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200$ is a bit expensive for a hobby video game programming system. Why not just pick up a dreamcast for cheap and use it?

There are plenty of resources for it and some good examples of homebrewed games and applications already out there.

Not to mention it's a lot more modern and you can use some nice rendering hardware.

Linkage:
Dreamcast Programming
Dreamcast Homebrew
Dreamcast Emulation

In short, don't insult a scene because you use it to play free games and expect them to run perfectly without any contribution. Emulation is about learning. It is not about getting things for free.

Actually, the Dreamcast isn't quite dead yet! The hacker community has been writing all sorts of emulators and various trinkits for the DC for a while after it 'officially' died, so there will probably still be some demand for at least a Chu Chu rocket server. :P

Links:
Dreamcast Programming
Dreamcast Emulation(much more than emulation there...)

The PS2 is light years ahead of the DC?

The PS2 is not overpowerful at all; it was weaker than the DC in many respects! 2 megs of VRAM! Yay, now I get to retexture constantly with interleaved, hand-coded ASM! Seriously, its specs sucked, and the SDKs Sony did(n't) provide weren't helpful either.

Stop thinking about bits, mhz, and silly numbers that mean shit-fuck-all. Those were not why the PS2 "won". Look at it in context: DVD was really starting to take off (and the PS2 had that "built in"), and most people had at least some PSX games (guess what system can do those and sweet new PS2 games?).

Then you should consider the two previous two Sega console hardware releases, the 32X and Saturn. Ooh, now that kinda set the Dreamcast up as something which which would fail. I mean, the 32X sucked! Hey, if you want to play as a Hummingbird, it's the only system to have. Beyond that? Pure shit. Saturn? Yea, SMP is ready for consoles :p

Tech wise, any day I can get a system which came with online support out of the box, 4 player support built in (no multitap required!), a slim form factor, VMUs which enable neat mini-games, great SDKs that have easy-to-use antialiasing, proper amounts of RAM (16mb main, 8mb texture, 2mb sound), and even uses nifty, tile-based rendering is something I want to have. That's why the Dreamcast kicked ass, and why it was frustrating to see it not get the support it deserved.

playing on a TV is way better than emulation

What about emulation on a TV? This weekend, I've been wasting my time with DreamSNES and about 100 roms.

The ethernet adapter has been working fine for a while, Marcus Comstedt(sp?) even had a disk you could burn, swap to a game, and the game would be sent over the network. It took a few hours, but it worked. More info on Marcus and the DC scene in general here
This is the same guy that ported SNES9x to the dreamcast..just when I finally got past my tetris attack addiction..

There isn't anything that comes in only in .cdi format only except for commercial games. I'm pretty sure everything at dcemulation.com, boob.co.uk, and dcvision.com have alternate formats for everything. .cdi files can only be burned with Disc Juggler, and it's only for Windows, but I believe there is something called "cdirip" or something to extract those images into something you can burn with tools like cdrecord. This page tells you how to burn things in for Dreamcast in unix/linux with cdrecord.

Yes, most emulators on the Dreamcast suck still. But for the old NES games, NesterDC (official site, condensed download site, bootable CD-R's on Dreamcast) works perfectly. The games play just like they do on the original NES, which I guess isn't really saying much, considering the hardware difference between the NES and DC. But to say that the Dreamcast can't even handle NES is really inaccurate.

I don't know why the DC Emulation scene seemingly gets no respect or credit in the "geek" community, considering the amazingly amount of work that's been put into various types of emulation. Granted, it's considered a "dead" system, but the technology is still there and still relatively current. At present, a $50 Dreamcast can successfully emulate MAME, NES (the best console emulation i've ever seen), Master System, Gameboy, amongst others. DreamSNES is working on SNES games, and is making some serious headway (they're running at about 88% speed, now), and there are still other emulation projects on the horizon, plus a batch of decent-and-getting-better homebrew games.

