What a group of people need to do.

**peteyboy22** · July 1st, 2009, 17:35

i'm new here but i'm a really big dreamcast fan.. i just got back into playing it within the last week, i've never really played it to much until now, and i really noticed how great it is..

but there are a few things that CAN be done to make it as good as a current generation console..

1.) Getting a real xbox 360 controller to work on the dreamcast.

the reason for the xbox 360 controller, is that it's almost identical to the dreamcast controller, so i don't think i'd be as hard as doing it to let's say a game cube controller, aslo i think we'd want to keep things simmilar

2.) upgrading the ram in the dreamcast, this is not really needed, FOR NOW, but if a group of people actually get going on creating an awesome dreamcast, it's gonna need the extra push for the homebrew/emulators that are gonna be run on it..

i said emulators, because with out emulators there'd be no new games to play on the dreamcast, i know that the dreamcast has many awesome games, but there's no GTA.. and i'd like to play it on the dreamcast

3) replacing the GD drive with a DVD drive...

if someone replaced the GD drive with a dvd drive, first off it would have the possility to play dvd's (not that i'd even use it for that), second, it'd be alot easier to play backupgames on the dreamcast, because dvd's have about 5 gigs of memory, so 4-5 games per DVD disc

4) The bios, the bios would need to be update to support the upgrades above..

now, i'm not a computer genius, so tell me if anything above is completely impossible, or if something is completely wrong..

if not, WHY HASN'T SOMEONE DONE THIS ALREADY!?

**VampDude** · July 1st, 2009, 17:51

Wow, I can already tell you are a newb around here... I believe most of what you have said has been discussed here before.

Also, the Dreamcast wouldn't be able to play DVD's (not even through homebrew).

Plus you mentioned 4-5 games on one DVD, which saying that goes against the rules of DCEmu.

**peteyboy22** · July 1st, 2009, 18:52

how is mentioning 4-5 games on a dvd against the rules? and i know the dreamcast can't play dvd's.. thats why you'd replace the gd drive with a dvd.. is that not possible?

**beetroot bertie** · July 1st, 2009, 22:14

I've just read through your first post above and whilst what you are suggesting would certainly be interesting, most of it would be pointless.

You're basically asking for the whole console to be modified or ultimately asking for something that resembles a brand new Sega machine that will be DC backwards compatible (that would be cool!).

But the mods you're suggesting are a waste:

Using a xbox controller - the extra buttons would not work with any existing titles so all you have is the same as a standard DC pad but with spare buttons that do nowt. Sure it may be more comfortable but it wouldn't add anything.

More RAM - again it won't improve anything with regards to the existing games library, it's just more RAM that the games can't access because they've been written to work with the existing hardware. I'm guessing here but emulators proabably aren't that RAM intensive anyway unless you're trying to emulate more powerful machines like a PS2 or Xbox so you can play your GTA. In that case, the cost of new RAM, a new controller and DVD Drive will probably be more than a slim PS2 anyway (and then you still need the know how to get all to work).

You're essentially creating a new machine. It's not just the BIOS that would need updating but the whole architecture and construction.

How would you play GD-ROMs without a GD-Rom drive? Putting the 5 ISOs on a DVD would infer a level of piracy which as has already been stated is illegal.

I'm no computer genius either and the things you've suggested would make a cool Dreamcast 2 or maybe with hindsight should have possibly been included in the DC in the first place - certainly the DVD drive and the dual analogue controller but let's be real here, you're gonna need a lot of time, effort, knowledge to do the things you mentioned (if indeed they're even possible with the existing DC circuitry). And what about the processor? While we're at we should update that too. And storage? Let's add a hard drive. What's left won't even be a dreamcast anymore, it would be a Xbox.

I can see the possiblities for future developments so in that sense it would be good but any future emulation releases on the DC are going to be for a very niche market with little or no financial reward. There's no motivation to do it, especially when an Xbox 1 is more suitable for such uses.

That's my tuppence worth anyway

**VampDude** · July 1st, 2009, 23:31

Originally Posted by peteyboy22

how is mentioning 4-5 games on a dvd against the rules? and i know the dreamcast can't play dvd's.. thats why you'd replace the gd drive with a dvd.. is that not possible?

Piracy, DCEmu does not support it. Thus meaning against the forum rules to discuss such a matter, reading the rules wont go amiss.

