Bentley Bear Crystal Quest Running Without XM!

[CPUWIZ]

Any chance of posting a basic wiring schematic for adding a pokey to a stock 7800?

 

I'm not one of thd lucky who gig in on the XM and I'd like to hear Beef Drop with pokey. Also DK XM if I get my hands on it eventually.

 

It's not quite that easy, you need to have some address decoding logic, to enable and disable the POKEY at the right time. Stay tuned.

[CPUWIZ]

It would be cool to have a quarter-height cart with a Pokey chip in it that you could keep plugged into the 7800 and just plug carts into that.

 

Allan

 

Here is a first crack at it...

 

 

[mmervine]

Exciting stuff!!!

[+Trebor]

SWEET! Bring on the amazing hardware homebrewing...love it.

[+Allan]

 

Here is a first crack at it...

 

 

 

I was kind of half kidding. Cool.

 

So how are you thinking of doing this? Would you cut the cartridge case right below the screw hole and have the middle and bottom tabs hold the case together? I'm guessing that because you have no screw hole on/in your board.

 

Allan

[CPUWIZ]

I am half kidding too, I just did it to see if I could make it work. I think the only thing cool for something like this, would be someone with a 3D printer (who knows how to use it), to make some custom cart cases. I can see them sliding into the bottom of cartridges. But I am bored with this now, I need to experiment with my secret MegaCart+ feature, to see if my theory is correct.

 

More optimized and more features, like better control of the chip select line. Maybe I'll run a proto one of these days.

 

 

[Jinks]

I am half kidding too, I just did it to see if I could make it work. I think the only thing cool for something like this, would be someone with a 3D printer (who knows how to use it), to make some custom cart cases. I can see them sliding into the bottom of cartridges. But I am bored with this now, I need to experiment with my secret MegaCart+ feature, to see if my theory is correct.

 

More optimized and more features, like better control of the chip select line. Maybe I'll run a proto one of these days.

 

 

This kid here lives in my province. If what he is doing comes thru 3d printing will be in every home for 100.00.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/#!/content/1.2417416

 

Great work on your boards and pokey pass thru.

[+Allan]

If you can get it to work it would be great if you made a small run of the boards minus the Pokey and let people cut the cartridge cases themselves.

 

Allan

[AtariFriend]

This kid here lives in my province. If what he is doing comes thru 3d printing will be in every home for 100.00.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/#!/content/1.2417416

 

Great work on your boards and pokey pass thru.

 

That is amazing. A pair of brothers and a dream can do great things.

[Greg2600]

Wait a second, you did not just make an actual Pokey pass-through board that adds Pokey sound to a non-Pokey game? How in the heck does that work???

[+Trebor]

Wait a second, you did not just make an actual Pokey pass-through board that adds Pokey sound to a non-Pokey game? How in the heck does that work???

Actually, it is a POKEY pass-through board that adds POKEY sound to games which have POKEY sound code present and enabled with the presence of a POKEY chip.

 

A game like Beef Drop VE has TIA sound (code) without a POKEY chip present, but POKEY sound [As the code for it is contained within the game] with a POKEY chip present. Froggie works the same way.

 

Bentley Bear, like Donkey Kong XM, has POKEY sound code only and requires a POKEY chip to be present for any sound to be heard.

 

The relative scarcity of POKEY chips, along with cost and other resource considerations makes this 'hardware homebrewing' certainly sweet as is the XM module; they are methods to centralize additional hardware instead of allocating extra hardware on a cart-by-cart basis.

 

Cart-by-cart extra hardware chip additions were utilized by the competition back in the day. In fact, ~90% of the NES library utilized them, and it's exciting to have the 7800 placed on a somewhat level playfield (Even if it is about 25 or so years late).

 

CPUWIZ has been gracing us with some excellent hardware developments lately which are greatly appreciated.

[ColecoGemini]

I am half kidding too, I just did it to see if I could make it work. I think the only thing cool for something like this, would be someone with a 3D printer (who knows how to use it), to make some custom cart cases. I can see them sliding into the bottom of cartridges. But I am bored with this now, I need to experiment with my secret MegaCart+ feature, to see if my theory is correct.

