Processor: Intel 8048

RAM: 256 Bytes + 64 Bytes in processor

ROM: BIOS: 1K (Internal to processor)
            Cartridges: 2K address space, 2 bank select inputs for up to 8K bankswitched carts

Sound: Intel 8244 custom Audio/Video IC
             24-bit shift register, clockable at 2 frequencies; noice generator

Graphics: Intel 8244 custom Audio/Video IC

Graphics RAM: 256 bytes of video control reigsters
Colors: 16
Sprites: 4, 8x8 pixel, 1 color
Background Graphics: 9x8 grid of lines or blocks. Each segment individually controllable
          28 Character objects from predefined internal character set which cannot overlap each other.

I/O: Joystick and keyboard are read through the 8048 I/O pins.

Ports: Cartridge connector that also serves as an expansion bus, power in, RF output, and on some systems ports for removable joysticks.

This site contains a wealth of information on the Odyssey 2.

Sören has done some great stuff with the O2. On his page you will find programming information, sample source code and a pretty clever RAM cart for the O2/G7000. The original site no longer works, but you can still access it through The Wayback Machine.

This is a site about the Odyssey voice module and features information about a unique O2 voice development system that was recently discoverd. I wrote a blog post about my efforts to repair this system.

This is a very comprehensive document written by one of the original Videopac game developers. Not only does it contain detailed information on programming the Videopac/O2 hardware but it also contains a lot of best practice information for writing games and full documentation of all the BIOS routines. This is a must read for anyone who wants to develop O2 games.

This lists the all the 8048 instructions.

This a commented disassembly of the O2's BIOS ROM put together by Paul Robsen. Paul did a great job with this!

This document contains the technical information that I worked out while developing O2EM. I have tried my best to make the information in this document as complete and accurate as possible, but there are bound to be error in it. Use this information at your own risk. This new version contains numerous corrections as well as new info on the sound hardware and voice hardware.

O2EM V1.01 an Odyssey 2 emulator

O2EM is a freeware open source multi-platform Odyssey², Videopac and Videopac+ emulator.. O2EM was created by myself in 1996. The newer versions were developed by André de la Rocha. O2EM features include accurate emulation of the Odyssey², Videopac and Videopac+ hardware, sound with white noise emulation and low-pass filter, voice module emulation, fullscreen and scalable windowed modes, scanlines and screenshot support, customizable keys, support for pal and ntsc games, built-in debugger, and more.

I began development of this emulator in the Fall of '96 and quickly found out that there was almost no technical information available on this machine. I started out with the Intel 8048 data book (the processor the O2 uses) and started to work out all the technical information on my own. I traced out the circuit, developed a cart reader and a development system, and slowly figured out how the system works.

To use the emulator you will need a copy of the O2's 1K BIOS ROM (which is in the 8048) and O2ROM cart images. Due to copyright reasons, I cannot provide these. PLEASE DO NOT E-mail me looking for ROM images. All message looking for ROM images will be promptly deleted. I will do my best to answer all other e-mails. The Bios ROM can be found at Archive.org along with the cartridge ROM images.

I hadn't done a release of O2EM in a while, mainly since I lost the source code for version .70, and I didn't feel up to re-creating everything I had done. Fortunetly a kind soul, Andre de la Rocha, came along and brought the source back up to date and added some of his own changes. Since then he has continued to update the emulator. Many thanks to him!

Downloads:

You can download the executables for Windows, Linux, and DOS as well as the source code at:

https://o2em.sourceforge.net/

Voice Samples

If you want to use the Voice emulation you must download the voice sound samples. These files should be unzipped into a directory called 'voice' in your O2EM directory. So if O2EM is in a directory called c:/o2em/ the voice samples would go in c:/02em/voice/.

The first set of samples is needed for ALL voice games: Main Sample Set

The second set of samples is only needed for the game Sid the Spellbinder: SID Sample Set

I want to thank everyone who has responded so positively to this emulator. It's nice to see that people still appreciate these classic machines.