arkanoid Posted December 23, 2007 Share Posted December 23, 2007 (edited) Hi guys, I know this place is swarming with highly technical guys who really seem to know their stuff when it comes to hardware, so I thought I'd ask this question here... basically, I'm wanting to do a little Sega Master System coding. Totek sell SMS flashcarts, but I now just need to decide whether I buy a separate SMS system (model I or II) or whether I by one of these little Megadrive > SMS converters http://www.stefan-larsson.se/Images/jpeg/M...s-converter.jpg I already own a Megadrive and due to a lack of space, the MD > SMS converter would be preferable to having to buy an entire new system. But what I want to know is would there be an any noticeable differences in the hardware behavior between the converter and real hardware? Can anyone with knowledge tell me if there are any timing differences, palette/sound issues and such. how does this thing work, is it having its own sound chips the same as a "real" SMS or is it somehow routing the sound through the MegaDrives chips? FPGA Emulation perhaps? srry for my lameness... Edited December 23, 2007 by arkanoid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timofonic Posted December 23, 2007 Share Posted December 23, 2007 Tototek sells an adapter for putting your SMS carts too. About SMS mode, it's quite compatible except a few games that does hacky things with old pre-SMS modes (Sega Master System is compatible with old modes from SG-1000). Not remember the compatibility list, but there are one out there. Other disadvantage of using SMS games on Megadrive is that you will see the screen with borders, maybe because SMS having fewer resolution than Megadrive and they implemented the compatibility in some way that does that. I recommend you to visit smspower, it has tons of info and a forum with smart retrogaming geeks that can help you Remember Master System converters are just empty PCBs or just a very few simple electronic stuff (not sure byt maybe things like some resistors or caps, but maybe even not). Megadrive is compatible with SMS, just needs a cart adapter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkanoid Posted December 23, 2007 Author Share Posted December 23, 2007 Thank you very much Tim, this information is just what I needed The SMSPower site looks fvery usful indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Tomlin Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 About SMS mode, it's quite compatible except a few games that does hacky things with old pre-SMS modes (Sega Master System is compatible with old modes from SG-1000). Not remember the compatibility list, but there are one out there. Basically the video chip doesn't support the TMS-9918 video modes. It only supports the SMS video mode 4. There were only a very few games that used TMS-9918 modes; the most famous is probably the F-16 Fighting Falcon card. There is also a complete lack of the SMS bus circuitry in the Genesis 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.