Star Ocean

[Didodeman]

ok, i've finished my Star Fox 2 cart everything works great, just gotta make the label for it.

but now i'm wondering about Star Ocean... i'm wondering what size the file has to be before writing it to the eprom?

thanks,
Austin

[CRTGAMER]

ok, i've finished my Star Fox 2 cart everything works great, just gotta make the label for it.

but now i'm wondering about Star Ocean... i'm wondering what size the file has to be before writing it to the eprom?

thanks,
Austin

Looky here, someone else had the same idea, has a label.
http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12603

So how is the game compared to first Star Fox?

Not sure of Star Ocean file size.
http://www.tototek.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=9911&sid=8929393a800119a9396268a650242eac

[CRTGAMER]

Wiki Post.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Fox_2

Google Image.

[Ziggy]

ok, i've finished my Star Fox 2 cart everything works great, just gotta make the label for it.

but now i'm wondering about Star Ocean... i'm wondering what size the file has to be before writing it to the eprom?

thanks,
Austin

Split the first 4MB of the ROM and burn it to a 27C322 (16-bit). If you're using a Willem universal programmer, you'll need a 16-bit adapter. If you're using a Star Ocean cart, do not remove the second mask ROM, only replace the first (P0) with the 27C322. Additionally, you can just put the expanded version on a flash cart (unlike Star Fox 2).

Looky here, someone else had the same idea, has a label.
viewtopic.php?t=12603

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=13416

[Didodeman]

yeah i've got one 27c322 (which by the way are hard to come by), and i've got the jap version of Star Ocean, and the Willem GQ-4X.

i totally looked past needing an adapter :/ on their website which one would i need the (16 Bit EPROM 40/42 pin ZIF adapter V3 for Willem) or the (16 bit EPROM adapter V3 40PIN /42PIN with PLCC44)?

so with SNESTOOL split it on the 04 and you get 12 splits? then do you have to remove a header from the first one? (it took me 3 trys with Star Fox 2 because i was told to remove the header when there was no header on it to begine with)

edit: CRTGAMER, the main difference from SF2 and the original is in the second one instead of following predefined paths, your free to move your team around a map making contact with different planets and enemies.

[Ziggy]

Well it's good that you have the 4X so you don't have to mess around with wire jumpers. This is the adapter you would need...

http://www.mcumall.com/comersus/store/c ... oduct=4289

There's a cheaper version, which removes the ZIF socket. Personally, I wouldn't get it. ZIF is the way to go...

http://www.mcumall.com/comersus/store/c ... oduct=4290

Sounds like your problem with Star Fox 2 is that you weren't double (if not triple) checking everything. Load the ROM in an emulator. Remove the header and load it in an emulator again. If it doesn't load, you know that the ROM did NOT have a header to begin with. If it did load, then you know your ROM is now header-less.

Best way to check if the ROM has a header, in my opinion, is to right-click on the ROM and click on properties to view the size of the ROM in bytes.

But anyways, about double checking everything... Before you burn your ROM it SHOULD be able to load in an emulator. If it doesn't then you did something wrong. After you burn the ROM to a chip, read it back and load it in a ROM to double check that it burned correctly. I know what a headache it is when a cart doesn't work and you're left wondering if it's the burn or if you wired it wrong. If you triple check everything and can be 110% sure the chip was burned right, then you can limit your troubles down to wiring etc.

SNES Tool is great for most games, but you can't use it to split Star Ocean. It does not support splitting to that big of chunks. You'll have to split it in a hex editor. But the important thing to remember when you DO use SNES Tool is that it'll add headers back after you split (this is because it was designed to split ROMs for use on backup devices). If the ROM has a header or not, after you split the ROM you'll have to delete the header on the .1 files (which will delete the headers on all the other split files).

