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  • Joined: 26 Feb 2021
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Colecovision to Master System adapter
Post Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2022 10:01 pm
Last edited by Apocalypse on Sun Dec 04, 2022 10:31 pm; edited 1 time in total
Uses the MS VDP in compatibility mode, hence slightly off colours.

Maintain the PAUSE button on the console to enter keypad mode: numbers are mapped to the D-pad using the same disposition they have on a Colecovision controller (if you picture it), e.g. up = 2, up + right = 3, etc.
That covers keys 1 to 8 (which is enough for difficulty and player selection in most games).
For the remaining keys: 1 + up = 5, 1 + down + left = *, 1 + down = 0, 1 + down + right = #, 1 + left = F3, 1 + right = F4.

[EDIT]Picture attached[/EDIT]

Here's a video of it in action, for now I'm using Colecovision ROMs on a MS cartridge PCB.

https://vimeo.com/760660538
Keypad.png (13.95 KB)
Keypad.png

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Post Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2022 8:33 am
this is very interesting! more details on how it works?
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Post Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2022 9:14 am
This is mind-blowing! You're on fire.

Never thought my Master System could allow me to collect games for another system without owning the console. Love the idea bc retro consoles break much more easily than retro games, and take space too.

Is there any plans for launching this as a product?
Like your great Mark III to SMS adapter.
Feel free to do an MSX to SMS adapter too if you feel like it ;)
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Post Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2022 9:47 am
Oh mate, that is awesome!

sverx wrote
this is very interesting! more details on how it works?


Same! Initial guess along the lines of - Colecovision has a Z80 and a TMS VDP inside, but presumably different memory & I/O mapping, so somehow you are intercepting bus traffic and conditionally replaying to the SMS hardware where appropriate? If so, presumably only works if the I/O maps don't overlap.

No sound? Is it possible?
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Post Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 5:50 am
Jair wrote
This is mind-blowing! You're on fire.

Never thought my Master System could allow me to collect games for another system without owning the console. Love the idea bc retro consoles break much more easily than retro games, and take space too.

Is there any plans for launching this as a product?
Like your great Mark III to SMS adapter.
Feel free to do an MSX to SMS adapter too if you feel like it ;)

If there's enough demand for it I'll make a small batch. But since BIOS is copyrighted I'll need to rewrite the subroutines before I can include them.
I'm also working on a MSX adapter (MSX1 only).

sverx wrote
this is very interesting! more details on how it works?


willbritton wrote
Oh mate, that is awesome!

Same! Initial guess along the lines of - Colecovision has a Z80 and a TMS VDP inside, but presumably different memory & I/O mapping, so somehow you are intercepting bus traffic and conditionally replaying to the SMS hardware where appropriate? If so, presumably only works if the I/O maps don't overlap.

No sound? Is it possible?

That is exactly what it does, overlapping isn't a problem.
Sound may be a bit low in the video but is present.
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Post Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 1:02 pm
Apocalypse wrote
That is exactly what it does, overlapping isn't a problem.
Sound may be a bit low in the video but is present.

Ah sorry, I thought I had my sound turned right up but straining to hear, must be my old age ;)

Out of interest what's the big ol PLCC device we can see there?
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Post Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 8:07 pm
It's a CPLD from the ATF150x family, still manufatured by Microchip (formerly Atmel).
Clearly overkill for the job in terms of available I/Os and macrocells but has the huge benefit of being 5V compatible (in 2022!).
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Post Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2022 1:03 pm
Apocalypse wrote
It's a CPLD from the ATF150x family, still manufatured by Microchip (formerly Atmel).
Clearly overkill for the job in terms of available I/Os and macrocells but has the huge benefit of being 5V compatible (in 2022!).

Ah nice.

Tell me about it! Finding 5V compatible CPLDs has been a total nightmare for me, they seem to be increasingly rare and with the chip shortage it's so hard to know whether the supply will ever recover, and whether the unit cost will ever be sensible again...

I actually thought for some reason the 1500 series was 3.3v only but I see now it looks like it's only some of them (e.g. ATF1508ASV seems to be only 3.3v...perhaps it's the -V suffix that makes them low voltage?)

Thanks - that's one more on my small list of potentially useful devices!
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Post Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2022 9:07 pm
Yup, it's the V.

(Also, if you read the datasheets for the "V" series parts vs the 5V ones, the current consumption has decreased by 1/3 (i.e. 3.3V/5V) and the speeds have decreased similarly and the absolute maximum rating is the same as the 5V part. I'd be wary of taking a chance on blowing some up, but it's similar enough that I do wonder if there's a real difference)
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Post Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2022 10:23 pm
lidnariq wrote
I'd be wary of taking a chance on blowing some up, but it's similar enough that I do wonder if there's a real difference

Actually I recently discovered some of the AS (without the V) chips I had ordered back in 2019 from Mouser and with a datecode from 2018, were actually ASVs...
Too late to make a claim but weird enough to be mentioned, especially them coming from Mouser you can probably rule out some dodgy chinese tactics (remarking).
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Post Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2022 1:13 am
[If there's enough demand for it I'll make a small batch. But since BIOS is copyrighted I'll need to rewrite the subroutines before I can include them.
I'm also working on a MSX adapter (MSX1 only).]

