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Twin Cobra PCB

Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2024 10:05 pm
by Sneakyturtleegg

I am in the U.S. and have a Twin Cobra PCB. It is something I bought in 2009 and never tested/played. I don't have a Mister but do have an Analogue Pocket. I am ignorant as to what arcade games/cores are available for the Mister. I was wondering if a core containing Twin Cobra has been released? If not, are any devs interested in reverse engineering my board? Let's discuss! Thanks.


Re: Twin Cobra PCB

Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2024 7:29 am
by RiotRay

Hi!

As far as I know Jotego is already working on a "Twin Cobra'" core. I guess he has a working board for this too.
But you can ask him yourself about this. Help is always welcome.


Re: Twin Cobra PCB

Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2024 9:18 am
by LamerDeluxe
RiotRay wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2024 7:29 am

Hi!

As far as I know Jotego is already working on a "Twin Cobra'" core. I guess he has a working board for this too.
But you can ask him yourself about this. Help is always welcome.

Is Jotego actually already working on it, or is it in the pipeline? Because then it could still take years. Personally, I think if it is only planned for sometime in the future, it shouldn't deter other developers from creating a core.


Re: Twin Cobra PCB

Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2024 4:27 pm
by pepito

Jotego is working on many cores but very little of them will goes out.
this is a way of grabbing all to avoid other devs to work on it.
still waiting updates from Atari Jaguar core.


Re: Twin Cobra PCB

Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2024 4:36 pm
by FPGA64
pepito wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2024 4:27 pm

Jotego is working on many cores but very little of them will goes out.
this is a way of grabbing all to avoid other devs to work on it.
still waiting updates from Atari Jaguar core.

Its not a first claim situation. No one is stopping anyone working on any core they wish.


Re: Twin Cobra PCB

Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2024 4:57 pm
by pepito

sure...
but it is stupid.


Re: Twin Cobra PCB

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2024 10:34 am
by bootsector

It would be stupid to work on a core that already exists.

Working on, and actually delivering, a core that someone else claimed as being WIP is awesomeness!


Re: Twin Cobra PCB

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2024 2:39 pm
by thorr
bootsector wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2024 10:34 am

It would be stupid to work on a core that already exists.

Not necessarily true. There are many cores that can be improved and there are several that have been with completely new cores. Sometimes it is better to just start over. I personally prefer quality or as close to perfect as possible over quantity.


Re: Twin Cobra PCB

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2024 7:42 pm
by bootsector
thorr wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2024 2:39 pm
bootsector wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2024 10:34 am

It would be stupid to work on a core that already exists.

Not necessarily true. There are many cores that can be improved and there are several that have been with completely new cores. Sometimes it is better to just start over. I personally prefer quality or as close to perfect as possible over quantity.

Agreed! However, my comment was in the context of people announcing cores as WIP for parking lot purposes without actually releasing anything.


Re: Twin Cobra PCB

Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2024 8:19 pm
by jotego
Sneakyturtleegg wrote: Sat Mar 09, 2024 10:05 pm

I am in the U.S. and have a Twin Cobra PCB. It is something I bought in 2009 and never tested/played. I don't have a Mister but do have an Analogue Pocket. I am ignorant as to what arcade games/cores are available for the Mister. I was wondering if a core containing Twin Cobra has been released? If not, are any devs interested in reverse engineering my board? Let's discuss! Thanks.

We extracted the schematics for a bootleg board but they turned out to be rather different from the original. We would like to analyze the original board and publish the data. We have done so for many boards regardless of who ends up doing the core.
This board has a DSP which put me off for a while. I heard that the DSP may only be used for copy protection so it is possible to make a first version of the core without the DSP. I think there was one developer trying to make it. But he wouldn’t extract the schematics.
So, if you want to contribute to preserving the game, please, send the board over and we will dedicate 3-4 weeks of full time work to do it in return for your donation.


Re: Twin Cobra PCB

Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2024 12:26 am
by atrac17
jotego wrote: Sun Mar 17, 2024 8:19 pm
Sneakyturtleegg wrote: Sat Mar 09, 2024 10:05 pm

I am in the U.S. and have a Twin Cobra PCB. It is something I bought in 2009 and never tested/played. I don't have a Mister but do have an Analogue Pocket. I am ignorant as to what arcade games/cores are available for the Mister. I was wondering if a core containing Twin Cobra has been released? If not, are any devs interested in reverse engineering my board? Let's discuss! Thanks.

We extracted the schematics for a bootleg board but they turned out to be rather different from the original. We would like to analyze the original board and publish the data. We have done so for many boards regardless of who ends up doing the core.
This board has a DSP which put me off for a while. I heard that the DSP may only be used for copy protection so it is possible to make a first version of the core without the DSP. I think there was one developer trying to make it. But he wouldn’t extract the schematics.
So, if you want to contribute to preserving the game, please, send the board over and we will dedicate 3-4 weeks of full time work to do it in return for your donation.

I own the board; the core is functional. There are errors due to the DSP, this is heavily used and not just for protection checks in post... Neither of the implementations for the TMS32010 are fully functional. We've already fixed the ALU and are debugging in a test bench.


Re: Twin Cobra PCB

Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2024 12:38 am
by pram0d
jotego wrote: Sun Mar 17, 2024 8:19 pm
Sneakyturtleegg wrote: Sat Mar 09, 2024 10:05 pm

I am in the U.S. and have a Twin Cobra PCB. It is something I bought in 2009 and never tested/played. I don't have a Mister but do have an Analogue Pocket. I am ignorant as to what arcade games/cores are available for the Mister. I was wondering if a core containing Twin Cobra has been released? If not, are any devs interested in reverse engineering my board? Let's discuss! Thanks.

We extracted the schematics for a bootleg board but they turned out to be rather different from the original. We would like to analyze the original board and publish the data. We have done so for many boards regardless of who ends up doing the core.
This board has a DSP which put me off for a while. I heard that the DSP may only be used for copy protection so it is possible to make a first version of the core without the DSP. I think there was one developer trying to make it. But he wouldn’t extract the schematics.
So, if you want to contribute to preserving the game, please, send the board over and we will dedicate 3-4 weeks of full time work to do it in return for your donation.

Hi Jose,

I actually took a brief look at this last December. The DSP controls properties and certain mechanics of the helicopter. Commenting out certain instructions in the DSP led to gaining invincibility against only certain enemies and did other weird things. So yes, the DSP must be complete and functional for the game to work. Other than that, every aspect of the core seemed to be complete so there's just an outstanding DSP.

Thanks,
Pramod