Making selfboot bleemcast games?

Yeah, that's basically what CDI4DC does, and also the approach of my data/data selfboot pack (but with nrg in the latter case).

The challenge is having a variable number of audio tracks and a second session at an arbitrary LBA.

That said, maybe it's not important to completely RE the complete format, maybe only a tiny part of it is needed for selfboots and we could figure it out by trial and error + comparisons.

 

well, if some new tools are brewing here, while you guys are at it, maybe this would be a good time to create an image for the retail bleemcast releases that isn't "hit or miss" depending on the result of your dreamcast's silicon lottery. i destroyed a GD-drive trying to get a dc to read bleem mgs, other drive i got it to 'produced by sega' splash screen and it just black screens. sad!

if an all in one bleem utility existed that is generally universal between different OS it would be really nifty

hell add the ability to put a psx disc in pc and it rips\generates a perfect bleemed image

 

For the retail bleemcasts, it might have more to do with the burner. This one is a peculiar disc. In fact, if you burn the release and then make an image out of it, it probably won't yield a working image.

IIRC, a standalone executable was distilled at some point, but it's been lost in a HDD crash since.

 

Wait what do you mean here? If you mean coding something or editing code on the 2 versions of the cracked retails we have(original 2009 Patriot release or 2010 hacked to skip disc check) eh not so possible. If you speak of something made which is more compatible with more worn out consoles, not gonna happen.

Like you, I lost a DC to a Bleem game, yet, it was a re-ripped Bleem beta self booting game which did mine in. Dreammatrix the Half-Life DC modder, aka R4mbo, ripped a game for me he had privately. I burnt the disc he provided, and it made my shit go kaput. Nicht so gut mein bruder.

Edit: Also, the retail code and beta are different. Meaning also we can't use the code from betas to make newer self booting games of the retail version such as Gran Turismo 2 if this is what you mean? But I think that isn't what you are asking for?

There is also sadly no way to self boot those games with the emulator wrapped up into the image of said retail games unfortunately.

 

i mean like somebody potentially making new cd tools that solves this thread and a few other issues

i say again because it sounds like a good idea, if you could insert a legit psx cdrom to pc drive or browse for an iso and it rips\renders a bleemed img that would be quite the nifty piece of software imo

 

Ah ok yeah, that is what we are all hoping for but I guess we will see how it goes. Been nigh 20 years and still nothing more simple than the tools we already have unfortunately.

 

this cdrecord for example is a very good old tool.

 

I've successfully created a Bleemed disc of Rakugaki Showtime.

Using:
- selfboot script
- Windows XP (Virtual Machine on my Mac)
- USB CD burner (I know!)
- Alcohol 120% (any burner that supports not closing the session will work)
- cdrtfe (front end for newer cdrecord that recognises USB burners, only used to do final burn)

I tried many virtual CD writer apps, and VirtualCD was the closest to having a good result, but it still did not work.

The only thing that limits the version of Windows being used to a 32-bit one is the IPINS.EXE but you can do the same thing using dd on Mac/Linux as previously noted. So I believe this can work on any Windows or indeed any platform with some reworking of the toolset.

My feeling is that a new workflow could be created using:

- drutil (to burn cue/bin)
- mkisofs (but I think patching a template data.iso would be easier?)
- dd (in place of IPINS.EXE)
- drutil (to burn second session)

My goal is to only require standard macOS tools. So that is what I will be looking into next.

 

Mkisofs can insert the ip.bin using the -G option. E.g. "mkisofs (...) -G IP.bin (...)".

 

i think the bleemcast retail uses ip.bin for heartbreak diary which was an official released mil cd.
is there absolutely no way to build a hybrid bleemcast using part of retail and beta to allow the psx ripped game to also be on same iso?
familyguy i know you made a version that booted but it could not read the psx games.
is there a way to mix that version with any of the data from the beta?
probably not?? but sure would be cool.

also do the color versions of the beta make a difference?
only one color was cracked and the other 3 never were.
i think it is blue version beta that is used in selfboot script?

it would be cool to see a beta/retail hybrid version that also allows us to edit the ini file for the actual SCUS, SLUS and psx game name
don't know if that affects anything lol
idk

 

Well fancy seeing you here! How have you been old friend? long time no see!

From what I have been told when people looked into self booting the original retail versions it wasn't possible due to how those operated vs the way the betas did. Those of us with GDEMU's are kind of stuck with playing only the beta self boot games or using the boot disc for the beta and pressing the disc swap button on the GDEMU to switch it at the flashing screen.

If there was a possibility to make self booting versions of Gran Turismo 2, Metal Gear Solid and Tekken 3, then the GDEMU could fully say it has 100% compatibility. As due to how it operates you can't swap out the disc with the press of the button. It simply doesn't work with the device I am guessing due to it's protections. Even the hacked versions don't work.

And from my research and what other people said the colors of the beta was just a way for them to tell if there was a leak from their testers. The code was the same I was told across all 3 colored releases.

 

Hey anthony been a while eh
Doing good here, how are you?

So gdemu does not run bleemcast unless it is the selfboot beta?
Does dreamshell allow bleemcast to run?
Does bleemcast run on the sd card reader?

Ive been told the same thing about the color versions but since the other colors are encrypted i never could compare it myself.
I think it is blue, red, green, yellow, and one other color ?

 

Color versions are all the same, they were simply locked to different modified bios for testers. Once cracked they're all the same.

IIRC, the original cracker did manage to isolate a binary for BC! that'd work like any executable, but it was lost in a HDD crash. If someone has the time, skills, and motivation; it should be possible to distill that from the cracked retails, but it'd be tedious.

Retail BC! bypasses the normal bootstrap, most of the IP.BIN content is a red herring.

Edit:

He also made unlocked retail versions that will try to load any game, but the compatibility is atrocious, much worse than the beta. I guess the discs were greatly optimized for each target game.

 

Yeah good here too man, same old same old.

GDEMU can run the regular beta, or self booted games, but not work with retail. It will boot the retail image, but you can't get it to load after pressing the disc swap button. As for Dreamshell, been years since I messed with that, not had an SD adapter for DC since probably around 2012. Although I suppose I could attempt to build one in the future but not tried.

 

thanks for the info FG.
very informative.
mag94, yzb and a few others could do this magic.

Anthony how about we start a cheeseburger fund for a modified bleemcast that works on gdemu.
LOL

 

Haha, I am sure somebody out there could do this who is a coding genius. It is the last roadblock to complete compatibility.

Here are all the versions I have. It includes the one FG was talking about which removed the disc check, so it will work just like official cracked retail ones except they can also boot other games.

https://assemblergames.com/threads/request-bleemcast-betas.69838/

You can see some semblance of a compatibility list I have created over at TIZ when I used to run that place. I got a few members to really dig deep and help out with it. So with the magic of internet archive you can see my comprehensive list here since TIZ is no more since August 2018 it is kaput.

Here was my compatibility list if anybody is interested.

http://web.archive.org/web/20180816225655/http://www.theisozone.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3665

 

my favorite bleemed game is klonoa, it looks great and plays almost perfect.
i say almost perfect cause you cant save the game
if you have not played it with bleemcast beta its worth a try.

 

Oh dude, Klonoa and Strider I beat both of those games in Bleem! They were short enough to beat in 1 sitting if you try to. Really love the 2.5D aesthetic in those kind of games. Another perfect game is also Ridge Racer 1. Thing runs at 60fps and looks amazing. Also was an early game so feels like a perfect port since it had neither FMV's or analog controls or had save support to get in the way so it really emulates better than perfect. PS2 and PS3 can't emulate that game as nicely as the Dreamcast does.