Weird MD pirate cart, Saddam/Bush - Intel flash memory?

Interesting! I don't have a region-modded Genesis with which to try that, unfortunately.

I'm using the Iraq War ROM included with GoodGen -- is that a good dump, or should I be looking for another one? I think I had another one, since deleted from my ED (but somewhere on my HD), under the Russian "voina irak" title. I've tried the GoodGen copy on my Nomad, Model 1 w/o TMSS, and Model 2, all with no luck. (Or maybe I just need to update my ED OS.)

 

It works. I don't know if you can setup the Everdrive to force the console to run Japanese mode; you can always install a switch or get something like a Mega Key 2 that has the dips on it to force different regions. A Mega Key II will even force the region switch in-between a 32x if you can balance the resulting monstrosity.

A lot of unlicensed cartridges (both actual carts and ROM images themselves) that are designed for knockoff systems and therefore trash or ignore the TMSS info will for some reason work in a regular NTSC TMSS console set to Japanese mode. I've ran into standard unlicensed single cart fare and multi-game pirate carts that were designed for aftermarket knockoff MD clones (that of course are not designed with TMSS) and the carts will work with either the console set in Japanese mode or with a Game Genie attached. The one I've ran into that didn't was Tenchu wo Karu 2: The Battle of Red Cliffs. Tomsoft SDK stuff works in Japanese mode along with a few multi-game pirates, the vast majority of other multi-game pirates require a Game Genie.

BTW; a PAR will not work to force Japanese mode in this situation since it is not compatible with the ED.

 

Just to be clear, if I'm not having any luck getting Iraq War 2003 to run on a non-TMSS Model 1, then the problem is something else and changing to Japanese mode shouldn't help -- right?

Really interesting about Japanese mode and NTSC TMSS consoles, however...I wonder what exactly is happening?

 

The only non-TMSS model I have are a couple knockoffs like the RetroN3 and others, they boot the games in question without problems (both multi-game carts and single game carts, including Tomsoft SDK programmed carts). I do not have an older non-TMSS model 1 Sega system to try.

If you do have a TMSS Sega system, the Tomsoft developed stuff will work if you have a region switch installed and set it to Japanese mode, or have something like a Mega Key II that actually has dipswitches and additonal circuitry and is not just a passthru device like the older ones.

For the specific scenario you mentioned (non-TMSS model 1 and it still doesn't work), then adding a region switch *might* work. Being that it makes absolutely no sense at all that changing the region would somehow make the game work, it's not like we've got any concrete logic to go on. I don't see why it wouldn't work in your situation, but I still have no idea why it doeswork in mine.

I originally ran into this with Death Caliber and there's some information I found about it in the "ED MD this game doesn't work" thread in the Everdrive section of the forum.

 

Just mentioning, there's one version of Japanese Mega drive (with 160 pin ASIC) that has TMSS only when set to EXPORT.

Look for the 160 PIN ASIC and check if it's marked "315-5402" or "315-5433".

The "315-5433" chip will have TMSS enabled regardless of the region and even MEGAKEY won't make an ROM/GAME without the TMSS code in them work. :shrug:

 

Goldenband;

Went back to verify some of this information I had posted before. Using Iraq War 2003 from Goodgen on OSv23 FW8.

Tried on a Sega Nomad both with and without Mega Key II, and just for shits and grins a Game Genie. Does not load.

Tried on the only clone system I had handy (RetroN3) and would not load at all after trying a variety of settings.

On model 1 TMSS US Genesis set to US mode does not load, nor did it work with a Mega Key II set to J mode or with a Game Genie attached.

Flipped region switch to Japanese mode and it worked fine.:shrug:

I would think that a non-TMSS model 1 set to Japanese mode would be no different boot-wise than a clone system set to Japanese mode, and that particular setup did not work.

Or hell, maybe it would, since absolutely none of this makes any sense at all.

 

How utterly bizarre! Thanks for doing all that testing. There has to be some intelligible reason for all this, but it's far beyond my skills to figure out what it would be. Perhaps I'll start a thread at Sega-16 and see if the devs there have any ideas.

Maybe the specific way in which Iraq War 2003 trashes the TMSS register has some arcane effect, but nothing in my knowledge points to what that would be, or why JPN mode would have anything to do with it.

 

One can purposely design a game to not work if the region is not Japan.

God knows what Chinese pirates think. They might think of that as an copy protection, even ... :shrug: