N64 ROM Sizes!!!

Metalmurphy · March 27th, 2002

Well... I was organizing my ROMs about 5 minutes ago when I found out this interesting thing... The N64 ROMs look like they have size limits... I don't Know wow to explain this... They look like they have size marks... Something like... The ROMs can only be This BIG, This BIG, This BIG, or This BIG... For example... A ROM can have 33,554,432 bytes... but it cannot be 34MB... well... since i'm sure you didn't understand here's a PIC to clear things out

What I wanna know is why is it like this? Any one know?

Metalmurphy · March 27th, 2002

And another thing... the zipped size is diferent... it doesn't have "size marks" any more.... so i suspect that "blank data" is added to the ROMS just for them to be "that" size. Thats why the zipped size is difenrent. The "blank data" is better compressed

I think... I'm probably wrong

March 27th, 2002

Actually all console and computer systems with roms have that. I dont know much about the technical details but I'm sure someone can explain.

In any case this was one of the reasons why the PSX got all the developers

**Kane** · March 27th, 2002

I reckon you could be right.
It's to do with the address register working in a set number of bits. An 8 meg ROM may actualy only have 3 megs of data

mojophone · March 28th, 2002

they can only be 1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128 (etc) MB. That's why the playstation discs can vary as PC CD-roms do. The same characteristic applies to SNES, Sega Geneses, SMS, NES, Atari systems. So instead of designing a game and have the data take up whatever amount of space it happens to, the cartridge games are made to fill pre-designated ROM sizes.

**Kane** · March 28th, 2002

Yeah, that's right.

mojophone · March 28th, 2002

that Nintendo can cram a game into 24MB that takes up hundreds of MBs with PSX and PC versions. No wonder they opted for a mini-disc for the Gamecube. Actually 96MB is about the limit for N64 cartridges, how do they do it?

http://www.howstuffworks.com/n64.htm

Not a rom linK! Don't ban me, I'm not spamming! Whew...

**Demigod** · March 28th, 2002

Most of the data on a PSX CD is for movies, music and other multi-media. If you strip all that out you actually end up with a very small game. A game like Megaman X4 is roughly 400 MB but if you strip out the MDECs and XA the actual game comes down to about 40 MB. The FF games tend to be rather big (200+ MB) but they use pre-rendered backgrounds which take up huge amounts of space. The N64 games are 3D (with some 2D backdrops and scattered sprites) so they can make the most efficient use of the space available.

jeff_dogg1 · March 31st, 2002

with all my gameboy advance roms the sizes are either 1mb, 2mb,4mb or 8mb, this is the same as with the n64 rom sizes except the n64 roms sizes are bigger, has this got to do with the cartridges being a certain size?

mojophone · April 7th, 2002

and more graphics intense.

Lizking · April 13th, 2002

i think the reason that the rom sizes are like that (like steps on a stair case, no middle ground between sizes) is the bytes->conversion.
arent N64 games measured in bytes ( byte=8 bits or something)

never mind, just forgot i swung in here

Cal,Emuman · May 15th, 2004

8,192 KB Means 8MB or 64Mbit
12,288KB Means 12MB or 96Mbit
16,384KB Means 16MB or 128Mbit
32,768KB Means 32MB or 256Mbit
65,536KB Means 64MB or 512Mbit
Thats all I know.

March 27th, 2002	#1 (permalink)
Metalmurphy Ataru Moroboshi Fan =) Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Portugal, Oporto Posts: 5,754	N64 ROM Sizes!!! Well... I was organizing my ROMs about 5 minutes ago when I found out this interesting thing... The N64 ROMs look like they have size limits... I don't Know wow to explain this... They look like they have size marks... Something like... The ROMs can only be This BIG, This BIG, This BIG, or This BIG... For example... A ROM can have 33,554,432 bytes... but it cannot be 34MB... well... since i'm sure you didn't understand here's a PIC to clear things out What I wanna know is why is it like this? Any one know? __________________ -------------------------------- Computer Specs ---------------------------------- Intel Pentium IV Prescott 3.0 HT → 4x 512MB DDR-DIMM → ASUS GF 6800 GT Sound Blaster X-Fi → 2x Maxtor 80 GB (RAID 0) Hitachi 19'' Monitor → Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Theater --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

March 27th, 2002	#2 (permalink)
Metalmurphy Ataru Moroboshi Fan =) Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Portugal, Oporto Posts: 5,754	And another thing... the zipped size is diferent... it doesn't have "size marks" any more.... so i suspect that "blank data" is added to the ROMS just for them to be "that" size. Thats why the zipped size is difenrent. The "blank data" is better compressed I think... I'm probably wrong __________________ -------------------------------- Computer Specs ---------------------------------- Intel Pentium IV Prescott 3.0 HT → 4x 512MB DDR-DIMM → ASUS GF 6800 GT Sound Blaster X-Fi → 2x Maxtor 80 GB (RAID 0) Hitachi 19'' Monitor → Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Theater --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

