Everything you need to know about mixing the Dreamcast & Arcades

[crashwg]

The Sega Dreamcast is a great candidate for the brains inside a home-built arcade machine because it is based on actual arcade hardware and has many arcade ports that look amazing and play nearly identically to their arcade counter parts.

Of course there are many threads in this forum that relate to this subject but finding and sifting through them can be a nightmare.  So I'm starting this thread in hopes of gathering all that information to one place where it can be organized for easy searching from within the forum structure and also as way to gather all that information to be added to the BYOAC Wiki without everyone having to learn the proper syntax of the Wiki system.

Here's hoping this works out and we can get some great information together for ourselves and future generations of BYOACers!

P.S. In order to keep this thread as uncluttered as possible I ask that you do not make a post without some sort of contribution to the subject.  If you would like to thank any members for adding stuff to this thread, do it by adding stuff yourself.  I realize this is sort of against the norm of the usually appreciativeness shown on this board but I believe the resulting thread full o'uncluttered info will be worth it.  That being said, do not hesitate to post a correction to any of the information on here.  We don't want any misinformation getting through to those who want to see the Dreamcast live on for another 10 years!

[HarumaN]

2 types of controllers make a good candiate for hacking (as an interface to controls):

Sega Official Controller - Analog triggers and joystick can be hacked, making them act as digital (on / off) in the process.  You will need to remove the black coating to solder to directions and buttons.  Has a common ground.

MadCatz Dreampad - Has a common ground.  No prep required, can solder and go.  Triggers are already digitalized, can solder directly (some claim this reduces input lag compared to the hacked triggers on a Sega Official).

[crashwg]

Rotatable Games

I have personally confirmed this list of games as being rotatable.  They all rotate so that the bottom of the monitor is now the right side, some rotate the other way in addition but since most do not I recommend rotating the monitor counter-clockwise or anti-clockwise for you weirdos across the pond.

The following information is the default configuration of the games.  As you will notice, most have just three buttons mapped.  Some have multiple buttons mapped to the same command which can easily be remedied by just not adding the additional buttons to your CP.  On the other hand Gunbird 2 & Trizeal have four discreet inputs.  Luckily on both games one of those buttons is a rapid fire button which just duplicates the "shot" button but pressing the button repeatedly for you.  Therefor this button can be skipped entirely allowing you to keep your CP free of buttons that will rarely be used.

All of these games have re-mappable controls.  Menus are all A=forward B=back.  The only thing I've personally noticed in any of these games that differs from this is in Gunbird 2 in which you need the "Y" button to choose "2 Character mode (1p)".  Taking all that into account, if you are planning a three button control panel, I would recommend using A, B and Y and remapping all the games to suit this setup.

I'm pretty sure this is a complete list although I would love to be proven wrong as it is unfortunate that the list is not longer.  IMO Ikaruga and Under Defeat alone are worth building a vertical DC cab.

Gunbird 2
VGA - Not Supported *
2 Player Mode - Simultaneous
DPad - Movement
A - Shot
B - Bomb
X - Close Attack
Y - Not Used **
L - Not Used
R - Rapid

* a simple hex edit will enable VGA output but the game looks like turd)
** while not used "in game" the "Y" button is required to select "2 Character mode (1p)" which allows you to alternate characters as a single player


Ikaruga
VGA - Supported
2 Player Mode - Simultaneous
DPad - Movement
A - Shot
B - Change
X - Not Used
Y - Not Used
L - Not Used
R - Release Power


Karous
VGA - Supported
2 Player Mode - None (Single Player Only)
DPad - Movement
A - Shot
B - Sword
X - DFS
Y - Not Used
L - Not Used
R - Not Used


Psyvariar II
VGA - Supported
2 Player Mode - None (Single Player Only)
DPad - Movement
A - Shot
B - Bomb
X - Not Used
Y - Not Used
L - Not Used
R - Not Used


Radilgy/Radirgy/Rajiruji*
VGA - Supported
2 Player Mode - None (Single Player Only)
DPad - Movement
A - Shot
B - Sword
X - Absnet
Y - Not Used
L - Not Used
R - Not Used

* Rajiruji is believed to be the correct spelling by my wife who has studied a small amount of Japanese


Shikigami no Shiro II
VGA - Supported
2 Player Mode - Simultaneous
DPad - Movement
A - Shot
B - Bomb
X - Rapid
Y - Not Used
L - Not Used
R - Not Used


