Just Bought A Dreamcast...

[loz_the_guru]

I just bought a DC via ebay (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8112720559&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOAB:UK:6), and was wondering if any "power" DC users out there can give me some advice/help with it. What emulators/homebrew out there that are wrth trying. I am kinda impatient, so 100% speed stuff is what im after really. Also, anyone got any tips for modding it? I remember there used to be some really cool different colour/transparent cases avialable, how would I go about getting those? Whats the online scene like now-adays? How about BB adapters they easy to come by? Also, whats the list of Must-have games EVERYONE must have? ANy help would be greatly appreciated, along with useful sites/forums.

Cheers

 

[EvilDragon]

For software / homebrew go to http://www.dcemulation.com

 

[WhizzBang]

Broadband adapters are tough to come by and are expensive. There is still an online DC scene but I haven't bothered with it as I don't have a BBA.

As far as emulators go, the NES and SMS are perfect, and the Gameboy Color one is fantastic - better than anything Nintendo have come up with for SNES or Gamecube. ZX Ishpectrum is also a perfect Spectrum emulator but it doesn't support keyboard or saves. For MegaDrive emulation, you need to track down the illegal hack of the Sega Smash pack (known as SEGAGEN), which plays most games perfectly with saves, although the sound is sometimes a little bit off. SNES emulation is great for some games but a bit slow for others - not much better than GP32 really.

For commercial games, I recommend: Shenmue 2, Metropolis Street Racer, Jet Set Radio, and Mr Driller.

 

[davey g]

You don't need to mod a dreamcast for anything. It runs cdrs no problem unless it is a model uilt after september 2001, if it is you could be f*cked as most of these don't run cdrs.

 

[the_Diabologic]

hehe, i got mine some days ago too (still waiting for it to arrive)
and i still need to find such a community with board, etc. like gp32x :\

 

[MIK]

Jeh try the NeoGeoCD Emulator for Metal Slug 1&2 Great Games.
I don't try other Eulators for that I have my Gp32 an enough other Games.

 

[finty]

You don't need to mod a dreamcast for anything. It runs cdrs no problem unless it is a model uilt after september 2001, if it is you could be f*cked as most of these don't run cdrs.

Wasnt it proven that all Dreamcasts run CDrs? I think I read that on dcemu.co.uk(not sure if thats the URL).

 

[Antiriad]

Actually Tyrrell ported Speccyal to the DC. Its an improvement over ZXIshSpectrum.

As previously stated, 8bit console emulation is good on the DC: SMS/GG/NES/GBC.

Commodore 64 is FrodoDC which id say the GP32 version is slightly better. Expect the usual annoying incompatibility issues. there Speccyal is just as good as the GP version, but again no TZX support.

SegaGen has inaccurate sound and incompatibility issues. That and its not the easiest emulator to operate menu wise. Its full speed tho.

DreamSNES/SuperFamicast are faster than SNES emulation on the GP32 but its still not full speed and also has incompatibility issues with FX games.

DreamEngine has no sound, i could never get fMSX to work and the Lynx emu is crude. MAME emulation is also based on rather old code and is slow.

And theres no Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Sharp X68000 or Amiga emulators.

The DC is good value for money mind, but i havent looked back since i bought a modded XBox.

 

[PinkSpider]

dcemulation.com

think

and http://consolevision.com/dreamcast/tuts/buying/

 

[SvOlli]

As a Dreamcast developer, I'd state this:

• BBA's are very hard to get and cost multiple times of a DC.
• Lik-Sang and Lan-Kwai are places to go for modding (and other) stuff.
• Must haves are IMHO:
  • Soul Calibur
  • REZ (best symbiosis of audio, visual and gameplay I've seen so far, it's more an expericence than a game)
  • Propeller Arena.
  • (this list is incomplete)
• Nice to have freeware includes: DreamSNES, ScummDC and - of cause - DCStella
• There's no PAL-DC that do selfboot
• Sites to visit:
  • www.dcemu.co.uk
  • www.dchomebrew.org

Greetings from Germany,
SvOlli

 

[PinkSpider]

My pal dc does selfboot oO.

 

[divadsci]

Mine too

 

[Enslaved]

I don't have a DC but on www.goatstore.com there are lots of new accesories and 3 brand new commercial games for DC out.

One is a Puzzle game.
One is a Mahjong game.
One is a Dance game called Feet of Fury, and you can get it cheap there and buy a cheap Dance pad from lik-sang and then dance those calories away!

 

[finty]

The games you mentioned were homebrew turned commercial games, the top of the homebrew crop!

BTW I think what SvOlli was saying was all PAL DC's do self boot, but dont hurt me if im wrong....

 

[diablo2]

super famicast is coming along nicely
its a snes emu for dreamcast if you couldn't tell by the name
dreamsnes's sh-4(i think thats the processor) asm core has been implemented
and it is the only snes emu still in to works
it isn't as fast and dreamsnes yet (to my knowlage)
but it is deffinently worth watching
one day dreamcast will have full speed snes