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Game Boy dumps / A-Force Prototype
« on: January 03, 2025, 09:24:59 PM »
This is my favorite thing I've gotten to share here so far. It's a ROM dump of a prototype copy of A-Force by Sachen I found a few months back. Technically this is the Mega Duck version, but Mega Duck games are mostly the same as Gameboy games at a programming level. I shipped it out to Sean Riddle who was able to dump it (he redumped a few times to make sure it is a good dump) and gave me some info on his findings:
"The EPROM is connected directly to the cart data bus D0-D7 and the cart address bus A0-A14. Chip enable is connected to cart A15, so the EPROM outputs are tri-stated for addresses $8000-$FFFF. Output enable is connected to /RD. EPROM A15 is connected to the MC14174B HEX Type D Flip Flop’s output 0. The flip flop’s input 0 is connected to data bus D0, and the clock input is tied low and connected via a diode OR gate to /WR and A14. So writes with A14 low will latch data bit 0 for use as EPROM A15. The flip flop’s /reset signal is connected to the cart’s /RST pad so that the game starts up in bank 0. The other 5 flip flops are unused.
This 32K bank switching is different from the 16K bank switching used in the production carts. That likely explains why large blocks of code have been shuffled around."
Interestingly the shell for the cart appears to use the design for Mega Duck carts that is seen in old advertisements (light colored plastic and slants on the sides of the cart)
"The EPROM is connected directly to the cart data bus D0-D7 and the cart address bus A0-A14. Chip enable is connected to cart A15, so the EPROM outputs are tri-stated for addresses $8000-$FFFF. Output enable is connected to /RD. EPROM A15 is connected to the MC14174B HEX Type D Flip Flop’s output 0. The flip flop’s input 0 is connected to data bus D0, and the clock input is tied low and connected via a diode OR gate to /WR and A14. So writes with A14 low will latch data bit 0 for use as EPROM A15. The flip flop’s /reset signal is connected to the cart’s /RST pad so that the game starts up in bank 0. The other 5 flip flops are unused.
This 32K bank switching is different from the 16K bank switching used in the production carts. That likely explains why large blocks of code have been shuffled around."
Interestingly the shell for the cart appears to use the design for Mega Duck carts that is seen in old advertisements (light colored plastic and slants on the sides of the cart)