Very sad to hear of Doug's passing indeed!
Thought I'd drop in and give a quick update as I've only recently returned to Neo Geo related activities! I've been busy with work, personal and family commitments over the last several months and haven't had the time (or energy) to work on any other projects. However I've resolved to pick up a few of my old projects and resume work on them before my 2nd child arrives late January!
Neo Kong is still 50% done but I have every intention of returning to it at some point. I've put a lot of work into it and very much want to see it complete.
Lode Runner is still 80% complete (no sound) and again, will definitely pick that up again.
But for now, I've resumed work on the flash cartridge after a major rethink of the design. I've reduced three (3) PCB's down to a single board, without losing any planned functionality. The adapter boards have been complete, manufactured, assembled and tested for some time now. The so-called analyzer PCB has been designed and was actually ready for manufacture, but has now been obsoleted in light of the new design. Right now the architecture is all-but-complete, and I'm working on the FPGA design. My colleague should shortly start on schematic capture and layout. It's not an overly complicated board in the end, so I'm hoping there'll be a design I can send out to manufacture this calendar year!
In thinking ahead, I'm considering designing two (2) products; a so-called 'homebrew' version and a 'pro' version. The homebrew version is aimed at the homebrew developer, and will not support more than the standard bank-switching etc. It will be as low cost as possible, with perhaps the option for homebrew authors to purchase batches for subsequent programming and sale themselves. The pro version is aimed at the gamer and will be capable of ultimately supporting each and every cartridge bank switching and protection mechanism out there. I'm sure you can all read between the lines!
Anyway, as I mentioned, a few months at least before I have any real news, so consider it 'vapourware' for now!
