XCOTA TAG V5 SPECIAL
17 characters · four players · RetroArch

BUILD YOUR GAME

1. Extract this complete package into a folder you can write to.
2. Drag all four clean ROM ZIPs together onto BUILD V5 SPECIAL.cmd. Their order and filenames do not matter; their contents must match these sets:

   X-Men: Children of the Atom — Euro 950331 (xmcota)
   Marvel vs. Capcom — Euro 980123 (mvsc)
   X-Men vs. Street Fighter — Japan 961023 (xmvsfjr1)
   Marvel vs. Capcom 2 — Naomi Export/Korea Rev A (mvsc2)

3. The completed game appears at output\xmcotas4p.zip. Your four input files are preserved.

The builder uses the PowerShell 5.1 and .NET included with Windows. No SDK, Python, assembler or Developer mode is needed. The verified PowerShell host path can also run the builder. If a different file already exists at the output path, choose a new output folder rather than overwriting it.

PLAY

Windows x64: run PLAY V5 SPECIAL.cmd and select your existing retroarch.exe when asked. The launcher uses this package's matching four-player Special core and checks the game before starting it.

Apple silicon: in your existing arm64 RetroArch, load the included .dylib Special core, then load the generated output/xmcotas4p.zip. Build the game with the Windows inbox builder or the verified PowerShell host path; the generated game is the same for both matching cores.

Assign four RetroPads with separate Device Index values: ports 1 and 3 form one team, ports 2 and 4 the other. Each fighter keeps its own controller, including during Duo. Use a new game; save states from older cores are incompatible with this revision.

CONTROLS

HP+HK joins a side from attract/selection. P1/P2 choose the first fighters; P3/P4 choose their partners. Move the cursor and confirm with an attack button.

   MP+HK             Tag to a living partner; no meter cost.
   QCF+MP+HK         Supported team super; spends full Level Max.
   QCB+MP+HK         Timed Duo; requires full Level Max. X-Powers are free during TIME, and the gauge is spent at the end.
   LK+MP in hitstun  Breaker; costs one bar. Press only those two attack buttons.

QCF means quarter-circle forward; QCB means quarter-circle back. Connected normals/specials can cancel into tag. Storm and Iceman retain their native HP+HK moves in combat; HP+HK is not the V5 tag input.

Special retains Akuma and adds Gambit, Rogue, Sabretooth and Marrow to the original roster. The standard two-player edition is a separate two-ROM package. Original four-player foundation testing carries forward. No Fightcade installation or new Fightcade test is required for this edition.

SOURCE AND CREDITS

The converter reads graphics, animation, move properties and character colors from your own ROMs. Authored code adapts the fighters to the Children of the Atom engine. Some retained resident colors originate in the earlier palette foundation; they are not newly extracted from these four inputs. The small Akuma selection face is an authored generated asset; his large native portrait is retained.

The matching core is derived from FBNeo. The complete corresponding core source archive, exact build provenance and FBNeo/MAME-CPS2 licenses accompany the binaries. This package contains no full game ROMs or decryption key files. The included runtime profile records the tested core and game identity, with Windows execution distinguished from cross-build and source checks.
