TurboGraf-16 and PC-Engine Physical Homebrew Releases

[db-electronics]

Hi Guys,

Aside from the db Grafx Booster TTP which I got working today, I also made much progress on this project:

http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/dbcardturbografx-16homebrewflashcart4mbitprototypetestedandworking

dbCards will allow homebrew to have a physical release at a very affordable price. More to come as more develop and troubleshooting takes place!

[Lochlan]

That's great news!  Any idea how much these will cost (ballpark)?  I'm assuming you'll be doing volume discounts as well?

And I might be getting ahead of myself, but will you have some sort of casing solution as well so that devs wouldn't have to release games on bare pcbs?

[db-electronics]

There is a simple casing solution in the works. As for pricing, it's dependant on ROM size; I'll most likely have hard support for 1Mbit, 2Mbit, 4Mbit and 8Mbit. ROMs smaller than 1Mbit will simply underutilize the 1Mbit chip - though I'll just say that Flash memory is pretty damn cheap so the price will be very good.

[cabbage]

Excellent! Great work!

[esteban]

Awesome.

[touko]

Absolutely great 

I think also an UMDK card like for PCE/SGX should be awesome too .

[db-electronics]

Project update: all ROM sizes now loading correctly on dbCards!

http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/dbcardturbografx-16homebrewflashcartprototypefullyworking

Now that the electronics portion is working, I will focus on making the next rev more consumer friendly - i.e. look and feel more like a real HuCard. More to come!

[technozombie]

How close to original do you think the final product will look? Will people make repros using these and try to pass them off as legit?

[db-electronics]

How close to original do you think the final product will look? Will people make repros using these and try to pass them off as legit?

I just received my prototype plastic which will serve as the PCB Holder for dbCards. While the shape will be identical, it will be impossible to pass off my products as legit copies. I know I can't prevent people from making repros, but the true intent here is to allow new games to be made by small devs. Here's a picture of my plastic prototype compared to a real HuCard:



Some major differences are:

• Plastic type, colour and texture are different
• dbCards include two mounting posts to align PCB
• Area available for game sticker is smaller than most HuCards
• My PCBs aren't in yet to demonstrate, but they will be green as opposed to black on originals
• On original HuCards, there is a plastic lip near the connectors, on my dbCards, the PCB will extend all the way to the edge.
• etc...

btw, PCBs have shipped, I expect to receive them in the coming 2 weeks!

[HailingTheThings]

^^ Effing sick! ^^

Thank you very much for doing that thing you do.

[esteban]

L'awesome.

[Artemio]

This will be awesome, thanks for your work.

[roflmao]

Woot!

[db-electronics]

Major update! PCBs are in and tested, looking good! Video and full story in link below!

http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/dbcardfunctionalprototypewith3dprintedplasticholder

Now the next major obstacle is to mold the plastic holder for quantity production.

[Dicer]

Major update! PCBs are in and tested, looking good! Video and full story in link below!

http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/dbcardfunctionalprototypewith3dprintedplasticholder

Now the next major obstacle is to mold the plastic holder for quantity production.

Watched the video, that's really all kinds of neat...

Nice Work...

[HailingTheThings]

Major update! PCBs are in and tested, looking good! Video and full story in link below!

http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/dbcardfunctionalprototypewith3dprintedplasticholder

Now the next major obstacle is to mold the plastic holder for quantity production.

So coooooooolllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!11111111111111!!!!!!!

[Orion_]

awesome work ! can't wait to release an homebrew game using this project !
how will we program the flash on the card by the way ?

[esteban]

¡¡Wow!!

[jlued686]

You guys continue to amaze me with this stuff. Awesome work!

[NecroPhile]

Looking pretty sweet, man!   Why not paint on the pcb (like the originals) instead of a sticker?

[Psycho Punch]

Want.

[BlueBMW]

Or instead of green soldermask why not have them done with black solder mask?

[db-electronics]

awesome work ! can't wait to release an homebrew game using this project !
how will we program the flash on the card by the way ?

Right now I'm using a TL866CS eeprom programmer. Eventually I'd like to make a small Teensy project to burn the games.

[cjameslv]

Just watched the video and damn that is so nice!

[Tatsujin]

great work db

[spenoza]

Now if only you can design add-ons (to the Hucard), like additional RAM.