I think that person would be ill-advised to acquire and Xbox for $200, spend however much on a modchip, in the process voiding their warrenty, in order that they play MAME, when a console that can be picked up for $50 and under can do the same thing. i recommend anyone visit DC Emulation if they are interested.

Ok, here's how I understand it. NetBSD for the Dreamcast falls under the NetBSD sh3/4 port, which is shortened to just sh3 (I'm guessing the procs are binary compatible, or close to it.) On the other hand, every site I've seen lists it as an SH4.

For instance, if you look at Marcus Cestedt's DC Hardware page (which is rather definitive, imho) it lists the SH4.

--
Phil

I've Googled and Googled, but have yet to find any resources covering homebrew on the Game Cube. It uses a modded IBM G3 and some interesting SRAM-ish memory. I'd be nice if a resource like Marcus Comstedt's existed. So far the closest I can find are photos of the guts, and some marketing from Metrowerks.

How could this be "informative" when the poster cant even tag his post properly

<A href="http://mc.pp.se/dc/serifc.html">http://mc .pp.se/dc/serifc.html</A>

would create
http://mc.pp.se/dc/serifc.html

The pre-fab cable is nice and most of the first home built ones used a dc to neo geo link cable. The neo geo link cable is hard to find anymore but Sega does/did sell a serial cable to connect two dreamcasts together. Using this cable and the link already provided by Psx29 to Marcus Comstedt's site you could make two dc coder cables! There should be no DMCA problems with that! The official sega cables are hard to find but there are third parties who make dc accessories that also offer a clone of the official sega cable.

Of course if you don't mind a little more permanent solution just attach the wires directly to the pins on the dc's serial port :-)

So dude waits a week or two ... and probably waited longer while they were actually being shipped to the US from Hong Kong ... but in that time, he could have utilized that DIY ethic and built his own cable (and any for classmates in a similar bind). When in doubt, go to Google.com and find what you need ... ten seconds and two clicks later, I found the same howto that radd0 mentions in the post above. Just like that. Little to no work involved.

I feel the pain of the DCMA nonsense, but lazy people who don't bother searching for another route to the finish line make my pooh soft ... especially when his CS department probably has a huge box of old cables, just waiting to be hacked (like my network cables at home, which were bastard non-standard jobs that were going to be tossed but I just added new connectors and saved quite a bit of dough).

Why fux0r around with PS2 when Dreamcast is $50 (if you can still find one!) and unless you get a machine made after September 2000 is totally and completely CD-R bootable? The ethernet adapter is expen$$$ive on eBay but it's not a must, particularly considering that the thing comes with a standard v90 Conexant controllerless modem. I suspect that the code at linmodems.org might kick it over.

The main weakness of the DC is lack of hard drive. And of course that's a big weakness. However, there are tons of people playing around with not only Linux on DC but a new, open source OS specifically designed for DC game development called Kallisti!OS.

Why support the Sony 3v1L 3mp1r3? Join Team Dreamcast!

http://mc.pp.se/dc/
http://dev.dcemulation.com/

I've done some light hacking on the Dreamcast, and have my Linux box mountable as an NFS volume over a coder's cable (helps when programming for the DC :-)). I've been looking over material on the web for DC hacking for a few months, and I have yet to see anyone actually upgrading the memory of a DC. But why let that stop you?

The two sites I've found helpful for DC hardware info:

1. DCEmulation.com is a general-purpose DIY Dreamcast site. There's a variety of info available here.

2. Dreamcast Programming - Marcus Comstedt's excellent hardware reference for the DC.

If you get anywhere with this, please post your results to DCEmulation.com. I'd love to hear about it.

For anyone else interested in running in booting Linux on their DC, the DC Linux site is here.

Windows users will find a a "burn it and run it" Disk Juggler version of Dreamcast Linux here.

