Starfox 2 and M27C801-100F1 EPROMs?

I'm currently in the progress of building my very own Star Fox 2 Cartridge.

Now, as I'm unable to solder or programm EPROMs, I'm going around two corners.

My Question, will a M27C801-100F1 work with a PAL Stunt Race FX Cart and the 'retail' Star Fox 2 ROM (With Debug removed), snesdev mentions the use of a 27C801-200 EPROM, and I would like to know what are the differences, and which kind of problems are to be expected.

Thank you in advance.

 

I know this is old, but yes it will work fine. The last number (200 versus 100) should be response time, lower is perfectly ok.

 

Just to let all know: It works. I will not provide pictures of the inside and of the soldering, as my friend, who did the job, said to never ever open the cart again. Lot's of wires and hot glue in there.

But the game plays perfectly fine on a PAL SNES or a SFC with adapter.

 

It works fine. The only think I don't know about is the pal, but I've made star foxes on stunt race before. It's sluggish on real hardware. I like replacing the crystal to overclock it a little bit. But, overclocking it makes the whole game faster rather than just adding frames so if you overclock it too much it's like playing the game on speed. Still, overclocking it a little makes it feel much more responsive.

 

Always was interested in trying to make my own Starfox 2 Cart...

I remember a great website that had a tutorial on how to do it, and the website had a very orange layout. Does anyone know what site I am speaking of? :nod:

 

http://snesdev.romhack.de/sf2.htm :nod:

 

hahaha Yes, Thankyou. Exactly what I was thinking of. :nod: :thumbsup:

 

Hm, that's too bad to hear about the speed issues. When I first tried overclocking a SuperFX game (Vortex) it responded well, the framerate went up but the engine stayed the same speed.

 

I'd like to try this at some point, once I get the tools to do the job.
I assume this requires considerable soldering skills?

 

Well im waiting on my EEPROMS to arrive so i can build this ( and an english Seiken Densetsu 3 and Rockman & Forte), When they get here and i build them ill let you know how difficult it was. ( I will admit im not the best at soldering however, so it might seem extremely difficult to me, but actually be easy:icon_bigg)

 

Yeah, I had heard that too even about starfox 2 but it definately speeds up the gameplay. If I ever get around to it, I'll make a youtube comparison of some different speeds.

 

Im interested in trying to make a Star Fox 2 cart myself, and am trying to work out which game would be best for the mod. As far as I have read there were only 8 games that used the Super FX chip?
Is there any chance somebody could help me confirm which of the 8 have a save ability:-

Games released with the Super FX (GSU-1) chip
Dirt Racer - Save=No
Dirt Trax FX - Save=No
Star Fox / Star Wing - Save=No
Stunt Race FX / Wild Trax - Save=Yes
Vortex - Save=No

Games released with the Super FX 2 (GSU-2) chip
Doom - Save=No
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - Save=Yes
Winter Gold / FX Skiing - Save=Yes

(Some of the answers I have already put in could be wrong aswell)
Also, does Star Fox 2 actually use the save ability for anything other than keeping score records?

Lastly, what is the recommended crystal value for the best trade off between frame rate and the game 'over-speeding'?

Thanks in advance :nod:

 

Winter Gold is a yes as far as saving goes. And no, SF2 only uses it for the high scores, thats it.

 

Thanks, have added it to my list ;-)

At least Star Fox 2 only uses the save for the high scores, opens up the options somewhat.

Out of curiousity do all the other save games on my list look correct? and is that all the Super FX games there has ever been?

Im leaning toward using either Dirt Racer or Doom as they both use Super FX 2 - does that seem like a good choice? Im not sure if there are any advantages/disadvantages to using any given game (apart from the save feature)

Thanks again

 

Actually, ive heard reports about Doom running slower than a Stunt Race FX cart. Your list looks right for the most part, although IIRC its only the PAL version of Stunt Race/Wild Trax that has save capabilities. Read through this thread ( yes, all 20 pages of it:icon_bigg), it should answer most, if not all of your questions.

http://www.liquidninjas.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=13388

^^^^^^^^
Read this!

 

I used a PAL Stunt Race FX. Saves Highscores and plays fine on a PAL SNES or Super Famicom with an adapter, runs in 50 and 60 Herz

 

Yoshi's Island will not work if I recall correctly. The game must have enough RAM on board or else it won't work. Star Fox 2 expects to run in 21mhz mode. I believe it expects the hardware to be set to that and it doesn't use the software speed setting mechanic. Star Fox 2 should run as intended minus saving on a Doom PCB.

 

Thanks for all the info - have even read through that entire 17 pages of that thread you linked to but I must say I dont feel too much the wiser :redface:

So I have to consider Starfox 2's SRAM requirements aswell? Does it need 512Kb?

If so here is an updated list taking SRAM into account:-
Games released with the Super FX (GSU-1) chip
Dirt Racer - Save=No - SRAM=256Kb
Dirt Trax FX - Save=No - SRAM=512Kb
Star Fox / Star Wing - Save=No - SRAM=256Kb
Stunt Race FX / Wild Trax - Save=Yes - SRAM=512Kb
Vortex - Save=No - SRAM=256Kb

Games released with the Super FX 2 (GSU-2) chip
Doom - Save=No - SRAM=512Kb
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - Save=Yes - SRAM=256Kb
Winter Gold / FX Skiing - Save=Yes - SRAM=512Kb

In which case only four games are actually suitable for Starfox 2? Namely Dirt Trax, Stunt Race, Doom & Winter Gold, and only two of those have saving ability.

Some people in that thread I read said that the SFX2 actually made the game run slower? So im now really not sure what would be the 'optimum' game to use - im not too fussed about the save ability but do want it to run at its best at the correct speed, and I dont mind adding a new crystal if need be. Any opinions welcome!

P.S. Did all SNES games with saves use battery backup?

 

Yes all games used SRAM, I don't believe anything used EEPROM. Star Fox 2 expects to run in the Super FX's double speed mode (21mhz). Doom and other later FX games can do this. However I believe there are two ways of setting the clock rate. I believe there is a hardware jumper as well as a software register. But I'm not 100% on that. It could be that Star Fox 2 expects the hardware to default to 21mhz and not 10.5mhz.

Also, there is no Super FX 2 chip. So I would question the validity of any of that info there. There are 3 revisions of the Super FX chip which are all using the same instruction set. Mario Chip is in Star Fox only. It is stuck at 10.5mhz and has a clock inside the cartridge. The GSU-1 used in early Super FX games I'm not certain if they can do 21mhz mode, but they use the clock signal from the cartridge port. GSU-2 the final revision can run in 21mhz mode and also can address a bigger rom chip I believe. 2MBytes rather than 1MByte.

I believe Wild Trax/Stunt Race FX and Winter Gold are your best bets if you want to save your high scores. Otherwise Doom is a good option.