Elliogle: Created page with " == Disc Archaeology == ''Findings from a byte-level analysis of the US retail disc image (570,736,640 bytes / 278,528 blocks). Developed by Silicon Dreams; one of the last North American 3DO releases.'' === A Play..."

2026-08-14T05:02:28Z

Created page with "    == Disc Archaeology == ''Findings from a byte-level analysis of the US retail disc image (570,736,640 bytes / 278,528 blocks). Developed by Silicon Dreams; one of the last North American 3DO releases.'' === A Play..."

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== Disc Archaeology ==
''Findings from a byte-level analysis of the US retail disc image (570,736,640 bytes / 278,528 blocks). Developed by Silicon Dreams; one of the last North American 3DO releases.''
=== A PlayStation file shipped on the disc ===
The team-kit color data file exists '''twice''' in <code>/Football/Data/</code>:
{| class="wikitable"
! File !! Size !! Location !! Format
|-
| <code>NEWSTRIP</code> || 4,356 bytes || block 4763 || big-endian (3DO)
|-
| <code>NEWSTRIP.PSX</code> || 4,356 bytes || block 266563, FS type <code>PSX </code> || little-endian (PlayStation)
|}
The two files contain identical data with every 32-bit word byte-swapped (2,088 of 4,356 bytes differ; e.g. the word <code>0050B8E8</code> in the 3DO file appears as <code>E8B85000</code> in the PSX file). <code>NEWSTRIP.PSX</code> is the little-endian PlayStation original; <code>NEWSTRIP</code> is its big-endian conversion for the 3DO's ARM CPU — and both were copied into the disc layout. It is direct physical evidence that the 3DO version was built from the PlayStation asset pipeline.
=== Engine and data notes ===
* The <code>/Football</code> data tree includes formation files named after their formations: <code>F334.REV</code>, <code>F343.REV</code>, <code>F352.REV</code>, <code>F424.REV</code>, <code>F433.REV</code>, <code>F442.REV</code>, <code>F532.REV</code> (3-3-4 through 5-3-2).
* Full staff credits are embedded in the executable (Silicon Dreams under general manager Gavin Cheshire; programming by Giles Park, Andrew Hersee and Rod Mack).
* Player rosters are fictionalized near-misses of real 1996 squads (Argentina fields a "D Ortega").
* The disc carries a <code>/Catapult</code> seek-optimization file (6,981,632 bytes) — the mark of a carefully optimized late-era mastering.
=== Unallocated space ===
Only 8,047 blocks (~16 MB) across 17 small gaps, all verified as standard <code>iamaduck</code> filler — a cleanly mastered disc with nothing hidden in its padding.

Olympic Soccer - Revision history

Elliogle: Created page with " == Disc Archaeology == ''Findings from a byte-level analysis of the US retail disc image (570,736,640 bytes / 278,528 blocks). Developed by Silicon Dreams; one of the last North American 3DO releases.'' === A Play..."