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2000 - Emulation Archives

New Plugin's From Pete.
November 18, 2000 - 12:02PM EST
Looks like Pete updated all of his GPU plugin's for PSEmu Pro. Not that we use them for PSEmu Pro anymore, since that project has been discontinued. However they work with newer better Playstation Emulators like ePSXe, which if you haven't heard is the most recent, and most promising first release emulator ever. You can download the plugins from Pete's Page and you can get a copy of the emulator from ePSXe or from my PSX section.

New AGES screenshots.
November 15, 2000 - 9:36PM EST
Quinntesson threw up 5 new gameplay screenshots of his work in progess Sega-CD/Genesis/32-X Emulator AGES. Looks like we'll all be in for a treat! Unfortunately the Lunar Series isn't playable. Which kinda sucks since those are my absolute favorite Sega-CD games. Guess I'll just have to wait and see!

ZSNES on a roll..
November 15, 2000 - 9:16PM EST
Looks like the ZSNES staff have been a little code happy lately. They released another new version with a relatively short list of bug fixes.

And the list of changes go a little like this:

v1.12, Win v0.74

Hopefully fixed up those green display bugs in scanlines/2xSaI in 1:5:5:5 16bit modes.
Improved lost packet recovery time and reduced the number of lost packet stalls in UDP netplay (should produce more fluid netplay)
Fixed up crashing bug in Tales of Phantasia with a 512 byte header
Extended filename length of the Quick Menu
Hopefully fixed up the mouse wheel support for certain mice
Temp .ZIP directory is now cleared if it exists prior to another .ZIP file being loaded.
Improved DirectInput error handling

Grab a download at the Super Nintendo page.

ZSNES 1.11 r72 Released
November 13, 2000 - 7:03PM EST
Where have I been for like 2 weeks.. Not on this planet obviously.. Anyway, 2 day ago or so a new version of ZSNES was released which features the wonderfully impressive inclusion of NETPLAY! yes that's right, play StreetFighter 2 against people in Uganda if you choose! Then, they released another version today with a few fixes and announced that shortly, after netplay is working to it's fullest ZSNES will go OPEN SOURCE! That's right, all you ASM coders out there get to take a look at the internal workings of the mightiest SNES emulator out.. (And maybe someone can get Pilotwings to work!)

And here is a HUGE list of new features (since v1.01):

v1.11, Win v0.72

ZSNESw won't crash anymore if you don't have a soundcard or if DirectSound fails to initialize.
Fixed a nasty performance bug with certain types of joystick/drivers installed, causing the FPS to be slower for no reason.
Wrote an MMX optimised blitter for 16bit non-D windowed and full screen modes.
Added simple wheel mouse support.
Fixed games that turns on the x239 resolution (eg. Chrono Trigger battles) when scanline mode is enabled
Fixed up crashing bugs on extra long filenames with underscores
Hopefully fixed the odd colored interpolation in 1:5:5:5 16bit color settings
Hopefully won't crash anymore when the temporary directory exists prior to unzipping a .zip file
Fixed loading of .zip files with more than 2 '.'s in the filename. Thanks to DCX for helping us troubleshoot this.
Fixed up short filename saveram/save states loading when the long filename has spaces in it.
Added TCP/IP Support. It is recommended that for playable netplay, you'd have an average ping time of less than 300ms (type ping in dos) and that packet loss is minimal for TCP/IP (not UDP). At the moment, you cannot have more than 2 connections Thanks for all the testers for testing this, especially DooMStalK, GreenImp, and TeleKawaru! Also added back buffer support. This will sacrifice cpu power for netplay to make it much more playable.
Added save states to netplay (just use them like you normally do)
Save Ram is now defaulted to load/save on the server's side Save Ram are not supported in SA-1/SuperFX games due to their size, but you can use save states instead in that case.
Increased chat line length in the out-of-game chatbox by a lot
Partly increased the chat line length in-game
in-game chat text now stays longer on-screen by 2 seconds
Added reset in netplay
Fixed up movie recording feature
Mouse shouldn't get stuck on the left side anymore.
Video mode 3 (256x224FS) shouldn't crash anymore. Thanks to kode54 for his assistance on the above 2 bugfixes.
Fixed the instability bug where the window can sometimes start shaking for no reason and takes away windows resources.
Re-wrote keyboard character input routines
Fixed up FF2(4)'s music in lower sampling rates
Coded in the UDP protocol as a replacement for TCP/IP. Some network configurations won't work with UDP. However, it is strongly recommended that you use UDP if you can because of the speed increase. In order to disable UDP and use TCP/IP, both sides must de-select UDP.
Added a small multiplayer game list (multi.txt)
Added an updated Windows FAQ, courtesy of TuxedoMsk of VGNetwork who updated it.
Added a more user friendly input selection routine (changed Direct Input to Keyb/Joystick and it also auto-sets keyb/Joystick when you set a key)
Hopefully fixed up the sprite priority problems (eg. FF2/4's damage points)
Added rewind support for up to 8 levels (in 8 second intervals) (NOTE: Windows Port only! - Sorry DOS Port users). In order to activate this, assign a key to the Rewind Key in the Misc -> GameKeys option.

