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I have just bought a modded Game Gear and loving that I can use my SMS Everdrive via a converter.

The price between the cheap and nasty GG flashcarts on Ali Express and the official Everdrive from Krikzz is insane. I wouldn't personally want to buy a knock off version that might fry my machine.

Currently I can't afford to buy an official one at the mo though...

My thinking is that it would be cool to hack Game Gear games solely to play them on the GG via the SMS Converter & Everdrive.

I'm guessing you need a lot of programming knowledge and equipment to hack the games though.

Luckily a lot of GG games have already been hacked.

The Game Gear is definitely an underrated system and has a lot of exclusive titles.

I probably haven't thought this through enough, but my initial reaction would be to suggest that the only thing preventing you from running native GG games directly from a flashcart through an SMS converter is that the converter probably pulls the SMS pin to force compatibility mode. I wonder if simply modding a converter to switch that pin would be enough to allow use of an SMS flashcart on a GG...

EDIT: but to your point about hacking, we are talking about hacking a GG game to work like an SMS game so you can play it on your GG, right? ;)
Aside from the moderate absurdity, it's not a trivial problem, but doable. The main issues are converting a GG palette to the smaller SMS one, and handling the start button which annoying is mapped to a new port in GG mode. The game will also look rubbish, as you'll get garbage around the edges since the screen will get scaled down and the native GG area will be a tiny rectangle in the middle.

If it was possible it would save me spending $134 on a GG Everdrive from Krikzz. I may have I ask Santa for one failing that!

Modifying the actual converter seems like a better option maybe.

I suspect the Master EverDrive and the EverDrive GG are basically the same product, also given that they share the same software... still you have the converter that needs to switch the GG to GG mode, which I don't know how could be done since the Master EverDrive has no GG/SMS mode pin...

GG Everdrive has the ability to set the SMS/GG mode pin and of course loads bottle types in the UI. I suspect it’s otherwise identical. Adding a mode switch to a Master Gear is an old hack, with some interesting results if you do it while a game is running. However you’d need to rename your .gg files to .sms for the Master Everdrive UI to list them, and then manually switch as needed.

Author	Message
Phil Joined: 16 Mar 2006 Posts: 281	How Easy is it to Hack a Game Gear Rom to Run on SMS? Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2024 11:02 am
Phil Joined: 16 Mar 2006 Posts: 281	I have just bought a modded Game Gear and loving that I can use my SMS Everdrive via a converter. The price between the cheap and nasty GG flashcarts on Ali Express and the official Everdrive from Krikzz is insane. I wouldn't personally want to buy a knock off version that might fry my machine. Currently I can't afford to buy an official one at the mo though... My thinking is that it would be cool to hack Game Gear games solely to play them on the GG via the SMS Converter & Everdrive. I'm guessing you need a lot of programming knowledge and equipment to hack the games though. Luckily a lot of GG games have already been hacked. The Game Gear is definitely an underrated system and has a lot of exclusive titles.

willbritton Joined: 06 Mar 2022 Posts: 671 Location: London, UK	Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2024 11:27 am
	I probably haven't thought this through enough, but my initial reaction would be to suggest that the only thing preventing you from running native GG games directly from a flashcart through an SMS converter is that the converter probably pulls the SMS pin to force compatibility mode. I wonder if simply modding a converter to switch that pin would be enough to allow use of an SMS flashcart on a GG... EDIT: but to your point about hacking, we are talking about hacking a GG game to work like an SMS game so you can play it on your GG, right? ;) Aside from the moderate absurdity, it's not a trivial problem, but doable. The main issues are converting a GG palette to the smaller SMS one, and handling the start button which annoying is mapped to a new port in GG mode. The game will also look rubbish, as you'll get garbage around the edges since the screen will get scaled down and the native GG area will be a tiny rectangle in the middle.

Phil Joined: 16 Mar 2006 Posts: 281	Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2024 1:51 pm
Phil Joined: 16 Mar 2006 Posts: 281	If it was possible it would save me spending $134 on a GG Everdrive from Krikzz. I may have I ask Santa for one failing that! Modifying the actual converter seems like a better option maybe.

sverx Joined: 05 Sep 2013 Posts: 3828 Location: Stockholm, Sweden	Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2024 4:24 pm
	I suspect the Master EverDrive and the EverDrive GG are basically the same product, also given that they share the same software... still you have the converter that needs to switch the GG to GG mode, which I don't know how could be done since the Master EverDrive has no GG/SMS mode pin...

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2024 4:44 pm
	GG Everdrive has the ability to set the SMS/GG mode pin and of course loads bottle types in the UI. I suspect it’s otherwise identical. Adding a mode switch to a Master Gear is an old hack, with some interesting results if you do it while a game is running. However you’d need to rename your .gg files to .sms for the Master Everdrive UI to list them, and then manually switch as needed.

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