I appreciate this video isn't as long or as detailed as previous videos but if it does well there is no reason I won't revisit things in more depth. I'd love to be able to beat the RUclips algorithm and make this channel more successful. It would motivate me to make larger scale videos again but to do that I need your help! Join the cause and promote my videos/channel through likes, subs and shares. Huge Hi/Thanks to all my regular subbers/viewers you're all amazing!
Love the content Matteus. You, chilly willy and victor have reawakened the old sega kid in me. Have bought all 3 components of the Sega tower of power, all model 1 of course to rekindle old times. Thanks for all the technical explanations, as a network architect, it's great seeing the technical aspects of these beautiful and under appreciated machines. Keep it up.
I've always wanted to play the cancelled Heavy Machinery for the 32x. From some of the screen shots, it looks like it would've played a lot like Outlander. Which is easily one of my all time favorites on the genesis.
Awesome video! I still want to see new games made for SEGA 32X and CD 32x! 32x has so much potential, After Burner Complete still looks, play and sounds impressive till this day. I would love to develop for it if SGDK support it...
32x had no hardware graphics acceleration and too little RAM. Its CPUs are powerful, sure, but with CPUs alone it can’t even match 2D graphics capabilities of the base Megadrive.
Ironically if Afterburner and Space Harrier Complete Editions as well as DarkXide and the other game were instead developed for the Sega Saturn those games would have looked, played and have been way better... because the Sega Saturn or Project Saturn was announced in Japan in January 1993 officially when mentioned in a Japanese business newspaper as a result of 3DO being an imminent threat by having backing from Matsushita Heavy Industries aka Panasonic as well as having GoldStar (LG) and Sanyo backing which was big news in mid to late 1992 to 1993 and Sega Enterprises LTD Japan were very well aware of as well as Nintendo and even Sony who officially announced their PS-X project in December 1993... Meanwhile the "32X" or "Mars" as Sega of America's 90s staff like to make you believe was NEVER officially announced during 1993 or even 1992 and until barely June 1994... which only exposes that Tom Kalinske and Joe Miller kept putting pressure on the Sega Japanese headquarters by insisting that the add on for Genesis in North America was going to be highly profitable... because Sega of America's 90s staff believed the Sega fanbase were stupid children and most likely clueless late teens and young adults who weren't going to use their buying power to back the system that wasn't gonna treat them like little children which is what Sony did Ironically enough. Basically the 3DO and Sony PlayStation were the true threats back then as well as whatever Nintendo Project Reality (also officially announced in 1993) was gonna become... Also if you were to have lived during 1993 as a mid to late teens who purchased gamer magazines who got their information from Japan, you would have known that 3DO, Project Saturn and Project Reality as well as PS-X were coming... You would also know about Atari Jaguar and a few other Projects but never about 32X until after June 1994... so the person who made this video is giving people misinformation about the nature of the Sega Saturn just like Sega of America's 90s staff were doing both back then and in recent times.
Cartridge and CD could work well together for a game that can stream new assets in - maybe a cartridge that can combine both ROM and RAM - where a game has main sprites in the ROM, but can also stream in assets to sit in a large RAM in the cartridge. Would be nice to see an Outrun / Outrunners, or Alien vs. Predator port attempted, or even a port of something like Streets of Rage Remake to the 32X. I think I'll do some investigation into how the hardware works, and what's feasible.
I'm subscribed and this video did not appear in my feed. Thank you RetroRGB for bringing me here. I love this series. I've watched your Sega CD videos ten times lol
Still hope to at least one day see the sound potential of the ill fated system realized---they definitely never had a chance to draw the full power of the thing out as was done for the Genesis, essentially a harbinger of the sad comparable fate for the Saturn as FM Synth sadly, foolishly went into the night. Will also forever reckon we could've had a better Shining Force 3 done up in the spirit of SF II within a fully realized 32x as a 2D finale for that leg of the vintage series before a perhaps More Proper 3D Shining Force for a better realized/timed Saturn.
This high level was perfectly consumable. I was surprised the video ram wasn't twice the size and what a bottleneck with the sega cd, I agree there could have been some wicked 32x cd games ported over like Batman Returns could have been a big win! I loved the 32x for what it was and wish it had a few more years of life.
What do you think of Doom Resurrection? It is on cartridge, but has an option to let you choose the CD for music instead of the synth. Realistically, what kind of games do you suppose could have been possible? Could there have been a cartridge and CD combo where textures were stored on CD while the rest of the game was on the cart? Also what do you think of openlaura's attempt to run on the 32x?
I'm working on a small part of the SuperH Assembly code for a time critical routine, and it is hard work. The SuperH is a difficult ISA, there is almost no documentation outside of RENESAS, and there is nothing anywhere about optimization and performance tricks for the SH2. So when you say "realistically..."
