Sik
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So, the other day some Japanese user uploaded a lot of Sega Game Toshokan videos, including footage of some games that still don't have any version dumped (of which ironically I first heard of a few days earlier, by looking at the Game Toshokan master list).
One of those games is 対決！こらむす /Taiketsu! Columns/ (skip to 7:18 to skip the download screen):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lhULpLL9Yw&t=7m18s
OK, we only have footage of this one… but I swear, wherever you look, it reeks of being a Columns 3 prototype (although it seems this person didn't know how to attack because they let the counter reach 30 and stay there…). It doesn't just share several graphics, it even has one of the tracks from that game (specifically "First Year of Genroku").
Anyway, I wonder if there are any leftovers from Taiketsu Columns in Columns III? Because it clearly seems to be based on the same code. The TCRF page only mentions an unused copyright notice and regional differences, but there could be more I suppose.
Also for the sake of comparison:
* Only mode seems to be 1 vs 1 (2P only). You can tell when they're switching controllers because one player will suddenly stop moving pieces :P
* The above implies the AI didn't exist yet. Somebody suggested that maybe it didn't fit in RAM, but I pointed out that Columns I didn't have AI players (it didn't have a competitive mode) and Columns III wasn't out yet.
* Game seems to be best of 3 matches.
* There's still the large number counting up to 30 when you break jewels, implying attacks are present in this game… but the player here never uses them. Whoops.
* The special jewels from Columns III are here too.
* The interface is completely different (being themed after feudal Japan… and Sega's obsession with monkeys in tetris games), but the jewels and large numbers (the attack strength font) are the same from Columns III.
* As I said, one of the tracks from Columns III (First Year of Genroku) is here. The rest all seem new tho.
Basically it looks as if they took Taiketsu Columns and expanded it to get Columns III (which probably explains why it's Mega Drive exclusive, while II was skipped on Mega Drive…). |
rabidabid
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It's definitely 2P only. It says next to the title in the menu a second controller is required. I suppose it's possible there could be leftovers in Columns III, though I dunno what considering it seems so limited. The file size (40714) is close-ish to the one for Putter Golf (39824), which is a 256KB ROM, so I'm guessing Columns is about the same size.
This is a great channel though, thanks for sharing! Lots of rare stuff in here for Sega Game Library and Satellaview.
This one goes through some Sega News Network stuff. The first group of stuff seems to be scripts for a "mail RPG" called Rasper Saga(?). Maybe like a collective choose-your-own-adventure for subscribers? I dunno.
The second group is general news. Includes listing of upcoming games with prices and release dates, a report on Shining Force, a report on that year's AOU Show, etc.
The third has more of that mail RPG stuff... I think one explains what it actually is. It also has stuff focusing on Sunsoft... including some small Lemmings and Gimmick art! |
Sik
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I think the mail RPG may have been straight up roleplay (it seems each user was assigned one character), though other than quickly looking at a glance I didn't really translate anything. Also sucks that act 3-1 was recorded but not 3-2…
Anyway, by 256KB you mean the ROM that's floating around? Those ROMs are misleading: the first 128KB are Game Toshokan itself (modified to boot directly into the game), the later 128KB contain the game data (and possibly extra code to make up for the lack of modem?). Also for some reason the Game Toshokan side is sometimes slightly different depending on the game, I guess they kept tweaking it until every game booted. Another weird side effect is that the ROM header for every of those games claims the modem is supported (because it's taken straight from Game Toshokan). |
einstein95
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Originally posted by Sik
Anyway, by 256KB you mean the ROM that's floating around? Those ROMs are misleading: the first 128KB are Game Toshokan itself (modified to boot directly into the game), the later 128KB contain the game data (and possibly extra code to make up for the lack of modem?). Also for some reason the Game Toshokan side is sometimes slightly different depending on the game, I guess they kept tweaking it until every game booted. Another weird side effect is that the ROM header for every of those games claims the modem is supported (because it's taken straight from Game Toshokan).
I've had a look into these games in the past and what I know is that the first 128kb is Game Toshokan, like what you said, with the 2nd 128KB being the game data (null padded). The only difference for the Game Tosokan side between each game (didn't compare to the cart) is the checksum in the header
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Sik
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The initialization code is different (although I don't remember the details), it pretty much has to be in order to run straight from the appended game rather than going to the modem detection then title screen. Also I imagine the EEPROM code is dummied out (Game Toshokan will crash with a red screen after about a second if the EEPROM doesn't work, which clearly doesn't happen here). Also I recall that a couple of the games had a different vblank vector, albeit I don't remember which ones.
I probably should look into these ROMs again some day (and Columns III while we're at it…). |
