Wait, whoa whoa.
Can I just burn a game onto a disc and the DC will just play it? Not planning on pirating any games (unless they're unrealistically expensive/rare) but if I can use it for something like this I definitely would.
Dreamcast games originally came on pressed GD-Roms (gigabyte discs that hold more than a standard cd-rom.) Therefore to burn these games to cdrom, the images need to be converted from gdi to cdi, and this means removing music, or compressing it etc. It's a lossy method, far from ideal. It works, but it's not ideal.
The preferred way would be to use a gd-emu or one of its clones, that way you can use full/complete gdi files.
Some of them need to be patched before they can be played.
Some of them might need a boot disc first.
Because of the capacity differences between a CD and a GD-Rom, they had to strip the music out or rip it and drop its quality to fit the tracks into the smaller media.
As a technique, it certainly got better over time.
Gods, but I haven't used a DC dodgy copy in ages, I think there's a cake of them somewhere.
Yeah, just double check the model number on your console. I think 0 and 1 are fine but 2 can't run CDs. I believe some games are self booting, I could be mistaken, but easy enough to use the Utopia boot disc.
I got a GDEMU clone off Amazon for €60, so far so good. I didn't have a disc drive for games.
Definitely consider getting a GDEMU, the cheap clones work fine and so much more convenient and quieter than the original drive.
I might get one, but I don't fancy ruining my only Dreamcast
I'm pretty sure I've a spare one lying around you can have, let me take a look..
I got an S-Video adapter for the MiSTer analogue IO board today for my 9" PVM. Looks pretty good! Obviously a bit softer than RGB, but fine for a small display.
I don't like that the adapter doesn't screw in to the VGA connector - it feels a little fragile, but I'm sure I can come up with a solution.
Grabbed these about 2 weeks ago - didn't wanna post it here because it would've been a triple-post at that point.
I nearly wasn't gonna buy the Mega Games cartridge, I still don't know why I did, as I'm planning on buying a complete copy at some stage.
The grey memory card I got prior didn't work so I found this green one in my local trade shop.
Gods was surprisingly in good nick. Never played it before, still haven't played it. Funnily enough, that's three or four Accolade-published Mega Drive games I've bought within the last couple of months and I never owned any before.
Spent far too much time lately watching RMC's Trash to Treasure series, and have been seriously bitten (again) by the Amiga bug. They were always unobtainium for me growing up, and my C64 had to somehow suffice.
Chanced upon a deal for a boxed 500, boxed 600, boxed 1200, and unboxed CD32 and said feck it, go on. So I'm now the proud owner of all four.
The plan is to go full Trash to Treasure on them, restore them, retrobrite them, and put some small QoL upgrades in them, while keeping them mostly period authentic.....all in due course though. First up will be my childhood C64c to get the treatment, just waiting on a Psu to arrive for it and I can begin.
Recent loot
DC PSU, fan and battery, and another battery for my PAL Dreamcast. I'm going to put an ODE in the JPN Dreamcast. I'm thinking MODE or USB GD ROM as opposed to knockoff GD Emu.
Some Super Famicom stuff! Normally I don't buy unboxed SFC games, but these game up elsewhere for a good price! I paid less than what SF Zero 2 goes for alone on eBay!
The controllers will soon be converted to GC controllers via Raphnet PCBs on the way!
Are those DC parts to stop the reset issue?
Nah, the DC is 110V and I'm sick of step-downs so it replaces the original power supply with that and an external power brick.
The fan is because the one in the DC sounds a little grindy.
For a VA0 Dreamcast the PCB is just an adapter for wiring. For VA1 and later, the DC detects if the fan is running so I think the IC just contains a gate to pass voltage back to the console.
Meant to post these Sega pins
Those are sweet. Pin collecting is a rabbit hole I won't go down!
Can't say no if a friend sent them on.
I have SO many, think I uploaded everything onto an album and had 80? If not might be now. I need a better way to keep them, atm I'm using small gift boxes from Sostrene Grene and have them sorted as like dressy (has brooches too), cute and nerdy
I wonder if there's a board you could push them into, similar to how jewellery usually sits in the cushion in a box? Or pin them to a cork board type thing?
I have one but might get like a jewelry box or something, I'd be afraid I'd damage the backs, I did once on a cork board
I have a good few, and have made a few too.
I just have a cork board from tesco and put them all in that.
Picked up a lovely little 21" 4:3 Trini there on Adverts
Picked up a silver phat PS2 on holidays in Wales for £10. Let's see if it works when I get it home now
Not all retro, just the Siren bits but just said I'd post the lot. Hoping I can get more Siren bits soon
That Silver PS2 works anyway.
Found a copy of SSX3 inside too. Back of the net
Got this the other day. An arduino based floppy controller for standard external floppy drives.
It allows the drive to read and write Amiga disks directly in Windows. Working on floppy disks directly in WinUAE is really handy as I've a good few thousand unknown Disks I've picked up over the last few years(a lot of Irish based PD ones included).
You only get the controller now from Rob, so it's up to you to find a compatible floppy drive. I got one recommended on his discord, but it didn't work. Picked a random one on Amazon and it works well.
https://amiga.robsmithdev.co.uk/
RMC does a good overview of everything it can do.
Bit of a nightmare actually getting this as An Post sent the first one back to Rob and I didnt get any notification as to what was going on until Rob got on to me about the returned package. Second package was also stopped and I rang An Post and they said it was also going back to the sender as it was missing some info(turns out it wasn't). Anyway, the second one arrived out of the blue 2 weeks after talking to An Post.
Nice work Steve-o!
Wrong game, it was Silent Hill 2's 20th birthday! :D
I wish I had somewhere to put a Sony CRT/PVM, grew up loving the look of Sony tech. Particularly flat/squared designs. Even in modern tech, I miss my Xperia Z2, Z3 and Z5)
Silent Hill 2, still one of the best games I've ever played.
Scared the 💩 out of me!
Especially when you first get the flashlight
I got a MODE today. Trying not to think about the price and import charges on top... Just waiting on a 3D printed enclosure from LaserBear. Hopefully customs doesn't try to bounce that back.
Just bought River City Rumble and Ghosts'n Goblins for the Famicom.
Two cracking games
