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101 things you can do with a dreamcast

maidtina - Apr 10, 2002

		maidtina		Apr 10, 2002
			Just walked into my retro shop, and while asking if they ever get in "gunstar heros" and gloating over a MD 3 button arcade stick in the corner, i asked how much one of the small pile of dreamcasts were. i could have bought one for the same as i paid for my mega CD!!!! Now, While the dreamcast was being released i was too busy trying to get through by degree so i dont know a lot about it. The games are easy to get and i know the best places to get them but the question is what else can i do with this thing? i hear it can run windows CE, is that just a rumour? I can get keyboards for it fairly cheap so i assume its internet ready. Anything i can do with it in that respect. So comeon guys and girls, how many things can a dreamcast do besides games?

		mtxblau		Apr 10, 2002
			Runs Linux, from what I've read (haven't bothered trying). With the proper software, you can watch VCDs, DivX movies, emulate the Genesis, Nintendo, Super nintendo, atari, among other systems. Could've done PSX, but we all know how that worked out (or most of us do, anyways). www.dcemulation.com... - seems to have a good amount of info on the subject. I'm still trying to come to grips w/ the Nintendo thing (hopefully I'll figure it out by tonight). There are some ports for PC games too, which is pretty nice... Wolfenstein, Quake I... It's a nifty system, not to mention it had games that were clearly out of the ordinary (and very good at that, ie Crazy Taxi, Space Channel 5, Samba De Amigo, Sports games, etc. etc.). All this is pretty dirt cheap, too.

		ExCyber		Apr 10, 2002
			The Windows CE thing got a bit distorted. Dreamcast doesn't run Windows CE, it runs Dragon, which is a stripped down Dreamcast-specific WinCE port with DirectX support. It is not integrated into the system in any way, it's just included on the disc with games that are written for it. The Dragon SDK was restricted to licensed developers, just as the Katana SDK was. Ports of both Linux... and NetBSD... exist. However, the premier library/OS for hobbyist Dreamcast development is KallistiOS... (the name is a reference to Discordianism and bears no relationship to the warez group "Kalisto"). They all support a good amount of stuff, but unfortunately not the modem (because it requires the Dreamcast to download proprietary firmware code, which seems to be controlled by Conexant/Rockwell). Most of the emulators are pretty good, but still need a significant amount of work before they'll be as good as (or better than ) most of the PC implementations.

		maidtina		Apr 11, 2002
			anythings gotta be faster than emulating a genny with a k62 trying to be a router, a fileserver, an fserve and an FTP server at the same time. Is the modem on board?

		Silender		Apr 11, 2002
			Dreamcast can also play Mp3s!!! I've done mine an mp3 player (LOL).

		ExCyber		Apr 11, 2002
			Also, if you go looking for a BBA, keep in mind that the "Broadband Adapter" and "LAN Adapter" are not the same thing. They both provide an Ethernet connection, but only the Broadband adapter is supported by any games AFAIK. KallistiOS has support for the LAN Adapter, and I think NetBSD does, but I'm not sure.

		maidtina		Apr 15, 2002
			ok, i have a broadband connection but i i think it will be better to wait till those are in bargain basement bins. I heard that there are also some silly little games for the VMU going around? they actually licensed or can we preserve their memory with the aid of a CD burner. Also how easy are they to obtain?

		Miles McCloud		Apr 15, 2002
			Certain games allow you to send little mini-games to the VMU, Which you can then play seperate from the DC. it requires quite a bit of space and you'll need some battery power. The only games I know of that use it are the Sonic Adventures.

		3rdman		Apr 19, 2002
			No...there are others. In fact people have made a gaggle of them from the development community. www.booyaka.com... is the only one I know of offhand. Skies of Arcadia also shipped with a VMU game. Evil Twins developers released their VMU games for free because it was excluded form the final release. Hell you can play everything from Space Invaders to Pac Man. Other games took advantage of it in different ways. Shenmue would make the VMU beep to notify you of a visual cue. NFL2k2 used it to list the offensive and defensive plays so that your opponent couldn't see it. Perhaps the GBA linked to the Gamecube will be used in the similar manner bur theirs no denying that the VMU was a great idea that was never really fully exploited.

		Nadius		Apr 19, 2002
			in skies of arcadia the vmu would beep when you were close to a cham. In fact I'm sure it still does. (excuse my half asleep unawareness of tenses) hehe, you can also download vmu animations from dreamcast.planetweb.com lol, here are the two I made long ago. The Slime http://dreamcast.planetweb.com/vmu/vmuprev...l?nam... Where is Nadia? http://dreamcast.planetweb.com/vmu/vmuprev...l?nam...

		Gear		Apr 20, 2002
			SegaGT has a nice VMU car game.

		Curtis		Apr 20, 2002
			I wish someone would make a VMU emulator so I didn't have to keep replacing those damn batteries all the time...

		Nadius		Apr 20, 2002
			IIRC, there's an easy hack to attatch larger batteries to the vmu, and there's a guide at gamefaqs on how to do it with 4 AA batteries, the guide said it would last virtually forever.

		ExCyber		Apr 20, 2002
			There is a VMU emulator called SoftVMS, written by Marcus Comstedt.... Several ports... exist.

		maidtina		Apr 21, 2002
			i hardly think soldering on a couple of AAs constitutes a hack

		Nadius		Apr 24, 2002
			Fine fine, So i'm not too keen with the lingo. Anyhow I said 4 AAs, maybe I'm just under the wire there.

		sarin		May 9, 2002
			is anyone interested in hooking a dreamcast up inside a jamma cabinet? Its not mgcd or gcd and it doesnt use the coin mech... but if you own a jamma cabinet its pretty cool for home use.