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Penguin Adventure, Gradius and Super Game Module 3rd Production Status


GraziGamer

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Looks like Penguin Adventure is the only affected game. During beta we tested the game on multiple CV consoles, including F18A modded systems. Never saw or got any report of issues.

 

A few questions:

 

1) Do the crashes happen always at the same point?

2) What version of the SGM are you using?

3) Is your system modded?

 

Thanks!

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Looks like Penguin Adventure is the only affected game. During beta we tested the game on multiple CV consoles, including F18A modded systems. Never saw or got any report of issues.

 

A few questions:

 

1) Do the crashes happen always at the same point?

2) What version of the SGM are you using?

3) Is your system modded?

 

Thanks!

 

1. Yes - always when the actual gameplay is about to start, or when in attract mode it resets as soon as the demo gameplay would start.

2. First gen.

3. Yes - F18A plus motherboard modded to accept 28pin EPROMs for the BIOS (reset problem happens with original Coleco BIOS on an EPROM).

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I have just tested Penguin Adventure on my F18A modded CV with four different BIOS's and I experienced the reset problem with ALL of them. Could this actually be an F18A related issue? The BIOS's I tested are:

 

  • Original 1982
  • Original Fire Skip
  • Patched Fire Skip (youki)
  • Bruce Tomlin Optimised with Fire Skip
Gradius works fine (based on a short play test)

 

For those who have experienced problems with Penguin Adventure could you please report back if your system is also modded with an F18A and/or if it plays okay on a stock CV.

I can confirm that Penguin Adventure plays 100% fine on mine F18A modded Colecovision. No problems here whatsoever.

 

- No other mods besides Pause switch

- Original 1st gen SGM

- Have played it for hours.

 

What I can confirm, is that using the "pause" mod (wired to the Z80 "wait" pin), graphical and gameplay corruption occurs. The longer the pause, the more severely the game freezes.

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Got my SGM and Gradius this week. Just about everything about the packaging screams quality and my father who is a retired printer reckons the printing on the boxes is top notch. The SGM is of excellent build quality and when I put the game in, it worked first time with no glitches. The game plays really well although a little slower than on an NTSC console. Excellent stuff and I will get more games later in the year.

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I forgot to clarify more details on my post earlier.. Penguin Adventure worked fine on my modded CV, which features:

 

- F18A (DRAM was Not removed Or bypassed, has 1uf cap instead of 10uf on reset circuit)

 

-yurkie av composite mod

 

-Fire intro skip BIOS (I also have a No Delay BIOS that still needs tested)

 

-internal Cincon power supply (Only 5v is connected, 12v and -5v are Not Connected, USB tap for internal HDMI but isn't used yet).

 

-Pause mod with sound mute. No problems with graphic glitches at all,works fine.

 

-Nkk switches (power, reset and pause, but that makes no difference whatsoever).

 

I think that's all the specs on it.. As soon as Bosconian is back in stock, I'll order that, along with Gradius to test.

 

Penguin Adventure also works fine on my plain vanilla CV (only mod is yurkie av composite). Hope this helps..

Edited by SiLic0ne t0aD85
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Looks like Penguin Adventure is the only affected game. During beta we tested the game on multiple CV consoles, including F18A modded systems. Never saw or got any report of issues.

 

A few questions:

 

1) Do the crashes happen always at the same point?

2) What version of the SGM are you using?

3) Is your system modded?

 

Thanks!

I never saw these issues during testing either. So far haven't seen them on the official cartridge but will test on 2 other CVs and 2 other ADAMs. Some modded with the F18A, some not. Using the SGM from the 2nd round of pre-orders. So 2nd GEN?

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I have not had a chance to test on a stock CV system yet, but Penguin Adventure works perfectly on my stock ADAM.

 

My modded CV that I am experiencing the issues with has:

 

- Yurkie Composite A/V Mod

- Fire Button Skip BIOS (Sewer Sam won't work with)

- Power Supply Mod for modern power transformers

- Most of the chips socketed

- Pause Button Mod

- SGM from the first run

 

Game crash happens at the same point everytime in the self-running demo or when starting a game... once the first level is displayed on screen.

 

All SGM games play perfectly except Penguin Adventure. Will give everything a good cleaning and retest after testing on a stock CV to rule out any possibility of a CV PCB board revision conflict.

Edited by NIAD
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It is still unclear to me if we had manufacturing problems with a few copies of Penguin Adventure, or if the game is taxing the systems, probably in terms of power. We would need to perform a few more tests in order to figure out the real issue. For example, try to run a different copy of Penguin Adventure on those problematic CVs.