Triggerheart Exelica
VGA - Supported
2 Player Mode - None (Single Player Only)
DPad - Movement
A - Shot
B - Anchor
X - Not Used
Y - Not Used
L - Bomb
R - Bomb


Trizeal
VGA - Supported
2 Player Mode - Simultaneous
DPad - Movement
A - Shot
B - Trans
X - Bomb
Y - Rapid Shot
L - Not Used
R - Bomb


Under Defeat
VGA - Supported
2 Player Mode - Simultaneous
DPad - Movement
A - Shot
B - Bomb
X - Not Used
Y - Not Used
L - Not Used
R - Screen Mode*

* You probably don't want this button on your CP unless you want people to ask you to fix the game when they press it and the screen rotates back to horizontal and since your screen is now vertical the game is crooked.

[crashwg]

Connecting your Dreamcast to VGA without soldering or any of that junk

There are a few different VGA adapters that have been produced since the Dreamcast hit the scene back in '99.  Below are some pictures of a few.  As far as I know these pictures are not public domain so please don't add them to the Wiki as that would violate the rules.

If you have one of these adapters please let us know your experience with said adapter.

[crashwg]

I have an official VGA adapter, model number HKT-8100 produced by SEGA themselves.

Most of my time spent using the adapter has been with Ikaruga and Under Defeat on a 21" CRT and I have to say that it is a sight to behold.  I no longer have the CRT but rather a 1680x1050 LCD and as you would expect the picture doesn't look quite as good but it is still awesome.

Unfortunately these things are pretty rare and ebay prices for the official VGA adapter usually break the $80 mark.  If you choose to go this route you won't be disappointed but you should consider the 3rd party adapters that are out there.  Perhaps some additional reviews from other members could shed some light on the quality of them...

[DJ_Izumi]

I have a LexTek Dream Cable.  It's a pain in the ass without instructions.

It has a male and female VGA cable on it.  WHy?  It's a passthrough.  So you can hook it up to your PC monitor and see your PC signal, power on your DC and it auto switches.  It also has RCA composite switches.  IT DOES NOT HAVE A SELECTOR SWITCH.  So how does it decide if it should do composite or VGA?  Auto sensing.  On the 'Input' VGA cable there must be SOME LOAD, or it will NEVER switch to VGA mode.  This is done as hooking it up as they intended however this doesn't work because it adds noise to the passthrough (No noise on DC signal output).  However you can add load other than connecting it to the output end of a PC.  Actually just snapping a DVI->VGA adaptor onto the input end is enough to put load on it and auto-switch it to VGA output.

I got this adaptor without instructions and it took a bit to figure out what was wrong with it.  Naturally my first attempt was to just snap it onto a VGA monitor and expect VGA output.  ...No.  Eventually I figured it out however.

It does look nice however.  Dreamcast, 640x480, that's pretty.  My 21 Sony Trinitron P1110 tubes are also built into a steel cage underneath the ABS plastic shell, which means the shell is decorative and not structural.  I can actually turn my monitors sideways for Shmups that support vertical mode.  I intend to do this for a Shmup setup at an anime con.

[northerngames]

The clear hais vga box in the 2nd picture has my vote

with hands on experiance for that model I can confirm it is easy to use and does the job for vga and arcade use.

you can also open the case and clip 1 wire or the other and get them to display native 15K 25K and 31K

some of the others pictured I have not used but I have seen others make post where they had nothing but problems trying to get them to do 15K on arcade monitors.

The hais you just open the case and clip one wire and it's ready to rock.

The official DC vga cable is rare and costly and should not be hacked up in my opinion.

Some arcade monitors will require a video amp like ultimarc sell's some monitors are fine but some will require the extra voltage increase otherwise they have a dull/dim display.

if you want to run multiple console's like jamma PC DC etc.:

 make your control panel wires run to a DB25 and you write each and every pin signal down to the T and do the same for your DC controllers and also the same for your jamma harness PC etc. then you can have all of them hooked up to a DB25 switchbox and be able to swap from DC PC jamma and what not without any tools or figuring out what wire goes where with the tangled mess of wire's in between type thing.

