(nw) (destdrby) Rom Image Corrections/Fixups:

[palazzol]

Various prom image issues were fixed

dmodrbcc:
All 512 byte roms were set to length 256 (incorrect length)
Some upper bits in nibble-wide roms were not set to default zero

destdrby ("new" driver):
Added newly dumped roms from exidy PCB, images now match fixed images from dmodrbcc (expected)
Added new skeleton driver in exidyttl.cpp.
(Redundant with dmodrbcc in chicago.cpp, but it is a different PCB layout and different company)

deathrac:
Images 36 and 35 were corrupt, fixed with correct images from bootleg rhunting
Added note about format of image 36

rhunting:
Images now match death race 100%
Driver now uses deathrac rom images

[stilett0]

Thanks for this, @palazzol ! I was pretty sure "deathrac.zip" was corrupt but I didn't feel like making the judgment call that "Robot Hunting" was going to be 100% identical in order to repair the dump.

Are even the ROM filenames like we would create the same? F205v should still have all his Robot Hunting info online including PCB scans...

I wonder if the person who recreated Death Race in an FPGA could share the VHDL and it be converted to MAME Netlist somehow? Might be easier to just recreate from scratch...

I also didn't know we could use a define like you did ("#define rom_rhunting rom_deathrac") to define a completely identical clone ROM set. Is using a define commonly done? I don't recall seeing anyone do that before (maybe @Tafoid has?).

[cuavas]

dmodrbcc and destdrby should have a parent/clone relationship if they’re the same game. Do they use the same logic, even if the board is laid out differently? They belong in the same source file as each other if they use similar logic.

[stilett0]

@cuavas - In the history books, Demolition Derby (Chicago Coin) and Destruction Derby (Exidy) are listed as clones of each other, with Exidy developing the game first, then licensing it to Chicago Coin and ceasing their own production. Exidy later modified Destruction Derby by both replacing the graphics ROM and adding a new soundboard and improved character animation and published it in a redesigned cabinet as Death Race.
See here for more about the history: http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2012/12/death-race.html

Which says nothing about the actual circuitry. Chicago Coin's schematics are scanned and available but based on a quick check Exidy's are not, though Exidy's semi-sequel Death Race service manual and schematics are scanned and documented. Bitsavers at one point had Destruction Derby schematics in a hard copy allegedly (prior to the birth of bitsavers.org), but he left it unscanned and parted most of that documentation colllection out to other collectors when he left the arcade hobby and moved on to computers. gregf should have the Exidy service manual waiting for scanning, but gregf's manual did not include schematics.
We can refer to this forum post: https://forums.arcade-museum.com/threads/exidys-destruction-derby-schematics.394819/post-3516226
which describes Destruction Derby as "not the same as Chicago Coin's PCB nor is it the same as Exidy's Death Race (although it's pretty close to Death Race)"
So, not the same as Chicago Coin's. I suspect that the logic is basically the same but the layout is different.

Still, the term "licensing" for what was done back then can also be rather imprecise. There's documentation on the flow of games and game ideas between Taito and Bally/Midway, and as the transition between TTL and CPU was happening, games created as TTL by Taito and "licensed" to Bally/Midway were implemented with CPUs, and sometimes even the opposite was seen, games developed with CPU in the US were converted to TTL in Japan. So sometimes "licensing" was effectively the "game idea" and the implementation rather different.

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As for precise release dates, records from anyone but Atari in this era tend to be rather poor, and you have to use a large variety of sources to try to guesstimate at them. (Data: thanks to prior private communication with The Golden Age Arcade Historian blog)

Destruction Derby (Exidy):
Arcade-History.com: 11/1975
Arcade TV Game List (which collected info from Japanese game magazines such as Game Machine): 01/1976
Bronze Age Arcade Games List (the work of Bitsavers, vidpro1, and a few others, sourced from game magazines and periodicals): 1976
Play Meter magazine catalog issue: 09/1975
Earliest flyer appearance in a trade magazine: 01/31/1976
RePlay magazine: 10/17/1975
Appearance at a trade show: 10/17/1975

Demolition Derby (Chicago Coin):
Arcade-History.com: 1977
Arcade TV Game List: 01/1976
The Arcade Flyer Archive: 1976
Bronze Age Arcade Games List: 1977
Play Meter magazine catalog issue: 12/1975
Vending Times magazine: 01/1976
Appearance at a trade show: 10/17/1975

Death Race (Exidy):
Arcade-History.com: 01/1976
Arcade TV Game List: 04/1976
Bronze Age Arcade Games List: 1976
Play Meter magazine: 04/01/1976 (which indicated that it would begin shipping that week)
RePlay magazine: 04/01/1976 (which indicated that it would begin shipping that week)

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It's still early days for TTL drivers and our initial impulse was to organize drivers by publisher at least until things became more than just skeletons. As these drivers mature and netlists are created and perfected, parent/clone relationships will become much more important and apparent. Pong was cloned and altered dozens of times, as was Breakout.