The big problem is that for a game to boot up on a GBA, the ROM has to have the correct header information, which includes code copyrighted by Nintendo (part of which is the NINTENDO logo that appears when you turn on the GBA with a kart in)

It's copyrighted, but copying it does not constitute infringement. From the Sega v. Accolade decision, if a game console checks for a magic cookie in the software, even the 14 KB magic cookie in the Dreamcast boot sector, copying the magic cookie for interoperability counts as Fair Use(TM). Just make sure you follow the Bleem developers' example and display "CORRECTION: This software is not licensed by Nintendo" once your code gets control.

Read "there has still been some COMMERCIAL development." As far as a Dreamcast hacking/development community goes, that's where the real action's gonna be for DC in the future.

The beauty of the DC is this:

1. DC can run multiple operating systems, including Linux;
2. There is even an open source, game-oriented OS being developed called Kallisti!OS;
3. Most DC consoles can boot off of CD-Rs specially tweaked for the purpose, and there are workarounds for most others;
4. DC has got to be one of the most developer-friendly consoles ever made. Anyone I know who codes games loves writing for DC;
5. DC's hardware is 100% documented. Not so for Sony, Nintendo and XBox.

It is more than likely that there will be DC development going on for years into the future. Buy a DC now, and it will indeed have a future. Also RIGHT NOW it has Unreal Tournament, Quake III, Soul Calibur 2 and on and on.

Don't take my word for it...drop in at these sites and see what's going on for yourself:
http://mc.pp.se/dc/
http://www.fivemouse.com/dclinux.html

Um, it actually is fairly trivial.

1 - purchase and hook up programmer's serial cable
2 - download dreamcast developer's kit.. if you feel like it. otherwise, acquire some dcwarez utilities (dreamrip)
3 - burn serial slave CDR, boot it up
4 - write program that sends files over serial cable (or just get dreamrip); swap in target GD-ROM and upload and run the program on Dreamcast. wait 25 hours for process to complete..
5 - take your cd-burning software, and add all files you yanked from the GD-ROM to the list
6 - find huge-looking music files. downgrade from stereo to mono using tools included in dreamrip, or just link those tracks to others, until you've got enough space for it all on the CDR + 3 megs
7 - burn to BIN image (not to disc)
8 - run bin2boot on image (this is the quickest way, but it's only available for windows afaik)
9 - burn resulting CDI to a CDR
10 - insert in Dreamcast and hit power button

You can get all the software you need from any of the irc warez channels and a visit to here. This should work for the earlier games.. don't know about later ones, because they started adding checks after a while. Those may take a little more work.

For legal backups only, blah blah blah..

Just so no one reads the above post and gets all excited about being able to play Zelda on their newly-cheapened DC, the emulator is a fake, and IMHO a very well-thought out hoax. DCEmulation.com has the full story. Sorry to burst everyone's bubble.

On the other hand, DreamSNES has been around for a while (no work lately though), which (duh) plays your SNES roms. Up to about 90% speed as of now... *sigh* and i wanted to be able to play Chrono Trigger on my DC ;)

Why does it matter if Sega in particular releases dev tools or hardware specs? Virtually all of the specs are known, it's not as if they are a secret. As for open source, can anyone say "gcc"? That's right, a little quick cross-compilation and you have yourself a DC game. DCEmulation.com and Marcus' DC Dev have loads of information on the subject. Cryptic Allusion is the home of KallistiOS, one of (IMHO) the best DC development libs in existance. If you have a jonesin' to make yourself some games on DC, head over to these sites and you should be all set!
Uhhh, yeah and C/C++ skills would be a plus, heh.

Now just sit back and pray that your DC can boot your game there ;)

It's PCI. All the spccs for all the Dreamcast hardware are described in detail here.

While the DC only has one expansion port, the Maple bus (the controller ports) can support up to 2 megabits per second. There are several ways to connect computer to this side of the dreamcast.

While the DC only has one expansion port, the Maple bus (the controller ports) can support up to 2 megabits per second. There are several ways to connect computer to this side of the dreamcast.

http://mc.pp.se/dc/
http://dcdev.allusion.net/
http://www.boob.co.uk

The GameBoy Advance is also rather lovely to code for, although it does require special hardware to get started..

