Former Dawn (NES) Kickstarter Demo Gameplay

[@RussBootlegMan]

So Cool! This game and the tech behind it (MXM-1 mapper) are outstanding!

[@braillynn]

Incredibly impressive!

[@ClydeShaffer]

I read about the SD Card emulating a CD-ROM, is that where some of the audio comes from? Or is the new mapper producing (what seems to be) FM sound?
Another thing I'm wondering: Is the interface to the emulated CDROM one that hypothetically a dedicated hardware maniac could implement over the expansion port? and do so without the software needing to be "aware" of it?
Anyway this is an incredibly cool project. I hope I get to play it on my NES!

[@erockbrox8484]

The expansion audio is not created by the NES cart alone, it also requires an expansion hardware to be inserted into the expansion port on the bottom of the NES console itself.
A CD add-on was the original concept since this would have been available at some point in the mid 1990's. Theoretically the CD-add hardware, if it were created could possibly be connected to the NES's expansion port similar to how the Famicom Disk System was an add-on for the Famicom in Japan.

[@ClydeShaffer]

@erockbrox8484 are you one of the developers?

[@erockbrox8484]

@@ClydeShaffer I know the guys because I'm also an NES developer. But not officially part of their project.

[@ClydeShaffer]

@@erockbrox8484 ok cool! I was aware of the expansion port hardware but was under the impression it was essentially a simple bridge between a couple pins, to make it act more like a Famicom.
If I wasn't so busy with development on my own 8-bit console hardware I'd be tempted to try developing such a CD attachment myself.

[@erockbrox8484]

@@ClydeShaffer You are correct, all the expansion board does is connect a few pins with a resister. But it allows for extra audio channels.

[@ItsPaybackTime89]

This game is using an advanced mapper to achieve this, so its basically not possible on the standard nes hardware.

[@somethingnerdystudios2147]

Then neither is Castlevania III. Most of what MXM-1 does is similar to what MMC5 did in 1989. It's a memory mapper, not a coprocessor.

[@ItsPaybackTime89]

Didn't say coprocessor, said mapper, not possible without a mapper.

[@somethingnerdystudios2147]

@@ItsPaybackTime89 Yes, but the point is that almost every good NES game outside of Super Mario Bros. and Micro Mages uses a memory mapper. So the statement "basically not possible on the standard NES hardware", if taken at face value and with that understanding, would invalidate 90+% of the classical game library for the NES. Developing a good game on the NES is, with very few exceptions, wrapped up in the choice of memory mapper.

[@ItsPaybackTime89]

@@somethingnerdystudios2147 This game is using an even more advanced mapper than ever used in a nes cartridge, this was said by the devs themselves, it can mimic the mode 7 rotation of the snes, that's definitely out of the realm of a standard nes.

[@somethingnerdystudios2147]

@@ItsPaybackTime89 We *are* the devs. Yes, it is a more advanced memory mapper than ever put in an NES cartridge, but it's still doing fundamentally what previous mappers did. No, it does not do rotations like mode 7 on the SNES. We don't even need memory mapper support for that quasi-3D effect in the hover boots mechanic. That can be done with stock NES hardware and was demonstrated years ago by that Axelay demake demo that's out there. We only use our memory mapper to help with that because it frees up the CPU to do more important things and makes it easier to program, especially when avoiding little graphical glitches at the edges of the screen.
None of this stuff is outside what an NES can really do on its own, which is the whole point of the project. The memory mapper is just helping the NES access more memory and in more convenient ways. The graphics themselves are not being generated by the cartridge.