# Vespertino world racing **URL:** \ **Category:** Games!\ **Tags:** game\ **Created:** [September 7, 2026, 11:32am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334 "2026-09-07T11:32:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![simulant](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/simulant/32/466_2.png) [@simulant](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/simulant)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2026, 11:06pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/163 "2026-10-29T23:06:29Z")
My point was more about the game detecting what is available, and then running a version to take advantage of what each CPC model can offer out of the box, or with extra RAM added if you have it. That way you could run from Gotek or standard discs, or even tape and wouldn’t need a cart at all. It’s just nice to have options. But the cart does sound great still, and I’ll certainly order one 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ixien](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/ixien/32/366_2.png) [@ixien](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/ixien)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 7:35am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/164 "2026-10-30T07:35:50Z")
The game requires 512K RAM + ROM support (really different from a floppy disk storage). That’s why it will be published on a cartridge, a cartridge for expansion bus. The Amstrad Plus/GX4000 cartridge port does not offer the same capabilities as the expansion bus. The cartridge port is mainly designed to read bank-switched ROM. It lacks key control signals such as /WR and /IORQ, so it cannot directly support conventional RAM expansions. Rhino wants to provide a standalone cartridge that will permit to play his game on any Amstrad CPC or Plus computer, so the expansion bus is required to integrate extra RAM. This disqualifies only the GX4000, which lacks the expansion bus found on the other models. ---
**Author:** ![Optimus](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/59ef9b/32.png) [@Optimus](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/Optimus)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 12:48pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/165 "2026-11-04T12:48:55Z")
This is amazing, I watched the gameplay preview days ago and it was autodubbed from Spanish. This one I’ll try with autotranslation unless youtube takes time to autodub. I am really curious on the technical details so I am even more hot for this video translation. ---
**Author:** ![Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/Rhino)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2026, 5:34pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/166 "2026-11-04T17:34:43Z")
Thank you very much. We don’t have a date yet, we want to have the game completely finished before launching the Kickstarter campaign to avoid any setbacks. ---
**Author:** ![zzarko](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/z/e9bcb4/32.png) [@zzarko](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/zzarko)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 8:09am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/167 "2026-11-05T08:09:58Z")
I do not know the size of the game, but just wanted to ask would it be possible to run it from RAM/ROM boards that existed in 80’s and 90’s (so, without modern cartridge solutions)? That would certainly prove to people that it can run on hardware from back in the day… If not, maybe some stripped-down (one car, one track) demo version? ---
**Author:** ![kawickboy](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@kawickboy](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/kawickboy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 8:27am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/168 "2026-11-05T08:27:39Z")
We know the cartridge will offer 512 KB of RAM, but how much RAM does the game actually run on, 128 KB or 512 KB? ---
**Author:** ![doragasu](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/doragasu/32/1659_2.png) [@doragasu](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/doragasu)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 9:01am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/169 "2026-11-05T09:01:57Z")
It has been stated that the cart has 512 KiB RAM and 4 MiB ROM and absolutely nothing else. The game has been shown working on WinAPE with nothing more than RAM/ROM expansions. If you don’t want to trust the devs on their word, that’s on you, but having seen previous work from BG, I don’t get why would anyone doubt them. That said, I don’t get why the aversion to hardware expansions that might help the computer with a bit of heavy-lifting. I agree that sticking an SBC that does everything like those Megadrive or NES carts out there, where you can run DOOM on the SBC and the only thing the console does is reading the gamepads does not make much sense. But something like the DMA capabilities on my [ROMBA](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/new-cartridge-design-romba/1122) carts just help a bit with drawing, but everything else runs on the CPC. And for sure it’s something it could have been done at the time. ---
**Author:** ![zzarko](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/z/e9bcb4/32.png) [@zzarko](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/zzarko)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 9:19am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/170 "2026-11-05T09:19:39Z")
Please, do not misunderstood me, I am all for modern cartridge solutions and I have them for many of my retro machines, CPC included. And I understand that game works on real hardware, with ROM and RAM being only expansion. And I can’t wait to try it by myself 🙂 The comment was because I saw several critiques how it could not run on original HW without modern solutions, that is all. ---
**Author:** ![doragasu](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/doragasu/32/1659_2.png) [@doragasu](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/doragasu)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 9:27am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/171 "2026-11-05T09:27:04Z")
Sorry if it meant the reply was directed to you, it wasn’t. It’s in general for all people not believing what the devs have repeatedly stated. ---
**Author:** ![rexbeng](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/rexbeng/32/356_2.png) [@rexbeng](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/rexbeng)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 9:29am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/172 "2026-11-05T09:29:15Z")
When the game was announced, the developers had stated there would actually be two versions of the game. I believe there would be, one ‘full’ version running on cart, and a ‘cut-down’ running on a CPC with disk drive and 128K. It’s been many years though, I might be a bit off. As the game currently stands, I think it is impossible to run it on a CPC even with a memory expansion of 512K. I am assuming it would need too much of a rewriting and redesigning to scale it down. Since Toto is involved in the project, and remembering how Alcon also needs to be on a rom (I believe there hasnt been a version or even a hack to run the game without hardware expansion, has it?), I am guessing it’s the same with Vespertino. I even think Rhino said the game is designed around the expansion in this thread or in an older one? But I am sure @Rhino can clarify. ---
