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Hello

i just found out, that my cartridge of Asterix has a paging chip, while other Asterix cartridges have not. What exactly is the chip for? What's the difference ingame?

2017-11-12 14_21_54-Online Photo Editor _ Pixlr Editor.png (635.81 KB)

No difference at all in the game. It's just a matter of whether they made chips with both bits of functionality on or not.

Pat86 wrote

What exactly is the chip for?

The Master System can access only 48KB of cartridge data at a time. However, the Asterix game is much larger: 512KB. The mapper chip allows the game to control which 48KB of the total 512KB is visible.

The cartridge without a mapper chip also contains the same logic - instead of having it and the game data in separate chips, they are combined into one.

Pat86 wrote

What's the difference ingame?

In itself, a separate mapper chip does not make any difference to how the game runs.

However, there are two known versions of Asterix: the earlier "v0" contains several minor issues that are fixed in "v1". It's possible that your image shows one cartridge of each version, or they may both be the same.

Thank you for the clarification. :)

Pat86, actually I would be interested if you could test your cartridges to identify for both if they are V0 and V1.

Based on this guide http://www.smspower.org/Development/Asterix-SMS you can use point 4 and compare the attract sequence, so you don't need to clear the game or reach Round VIII ;)

I so far only found the V1 version in Brazilian and an Australian cartridge and I'm really curious to find if V1 also shipped in European cartridges. Even more surprising is that I found a Brazilian V0 cartridge and a Brazilian V1 cartridge.

Unfortunately i could only check the one with the paging chip, as the other cartridge isn't mine. And this seems to be v0 as its "prus en plus" on the title card for round 3. :)

Author	Message
Pat86 Joined: 12 Nov 2017 Posts: 5	Asterix cartridge with and without Paging Chip Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2017 1:23 pm
Pat86 Joined: 12 Nov 2017 Posts: 5	Hello i just found out, that my cartridge of Asterix has a paging chip, while other Asterix cartridges have not. What exactly is the chip for? What's the difference ingame? 2017-11-12 14_21_54-Online Photo Editor _ Pixlr Editor.png (635.81 KB)

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2017 2:08 pm
	No difference at all in the game. It's just a matter of whether they made chips with both bits of functionality on or not.

RetroSpark Joined: 08 Dec 2005 Posts: 488 Location: Melbourne, Australia	Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2017 2:11 pm
	Pat86 wrote What exactly is the chip for? The Master System can access only 48KB of cartridge data at a time. However, the Asterix game is much larger: 512KB. The mapper chip allows the game to control which 48KB of the total 512KB is visible. The cartridge without a mapper chip also contains the same logic - instead of having it and the game data in separate chips, they are combined into one. Pat86 wrote What's the difference ingame? In itself, a separate mapper chip does not make any difference to how the game runs. However, there are two known versions of Asterix: the earlier "v0" contains several minor issues that are fixed in "v1". It's possible that your image shows one cartridge of each version, or they may both be the same.

Pat86 Joined: 12 Nov 2017 Posts: 5	Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2017 2:24 pm
Pat86 Joined: 12 Nov 2017 Posts: 5	Thank you for the clarification. :)

Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 8652 Location: Paris, France	Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2017 3:34 pm
	Pat86, actually I would be interested if you could test your cartridges to identify for both if they are V0 and V1. Based on this guide http://www.smspower.org/Development/Asterix-SMS you can use point 4 and compare the attract sequence, so you don't need to clear the game or reach Round VIII ;) I so far only found the V1 version in Brazilian and an Australian cartridge and I'm really curious to find if V1 also shipped in European cartridges. Even more surprising is that I found a Brazilian V0 cartridge and a Brazilian V1 cartridge.

Pat86 Joined: 12 Nov 2017 Posts: 5	Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 8:35 am
Pat86 Joined: 12 Nov 2017 Posts: 5	Unfortunately i could only check the one with the paging chip, as the other cartridge isn't mine. And this seems to be v0 as its "prus en plus" on the title card for round 3. :)

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