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PostPosted: July 19th, 2016, 1:24 pm 
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StriderVM wrote:
I'm dense but.... Can this be considered the Good[InsertSystemHere] compilation of Japanese computer ROMS?

Yes pretty much, although Neo Kobe is not affiliated with Cowering's GoodTools project.

The goal is to preserve as much retro Japanese computer software as possible (not just games). We gather up everything we can find--big romsets, public uploads like on this forum, old fileshares from defunct Japanese BBS systems, new dumps from private collections--and identify and label everything consistently while eliminating duplicates.

Unfortunately we do end up with many duplicates sometimes, because unlike cartridge ROMs, floppy disks are a writable medium. The duplicates are usually just a matter of slightly different save files, but in some cases it's because the disks were cracked using different methods, or other subtle differences. Priority is given to clean, verified, and working images. If you don't want to keep the duplicates, you can safely delete any file with [Set #] or [Alt #] in the filename.

The other big part of the project is converting all floppy disk images into a well-documented, future-proof file format. There are over a dozen different file formats for PC-9801 floppy disk images, some of them created using obscure tools which are difficult to track down today. We're converting almost everything to HDM format, which is a standard sequential sector-by-sector disk image with no encryption, compression, or file headers (1024 bytes x 8 sectors x 154 tracks = 1 261 568 bytes = 1.20MB). We use the HDM file extension for compatibility with the major emulators, but HDM is also known as .BIN, .IMG, or raw format. It's the same thing. Having raw disks makes it easy to use the disk images with your emulator of choice (it's not obvious, but even Anex86 supports HDM files). Or you can directly write the images back to real floppies and use them on real machine, or easily convert them for use in a floppy disk emulator like the HxC.

For some disks, the layout is too complicated to express as an HDM, and so NFD is used instead. The NFD format was created by the authors of T98-Next, and it is an advanced file format capable of reproducing many of the strange disk layouts companies sometimes used for copy protection. The NFD file specs are also fully documented.

We've also got preinstalled, ready-to-play hard disk images of the games that support HD installation. Almost everything has been reinstalled properly from scratch with the correct settings. The config.sys/autoexec.bat configuration files are also fully annotated, so they're easy to customize for specific emulators and real PC-9801 models.

The other thing that really sets Neo Kobe apart from existing romsets is the inclusion of hundreds of manuals, box scans, vintage catalogs, and technical information. We're trying to go beyond just roms, and provide a comprehensive portrait of each of these computer systems. We want to make these computers and software more accessible and widely available for historical research and enjoyment, and keep them from being forgotten.


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PostPosted: July 27th, 2016, 3:07 am 
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PC-9801 beta update.
https://mega.nz/#F!jIgkXQDY!hE3FQNWl77DkzKErGdz35g

New folders:
Bothtec
Bullet-Proof Software (BPS)
Brain Grey
Broderbund Japan


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PostPosted: August 6th, 2016, 3:52 am 
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PC-9801 beta update.
https://mega.nz/#F!jIgkXQDY!hE3FQNWl77DkzKErGdz35g

New folders:
C_Class
C2 Bros
C2 World
Capcom
Carry lab
Cat's Pro
Champion Soft
Chaos
Chat Noir
C-Lab
Clest


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PostPosted: August 7th, 2016, 2:09 pm 
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I would call it gamma update, because it is the third letter of the alphabet. :lol:

I have so many huge collections of pc98 games that classifying them and removing dupes and wrong roms is an herculean task. So thank you immensely for saving me the troubles. :D


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PostPosted: August 19th, 2016, 7:08 am 
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DrJones wrote:
I would call it gamma update, because it is the third letter of the alphabet. :lol:
touché :lol:

PC-9801 beta/gamma update (we're still on the letter C)
https://mega.nz/#F!jIgkXQDY!hE3FQNWl77DkzKErGdz35g

New folders:
Cocktail Soft
Cocktail Soft FMC
Colossus
Compac

As always, please report any issues here.


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PostPosted: October 3rd, 2016, 12:20 pm 
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PC-9801 update.
https://mega.nz/#F!jIgkXQDY!hE3FQNWl77DkzKErGdz35g

New folders:
Compile
Computer Brain
Core Magazine
Cosmos Computer
Cream Soft
Creo i
Crowd
C's Ware
Cuisse
Curott
Custom
Cybelle

The letter C is done!


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PostPosted: October 4th, 2016, 12:41 am 
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That's a stellar of a crazy-ass job.

Image

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PostPosted: October 15th, 2016, 12:52 pm 
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PC-9801 update.
https://mega.nz/#F!jIgkXQDY!hE3FQNWl77DkzKErGdz35g

New folders:
D.O.
Dance
Data West
dB-Soft
Dengeki Soft
Dennou Yamashiro-gumi - Comrade System
Desire
Dez Climax
Digital Tricks
Directors


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PostPosted: October 15th, 2016, 8:34 pm 
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Data West <3

Although the archive seems to be missing Psychic Detective 4 & 5 (Orgel & Nightmare). And I didn't know that Data West was the publisher of Tanjō on FMT/PC98!

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PostPosted: October 15th, 2016, 10:18 pm 
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Yes, unfortunately I haven't been able to source a copy of Psychic Detective 4&5 yet.

Incidently, Sensual Angels by Directors also uses Data West's DAPS/DCCS technology for streaming video from CD. I'm not sure if Data West licensed the technology to them, or if Directors was actually a sub-brand of Data West, similar to dB-Soft and Macadamia Soft.


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PostPosted: October 16th, 2016, 12:38 am 
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I'm curious, is there a list of known missing games in the archive? Not just PC98, but also PC88 and FM-Towns.
For example, I know that the Internet Archive is missing FM-Towns "California x Party: Joudaisei himitsu club", but I do not know about other games.


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PostPosted: October 17th, 2016, 7:14 am 
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I don't have definitive miss lists on hand, but you could cross-check the NK sets against the following sources:

FM Towns: http://www.geocities.jp/ahirudanna/towns_soft.html
PC-8801: http://www.gamepres.org/pc88/
PC-9801: https://refuge.tokyo/pc9801/pc9801.html


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PostPosted: October 17th, 2016, 12:48 pm 
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kobushi wrote:
Yes, unfortunately I haven't been able to source a copy of Psychic Detective 4&5 yet.

I have those discs. What do you need, cue+bin from ImgBurn ?


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PostPosted: October 17th, 2016, 10:42 pm 
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Thanks parodius!

If possible, please use IsoBuster or CloneCD set up like this: http://wiki.redump.org/index.php?title=Setting_Up
It's not really necessary to do anything beyond that, because these CDs are unprotected.

Do you also have the key disks (floppy disks)? The games will not work without them.

edit: In fact, there's a high likelihood that the CD-ROMs are identical to the FM Towns versions, which we already have verified dumps of. The problem is the boot disks, which have system-specific files needed to run the games.


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PostPosted: October 24th, 2016, 7:31 am 
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PC-9801 update.
https://mega.nz/#F!jIgkXQDY!hE3FQNWl77DkzKErGdz35g

New folders:
Discovery
DoA
Dollhouse
Dott Plan
Dynamic Pro

The letter D is done!


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