Now I want a CD 32x game using both CD and cartridge with Virtua Processor Maximum memory, maximum capacity, maximum chips, maximum power, maximum complexity, maximum challenge. Frankenstein's game
It could potentially. I can't remember what resolution Fahrenheit uses on Sega CD 32x but if you're transferring images at a higher colour depth then something would have to give. There was a guy who did an analysis of all fmv formats on the system a while back. I'll have to see if he's still about and ask him.
0:08 That’s actually a trick question, ‘cause it sorta doesn’t (at least not as originally intended) A lot of the performance/integration bottlenecks with both the 32X and the Mega CD *by themselves*, let alone *together*, are the result of the Mega Drive lacking certain features it was originally supposed to have from day one. Digital video output routed directly through the cartridge pins is an example of something that could have really helped both attachments.
Would you ever consider "porting" your Crypt of Dracula game to the 32XCD? Would that take a huge amount of work, or would it be quite straightforward? I've always been interested in how difficult/easy it was to make Mega CD and 32X versions of existing Megadrive games. I guess using SGDK complicates things a little, as it means that everything is written in C?
I'm a SGDK user too. Incorporating the Mega CD features into the SGDK has been on the cards for a while! I don't know if Stef is still considering it. I'd have to ask :)
Help me make Ghost Corps the game series for Gen32XCD. Unleash it's paranormal multi-core powers. Defeat Dr. D, claim the Phantasm Jewels and traverse the 7th Dimension.
Getting into more detail would be amazing for this! I know there are only like 4 or 5 Sega CD 32x games released, but it's still fascinating to me, how they used the whole Tower of Power! Also, I would LOVE it, if you could talk about how it would theoretically work, if a Sega CD 32x game ever used both a Cartridge for the main gameplay (because of the better RAM and stuff) and CDs for things like Cutscenes/FMVs, soundtrack or other features. Like, would that be possible and if so, how would the Tower react to that and play it back? Thanks so much for these informative videos!
I don't know much about the 32x, but I would guess the packed pixel mode is palette based? Funny fact, on the 3DO, the term "packed cels" is used for RLE compressed textures (so the 3rd run length mode mentioned here would be similar), while the regular palette based texture are called "coded cels", so terms are kinda reversed :). But anyway that's for textures not framebuffer, and the main framebuffer is a row 15bit there.
I love how the display left out the absolute fucking jungle of cords necessary, I mean I'm in the states and have never been across the fucking pond but come on was it really any better? Someone please let me know.
Nope! The 32x has to be halted to load things to a ram cart. You could load 4MB to the cart then enable the 32x again but you'd need to disable it as soon as you needed to load anything again
I will never understand why SEGA made the 32X. I understand the reasoning and have read all the same interviews and articles other people have. I own every SEGA system except the 32X. It broke my heart to see resources shifted to this stupid thing instead of going all in on Saturn.
It seemed to be a commercial success until rumors of an early Saturn release (and actual early release in May 1995). Everyone at the game stores warned us as customers that developers had already jumped ship, canceling their games or moving them to Saturn or PS1. SEGA should've just released the $49.95 SVP Lock On and made the Sega CD SVP their platform until Christmas of 1995, when the market and developers were ready for the Saturn.
Amazing! Now port Galaxy Force 2 to the SCD or the 32x and we will love you forever! (Alternatively it would be hilarious if a substantial 32x homebrew community developed, primarily running on the DOOM engine.)
It would have been better if the sega cd had the 32x hardware (even one 32-bit cpu) with mixing cables and release it one or two years later. Or the genesis connected the pins to the cartridge and expansion port so the system can offer expansion support for more ram access, enhancement in sound, graphics (especially color and pallete expansions). That will solve all of the issues the sega cd had and no need for the 32x.
@@RetroSegaDev another final alternative they could've looked into while adding a add-on for current genesis users. The 32x vdp lacked background color expansions. While the sega cd had full ram access issues. Another idea is sega ported cd games for pc, interactive systems and cancelled the sega cd, any other add-on to the system.
@maroon9273 yep, the ARM60 was cheap and powerful and could've been the basis of the original Mega Drive in 1988. At 10 MIPS, SEGA could've offered software scaling, rotation, 3D polygons, and perfect arcade ports for no extra money.
Watching this video again is making me think about how feasible a roguelite akin to Dead Cells (i.e.: actual sprite work) could be on a CD 32X. In one instance, I'd imagine something along the lines of having to prepare the level by placing the necessary graphics into the 32X's VRAM, which could reduce any load involving the CD's word RAM since all the necessary stuff would presumably be precached already, either all in advance or with clever programming trickery (possibly bank switching?) I could be wrong, given my knowledge of the roguelite genre (and hardware in general) is limited to Wikipedia articles and whatever else I can find for research - such as this very video - but at the very least, it seems like an interesting homebrew concept, if it's even possible to begin with.