**Author:** ![XeNoMoRPH](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/xenomorph/32/28_2.png) [@XeNoMoRPH](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/XeNoMoRPH)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 10:18am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/173 "2026-11-05T10:18:09Z")
Well, in the case of Alcon 2020, it can work with Ulifac, for example—there’s a version that comes as loose files—and with the M4 it also works using a CPR version available on their website, without needing the original cartridge. In our particular case, we also managed to get it running using a Symbiface III, though of course, you don’t get the 6 audio channels. ---
**Author:** ![rexbeng](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/rexbeng/32/356_2.png) [@rexbeng](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/rexbeng)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 10:26am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/174 "2026-11-05T10:26:59Z")
I think I did say ‘without hardware expansion’. ---
**Author:** ![AndyCadley](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/andycadley/32/177_2.png) [@AndyCadley](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/AndyCadley)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 10:52am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/175 "2026-11-05T10:52:38Z")
I think it probably depends on your idea of what hardware back on the day offered. A ROMboard was going to offer, at most 15 slots and that’s not even nearly enough for 4MB of ROM. So without a special cartridge you’d need something like 16 ROMboxes hung off the back of your CPC (specially adapted to fill different ROM ranges), plus the RAM expansion and maybe something that can swap out the Lower ROM too. It’s _theoretically_ something that could have existed, maybe, but not really something that could have practically speaking. ---
**Author:** ![XeNoMoRPH](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/xenomorph/32/28_2.png) [@XeNoMoRPH](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/XeNoMoRPH)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 10:52am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/176 "2026-11-05T10:52:46Z")
> [@rexbeng](#): > > Creo que sí dije «sin expansión de hardware». Yes, you’re right, I had understood that the game could be run without needing the original cartridge. ---
**Author:** ![doragasu](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/doragasu/32/1659_2.png) [@doragasu](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/doragasu)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 11:09am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/177 "2026-11-05T11:09:40Z")
A game cartridge with the same specs could have been made in late eighties or early nineties, no problem. Game consoles like the Megadrive, manufactured in 1988, had that and even bigger games. It sure would have been very expensive, but not alien tech, those memory amounts were something people already had at home. And even more, if you were rich, you could even have at home a Neo Geo AES with an order of magnitude more ROM in games. ---
**Author:** ![Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/Rhino)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 2:03pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/178 "2026-11-05T14:03:12Z")
A significantly scaled-down version in 3.5" disk and 128 KB of RAM, or possibly a 256 KB RAM expansion depending on how much you want to scale down the game, could be possible and was considered at the beginning of the project. Today, after the game is released, anyone will be able to experiment by creating their own scaled-down version based on the original with AI so we’ve lost interest on it. ---
**Author:** ![AndyCadley](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/andycadley/32/177_2.png) [@AndyCadley](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/AndyCadley)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 2:05pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/179 "2026-11-05T14:05:57Z")
4MB is _big_ for a Genesis game, it’s pretty much the maximum size possible (there are a handful like Street Fighter 2 that have special banking logic to fit more) - it certainly wasn’t “normal”. Even on the PC, 4MB would’ve been a lot of RAM until around 1993ish. ---
**Author:** ![Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/Rhino)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 2:38pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/180 "2026-11-05T14:38:02Z")
It’s true that 4 MB of ROM is on the high end for 16-bit console cartridges of Mega Drive and SNES, and I don’t think there are more than 100 games in their catalogs with that much ROM. It’s also true that no racing game on the Mega Drive or SNES offers as many animation frames as Vespertino. To find something similar on 16-bit consoles, we have to look to the NEO GEO and games like Over Top, which has over 26 MB of ROM but still doesn’t match the fluidity and size of Vespertino’s animations, as seen, for example, on the car selection screen: [![](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/uploads/default/original/2X/7/7986f532642dc2c508c02edc1f73fdd466722db8.jpeg "Over Top Longplay (Neo Geo) [QHD]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBwKndOD_1g&t=82) ---
**Author:** ![doragasu](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/doragasu/32/1659_2.png) [@doragasu](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/doragasu)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 3:20pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/181 "2026-11-05T15:20:25Z")
4 MB is big for the early life of the console. But at the mid nineties there were loads of Megadrive games with that ROM size. On the big size for the console, but something completely normal that, as I wrote, people had at home. Also the CPC supports 8 bits for the 16 KiB ROM slots, so clearly the design was thought to support this ROM size even if nobody did manufacture something this big while the computer was commercially alive. Also a bit offtopic, but you can have up to 8 MiB on the Megadrive without mapper. 4 MiB is the theoretical limit because above that you collide with the memory map reserved for the MegaCD. But [I designed a cart that is being used by games like ColocoDX](https://gitlab.com/doragasu/flatmap64) and by [MD Engine](https://mdengine.dev/hardware/) using a hack that connects m68k line `A22` with the cartridge `#CART` signal. This signal on standard carts is tied to GND and the console uses it to detect there’s a cart plugged in and switch the MegaCD mapping from the lower 4 MiB to the higher 4 MiB (so if no cart is plugged, the MegaCD bios is run). Connecting it to `A22` causes the MegaCD to be mapped on the higher 4 MiB when the CPU is addressing the lower 4 MiB, and to map the MegaCD on the lower 4 MiB when the CPU is addressing the higher 4 MiB. So basically you are moving MegaCD out of the way and getting 8 MiB of linear addressing without extra hardware! The SNES also allowed 8 MiB (or more exactly 63.5 Megabits) without extra hardware on the cart (what they call `ExHiROM` mode). [I have also a cart design supporting it](https://gitlab.com/doragasu/xirom-cart) 😄. ---
**Author:** ![AndyCadley](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/andycadley/32/177_2.png) [@AndyCadley](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/AndyCadley)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2026, 3:45pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/182 "2026-11-05T15:45:48Z")
> [@Rhino](#): > > It’s also true that no racing game on the Mega Drive or SNES offers as many animation frames as Vespertino. To be clear, not meant as a criticism of Vespertino or to suggest it’s usage is wasteful, just context around what was reasonable for the late 80s. [Previous page](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334.md?page=8) [Next page](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334.md?page=10)