2600 Rom Comparisions and Dumps

[Hornpipe2]

I thought I saw all these described on AtariProtos... Sinistar has 3 versions listed here (you're probably looking at the first?), and the Taz has even more (this is probably also the first described with no title)

[Rom Hunter]

Nope.

 

None of the posted proto ROMs are described on Atariprotos and that's a fact.

 

I have all the other (dated) versions of Sinistar as well, but this one is not one of them.

 

Same goes for the other titles.

 

 

Dino, did the 312 scanlines Dumbo you dumped carry a date on the front label?

 

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Some CloneSpy results:

(6/23)														   0  1  2  3  4
0 Sinistar (1984) (Atari, Tod Frye) (CX26122) (Prototype) [a]·   · 99 75 70 68
1 Sinistar 2-13-84············································   =  · 75 70 68
2 Sinistar 1-23-84············································   =  =  · 80 76
3 Sinistar (1984) (Atari, Tod Frye) (CX26122) (Prototype)·····   =  =  =  · 76
4 Sinistar 1-4-84·············································  53 53 62 64  ·

So #3 is somewhere between 1-4-84 and 1-23-8.

 

(1/7)													  0  1  2  3  4  5  6
0 Taz (Tazz) (1983) (Atari, Jerome Domurat, Steve Woita)   · 96 96 62 64 60 42
1 Taz (Tazz) (1983) (Atari, Jerome Domurat, Steve Woita)   =  · 99 65 68 63 42
2 Taz (Tazz) (1983) (Atari, Jerome Domurat, Steve Woita)   =  =  · 65 68 63 42
3 Tazz 6-15-83 (PAL)····································   =  =  =  · 87 74 42
4 Tazz 7-15-83··········································   =  =  =  =  · 76 43
5 Tazz 7-13-83··········································   =  =  =  =  =  · 44
6 Taz__Tazz___1983___Atari__Jerome_Domurat__Steve_Woita_  34 32 32 32 32 34  ·

#6 is obviously the oldest proto here.

Edited October 31, 2008 by Thomas Jentzsch

[Foxsolo2000]

Nope.

 

None of the posted proto ROMs are described on Atariprotos and that's a fact.

 

I have all the other (dated) versions of Sinistar as well, but this one is not one of them.

 

Same goes for the other titles.

 

 

Dino, did the 312 scanlines Dumbo you dumped carry a date on the front label?

 

 

Perhaps you should let Tempest cast his critical eye over them

[Rom Hunter]

I already informed Tempest about these.

 

 

Thanks for comparing, Thomas.

 

Could you post me the Sinistar (1984) (Atari, Tod Frye) (CX26122) (Prototype) [a] ROM?

 

[Rom Hunter]

I wondered about something:

 

Is there a program that can check all ROMs on format and create a list of these?

 

It would be great to double check the .bins on format by verifying them for 284 scanlines or higher.

 

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Is there a program that can check all ROMs on format and create a list of these?

AFAIK no.

 

One could modify an emulator for doing this.

[Rom Hunter]

Would be an interesting feature indeed.

 

[+stephena]

I wondered about something:

 

Is there a program that can check all ROMs on format and create a list of these?

 

It would be great to double check the .bins on format by verifying them for 284 scanlines or higher.

 

Stella has the commandline argument '-rominfo', which will run a ROM for 30 frames or so, print all info it finds, and then exit. It basically runs the same auto-detect code for a normal run, but then quits right after. Currently, this info includes controller types, bankswitch format, display format (NTSC/PAL, etc), file size, file MD5sum, etc. One could always create script file and run Stella with every ROM you have, and make note of the output. Would this be what you're looking for??

Edited October 31, 2008 by stephena

[Rom Hunter]

This could be helpful indeed if it really creates a list with the scanlines count related to each ROM.

 

How can this be done exactly?

 

[+Omegamatrix]

This could be helpful indeed if it really creates a list with the scanlines count related to each ROM.

 

How can this be done exactly?

 

Just remember some games have vastly different scanline counts on the title screen vs main screen. The GCC Millipede and the older Dumbo proto type spring to mind. Such a program would not tell you this, or other important info like the scanline bouncing.

[Rom Hunter]

True.

 

Well, I already double-checked all NTSC ROMs to see if there's a PAL version amongst them.

 

Only found the Frog Demo at 297 scanlines.

 

 

I also found three non-working ROMs:

Galaxian__02_04_1983___Atari___GCC__Mark_Ackerman__Glenn_Parker___CX2684___Prototype___a_.bin

8_in_1__Supergames_8_in_1___01_16_92___Atari___CX26193___Prototype_.bin

Galaxian__12_03_1982___Atari___GCC__Mark_Ackerman__Glenn_Parker___CX2684___Prototype_.bin

 

Any idea what's wrong with these?

