Sinden Light Guns, Dokaben 2

DOKABEN 2

Sometimes, information for new game arises that makes them playable on existing cores. This week we bring Dokaben 2, running on the JTPANG core.

History

There are many mangas about high school baseball in Japan, but one of the most famous is "Dokaben", written by Shinji Mizushima. The visual card game "Dokaben 2" was released by Capcom just five months after the first one in 1989. Players can choose their favourite team from the manga's star high school, Meikun High School, as well as five other rival schools. Both offensive and defensive play proceeds by selecting cards, and if you are the offensive player, you score a hit or a home run if the number on the card you select is higher than the number of your opponent. In the case of defence, it means that you have struck out. The game is also interesting because it uses scenes from the original manga itself, including characters, match venues, pitching and batting scenes, and for those who know the manga, you can feel as if you had been immersed in the story. Each school has a different power value, so which school you choose has some influence on whether you win or lose. There is also a point function, and you may be able to turn a losing game around by adding points to the card's number or using the points when you have a chance.

N.Y.CAPTOR

We revisit the game this week with support for Sinden LightGuns. There is a bit of controversy about the use of these guns on the MiSTer because when you enabled the driver, which you have to do before starting the core, the MiSTer CPU gets rather busy doing a lot of image processing. Allegedly, that can make the MiSTer less responsive to other linux-related tasks. We have not appreciated any issue while playing but, even if it was a problem, once you reset the MiSTer the driver is offloaded. So it won't affect other cores. In order to use the Sinden guns:

• Install the driver, and then enable it before loading a game

• Map the gun trigger to the first buttong of the gamepad through the MiSTer gamepad mapping menu

• Once in the core, go to the OSD and enable Sinden support

• Optionally, you can make the crosshair visible via OSD

Sinden support is only for the MiSTer HDMI output. Allegedly, it should also work with CRT screens if you build a bright white frame around it, maybe with LEDs. But that has not been tested as far as I know.

History

This was one of the earliest cable-connected gun controller games was released by Taito in 1985. The player has a first-person perspective and you shoot various bad guys who run onto the screen trying to shoot you. You have a limited amount of bullets and when you run out you have to re-load and fill your gun before you can commence shooting again. When the BGM changes, it signals that the boss is coming out. There are various items like birds or balloons when shot give you bonus points. Don't shoot Civilian people! Because you will obtain more damage in your meter.

Other Updates

• JTXMEN goes public, the ADPCM chip will be completed as part of the workn on Run'n Gun and other games

• JTTWIN16 goes public too. It is missing one version of MIA, but other MIA versions are playable via JTTMNT

• Better looking crosshair for shooting games

• Restored analog controls on Super HangOn and other games

• JTGAIDEN analog output better centered vertically

• Glitch on left side of screen on WWFSS introduced last Friday fixed

• Glitch on right side of screen on Analogue Pocket introduced last Friday fixed

• PCM volume in Super Contra increased

Now that we have a solid light gun infrastructure in the framework, we want to return to the work on JTS18, which has been held for a few months. Laser Ghost is an early "House of the Dead" kind-of-game from SEGA that would benefit from the light gun support.

Thank you for your support!