And one other thing I just wanna mention, and I don't mean this in a condescending way at all, but be careful not to ruin your Star Ocean cart. A lot of people have issues with people making 'repro' carts because it requires the destruction of a video game cart that is out of production, and I kinda agree. In Star Ocean's case, I don't see a problem since it's still coming out the same game (only in English). But if you destroy the cart in the process of trying to make it, that's one less Star Ocean cart in the world. There ISN'T and endless supply.

[Didodeman]

thanks, i just ordered the adapter now so i'll have to wait for that.

i did know that SNESTOOL adds a header to the files after they were split, which is how i figured out Star Fox 2 i split it and then removed the header. but i didn't think to check the ROM with an emulator after removing the header untill the last time i did it. i didn't know that it would work with an emulator with or without a header, which i don't even know what the header is for then :/

and i also see the ethics behind using donor carts, which is why i got the jap versions of Star Ocean, Secret of Mana 2 and Bahamut Lagoon. but i've been soldering off and on for most of my life, so i'm pretty confident of my soldering skills even on the surface mount components.

one question though, there are a couple PAL games i wanted too... Worms, Mega lo Mania and Terranigma... have any insight on these games, how i could get them on NTSC carts?

[Ziggy]

i didn't know that it would work with an emulator with or without a header, which i don't even know what the header is for then :/

Yup, emulators don't need headers. Maybe very early emulators did, I'm not sure, but you really don't need them anymore. The header was used by backup devices, which was (I think) the first hardware used to dump ROMs. The backup devices needed headers for the ROMs to work. These days, we don't need them unless you're using a backup device. What's more, I don't believe you'll be able to find a Star Ocean ROM with a header, so you wont have to worry about removing it.

and i also see the ethics behind using donor carts, which is why i got the jap versions of Star Ocean, Secret of Mana 2 and Bahamut Lagoon. but i've been soldering off and on for most of my life, so i'm pretty confident of my soldering skills even on the surface mount components.

Good call, getting original carts. And again, I don't mean to put you down. I just wonder how many Star Ocean carts were destroyed by people trying to make a repro and damaging the cart.

one question though, there are a couple PAL games i wanted too... Worms, Mega lo Mania and Terranigma... have any insight on these games, how i could get them on NTSC carts?

We'll I've never heard of the first two games, but Terranigma has a NTSC patch for the PAL version.

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/541/

That's the patch you'll wanna use. However, if you plan to use an original Terranigma cart you might wanna pick up the SFC over the PAL version. The only reason being the lockout chip used. If you get a PAL cart, you'll have to swap out the CIC chip (unless you deactivated the lockout chip on your console).

Those other two games might have NTSC patches, but as I said, I am unfamiliar with them. If they don't, you can always import the PAL carts, deactivate the lockout chip and 50/60Hz mod your SNES to play them.

[Didodeman]

after splitting the Star Ocean rom i get the first file being 4,194,304 bytes in size and the second file 2,097,152 bytes in size. is there something i have to do to these to run them in an emulator to make sure they're right? it won't run on an emulator as is, does that mean i've done it wrong?

edit: so i merged them together again and it did run on an emulater, so i guess as long as the file size is correct it should be all good, right?

and i didn't know that Terranigma came in a SFC version, and i don't think the other ones do. i was trying to avoid modding my SNES at all, but that might be the only way, if not probably the easiest way.

[chupon]

I'm not trying to hijack this thread but I gotta tell you guys I'm a huge SNES RPG fan and am so jealous of what you guys are doing. I've briefly looked into getting a Willem programmer but just never pulled the trigger. Hearing all these success stories really makes me want to join in on the fun.

My other half says F it - just spend the $60 to $100 per Rom cart and have them shipped to my door. There is no way I'd ever want to play these gems on emulation on my PC.

How much of a front loaded time investment is a project like this? I know most games are different and require additional learning. Seems everyone starts with Starfox 2. Start to finish from when you first said I want to do this how long before you got a cart working? Month? 3 Months?

I know you'd have to wait for all the stuff to ship that you have to buy ect. Sometimes Eprom chips might not be available ect. From your experience, what's the time committment?

Much thanks.