Yeah, sorry, you're right.

(When you install the dev kit that comes with kos, it comes with two compilers. One of them's called "SH" and the other "ARM," so I figured that the AICA's audio coprocessor was ARM and the main one was probably MIPS. But I'm wrong, so, um, nm..)

Dreamcast is still a goodie, though; even if you don't want to program the DC itself, you can always program the VMUs. There are compilers and emulators out there, so it's not too hard to get started even if you don't have a DC..

Gameboy Advance?

Dreamcast?

CJE Micros used to sell really cheap (as in $120) RISC PCs to programmers in an attempt to broaden the support for the platform.

Twinkle

Some people have been asking, why Java? What's the point? The Dreamcast is dead!. In answer: lots of people still use their DC, so the more support, the better. More generally though, the DC is still a nice piece of kit.

As a gaming platform of course, the Dreamcast's days are numbered - it won't be long before the rate of release of new games declines to a trickle. Not that that should stop anyone from enjoying the many fine games already released of course!

Yet with the very low cost of the DC now, if you can find one, and the very wide distribution of information on the console, it has become a perfect, cheap platform for experimenting with embedded programming, or console game development, or even for trying out non-x86 based Unixes. Remeber that there is a version of BSD and Linux available.

The so-called 'coders cable' can provide connectivity for development, but for high speed access there is the official broadband adapter (hard to find and pricey). If you're feeling brave there has been some talk about the viability of a USB-Controller port adapter. The Maple Bus (used to connect the controllers) has been well documented.

An earlier slashdot story has already talked about a nice step-by-step for Linux on Dreamcast.

I don't know what the PS2 situation is like.

Unless Microsoft starts hiding copyright notices in the doc format

Not as far-fetched as you may think. The Sega Dreamcast console requires a 14 KB block of copyrighted code to appear in the boot track of every Dreamcast title, and the BIOS checks it bit-for-bit against a copy in ROM. The code displays the text "PRODUCED BY OR UNDER LICENSE FROM SEGA ENTERPRISES LTD" next to a nice big blue SEGA® logo.

on SDL coming to the Dreamcast? It has a pretty large homebrew community, and it's far cheaper to mess with than the Paystation 2 (at least for the near future). (Here's Marcus Comstedt's DC development site)

but are the listings copyrighted material? If not, isn't that a requirement

The listings may be copyright the TV networks. But even if the listings may not be copyrighted, other parts of the protocol may be. For example, there may be a big piece of copyrighted data passed around (like the Dreamcast IP.bin's license screen code) that must match a copy in ROM bit-for-bit. Or a hash of some copyrighted data may be involved (see also GAIM troubles). Either way, you have copyright + access control + circumvention == DMCA violation.

It has a 200Mhz Hitachi SH-4 processor, 16MB of system RAM, 8MB of video RAM, a seperate ARM7 core (with 2MB ram) for audio, ... the list goes on. You can find a lot more info here and here.

You didn't really specify in your post how big or small of a system you're looking to target, but for a small net appliance and/or hobbyist 2D/3D gfx fun, nothing out there (in my opinion) tops the DC.

In the US a base DC is now only $99, and the 10/100Mbit ethernet adapter ranges from $50-70, depending on where you find it (e.g. the cheapest would be eBay, but Sega also sells them). A keyboard and mouse will probably run you about $10-25 apiece.

Current OSes scrambling for exposure in the DC arena include:

Dan Potter's KallistiOS (the first native DC OS),

NetBSD/Dreamcast,

Our very own LinuxDC Project, and

There's even a port of RedHat's eCos underway!

M. R.

It may not be a PS2 or XBox on paper, but in practical terms it's still in the same ballpark.

