Dreamcast Guides : GD Workshop & GD Mastering

GD-Workshop and
GD-Mastering

Dylan Bromley
Sega of America
(Retyped into one big document by ProtoCat)



Using GD-Workshop: A Walkthrough

Emulation Drive:

4 gig SCSI Hard Drive
1 possible 2: 2 gig FAT16 partitions
Can be reformatted to one 4 gig FAT32 or NTFS drive
Physical GD-ROM:

120 Minutes
1 Gig of data
Definition of Data Areas:

Low Density Area: 4 minutes long and holds ~35MB of data
High Density Area: 112 minutes long and holds ~1GB of data


Track Types:

CDDA: Contains raw audio files.Each audio file must be on its own track
Mode1: These tracks contain game data information and the game executable
Definition of Sessions:

Session 1: Low Density Area of GD
Both tracks must contain 4 sec of data:
Track 1 - Mode1: GD buffer
Track 2- CDDA: Stores audio file to be played when inserted into a CD player
Session 2: High Density Area of GD
Need for two Mode1 tracks:
Track 3: Mode1 buffer area
Needs 4 secs of data
Track Tab: Pad Track Check Box
Track 4: Mode1 Game Data
Outer most track on physical GD
Contains 1ST_READ.BIN File
Files can be reordered for file read speed optimizations via the listview option
Adding of Digital Audio Tracks:

Insertion of CDDA tracks
Reorder of last Mode1 track


GD-Mastering

Compilation of a Bootable File:

All example files contain a BIN option
In the EXE directory the BIN file is created
BIN file must be placed on the last Mode1 track
IP.BIN: The First File Loaded:

IP.BIN and IP0000.BIN are required to be present in the project
IP0000.BIN = IP.BIN x8
Creation of IP.BIN and IP0000.BIN is included in the release in the Shinobi samples directory
This file contains several different fields which need to be customized for each title:
Hardware ID
Maker ID
Device Information
Area Symbols
Peripherals
Product Number
Version
Release Date
1st Read File Name
Software Maker Info
90 - d0: Title String info
Game Title
Placement of IP.BIN files within the project:

Disc tab within GD-Workshop
System Area File (single): IP0000.BIN
System Area File (high): IP.BIN
Testing Your Bootable Project:

Close the drawer
Reset the Dev Station
Burning the Image:

Add the GD-Writer
Configuration\SCSI Bus
Select the GD-Writer and Add as GD-Writer
Testing Burning
Emulator\Test Write
Goes through the process of burning without turning on the laser
Final Burning
Emulator\Write
~1 hour to burn
Testing the Burn
Switch GD Emulator to GD-ROM mode
This mode allows booting from the GD drive
Insert GD and reset Dev Station