The GD drive cannot be straight swap replaced, the drive would have to be programmed specifically to the Dreamcast and then the Dreamcast would have to have written into it's BIOS the functionability of a DVD drive. It's just not possible, the closest SEGA got to DVD with the Dreamcast was a bundle of the Dreamcast and a standalone DVD player.

**dcdood** · July 2nd, 2009, 20:33

could easily be talking about homebrew but totally understandable :P

about replacing the GD drive, See 1) Dreamcast BIOS - won't acknowledge DVD! 2) Games Support whats common or needed, thats why all games dont use bba, and also why games wont read SD Cards

Extending RAM is fine, games might be a bit faster but nothing much because games are created for the RAM Limitations

Upgrading ROM, Currently not done, let a pro do it! any newb will brick it, no matter what! cause you are messing with DIRECT Hardware, you Mess something up, - Game over!

As far as Homebrew, Get DreamShell and an SD Card Reader (comming soon - anyone know if it's out?)

**Eviltaco64** · July 3rd, 2009, 06:13

Originally Posted by peteyboy22

i'm new here but i'm a really big dreamcast fan.. i just got back into playing it within the last week, i've never really played it to much until now, and i really noticed how great it is..

but there are a few things that CAN be done to make it as good as a current generation console..

Let the Dreamcast be. Too many people want to push it far beyond what it was designed for. It's late-90's technology. It really wasn't designed for anything mentioned below.

1.) Getting a real xbox 360 controller to work on the dreamcast.

Well, feel free to invent it. You're best bet would be to get a Dreamcast -> PS1 controller adapter and then use a wireless PS2 controller (and if you want to mod the case to make it look like an Xbox 360 controller.. Well, that's up to you

).

2.) upgrading the ram in the dreamcast, this is not really needed, FOR NOW, but if a group of people actually get going on creating an awesome dreamcast, it's gonna need the extra push for the homebrew/emulators that are gonna be run on it..

The Dreamcast's max/stock ram is 16 MB. In order to do that, you'd probably need to upgrade the ram yourself (that is, if you can find Dreamcast ram) and then flash the BIOS with a modded BIOS that currently doesn't even exist so it would actually recognize the new ram.

3) replacing the GD drive with a DVD drive...

Another impossible idea. The hardware doesn't support DVD. It's like trying to put a GD-Rom in a Sega Saturn or Playstation. The best alternative is DCDivx (or, ya know, a $20 Wal-mart DVD player).

4) The bios, the bios would need to be update to support the upgrades above..

Well, it could possibly support it, but, at the moment, absolutely nothing would support the new ram. It would require a modded Dreamcast BIOS and then probably flashing the BIOS to replace the original. All in all, it's not too much of a gain that's considered too difficult for most people to do.

if not, WHY HASN'T SOMEONE DONE THIS ALREADY

Oh no, not caps!! I guess the coders owe you one?

No need to get all pissed about it. Coders make homebrew which doesn't cost you a cent (excluding Bleemcast!). If anything, you should owe them.

Some of these things, while possible in theory, would be incredibly complicated to pull off. If you want to do make a custom BIOS, upgrade the ram, and then port homebrew apps and emulators that actually support these new features, then by all means, go ahead.

**elbarto_66** · August 18th, 2009, 03:42

Hello Everyone at dcemu im new here and stumbled across this post while googlin stuff for the dreamcast
ive owned a dreamcast for awhile now and have a good collection of games and when i discovered all the stuff on the internet for it decided that i wanted to do some development of my own.....
i do beleiv as nice as it would be it would pretty pointless to do all these things with a Dreamcast......unless of course sega did it then i geuss it take on a whole new persona and be essentially a DC2 (xbox).........now excuse me if cross a legality issue here but a thought i had while reading this was wouldnt it be awhole lot easier (cooler) if someone jus took a DC emulator for the xbox and flash the Bios onto the xbox....mod the case and the bios itself and contollers poof youd have everything listed here considering it would only be able to play backup versions of all the Dc games but the development scene would probly sky rocket in turn..........
i personlly have never done any Pc or console develepment but i have ordeed a laptop with absolute intentions to do some development of my own(strictly dreamcast for the moment as i dont own anyother consoles) so if anyones interested in helping me and or guiding me to the right direction i would greatly appreciate it i know what i need to get and what i need to learn and have more than enough time on my hands to do these things and the ideas i have for development
also if anyone knows where to find the source code for TXR2 it would also be apreciated