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Tech and Homebrew => Turbo/PCE Game/Tool Development => Topic started by: db-electronics on October 25, 2014, 09:54:23 AM

Title: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: db-electronics on October 25, 2014, 09:54:23 AM
Hi Guys,

Aside from the db Grafx Booster TTP which I got working today, I also made much progress on this project:

http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/dbcardturbografx-16homebrewflashcart4mbitprototypetestedandworking

dbCards will allow homebrew to have a physical release at a very affordable price. More to come as more develop and troubleshooting takes place!
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: Lochlan on October 25, 2014, 10:05:45 AM
That's great news!  Any idea how much these will cost (ballpark)?  I'm assuming you'll be doing volume discounts as well?

And I might be getting ahead of myself, but will you have some sort of casing solution as well so that devs wouldn't have to release games on bare pcbs?
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: db-electronics on October 25, 2014, 04:11:14 PM
There is a simple casing solution in the works. As for pricing, it's dependant on ROM size; I'll most likely have hard support for 1Mbit, 2Mbit, 4Mbit and 8Mbit. ROMs smaller than 1Mbit will simply underutilize the 1Mbit chip - though I'll just say that Flash memory is pretty damn cheap so the price will be very good.
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: cabbage on October 25, 2014, 05:00:39 PM
Excellent! Great work! :)
Title: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: esteban on October 25, 2014, 06:03:32 PM
Awesome.

(http://junk.tg-16.com/images/hany_in_the_sky.html)
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: touko on October 26, 2014, 09:36:21 PM
Absolutely great  :clap:

I think also an UMDK card like for PCE/SGX should be awesome too .
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: db-electronics on November 03, 2014, 03:20:59 AM
Project update: all ROM sizes now loading correctly on dbCards!

http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/dbcardturbografx-16homebrewflashcartprototypefullyworking

Now that the electronics portion is working, I will focus on making the next rev more consumer friendly - i.e. look and feel more like a real HuCard. More to come!
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: technozombie on December 03, 2014, 11:45:28 AM
How close to original do you think the final product will look? Will people make repros using these and try to pass them off as legit?
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: db-electronics on December 03, 2014, 01:10:05 PM
How close to original do you think the final product will look? Will people make repros using these and try to pass them off as legit?


I just received my prototype plastic which will serve as the PCB Holder for dbCards. While the shape will be identical, it will be impossible to pass off my products as legit copies. I know I can't prevent people from making repros, but the true intent here is to allow new games to be made by small devs. Here's a picture of my plastic prototype compared to a real HuCard:

(http://www.db-elec.com/home/downloads/dbCardProto.jpg)

Some major differences are:
[ul][li]Plastic type, colour and texture are different[/li][li]dbCards include two mounting posts to align PCB[/li][li]Area available for game sticker is smaller than most HuCards[/li][li]My PCBs aren't in yet to demonstrate, but they will be green as opposed to black on originals[/li][li]On original HuCards, there is a plastic lip near the connectors, on my dbCards, the PCB will extend all the way to the edge.[/li][li]etc...[/li][/ul]
btw, PCBs have shipped, I expect to receive them in the coming 2 weeks!
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: HailingTheThings on December 03, 2014, 03:29:16 PM
^^ Effing sick! ^^

Thank you very much for doing that thing you do.
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: esteban on December 03, 2014, 04:03:04 PM
L'awesome.
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: aurbina on December 03, 2014, 04:48:24 PM
This will be awesome, thanks for your work.
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: roflmao on December 03, 2014, 05:42:33 PM
Woot!
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: db-electronics on December 17, 2014, 02:30:57 PM
Major update! PCBs are in and tested, looking good! Video and full story in link below!

http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/dbcardfunctionalprototypewith3dprintedplasticholder

Now the next major obstacle is to mold the plastic holder for quantity production.
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: Dicer on December 17, 2014, 03:22:17 PM
Major update! PCBs are in and tested, looking good! Video and full story in link below!

http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/dbcardfunctionalprototypewith3dprintedplasticholder

Now the next major obstacle is to mold the plastic holder for quantity production.


Watched the video, that's really all kinds of neat...

Nice Work...

Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: HailingTheThings on December 17, 2014, 03:55:30 PM
Major update! PCBs are in and tested, looking good! Video and full story in link below!

http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/dbcardfunctionalprototypewith3dprintedplasticholder

Now the next major obstacle is to mold the plastic holder for quantity production.


So coooooooolllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!11111111111111!!!!!!!
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: Orion_ on December 17, 2014, 10:39:59 PM
awesome work ! can't wait to release an homebrew game using this project ! :)
how will we program the flash on the card by the way ?
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: esteban on December 17, 2014, 10:42:32 PM
¡¡Wow!!
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: KingDrool on December 18, 2014, 01:46:44 AM
You guys continue to amaze me with this stuff. Awesome work!
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: Necromancer on December 18, 2014, 02:15:27 AM
Looking pretty sweet, man!   Why not paint on the pcb (like the originals) instead of a sticker?
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: Punch on December 18, 2014, 03:29:10 AM
Want.
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: BlueBMW on December 18, 2014, 04:40:20 AM
Or instead of green soldermask why not have them done with black solder mask?
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: db-electronics on December 19, 2014, 05:54:44 AM
awesome work ! can't wait to release an homebrew game using this project ! :)
how will we program the flash on the card by the way ?

Right now I'm using a TL866CS eeprom programmer. Eventually I'd like to make a small Teensy project to burn the games.
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: cjameslv on December 27, 2014, 03:28:53 AM
Just watched the video and damn that is so nice!
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: Tatsujin on January 09, 2015, 08:13:02 PM
great work db :)
Title: Re: TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases
Post by: spenoza on January 10, 2015, 03:09:30 PM
Now if only you can design add-ons (to the Hucard), like additional RAM.