ROLL BOSS RUSH (PSX)

[Drew Sebastino]

Just CDs. Subsequent optical media have been circles instead.

That seems to make more sense. It seems really difficult to have the data packed really tight when you're using a wavy spiral.

It's not burnable. To make a CDR they actually mold that information into the polycarbonate, not burn it into the dye in the factory.

I thought pits (is that what you'd call it?) and burned spots were interchangeable, because they both don't reflect back the laser?

[lidnariq]

But wobble is neither pit nor land. It's the physical shape of the channel where the pits and lands are stored.

[tepples]

why haven't special burners been made for PlayStation discs?

Pick one of A. patents, B. anti-circumvention laws, and C. low demand compared to the engineering complexity of moving the recording beam radially instead of just turning it on and off in straight spirals.

That article is actually pretty informative. I had no idea that the data was in a spiral and not circular layers

Just CDs. Subsequent optical media have been circles instead.

What makes you think that? DVD-RAM is a circle, but that never got wide use as far as I can tell. It got supplanted by DVD-RW and DVD+RW, which are spirals just like DVD-ROM.

[Drew Sebastino]

Wait, I you mean there's a slight indentation as to where the long line of data is, and in that "channel", there are even deeper holes? What's even the point of the channel? It's not like it's a record that's stopping a needle from sliding over.

Pick one of A. patents, B. anti-circumvention laws

That hasn't seemed to stop us. I didn't think they'd care about anti-circumvention laws for a 20 year old console, especially when it's to make homebrew games instead of creating copies which they probably already don't really care about, seeing how many sites have PS1 roms for download.

C. low demand compared to the engineering complexity of moving the recording beam radially instead of just turning it on and off in straight spirals.

That's probably more like it.

What makes you think that? DVD-RAM is a circle, but that never got wide use as far as I can tell. It got supplanted by DVD-RW and DVD+RW, which are spirals just like DVD-ROM.

What about Blu-ray, or even HD DVD? I never knew something like a disk that has ram even existed, unless we're talking about a hard drive or something.

[lidnariq]

Apparently misremembering this infographic: wikipedia:File:Comparison_disk_storage.svg.

[MottZilla]

Every time I see your project mentioned somewhere it makes me want to work on some kind of PS1 homebrew. It's a cool project to me because of the Mega Man universe and homebrew on the PS1.

Me too. It's unfortunate though that there's no way to run homebrew software on unmodded consoles. (Is there? Haven't been keeping up.)

Actually yes there is. You'll need a GameShark or similar cheat cartridge and you can Flash/reprogram it with something called UniROM which has an implementation of the backdoor discovered awhile ago that allows reading unlicensed CD-ROMs on NTSC/U and PAL consoles. It's often called either the "Secret Unlock" or "Nocash unlock" because he was the first to actually implement it and test it I believe.

Alternatively you can use a Swap trick to boot CD-Rs. My recommendation would be to test primarily on an emulator like No$PSX or something else decent but at important points burn CD-Rs and test it on a real console.

It is worth noting that with the right Cartridge plugged in you can actually run programs uploaded from your PC. You are limited since your program must fit into RAM but you could probably break things down and manage to test parts of a bigger program. However, if you implemented the unlock commands in your program you could read resources off a CD-R after uploading your program. So if your artwork and level data were still the same and you just had code changes you could get away without reburning a CDR.

[Joe]

It's unfortunate though that there's no way to run homebrew software on unmodded consoles. (Is there? Haven't been keeping up.)

I have this neat disc called a Breaker Pro. It works pretty well for booting CD-Rs on unmodded consoles.

[Bregalad]

Not exactly unmodeed since you need to lock the door detector closed, but not as much modeed as adding a new chip in.

Yes, it's great, except that often a couple of tries are required before a CD boots proprely, probably because the CDs are not exactly the same thickness, and thus, the lens would have to adapt itself, except that it only adapt itself when it knowns the door was opened and that the CD was changed, which is of course not possible here.

[Joe]

Not exactly unmodeed since you need to lock the door detector closed, but not as much modeed as adding a new chip in.

I have this weird recollection that some games worked even if you didn't jam the switch closed, but the details escape me at the moment... (Maybe it was only import games and not CD-Rs?)

In any case, it's pretty simple to jam something in the lid switch and run the console with the lid open, and it can be done without taking the console apart.

[thefox]

Yeah I actually have modded my PSX. I was more lamenting the fact that if one were to make and release a homebrew production for PSX, it would not be playable without tricks (unlike e.g. all of the NES homebrew).

[tepples]

Then I guess figuring out how to make a burner produce the SCEA wobble code would be the equivalent of the CIClone.

[MottZilla]

Yeah I actually have modded my PSX. I was more lamenting the fact that if one were to make and release a homebrew production for PSX, it would not be playable without tricks (unlike e.g. all of the NES homebrew).

You also would not be able to use the official SDK if you were to sell your game. You could bundle it however with a GameShark type cartridge that uses the program I mentioned so that you could boot it without modding your console. But again you would have to use an open source/freeware SDK.

[isufje]

You also would not be able to use the official SDK if you were to sell your game. You could bundle it however with a GameShark type cartridge that uses the program I mentioned so that you could boot it without modding your console. But again you would have to use an open source/freeware SDK.

That's total bullshit. Does anyone remember those final fantasy silver bottoms from China!?

[isufje]

I have a question for you guys... if i could make this game into a self bootable disc, would you buy it even though it was readily available to download for free... and if so, what price would work for you?

Personally, i would like to own a playstation 1 homebrew game that was self bootable, even if i didn't program it, just because of what it represents. It has never been done before, at least that i know of, and it would be a great item to own.

Do you guys remember when Last Hope came out for the Dreamcast? I was so going to buy it but ended up not only because i didn't like it. I downloaded the iso when it became available and test played it and i hated it. It was nothing like r-type and it wasn't even fun... but people still bought it...why? Because of what it was... the first production style homebrew game for the Dreamcast... but in the end i should have bought it because now it's worth $250+ on eBay

[tepples]

I have a question for you guys... if i could make this game into a self bootable disc, would you buy it

Someone who works for Capcom might buy a copy... and sue you.