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So, I cleaned the expansion port connection and the problem still exists, so it isn't a dirty connector as far as I can tell. I will try a different power supply later today.

 

Just to complete the info regarding my systems:

 

System with Reset Issue

 

- Motherboard Rev. F

- F18A A/V Mod (4116 chips not removed)
- Fire Button Skip BIOS (patched by youki)
- Standard power supply brick
- Pause Switch Mod and Power LED
- SGM from the first run

 

System with NO Reset Issue

 

- Motherboard Rev. H2

- Component Video Mod (5-11under)
- Fire Button Skip BIOS (Sewer Sam won't work with)
- Modern internal power supply mod
- Pause Switch Mod and Power LED
- SGM from the first run

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I am just an observer because I'm only on the SGM v4 waiting list, but have observed the seemingly common component as the F18A as another pointed out. If this issue might be power-related, as also suggested, perhaps try moving the sprite jumper on the F18A from 32 pixels to 4 as a test?

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@Bloodnose... I DON'T have an F18a VGA Board installed in my system.

 

So Ikrananka has the same Fire Button Skip BIOS (Sewer Sam won't work) that I have and Peng. Adv. works on his, but not on mine... so the modded BIOS may not be the issue. I'll have to double check Sewer Sam on my system, but I remember it not working years ago.

 

Don't recall my motherboard revision, so right now the common denominator with Ikrananka's system where the game crashes and my system is the Pause Button Mod with Power Led.

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So Ikrananka has the same Fire Button Skip BIOS (Sewer Sam won't work) that I have and Peng. Adv. works on his, but not on mine... so the modded BIOS may not be the issue. I'll have to double check Sewer Sam on my system, but I remember it not working years ago.

 

I tested four BIOS's on the problem system and none made any difference, even the original one from 1982, so I doubt it is a BIOS issue.

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It is still unclear to me if we had manufacturing problems with a few copies of Penguin Adventure, or if the game is taxing the systems, probably in terms of power. We would need to perform a few more tests in order to figure out the real issue. For example, try to run a different copy of Penguin Adventure on those problematic CVs.

Al sent me a second Penguin Adventure cart and it crashed on my Modded CV exactly the same as the first cart.

 

I don't think it is a problem with manufacturing, otherwise there would be more people reporting game malfunction issues.

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Al sent me a second Penguin Adventure cart and it crashed on my Modded CV exactly the same as the first cart.

 

I don't think it is a problem with manufacturing, otherwise there would be more people reporting game malfunction issues.

 

That is interesting. So maybe the Super Game Cartridge is pushing some CVs to their power supply limits. I will investigate further once I am back.

 

At this point the best we can do is to list all people having issues here, so we can try to isolate the cause.

 

BTW, it worries me that quite a few people seem to be modding their CVs and removing the 12V power supply. That will be a problem with the SGM Pro.

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BTW, it worries me that quite a few people seem to be modding their CVs and removing the 12V power supply. That will be a problem with the SGM Pro.

 

Solution: the CV II, a drop-in replacement for the CV board, with SGM Pro built in, and that uses an easily obtainable power supply. =)

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I've wondered if the cartridge port or the cartridge isn't inserted all the way, which all the pins might not be all connected may be the issue. I did have the same issue Penguin Adventure and Gradius until I reseated the cartridge and to make sure that the power cord is inserted all the way. I had the same problem with Mazezam until I reseated the cart and reinserted the power cord. I'm pretty stubborn getting something working. Right now, the Colecovision should be working fine and Gradius/Penguin Adventure is waiting for me to play it again.

 

One thing I may experiment is to use my flakey US power supply to see if Penguin Adventure would flake out or not. I don't want it to kill my Colecovision. It's somewhat still functional US power supply when conditions are right, but the thick cord needs to be replaced to be perfect again. I think the brick itself is fine. I think the modded controller brought that brick to it limit where the video chip having trouble getting enough power. I brought a Canadian Power Supply and the problem went away.

 

As for Gradius, I found the bonus level in the 2nd level. Man that was awesome. Still working my way to the end of this awesome game. And I managed to defeat the end-stage boss before it self-destruct(I've wondered if it suppose to do that or not.).

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I just purchased and received Penguin Adventure and love it! Superb packaging and presentation. Getting new games for the ColecoVision 33+ years after it came into the market is a surreal and awesome experience. :)

So far I have had no issues with Penguin Adventure either. I am running this on a Yurkie A/V modded CV with pause, bios fire button intro skip, and power led light.

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