Anyway, you can just grab a download at the Super Nintendo page.

GENS v0.88 Released!
October 24, 2000 - 12:54PM EST
Looks like a new version of the Sega Genesis Emulator GENS slipped out yesterday and I missed it.. Here is a list of what has changed since the last version:

Country select feature added.
Menu language support improved :
- Menu is dynamically rebuild from language.dat file so it's very easy to add or change a menu language.
English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Hebrew menu language are actually supported.
Screen-Shot feature added.
Direct Draw code modified :
- 'Normal' and 'Double' render mode uses hardware blit in Fullscreen.
- Screen Size x1, x2 removed in windowed mode because not usefull.
- Screen refresh improved when emulation is paused.
My 68000 core and MZ80 core are removed (RAZE and custom Starscream are accurate).
Debugger rewritten for Starscream.
Message drawing code rewritten.
GENS becomes cardware.
I figured that Gens played Genesis voices (especially in SSFII) better than the real genesis, the bug is now fixed so voices are now more crap with almost game :(
Others little fix or add ...

The new version is available for download on the Genesis page.

A Second Sega-CD Emulator? Not Just Yet.
October 23, 2000 - 3:56PM EST
It appears that Tim Meekins, author of the Genesis/32-X emulator GENSx, has looked at the results from a recent poll that he posted about new features we want in his emulator. Guess what won, Yup Sega-CD emulation. Looks like we might actually see work started on it beginning next year as he states that he'll be pretty busy working on some Dreamcast game projects such as NFL2K1 & NBA2K1. (Talk about a busy guy) Might turn into an interesting race between AGES and GENSx, although AGES seems to have a hefty head start.

More Sega-CD Emulator Info
October 17, 2000 - 6:54PM EST
I had a nice little virtual conversation with Quinntesson, author of the Sega-CD/32-X/Genesis emulator AGES asking a few questions about the recently release emulation marvel. Seems to be a pretty nice person, didn't even seem to have a problem answering my insignificant questions.. :)

Niobium: I just wanted to congratulate you on overcoming one of the great hurtles in emulation..

Quinntesson: Thanks!

Niobium: There is a few things that I can't figure out.. Seeing as your obviously a very talented coder.. Why no sound? When I first started eyeing your emu, I figured it was because most games (especially 32x) ran at a very sub-standard frame rate so sound at that point would just be flat out annoying.. But now AGES Genesis emulation is quick and nimble....

Quinntesson: You are correct about 32X, I'd rather wait until it is faster to add sound. For the Sega CD emulation is also too slow, but more importantly it isn't very compatible yet. I haven't added Genesis sound yet, because it has the most difficult-to-emulate sound chip of any of the three and there are already many better Genesis emulators with sound, etc... I just prefer to work on something new and different than duplicate the work of others. I have heeded the public sentiment that AGES needs sound, but there are still a few things I need to take care of first. Unfortunately there are only 24 hours in the day.

Niobium: As for Sega-CD emulation, what ever happened to the Sega-CD logo doing all sorts of tricks at the intro screen.. you know, bouncing around, rotating, scaling. Will that come eventually?

Quinntesson: Yes, the reason it doesn't show up, is because the Sega CD graphics chip isn't fully emulated yet.

Niobium: One last thing.. Do you think that the CD+G function of the Sega-CD will remain intact? This would be great as there really isn't a good CD+G player for windows.. :)

Quinntesson: Right now, it will not work because AGES doesn't have any way of getting subchannel data off a CD. To do so, I need to learn how to use the "readlong" CD command and the "retrieve subcode" CD command. Many CD-ROM drives don't even support these commands. :( For now, it is sort of a low priority.

