> > Which was unfortunately ruined once Smit started fundraising for Shou, and people > > were promised things that were never delivered, but instead mostly only the 'lower > > interest' material ever released. > > I cannot speak for individuals or what was promised by who. Or even what happened > 'back in the day' but Shou hasn't been an active member of the DU for quite a while > now... > > But that statement seems to be over simplified and a complete discounting of what the > Dumping Union is and what we have contributed over the years. > > The DU is an autonomous group of individuals with various talents and sources. A > group of individuals who believe in the preservation of arcade games and history. We > have been one of the single most prolific sources of information and new games and > clones. Sometimes, it's documentation or correct clock measurements for components > but we continue to try and help improve MAME in our own ways. > > It was one of our members that generated a nondestructive way to dump the MC68705 > MCUs that could used by "non dumpers". This enabled a lot of games, some quite rare, > to become fully emulated and get rid of various protection simulations. It's our > members including TeamEurope that has decapped and dumped around 40 8751 MCUs. All in > an effort to better the emulation and allowing owners the ability to repair their > boards. Our members are still working on sourcing different MCUs and trying to get > them dumped. > > Not everyone has the same interests. I wanted to get as many 8751 MCUs dumped as > possible. I even remember back in the day you suggested to me that dumping the MCU > for CAPCOM's 1943 series was a waste of money or at least funds should be spent on > acquiring undumped PCBs because the protection was minimal and was fully understood. > But it was my money and my interest so the MCU was dumped and added to MAME. Fast > forward several years and with Klaus' help we have been successful in removing lots > of incomplete protection simulation in favor of actual emulation. Not to mention that > Klaus has figured out nondestructive ways dump dozens of different carts for several > different consoles. His methods have allowed lots of rare carts to be safely dumped, > preserved and emulated. > > The DU, like devs focus on what interests our individual members. We mostly self fund > what we do. As far as I know the DU hasn't had a public fund drive in a few years. > > The bottom line is there are 100s of rare titles and a few prototypes that have come > from DU members and our sources. And we continue to find, buy or source new items to > include in MAME. > > I'm not suggesting this is a "the good outweighs the bad" situation. I'm sure you can > point out several short cummings in the past, but I certainly don't think the "mostly > only the 'lower interest' material ever released." comment is fair, accurate or > indicative of what the DU has done and continues to do. > > Not looking to start a "fight" as it's just my opinion. > > BrianT
No, I agree the DU has done a lot of good over the years, and I work with quite a few people on it.
I also know it had some issues with people on there being more interested in creating bootleg conversions, and the Shou thing I mentioned.
There was a bunch of carrot dangling, for things that ultimately didn't get released.
That is what talking to some people outside of the DU, whom apparently contributed financially to the project and/or DU typically brings up.
It is also incredibly difficult to give anybody a contact point for the DU these days, which has also made some suspicious when I suggest it as a way of contributing.
The resulting situation has not really been the best, and has tarnished the otherwise good work that often gets done.
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