Perhaps you have already tried this but how do the Mini Ride On versions play in MAME? Do they have the same issues that you are experiencing?
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shangon1 plays like mine in terms of the course the road takes. However, I have the road signs from shangon3d. A very confusing scenario.Perhaps you have already tried this but how do the Mini Ride On versions play in MAME? Do they have the same issues that you are experiencing?
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I've attached the matching sets for each rom I've dumped and uploaded to check, aside from the "main cpu". All the roms in the given section match these result sets.Just to clarify, with the exception of the freeplay ROMs, what set do your ROMs match?
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I just don't understand how that logic could come from anything but a rom chip... considering my other spare board hasn't been powered on in nearly a decade I'd have to get another CPU before I could attempt booting it so I guess it'll give me time to analyze mame versions in the meantime.You don't have the decrypt your set, the SHANGON3D is the bootleg version of the 317-0034 you have, the bootleggers already decrypted it and you have used it on your board, the issues remained.
I don't believe this is a ROM issue, rather a board issue. At this point, since you have two sets, you can swap top/bottom boards, trying to pinpoint where the error is. Make sure you mark which is which and check your second set that it plays as it should.
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The video board (bottom) will work regardless of having a security CPU or a regular 68K CPU on the top board. So you can at least swap the video board and eliminate the video board being the culprit.I just don't understand how that logic could come from anything but a rom chip... considering my other spare board hasn't been powered on in nearly a decade I'd have to get another CPU before I could attempt booting it so I guess it'll give me time to analyze mame versions in the meantime.
I wonder (maybe this was covered) if this is a mismatch between using the freeplay main CPU ROMs and the sub-CPU roms.
I believe there are two sub-CPU versions. The early one - epr-10638 to epr-10640 and the later one epr-10790 to epr-10793
Did op confirm what is on his board? Btw, an easy way to get CRC32 checksums (that match MAME) is to save the ROM dumps and zip them. Then viewing the zip in windows has an option to show the CRC (or just use 7zip or whatever).
I can confirm that using the earlier SHANGON2 set of sub CPU ROMS (10638-10640) with the FREE PLAY ROMs (in SEGA enhanced 2.03) replicates the issues @sparksterz is having (wrong direction of arrows is shown). I have tested this in an upright SHO.
Going to the later ROMs (10790-10793) fixes the issue.
So, @sparksterz just burn a set of the later sub CPU ROMs and you should be good to go with your existing Free Play ROMs.
@tendril way to go! I have learned something today!
I should get in touch with Chris White about this so he can update the README in the SEGA enhanced package.
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Do let us know on this. If the game is a little easier with the earlier ROMs, I would not mind losing the Free Play ROMs. I find the game hard even in the easiest setting...Does this keep the more forgiving road layout though? I will test later today to confirm, but I don't think it's super realistic to pivot back and forth as much as the standard game requires on the mini ride on.
Do let us know on this. If the game is a little easier with the earlier ROMs, I would not mind losing the Free Play ROMs. I find the game hard even in the easiest setting...
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Hey, good to see some progress! Yeah, I think shangon1 or shangon2 is really what is wanted here. Unfortunately as far as I can see no-one has ever decrypted this version, only the newer one.
So either someone needs to decrypt it (which is a pain in the ass as if I remember right the opcode/data sections in the ROM need marked and worked out by hand - there is no guaranteed automated solution for this) OR replace the battery in the security CPU and rewrite it's security key (which is a pain in the ass but not impossible https://arcadehacker.blogspot.com/2018/12/sega-system16-security-programming-guide.html)
Oh - Even for an FD1089B? So basically what's available would let me reprogram that CPU if I replaced the battery, and built this arduino tool to reprogram the decryption key, but in terms of getting the roms dumped in a decrypted state - it wouldn't help with that bit. Am I following that correctly?Looks like LE does use the older sub CPU roms, so the main set from LE may also do what you want. I'd agree those two sprite files are probably just logo or minor graphics changes.
The decryption key IS available, so it doesn't need brute forced.