Jon

I think this is how the Dreamcast CD boot system works-- to get the thing to boot a CDR, you have to copy a magic 32K header called IP.BIN into the top of an ISO image, part of which it runs, but before running it, it checks it byte-for-byte against a copy held in the Dreamcast's ROM. This code naturally displays a screen saying `Licensed and endorsed by Sega Enterprises' which of course ain't so for homebrew developers. Having said this, Sega don't seem to have batted an eyelid that copies of this code are floating around on the various DC development sites... somebody else mentioned on this thread that Sega tried to claim (c) on three bytes which were needed to authenticate a Genesis cart after Acclaim reverse-engineered them. Maybe they're not so bothered about it these days?

Dreamcast Programming

I have done it for the DreamSNES Port and I know it works. Just create a directory on your hardrive with the DreamSNES and the ROMS. Make an ISO image using mkisofs and burn away!

I know this will also work with the Net/BSD for SH3/4 but I haven't got that working yet. I want to get a keyboard and broadband adaptor.

Vam

Dreamcast Programming

I have done it for the DreamSNES Port and I know it works. Just create a directory on your hardrive with the DreamSNES and the ROMS. Make an ISO image using mkisofs and burn away!

I know this will also work with the Net/BSD for SH3/4 but I haven't got that working yet. I want to get a keyboard and broadband adaptor.

Vam

I want a set top box that emulates (older) game consoles , SNES or MAME stuff would be great !!

That 'boot sector' your describing, called by most the IP.BIN, resides in the first 16 sectors (32k) of the first data session of the cd does NOT contain any specific information that Sega could consider 'copyrighted'

0300-36FF 8C008300-8C00B6FF SEGA license screen code

This is the entry point which the ROM calls after both IP.BIN and 1ST_READ.bin have been loaded. The code here displays the SEGA logo and message "PRODUCED BY OR UNDER LICENSE FROM SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD." for about 6 seconds and then transfers control to Bootstrap 1. Note that the code in this area can not be modified. The ROM checks every byte of it against a copy in the ROM, and will not boot the disk if there is a difference.

In others words, they can easily distribute the NetBSD files if they wish to without stepping on any of Sega's toes.

For those interesting in Dreamcast development, be sure to check out
Marcus' Site
Jules's site
Dan's site
For the best information available from people who KNOW, now people who post on Slashdot.

In others words, they can easily distribute the NetBSD files if they wish to without stepping on any of Sega's toes.

For those interesting in Dreamcast development, be sure to check out
Marcus' Site
Jules's site
Dan's site
For the best information available from people who KNOW, now people who post on Slashdot.

Not quite what you're looking for, but check out http://mc.pp.se/dc/dreamsnes/
--

Very good point. Too bad whoever keeps making up these rumors about Micro$0ft and Sega didn't think about.

Don't forget Netbsd, DreamSNES and Bleem for DC.

It's a damn good thing console gaming companies make most of their profit on the games. I would suspect Sony is actually taking a small loss on the PS2, as the hardware is insanely expensive. It makes sense that you'd sell them the first hit cheap, and take profit after they're addicted. This probably explains why Bleem is still around.

The rumor is only made more plausable because of this, but, all the same, I think I'll /ignore anything more anyone but Sega has to say about their system. My heart has stopped twice over the past week, already, upon notification that I might not be able to pick up any more great games like Jet Grind Radio.

I never have figured out what American's refer to as Component Video (is it RGB, or S-Video?), but according to this the Dreamcast has RGB, S-Video and Composite outs, which covers both of those.

How does that go? Speak not from whence you know not.

I'm not familiar with the PS2, but the quality of output from my DC on RF is pretty impressive - not got a scart cable yet. I have a normal 25" TV, and a cheap DVD player, which obviously makes my opinion worthless, but there you go.

You forgot that most components of your average game console are patented, that the boot sector is copyrighted and must be bit-for-bit identical with a copy in the console's BIOS for the disc to boot, and that the boot sector displays trademarks on screen.

You forgot the $10 per unit royalties for console games.

