new project : The GoMad!

[GekoMaster]

Whilst at work i have a lot of thinking time, the other day i was thinking of doing a portable Megadrive, and i thought of the Sega version the Nomad, and GoMad! immediatly sprang to mind!

so this project is still very much in the planning stages, in that all i have right now is the name and a few ideas on how i want it to look.
one quick question is there any difference between a US and Jap. Genesis/Megadrive, other than the cart slot?

[tom61]

There is region coding, but the earlier games lacked it. You'll probably want to add a region mod to it. There's no major differences that I know of between the Genesis model 1/2 and Megadrive model 1/2, but there is no Japanese Megadrive 3, so the smallest of the made-by-Sega hardware is only the US model.

[GekoMaster]

There is region coding, but the earlier games lacked it. You'll probably want to add a region mod to it. There's no major differences that I know of between the Genesis model 1/2 and Megadrive model 1/2, but there is no Japanese Megadrive 3, so the smallest of the made-by-Sega hardware is only the US model.

cool, thanks for the info!, would it be easy to region mod a model 3?, how common are they?

EDIT: anyone got a link to the sizes of the boards? i have got a md1 so just need md2 and genny 3...2 hours on google produced nothing!

[Gannondorf929]

If you want a REALLY small genny, go for the radica. It's cheap, got good voltage, is about half the size of the genny 3, and better audio/video. The only problem is that you have to use your own cart slot.

[GekoMaster]

If you want a REALLY small genny, go for the radica. It's cheap, got good voltage, is about half the size of the genny 3, and better audio/video. The only problem is that you have to use your own cart slot.

thanks for the info!, using some of my thinking time i managed to come up with the correct phrase to put into google, which led me to this site;

http://kyorune.com/modding/article.php?id=88

but it doesnt list the genny 3, how much smaller is a G3 compared to a G2? otherwise i think im going to have to go for a radica/GOAC (here is a pic. of the case im using)

amazon here in the UK lists this;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Megadrive-Playe ... 642&sr=8-2

which has a cart slot, 2 6-button controllers, and looks like it'll fit

once again thanks to tom61 and you Gannondorf929!

[Gannondorf929]

Hmm, that's the European version of the sega firecore, I believe. You know, the sega firecore could be a lot better for portableizing. I should use that on my sega genesis handheld.

[GekoMaster]

just a quick little update, i decided to go with the genny clone, so its on its way from amazon,
also bought a screen on ebay so waiting for that to arrive, unfortunately i have to put this on hold until next month as i have to get a birthday present and a fathers day present so cant buy anything else 'til i get paid. i'll post a list of which of my games work as soon as i can.

[GekoMaster]

Hmm, that's the European version of the sega firecore

it is, even has firecore on the menu screen.

got the unit yesterday, along with my screen, a 4gamers 5" gamecube one, so ive been testing them both.

about the firecore, the music on games, even the built in ones, plays slowly, it sounds to me as though its playing at half speed, i got used to it but it was a bit jarring at first. if your not bothered by that then it should make an excellent portable.

compatability wise, the only pal game i have is road rash, the rest are japanese and work perfectly! (except for forgotten worlds which goes to game over immediatly!, a bit sad, quite like the game, maybe the pal version would work)

Sadness!, cracked the screen!, so now i need a new one. only cost me £7.50 so not too bad.

on a more positive note i found an old power supply with a variable output and interchageable tips, testing this with the firecore, it still ran fine on 6volts, even though the supplied psu is 9volts.
the speakers that are fitted to the gamecube screen also work fine off of 6volts.

[GekoMaster]

got paid yesterday, so there's a new screen on its way, update when it arrives.
also whilst waiting to get paid i took some time to design a logo, but i dont have the file with me, so i'll be posting that later tonight.

EDIT: oops!, meant to upload them but totally forgot, here they are, better late than never!






smiley face on the back, gomad on front?, not sure yet, i'll see what they look like when its up and running

[GekoMaster]

hello faithful readers!, just a quick update, got the new screen on saturday, its another 4gamers one, however upon taking it apart it looks totally different than the previous one on the inside and fits the case without having to do anything drastic! the hole for it is mostly cut, just need to do some fine tuning.

on another note, a friend of mine gave me 2 half cans of vinyl dye that he no longer needed,
one white and one black, so the case is now a very nice shade of black (photos to come).

unfortunately i have done my usual trick and spent all of my disposable income at the begining of the month, which means now i have to wait til payday to get batteries!

[dragonhead]

well, if youre used to playing genesis on an emulator, it can be a bit jarring playing on a PAL region system, because they tend to run about 18% slower than the NTSC variants due to the power frequency difference (60hz ntsc, 50hz PAL)

[GekoMaster]

well, if youre used to playing genesis on an emulator, it can be a bit jarring playing on a PAL region system, because they tend to run about 18% slower than the NTSC variants due to the power frequency difference (60hz ntsc, 50hz PAL)

good point!, never thought of that, so its perfectly normal that the music plays slower then?

never played megadrive on emulator, wherever possible i buy and play original systems, expensive but sometimes i just like to sit back and admire my collection, hard to do if its just on my PC.
for my megadrive ive got a wondermega.

[GekoMaster]

you may or may not have noticed the initial case pic has shrunk a bit in size, it looked way too big IMO, anyway i have been continuing with this project whilst i again wait to get paid.



as i said i coloured the case, this is it with the screen hole cut, the screen in this pic is held there by tape, just for that photo though.



in this pic you can see the screen controls and speaker housing in place, yes they're purple, my paint ran out shortly after colouring the case!, also in this picture you can see the holes for the buttons marked and the screen now firmly held in place!



button holes cut.



start button hole cut.



d-pad hole marked, i will be fitting a snes d-pad because i prefer the feel of this to the md pad.



finally, the d-pad hole cut.

probably get round to mounting the speakers and controls this weekend,

ste

[GekoMaster]

didnt mount the controls yet, got a bit bored of playing MD games when testing, so havent touched this in a while, did manage to get some more dye so i will be finishing off the colour tonight.

[GekoMaster]

woah!, didnt realise it had been 2 months! anyway got some batteries and a charger plus some other bits, did a bit more to it too so time for an update!

the case is now all black, thanks to a new can of vinyl dye.
finally got the controls in place!, took a bit of doing but they do work now.
speakers and screen controls are also in place, had to rewire one of the speakers, pretty simple though no drama.

pictures:


all black now


controls in place


battery and charger

still to do:

fit and test the batteries
rewire the cart slot and mount it verticle
add the power switch

next up: hooking up the batteries!

(added photos now!)