Release of Dreamcast SDK, technical demo and development document
Contents of the page:
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Release of the technical demo "Teapot" version 2 on Dreamcast for the SET4 development kit
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Release of a new SDK for the SET 2 Dreamcast "Katana SDK version 0.20 Pre.7
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Release of the technical demo "Scud Race" for Dreamcast for the SET2 development kit
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Release of the source code of the Dreamcast development library "Kamui"
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Release of the source code of the Dreamcast development library "Shinobi"
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Release of a "Katana SDK Documentation" archive including documentation and technical demonstrations
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SDK Release "Katana SDK Version 0.40 Release.4" for SET 4 Dreamcast SDK
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Release of the "Katana_1.0B2" SDK for the SET 5 Dreamcast development kit
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Release of the SDK "European Dreamcast SDK release 8" for the SET 5 Dreamcast Dev Kit
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Release of the SDK "Dreamcast SDK Release 9 Europe" for the SET 5 Dreamcast Dev Kit
Tower of Babel Dreamcast Tech Demo version 2 and 3
This is a technical demo made by Yu Suzuki for the event " The Sega New Challenge Conference " (the first time the Dreamcast was presented).
There would exist 3 tech demo versions of Tower of Babel .
You will be able download version 2 (emulator only) and version 3 (can be played on a real Dreamcast ) of this demo as well as read an article on its origin by going to this page:
Teapot Dreamcast Tech Demo version 2 (SET4)
A Tech Demo found in a SAV Dreamcast GD-Rom Checker ( they are available here ). It seems to have been designed for one of the first mounts of the development kit, the SET4 . It is different from the one currently known. Attention, it works only on emulator.
You can download it below, the hack was performed by ShindouGo (thanks to him):
Known version
New version
F40 Dreamcast Tech Demo version 2 (without debug menu)
A Tech Demo found in a SAV Dreamcast GD-Rom Checker ( they are available here ). It is different from the currently known one, it does not have a debug menu. You should be able to open the debug menu by pressing X . Attention, it works only on emulator.
You can download it below, the hack was performed by ShindouGo (thanks to him):
New version
Dreamcast SET5 Development Kit Technical Demos Video
Some video excerpts of technical demos running on a Dreamcast Katana SET5 development kit. There is more.
Flash Edit (Network Tool)
This strangest tool was found in a Dreamcast dev kit ( release here ) that belonged to No Cliché , the one where we discovered the new Agartha prototype .
You can download it below, the GD-I was created by Mettalic
KATANA SDK Version 0.20 Pre.7 (SET2)
This SDK revision is new, one of the oldest known. It contains a lot of technical documents in Japanese, user manuals and much more.
Sifting has created a Kamui Wrapper to run the SET2 SDKs on any PC . It will be possible, for example, to explore the famous technical demo of Scud Race for Dreamcast ( to be found here ).
You will find more information on this SDK and how to use it by going to this page:
Scud Race Dreamcast Tech Demo, SDK version 0.20 Pre. 7 and Kamui Wrapper
Scud Race Dreamcast Tech Demo
We do not understand why Sega did not push the development of its hit Arcade racing game to release it on the Dreamcast . What little we can see of this demo is mouth watering. Players were waiting for it, some had even bought a console in anticipation of its release.
You will find more information on this demo and how to use it by going to this page:
Dreamcast SDK for Sega Library Ver.1.00J "
We love SDKs ! They can make it possible to advance in the understanding of the console. In the samples of the Shinobi file, we find the video of Sonic on Saturn as what it is everywhere. This SDK also contains a lot of documentation in Japanese.
It is proposed by a generous contributor wishing to remain anonymous.
Video of Sonic 3D recently discovered in a dreamcast checker
Translation /katana/doc/back_number/jr*.txt from Japanese to English:
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Another interesting tidbit, is that this seems to contain shinobi lib version 1.08 from 13 oct 1998 (nothing special about that, the shinobi lib version more or less corresponds to the jp SDK version...) and that there are a few "history" leftover files from previous versions: There are references to older devkits (SET5.05) that seem to have been built when Sega was adding sound to their devkits...
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Shinobi Library version 0.50 (4 june 1998) preliminary seems to have had the same functionality as SDK release 4 (for SET4), hence without sound library...
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Shinobi Library version 0.50 JR2/JR3 (1 july 1998) seem to indicate that the SET5.05 devkits had problems like freezing rendering, horizontal stripe noise when transferring data to the SPU, they even prohibited APDCM for PCM streams because of problems.
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Shinobi Library version 0.50 JR4 (15 July 1998) mentions that there's noise on the left of the screen when using antialiasing & that this has been corrected in SET5.2.
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SET5 SDK version 0.50 JR5 (05 Aug 1997) = bootrom 0.71 seems to have added the opening animation & the user interface.
You can download it below
Dreamcast Katana SDK Version 0.40 Pre.2
Before the Dreamcast development kit that we all know, the SET 5 , there was the SET 2 and then the SET 4 . If SET 2 was a prototype graphics card PowerVR2 ARC , the SET 4 approached the traditional Katana dev kit. SET 4 was about 40% of the power of SET 5 .
It does not have controller ports on the front. At the time of its use, Dreamcast controllers did not yet exist. A peripheral made it possible to connect Sega Saturn controllers to this development kit. It is very poorly documented. Its life must be very short. No Cliché (a Sega -affiliated studio), for example, moved from SET 2 to SET 5 directly.
This SDK revision for SET 4 is brand new. It contains technical documents in Japanese, user manuals and much more.
