Dreamcast Software Development Standards
Dreamcast Software Development Standards/Ver.1.00E
Unlike Saturn, the Dreamcast Main Unit does not include a hardware RESET button, so a player can reset only by a soft reset function or by turning the power off and on. The conditions of 4.1 should therefore be carefully observed.
Required: A "soft reset" must be possible except during saving and disc access.
4.2 Soft Reset Button Operation
Required: Except for a gun controller which does not have X/Y buttons (and including keyboards that do not clearly indicate when multiple keys are pressed with the Saturn version?), a soft reset must occur when the A + B + X + Y buttons are all held down and the START button pressed.
Required: A soft reset must also occur if any other buttons are pressed while the A + B + X + Y buttons are all held down when the START button is pressed.
Required: In the case of racing and gun controllers or a keyboard where pressing the A + B + X + Y + START button combination is impossible (or very difficult), the soft reset function should be a selectable menu item. Currently, we recommend that the Title Screen menu and the Boot ROM menu be selectable jump destinations at the completion of a soft reset (see 4.4)
The particular reasons for the above are the difficulty of reaching all the buttons on racing controllers, the lack of X/Y buttons on gun controllers, and the difficulty of simultaneous recognition of the buttons on a keyboard.
To avoid user confusion, no other button combination except the above (A + B + X + Y + START button) are permitted to execute a soft reset (because it is not possible with a gun).
4.3. Soft Reset and Controllers (Control Ports)
Required: Soft Reset must be possible from all controllers (ports) in use.
As mentioned in 2. Controllers and Ports, operation should not be possible from any port that does not have a compatible controller connected, so of course soft reset should not be possible from such ports either.
Check the following conditions A and B.
A: If the disc contains a single application    (refer to 4.4.1)
B: If an omnibus system with several applications on the disc    (refer to 4.4.2)
Required: Soft reset from the Title Loop must jump to the Main Unit Boot ROM Menu.
Required: Soft reset from the main game (after the application is started) must jump to the Title Screen.
The process for determining whether an application has started (= in a main game) is described in 6. Title Screen.
Recommended: Soft reset from within each game should cause a jump to the Title Screen of the corresponding main game.
Recommended: Soft reset from the Title Loop of any title should cause a jump to the base Title Screen.
Recommended: Soft reset from the base Title Screen Title Loop should cause a jump to the Main Unit Boot ROM Menu screen.
If the preceding recommendations cannot be followed (e.g., if no base Title Screen exists), follow the soft reset requirement of 4.4.1.
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