The Sega Saturn or Project Saturn was announced in Japan in January 1993 officially when mentioned in a Japanese business newspaper as a result of 3DO being an imminent threat by having backing from Matsushita Heavy Industries aka Panasonic as well as having GoldStar (LG) and Sanyo backing which was big news in mid to late 1992 to 1993 and Sega Enterprises LTD Japan were very well aware of as well as Nintendo and even Sony who officially announced their PS-X project in December 1993... Meanwhile the "32X" or "Mars" as Sega of America's 90s staff like to make you believe was NEVER officially announced during 1993 or even 1992 and until barely June 1994... which only exposes that Tom Kalinske and Joe Miller kept putting pressure on the Sega Japanese headquarters by insisting that the add on for Genesis in North America was going to be highly profitable... because Sega of America's 90s staff believed the Sega fanbase were stupid children and most likely clueless late teens and young adults who weren't going to use their buying power to back the system that wasn't gonna treat them like little children which is what Sony did Ironically enough. Basically the 3DO and Sony PlayStation were the true threats back then as well as whatever Nintendo Project Reality (also officially announced in 1993) was gonna become... Also if you were to have lived during 1993 as a mid to late teens who purchased gamer magazines who got their information from Japan, you would have known that 3DO, Project Saturn and Project Reality as well as PS-X were coming... You would also know about Atari Jaguar and a few other Projects but never about 32X until after June 1994... so the person who made this video is giving people misinformation (as well as is misinformed) about the nature of the Sega Saturn just like Sega of America's 90s staff were doing both back then and in recent times. The 32X caused massive damage to the Sega fanbase here in North America or more specifically U.S.A. and Canada since Sega of America's 90s staff barely supported Mexico if at all which should tell you something. Also regardless of what information was out there about Atari Jaguar the point is that much like 3DO they had plenty of time to make sales and deals and gain a market share and fanbase and the harsh reality is that most gamers back then were not suckers nor were they the collectors of dead consoles like recent times youtubers who weren't there and were way too young to have any buying power back then cause if they did they would not have purchased neither the Jaguar or 32X back then as it was far more credible to believe in the Japanese Project Saturn, Sony PS-X and to a lesser extent the 3DO (until you realized both the PS-X and Saturn smoked the 3DO in hardware capabilities, speed and specs cause you didn't want a Yugo with a Turbo Charger, you wanted a full power Toyota Supra Turbo... but only if you were informed and that was what the PS-X and Sega Saturn were) Also it is a further revelation that the 32X was a crackpot Sega of America's 90s staff creation when the "32XCD" is weaker than the ROM Cartridge capabilities and all the 32XCD games are Sega of America's 90s staff backed with financial interests and alliances all live action FMV games... (see Japanese MegaCD games and how majority of those games were NOT live action FMV games which was again a Sega of America's 90s staff thing that they pushed)
Does the 32X have a max capacity on the RAM like Saturn's documented 32MB? Would it be possible to have a game cart, or expansion Lock-On Technology cart, with like 1-32MB of RAM?
Good question! You can have a 4MB ROM cart but the MD must write the data to the cart while the 32x is disabled. You can then reenable the 32x to access the data. To update the data you'd need to disable the 32x and then upload fresh data.
@@RetroSegaDev Ah so like at a loading screen or Genesis only render screen, you can get a 4MB work table for assets for the 32X to use. So I could like do a level on the 32X, have the main character sprite on the Genesis, fade out the 32X level to a black screen, dump 4MB of 32X data for like a boss level? What would be the data rate speed time of the 4MB dumping? 4 sec or something?
@@GhostCorpsGenesis You could probably fit a whole game into 4MB :D But ye, the cart would have to be writable and be able to serve as a cache buffer between the CD and the 32X. The MD alone can't do that.
@@GhostCorpsGenesis sure it is, but there are quite a few games out there that are less than 4MB. anyway, don't take that part of my comment too seriously.
@MatteusBeus Retro Sega Game Dev The Sega CD also has an 8-channel PCM sound chip that harks back to the SNES sound chip. So a Sega CD 32X game could use the ten channels (6 FM, 3 square waves, and a noise channel that can be converted into a 6.25% pulse wave. Additionally, Channel 6 of the FM chip can become an 8-bit PCM channel, and Channel 3 of the FM chip can actually be made to host two FM channels. Also, the 3 square waves and the noise channel can be turned into four 4-bit PCM channels or multiple can be used to get 8-bit output) of the Genesis plus the two sample channels of the 32X, and the 8 (SNES has 8 sample channels) of the Sega CD. So you don't have to use CD audio if you don't want to. You could theoretically make a CD 32X game on cartridge that has more sample channels than the SNES, especially if you use Channel 6 of the FM chip, the 8 channels of the Sega CD, the 2 of the 32X, and the four 4bit sample channels usable via the square and noise channels in their unintentional samples-on-volume-register feature.