You can download it below
Source code of the Kamui development library
Having owned these source codes for 7 years, I had to share them with everyone and not just my close circle of friends. I am normally reluctant to share this kind of data, I finally take the plunge.
I hope that this will allow you to understand how the console works.
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You can download it below
Source code of the Shinobi development library
Having owned these source codes for 7 years, I had to share them with everyone and not just my close circle of friends. I am normally reluctant to share this kind of data, I finally take the plunge.
I hope that this will allow you to understand how the console works.
You can download it below
Unknown Dreamcast source code (Ninja and other tools?)
Having owned these source codes for 7 years, I had to share them with everyone and not just my close circle of friends. I am normally reluctant to share this kind of data, I finally take the plunge.
I hope that this will allow you to understand how the console works.
You can download it below
Sega Dreamcast Katana SDK Documentation + Tech Demo Archive
This archive contains documentation for SDK Katana Dreamcast ( SET 2/SET 4 ). Folders also contain technical demo builds (for use with Scud Race's Kamui Wrapper ).
You can download it below
Dreamcast Katana SDK Version 0.40 Release.4
This SDK revision for SET 4 is brand new. It contains technical documents in Japanese, user manuals and much more.
There are not many differences compared to "Katana SDK Version 0.40 Pre.2". These are mainly regular changes (bugfixes, new versions etc.).
The "Pre 3" version being buggy, Sega considers it as a missing number.
The dates between the different versions are very close:
Pre2: 1998.5.8
Pre3: 1998.5.22
Pre4: 1998.5.28
GD-Workshop is the tool used to create disk images on the hard disk of the devkit, to simulate the GD-Rom. A GD-ROM contains a part (session) with normal density (type cd-rom), and a part (session) with high density. It's only since this version of the SDK that Workshop forces the high density part and forces people to put programs into it. Prior to this SDK, Workshop only used the normal density part.
You can download it below
Dreamcast Playlog Editor (Tool)
This tool shows you everything that was supposed to be in the Dreamcast flash in the form of game logs. How many hours you've played, how many times you've loaded and saved, how many times you've played online, how long, what game types, what peripherals they support? It seems that even peripherals have to save settings and all that in flash.
The flash application may also be able to test faulty flash sectors. There's also a hexadecimal editor for everything you need to do. It can also fill the flash with test data.
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You can download this tool for the Dreamcast below:
Dreamcast Katana SDK 1.0B2
This version of the SDK for the Dreamcast Katana SET 5 development kit was previously unknown. It dates from October 6, 1998, and predates the oldest known SDK version (SDK 1.00J) for SET 5 (October 20, 1998) by 14 days. This SDK was found in a dev kit generously made available to the community by pix ben.
Interesting little historical differences for SEGA and Dreamcast fanatics:
Le SDK 1.0B2
Dreamcast SDK Version 1.00 β2 1998/10/5
本SDKは、SET5.2x用の暫定パッケージです。制限事項は、SETUPDC.PDFの制限事項§1.5を参照ください。ハード名称を「Dreamcast」と命名いたしましたが、本SDK内では一部ドキュメントに、プロジェクト名称「KATANA」を残したままで、収録内容を説明いたします。
(This SDK is temporary for SET5.2x. (...) We have named the hardware "Dreamcast", but in some of the SDK documents we have left the project name "Katana"....)
Le SDK SDK 1.00J
Dreamcast SDK for SEGA Library Ver.1.00J 1998/10/20: SDKの中に登場する「katana」と言う名称は、Dreamcast の開発コードネームです。
(The term "Katana", which appears in the SDK, is the development name of the Dreamcast)
You can download it below
Dreamcast Controller Software (Mad Catz Global Limited)
Mad Catz is an American company, still active today, that produces accessories such as game controllers, memory cards, connection cables, headphones and other devices for PCs and various video game consoles. Some Dreamcast accessories were created by this company.
Mad Catz Global Limited used a kind of demo from the Dreamcast Katana Dev Kits SDK to calibrate or repair the controllers they manufactured. It was certainly slightly modified for their needs.
This tool, made with Windows CE, was discovered in a Dreamcast Development Kit previously owned by the accessory manufacturer (to download here).
Red discs (GD-Rom in prototype format) featuring this program have also been burned.
You can download it below
European Dreamcast SDK release 8
This version of the SDK for the Dreamcast Katana SET 5 development kit was previously unknown. It may be that the ability to display a GD-ROM image in the DC's audio player is a new feature of SDK8. The photo used as an example in this SDK is the one from the "Tower of Babel" technical demo. This image will be replaced in subsequent SDKs by the one from the "Dream Passport" disc.
Thanks to Naokis Retro Corner for sharing this SDK with us.
You can download it below
Windows CE Toolkit 1.1 for Dreamcast
This is Windows CE 1.1 for Dreamcast. It contains the Windows CE operating system, all DirectX 5.0 components, other operating system extensions, sample applications and documentation (in English and Japanese). This SDK is intended for use with the Dreamcast SET5.24 Development Kit.
Thanks to Naokis Retro Corner for sharing this SDK with us.
You can download it below
Dreamcast SDK Release 9 Europe
This version of the European SDK 9 for the Dreamcast Katana SET 5 development kit is little known, perhaps even forgotten. It's the SDK 9 for the American zone that's widespread. This SDK was supplied on two CD-ROMs. The first CD contains the main programming elements, such as the Shinobi libraries, compilers and sample files. The second CD contains documentation, graphics and sound tools, and a host of other surprises.
Thanks to Robcfg for sharing this SDK with us.
You can download it below