This way you want PC turn the knob and its done then you want to change to DC turn the knob again and then it is done etc. so much easier faster and cleaner in the end and it also make's it more convienent to add more console to it that way too.

if something acts up just unplug it and pull it out fix it and plug it back in just like you would on your xbox ps2 gamecube etc. no need to rewire the cab all over again becuase of terminal blocks or other means of manually playing around with wires & tools each and everytime & trying to figure out what one goes where type thing.

use DB15's for the video on a DB15 switchbox

here is a quik official pcb pinout I made real quik and will polish up later



Instead of plugging the stock 1/8" PC speakers stereo jack into the hais vga box I used one of these RadioShack Gold Series Audio Y-Adapter Instead.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103710

That way your DC sound can now plug into your exsisting arcade sound amp and speakers or jamma setup through the RCA cables.

Me I have everything ran to a home theater surround sound system set instead of using the stock arcade speakers and amp or the over rated and over priced PC speaker sets I went with a real name brand surround sound home theater reciever and speaker set becuase of the rca style adaptor 

[versapak]

This is the one I have, though I have an actual 19" PC monitor in my cab, so I dunno how well it works for going straight to an arcade monitor. It works (or worked I guess, as I just swapped an Xbox 360 into that cab a couple days ago) excellently for VGA though.

[Franco B]

Link to: [Guide - Modding your Dreamcast VGA Box for 15/31KHz output]

[DJ_Izumi]

Most NAOMI cabs are 31khz though not all.  I'd just stick with a VGA RGB monitor for a Dreamcast based cab myself.

[Franco B]

I'm not entirely sure I get what you mean.

Btw, this is an awesome thread. I'm sure it will be of great use

It would be nice if we could come up with a list of games that use the d-pad. I could add a few that I know and then we could add others to it if you like? Unless there is a list out there already.

[HarumaN]

I'm not entirely sure I get what you mean.

Btw, this is an awesome thread. I'm sure it will be of great use

It would be nice if we could come up with a list of games that use the d-pad. I could add a few that I know and then we could add others to it if you like? Unless there is a list out there already.

Umm, all but like 2 use the D-Pad...   

[Franco B]

Really? Cool. Saves me a job then 

Here's the pinout to the Naomi I/O board/AMP plugs. Useful if you want to connect your pads to the controls:





Couple of pad hacks courtesy of the masterful Haruman with AMP connectors added by moi.

[gnateye]

i also made a little VMU extender using 2 cheapie memory cards so i can have a memory card/VMU slot exposed on the control panel as some games have fun animations on he VMU screen and for easy switching of mem cards as i have a lot of them. see pics here as well as pics of my dreamcast cab. i used to have a 17" vga monitor and the generic black box vga converted, the cable eventually broke at the box though and i wanted a larger scrren for the size of my cab, i now use a 24" tv with svid fits perfectly and looks good, not as nice as the vga but still pretty good. i also have 2 control extension cables wired thru my control panel and coming out flush with the sides for light guns and fishing controller as well as adding pads for 4 player games. this cab actually gets used more then either of my 2 mame cabs as the kids LOVE it!

http://cosmicbreaks.com/arcade/dc_VMU/index.htm

http://cosmicbreaks.com/arcade/dc_VMU/index.htm

disclaimer there are a lot of progress images if the cab, but the one midway thru with the large tv and finished marquee and whatnot is the final cab. they arent in chronological order sadly

[ark_ader]

2 types of controllers make a good candiate for hacking (as an interface to controls):

Sega Official Controller - Analog triggers and joystick can be hacked, making them act as digital (on / off) in the process.  You will need to remove the black coating to solder to directions and buttons.  Has a common ground.

MadCatz Dreampad - Has a common ground.  No prep required, can solder and go.  Triggers are already digitalized, can solder directly (some claim this reduces input lag compared to the hacked triggers on a Sega Official).

Lies

Madcatz have no pre drilled holes.

You have to solder the contacts.

You can get VGA by shorting the pins on the AV interface or you can do this:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Sega-Dreamcast-VGA-Mod/

[Franco B]

Errrm, did he say anything about pre drilled holes?

Yes, soldering is a good idea  (Unless you think [hot glue] is a good alternative. 

By no prep required he means you can solder directly to the traces.

[opt2not]

I loved this thread so much, it made me decide to put a Dreamcast into my jamma cocktail cab! 
Long live Dreamcast!

[crashwg]

Could someone please get some of this information into the Wiki?  I'm afraid that I'm just no good at the Wiki organization...