Only one DAT has Enhanced Roms?

[kazumi213]

Thanks MH, info added to Pokemon Yellow test above

[Gary_Oak]

Sorry for bumping this thread, but I just wanted to say that it would be great if we could actually put this idea into practice in both Game Boy and Game Boy Color sets. I mean, if normal DS games can get that treatment (the "NDSi Enhanced" label), why not the Game Boy games as well?

To make things better, the GoodSets give us enough information that will allow to know which games are enhanced by the Game Boy Color or Super Game Boy (the [C] and ROM codes respectively). All that would be needed is for us to check ourselves the type of enhancement variations that the Game Boy (and Color) games could benefit of (eg: SGB enhanced, GBC enhanced, SGB and GBC enhanced).

[kazumi213]

I started working on this by the time of my last post. I've just not found the time to finish it. It will be an accurate addition 100% based on actual ROM data values. No other sources will be required except the ones used to check boxarts for correct tag assignement/DAT entry reallocation.

[Gary_Oak]

I started working on this by the time of my last post. I've just not found the time to finish it. It will be an accurate addition 100% based on actual ROM data values. No other sources will be required except the ones used to check boxarts for correct tag assignement/DAT entry reallocation.

Awesome. During this process, will some Game Boy Color games (the ones that also work on the original Game Boy) be moved to the Game Boy database as it was suggested?

[C. V. Reynolds]

I'd say that if they were marketed as Game Boy Color games, then they would stay in the GBC dat. However, if they were marketed merely as being enhanced for GBC, then they would go in the GB dat.

"Pokemon - Special Pikachu Edition - Yellow Version" would be moved into the GB dat, for example. "Pokemon - Gold Version" and "Pokemon - Silver Version" would stay in GBC because they were marketed as Game Boy Color games, although they could play on the old Game Boy as well.

No-Intro mods, please correct me if I am wrong.

[kazumi213]

Yes, CV is right. Only current "GBC" games that were sold on GB box will be moved to GB DAT, like Pokemon Yellow. All other GBC games that are just GB compatible will stay in GBC DAT, with no special tagging except when they are "SGB Enhanced". I don't see the point on indicating GB compatibility (for a less featured game experience).

GB games will feature "GBC/SGB Enhanced" tags or both.

[TheShadowRunner]

Sorry for the thread resurrection but I'm trying to sort out all roms that only work on Gameboy / Super Gameboy.

Of course all roms in the GB DAT work on GB/SGB, so that's ok.

It becomes less clear for the GBC DAT. How can I sort roms out of the GBC DAT that actually work on GB/SGB?

All the "SGB Enhanced" tagged roms will work of course. I'm confused about the rest.
(or are there SGB-Enhanced GBC roms that do not work on GB? )

Are there any roms in the GBC DAT that are not tagged "SGB Enhanced" that will actually work on the old GB, or am I good just by filtering the "SGB Enhanced" roms?

Thanks for any insight.

Edit: Ok this is no good.. in the GBC DAT are indeed roms not tagged "SGB Enhanced" that are compatible with the old GameBoy.
Case in point:
http://datomatic.no-intro.org/?page=sho ... =47&n=0579
This rom, while it has GBC enhancements, should definitely be in the GB DAT, not in the GBC DAT imho.
As:
1. The cart itself says Game Boy:
http://datomatic.no-intro.org/redumps%2 ... _front.jpg
2. The lowest common compatibility denominator is Game Boy.
I contend that only roms exclusively compatible with GBC should be in the GBC DAT, not the early GB roms that feature GBC enhancements, as they were marketed and sold as GB games in the first place.

Or if they are to stay in the GBC DAT, they should be tagged "GBC Enhanced" or "GBC, SGB Enhanced" (when applicable) to differentiate them versus the purely GBC-only roms.

I think this differentiation is paramount otherwise how is one supposed to sort the GB-compatible roms from the GBC-only roms when they're all in the same GBC DAT?

[Connie]

Naming is based firstly on box artwork > https://www.amazon.co.uk/Konami-GB-coll ... B00004U2DS

If it was marketted and sold as a GBC cart, then I guess it's irrelevent if it works on GB?

[TheShadowRunner]

Naming is based firstly on box artwork > https://www.amazon.co.uk/Konami-GB-coll ... B00004U2DS

If it was marketted and sold as a GBC cart, then I guess it's irrelevent if it works on GB?