@@stgigamovement the way the cd and 32x interact is really strange though, you don’t have access to the full capabilities of the CD’s memory in addition to several other features of the cd that are inaccessible when using them together.
It was probably intended for title screens and that kind of stuff.. Can't tell if it was ever used for anything else in commercial games. It is also used in my RoQ video format playback demo.
I've always wondered if, with a combined unit like a Neptune 32X CD, could they just have 1MB of shared RAM and another 512KB of shared VRAM, all powered by a single 25MHz 68EC020 and the two Hitachi RISC processors. Since all of the CPUs would have access to the same main memory through a single, high speed front side bus (and a single GPU and VDP would have access to the unified VRAM), and on-chip L1 cache, a lot less time would be spent moving data around, making copies, etc. With a faster 2x or even 4x CD-ROM, we'd spend far less time waiting for audio, data, and video to show up. As important, the more powerful processing and CPU time could be used for things like software video decompression, giving us true FMV and a lot more shaded polygons per second. All of the PCM channels for the Genesis, 32X, and Sega CD would be more easily accessible to game developers and play through one stereo output. Most important, having backward compatibility for over 500 Megadrive, 32X, and Sega CD games, Sega fans could've stayed on top, conning other kids into buying the cheaper $199 (Neptune sans CD was going up for $149) Sega 32X CD console, even selling the old, messy combos to kids who didn't have a lot of money for that kind of thing. With games having access to 600MB on a disc and nearly 2MB of total RAM and VRAM (similar to the $299 PlayStation One), much better 3D graphics, and 32,768 colors, we'd finally have access to perfect arcade ports that would offer the same sound and capabilities of arcade hardware. With three 32-bit processors running in tandem with the additional memory and hardware, there would be a couple of extra years to develop games for the Saturn before bringing it to the U.S., and that console would not have failed commercially while the Genesis had still been selling NHL/NFL 98, NBA Jam, Sonic Mania, Mickey Mania, etc.
I appreciate this video isn't as long or as detailed as previous videos but if it does well there is no reason I won't revisit things in more depth. I'd love to be able to beat the RUclips algorithm and make this channel more successful. It would motivate me to make larger scale videos again but to do that I need your help! Join the cause and promote my videos/channel through likes, subs and shares. Huge Hi/Thanks to all my regular subbers/viewers you're all amazing!
Love the content Matteus. You, chilly willy and victor have reawakened the old sega kid in me. Have bought all 3 components of the Sega tower of power, all model 1 of course to rekindle old times. Thanks for all the technical explanations, as a network architect, it's great seeing the technical aspects of these beautiful and under appreciated machines. Keep it up.
Yes, every one of your videos is greatly appreciated. Even this shorter one.
They did have some legit games planned for 32X CD but never came out for some reason or another, Primal Rage being one off the top of my head.
Castlevania The Bloodletting, or whatever its project name was. Ended up being Symphony of the Night.
I've always wanted to play the cancelled Heavy Machinery for the 32x. From some of the screen shots, it looks like it would've played a lot like Outlander. Which is easily one of my all time favorites on the genesis.
Awesome video!
I still want to see new games made for SEGA 32X and CD 32x!
32x has so much potential, After Burner Complete still looks, play and sounds impressive till this day.
I would love to develop for it if SGDK support it...
32x had no hardware graphics acceleration and too little RAM. Its CPUs are powerful, sure, but with CPUs alone it can’t even match 2D graphics capabilities of the base Megadrive.
@@noop9k yea i know that, but it still has impressive masterpieces like After Burner Complete, Space Harrier, DarXide and Kolibri.
Agreed. Me too.
@@noop9k it doesn’t function alone though, it’s entire purpose and only way of working is in conjunction with the mega drive.
Ironically if Afterburner and Space Harrier Complete Editions as well as DarkXide and the other game were instead developed for the Sega Saturn those games would have looked, played and have been way better... because the Sega Saturn or Project Saturn was announced in Japan in January 1993 officially when mentioned in a Japanese business newspaper as a result of 3DO being an imminent threat by having backing from Matsushita Heavy Industries aka Panasonic as well as having GoldStar (LG) and Sanyo backing which was big news in mid to late 1992 to 1993 and Sega Enterprises LTD Japan were very well aware of as well as Nintendo and even Sony who officially announced their PS-X project in December 1993...
