The Namco ND-1: Taking 2D for Granted
Final 12 months, I lined the CAVE CV-1000, an early-2000’s arcade platform that was the final gasp of devoted 2D {hardware}, with a RISC CPU and a blitter. However that was to energy fast-paced “bullet hell” shooters with enormous numbers of transferring objects every body, the place even slowdown is essential to technique. What in case your goals have been a bit extra… pedestrian? What if all you wished was to make some 80’s video games on cheaper {hardware}?
Collectathon
We’re over a decade earlier than the heyday of CAVE, and Namco’s Namco Assortment Vol. 2. It’s a remake assortment of Dig Dug, Pac-Man, and Rally-X (additionally options New Rally-X), with each authentic and new “organize” variations. These are large enough titles that it’s potential the 2 video games within the Namco Assortment sequence (Vol. 1 had Mappy, Xevious, and Galaga) outsold all the CAVE video games. That’s the distinction between a hardcore area of interest and the mass-market.
There was a western launch, however my copy is Japanese. I’m going to be completely trustworthy and say I think about myself fortunate to have this board; this recreation typically goes for some huge cash. It’d be good if there was a language DIP change setting, however there isn’t. Perhaps in the future I’ll break this board by attempting to rewrite all of the ROMs.
Talking of DIP switches, the “SERVICE” button on this technique has the odd conduct that the service menu solely stays open so long as you maintain it down, slightly than merely urgent it. I’m guessing it’s sending the identical sign because the DIP switches do; this board has simply two switches, one for take a look at and one for freeze, nothing game-specific as that’s all within the menu system.
My important curiosity on this board was for Pac-Man Association; I had this recreation as a child, not as an arcade cupboard, however as a part of the 2001 Pac-Man Assortment pack for Recreation Boy Advance. So it’s fairly cool to have the full-screen tate mode model. The near-perfect authentic ports and organize variations for the opposite video games are positively a pleasant bonus.
Nota bene: This isn’t the NB-1
Behold: the Namco ND-1. A reasonably compact board, used solely by the 2 Namco Assortment video games in addition to, in response to MAME, a recreation known as Irregular Test, which I’ve by no means heard of, however from the title display positively seems to be irregular.
You may additionally discover that the ability portion of the JAMMA connector is in very tough form. That is truly after my greatest efforts to scrub it up; the board does work, and the ability pins on the opposite aspect are in good condition, so let’s ignore that for now.
So, it’s 1995. That is an attention-grabbing level in historical past: 2D video video games like Pac-Man are very a lot outdated hat. However not like the pirates of a decade or so later, you can also’t simply get an affordable board with a strong 32-bit ARM chip. So what do you do? Nicely, you’re making an arcade board. So that you escape the Motorola 68000. This may increasingly have been obligatory at this level.
It’s 1995, so you’ll be able to run it at a snug 12.288MHz. It’s no 20MHz PolyGame Master, but it surely’ll do. It’s paired with a Hitachi H8 microcontroller. You may’ve been anticipating a Z80, however no! That is apparently a {custom} Hitachi structure with its roots within the PDP-11, making this the logical successor to the Mattel Intellivision. It has an ADC (that is connected however unused) and is connected to the Namco C354 {custom} sound chip, so it’s fairly much like the roles we’ve seen Z80 coprocessors play.
You may be shocked that despite the fact that that is reported as a microcontroller, this explicit chip does have an exterior ROM. The phrase “microcontroller” isn’t precisely well-defined.
Yamaha strikes once more
What I discover most attention-grabbing right here is the Yamaha YGV-608. Given its location subsequent to a variable resistor and a bunch of passives, and the Yamaha branding, you may anticipate it to be a sound chip. Not so! That’s the Namco-custom “C354”.
So what’s the YGV-608? It’s the video chip, the Yamaha “Sample mode Video Show Controller 2”! Now, Yamaha positively has made their fair proportion of VDPs by this level, together with the Sega Genesis, the VDP powering the MSX2 sequence of computer systems, and several other others. However it’s nonetheless not one thing I’ve seen on an arcade board earlier than.
The function checklist from the datasheet, which additionally guarantees 2 “sample graphics” planes and 64 sprite planes, is kind of attention-grabbing, if a bit unclear at occasions:
- Two screens having a most measurement of 4096 x 4096 dots (show space measurement may be modified in 512 x 2n items) may be constructed concurrently
- Sample measurement may be chosen from amongst 8 x 8, 16 x 16, 32 x 32, and 64 x 64 dots.
- Two 64 x 32 sample (1 web page) sample identify desk RAMS are built-in.
- 32 pages may be linked and displayed.
- Sample generator choice RAM for 32 pages is built-in and may be chosen from amongst 64 sample mills for every web page.
- Most variety of patterns that may be chosen is 4096 for every sample.
- Coloration pallet may be chosen for every sample.
- Every sample may be reverse displayed vertically and horizontally.
- As a result of a vertical scroll knowledge RAM and horizontal scroll knowledge RAM are in-built, easy scrolling is straightforward.
- Divided display may be scrolled in sample items.
- Display screen may be divided into 32 horizontal and 64 vertical home windows.
- 16 built-in 16-color palette of show, selectable from amongst 260,000 colours. 256 colours may be displayed from amongst 260,000 colours.
- Exterior sample generator ROM may be related as much as most 2 M bytes.
- Mosaic show operate
- Zoom compression and rotation show capabilities
At first, I questioned if this had something to do with the Yamaha V9990, which was supposedly what survived of the deliberate MSX3 VDP. However they don’t truly appear that comparable. It does appear to be a reasonably good VDP, although; MAME’s implementation solely covers what’s obligatory for Namco’s video games, so is lacking issues like scaling and rotation.
Video games which might be all the time related?
Within the arcades, Namco’s typically credited with the creation of the “commonplace” tilemap and sprites mixture with their landmark 1979 title Galaxian. With its colourful, easily transferring objects, it’s a formidable step up over Taito’s Area Invaders.
And so Namco has typically had cause to return to the retro world. I don’t assume anybody might be shocked to listen to that the Namco ND-1 was not the final of its type. In 2001, Namco launched the Class of 1981 Reunion cupboard, that includes the 2 1981 hits Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga, which have been each positively created solely by Namco.
I don’t have this board. However it appears from the MAME reverse engineers that that is additionally a tilemap/sprite {hardware}, constructed into two CPLD chips and powered by an 8-bit Z180 CPU. Be aware that this launch didn’t have any of the organize modes, simply straight ports of the 1981 video games (which used a Z80). That one was such a success that Banco Namdai nonetheless sells components.
As for the fashionable Pac-Man’s Pixel Bash nostalgia cupboards, I’d be surprised in the event that they weren’t doing emulation, however I don’t have one to seek out out and the publically-available manual doesn’t elucidate a lot about that. However it does clarify one thing else:
The TEST and SELECT controls should not buttons, however toggle switches. I assume they will need to have been on the cupboards the Namco Traditional Assortment Vol. 2 board was meant for as properly; therefore why I’ve to “maintain the button down” on my supergun. Attention-grabbing!