I don't think it's irrelevent: there is just no way to currently know which roms in the GBC DAT actually work on the old GB. Certain will, most won't, there's no tag or anything to differentiate them.
For consistency and precision I believe at least a tag should be used, "GBC-Enhanced" would fit perfectly for those: they're in the GBC DAT so they're GBC compatible, but also we would know they work on GB.
My goal is to build a complete library of GB/GBC-enhanced/SGB-enhanced roms that work solely on the GB.
Without differentiation in the GBC DAT, it's impossible

[Tauwasser]

That entirely depends on your definition of "works on Game Boy". All Game Boy Color (CGB) games technically work on Game Boy (DMG).

It's just that many display a lock-out screen and that's it. There is no way to actually know if a game is color-only short of playing it. There is, however, information stored in every official game's header. Byte 0x0143 was part of the game title in ASCII (0x00-0x7F) for most DMG games, then became an indicator flag: bit 7 is set when the Game is Color compatible and if bits 7 and 6 are both set, it's GBC exclusive. Since the DMG doesn't check for these bits, every official GBC-only game had to display a lock-out screen. The CGB itself only checks bit 7 and disables CGB functionality if it's reset.

So you could test-play the complete set and maybe find one or two official titles where the CGB-only bit is set, yet no lock-out screen is presented to the player. If that is what you're looking for, then it's either a lot of manual labor or some clever lua script that checks every game say 30 seconds in and looks if the screen stays the same for let's say 1 minute. No idea if emulators with lua-support let scripts grab the screen tho.

[TheShadowRunner]

That entirely depends on your definition of "works on Game Boy". All Game Boy Color (CGB) games technically work on Game Boy (DMG).

It's just that many display a lock-out screen and that's it. There is no way to actually know if a game is color-only short of playing it. There is, however, information stored in every official game's header. Byte 0x0143 was part of the game title in ASCII (0x00-0x7F) for most DMG games, then became an indicator flag: bit 7 is set when the Game is Color compatible and if bits 7 and 6 are both set, it's GBC exclusive. Since the DMG doesn't check for these bits, every official GBC-only game had to display a lock-out screen. The CGB itself only checks bit 7 and disables CGB functionality if it's reset.

So you could test-play the complete set and maybe find one or two official titles where the CGB-only bit is set, yet no lock-out screen is presented to the player. If that is what you're looking for, then it's either a lot of manual labor or some clever lua script that checks every game say 30 seconds in and looks if the screen stays the same for let's say 1 minute. No idea if emulators with lua-support let scripts grab the screen tho.

By 'works on GB', I mean games that were actually meant for the system and play (so not those with the error message / lock-out).

Thanks for the technical precisions, "if bits 7 and 6 are both set, it's GBC exclusive" means that there is a relatively easy way to sort out roms from the GBC DAT that are actually retro-compatible with GB from the ones that are GBC-only. Is this correct?

If so, don't you think it makes sense that roms that do not fall into this "if bits 7 and 6 are both set, it's GBC exclusive" category bear the "GBC-Enhanced" tag in the GBC DAT?
(or alternatively that roms which fall in that category would bear a "GBC-Exclusive" tag).

Again I believe for organization/precision/consistency, at least a tag should be used to differentiate them?

[Densetsu]

That entirely depends on your definition of "works on Game Boy". All Game Boy Color (CGB) games technically work on Game Boy (DMG).

Does this mean you just have to edit the header and then are able to play GBC games in some sort of a "compatibility mode" on the old GB?

[Tauwasser]

Thanks for the technical precisions, "if bits 7 and 6 are both set, it's GBC exclusive" means that there is a relatively easy way to sort out roms from the GBC DAT that are actually retro-compatible with GB from the ones that are GBC-only. Is this correct?

You're welcome. For official games, this should be the case in nearly 100%. Maybe you'll find the odd game that has a wrong header, but that's about it. For unofficial games, the landscape is much broader and they generally only set bit 7 when they needed to use CGB features and mostly didn't bother with lockout screens.

If so, don't you think it makes sense that roms that do not fall into this "if bits 7 and 6 are both set, it's GBC exclusive" category bear the "GBC-Enhanced" tag in the GBC DAT?
(or alternatively that roms which fall in that category would bear a "GBC-Exclusive" tag).

