, so i need a USB programmer. I have found this PACK that looks good enough, what do you think? GQ-4X True USB Programmer + EPROM UV Eraser + ADP-054 16 bit EPROM this one is good for NES and SNES?


5. Install the eproms (soldering, wiring, etc)
Ok, either i re use the donor's eproms, or i use new programmed eproms i have to get dirty now...

How do i know how i must wire each cart? on what thing depends how i must wire each game? Whats the factor that defines it?

Is there a graphic or a guide that can guide me on this? For what i've seen soldering this eproms is not big deal, i know im able to do it right with a little practice.


Please forgive my bad english and if i bother you guys with these questions that im pretty sure you have answer before. There are some tutorials on the internet, but none of them are written for people with NO experience on this. Everybody says that anyone can do it, but they allways explain it for other people that have experience on electronics.


I hope this thread helps others like me.

Thanks for your future responses.

 

Your best bet is to learn a little about electronics to bring yourself up to the level needed to understand what's already there. To answer a few of your questions...
There are tables of suitable donor carts for based on the desired repro.
There are no "original" EPROMs. They're mask ROM and can't be reprogrammed.
Work out what devices you'll need to program before choosing a programmer. Finding out that it can't handle a device you want to use 3 months down the line is annoying.

 

Other fun facts:

Most translations were made with emulators that aren't 100% accurate. Final Fantasy III (I believe? or was it II?) has a patch for the patch to make it work correctly on real hardware. DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST!!!!!! First time I made a repro of this it didn't work right and it was massive fun to desolder everything and reprogram the chip. Some hacks work fine others won't work for shit. Someone had me make two Bubble Bobble hacks into carts with one working great and the other having messed up graphics due to emulator development usage. There are only two ways to find out what will work: use a flashcart (even then implementations of mappers aren't perfect) or make a repro and see what happens. If you're going to do this long term you may wish to build a socketed cart for testing purposes.

My strong suggestion is to get someone (like myself but there are plenty of others) to program your EPROMs to start with just so you can be sure to eliminate that as part of the equation for problems. It's not hard to program things incorrectly or forget to properly load the file you want to use (I once programmed and installed a blank EPROM into an Acura's ECU once. Derp).

Here is a decent primer that applies to most NES reproductions you'll want to make: http://callanbrown.com/index.php/advanced-mmc3-nes-reproduction

Keep in mind EPROMs are old and won't hold their charges as long as newer chips will. If you're going to use an original cart PLEASE use something shitty nobody except the most hardcore of preservationists would mind.

 

As an addendum, a possible solution is to use cycle accurate emulators. Although I'm kinda out of the loop regarding such emulators, here's a link that shows some of them.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=634041