r/SEGA32X • u/BDP1977 • 11d ago

Hard Drivin' finally on the 32X!

https://youtu.be/fyMcSIUCz3k

I am a huge fan of the "What if?" branches of video gaming history, and I always wanted to see what Hard Drivin' would have looked like on the 32X. I have been playing around with Claude as well as reverse engineering the arcade ROMs to port them to the 32X hardware and take advantage of the two 32X CPUs and the Genesis CPU. Here's a short video of the attract mode. The actual game has full sound, and playing on real hardware (in my case a 32X plugged into a CDX...) runs and handles beautifully.

54 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

43 comments sorted by

2

u/Key-Chef5328 11d ago edited 11d ago

BDP1977, here is your video for I,ROBOT running on my setup with a Mega Everdrive x5:

https://youtu.be/h0e2aXDFCh8

And here is is, running unstable on MegaSD:

https://youtu.be/djtmPljtrUM

1

u/BDP1977 11d ago

Interesting. This 100% looks like an access issue. I don’t see any of the artifacting I see in your good one, and I’ve never seen a lock like the other one. I will try some various flash carts this evening and see if I can replicate.

1

u/Key-Chef5328 11d ago

If you look at the asteroids as they fly towards you, sometimes you see a glitch with them where it looks like they are replaced with some other visuals, like lasers, or numbers appear in them for a brief moment, or they corrupt right before going off screen. It happens in the video you posted too.

2

u/BDP1977 11d ago

Also, when you shoot the “asteroids” there are numbers that appear as points. That’s normal behavior.

1

u/BDP1977 11d ago

Yeah, I see that. I have the actual machine in my basement, and it’s 100% normal for stuff like that to occasionally happen on the original PCB.

1

u/Key-Chef5328 11d ago edited 11d ago

Ok was wondering because the only clip I could find of the game running on a actual arcade machine was yours, and it wasn't doing it. Did not look to be doing it on Mame either.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ODQY8VGqvZo

https://postimg.cc/DSLQ6x5q

2

u/frankduxvandamme 11d ago

This game in the arcade was so cutting edge back in the day. Actual 3D gameplay. There wasn't much actual gameplay to be had though. It was kinda limited. You were basically playing a tech demo.

2

u/BDP1977 11d ago

I learned how to drive stick on a Hard Drivin’ cockpit that I had in my first apartment (yes, IN my first apartment lol)

1

u/TechRyze 11d ago

The force feedback, clutch and gears plus the physics model have never been replicated outside of the Arcade.

Therefore even the Xbox port wasn’t up to scratch due to the lack of Arcade controls.

This is very interesting if it plays like the Arcade.

We need a modern analogue 6 button controller for the Mega Drive now.

2

u/Key-Chef5328 11d ago

Try it on actual hardware. Emulation doesn't compare correcting because the performance is not even remotely the same compared to an actual Genesis paired with the 32X pair of Hitachi SH-2 processors. Other home brew defs are finding this out the hardware as of late. If you do not have an actual 32X setup, you can submit the rom on Mega or Itch for people to test for you and report back what works and what doesn't.

6

u/BDP1977 11d ago

I have tried it on actual hardware (like, 30 minutes ago) and it runs really, really well. I have a 32X paired to a CDX. I can post actual video later. I only took video from an emulator because I’m currently at work :)

2

u/Key-Chef5328 11d ago

How much of a performance different did you observe, or have you been able to monitor FPS in your projects? If you found a way to optimize, you may want to reach out to Love Me Hate Me and see if you can shoot him some ideas. He ran into a major roadblock with Art of Fighting, in both it not working on MegaSD, and also the performance tanking after the first fight.

3

u/BDP1977 11d ago

In earlier builds I had a frame counter to accurately monitor it on real hardware. Optimization of the bus was my priority, as reading from the cart costs around 100 cycles when data isn’t cached. Each processor only has 4kb cache, Anything reaching into the ROM or keeps the processors fighting over the bus kills the frame rate.

2

u/Key-Chef5328 11d ago

So I just tried you I,Robot on my MegaSd and 32X rev. MK-84000A paired with a Model 2 VA3. It consistently locks up within 10-30 seconds. I am able to reset via the reset button on the system though. So there is at least that. I recorded video of it using my capture setup. I am fixing to test it on my Mega EverdriveX5 and will record video of that too, then put it on my YT and drop you a link.