I think your alternative makes more sense. Everything with bit 7 set is GBC-Enhanced, so it should be in the GBC set. Everything with bot bit 7 and bit 6 set is GBC-Exclusive.

Again I believe for organization/precision/consistency, at least a tag should be used to differentiate them?

Well, as you heard, right now the level of consistency is "what it was marketed as", i.e. "what did the boxart say".

Does this mean you just have to edit the header and then are able to play GBC games in some sort of a "compatibility mode" on the old GB?

No, quite the other way around actually. The games themselves don't care about these bits. They get informed on what type of Game Boy they are at the very start of their execution. The Game Boys themselves are the ones caring about those bits. Editing the header will only ever result in CGB-only games becoming unplayable on a CGB due to the CGB features being turned off and the game using them anyway, because it (rightly) thinks it's being played on a CGB.

[TheShadowRunner]

You're welcome. For official games, this should be the case in nearly 100%. Maybe you'll find the odd game that has a wrong header, but that's about it. For unofficial games, the landscape is much broader and they generally only set bit 7 when they needed to use CGB features and mostly didn't bother with lockout screens.

This is great as I'm really only interested in the official games.
Now what would be an easy way to implement this, I seached all GB header tools, of which there are far less than I thought I'd find ^^;, and none of them are capable of sorting roms.
It seems like a simple program that would be fed a folder with all the roms from the GBC DAT and that would either tag them or move them (to some other folder) would be ideal for this situation, any idea?

I think your alternative makes more sense. Everything with bit 7 set is GBC-Enhanced, so it should be in the GBC set. Everything with both bit 7 and bit 6 set is GBC-Exclusive.

Yes it definitely makes more sense this way.
Is writing a script or program that identifies bit 6 & 7 from .GBC roms a complex task? I have no coding knowledge whatsoever, so no clue

Well, as you heard, right now the level of consistency is "what it was marketed as", i.e. "what did the boxart say".

Roger that. Would you know who has decision power in this matter? Maybe it would be agreed that this "GBC-Exclusive" tag according the rom header is a good idea and should be implemented in the DAT. It would certainly trump the "what it was marketed as" method in terms of accuracy.

[Densetsu]

To be honest, I never thought about it - I just assumed that games in the GBC dat are GBC exclusive games!
If a game works on the Classic Gameboy, it definitely doesn't belong to the GBC dat! Who cares what the publisher etc. writes on the box - of course, Nintendo wants to promote their latest consoles!

BTW: Is there a "connection" between GBC enhanced and Super Gameboy enhanced?

I wrote a little script and if I didn't mess it up, the following "GBC" games also work on the Classic GB but don't have an appropriate tag (only 220 games! :p):

