Toejam & Earl 3 - Dreamcast Beta

So I've tried to make a gdi out of the files I got (not all the files, but should be ok to boot to menu according to ZakhooiTM). But it has not booted. I'm not quite sure my nullDC in a virtual machine setup is optimal though, so I'd like ZakhooiTM to try himself with the whole release.

I'll post the procedure here, in case someone want to do it in the future!


Ok, so for creating a gdi from the files open a cmd windows in the root of my pack and:

mkisofs -C 0,45000 -V Vol_Name -G ip.bin -duplicates-once -l -hide 0.0 -o track03.iso data

It's important that ip.bin is the untouched one, 1st_read.bin must be as on disc (unscrambled iirc, but I always mix both) the game data must be in the data folder.
You can put a file named 0.0 in the data folder to pad up the data up to 549150LBA -> 504150 sectors for track03, the easiest way to find the right size is to buil one without the 0.0, then deduce the right size, create 0.0 and rebuild. Create it with dummy 0.0 <size>

Then create placeholders track01.iso and track02.raw

dummy track01.iso 614400
dummy track02.raw 705600

Then create a new file name <anything without spaces>.gdi and write this into it:

3
1 0 4 2048 track01.iso 0
2 450 0 2352 track02.raw 0
3 45000 4 2048 track03.iso 0

Then load the gdi in nullDC. -> Profits!! or not...

FG

 

Are you serious you guys didn't even take the time to change the volume name for Geist Force from SELFBOOT (default when you use Family Guy's data/data selfboot pack) to whatever the volume was originally named on the GDI, you say you're all into preservation, if that's the case why not make everything as close to the original as possible including something as small as keeping the original volume name?

I remember a while back that someone mentioned that the pressed disc cause one of their DC's to catch fire.

I'm pretty sure Geist Force wasn't originally designed with the specs of the Katana DC hardware in mind it seems like it was originally designed with the specs of the 3DFX Black Belt hardware in mind.

The ungrateful attitude problem came from the fact that you guys only release a CDI version of your stuff without giving the people a GDI in case they want a 1:1 copy of the original disc, in the case of Giest Force there was quite a bit of backlash from the original donator's because you guys wouldn't give them access to the GDI version despite the fact that they're just as entitled to the GDI as you and ASSEMbler are because without them Giest Force wouldn't even be out there right now, as for the identity thing I have no comment.

 

Not to disturb you Superrayman3 but why dont pm Legit your concerns as to not derail this friendly (so far) thread.

 

x

 

Hi,

I've tried this, but NullDC only sees 2 sessions on the disk and it doesn't boot it (not even the SEGA screen)
I think I did something wrong but dont know what...

 

I didn't PM him my concerns for a simple reason and that reason is he'd probably just ignore it and then try to ban me (which will probably still happen since I opened an old wound).

To the topic at hand it wouldn't surprise me if Visual Creations did create a new copy protection scheme for T&E 3 since they're known for making unique copy protections.

 

Watching the progress... Don't give up!!

 

As for Geist, I've sent to ASSEMbler the fixed files and made the sorttxt.txt via vnc and he built the selfboot with my pack, sorry we didn't changed the name of the volume, I don't think it's that big of a deal. The sort order we choosed was to original one, an editorial choice. As for gdi/cdi flame wars, I have no opinion really, I didn't followed the whole discussion once it was released.


For ToeJam, I'm kinda surprised the gdi wouldn't work... I mean even geist worked this way IIRC.

@Druid II, No I didn't tried with the devkit bios, it might be a good idea!

I've extracted a slightly different 1st_read.bin from memdumps and I'll test with it, hopefully it has copy protections removed... (don't hold your breath though)



Given the tone of this thread lately: to those who might think I'm simply too stupid to do it: it may be the case, but I've selfbooted a truckload and a half games in the past, only releasing the ones others hadn't done before, and I've always did that anonymously. I'm no 1337 hacker though, and I won't pretend, if there's disassembling involved it's out of my league but I got contacts that could help with that.

Please keep the thread respectful!

Cheers!

FG

 

+1 to everyone whose working on getting this puppy out there. I just want to say thanks to everybody involved here.

 

The Xbox version has mostly the same music, so you can already have that since long.

 

guess that's why it's a beta!

I appreciate the work being done to make this available to the masses. Heck, somebody else may just have kept it to themselves and threw it in a drawer.

 

I was not really around here when the whole Geist Force thing went down (although I do have a copy of it--still sealed), so I cannot (and don't want to) comment on the drama, however, I really have a hard time trying to understand why someone would be so against Frankensteining the project and then wouldn't release a GDI?

Always unscrambled for Katana and WinCE files. When a GD-ROM is booted, the binary is loaded straight into memory; when a Mil-CD is booted, the binary is descrambled into memory and then GD-ROM access is locked. Echelon's IP.BIN (i.e. any IP.BIN that goes through binhack) contains an additional routine that unlocks the GD-ROM and scrambles the binary in memory. So you want to leave it alone.

