Why are MSXDEV entries distrubted as ROMs?

Resident (50)

20-10-2008, 14:59

Why are the games in the MSXDEV contest distributed as ROMs?
I have a MSX2 w. 720kb diskdrive, and wanted to test some of the games from earlier compos.
However I only managed to get like half of them (or even less perhaps) running, and I had to track down some ROM-loader software to run those few.
Why are the games not required to be distributed as .COM or (.DSK files for multiload solutions), ready for use with real hardware?
Surely not everyone wants to use an emulator?

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Por anonymous

incognito ergo sum (116)

20-10-2008, 15:20

I think most of the 32KB-48KB entries work with some rom loader. If you have problems with them, try ODO, which is able to run most of the 32KB-48KB games.

Regarding the MegaROM entries, of course you need enough RAM to load them. But the best way to play them properly is by means of some flash cartridge, such as MegaFlashROM (created by Manuel Pazos).

Por wolf_

Ambassador_ (10091)

20-10-2008, 17:00

A ROM has advantages, like being able to have content available at the snap of a finger. A .dsk version would make this process quite slow, and sometimes just not possible in the first place. Just imagine streaming a map directly from ROM, with this map being 80KB with random access possibilities (teleports, warps etc.). Having to load this from disk is quite a bit of a pain I think..

Por anonymous

incognito ergo sum (116)

20-10-2008, 17:05

That's right. Also, most MSXdev games have very low RAM requirements (8KB-16KB), and for most of them, this would have not been possible in other non-ROM formats. Thus, cartridges can run on almost every MSX machine, independently of its RAM.

Por Sdw

Resident (50)

20-10-2008, 17:15

Yeah, but surely there most be more people who own an MSX2 with 128kb (or more!) RAM and a diskdrive than there are people who own flash cartridges?
I think it would make more sense to require more RAM (or at least make a version that loads everything into RAM).

Por ARTRAG

Enlighted (6930)

20-10-2008, 17:20

Data in ROM are easy to be accessed by the ASM code, no I/O, no error management....
You do not need to manage I/O and you can use all the ram (system area included) for your needs.
Roms up to 48K are the most compatible format you can find.
All you need is 64Kram machine and ODO.COM

For megaroms you need pazos megaflashrom (that has SCC too)
Great tool for replaing any konami megarom, a must have in any case

PS
note that msxdev aims to msx1

PPS
Differences among mapper make make the port from e.g. the konami SCC format to msx2 RAM mapper not trivial.

Por viejo_archivero

Paragon (1395)

20-10-2008, 17:51

You can also convert most of those 8/16/32KB ROM images into BLOADable WAVs and load the games through the cassette port. Take note that the common MSX(1)s does not feature a diskette

Por Haohmaru

Paladin (774)

20-10-2008, 18:59

Why are the games in the MSXDEV contest distributed as ROMs?

Because it's to have games on cartridges, that's why!

Por JohnHassink

Ambassador (5665)

20-10-2008, 19:16

Why are the games in the MSXDEV contest distributed as ROMs?

Because it's to have games on cartridges, that's why!
I must agree!

Imagine having the game on cartridge; you'd until your legs totally fly out of your buttocks!

Por Maggoo

Paragon (1217)

20-10-2008, 19:20

Por Metalion

Paragon (1622)

20-10-2008, 20:47

Speaking of ROM development, this may be a little out of topic but is there anywhere routines I can find that would help with (mega)ROM development ? Like routines to find the RAM slot and, switch MegaROM pages etc ? Is this explained in detail somewhere ? I've only seen bits and pieces of information available.
You can use AsMSX, which is a cross-assembler that has built in macros taking care of those things.
Or you can look here : http://bifi.msxnet.org/msxnet/tech/megaroms.html