March 27th, 2002	#4 (permalink)
Kane 邪魔ゎ指せない Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Gosport, England Posts: 26,255	I reckon you could be right. It's to do with the address register working in a set number of bits. An 8 meg ROM may actualy only have 3 megs of data __________________ >Site Live< Pop over to my site for help with setting up PSX emulators. Help for the Final Fantasies and other RPGs avalaible Celes: (Desktop) Athlon 64 X2 4200+, 2Gb 400MHz DDR Ram, MSI K8N Platinum, GeForce 8800 GTS 320Mb, 500Gb RAID HDD, Vista Business Erika: (MCPC) Athlon XP 2400+, 1Gb 400MHz DDR Ram, geForce 6800 256Mb, 80Gb Hdd, XP 2005 MCE Kimiko: (Desktop 2) Athlon 64 3000+, 512Mb 400MHz DDR Ram, Asus K8V, geForce 6800 128Mb

March 28th, 2002	#5 (permalink)
mojophone Registered User Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 24	It's a quality of the cartridge systems... they can only be 1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128 (etc) MB. That's why the playstation discs can vary as PC CD-roms do. The same characteristic applies to SNES, Sega Geneses, SMS, NES, Atari systems. So instead of designing a game and have the data take up whatever amount of space it happens to, the cartridge games are made to fill pre-designated ROM sizes. Last edited by mojophone; March 28th, 2002 at 05:00.

March 28th, 2002	#6 (permalink)
Kane 邪魔ゎ指せない Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Gosport, England Posts: 26,255	Yeah, that's right. __________________ >Site Live< Pop over to my site for help with setting up PSX emulators. Help for the Final Fantasies and other RPGs avalaible Celes: (Desktop) Athlon 64 X2 4200+, 2Gb 400MHz DDR Ram, MSI K8N Platinum, GeForce 8800 GTS 320Mb, 500Gb RAID HDD, Vista Business Erika: (MCPC) Athlon XP 2400+, 1Gb 400MHz DDR Ram, geForce 6800 256Mb, 80Gb Hdd, XP 2005 MCE Kimiko: (Desktop 2) Athlon 64 3000+, 512Mb 400MHz DDR Ram, Asus K8V, geForce 6800 128Mb

March 27th, 2002	#3 (permalink)
Samor Guest Posts: n/a	Actually all console and computer systems with roms have that. I dont know much about the technical details but I'm sure someone can explain. In any case this was one of the reasons why the PSX got all the developers

March 28th, 2002	#7 (permalink)
mojophone Registered User Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 24	Still it's amazing... that Nintendo can cram a game into 24MB that takes up hundreds of MBs with PSX and PC versions. No wonder they opted for a mini-disc for the Gamecube. Actually 96MB is about the limit for N64 cartridges, how do they do it? http://www.howstuffworks.com/n64.htm Not a rom linK! Don't ban me, I'm not spamming! Whew... Last edited by mojophone; March 28th, 2002 at 05:26.

March 28th, 2002	#8 (permalink)
Demigod これはバタスです Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Posts: 5,810	Most of the data on a PSX CD is for movies, music and other multi-media. If you strip all that out you actually end up with a very small game. A game like Megaman X4 is roughly 400 MB but if you strip out the MDECs and XA the actual game comes down to about 40 MB. The FF games tend to be rather big (200+ MB) but they use pre-rendered backgrounds which take up huge amounts of space. The N64 games are 3D (with some 2D backdrops and scattered sprites) so they can make the most efficient use of the space available. __________________ CPU: AMD Athlon64 3000+ (Venice) @ 3800+ (2.4 Ghz) Mobo: Asus A8V Deluxe Memory: 1024 MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM @ 217 Mhz Videocard: eVGA GeForce 6800 GS w/ 256 MB Soundcard: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy Hard drive: 120 GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 & 2 x 300 (600) GB RAID 0 Maxtor Optical drive: LG GSA-4163B 16x DVD Writer OS: Microsoft Windows Vista (32-bit)

March 31st, 2002	#9 (permalink)
jeff_dogg1 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 6	same with gba roms with all my gameboy advance roms the sizes are either 1mb, 2mb,4mb or 8mb, this is the same as with the n64 rom sizes except the n64 roms sizes are bigger, has this got to do with the cartridges being a certain size?

April 7th, 2002	#10 (permalink)
mojophone Registered User Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 24	the games are bigger, and more graphics intense.

April 13th, 2002	#11 (permalink)
Lizking AAAAAAaaaahhhh....BOOM Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Carbonmonoxidia, The capital of Silicon Valley Posts: 635	i think the reason that the rom sizes are like that (like steps on a stair case, no middle ground between sizes) is the bytes->conversion. arent N64 games measured in bytes ( byte=8 bits or something) never mind, just forgot i swung in here __________________

May 15th, 2004	#12 (permalink)
Cal,Emuman Kia Ora! Join Date: May 2004 Location: Wellington, New Zealand Posts: 145	8,192 KB Means 8MB or 64Mbit 12,288KB Means 12MB or 96Mbit 16,384KB Means 16MB or 128Mbit 32,768KB Means 32MB or 256Mbit 65,536KB Means 64MB or 512Mbit Thats all I know.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode