The DCHelp Team has compiled a list of helpful applications that can help you put together various elements to be used with your Dreamcast applications, and much more.

Video Applications

• CamStudio – an application that will capture anything from your desktop, and save it as an AVI file.
• VirtualDub – an application that will allow you to convert basically any video file into DivX format. This application is referenced in ZacMC’s “DCDivX 4 Dummies” tutorial.
• TMPGEnc – an application that converts virtually any video file to VCD or SVCD format.
• SlideShowMovieMaker – an application that helps you create a video slide show out of jpeg images. You can add wav files to the background, you can add captions to each picture, and you can add special transitions between each photograph.
• DivX – this site offers old versions of the DivX package. DCDivX will not work well with any versions newer than 5.0.2, so we suggest getting your DivX codec from this site.
• VCDEasy – this is a front-end GUI for cdrdao, but it is much more. VCDEasy will create a VCD or SVCD for you. It will help you create menus, set chapters, generate XML files, etc. It will also burn the VCD for you. We recommend searching for v1.1.5.2, which is the last freeware version of VCDEasy.

Burning Utilities

• DiscJuggler – this is one of the applications you might need in order to burn Dreamcast-related items. DiscJuggler will burn CDI disc images. Padus offers a time-unlimited trial of DiscJuggler. It is the full-featured version, but the only catch is that the program will force the slowest possible burn speed.
• Nero Burning Rom – this is another burning utility you might need. Any versions of Nero from 6.0 and newer will not burn Dreamcast-related items properly. That is why we suggest you get Nero from this site.
• Alcohol 120% – this is another burning utility that you might want to use. Alcohol 120% will burn CDI or NRG images, along with a few other disc image formats.
• CDRecord – this is a freeware burning utility that works beautifully for burning Dreamcast-related items.
• BurnAtOnce – a very nice freeware burning utility. This program cannot be used to burn selfbooting Dreamcast-related items, but it can be used for just about everything else.

Miscellaneous Utilities

• BCX – this is the programming utility that the DCHelp team uses. BCX uses a programming language similar to BASIC, and translates it to C before compiling.
• YaBB – if you are looking for a nice, free message forum for your web site, YaBB is the way to go.
• BoardMod – BoardMod is a nice little utility designed to help you install modifications on your YaBB message forum.
• ForceASPI – you may need this little utility in order to get CDRecord to work properly.
• 1-4a Rename – This is one of the most helpful utilities I have ever come across in my life. This freeware proggie will go through an entire directory and find a specific search string in filenames, and replace it with anything you want (or append or remove anything you want). If you have mp3 files that all have an artist’s name at the beginning of them, and you want to remove the artist’s name, you can fix that in one or two clicks. If you have an entire directory full of files, and you want to change their extensions, this proggie will do it in a matter of seconds. This is a recommended download for anyone that has ever considered batch renaming files.

Links to helpful sites

• DCEmu UK – a site that is quickly becoming a haven for everything Dreamcast.
• DCEmulation – the home of all things DCEmulation related
• Boob! – a great site for emulation tools, themes, etc.
• Boob!Covers Central – This site strives to be the most comprehensive collection of themes, covers, and artwork for the DC, and other consoles. If you need a theme for any of your emus, or you want a cover for any of your discs, you should definitely check out B!CC.
• DreamSNES – the web site for the creators of DreamSNES. Contains some nice tools for emulation
• OneThirtyEight – Another web site with some nice DCEmulation tools.
• Fackue’s Website – This site includes some great tools, and some very nice tutorials. It is definitely worth a look.
• DCEvolution – another great site dedicated to the Dreamcast, and all of the wonderful applications and utilities that can be used on the DC.
• Dreamcast @ MacEmu – This is the definitive Dreamcast site to visit if you are a Mac user. There are some helpful applications available there, and some fantastic tutorials.
• DCPawnShop – A great place to buy, sell and trade all things DC related.
• MAGFest – A fantastic Music and Gaming Festival in the Mid-Atlantic region. It is basically a 4-day orgy of music and video games, 24-hours a day. It is a great time for anyone that attends.

A Comprehensive List of Independent Software for the DC

• Applications
• Demonstrations and Examples
• Original Independent Games
• Ported Games
• Moddable Games and Mods
• Multiple Game Emulators
• Single Game Emulators

• MacDreamTool 4 – Changelog since v3:
  • The ‘Selfboot’ Tab has been removed. A new Menu ‘Selfboot” has been added. It has replaced the console menu. Selfbooting ‘Plain files’ can now only be done from that Menu.
  • Adding an MR image to a Plain Files folder is now done via the menu
  • Slimmed Code
  • Removed mkisofs & isofix free usage from console menu (sorry)
  • Size/Theme/MR info collected on boot will not get wrongly changed by the next button click
  • Removed unneeded path defining (caused slow-down)
  • Changed binary handling in Inducer
  • Adding a .sbi File can now be done via the File Menu, or by the shortcut Apple-F
  • Inducer Folders size gets read on booting
  • Theme addition checks in case Inducer was made into sbi2sb – to prevent errors
  • Boot read now checks if last MDT session was made into a selfbooting sbi
  • Boot read sets up comment list, to prevent miss-numbering
  • on clicked “Make iso’s” Removed check for added files, files added in last usage wouldnt count, and be unable to burn
  • drag& drop now accepts folders
  • on click file&folder,addDrop() – smart error knows when files are trying to overwrite folders or vice versa
  • Reads MM.dxl when launching
  • Removed sbi2SB Tab, Script. Built sbi-2-sb into Mac Inducer, will now selfboot automatically if one sbi added.
• MacDreamTool 2.1.3 – This version removed the dummy file creation, due to some bugs that IM has yet to fix.
• MacDreamTool 2.1 – This is another new update of IM Weasel’s fantastic MacDreamTool. This version includes two bug-fixes from the previous version, and allows optional dummy file creation.
• MacDreamTool 1.2 – This is version 1.2 of I.M. Weasel’s “Mac Dream Tool”. Mac Dream Tool is a port of burnerO’s Selfboot Inducer. This version of Mac Dream Tool is based loosely off of Selfboot Inducer v3, but I.M. Weasel is currently working on a port of SBInducer v4.
• DummyCreator 2 – This proggie will create a dummy file for you. This proggie, along with all of I.M. Weasel’s apps, is for use on the Macintosh (all of them also seem to be created for OS X).
• MKISOFS (PreC) – This is a build of Mkisofs for use on the Mac OS X.

• sbiext – This is a nice little command-line tool for Windows. It uses some of burnerO’s SBInducer tools to extract SBI’s from the command line and build a DreamInducer menu.

More information on |darc| and his applications can be found in the DCEmulation forums.

• SBI Builder 3.1 – This application was put together by SiZiOUS, a prominent member of the French Dreamcast community. SBI Builder is everything anyone needs to make their own SBI’s. It will check your bin file to find out whether or not it is scrambled. It will unscramble your bin file if necessary. It will resize your screenshot if you want it to. It will automatically rename your readme file so that it matches the name of your bin file. It will automatically generate the dxl file for your SBI, so all you have to do is type in the name of the project, choose Game, Demo, App, or Emu from the menu, and write a short description (version number, author, etc.). It will also automatically generate a comment file that will be included with your SBI, so that you can add specific info on how to use the SBI, and that info will be viewable in the SBInducer GUI.
  This newest version also added ELF support, in addition to creating a separate txt file based on the contents of the comment file you generate. That separate txt file will be included in the SBI if you choose to do so, so that MacDreamTool users can find that information as well.
• IP.bin Creator – This application will create a custom IP.bin file for your Dreamcast software. You can include a custom boot logo, set various options to be specified in your IP.bin, and choose the name of your boot file (generally called 1st_Read.bin).
• Elf2Bin Console App – This application was released by SiZiOUS. It will convert ELF files to BIN format for use on the DC. This app is included as part of his SBI Builder 3.1.

More information can be found at SiZiOUS’ web site.

• BootDreams 0.6.1 – This proggie assists you in creating your own selfbooting discs or disc images from plain files. This program is also capable of burning CDI images.
• BootDreams 0.5.2 – This proggie assists you in creating your own selfbooting discs or disc images from plain files. This program is also capable of burning CDI images.
• BDS Manager 0.2.2 – This program helps you create BDS images for use with BootDreams. When you create a BDS image, it will catalog the location of all the necessary files. You can then release the BDS image, and BootDreams will automatically check users’ computers to make sure they have all of the appropriate files in the right places.
• VMI File Writer 0.3 – With this proggie, you can read all the information contained within a VMI file, along with writing VMI files.
• NeoGeo CD Selfbooter 0.2 – This proggie will help you set up a selfbooting disc from the plain files of the NeoGeoCD emulator. This prog checks to make sure you have the correct bios, and all the necessary files, then helps you selfboot it.
• File Checker v1.3 – This proggie checks bin files to find out whether they are scrambled or unscrambled. You can then use this app to scramble/unscramble the bin file.

More information on these applications can be found on fackue’s Web Site

• DivX 4 SBI v4.1 – an application designed to help you create a nice DreamInducer menu for all of your DivX files, so that you can view them directly in DreamInducer. This is an SBI, so you will need to place it in your SBI directory, extract your SBI’s, and then follow the directions.
• SBI-Wizzard – an application designed to help you create your own SBI files.
• Readme Assimilator – an application designed to combine all of the plain text readme files found in the “Readme” directory of your Selfboot Inducer project, so that you can easily view them all together.

More information on these applications can be found on OneThirty8’s Web Site

• SBILinux – This is a Linux port of SBInducer. This is a command-line tool, intended to run under WinE.
• Selfboot Inducer v4 – this is version 4 of burnerO’s incredible proggie. Check it out. There are lots of great new features.
• Selfboot – an application designed to help you burn plain files onto a selfbooting disc for use in your Dreamcast.
• Selfboot Inducer v3 – an application designed to help you burn multiple emulators, applications, demos, homebrew games and ported games onto one selfbooting disc for use in your Dreamcast.
• Dir2Boot – this is basically an early version of Selfboot. It has a slightly simpler interface than Selfboot, but only offers the option to create CDI and Disc-At-Once NRG images. There is no CDRecord GUI built in, nor is there the option to create a Track-At-Once NRG image (which is now required in order to burn things with newer versions of Nero). It’s still a handy, fast little program for people using old versions of Nero, Alcohol 120% or DiscJuggler to burn their projects.
• IP Patch 1.2 – This is a neat little tool for patching IP.bin files.