4x4 World Trophy (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
720 Degrees (USA, Europe)
Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, The (Europe)
Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, The (USA)
All Star Tennis 2000 (Europe)
Antz (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl)
Antz (USA) (En,Fr,Es)
Arcade Hits - Joust & Defender (USA, Europe)
Arcade Hits - Moon Patrol & Spy Hunter (USA, Europe)
Asterix & Obelix vs Caesar (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,Nl)
Asteroids (USA, Europe)
Babe and Friends (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
Babe and Friends (USA)
Backgammon (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es)
Backgammon (Japan)
Bakusou Senki Metal Walker GB - Koutetsu no Yuujou (Japan)
Ballistic (USA)
Barbie - Aventura Submarina (Spain)
Barbie - Avventure nell'Oceano (Italy)
Barbie - Chasse au Tresor Sous-Marine (France)
Barbie - Diepzee Avontuur (Netherlands)
Barbie - Fashion Pack Games (USA, Europe)
Barbie - Meeres Abenteuer (Germany)
Barbie - Ocean Discovery (Europe)
Barbie - Ocean Discovery (USA)
Bass Masters Classic (USA, Europe)
Battleship (USA, Europe)
Black Bass - Lure Fishing (USA, Europe)
Bokujou Monogatari GB2 (Japan)
Bugs Bunny & Lola Bunny - Operation Carrots (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl)
Bugs Bunny - Crazy Castle 3 (Japan)
Bugs Bunny - Crazy Castle 3 (USA, Europe)
Bust-A-Move 4 (USA, Europe)
Card Sharks (USA) (Proto)
Cardcaptor Sakura - Itsumo Sakura-chan to Issho (Japan) (Rev A)
Cardcaptor Sakura - Itsumo Sakura-chan to Issho (Japan) (Rev B)
Cardcaptor Sakura - Itsumo Sakura-chan to Issho (Japan)
Caterpillar Construction Zone (USA, Europe)
Centipede (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl)
Centipede (USA)
Checkmate (Japan) (En,Ja)
Chessmaster (USA, Europe)
Cool Hand (Europe) (En,Fr,De)
Daffy Duck - Fowl Play (USA, Europe)
Daffy Duck - Subette Koron de Oogane Mochi (Japan)
Daikatana (USA) (Proto) (2000-04-19)
Dancing Furby (Japan)
Doraemon - Aruke Aruke Labyrinth (Japan)
Doraemon - Kimi to Pet no Monogatari (Japan)
Doraemon Memories - Nobita no Omoide Daibouken (Japan)
Dropzone (Europe)
DynaMike (Europe) (Proto)
Earthworm Jim - Menace 2 the Galaxy (USA, Europe)
Elmo's 123s (Europe)
Elmo's 123s (USA)
Elmo's ABCs (Europe)
Elmo's ABCs (USA)
Evel Knievel (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl,Sv)
Evel Knievel (USA)
Frogger (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl)
Frogger (USA) (Rev A)
Frogger (USA) (Rev B)
Frogger (USA)
Gakkyuu Ou Yamazaki (Japan) (Rev A)
Game Boy Color (USA) (Promo)
Game Conveni 21 (Japan)
Ganbare Goemon - Tengutou no Gyakushuu (Japan)
Gex - Enter the Gecko (USA, Europe)
Ghosts'n Goblins (USA, Europe)
Godzilla - The Series (Europe) (En,Fr,De)
Godzilla - The Series (USA) (En,Fr,De)
Golden Goal (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl,Sv)
Golden Goal (Germany) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl,Sv)
Golf de Ohasuta (Japan)
Goraku Ou Tango! (Japan)
Grand Theft Auto (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
Grand Theft Auto (USA)
Gute Zeiten Schlechte Zeiten Quiz (Germany)
Hamster Club (Japan)
Hamster Club 2 (Japan)
Hello Kitty's Cube Frenzy (USA)
Hollywood Pinball (Europe) (En,Fr,De,It)
Hollywood Pinball (Japan)
Honkaku Taisen Shougi Ayumu (Japan)
Hugo 2 1-2 (Germany)
Jagainu-kun (Japan)
Jeff Gordon XS Racing (USA)
Kaitei Densetsu!! Treasure World (Japan)
Kanji de Puzzle (Japan)
Karate Joe (Europe) (Unl)
Kawaii Pet Shop Monogatari 2 (Japan) (Rev 1)
Kawaii Pet Shop Monogatari 2 (Japan)
Keibajou e Ikou! Wide (Japan)
Keitai Denjuu Telefang - Power Version (Japan)
Keitai Denjuu Telefang - Speed Version (Japan)
Klax (USA, Europe)
Klustar (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
Klustar (USA)
Konami GB Collection Vol.1 (Europe)
Konami GB Collection Vol.2 (Europe)
Konami GB Collection Vol.3 (Europe)
Konami GB Collection Vol.4 (Europe)
Las Vegas Cool Hand (USA)
Lode Runner - Domudomu Dan no Yabou (Japan)
Logical (Europe)
Logical (USA)
Looney Tunes (Europe)
Looney Tunes (USA)
Looney Tunes - Carrot Crazy (USA) (En,Fr,Es)
Looney Tunes - Twouble! (USA) (En,Fr,Es)
Mary-Kate & Ashley - Get a Clue! (USA, Europe)
Mary-Kate and Ashley - Pocket Planner (USA, Europe)
Mask of Zorro, The (USA)
Maya the Bee & Her Friends (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es)
Mega Man Xtreme (USA, Europe)
Metal Walker (USA)
Minna no Shougi - Shokyuu Hen (Japan)
Monopoly (USA)
Montezuma's Return! (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