KallistiOS/homebrew applications are scrambled on the disc and unlock the GD-ROM on their own which is why it is not necessary to hack IP.BINs for those applications.

lol. That's ridiculous. Anyone who seriously thinks that a Geist Force beta killed their Dreamcast is dreaming indeed.

Actually, yeah, it is kind of a big deal to some of us.

If you want an example of a preservationist Dreamcast release done right, take a look at the anonymous K-Project release. I wonder who did that?

 

Geist Force was a different kettle of fish. The main reason the GDI wasn't released was because some of the files, when in the right hands had information relating to the programmers which could be discovered, shared and lead to their subsequent harassment which would not be a good thing at all.

It would be different if a game were released as peoples names would end up in the credits anyway, but whilst they probably had some good times, the programmers had bad times too. I can't imagine it would feel good to devote so much of your life to a project that ends up getting shit canned, especially if it was theirs or a friends fault and I sincerely doubt any of them will be in the mood to talk about it on demand to some random asshole on the internet with a false sense of entitlement.

Would you seriously want the same idiots who demand GDIs of games they don't own or speculating on the identities of people who wish to remain anonymous making collectors stop sharing their betas, to suddenly demand information from programmers making them clam up too? Preservation is one thing but the programmers privacy is another thing entirely which really needs to be respected.

The programmers were contacted some time ago and they are aware of our presence. If they choose to share any details etc the situation will be reviewed as and when such time arises, though people should really bear in mind that might never happen.

None more so than me! I lost twice as much money as everyone else combined which is why I really didn't appreciate someone talking shit about something they know nothing about

FYI even my mother could use FG's excellent selfboot pack and convert GDI to CDI too, that isn't the issue, but yeah the more hands helping the OP get ToeJam and Earl III up and running the merrier.

lol?

Look. It is really quite simple. A selfboot is a necessary evil to make the game work on a retail unit. Frankensteining a beta with retail files from the same or alternate platform in the case of Ball Breakers was not, therefore it was a step too far IMO.

Let's also not forget that one of the most interesting features which adds value to a beta is the differences when compared to the finished product, such as a lack of polish.

Also, some beta collectors would like to see their files released in some form or another, but the main reason for the majority of dumps I've done are as backups for their own personal private use, not public release.

When people pay $100's per GD-R beta they are entitled to the GDI. People paying $0 are entitled to nothing and should be thankful the collector even threw a dog a bone and let them have anything at all. Even if it is just a CDI, it is still way more than most beta collectors will ever give out.

After collectors shell out their own hard earned cash, share something for free (in many cases devaluing the original media) and then people go and seem ungrateful, how do you think the collectors feel about that? In short they don't feel like sharing any more.

In a word, no. The information presented is pertinent to the ongoing discussion and people clearly want or need answers to certain related questions.

As the OP is embarking on a release of their own they should really know all of the pitfalls of undertaking such a project, as should everyone else. I'm all for getting talk back more directly onto ToeJam and Earl III and if other people would like to do the same, I suggest they STFU talking about anything else (in this thread at least) or I'll have to start handing out the slaps.

Whilst I am bound by certain guidelines, I've always been a straight shooter and try to be open, firm and fair and received my fair share of slaps for overstepping the mark for doing what I believe is the right thing. If you have a problem with that, report the posts here which concern you and another moderator will make an independent judgement.

Shame they didn't have the song and dance for the character select screen and the level looks a lot more spartan compared to the Xbox release but other than that, the basics seem to be there, so looking good

 

Legit, you're a moderator - can't you do the right thing and take all that to private messages? There's no need to stir up people's feelings in public, as a moderator you should be the first to know this. Lead by example.

 

Shame I'm not moderator for this thread, I would remove all posts with the word GeistForce in it.
Common guys, let's keep it friendly in here. I wasn't active when GeistForce released or leaked or whatever.
If you got problems with that game, make an new thread instead of derailing this one.

Thanks and with best regards,
ZakhooiTM

 

Well said. Keep this thread to the topic on hand.

 

are the levels the same as the xboxs? If so, could you maybe upload a screenshot side by side for graphical comparison?

 

Just YouTube the Xbox version, it's clear that the Xbox benefited from the extra development time, the frame rate is silky smooth and the textures look far in advance of the Dreamcast version, I'm pretty confident given the time, the Dreamcast version could have been as good-looking.

 

Depends really, the xbox has better hardware so it had much better effects.The xbox version had realtime texture shadows , and real time reflections for when you stood in the water.Not sure but the color depth might have been different too.

 

This's a really awesome thing, thank you for sharing your discovery with us, ZakhooiTM.

So if I understand the game seems to be very difficult to selfboot ?