 

Edited November 1, 2008 by Rom Hunter

[+Omegamatrix]

The 8 in 1 proto works when you break it apart. All together maybe it is starting in bank 1 of Asteroids? Anyhow dipswitchs on a cart would work to select the games. In the folder you'll see numbers representing the parts. All are 8k chunks except where it is ".1" or ".2". These roms have been further split into 4k.

 

 

8in1_1_16_92_decomposed_.zip

 

Centipede (part 2) is a bad dump as noted on AtariProtos.com. It'll never work. The last rom (Yars' Revenge) is only 4k. The remaining 4k space after it is nothing, all $FF.

[Rom Hunter]

Thanks, Omega.

 

Any idea about the Galaxians?

 

 

BTW: I'm having my doubts about the dates of some of the Galaxian proto's that Tempest posted.

 

One was dated 005-01 (january, 5th) and shows a 1983 copyright on screen:

http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/galaxian/1583.htm

 

Another one was dated 02-04-83 (february, 4th) and shows a copyright 1982 on screen.

 

Doesn't make sense to me.

 

Doesn't the handwritten 005-01 on the label simply mean: may, 1st?

 

Edited November 1, 2008 by Rom Hunter

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Any idea about the Galaxians?

CloneSpy says:

(7/39)												  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7
0 Galaxian__02_04_1983___Atari___GCC__Mark_Ackerman__   · 49 49 49 51 51 51 34
1 Galaxian (1983) (Atari - GCC, Mark Ackerman, Glenn   86  · 99 99 93 93 93 46
2 Galaxian (1983) (Atari - GCC, Mark Ackerman, Glenn   86  =  · 99 93 93 93 46
3 Galaxian (1983) (Atari - GCC, Mark Ackerman, Glenn   86  =  =  · 93 93 93 46
4 Galaxian (1983) (Atari - GCC, Mark Ackerman, Glenn   90  =  =  =  · 99 99 47
5 Galaxian (CCE)·····································  90  =  =  =  =  · 99 47
6 Galaxian (Digivision)······························  90  =  =  =  =  =  · 47
7 Galaxian__12_03_1982___Atari___GCC__Mark_Ackerman__  56  =  =  =  =  =  =  ·

Both contain some Galaxian code, only about 50%. Probably bad dumps.

[Rom Hunter]

Thanks, Thomas.

 

Too bad about the 12-03-1982 version (also labelled 005-01, btw).

 

Was curious about the top two enemy graphics and the ship's invincibility...

 

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Was curious about the top two enemy graphics and the ship's invincibility...

Does it run for you?

[Rom Hunter]

Unfortunately not.

 

But it is described on Tempest's site:

http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/galaxian/12382.htm

 

I truly hope he still has a dump somewhere of this one.

 

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Definitely bad dumps (or linked together wrong):

 

The 1st 2k are like the 2nd 2k and the 3rd 2k are like the 4th 2k.

[CPUWIZ]

Unfortunately not.

 

But it is described on Tempest's site:

http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/galaxian/12382.htm

 

I truly hope he still has a dump somewhere of this one.

 

 

If not, I am sure Wonder007 could dump it.

[Rom Hunter]

Would be nice indeed.

 

 

Thanks for checking, Thomas.

 

Here are both maps from Tempest, btw:

non_working_Galaxian_proto__s.zip

 

Perhaps something can be saved.

 

Edited November 1, 2008 by Rom Hunter

[Rom Hunter]

Moved upfront.

 

Edited November 4, 2008 by Rom Hunter

[Nukey Shay]

Space Invaders (1980) (Atari, Richard Maurer) (CX2632, CX2632P) (PAL) [a1] - Picture label, date stamped 41 2 R (41st week of 1982). Corrected speed and changed colors. Glitch in game selections 81-96 (players cannot alternate shots).

 

Slightly incorrect description. The players still alternate shots, just as intended...the glitch is that they don't alternate movement control of the cannon (the right player always has control of movement).

[Rom Hunter]

Corrected.

 

If any differences of the other [a]lternate ROMs can be pointed out, please let me know.

 

Edit: Video Life [a] difference added.

 

Edited November 3, 2008 by Rom Hunter

[+Omegamatrix]

Don't forget Bridge.

 

 

Also the alternate gas Hog fixes a buggy scanline count. It might be better to name it as a fixed version. Othello has a lot changed. I started disassembling it and realized it wouldn't be so easy to do a 1:1 comparision as they started switching from the X register to the Y register in some routines and that gives piles of dissimilar code to check. One of the Quadruns has "Woita Wave" or something like that. Not sure which is the prototype on that.