Self-extracting MSX MegaROM games

for fast loading via tape interface

by: Stanislav Borutsky, a.k.a "borus", a.k.a "cax" (pronounced "sakh")

Last update: 17/07/2005 (see "What's new & change log" page)

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Introduction


The files you will find on these pages are the modified disk versions of MSX MegaROM games, running on computers with at least 128K memory mapper.
Each game consists of self-extracting (which, of course, means packed) bload files and basic loader(s).

Here are the advantages of using the self-extracting MegaROM games:

a) you can store 7-10 games on the same 720K floppy disk instead of only 5 non-packed games;
b) you can significantly reduce the loading time of the game, especially if you load via MSX tape interface.

Using MicroWAVer, or CasLink, or msxf2w and waveglue, you can generate the WAV file that can be either played directly from soundcard or from CD to load the game into your diskless MSX2 computer.

Following table shows the advantage of using packed games and advanced tape loading techniques and tools:

Type of 128K MegaROM loadingTime required
non-packed, standard 1200 baud25-30 minutes
non-packed, standard 2400 baud13-15 minutes
packed, standard 2400 baud6-10 minutes
packed, non-standard 3200 baud (using sox)
(see "WAV conversion tools" section)		3:30 - 6:30 minutes
packed, MicroWAVer 3650 baud, compressed mode2:00-3:33 minutes
packed, MicroWAVer 5512 baud, experimental mode1:30-2:33 minutes

Each game's zip on this page contains 2 versions of loader - for loading from disk (name.bas) and for loading from tape interface (name.cas).
Both of them are basic files (don't confuse with MSX emulators' .cas format - I picked this extension just to distinguish between disk and "cas:" loaders).

I personally don't have a floppy drive, so I created these self-extracting versions of games using the RNC PRO-PACK software, which I adapted from the GameBoy Z80-alike CPU for the normal Z80 used in MSX. If you consider MSX programming using (de)compression algorithms, you can also check BitBuster, which has even more compact unpacking code.

WAV conversion tools


IMPORTANT NOTE: MicroWAVer tool,
developed by WYZ and me, is superior to the method I am going to describe,
so try mwaver.exe and MicroWAVeRunner.exe first !


Note that I don't provide WAV files, and here are the reasons:

1) WAVs created by CasLink are not large in size and work good via PC soundcard, but fail to load when burned on CD, because they are in 8-bit, 11025 Hz format instead of 16-bit, 44100 Hz required by Audio CD standard.

2) WAVs produced by msxf2w and waveglue tools are good to put on CD, but a way bigger, and will require too much time to download. Instead, I provide a set of tools and scripts which you can run on your computer to create WAV files yourself.

3) MSX machines are capable of loading on speeds faster than 2400 baud. The set of tools, mentioned above (namely, sox), will also "squeeze" the WAV file, so it can be loaded even faster ! On my Yamaha YIS503IIIR, the maximum speed is about 3200 baud, which makes MegaROMs load in 3.5-6.5 minutes only !

Usage:

1) Extract 2wav.zip into a directory with unzipped games you downloaded from this page.

2) Run 2wav.bat game_name to convert only one game, or use all2wav.bat to create WAVs for all the games you downloaded.

If you MSX is unable to load the WAV you created, or you want to speedup the loading even more, you can experiment with "speed" parameter at the end of 2wav.bat file. Currently it is set to 2.6744, which means 1200 * 2.6744 ~= 3200 baud. Another thing that can help you is increasing the pause between files - just replace "-p" with "-q" in the same file.

3) Type run"cas: on your MSX and start the playback of the WAV file, either via the soundcard, or from the CD you've burned.

Good Luck !
Credits (in random order):

Alex Podrezov, the author of CasLink, for selling me Russian Yamaha MSX2 (YIS503IIIR);
JJC Software for msxf2w and wavglue utilities;
Funet FTP - for most of original disk versions;
Possi's Konami MSX Page - for some of megaroms;
Sylvester - for his huge collection of disk versions that helped me to add many new games and replace some slow or bad ones I got from other sources;
Bytemaniacos - for their ultimative collection of MSX games;
WYZ - for MicroWAVer and testing the packed games on his Sony MSX2 machine;
NEV - for testing the packed games on his Yamaha MSX2 machine;
MSX Database on a Generation MSX site;
HansO (MSXHans) and other MSX lovers who published link to this page and gave the others to know about this project.
BiFi - for help with MSX hooks


Dear visitor ! If you have another 128K MegaROMs disk versions that can be packed, please send them to me.

Mail me to: borus@[NEVER_SEND_SPAM]mail.ru
Things I am currently working on (TODO list):


1) Either making all SCC games use the same SCC slot, or fix a SCC autodetection
2) Fixing the known problems, marked with red color on this page (includes fixing bad startup code found in many games)
3) Making 128K RAM disk/tape versions for the ROMs that don't have disk version
4) Writing the documentation for MicroWAVer
5) Adding checksum verification and .cas support in MicroWAVer
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