Meanwhile the "32X" or "Mars" as Sega of America's 90s staff like to make you believe was NEVER officially announced during 1993 or even 1992 and until barely June 1994... which only exposes that Tom Kalinske and Joe Miller kept putting pressure on the Sega Japanese headquarters by insisting that the add on for Genesis in North America was going to be highly profitable... because Sega of America's 90s staff believed the Sega fanbase were stupid children and most likely clueless late teens and young adults who weren't going to use their buying power to back the system that wasn't gonna treat them like little children which is what Sony did Ironically enough.
Basically the 3DO and Sony PlayStation were the true threats back then as well as whatever Nintendo Project Reality (also officially announced in 1993) was gonna become...
Also if you were to have lived during 1993 as a mid to late teens who purchased gamer magazines who got their information from Japan, you would have known that 3DO, Project Saturn and Project Reality as well as PS-X were coming...
You would also know about Atari Jaguar and a few other Projects but never about 32X until after June 1994... so the person who made this video is giving people misinformation about the nature of the Sega Saturn just like Sega of America's 90s staff were doing both back then and in recent times.
Cartridge and CD could work well together for a game that can stream new assets in - maybe a cartridge that can combine both ROM and RAM - where a game has main sprites in the ROM, but can also stream in assets to sit in a large RAM in the cartridge.
Would be nice to see an Outrun / Outrunners, or Alien vs. Predator port attempted, or even a port of something like Streets of Rage Remake to the 32X.
I think I'll do some investigation into how the hardware works, and what's feasible.
There is indeed a middle point for this sort of development but no one has got there yet.
@@RetroSegaDev
It'd be an over engineered solution - much like the Mega CD 32X itself!
It reminds me very much of Sega's Arcade boards.
I'm subscribed and this video did not appear in my feed. Thank you RetroRGB for bringing me here. I love this series. I've watched your Sega CD videos ten times lol
Grr RUclips algorithm! Thanks for watching tho 😁
Still hope to at least one day see the sound potential of the ill fated system realized---they definitely never had a chance to draw the full power of the thing out as was done for the Genesis, essentially a harbinger of the sad comparable fate for the Saturn as FM Synth sadly, foolishly went into the night.
Will also forever reckon we could've had a better Shining Force 3 done up in the spirit of SF II within a fully realized 32x as a 2D finale for that leg of the vintage series before a perhaps More Proper 3D Shining Force for a better realized/timed Saturn.
This high level was perfectly consumable. I was surprised the video ram wasn't twice the size and what a bottleneck with the sega cd, I agree there could have been some wicked 32x cd games ported over like Batman Returns could have been a big win!
I loved the 32x for what it was and wish it had a few more years of life.
Yeah, the Sega CD was capable of some full screen scaling, rotation, and the combined system would have about 1.2MB of RAM altogether.
What do you think of Doom Resurrection? It is on cartridge, but has an option to let you choose the CD for music instead of the synth. Realistically, what kind of games do you suppose could have been possible? Could there have been a cartridge and CD combo where textures were stored on CD while the rest of the game was on the cart? Also what do you think of openlaura's attempt to run on the 32x?
1. Yes
2. Maybe
3. It's impressive I've had it running on my 32x.
I'm working on a small part of the SuperH Assembly code for a time critical routine, and it is hard work. The SuperH is a difficult ISA, there is almost no documentation outside of RENESAS, and there is nothing anywhere about optimization and performance tricks for the SH2.
So when you say "realistically..."
Now I want a CD 32x game using both CD and cartridge with Virtua Processor
Maximum memory, maximum capacity, maximum chips, maximum power, maximum complexity, maximum challenge.
Frankenstein's game
Haha I'm not sure something like that would ever be feasible as it would also have maximum bottlenecks!
This was great. Would love to see you continue giving more info on the 32x.
You're welcome! I hope to cover some more on the system in the future
Could the memory limitations offer any clue as to why the audio in Fahrenheit was so much worse on the 32xCD than the Sega CD version?
It could potentially. I can't remember what resolution Fahrenheit uses on Sega CD 32x but if you're transferring images at a higher colour depth then something would have to give. There was a guy who did an analysis of all fmv formats on the system a while back. I'll have to see if he's still about and ask him.
I didn't even know there were games specifically for the CD 32x. Nice one!
Cripes How'd you got his long without knowing that 😂
Great content! Loved the mega drive back in the day.
Thank you! I appreciate your the kind words ☺️
0:08 That’s actually a trick question, ‘cause it sorta doesn’t (at least not as originally intended)
A lot of the performance/integration bottlenecks with both the 32X and the Mega CD *by themselves*, let alone *together*, are the result of the Mega Drive lacking certain features it was originally supposed to have from day one. Digital video output routed directly through the cartridge pins is an example of something that could have really helped both attachments.
And also, the expansion pins.
Your outro is adorable, I was grinning like an idiot watching the countdown.
