Interesting VT03 documentation

[codeman38]

Gil Galad has this collection of various video game source code findings around the 'net; it can be found here.

On the NES source code page, there's a file called "VT02/03 OneBus Clone Unit" which contains various official demos and such from VRTech, makers of the OneBus hardware.

Interesting thing is, this doesn't just contain source code-- it also contains documentation.

The most interesting documentation is that from the Pic32 utility, a tool for creating the 4-bit graphic sprites for use in the VT03 chip. It includes EmuVT screenshots from two games created using the tool: a Dance Dance Revolution game that I hadn't yet seen (one of the official Konami-licensed famiclone DDR mats, possibly?) and... Pink Jelly. As in the game on that ABABsoft multicart. Same character and everything.

Incidentally, the package also includes an older beta version of EmuVT, and a full 8-megabyte Korean multicart ROM (!).

[taizou]

ooh, i saw that just yesterday actually. but i didnt check out that Pic32 documentation, nice find! Pink Jelly especially intrigues me - did the ABAB/ex-hummer guys intend to start developing for the VT03 but it never happened?

theres more stuff like that on VRT's download page, including a few demo roms scattered around - a "Pinball" credited to DJ-Jungle which is just a menu really, "Boxing" which is a menu and some still images, and a VT168 demo with a bunch of tests and stuff. interestingly the latter starts with the same sound effect used for the mini game menu in the various "Sport 6 in 1" Wii clones (like my Wow), but i suspect whoever coded that menu just stole it from the dev kit.

the name Biikoo keeps cropping up in this stuff too, which i mentioned in this thread - it seems to be the company Wise Wang worked for after DJ-Jungle/Jungletac & before Cube Tech.just been looking through the docs for any more interesting screenshots - VRT seem to mostly favour using stolen Disney art in a lot of these. but theres one menu screenshot from something called "Hunting Park" (5 in 1, looks lightgun based) which I swear I saw for sale in Argos years ago, and a title screen(?) for "V-Dog: Jack Russell Terrier", presumably a Nintendogs type thing (maybe something to do with Jungletac's "Is Dog" which is listed on their website and apparently was exhibited at CES once, but doesnt seem to have been released)oh yeah, and i had a look through the datasheets too. theres only one screenshot in any of them - in the VT1682 Programming Guide theres one of what looks like a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire game. with a £ sign, so presumably a UK one. a quick google suggests there were at least two different plug & plays released in the UK, maybe one of those runs on VRTech hardware.

[codeman38]

taizou

Mar 27 2011, 01:05:05 AM

theres more stuff like that on VRT's download page, including a few demo roms scattered around - a "Pinball" credited to DJ-Jungle which is just a menu really, "Boxing" which is a menu and some still images, and a VT168 demo with a bunch of tests and stuff. interestingly the latter starts with the same sound effect used for the mini game menu in the various "Sport 6 in 1" Wii clones (like my Wow), but i suspect whoever coded that menu just stole it from the dev kit. [/quote]I know I have heard that sound effect before, like, back in the '90s somewhere. And I cannot place it for the life of me.On the VT168 demo ROM, the "Game Demo" looks very Cube Tech-y, doesn't it?

[Awesome Panda]

I love how the title screen for the Boxing game is blatantly stolen from Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing for the Mega Drive. Also, I think the "Push Start Button" font is stolen from Aladdin.
One thing I find funny is that there's an ASM file labelled Sonson which just seems to comprise of references to Super Mario Bros. 3.

[MLX]

Noob time:

Is there a way to use the files in "roms" folder ? I couldn't understand how to play them

[Awesome Panda]

MLX

Mar 27 2011, 09:40:41 AM

Noob time:

Is there a way to use the files in "roms" folder ? I couldn't understand how to play them[/quote]Not without compiling the PPU and PRO files, I don't think. There are a few backup files of NES ROMs, but they're just a few of the games off that Korean multicart.Edit: Come to think of it, there's 105 sets of those files, and the sizes of them correspond with the ROMs that are actually on the multicart. (for the most part, at least. The 48Kb games are 64Kb for some odd reason) So presumably, compiling the 001 files would give you Sonic 3D Blast 5.

[codeman38]

Cheetahmen

Mar 27 2011, 07:23:21 AM

I love how the title screen for the Boxing game is blatantly stolen from Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing for the Mega Drive. Also, I think the "Push Start Button" font is stolen from Aladdin.[/quote]Indeed it is. I remember seeing that same font ripped off in several of Cube Tech's MiWi games, too, come to think of it.

