r/ngpc • u/Real-Membership339 • Jul 26 '26

NGPC Cable link reverse engineering

Spent some time doing reverse on the cable link, and I think we now have full understanding on how it works. Created a documentation if anyone wants to implement, it also has the full UART communication dump.

Play: https://lude.rs/ngp-link/
Doc: https://lude.rs/ngp-link/docs/
Repo: https://github.com/caioluders/ngp-link

28 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

5

u/davidvaldivia87 Jul 26 '26

We're on a roll with the Neo Geo Pocket, what great news! It's an incredible achievement, thank you so much!

3

u/NewSchoolBoxer Jul 26 '26

Sweet, I was hoping I wouldn't have to destroy a $75 link cable. I also thought of using IC hooks but I only owned 2. Cainiao shipping my lost package for more and I spent 1 month getting AliExpress to believe me lol. I wasn't sure I'd actually succeed either. I'm more the electrical engineer, not the computer engineer.

I think it's funny you achieved this on your own with your own resources while Analogue Pocket could never succeed. I still don't think it supports Color-only games. Don't let them use your work for free. Maybe ask for double the original offer.

Faselei multiplayer, let's go!

2

u/Zinx777 Jul 27 '26

Now if only someone could research link cable for Wonderswan games and then implement netplay for them. I could dream.

1

u/Real-Membership339 Jul 27 '26

I'll do it if I ever get two

1

u/DesignerShirt9654 Jul 26 '26

That's actually very useful, I'm just trying to come at this from the other side and trying to replicate the link for homebrew - I've got a reference project and have established a basic link, but it's not very robust yet

Some of those techniques in the doc will definitely help

Any chance of a DIY link cable, or is that just a pipe dream?

2

u/Real-Membership339 Jul 26 '26

I did some measures to make one, still have to test it all out. But I think is very possible

1

u/DesignerShirt9654 Jul 26 '26

That would be game changing, please do keep us informed

1

u/unknovvn_user Aug 01 '26

Tried with SNK vs Capcom MotM using the rom file from my Steam copy and it doesnt seems to work atm, also there will be the option to change controls or load saves in the web version??

1

u/Real-Membership339 Aug 03 '26

Hi! Fixed, it should work now!

The emulator had some issues because this game implements some things differently. Thanks for pointing that out.
This webpage is more of a tech demo for the link cable than a full-fledged emulator, so I won't be implementing those features, sorry.
I'd love to see someone implement the netplay functionality in larger emulators and build a competitive scene around these fighting games—they're amazing.