Mega-Cart: the ultimate cartridge for your Commodore Vic-20

[6502Dude]

I'm pleased to announce that www.mega-cart.com web site is now online.

This site videos and background on MegaCart project, menu system, hardware, etc.

There is also an online form to place an order for those interested.

This project represents over 18 months of hardware + software development and testing work.

It features all known Vic-20 cartridges, configurable RAM expansion, custom, graphics, custom music & much, much more!

[SmallCleverDinosaur]

It is a multi-purpose cartridge for both PAL and NTSC machines that allows you to play all known cartridge games released for the Vic-20

Even though it's for the VIC-20 "all known cartridge games" is quite impressive. Imagine that for the C64 or the C128

[airship]

Even though it's for the VIC-20 "all known cartridge games" is quite impressive. Imagine that for the C64 or the C128

I've been told it can't be done because most C64 carts are much more complex than VIC-20 carts. But personally I'd love to see something similar for the C64. I know there are utility carts that can be used in a similar manner, but there's just something appealing about having someone else do all the hard work.

[SmallCleverDinosaur]

there's just something appealing about having someone else do all the hard work.

Yes, isn't it?

There are actually only 3 basic forms of cartridges for the C64, the 8K cartridge, the 16K cartridge and the Max emulation cartridge (16K). However, due to the immense popularity of the C64 many smart solutions were made to expand the possibilities using external circuitry for bankswitching, like many OCEAN cartridges, and to give the cartridges the ability to hide themselves from the system, like The Final Cartridge and Action Replay.

So constructing such a Mega cartridge for the C64 would probably be a huge challenge. But not impossible

[RobertB]

So constructing such a Mega cartridge for the C64 would probably be a huge challenge.

Supposedly, Adoreware is working on such a cart, which he dubbed the Extreme Cartridge 2.  But does it have the SWL and Morse Coach cartridges, too?! 

              Back in Central California,
              Robert Bernardo
              Fresno Commodore User Group
              http://videocam.net.au/fcug
              Catch the Fatman and Circuit Girl on http://vimeo.com

[6502Dude]

However, due to the immense popularity of the C64 many smart solutions were made to expand the possibilities using external circuitry for bankswitching, like many OCEAN cartridges, and to give the cartridges the ability to hide themselves from the system, like The Final Cartridge and Action Replay.

So constructing such a Mega cartridge for the C64 would probably be a huge challenge. But not impossible

Bank switching is actually used in Vic-20 MegaCart.
Technically C64/C128 unit is not a big challenge.
However I would not stick with TTL logic as I did for Vic-20 MegaCart.
I did this in part to utilize essentially the same technology that was available at the time the Vic-20 was in production.

[SmallCleverDinosaur]

As I understand it the MegaCart for the Vic-20 contains ALL cartridgegames ever produced for the VIC-20? That would be the first challenge of the C64/C128 since there are so many more cartridges made for those computers.

I realize that you must use bankswitching in the MegaCart, but that's not the only thing a MegaCart for the C64 has to take care of. There are so many more clever constructions made for the C64 than just bankswitching so combining these into one cartridge is what I think would be a huge challenge

[Mangelore]

Wow, the Mega-Cart looks great! Nice work.

I've recently posted off one of my FB-JumboCarts to Charles Gutman of 8-Bit Designs. It's very basic in comparison to the mega-cart. The version sent to Charles supports 63 x 8KB C64 cartidge ROM dumps and a simple menu. I also have another version that stores 63 x 16KB cartidges ROMs plus menu.

Hopefully, Charles will be able to show it off to some of you guys in the U.S.

[SmallCleverDinosaur]

FB-JumboCart? What's that? It can't be found on your website (which I visit from time to time). Please let us know if it can been found anywhere on the internet, I want one

[Mangelore]

There was a thread about it on lemon64. Here's a photo of a prototype board.
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/2107/fbjumbocartprotoxb6.jpg

I had planned to release it earlier but the person who committed to coding the menu never got around to it. So, I finally ended up coding a  very simple one for the 8KB ROM compilation cart. Both the hardware and software is very basic.

Back on topic to the mega-cart. Even though I'm not a VIC-20 fanatic, it seems like an excellent product to have. Time to start saving for it.

[Adoreware]

So constructing such a Mega cartridge for the C64 would probably be a huge challenge.

Supposedly, Adoreware is working on such a cart, which he dubbed the Extreme Cartridge 2.  But does it have the SWL and Morse Coach cartridges, too?! 

              Back in Central California,
              Robert Bernardo
              Fresno Commodore User Group
              http://videocam.net.au/fcug
              Catch the Fatman and Circuit Girl on http://vimeo.com

Hello,

I am the developer of the "Extreme Cartridge 2".  If you would like to see the SWL and Morse Coach cartridges supported, please provide the ROM images and either a schematic or photo copy of both sides of the PC board.  If someone would be willing to send the cartridge, I would be happy to return it once I reverse engineered it.  You can read the various forums on the net to see that you can trust me to return the cartridge in the same condition.  So far, most cartridge requests have been implemented into the EC2 and I'm looking for new ones. 

Thanks,
John
Adoreware
jreece@adoreware.com

[RobertB]

If you would like to see the SWL and Morse Coach cartridges supported, please provide the ROM images and either a schematic or photo copy of both sides of the PC board.

Hi, John, nice to see you here.  My last line in the message was a joke, because G and G Electronics is still actively marketing the carts (and I wouldn't want to step on that company's toes).
     By the way, with the Warpspeed implemention in your Extreme Cartridge 2 cart, how are you going to address the fact that the original Warpspeed used a slideswitch to select between C64 mode and C128 mode?

                 Truly,
                 Robert Bernardo
                 Fresno Commodore User Group
                 http://videocam.net.au/fcug
                 The Other Group of Amigoids
                 Catch the Fatman and Circuit Girl at
                 http://vimeo.com/jeri

[SmallCleverDinosaur]

     By the way, with the Warpspeed implemention in your Extreme Cartridge 2 cart, how are you going to address the fact that the original Warpspeed used a slideswitch to select between C64 mode and C128 mode?

That's a very interesting question! This is one of the reasons why I wrote that a Mega-cart for the C64/C128 would be a huge challenge.

So far, most cartridge requests have been implemented into the EC2 and I'm looking for new ones.

Are you going to implement the additional hardware that some cartridges have? In that case the above might not be a problem. And if you are, there are several cartridges I would like to see included in the Mega-cart

[Adoreware]

If you would like to see the SWL and Morse Coach cartridges supported, please provide the ROM images and either a schematic or photo copy of both sides of the PC board.

Hi, John, nice to see you here.  My last line in the message was a joke, because G and G Electronics is still actively marketing the carts (and I wouldn't want to step on that company's toes).
     By the way, with the Warpspeed implemention in your Extreme Cartridge 2 cart, how are you going to address the fact that the original Warpspeed used a slideswitch to select between C64 mode and C128 mode?

                 Truly,
                 Robert Bernardo
                 Fresno Commodore User Group
                 http://videocam.net.au/fcug
                 The Other Group of Amigoids
                 Catch the Fatman and Circuit Girl at
                 http://vimeo.com/jeri

Because the Extreme Cartridge 2 will NOT ship with ROMS, rather the ability to save them to Flash, I don't worry about stepping an any ones toes.  If I get my hands on those cartridges, I will make sure they work on the EC2.

[Adoreware]

     By the way, with the Warpspeed implemention in your Extreme Cartridge 2 cart, how are you going to address the fact that the original Warpspeed used a slideswitch to select between C64 mode and C128 mode?

That's a very interesting question! This is one of the reasons why I wrote that a Mega-cart for the C64/C128 would be a huge challenge.

I have already addressed this issue.  The production boards will have several switches.  Several cards like Super Snap Shot, Super Explode 5, ISEPIC, Warp Speed, and others use switches.  During development, I am using one of the the 8 bit ports for switch inputs. Also, the daughter board has two 40 pin I/O, so that is a lot of switches if needed.

So far, most cartridge requests have been implemented into the EC2 and I'm looking for new ones.

Are you going to implement the additional hardware that some cartridges have? In that case the above might not be a problem. And if you are, there are several cartridges I would like to see included in the Mega-cart

I don't want to be confused with the AWESOME developer of the Mega-Cart, so I will try to start a thread for the EC2.  All cart emulation requests are looked at for the EC2 so send your requests.