I bought a real copy of Roommania and it won't boot on any of my systems - it doesn't boot on my link83 region free bios US system, or my stock US system using a bootdisc such as gameshark (it gets to the "licensed by Sega" screen, but then fades into the bios). It doesn't appear to have bitrot, and the disc surface appears to have only minor scuffing. The seller will give me a refund, but indicated that it was tested and worked fine before shipping out on a stock Japanese region system. In case I look to pick up a different copy of the game - does this game have a different style of region verification? Maybe something along the lines of certain pressings of the European version of REZ?
I remember the ripped version never worked - I can't quite remember but it 'may' be that you need the microphone plugged in before it boots - Or it only boots on a Japanese system. Does it load up some kind of title screen then freeze?
I don't think the game uses the microphone - didn't see any mention of it in the manual at any rate. I read some descriptions that the ripped version gets to a title screen and then fails / goes black. My issue is a little different: It gets to this screen and then fades to white and then sets me back at the dreamcast bios menu. (I'm not using an emulator, this is just the only pic of the screen I could find on google images) I've heard that the DC game Silver has a multi stage region verification process that needed special cracking by iso release groups. Maybe this game has something similar?
The link83 region free BIOS just disables the region checking in the BIOS -- the system firmware still identifies as the region it was prior to the BIOS removal, so if a game checks the system for the region, it could definitely lock you out if it was written that way. I don't know anything about the Roommania GD-ROM specifically though. The region info is stored in a write-protected region of the Dreamcast's FlashROM. If you can solder a single wire, you can change it: you need to disable the write-protection by soldering a wire from the 12V power line to the R512 resistor on the Dreamcast motherboard. Instructions are here. Once you disable the write-protection you can use the region changer program included on the DreamShell disc. This will make your system a Japanese system, and should trick any GD-ROM that would have additional checks on the system. You might want to give that a shot before you return the GD-ROM. By the way, I don't suggest leaving the wire hooked up once you change regions, I heard it can cause some problems. On my Dreamcast, I have a switch mounted to toggle this write protection, you just have to remove the top off the Dreamcast and flick a switch inside.