Montezuma's Return! (USA) (En,Es)
Ms. Pac-Man - Special Colour Edition (Europe)
Muppets, The (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl,Sv) (AP9P)
NBA Jam '99 (USA, Europe)
NFL Blitz (USA)
NFL Blitz (USA, Europe) (Rev A)
NHL Blades of Steel (USA)
Nakayoshi Pet Series 1 - Kawaii Hamster (Japan)
Nakayoshi Pet Series 2 - Kawaii Usagi (Japan)
New Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley, The (USA, Europe)
Oddworld Adventures II (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
Oddworld Adventures II (USA) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
Ojarumaru - Mangan Jinja no Ennichi de Ojaru! (Japan)
Ojarumaru - Tsukiyo ga Ike no Takaramono (Japan)
Othello Millennium (Japan)
Pac-Man - Special Colour Edition (Europe)
Pachinko CR Mouretsu Genshijin T (Japan)
Pachinko Hisshou Guide - Data no Ousama (Japan)
Pitfall - Beyond the Jungle (USA, Europe)
Pitfall GB (Japan)
Pocket Bowling (Japan)
Pocket Bowling (USA)
Pocket Color Mahjong (Japan)
Pocket Color Trump (Japan)
Prince of Persia (USA, Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
Pro Foot (France) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl,Sv)
Puzz Loop (Japan)
Puzzle Bobble 4 (Japan)
Puzzle Master (USA)
Puzzle de Shoubuyo! Wootama-chan (Japan)
Quest RPG - Brian's Journey (USA)
Qui Qui (Japan)
R-Type DX (Japan) (En)
R-Type DX (USA, Europe)
Raku x Raku - Mishin (Japan)
Rampage - World Tour (USA, Europe)
Rats! (USA) (En,Es)
Reservoir Rat (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
Resident Evil (Unknown) (Proto) (early)
Resident Evil (Unknown) (Proto)
Rip-Tide Racer (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
Roadsters Trophy (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl)
Roadsters Trophy (USA) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl)
Rockman X - Cyber Mission (Japan)
Ronaldo V-Football (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl,Pt)
Ronaldo V-Soccer (USA) (En,Fr,Es,Pt)
Rox (Japan) (En)
Rox (USA, Europe)
Rugrats - Time Travelers (USA, Europe)
Seme COM Dungeon - Drururuaga (Japan)
Sewing Machine Operation Software (USA) (En,Fr,Es)
Shadowgate Classic (USA, Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,Sv) (Rev A)
Shadowgate Classic (USA, Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,Sv)
Shadowgate Return (Japan)
Shamus (USA, Europe)
Shougi 2 (Japan)
Shougi 3 (Japan)
Smurfs Nightmare, The (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es)
Smurfs Nightmare, The (USA)
Soul Getter - Houkago Bouken RPG (Japan)
Space Invaders (USA, Europe)
Space Invaders X (Japan)
Space Invasion & Karate Joe (Europe) (Unl)
Space Invasion & Painter (Europe) (Unl)
Space Invasion (Europe) (Unl)
Spacestation Silicon Valley (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl,Sv)
Speedy Gonzales - Aztec Adventure (USA, Europe)
Spy vs. Spy (USA)
Street Hero (Taiwan) (En) (1B-004, EB-004, Sachen) (Unl)
Super Breakout! (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl)
Super Breakout! (USA)
Sylvester and Tweety - Breakfast on the Run (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl)
Tabaluga (Germany)
Taisen Tsumeshougi (Japan) (NP)
Tazmanian Devil - Munching Madness (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
Tazmanian Devil - Munching Madness (USA) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
Test Drive 6 (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It) (Sample)
Test Drive 6 (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
Test Drive 6 (USA)
Tezhong Budui 2 - Jidi (China) (Li Cheng) (Unl)
Three Lions (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl,Sv)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2000 (USA, Europe)
Titus the Fox to Marrakech and Back (Europe)
Titus the Fox to Marrakech and Back (USA)
Tokoro-san no Setagaya C.C. (Japan)
Top Gear Pocket (Japan) (En) (Rumble Version)
Top Gear Pocket (USA) (Rumble Version)
Top Gear Rally (Europe) (Rumble Version)
Turok 2 - Seeds of Evil (Japan)
Turok 2 - Seeds of Evil (USA, Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es)
Tyrannosaurus Tex (USA) (Proto)
Tyrian 2000 (USA) (Proto)
Uno (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl)
Uno (USA)
V-Rally - Championship Edition (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es)
Visiteurs, Les (France)
WWF WrestleMania 2000 (USA, Europe)
Wings of Fury (Europe) (En,Fr,De)
Wings of Fury (USA)
Yars' Revenge (USA, Europe)
Yoda Stories (USA, Europe)

So, these releases should be renamed and I'm all for shifting those GBC enhanced games to the GB dat!