I'm very interested in these potential future products.
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Post Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2023 9:48 am
Perfect fit!

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Post Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 3:16 am
It's ready!









Soon to be produced by mitsurugi_w from Arcade Projects:

https://www.arcade-projects.com/forums/new-home-for-apocalypse-multis-and-projec...
20230426_145551.jpg (4.03 MB)
20230426_145551.jpg
20230426_145559.jpg (4.24 MB)
20230426_145559.jpg

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Post Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 7:34 am
Looks good.
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Post Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2023 5:03 pm
I need this. Looks great!
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Post Posted: Mon May 01, 2023 11:07 am
D wrote
I need this. Looks great!


I also want one 😍
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Post Posted: Thu May 04, 2023 11:34 am
Question, will the adapter work with this?

ColecoVisions Multi Cart. Has anyone tried?

https://www.atarimax.com/colecosd/documentation/
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Post Posted: Tue May 09, 2023 12:42 am
If that cartridge appears as a standard one to the system then yes it should work.
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Post Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2023 12:46 am
Last edited by Apocalypse on Sat Jun 03, 2023 3:48 am; edited 2 times in total
I've been testing a lot of games lately, compatibility is much better than expected!

Working (some may be very difficult to play like Motocross Racer i.e changing gears, works but unpractical):

2010 - The Graphic Action Game (1984) (Coleco)
Alcazar - The Forgotten Fortress (1985) (Activision)
Antarctic Adventure (1984) (Konami)
Aquattack (1984) (Interphase)
Artillery Duel (1983) (Xonox)
BC's Quest for Tires II - Grog's Revenge (1984) (32k)
BC's Quest for Tires (1983) (Sierravision)
Beamrider (1983) (Activision) [!]
Blockade Runner (1984) (Interphase)
Boulder Dash (1984) (Micro Fun)
Buck Rogers - Planet of Zoom (1983) (Sega)
Bump 'N' Jump (1982-84) (Data East)
Burgertime (1982-84) (Data East)
Cabbage Patch Kids - Adventure in the Park (1983)
Campaign '84 (1983) (Sunrise)
Carnival (1982)
Centipede (1983) (Atarisoft)
Choplifter (1982-84) (Broderbund)
Chuck Norris - Super Kicks (1983) (Xonox)
Congo Bongo (1984)
Cosmic Avenger (1982) (Universal)
Cosmic Crisis (1983) (Bit Corp)
Dance Fantasy (1984) (Fisher-Price)
Decathlon (1983) (Activision)
Defender (1983) (Atarisoft)
Donkey Kong (1982)
Donkey Kong Jr (1982-83)
Dr. Seuss's Fix-Up The Mix-Up Puzzler (1984) (Coleco)
Evolution (1983) (Sydney)
Fathom (1983) (Imagic)
Flipper Slipper (1983) (Spectravideo)
Fortune Builder (1984) (Circuits and Systems)
Frantic Freddy (1983) (Spectravideo)
Frenzy! (1982-83)
Frogger (1982-83) (Parker Bros)
Frogger II - ThreeDeep! (1984) (Parker Bros)
Frontline (1983) (Taito)
Galaxian (1983) (Atarisoft)
Gateway to Apshai (1984) (Epyx)
Gorf (1981-83) (Midway)
Gust Buster (1983) (Sunrise)
Gyruss (1984) (Parker Bros)
H.E.R.O. (1984) (Activision)
Illusions (1984) (Nice Ideas)
Its Only Rock 'N' Roll (1984) (Xonox)
James Bond 007 (1984) (Parker Bros)
Jumpman Junior (1984) (Epyx)
Jungle Hunt (1983) (Atarisoft)
Ken Uston's Blackjack-Poker (1983)
Keystone Kapers (1983-84) (Activision)
Lady Bug (1982) (Universal)
Looping (1983) (Venture Line)
Memory Manor (1984) (Fisher-Price)
Meteoric Shower (1983) (Bit Corp)
Miner 2049er (1983) (Micro Fun)
Montezuma's Revenge (1984) (Parker Bros)
Moonsweeper (1983) (Imagic)
Motocross Racer (1984) (Xonox)
Mountain King (1983-84) (Sunrise) [!]
Mousetrap (1982) (Exidy)
Mr. Do! (1983) (Universal)
Mr. Do's Castle (1983) (Parker Bros)
Nova Blast (1983) (Imagic) [!]
Oil's Well (1984) (Sierravision)
Omega Race (1981-83) (Midway)
One on One Basketball (1984) (Micro Fun)
Pepper II (1983) (Exidy)
Pitfall II - Lost Caverns (1983-84) (Activision)
Pitfall! (1983) (Activision) [!]
Pitstop (1983) (Epyx)
Popeye (1983) (Parker Bros)
Q-bert (1983) (Parker Bros)
Q-bert II (1984) (Parker Bros)
Quest for Quintana Roo (1983) (Sunrise) [!]
River Raid (1982-84) (Activision) [!]
Robin Hood (1984) (Xonox)
Rocky Super-Action Boxing (1983) (Coleco)
Roc 'N Rope (1983-84) (Konami)
Sammy Lightfoot (1983) (Sierravision)
Sewer Sam (1984) (Interphase)
Sir Lancelot (1983) (Xonox) [!]
Skiing (1986) (Telegames)
Slurpy (1984) (Xonox)
Smurf - Rescue in Gargamel's Castle (1982)
Space Fury (1983) (Sega)
Space Panic (1983) (Universal)
Spectron (1983) (Spectravideo)
Spy Hunter (1983-84) (Midway)
Squish 'Em Sam! (1983) (Interphase)
Star Trek - Strategic Operations Simulator (1984) (Sega)
Star Wars - The Arcade Game (1984) (Parker Bros)
Strike It! (1983) (Telegames) [!]
Subroc (1983) (Sega)
Super Action Baseball (1983) (Coleco)
Super Action Football (1984) (Coleco)
Super Action Soccer (1984) (Coleco)
Super Cobra (1983) (Parker Bros)
Super Cross Force (1983) (Spectravideo)
Tank Wars (1983) (Bit Corp) [!]
Tapper (1984) (Midway)
Tarzan (1984) (Coleco)
Dam Busters, The (1984)
Heist, The (1983) (Micro Fun)
Threshold (1983) (Sierravision)
Time Pilot (1983) (Konami)
Tomarc the Barbarian (1984) (Xonox)
Tournament Tennis (1984) (Imagic) [!]
Tutankham (1983) (Parker Bros)
Up 'N Down (1984) (Sega)
Venture (1982) (Exidy)
War Room (1983) (Probe 2000)
War Games (1983-84)
Wing War (1983) (Imagic)
Word Feud (1984) (Xonox)
Zaxxon (1982) (Sega)
Zenji (1984) (Activision)

