Turbo Express question

VestCunt · 12/14/2006, 10:10 PM

Someone posted a list of multi-player TE games awhile ago and I can't remember what they were.
Bomberman
Bomberman 93
Falcon

wasn't there one or two more??

oh, and Steve, did you ever try linking your units with a stereo cable?

Keranu · 12/14/2006, 11:11 PM

There's another one that's Japanese only. I can't remember the name, but it's a weird puzzle game. I'll let you know if I find it.

esteban · 12/15/2006, 01:23 PM

Quote from: VestCunt on 12/14/2006, 10:10 PMSomeone posted a list of multi-player TE games awhile ago and I can't remember what they were.
Bomberman
Bomberman 93
Falcon

wasn't there one or two more??

oh, and Steve, did you ever try linking your units with a stereo cable?

I have unpacked my TE's and I have found my big box-o-cables, but I have yet to unpack my HuCards / CD's. Once I unpack my HuCards and find two copies of Bomberman (I'm not sure I have dupes of any other TurboLink game... unless Champions Forever Boxing has that mode!)... I'll be able to test it out.

For folks who are curious, I will be testing:
1. TurboLink
2. 1/8" male to male audio cable (mono)
3. "" (stereo)

IIRC, the TurboLink has some small piece of "shielding" snapped on to the cable, but I'm not sure if it actually does anything important. I can't recall if the TurboLink is mono or stereo. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd lean towards stereo.

If someone could send me Davis Cup Tennis / Bomberman / _________ cheap, I'll make a video ASAP and upload it to YouTube. I don't even have Ballistix, but that game is mentioned in the instructions for TurboLink.

What's funny is that I have lots of dupes of Japanese HuCards that I'd love to see (Bomberman '93 '94), but I only have one GP.

VestCunt · 12/15/2006, 01:51 PM

I'd wager that the link uses two one-way channels and therefore the stereo cable will work and the mono cable will not. I'd hope so anyway, because I don't know of any domestic source of Turbolinks.

I recently made a fool of myself in Radioshack trying to find a "miniplug" (called for in the Turbo Vision manual). Of course, an 1/8" stereo plug ended up working just fine as an A/V input, put the confused Radioshack clerk had no idea what I was talking about. This experience strengthened my belief that these TurboExpress gadgets aren't really as fancy as they'd lead us to believe.

So...Davis Cup tennis and maybe even Ballistix are linkable?!? That's great news. I'd also be curious to know if a TE and GT could set aside their differences and play Bomberman 93 through a turbo link; or if it would work with two Express units, one playing the US card, the other with the PCE card and an adapter.

guyjin · 12/15/2006, 05:25 PM

i always wondered; is one (or two?) of the pins on the expansion port on the TG16 equivalent to the turbolink? is there any way to hook up two tg16's this way?

esteban · 12/15/2006, 05:54 PM

Quote from: VestCunt on 12/15/2006, 01:51 PMI'd wager that the link uses two one-way channels and therefore the stereo cable will work and the mono cable will not. I'd hope so anyway, because I don't know of any domestic source of Turbolinks.

I recently made a fool of myself in Radioshack trying to find a "miniplug" (called for in the Turbo Vision manual). Of course, an 1/8" stereo plug ended up working just fine as an A/V input, put the confused Radioshack clerk had no idea what I was talking about. This experience strengthened my belief that these TurboExpress gadgets aren't really as fancy as they'd lead us to believe.

So...Davis Cup tennis and maybe even Ballistix are linkable?!? That's great news. I'd also be curious to know if a TE and GT could set aside their differences and play Bomberman 93 through a turbo link; or if it would work with two Express units, one playing the US card, the other with the PCE card and an adapter.

Oh crap, I never considered about what would happen with a GT <-> TE TurboLink connection!

Anyway, you weren't wacky for asking for a "miniplug", because that was exactly what they were called. IIRC, even the old-skool Radio Shack catalogs referred to them as ' 1/8" miniplugs ' ... though it's been a long time since I've read one of those things. I recall buying microphones for my boombox (they turned out to be complete crap... lots of RS stuff was crap).

VestCunt · 12/15/2006, 06:06 PM

I looked through my Ballistix manual and it doesn't mention anything about multiplayer functions on the TE.

Probably the one disadvantage of the TG16 and TE useing the same media is that nobody really designed games with the TE in mind; thus, there were very few multiplayers for gamers-on-the-go.

Quote from: guyjin on 12/15/2006, 05:25 PMi always wondered; is one (or two?) of the pins on the expansion port on the TG16 equivalent to the turbolink? is there any way to hook up two tg16's this way?

Damn, that would be awesome.

esteban · 12/18/2006, 01:39 PM

Quote from: VestCunt on 12/15/2006, 06:06 PMI looked through my Ballistix manual and it doesn't mention anything about multiplayer functions on the TE.

Probably the one disadvantage of the TG16 and TE useing the same media is that nobody really designed games with the TE in mind; thus, there were very few multiplayers for gamers-on-the-go.

Quote from: guyjin on 12/15/2006, 05:25 PMi always wondered; is one (or two?) of the pins on the expansion port on the TG16 equivalent to the turbolink? is there any way to hook up two tg16's this way?
Damn, that would be awesome.

OK, so now we know that when the TurboLink manual (actually, a postage-sized sheet) was printed, Ballistix was intended to have a special mode in it. I know Bomberman is listed and 1-2 other games. At least we're not mourning the loss of the TurboLink mode in Ballistix. Well, I almost shed a tear.

IIRC, Falcon has a special dogfight mode for TurboLink (I've never played it).

Guyjin's question is a good one... we should ask all those folks who tinker with the hardware how TurboLink works and if it can be accomplished with consoles. Also, we should ask if a TE <-> GT TurboLink could work if the game was left relatively intact during localization...