The Shadow SNES protos

[alcoatjez]

I would like to know which proto in the current SNES set is newer.

NSRT gives me this:

Code: Select all

---------------------Internal ROM Info----------------------
       File: Shadow, The (USA) (Proto 1).sfc
       Name: _____________________    Company: Unlicensed
     Header: None                        Bank: HiROM
Interleaved: None                        SRAM: 0 Kb
       Type: Normal                       ROM: 16 Mb
    Country: Japan                      Video: NTSC
  ROM Speed: 200ns (SlowROM)         Revision: 1.0
   Checksum: Bad 0x50A3 != 0xFF00   Game Code: 
---------------------------Hashes---------------------------
      CRC32: 13380511
        MD5: BB103F88B7E4C432ACC337CBA93F2077
--------------------------Database--------------------------
       Name: BETA Shadow, The
    Country: Unknown                 Revision: 1.0
     Port 1: Gamepad                   Port 2: Gamepad
    Genre 1: Fighting                 Genre 2: Brawler

Code: Select all

---------------------Internal ROM Info----------------------
       File: Shadow, The (USA) (Proto 2).sfc
       Name: THE SHADOW (J)           Company: Ocean
     Header: None                        Bank: LoROM
Interleaved: None                        SRAM: 0 Kb
       Type: Normal                       ROM: 16 Mb
    Country: USA                        Video: NTSC
  ROM Speed: 200ns (SlowROM)         Revision: 1.0
   Checksum: Good 0x97E7            Game Code: 
---------------------------Hashes---------------------------
      CRC32: 36894CC3
        MD5: CC0B93E2E08DDF3BD34A6504CE283041
--------------------------Database--------------------------
       Name: Shadow, The
    Country: USA                     Revision: 1.0
     Port 1: Gamepad                   Port 2: Gamepad
    Genre 1: Fighting                 Genre 2: Brawler

Is it safe to assume Proto 2 is newer, since:
- The checksum is correct?
- The country is correct?
- It has an internal name?

Any help is appreciated

[hydr0x]

Probably. It is unfortunate that datestamps on prototype carts are not documented with the dumps You might wanna open both ROMs in a hex editor and look for internal date stamps though.

[Connie]

I'm too busy, but I'd look at the issue of hi/lo rom. One doesn't look right because they both have the same header offset. With this and the internal checksums fixed, I wouldn't be surprised if they are practically the same.

[alcoatjez]

Thanks for you comments

Probably. It is unfortunate that datestamps on prototype carts are not documented with the dumps You might wanna open both ROMs in a hex editor and look for internal date stamps though.

It think this would have been added to the filename if it was present in the ROM. I searched both files, but couldn't find a date.

I'm too busy, but I'd look at the issue of hi/lo rom. One doesn't look right because they both have the same header offset. With this and the internal checksums fixed, I wouldn't be surprised if they are practically the same.

I just Googled a bit and understand now they should have different offsets because on is hirom and the other lorom, right?
Still I don't know enough about this to really see how I can use this information.

[KingMike]

I'm too busy, but I'd look at the issue of hi/lo rom. One doesn't look right because they both have the same header offset. With this and the internal checksums fixed, I wouldn't be surprised if they are practically the same.

That FF00 checksum is suspicious. Without looking at the data, I really wonder if the original was just dummy data (AFAIK, none of the header really mattered to a game running on an actual console. Proper headers were really only a thing required to get Nintendo's approval for final release).

[badinsults]

I had a look in my archives, and although I would suspect that the source of both ROMs was from BBS scene releases, I have no records of it. Might have to search through USENet to find out.