Ha, thanks! I'm glad too see my SF2 tribute getting a comment it doesn't happen often 😁
Would you ever consider "porting" your Crypt of Dracula game to the 32XCD? Would that take a huge amount of work, or would it be quite straightforward? I've always been interested in how difficult/easy it was to make Mega CD and 32X versions of existing Megadrive games. I guess using SGDK complicates things a little, as it means that everything is written in C?
I'm a SGDK user too. Incorporating the Mega CD features into the SGDK has been on the cards for a while! I don't know if Stef is still considering it. I'd have to ask :)
@@RetroSegaDev Really, I didn't know that! It would be great to get Mega CD support one day :)
Help me make Ghost Corps the game series for Gen32XCD. Unleash it's paranormal multi-core powers. Defeat Dr. D, claim the Phantasm Jewels and traverse the 7th Dimension.
Cracking work as always!
Thanks ☺️
Getting into more detail would be amazing for this! I know there are only like 4 or 5 Sega CD 32x games released, but it's still fascinating to me, how they used the whole Tower of Power!
Also, I would LOVE it, if you could talk about how it would theoretically work, if a Sega CD 32x game ever used both a Cartridge for the main gameplay (because of the better RAM and stuff) and CDs for things like Cutscenes/FMVs, soundtrack or other features. Like, would that be possible and if so, how would the Tower react to that and play it back?
Thanks so much for these informative videos!
I don't know much about the 32x, but I would guess the packed pixel mode is palette based?
Funny fact, on the 3DO, the term "packed cels" is used for RLE compressed textures (so the 3rd run length mode mentioned here would be similar), while the regular palette based texture are called "coded cels", so terms are kinda reversed :). But anyway that's for textures not framebuffer, and the main framebuffer is a row 15bit there.
Yes RLE and packed pixel both use palettes 👍 I always felt 3DO was a capable machine! It's a shame it never caught on properly.
Retrorgb recommended this video. Good work.
Thanks Curtis!
Crypt of Dracula??? 2022? Or newer?
I love how the display left out the absolute fucking jungle of cords necessary, I mean I'm in the states and have never been across the fucking pond but come on was it really any better? Someone please let me know.
I see. So it sends some of the signals from the Sega CD through the 32X module and over to the genesis. That's how the CD 32X discs functioned.
I am desperate to see something other than an fmv game on 32x cd
Fantastic explanation
Thanks Dave ☺️
Couldn’t devs just make a ram expansion like with the Saturn? I’m sure that would’ve helped
Nope! The 32x has to be halted to load things to a ram cart. You could load 4MB to the cart then enable the 32x again but you'd need to disable it as soon as you needed to load anything again
Yes!!
Saludos cordiales desde Michoacán México viva sega siempre
I will never understand why SEGA made the 32X. I understand the reasoning and have read all the same interviews and articles other people have. I own every SEGA system except the 32X. It broke my heart to see resources shifted to this stupid thing instead of going all in on Saturn.
It seemed to be a commercial success until rumors of an early Saturn release (and actual early release in May 1995). Everyone at the game stores warned us as customers that developers had already jumped ship, canceling their games or moving them to Saturn or PS1.
SEGA should've just released the $49.95 SVP Lock On and made the Sega CD SVP their platform until Christmas of 1995, when the market and developers were ready for the Saturn.
Sega always reacting to the competition which is mainly the jaguar and 3do.
Doom Resurrection deserves a review. It can play CD music during 32x game play. This is all I ever wanted from the setup.
I feel I'd be a tad biased given I was on the team 😂
@@RetroSegaDev I love you and the whole dev team. Thank you! 🙇
Amazing! Now port Galaxy Force 2 to the SCD or the 32x and we will love you forever!
(Alternatively it would be hilarious if a substantial 32x homebrew community developed, primarily running on the DOOM engine.)
So it seems like it's almost impossible to make a proper Sega CD 32x game? Or at least, extremely difficult?
Yes pretty difficult. Unless you do loads into a 32MEG ROM cart.
@@RetroSegaDev ah I see
It's got the same issues as using the mega cd and mega drive together basically
@@RetroSegaDev so cart and cd combo game similar to the Saturn kof 95 rom cart/cd?
@@RetroSegaDev aaah
It would have been better if the sega cd had the 32x hardware (even one 32-bit cpu) with mixing cables and release it one or two years later. Or the genesis connected the pins to the cartridge and expansion port so the system can offer expansion support for more ram access, enhancement in sound, graphics (especially color and pallete expansions). That will solve all of the issues the sega cd had and no need for the 32x.
It's one of those machines that probably shouldn't have existed really or maybe an all in one would have been the way to go!
@@RetroSegaDev another final alternative they could've looked into while adding a add-on for current genesis users. The 32x vdp lacked background color expansions. While the sega cd had full ram access issues. Another idea is sega ported cd games for pc, interactive systems and cancelled the sega cd, any other add-on to the system.