Thanks again to Quinntesson for taking the time.. Can't wait to see the next what the next release has in store for us.

Download a copy of AGES 0.22a for yourself. Be sure to read the AGES.TXT file to get an idea of how to set everything up

Can't Stop.. Must Quit Typing..
October 15, 2000 - 11:45PM EST
Okay.. Started out by testing ePSXe, the latest Playstation Emulator... I couldn't stop playing.. This emulator just about has Bleem! in its grave and it's only the first publicly released version. I had to put up some screenshots and make it available for download. So, the Playstation (PSX on the left menu) page was born, but not finished. It's about to the point where the Nintendo NES page is. But I should be finishing the rest of them out by the end of the week, so keep your pantyhose on..

Speechless....
October 15, 2000 - 1:40PM EST
I couldn't believe my eyes.. Not even a little.. The One time Genesis/32-X emulator AGES just broke all the rules.. It is now the Genesis/32-X/SEGA CD emulator! That's right folks, someone actually figured it out.. don't believe? Check the screenshots out. I'm in the process of testing this emulator out to see just what I can do.. well.. provided I can find any of my old SEGA CD games.. (Digs into the closet) The BIOS screens come up just fine though. You can probably expect a new emulation page to come out in a little while based on this emulator. And yes.. I'll probably have the BIOS files you'll need there.. There is still one problem that still plagues this emulator, one of the major problems that made me not use it for 32-X emulation.. No Sound.. that's right, not a single digitized note, Nothing. Perhaps this will change in future release, one can only hope.

Here is a list of things that are new since the last release of AGES

New GFX render: supports rasterFX and now runs Genesis games at full-speed with no frameskip on a 350 MHz PC.
Compatibility boost: numerous Genesis games + Afterburner 32X, Fifa 96 32X, and Primal Rage 32X
RAR'd file support
In-memory IPS patch loading
Sega CD driver

Feel free to Download a copy of AGES 0.22a for yourself. Be sure to read the AGES.TXT file to get an idea of how to set everything up.

More TurboGrafx goodness!
October 14, 2000 - 11:09AM EST
In the wake of the latest MagicEngine release I finished the TurboGrafx/PC-Engine page! I've been asked twice so far why I put PC-Engine on the menu to the left.. Well because with the font I used TurboGrafx was just like 5 pixels too long. Maybe later I'll actually go fix it instead of taking the easy way out. :)

N64, Nintendo, TurboGrafx, Oh My..
October 14, 2000 - 8:47PM EST
Something funny is happening over at www.ultrahle.com I'm not too sure what it is, or what it means. But I have a feeling that we'll all find out soon enough. :)

Here's the deal, The Nintendo Page is up.. Sort of, there isn't a little historical description up, but all of the other info is there.

The authors of the wonderful TurboGrafx 16/PC-Engine emulator Magic Engine have released the 3rd beta for the next version of their software.

a vsync option for super smooth scrolling
user customizable video resolutions (320x240, 512x448, etc...)
gamepad support in the GUI

A special note about this beta, though... The vsync option seems to not work very well in Windows 9x, it seems to work only in Windows NT 4 and Windows 2000. We have spent the whole night trying to figure out why, but without success... If you get a weird display when this option is enabled, simply disable it.
download the latest version.

Another Emulation Section added
October 2, 2000 - 2:25AM EST
Okay, so I couldn't sleep.. got to working on another emulation section.. As a result the GameBoy section is now open for browsing. The NES section was going to be next but I got tired of looking for a decent picture to use in the title image. Maybe tomorrow I'll find something worthy.

Emulation Section added
October 1, 2000 - 4:35PM EST
The Sega Genesis page is now available from the Emulation menu.. Take a gander, try a download, then let me know what you think!

Emulation Section added
September 10, 2000 - 9:36M EST
The Super Nintendo page is now available from the Emulation menu.. Take a gander, try a download, then let me know what you think!

The Nintendo64 Section was going to be finished tonight as well, however since the news of the untimely demise of UltraHLE has surfaced, I am evaluating new N64 emulators. It should be up soon though.

UltraHLE Project Terminated
September 10, 2000 - 9:40AM EST
A noble VintageGaming reader took it upon himself to contact RealityMan in regards to what has been going on with the UltraHLE and Jagulator webpages. The reader then emailed a copy of the response to VintageGaming. Unfortunately it confirms what many people had already begun to think.
Here's what was said:

Thank you, I appreciate kind your words.