Cheetahmen

Mar 27 2011, 09:47:35 AM

Edit: Come to think of it, there's 105 sets of those files, and the sizes of them correspond with the ROMs that are actually on the multicart. (for the most part, at least. The 48Kb games are 64Kb for some odd reason) So presumably, compiling the 001 files would give you Sonic 3D Blast 5.[/quote]Using a tile editor on the PPU files, that does indeed appear to be the case. The first one's Sonic; the second one's Ninja Turtles: The Manhattan Project; the third one's Super Contra... and the 105th one is Frontline.

[Awesome Panda]

codeman38

Mar 27 2011, 11:30:40 AM

Cheetahmen

Mar 27 2011, 07:23:21 AM

I love how the title screen for the Boxing game is blatantly stolen from Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing for the Mega Drive. Also, I think the "Push Start Button" font is stolen from Aladdin.[/quote]Indeed it is. I remember seeing that same font ripped off in several of Cube Tech's MiWi games, too, come to think of it.[/quote]In other words, the EmuVT emulator is by JungleTac and that Boxing demo is most likely by Cube Tech. There's gotta be some sort of connection between them if both companies are using the OneBus archiecture, I doubt one would've stolen from the other if resources from both were included in that documentation.

codeman38

 

Using a tile editor on the PPU files, that does indeed appear to be the case. The first one's Sonic; the second one's Ninja Turtles: The Manhattan Project; the third one's Salamander... and the 105th one is Frontline.[/quote]
That one's actually Super Contra (or Super C if you prefer) but I think I'm right on that. Mind you, I (by which I mean KingPepe) found a couple of blunders on the multicart maker's part. Xevious is included twice, once without the copyright (the other one is the US release) and both Nuts & Milk and Penguin (a hack of it) are included. And for whatever reason, a couple of the games don't actually work. Also, this is the only multi I've seen where Super Mario Bros. is unhacked.
Edit: Oh, and both F-1 Race and UFO Race are included.

[codeman38]

Full list of games from the VT02 multicart-- amazingly, there are only two verbatim repeats and two hacks of other games on the cart:

Spoiler: click to toggle

1. Sonic the Hedgehog
2. TMNT: The Manhattan Project
3. Super Contra
4. Adventure Island 3
5. Tecmo World Cup
6. Dead Fox (Code Name: Viper)
7. Batman
8. Spider-man: Return of the Sinister Six
9. Tiny Toon Adventures 2
10. Final Mission (SCAT)
11. Tom & Jerry (with weird "Apichai" hack of Hi Tech logo)
12. Super Spy Hunter
13. Star Soldier
14. Adventure Mario (Adventure Island hack)
15. Space Hospital (Dr Mario title hack)
16. Mickey Mousecapade
17. Gradius
18. The Legend of Kage
19. The Goonies
20. Onyanko Town
21. Spelunker
22. Mach Rider
23. 1942
24. Magmax
25. Tag Team Pro Wrestling
26. Challenger
27. City Connection
28. Slalom
29. F1 Race
30. Galaxian
31. Zippy Race
32. Formation Z
33. Super Mario Bros.
34. B-Wings
35. Arkanoid
36. Gyrodine
37. Tengen Tetris
38. Hyper Olympic (Track & Field)
39. Sonson
40. Soccer
41. Xevious
42. Spartan X (Kung Fu)
43. BPS Tetris
44. Dynamite Bowl
45. Galaga
46. Circus Charlie
47. Road Fighter
48. Pinball
49. Duck (Bit Corp.)
50. Mighty Bomb Jack
51. Magic Jewelry
52. Twinbee
53. Tank A 1990 (Battle City hack)
54. Mr Mary (Mario Bros title hack)
55. Ice Climber
56. Tennis
57. Balloon Fight
58. Baseball
59. Nuts & Milk
60. Gomoku
61. Urban Champion
62. Clu Clu Land
63. Brush Roller
64. Devil World
65. Warpman
66. Duck Hunt
67. Wild Gunman
68. Hogan's Alley
69. Othello (Bit Corp.)
70. Donkey Kong 3
71. Golf
72. Sky Destroyer
73. Ninja Hattori-kun
74. Antarctic Adventure (doesn't boot)
75. Penguin (Nuts & Milk hack)
76. Lunar Ball (Lunar Pool)
77. Door Door
78. Donkey Kong
79. Donkey Kong Jr
80. Dig Dug
81. Dig Dug 2
82. Wrecking Crew
83. Lode Runner
84. Lode Runner 2
85. Mappy
86. Chack 'n Pop
87. Binary Land
88. Popeye
89. Star Force
90. Super Arabian
91. Exerion
92. Excitebike
93. Burger Time (doesn't boot)
94. UFO Race (F1 Race hack)
95. Xevious (again)
96. Yie Ar Kung Fu
97. Pac-Man
98. Raid on Bungeling Bay
99. Bomberman
100. Pooyan
101. Space Invaders
102. Field Combat
103. Hyper Olympic (again)
104. Joust
105. Front Line