Or release the Sega Cd as a 32-bit standalone console with the 68EC020 and its own VDP. It certainly wouldn't have faced those color limitations.
@@MaxAbramson3a risc cpu will be much better.
@maroon9273 yep, the ARM60 was cheap and powerful and could've been the basis of the original Mega Drive in 1988. At 10 MIPS, SEGA could've offered software scaling, rotation, 3D polygons, and perfect arcade ports for no extra money.
Its sad that i can only imagine how good sonic cd would look if it was made tl be a cd 32x game
Watching this video again is making me think about how feasible a roguelite akin to Dead Cells (i.e.: actual sprite work) could be on a CD 32X.
In one instance, I'd imagine something along the lines of having to prepare the level by placing the necessary graphics into the 32X's VRAM, which could reduce any load involving the CD's word RAM since all the necessary stuff would presumably be precached already, either all in advance or with clever programming trickery (possibly bank switching?)
I could be wrong, given my knowledge of the roguelite genre (and hardware in general) is limited to Wikipedia articles and whatever else I can find for research - such as this very video - but at the very least, it seems like an interesting homebrew concept, if it's even possible to begin with.
Remember that 256KB is only enough to hold tiles to cover about 2-3 screens, so you'd be running a tight ship.
I just learned it. Thanks knowledgeable video.
Not a problem glad you learnt something 👍
The Sega Saturn or Project Saturn was announced in Japan in January 1993 officially when mentioned in a Japanese business newspaper as a result of 3DO being an imminent threat by having backing from Matsushita Heavy Industries aka Panasonic as well as having GoldStar (LG) and Sanyo backing which was big news in mid to late 1992 to 1993 and Sega Enterprises LTD Japan were very well aware of as well as Nintendo and even Sony who officially announced their PS-X project in December 1993...
Meanwhile the "32X" or "Mars" as Sega of America's 90s staff like to make you believe was NEVER officially announced during 1993 or even 1992 and until barely June 1994... which only exposes that Tom Kalinske and Joe Miller kept putting pressure on the Sega Japanese headquarters by insisting that the add on for Genesis in North America was going to be highly profitable... because Sega of America's 90s staff believed the Sega fanbase were stupid children and most likely clueless late teens and young adults who weren't going to use their buying power to back the system that wasn't gonna treat them like little children which is what Sony did Ironically enough.
Basically the 3DO and Sony PlayStation were the true threats back then as well as whatever Nintendo Project Reality (also officially announced in 1993) was gonna become...
Also if you were to have lived during 1993 as a mid to late teens who purchased gamer magazines who got their information from Japan, you would have known that 3DO, Project Saturn and Project Reality as well as PS-X were coming...
You would also know about Atari Jaguar and a few other Projects but never about 32X until after June 1994... so the person who made this video is giving people misinformation (as well as is misinformed) about the nature of the Sega Saturn just like Sega of America's 90s staff were doing both back then and in recent times.
The 32X caused massive damage to the Sega fanbase here in North America or more specifically U.S.A. and Canada since Sega of America's 90s staff barely supported Mexico if at all which should tell you something.
Also regardless of what information was out there about Atari Jaguar the point is that much like 3DO they had plenty of time to make sales and deals and gain a market share and fanbase and the harsh reality is that most gamers back then were not suckers nor were they the collectors of dead consoles like recent times youtubers who weren't there and were way too young to have any buying power back then cause if they did they would not have purchased neither the Jaguar or 32X back then as it was far more credible to believe in the Japanese Project Saturn, Sony PS-X and to a lesser extent the 3DO (until you realized both the PS-X and Saturn smoked the 3DO in hardware capabilities, speed and specs cause you didn't want a Yugo with a Turbo Charger, you wanted a full power Toyota Supra Turbo... but only if you were informed and that was what the PS-X and Sega Saturn were)
Also it is a further revelation that the 32X was a crackpot Sega of America's 90s staff creation when the "32XCD" is weaker than the ROM Cartridge capabilities and all the 32XCD games are Sega of America's 90s staff backed with financial interests and alliances all live action FMV games... (see Japanese MegaCD games and how majority of those games were NOT live action FMV games which was again a Sega of America's 90s staff thing that they pushed)
i wanted to see a cable setup but cool video
The bankruptcy combination
Does the 32X have a max capacity on the RAM like Saturn's documented 32MB? Would it be possible to have a game cart, or expansion Lock-On Technology cart, with like 1-32MB of RAM?
Good question! You can have a 4MB ROM cart but the MD must write the data to the cart while the 32x is disabled. You can then reenable the 32x to access the data. To update the data you'd need to disable the 32x and then upload fresh data.