 

More optimized and more features, like better control of the chip select line. Maybe I'll run a proto one of these days.

 

 

I would buy one of these while waiting to get the chance to order an XM.

[+Trebor]

I would buy one too, regardless of having an XM already ordered.

"If you build it, (they) will come".

[+Gemintronic]

Well, shoot. If we're making XM games without the XM why not just make something akin to the Aladdin Deck Enhancer?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin_Deck_Enhancer

 

I may not need all the features of the full XM. With a base cart with just the RAM and Pokey I'd be free to buy XM games and attach them to that.

[+Trebor]

I may not need all the features of the full XM. With a base cart with just the RAM and Pokey I'd be free to buy XM games and attach them to that.

You may want the Yamaha sound chip too:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/174793-help-choose-my-next-sound-update/?do=findComment&comment=2173581

[Jinks]

And sio port etc. May be usefull..

 

But for now I would be into buying one of these pokey passthru carts to hold us over till the XM comes.

[YANDMAN]

The bass on the How High Can You Get screen sounded a little off. The bassline of that tune uses distortion mode $C. Normally it sounds like dirty bass. In your video it sounds like noise, except for the last note which sounds pure.

yes i agree, its cool it works but it isnt the same at all.

[CPUWIZ]

Cellphone recording of a wire jumpered mess = Perfect Sound!!!!

 

LOL

[Jinks]

Cellphone recording of a wire jumpered mess = Perfect Sound!!!!

 

LOL

Echo echo echo..

[Lynxpro]

Actually, it is a POKEY pass-through board that adds POKEY sound to games which have POKEY sound code present and enabled with the presence of a POKEY chip.

 

A game like Beef Drop VE has TIA sound (code) without a POKEY chip present, but POKEY sound [As the code for it is contained within the game] with a POKEY chip present.  Froggie works the same way.

 

Bentley Bear, like Donkey Kong XM, has POKEY sound code only and requires a POKEY chip to be present for any sound to be heard.

 

The relative scarcity of POKEY chips, along with cost and other resource considerations makes this 'hardware homebrewing' certainly sweet as is the XM module; they are methods to centralize additional hardware instead of allocating extra hardware on a cart-by-cart basis. 

 

Cart-by-cart extra hardware chip additions were utilized by the competition back in the day.  In fact, ~90% of the NES library utilized them, and it's exciting to have the 7800 placed on a somewhat level playfield (Even if it is about 25 or so years late).

 

CPUWIZ has been gracing us with some excellent hardware developments lately which are greatly appreciated.

I'm starting to wonder if a 7800 could be programmed to accept NES "mapper" [cartridge based graphics chips] chips to augment or bypass the Maria.

 

I couldn't understand why Atari Inc wouldn't have asked GCC to add such a feature to the 7800 since Atari was evaluating the Famicom development while the 7800 was being completed and it appears the Famicom info was shared and not kept secret from the project managers overseeing GCC's work.

 

If the NES didn't have the mappers available, it would've been a completely inferior system compared to the 7800 or SMS, and maybe also against the 5200 and Colecovision.

[Lynxpro]

Well, shoot.  If we're making XM games without the XM why not just make something akin to the Aladdin Deck Enhancer?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin_Deck_Enhancer

 

I may not need all the features of the full XM.  With a base cart with just the RAM and Pokey I'd be free to buy XM games and attach them to that.

Or make a Flash Memory Cart out of this. We 'd have an XM 'ish replacement for the CC2 in one package.

[CloakandDagger]

CPUWIZ --- how soon might you be able to sell these boards? I'd love to get Bentley Bear on a pokey cart to play it with no XM. Name your price, half goes to you, half goes to PacManPlus.

[Greg2600]

Or make a Flash Memory Cart out of this. We 'd have an XM 'ish replacement for the CC2 in one package.

 

Said he wasn't interested

[Lynxpro]

 

Said he wasn't interested

I didn't see that. What a shame.

[Greg2600]

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/219967-bentley-bear-crystal-quest-running-without-xm/?p=2890891

 

Said so right away. It's probably a lot more work, especially the software requirements.