Cheetahmen

Mar 27 2011, 12:23:39 PM

That one's actually Super Contra (or Super C if you prefer) but I think I'm right on that.[/quote]Yeah, I realized my mistake and edited it shortly after posting the wrong game ID, heh. My eyes aren't working very well today.

[Awesome Panda]

codeman38

Mar 27 2011, 12:28:02 PM

11. Tom & Jerry (with weird "Apichai" hack of Hi Tech logo)[/quote]That's the same version I have on my pirate copy.

Personally, I'm wondering how they got Final Mission on there more than anything. The other large games (the first 12, that is) are all TxROM, which are easy to run on multicarts but Final Mission is an SKROM (Mapper 1) game, meaning that (by my understanding of multicart programming) it won't work unless it's been hacked to run on TxROM. The same goes for S.C.A.T. and Action In New York (the American and European releases respectively) so I presume the multicart maker hacked the ROM themselves to get the game working. I believe that's the same reason you never see Nintendo's Tetris on multicarts, despite being the same size as the other versions.

Edit: There was a pirate TLROM conversion, but that one removes the copyright, whereas the multicart version doesn't.

[taizou]

Cheetahmen

Mar 27 2011, 12:23:39 PM

In other words, the EmuVT emulator is by JungleTac and that Boxing demo is most likely by Cube Tech. There's gotta be some sort of connection between them if both companies are using the OneBus archiecture, I doubt one would've stolen from the other if resources from both were included in that documentation.[/quote]i think Wise Wang is the connection - he seems to have worked for Jungletac (back when it was DJ-Jungle), then Biikoo, then Cube Tech. maybe some other staff made the same move.

[Awesome Panda]

taizou

Mar 27 2011, 12:44:12 PM

Cheetahmen

Mar 27 2011, 12:23:39 PM

In other words, the EmuVT emulator is by JungleTac and that Boxing demo is most likely by Cube Tech. There's gotta be some sort of connection between them if both companies are using the OneBus archiecture, I doubt one would've stolen from the other if resources from both were included in that documentation.[/quote]i think Wise Wang is the connection - he seems to have worked for Jungletac (back when it was DJ-Jungle), then Biikoo, then Cube Tech. maybe some other staff made the same move.[/quote]That sounds about right, but if it were the case then where have JungleTac got their games from for the past couple of years?

Speaking of them, the 32M-99x multicarts seem to use a similar setup to that Korean multicart, except with 6 fewer games listed and 4 large games as opposed to 12.

[codeman38]

Cheetahmen

Mar 27 2011, 01:25:28 PM

That sounds about right, but if it were the case then where have JungleTac got their games from for the past couple of years?[/quote]Nice Code, of course!

No, seriously-- Nice Code's site lists several games that are very clearly copyrighted to JungleTac.

Wouldn't be surprised if there were some old Waixing people who came over to JungleTac as well, especially given how many of their games use the Super Contra sound engine.Oh, just thought of something else. Remember how there was that one "Penrlty Kick" game on the Waixing Vii that used Hummer Team sound effects? Between that and Pink Jelly, maybe there really were ex-Hummer Team folks developing for the VT03.

[Awesome Panda]

codeman38

Mar 27 2011, 01:36:02 PM

Oh, just thought of something else. Remember how there was that one "Penrlty Kick" game on the Waixing Vii that used Hummer Team sound effects? Between that and Pink Jelly, maybe there really were ex-Hummer Team folks developing for the VT03.[/quote]If there were ex-Hummer Team developers making games for the VT03, then why (to my knowledge) have they only made 2 games? I'm guessing they probably converted some of their other small games (as in Panda Adventure, Space Shuttle Exploration and such) to VT03 and we just haven't seen them yet. Mind you, if that was the case then I'd like to see graphical revamps of Street Fighter IV and Somari as well.

[KingPepe]

Well, we do have that one Sonic 3D Blast 5 on that Korean multicart although that could've been taken off the internet for all we know.