@@RetroSegaDev Ah so like at a loading screen or Genesis only render screen, you can get a 4MB work table for assets for the 32X to use. So I could like do a level on the 32X, have the main character sprite on the Genesis, fade out the 32X level to a black screen, dump 4MB of 32X data for like a boss level? What would be the data rate speed time of the 4MB dumping? 4 sec or something?
@@GhostCorpsGenesis You could probably fit a whole game into 4MB :D But ye, the cart would have to be writable and be able to serve as a cache buffer between the CD and the 32X. The MD alone can't do that.
@@victorluchitz7907 eh Paprium for Genesis is 10MB (80Megabit).
@@GhostCorpsGenesis sure it is, but there are quite a few games out there that are less than 4MB. anyway, don't take that part of my comment too seriously.
Sega was extremely confusing with shit. Sega Genesis,Sega CD Sega 32X,Sega 32XCD. WTF.
What would the benefits be to working on the combination 32x-CD as opposed to just the 32x?
Bigger games with more resources
@MatteusBeus Retro Sega Game Dev The Sega CD also has an 8-channel PCM sound chip that harks back to the SNES sound chip. So a Sega CD 32X game could use the ten channels (6 FM, 3 square waves, and a noise channel that can be converted into a 6.25% pulse wave. Additionally, Channel 6 of the FM chip can become an 8-bit PCM channel, and Channel 3 of the FM chip can actually be made to host two FM channels. Also, the 3 square waves and the noise channel can be turned into four 4-bit PCM channels or multiple can be used to get 8-bit output) of the Genesis plus the two sample channels of the 32X, and the 8 (SNES has 8 sample channels) of the Sega CD. So you don't have to use CD audio if you don't want to. You could theoretically make a CD 32X game on cartridge that has more sample channels than the SNES, especially if you use Channel 6 of the FM chip, the 8 channels of the Sega CD, the 2 of the 32X, and the four 4bit sample channels usable via the square and noise channels in their unintentional samples-on-volume-register feature.
@@stgigamovement the way the cd and 32x interact is really strange though, you don’t have access to the full capabilities of the CD’s memory in addition to several other features of the cd that are inaccessible when using them together.
@@Thor-Orion that's unfortunate
@@stgigamovement yes it is. I really want to make a game that shows what could have been done on the MegaXCD 32
Nice little video. Looking forward to checking out more of your channel! Thanks for sharing :)
Thanks for dropping by to watch!
@@RetroSegaDev Of course, have a great rest of your day :)
A que porcentaje considera que trabajo de su capacidad en total el
Sega cd
sega 32X
Y sega cd32X
But a Sega CDX32 is stronger or weaker than the Saturn, and better If its easier to Program for it
It's weaker than the Saturn by a country mile and it certainly isn't easier to programme for either!
Wow the 32x has a hi-color mode!? Has it ever been used?
It was probably intended for title screens and that kind of stuff.. Can't tell if it was ever used for anything else in commercial games. It is also used in my RoQ video format playback demo.
@@victorluchitz7907 Just checked it out, awesome quality!
I've always wondered if, with a combined unit like a Neptune 32X CD, could they just have 1MB of shared RAM and another 512KB of shared VRAM, all powered by a single 25MHz 68EC020 and the two Hitachi RISC processors. Since all of the CPUs would have access to the same main memory through a single, high speed front side bus (and a single GPU and VDP would have access to the unified VRAM), and on-chip L1 cache, a lot less time would be spent moving data around, making copies, etc. With a faster 2x or even 4x CD-ROM, we'd spend far less time waiting for audio, data, and video to show up. As important, the more powerful processing and CPU time could be used for things like software video decompression, giving us true FMV and a lot more shaded polygons per second.
All of the PCM channels for the Genesis, 32X, and Sega CD would be more easily accessible to game developers and play through one stereo output. Most important, having backward compatibility for over 500 Megadrive, 32X, and Sega CD games, Sega fans could've stayed on top, conning other kids into buying the cheaper $199 (Neptune sans CD was going up for $149) Sega 32X CD console, even selling the old, messy combos to kids who didn't have a lot of money for that kind of thing.
With games having access to 600MB on a disc and nearly 2MB of total RAM and VRAM (similar to the $299 PlayStation One), much better 3D graphics, and 32,768 colors, we'd finally have access to perfect arcade ports that would offer the same sound and capabilities of arcade hardware. With three 32-bit processors running in tandem with the additional memory and hardware, there would be a couple of extra years to develop games for the Saturn before bringing it to the U.S., and that console would not have failed commercially while the Genesis had still been selling NHL/NFL 98, NBA Jam, Sonic Mania, Mickey Mania, etc.
Your theoretical Neptune would fragment the user base further, as the old 32X wouldn't be able to play the newer software?
SEGA😆