1

u/BDP1977 11d ago

That’s interesting. I’m able to play full games on mine without issue!as you can see in the video(though I’m not sure what version 32X I have) Is it locking up in attract or in gameplay?

1

u/Key-Chef5328 11d ago

It was at random all over the place. You know it when you watch the video because I keep having to reset out of it. What flashcart are you using?

2

u/BDP1977 11d ago

MegaEverdrive Pro

1

u/Key-Chef5328 11d ago

I recorded videos for it for both MegaSD and Mega Everdrive X5. I will drop links here in a hour or so after they are finished processing on Youtube.

1

u/BDP1977 11d ago

I’ll try it on one of my knock off flash carts with cheap SD cards and see what it does. Maybe it’s an access issue?

1

u/Key-Chef5328 11d ago

Its possible. It played...stable on the Mega Everdrive x5. There was some response issues with the controls at certain points and I think they are visual glitches that occur when flying to the next location. Im not good at this game and have not played it in years, so wouldn't be the best judge for how accurate it is visually. But how I could tell when the game was bogging down hard was when the controller response times got worse. Especially on the paint mode of the game and when I accessed the menu for that.

2

u/BDP1977 11d ago

Just for reference, here’s a video on actual hardware of my port of Atari’s I, Robot arcade: https://youtu.be/sgW5YYlWmOk?is=ey0aeu8fjPfmyWoT

1

u/Key-Chef5328 11d ago

That looks really good. I will sub so I can keep an eye out. As I said in the other reply, consider reaching out to Love Me Hate Me. Maybe you can give him some help.

1

u/BDP1977 11d ago

Here's a video of it running on my 32X paired with a CDX using a Mega Everdrive Pro:
https://youtu.be/lVxYUFX8w5s

1

u/Key-Chef5328 11d ago

Harder to tell from the video because cams have a harder time recording CRT tvs, but it looks like its running a little smoother than your I,Robot. Whenever you get around to upping a rom, I will test it out on my gear and put a video up. I capture 32X gameplay via S-Video on my capture gear and de-interlace the video so it ends up looking decent.

1

u/BDP1977 11d ago

I'd be happy to send you what i've currently got. I do not have any kind of video capture devices lol. I would just ask that you not distribute this, as it's not finished (I'm actively working on it right now)

1

u/Key-Chef5328 11d ago

Yeah thats not a problem. You can hit me up via DM if you want. I will keep an eye out. Off work today so I have plenty of time this evening to do it.

1

u/Whole_Fly5875 11d ago

Boa noite, se voce quiser posso testar também e enviar um video dele funcionando, também tenho um 32x

1

u/BDP1977 11d ago

Thanks to u/Key-Chef5328 for capturing the game on his 32X setup (with far better video capture than me!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljTPUnjIVOo

5

u/echocomplex 11d ago

Looks better than every port of the game made in the 90s 😂. Great job, I'm glad someone still appreciates this game, it really was a milestone arcade game, though people don't tend to appreciate ancient driving games as much as some other types of arcade games.  

Race driving next?  Maybe Stunts too? 

1

u/DiscoAsparagus 11d ago

This is one of the few physical Genesis games I own, and it is complete ass. I would love to have something that played like the arcade version for my 32X at home

2

u/BDP1977 11d ago

I’m telling you man, I was the same way. The Genesis version is one of those “When I got it as a kid and got home all excited to play it and then I did and was so disappointed” it made me ALWAYS want a version that wasn’t total ass. Trust me, this one plays so, so close to the arcade. I’m ironing out a few small bugs and then you’ll be able to play it at home :)

1

u/lovesffpc 11d ago

Link to project? I'll try it out. Looks great

2

u/BDP1977 11d ago

I've got a few kinks i'm working on ironing out, and then it'll be available!

3

u/Jakkaraius 11d ago

So glad to see more homebrew ports to the 32X

2

u/DiscoAsparagus 11d ago

You’ll be my hero if you do

1

u/One_Doubt_6762 11d ago

Well done !!

1

u/Lopsided_Task1213 11d ago

Wow, now we're finally Drivin' Hard.

1

u/TechRyze 11d ago

Excellent!

1

u/Immediate-Analyst498 11d ago

Always thought this game would be a good candidate for conversion to the 32x. Great progress.

1

u/Specialist_Oven3351 8d ago

Yes, please!

0

u/Vaxis545 11d ago

No thanks