You must of just caught the post before it disappeared. You will find out now the sites have gone. UltraHLE and Jagulator are now no longer public projects. I have done some hard thinking this evening (well morning now actually - 1:39am) and decided that my hobby is no longer of public concern. I will be asking ZTNet toremove the domains from DNS and my e-mail addresses. As far as I am concerned UltraHLE is dead and buried and I will be deleting the source, roms and all the documentation I have (they will be gone by the time you receive this e-mail). Also, the RealityMan nick is, as of this e-mail, terminated.

No doubt some people will say that this is another smoke screen or delay but to be honest I have had enough of the back biting etc that I have receivedfrom people that do not even know me personally or who have seen my work. HLE is dead now but it set out to achieve its aim and suceeded - to prove N64 emulation was possible.

I will miss many of the people I have met in the community and will stay in contact with a select few but this is it for me. I have a family and new life to consider now - time to face the real world. Jagulator will continue privately as an interest for me when things are quiet.

This is the final statement I am making so if you want to post it then do so.

Kindest Regards,
RealityMan

While it truely is sad to see this emulator go, I have nothing but thanks to give to RealityMan for letting this e-mail go public and also for bringing us the first, and best damn Nintendo 64 emulator ever coded. Thanks for everything man, you'll be missed.

Special thanks to VintageGaming for the news.

NESten News update
August 31, 2000 - 1:34PM EST
TNSe, the author of the amazing NES emulator for windows NESten, updated his web page today with a little news on the upcoming release of NESten.

Thanks to efforts made by Quietust & Co, MMC5 is now working better than ever...
I have made NESten's XLater (Basically a color space converter) into a DLL file. What this actually means, is that you can now make external DLL's with your own custom image effects.
Some interesting bugs in the File loading window have been removed.
VS games now work, and you can insert coins.
A little code cleanup.
Still looking for a bug concerning cheats.
Need to redo .ini system...
Need to redo mapper interface...
Need to complete XLater DLL interface.

Hopefully this update is a sign that the new version will be release shortly. The current version is still Beta 0.6 Final and can be downloaded here.

Emulation Sections added
August 26, 2000 - 12:07AM EST
The Atari 2600 and Sega 32x pages are now available from the Emulation menu.. Take a gander, try a download, then let me know what you think!

SNES9x 1.31 released!
August 24, 2000 - 11:46PM EST
A new version of SNES9x for Windows was released yesterday.. here are some of the key changes.

Snes9x DirectSound code modified - the mixing block size is now always 10ms for Windows 95/98/2000 and 20ms for NT 4.x, now there should be no need to enable Sync Sound when a large sound buffer is required (helps emulation speed). The maximum sound buffer length values have been updated to reflect the smaller mixing block size.
Changed the DirectSound code back to use an offset from the play position as the place to write new sample data into the sound buffer - on NT 4.x the write position seems to vary randomly rather than being a fixed distance infront of the play postion as documented. Now I know why I used the play position originally!
Changed the DirectSound code to fill the sound buffer at the write position supplied by DirectSound, rather than just before the current play position - should help reduce latency.
Added an auto-detect method for interleaved mode 2 Super FX ROM images - well, not really auto-detect: if the game crashes and its a Super FX game, Snes9x assumes its in interleaved mode 2, demangles the ROM image and tries to run the game again.
Had to update the Snes9x Windows registry version number as the additional diagonal settings make old registery settings incompatible.
Added diagonal keyboard controls to the Windows port, as requested by several users.
Changed PPU code to return zero when reading non-existent registers - the game Equinox relies on this due to an original game coding bug.
Included FMOD sound driver support to Windows port - people experiencing broken sound or delayed sound, etc, might want to give it a try.
Tales of Phantasia - un-interleaved format ROM memory map changes to match odd ZSNES format, now the hacked ROM works.
Changed NMI again. Made reading or writing to PPU register 0x4210 clear NMI pending flag again, without this Super Tennis does not work.
Changed NMI timing back to be the same as several versions ago and just special cased Cacoma Knight instead - although kept the code to prevent the re-triggering of an NNI more than once in the same frame.

You can download SNES9x 1.31 here!

Tell me how much I suck! Niobium