Thorsten Günther Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 (edited) Hello! As I learned on the Gamescom 2014, someone here in Germany has started a Multicart project for the Interton VC4000 - a console that has many ROM compatible siblings with a differently shaped/wired cartridge slot, such as the Voltmace Database, Acetronic MPU-1000/2000, Radofin 1292/1392, Fountain Force 2, Palson CX-3000, etc.. I collected all the originally released Interton titles and several of the differently shaped cartridges that were nowhere to be found as a .bin file (Rowtron Cowboy and Monster Munchers, Voltmace Munch & Crunch, Palson Pacman Come-Come) less aforementioned Leap Frog. And I already (indirectly) made contact with the guy(s) who are working on it. All of the Interton and Acetronic titles can already be found on http://amigan.yatho.com/. Has anyone of you a dump or even a cartridge of this game (there is one on eBay UK right now in a huge lot eBay Auction -- Item Number: 38098095807, but the seller doesn't even allow questions from outside the country - I would even have bought the lot for that single game). Edited August 25, 2014 by Thorsten Günther Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I'm interested in that multicart - I may not be able to provide cart dumps, but I would certainly enjoy to own a Radofin or Interton variant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorsten Günther Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Will let you know when I have further details on that project. I know that Stefan Höltgen of the Retro Magazin is involved in this and that they were able to contact someone who wrote software for this machine (I suppose it is not Derek Andrews). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarshipUK Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 I have this cartridge (LeapFrog No.25). I made contact with the person who runs that Amigan page back in 2013, but he did not seem too helpful in being able to get the Cart dumped, just mentioning someone else who might be able to dump it and saying he could not dump it himself. It seemed like too much effort and a bit of an uphill struggle trying to help out, so I just left it. Back then No.24 Much & Crunch also needed to be dumped, which I also own. I noticed this is still not yet dumped, so have contacted the MESS project team today who are going to send me details of someone to post this to in Europe who can dump this and a few other carts that they need for other systems which are not yet dumped, so if it all goes well it should appear in MESS sometime this year. I will also see if I can get a copy of the dump as soon as it is made. Out of interest is the VC4000 multicart project still alive? I would also like to own one of these, it it exists. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medo42 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Hi StarshipUK. I'd like to dump this cartridge and already sent you additional details by PM. The dumping itself is not a problem, I have already done it with Interton cartridges. The real issue is figuring out the pin mapping, and it is difficult to find information about that online. There are several ways to find out though. The simplest would be to open the cartridge, but is only really feasible if the screws are not below the label (removing and re-applying the label without damaging it doesn't sound realistic). Another option would be for you to open up your Database and post lots of good pictures of the circuit board so we can trace the connections from the cartridge slot all the way to the CPU and the PVI. There are other options, but those would require a bit more effort to arrange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarshipUK Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. The cartridge has been sent to a MESS dumper in Austria to be dumped, who seems to have knowledge of dumping Voltmace Database carts, so hopefully it will be successfully dumped at some point in the next few weeks. I have asked for a copy of the dump and will pass it on to you once I have it. If allowed I will also attach and post the ROM to this thread for all to have, but am guessing it will also be available in MESS in the next update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarshipUK Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Leapfrog dump is attached to this message. Voltmace -25- Leapfrog.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Will let you know when I have further details on that project. I know that Stefan Höltgen of the Retro Magazin is involved in this and that they were able to contact someone who wrote software for this machine (I suppose it is not Derek Andrews). What happened to this project? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorsten Günther Posted July 29, 2016 Author Share Posted July 29, 2016 Upgrade (although late): The entire project is finished, the final prototype video worked and a video has been uploaded to Vimeo https://player.vimeo.com/video/140186227 The documentation can be found here: https://www.medienwissenschaft.hu-berlin.de/de/medienwissenschaft/medientheorien/signallabor/maibaum_projektbericht-multi-rom.pdf A repository exists on github: https://github.com/mkeller0815/VC4000MultiROM The only thing missing is a ready-to-use mass-produced cartridge (or rather a bunch of these, since the cartridge sockets of these Signetics 2650A/2636 based consoles are mechanically incompatible to each other). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 From what I recall, there are about 5 large families of those consoles : mainly the Radofin and Interton families; this should be 80% of the remaining consoles. The other would be Rowtron, and I heard there is a French Karvan Computer/Occitel 2000 machine, but on all those years looking, I never found any in the wild or any comment on forums provign that someone owned one so you can ignore those Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorsten Günther Posted July 29, 2016 Author Share Posted July 29, 2016 There's also two Spanish consoles, one from Australia, and the British Voltmace Database, also sold under Waddington's label. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 What I mean is that most machines use the same cart slot. Like the Bandai machiens are just Radofin ones with a different label. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarshipUK Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Are there any plans for a mass produced cartridge then? The 1292 Wikipedia Article lists the machines and compatibility: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1292_Advanced_Programmable_Video_System Quite simply the standard "1292 Advanced Programmable Video System" is the most common format most machines used, unless you are in Germany in which case the Interton VC-4000 is the most popular machine there. I am guessing just making the carts in those two formats would be sufficient for most people, or also creating an adaptor as the only difference is the pin location and slot size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Andrews Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Leapfrog dump is attached to this message. That is interesting. I am the programmer that created this code and am interested in taking a stroll down memory lane and try to document the code. So far I have downloaded the DASMx disassembler and eventually managed to get something output, though I have a feeling it could be better (it would be nice if it showed the hex code alongside) and I haven't gotten into trying to make better use of the sym file. So I am wondering if anyone here is familiar with that program and could help me out. Or maybe someone has already done a disassembly and/or tried to document the code? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 I can't help with that, but I would certainly love to hear how you happened do write code for the system. The informations about those systems are very sketchy and hard to collect, so any information from someone who was here is precious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Andrews Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Well, I had just got laid off from my first job after university when Voltmace were advertising for a programmer and I got the job. I had some 6800 microprocessor experience from my final year at uni, and had been programming ATE for Texas Instruments for a few years, so I guess that helped, but I had no knowledge of the 2650 or video game programming, so most of it was made up as I went along. It took a lot of experimentation to be sure I understood how the hardware operated. It was thirty five years ago, and my memory of it all is quite sketchy, but I have found the necessary datasheets and am making good progress with understanding the code. It's a bit messy; I think deliberately so to try and discourage anyone from trying to hack it! If only I had known! If I could figure out how to attach files to this board I would share what I have done with my documentation so far. I would appreciate feedback so I know what information people might like to see in it. Always happy to answer any questions you may have. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorsten Günther Posted March 28, 2017 Author Share Posted March 28, 2017 (edited) Personally, I am not a programmer, the Interton VC4000 just happens to be the first console I ever bought, and as it was 100% ROM compatible with the Voltmace, this game will also run on that hardware. An Arduino based MultiROM cartridge has been developed or at least the development is in its final stage), see this Github: https://github.com/mkeller0815. Mario might also be very interested in any documentation helpful in programming this hardware platform. Edited March 28, 2017 by Thorsten Günther Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_79 Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 [...] If I could figure out how to attach files to this board I would share what I have done with my documentation so far. Click on the "More Reply Options" button to use the full editor so you can attach files to your post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 For those who don't have the patience to wait for projects in development that may or may not get mass produced, Rolo on this forum is already selling an Interton VC-4000 adapter to his Dragon/CoCo multicart which allows it to be used. If you have any other 1292 system you would have to make your own adapter or further adapt the VC-4000 pinout to match your console. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Andrews Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Personally, I am not a programmer, the Interton VC4000 just happens to be the first console I ever bought, and as it was 100% ROM compatible with the Voltmace, this game will also run on that hardware. An Arduino based MultiROM cartridge has been developed or at least the development is in its final stage), see this Github: https://github.com/mkeller0815. Mario might also be very interested in any documentation helpful in programming this hardware platform. Is this the same as the MAME project that I keep coming across? I read here http://forums.bannister.org//ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=103774&page=2that Leapfrog doesn't run very well on it. I tried joining that forum, to see if I could help, but still waiting for approval. Yes, will try and contact Mario. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Andrews Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Click on the "More Reply Options" button to use the full editor so you can attach files to your post. Thank you. I have attached some of the more finished parts - a few subroutines. snippet.txt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarshipUK Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 For those who don't have the patience to wait for projects in development that may or may not get mass produced, Rolo on this forum is already selling an Interton VC-4000 adapter to his Dragon/CoCo multicart which allows it to be used. If you have any other 1292 system you would have to make your own adapter or further adapt the VC-4000 pinout to match your console. So is anyone producing a VC-4000 to 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System adaptor or a VC-4000 to Database adaptor, as I have the official Database to 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System adaptor (although it could get messy plugging too many adaptors into each other!). From memory its not only the pinout that's different between all these, but also the cart size, probably to make sure people did not plug the wrong carts in the wrong system and blow things up. A quick question for Derek (although I think I know what the answer might be): Do you have any plans to write any new games for the system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vectrexroli Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Here some video about that Interton VC 4000 multicart and yes Leapfrog also runs on the VC 4000 and as carlsson already said for 1292 & 1392 systems you would have to build an adapter yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Andrews Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 A quick question for Derek (although I think I know what the answer might be): Do you have any plans to write any new games for the system? Would love to, but I have no hardware at all. Not even a TV! And I guess it would have to be a hobby as monetizing it would be hard with all these ROM emulators around Maybe I should try and write an emulator for the whole system! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Andrews Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Roli, interesting video, thanks for sharing. I like that someone is still writing for this system, and I will have to have a look in more detail at his source code for flappy bird.What was the name of some of those games on your video after Leapfrog? There were several that I hadn't seen. Maybe they never made it to the UK? Do you know who and where they were written? One looked like Defender. I was actually working on a version of that before I left Voltmace. There was another space invader type game that had diagonally firing lasers. I would be interested to learn how they achieved that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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