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.