Need some info on the Games Express CD games

[nodtveidt]

Aye, so I have hatched a diabolical plan!

No seriously...what I need to know is which games used the lower, 64kb-version of the Games Express card and which games used the later, 256kb model. Tomatheous already figured out that Hi-Leg Fantasy uses the later card, but I'm having little luck determining the rest of the set. There aren't many games...like what, seven?

The reason for this is so we can study the boot processes and disc makeup of the various games put out by these rather colorful fellas. We have our reasons for this, but for now they will remain secret... :-"

[nodtveidt]

No one knows??

[guyjin]

"Not I", said the snerd.

[SuperDeadite]

Wait I didn't think there were different Games Express Cards?  I thought the later games like Hi-Leg can only be run on a Super-CD-Rom or a Duo, because these games require all of the memory built into the system.  While the early games only needed the original CD-Rom's memory.  I thought the GE Cards were used only for booting games, not for running them. 

[termis]

There are apparently two versions of the GE card.  One that only access the 64k RAM of the CD-ROM unit, and the latter units that has full access to the Duo's 2MBit memory, but you still need their GE card.

Take a look here for the pic of that card.
http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=3029.msg39023#msg39023

And that thread also has at least a majority list of GE games, though I'm not sure which ones use the earlier vs. latter versions of the GE card... 

[peperocket]

I've got AV tanjou, but how could we make the difference between the two GE cards ??

[Black Tiger]

Aye, so I have hatched a diabolical plan!

No seriously...what I need to know is which games used the lower, 64kb-version of the Games Express card and which games used the later, 256kb model. Tomatheous already figured out that Hi-Leg Fantasy uses the later card, but I'm having little luck determining the rest of the set. There aren't many games...like what, seven?

The reason for this is so we can study the boot processes and disc makeup of the various games put out by these rather colorful fellas. We have our reasons for this, but for now they will remain secret... :-"

I'm assuming you guys want to hack them to make them compatible with official system cards? 

[nodtveidt]

Three words: System Card 4.

Apparently only the second version need be replicated, as it is backwards compatible with the first. Anyways, the plan here is to create a new system card, one that combines the normal system 3 with the games express bios with the arcade card with some system 3 bios changes that alter the boot process, making the CD bootup process more lenient.

[Joe Redifer]

Don't forget to include System Card 1 functionality for Altered Beast CD!  Also it would be cool if it were a US-regioned HuCard.

[termis]

Three words: System Card 4.

Apparently only the second version need be replicated, as it is backwards compatible with the first. Anyways, the plan here is to create a new system card, one that combines the normal system 3 with the games express bios with the arcade card with some system 3 bios changes that alter the boot process, making the CD bootup process more lenient.

I'd be SOOO all-over that. 

Seriously, that would rule.   

[Turbo D]

same here, that would be awesome 

[nodtveidt]

We would make it for both the PCE and the TG, and of course, for both the normal CDROM system and the Duo. So, that'd be four new cards, heh. It's gonna be awhile before this is prototyped and even longer before it's made "for real", right now it's just a concept. It's been a long time since new hardware was developed...

[nat]

Do you have a source in mind able to manufacture HuCards?

[Necromancer]

So, that'd be four new cards, heh.

Is it really necessary to have separate cards for the TG-CD and Duo?  Memory is much cheaper now, and it wouldn't hurt anything to let some sit idle when in a Duo (e.g. Arcade Card Pro).  Or would it?   

[guyjin]

Would this card autodetect the needed bios/rom/whatever, or would it be selected from a menu?