My understanding was that the Dreamcast had a proprietary "GD-ROM" drive that has a capacity of 1Mb or so I asked Is this being used a the boot device for NetBSD?

So I dug around, it looks like the DC is actually capable of booting off a standard ISO-9660 CD-ROM.

Interesting? I thought so... Here are some really interesting links on Dreamcast Software Programming and Hardware programming.

It's incredible what's going on. What else has been ported to the DC?

My understanding was that the Dreamcast had a proprietary "GD-ROM" drive that has a capacity of 1Mb or so I asked Is this being used a the boot device for NetBSD?

So I dug around, it looks like the DC is actually capable of booting off a standard ISO-9660 CD-ROM.

Interesting? I thought so... Here are some really interesting links on Dreamcast Software Programming and Hardware programming.

It's incredible what's going on. What else has been ported to the DC?

Interesting, considering the recent talk by the higher ups at Sega.com about its future. For example, the impending release of Phantasy Star Online, which will be huge. Not to mention Crazy Taxi 2, Sonic 2, and the other holy grail, Shemnue 2. Plus, with the ethernet adapter coming out in a week, things are looking mighty rosy. All of this just from Sega. 3rd party folk are also getting ready for a great year. Me thinks all of this is just talk to drive up Sega's stock price in Japan, which could use it.

If they were to die, though, it would be a sad day. Between the BSD development, the SNES emulator available, which is really, REALLY cool but is a tad slow right now, and other possible goodies down the road (Zip drive, oh please Zip drive), I don't think they are available for such a buyout.

All that said, get back to me in a year. It will be the trial of its life time for Sega this year and we will see if Sega can survive. I certainly hope so, but to play devil's advicate, think about Sega becoming a software only shop. Think of the things we could see of X-Box, Gamecube, or PS2. It would be pretty impressive. I would hate to see the Dreamcast die, or future Sega consoles for that matter, but the alternative is not that bad as some people think.

Bryan R.

Any commercial developer that tried this would have trouble producing and distributing their software. To be legitimate they have to get Sega to produce the GD-ROMs for them. If they try to produce their own disks they will be using licensed code without a license, so they will get sued. This is because for a disk to be bootable, it has to contain a chunk of code in its bootstrap that is byte-for-byte identical to some code held on ROM. That is the code that displays the Dreamcast logo and 'licensed by Sega' message (see here and here).

So don't expect Linux or any other alternative operating system to kill Sega anytime soon.

Personally, I think it is pretty cool that Sega chose such a relatively easy to circumvent copy-protection scheme in the first place. It allows them to sue any violator they choose, and at the same time allows grass-roots home coders to do their own thing and learn how to code on some serious gaming hardware. This also makes it easier for import gamers, as you can easily create boot disks that let you play any-region disks (such as the Action Replay CDX). Sega 'did the right thing' in this respect with the Saturn too. Its region control was done by jumpers, so it took very little expertise or technology to make your Saturn capable of playing foreign games.

Any commercial developer that tried this would have trouble producing and distributing their software. To be legitimate they have to get Sega to produce the GD-ROMs for them. If they try to produce their own disks they will be using licensed code without a license, so they will get sued. This is because for a disk to be bootable, it has to contain a chunk of code in its bootstrap that is byte-for-byte identical to some code held on ROM. That is the code that displays the Dreamcast logo and 'licensed by Sega' message (see here and here).

So don't expect Linux or any other alternative operating system to kill Sega anytime soon.

Personally, I think it is pretty cool that Sega chose such a relatively easy to circumvent copy-protection scheme in the first place. It allows them to sue any violator they choose, and at the same time allows grass-roots home coders to do their own thing and learn how to code on some serious gaming hardware. This also makes it easier for import gamers, as you can easily create boot disks that let you play any-region disks (such as the Action Replay CDX). Sega 'did the right thing' in this respect with the Saturn too. Its region control was done by jumpers, so it took very little expertise or technology to make your Saturn capable of playing foreign games.