Games with issues:

Not sure if those games require a specific region (60Hz NTSC vs 50Hz PAL/SECAM), BIOS or controller.
If anyone knows PLMK.

DragonFire (1984) (Imagic) - Works but buggy sprites in upper left corner on MS2. Works fine on MS1 (different VDP).
Final Test Cartridge (19xx) - Works but fails the ROM check (expects an OG BIOS?)
Rock 'N' Bolt (1984) (Telegames) - Small graphic glitches (a few short lines on the moving floor)
Sector Alpha (1983) (Spectravideo) - Lots of graphic glitches in the ground part => game actually shipped broken, see there for a fixed ROM https://forums.atariage.com/topic/224593-sector-alpha-rom-corrupted/
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Post Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2023 3:35 pm
Apocalypse wrote
Games with issues:

Not sure if those games require a specific region (60Hz NTSC vs 50Hz PAL/SECAM), BIOS or controller.
If anyone knows PLMK.

DragonFire (1984) (Imagic) - Works but buggy sprites in upper left corner on MS2. Works fine on MS1 (different VDP).
Final Test Cartridge (19xx) - Works but fails the ROM check (expects an OG BIOS?)
Rock 'N' Bolt (1984) (Telegames) - Small graphic glitches (a few short lines on the moving floor)
Sammy Lightfoot (1983) (Sierravision) - Crashes after the title screen
Sector Alpha (1983) (Spectravideo) - Lots of graphic glitches in the ground part
Star Wars - The Arcade Game (1984) (Parker Bros) - Controller 1 does nothing on the wave selection screen, controller 2 allows to move left/right and select wave 1 or 2. No up/down movement.


Sector Alpha is always glitchy, even on a real ColecoVision. It seems the original carts were faulty. Are you using the GoodSets ROM? That one is the real one, dumped straight from a real cart (24kb), which means it's bad. Try using the No-Intro ROM (20kb), which is the one compiled by members of AtariAge that corrects the original ROM's problems.
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Post Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2023 10:28 pm
Thanks a lot mateusbond, I was indeed using the OG and corrupted ROM!
Works fine with the fixed one.

I guess Sector Alpha is just the Cyberpunk 2077 of 1983 :D
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Post Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2023 9:16 am

Case cover (subject to change).
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Post Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2023 5:14 am
Apocalypse wrote
Uses the MS VDP in compatibility mode, hence slightly off colours.

Maintain the PAUSE button on the console to enter keypad mode: numbers are mapped to the D-pad using the same disposition they have on a Colecovision controller (if you picture it), e.g. up = 2, up + right = 3, etc.
That covers keys 1 to 8 (which is enough for difficulty and player selection in most games).
For the remaining keys: 1 + up = 5, 1 + down + left = *, 1 + down = 0, 1 + down + right = #, 1 + left = F3, 1 + right = F4.

[EDIT]Picture attached[/EDIT]

Here's a video of it in action, for now I'm using Colecovision ROMs on a MS cartridge PCB.

https://vimeo.com/760660538


This is pretty amazing to see this. Even using a 32kB game to see this run is mind blowing.
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