1

Hi,

I tried to edit / create the fix rom the NeoGeo.

I have several problems.
I can use the function of HPMAN (fixprint) but only for chars and with a non-transparent background.
I can draw tiles from the fix layer with a function in asm.asm("MOVE.w #0x7003,0x3c0000 ;"); //position in fix rom asm("MOVE.w #0x40,0x3c0002 ;"); //position of drawing tile

But I still have the black background of the tile while I would like transparent. I think having to load pallets (0-15) but I can not.
Do I have to use palJobPut (num ...) and create my pallet in the file palette.s ?

After for the fix file itself. (Rom S). I tried YY-CHR but without success. I tried with ngtools_011 but no access to palettes (for the fix editor).

I can see the tiles using the plugin NeoFixFormat after a decode8. But the pallets are not good when I load the pallets P Rom. There is something I musn't do.
Does anybody have a specific tutorial to NG?
And for the fix rom tiles, you can not import picture, we must do everything by hand?

Thanks

2

you are using an original fix-rom?
$0-$2ff are non transparent tiles (black background), use 0x340 instead.
never change anything from $0 to $2ff because this range in fix-rom is used by unibios!

3

Tonma (./1) :
After for the fix file itself. (Rom S). I tried YY-CHR but without success. I tried with ngtools_011 but no access to palettes (for the fix editor).
I can see the tiles using the plugin NeoFixFormat after a decode8. But the pallets are not good when I load the pallets P Rom. There is something I musn't do.

decode8/recode8 is known to not have accurate results.
The NeoFixFormat plugin should be able to load a game's .s1 and .FIX files without any sort of conversion...
Palettes will need to be manually entered (and then saved via Palette -> Save RGB Palette). Right clicking on an entry in the palette brings up the editor; I recommend changing from R8G8B8 to R5G5B5, which gives you a mostly-close approximation for Neo-Geo colors (however, no dark bit/RGB-1 support).
Tonma (./1) :
Does anybody have a specific tutorial to NG?

I started by taking a sample fix ROM from one of the games (or the SFIX from the BIOS), copied it, and edited the copy. Sadly I don't have a full tutorial.
Tonma (./1) :
And for the fix rom tiles, you can not import picture, we must do everything by hand?

I don't really have a straightforward answer for this, though YY-CHR is able to accept clipboard data (with a 256 color palette).
avatar

4

For my games, I have edited an existing S1 file with freem's very useful "NeoFixFormat" plug-in for YY-CHR.NET to create a custom fix layer font (Thank you for it freem smile ).
If you select the GREY/GREEN color palette like shown in the next picture you can see which colors are used at which place. You can edit the font with the
drawing tools of YY-CHR.NET or just import your own already edited .bmp file (File > Open Bitmap...). After that, save the s1.rom file and replace the original s1.rom file with it.

edit-fix-layer.png

The green color is used for tranparency, all grey colors can be replaced with a custom color palette.
Next, import a little graphic (fix_layer_colors.png) with the buildchar.exe to your C1/C2 roms wich contains the colors you want
for your fix font, like this one: fix_layer_colors.png

The buildchar.exe will create a palette out of this graphic in your palettes.s file:
.globl fix_layer_colors_Palettes
fix_layer_colors_Palettes:
.word 0x0001 |; 1 palettes
.word 0x8000, 0x8000, 0x0333, 0x8444, 0x0555, 0x0666, 0x0777, 0x8888, 0xf888, 0x7999, 0x0c81, 0x0d91, 0xae91, 0x2fa1, 0x9fc1, 0x4fd1

And finally load this palette into palette 0 in your main loop, like shown here:
palJobPut(0, fix_layer_colors_Palettes.palCount, &fix_layer_colors_Palettes.data); // fix layer palette

This method will work on the real system, I have tested it on NG CD, MVS and AES.

5

Thanks for your answers. I'll test all today smile

6

NeoHomeBrew (./4) :
This method will work on the real system, I have tested it on NG CD, MVS and AES.



Hello NeoHomeBrew

How you can test on real hardware for aes et mvs ?

what sort of game you use ? the title ? cause with tonma , we want to test so on real hardware .

it's easy side cd rom ?

thanks
avatar

7

Hi pckid,

I have made my own "rudimentary" development carts for both systems since there is still no flash cart available for the public.

It is quite easy to do, you only have to desolder the MASK-ROM chips and replace them with EPROM chips. Because you need to swap
out the EPROMs quite often (if you have new code to test) it is recommendable to solder chip sockets or "pin receptacles" to the PCBs.
I have used the PCBs of Samurai Showdown 1 (PROGGSC board / CHA42G board) for both systems. I will post more details and some
photos in a separate thread in a few days.

8

@blastar : I tested at 0x340. I have the transparent chara but not the right colors.

@all
I changed the color palette and load it in position 0.
But the second color is not good, 2 and 3 are reversed.

yychr010.jpg

The tile is transparent but The black (f000) turns light green(8080). I put the s1 fix file in mame and insert picture in buildchar. And I try different colors with same result, always need to change myself.
I have :
fixlayer1_Palettes:
.word 0x0001 |; 1 palettes
.word 0x8000, 0x8080, 0xf000, 0x32b3, 0x8444, 0x0777, 0x0666, 0xfaaa, 0x8000, 0x8000, 0x8000, 0x8000, 0x8000, 0x8000, 0x8000, 0x8000
And I should have :
fixlayer1_Palettes:
.word 0x0001 |; 1 palettes
.word 0x8000, 0xf000, 0x8080, 0x32b3, 0x8444, 0x0777, 0x0666, 0xfaaa, 0x8000, 0x8000, 0x8000, 0x8000, 0x8000, 0x8000, 0x8000, 0x8000

And another question, how use more than 1 palette for the fix layer.
I use : palJobPut(0, fix_layer_colors_Palettes.palCount, &fix_layer_colors_Palettes.data);
and after my asm code (asm("MOVE.w #0x7003,0x3c0000 ;"); asm("MOVE.w #0x40,0x3c0002 ;");

Can we use more than 1 palette for fix layer.

9

https://wiki.neogeodev.org/index.php?title=Fix_layer

u can use first 16 palettes

MOVE.w #0x2040,0x3c0002 -> palette 0x02
MOVE.w #0xF040,0x3c0002 -> palette 0x0F

10

Thanks, I got it. You're damn good.

All I need to do now is to understand why the palette is bad (I check the bitmap with Gimp and the palette seems good but reverse in buildchar) Or I need to change the palette value every time.

11

NeoHomeBrew (./7) :
Hi pckid,

I have made my own "rudimentary" development carts for both systems since there is still no flash cart available for the public.

It is quite easy to do, you only have to desolder the MASK-ROM chips and replace them with EPROM chips. Because you need to swap
out the EPROMs quite often (if you have new code to test) it is recommendable to solder chip sockets or "pin receptacles" to the PCBs.
I have used the PCBs of Samurai Showdown 1 (PROGGSC board / CHA42G board) for both systems. I will post more details and somephotos in a separate thread in a few days.

hi NeoHomeBrew.
I wish to buy samurai shodown pcb cause I can have it at low price. Can I buy MVS pcb or do I need AES pcb ?