Welcome to Niobium's Arcade Zone...

Emulation News Page
July - December 2002

December 11, 2002 - 11:43PM EST

Forgotten updated his wonderful GameBoy/Color/Advance emulator,VisualBoyAdvance, yesterday (1.3) and today (1.3.1). Looks like a few minor changes including the removal of some test code which should speed things up a little. It also looks like he's added some features that could be useful, such as AVI capture and graphics filters in 32-bit color mode.

Version 1.3
Core changes:

added support for Flash 128K (thanks DesktopMan)
added checks for out of memory condition
added sound volume option
fixed message when failed to write battery file (previously always saying failure to open file NULL)
fixed sound mixing ratios specified in 0x4000082 (thanks Damian)
simulating memory behaviour when no cartridge present (32-bits still incorrect)

Windows version:

automatically apply IPS patch if it exists (configurable)
added save/load support in the memory viewer
added support for filters in 32-bit mode for all filters
added AVI writing support (no sound yet)
can now pause emulator before loading any file
memory viewer now displays current edit address
removed some test code introduced at version 1.1 that slows down the emulator
exporting GSA snapshot defaults title to internal name
fixed missing check marks on layers menu
fixed bug showing maker code/name from some old games

Version 1.3.1
Core changes:

fixed reversed Flash identification for 64k Flash

Nibble on the latest version of VisualBoyAdvance in the GameBoy Section!

The End of FCE Ultra?

December 5, 2002 - 3:00PM EST

This is the Suck. Xodnizel, author of the favored NES emulator FCE Ultra, made an announcement on his message boards that he has lost interest in coding FCE Ultra. He has officially stopped working on the emulator, and after he finishes commiting all of the current bugs in the Sourceforge database that will be the end of it. If you have any interest in continuing his work, please post a message in the FCE Ultra message boards to let Xod know. It would truely be a shame if this emulator died.

VisualBoyAdvance 1.2

December 5, 2002 - 2:40PM EST

Nothing I can say.. I wasn't going to update the site till I had finished the new one.. But I'm pathetic. Forgotten released this damn near a month ago.

Core changes:

added MidiKey2Freq bios call (thanks Chris Moeller)
added AdvanceMAME Scale2x and Simple 2x filters
added support for higher frameskip (up to 9)
added C core for portability
added big endian support
added support for movement sensor (thanks Parasyte)
added support for selecting save type available
fixed another value for the bios protection
fixed sound envelope reload bug (thanks jaymzj)
fixed timer counter (not changing the value of the counter unless the timer overflows or is restarted)
fixed problem on big endian when setting IO memory reable positions
fixed reset LCD after disabling forced blank
speed up now uses frameskip 9 (6 FPS)
improved message when BIOS function cannot be emulated

Windows changes:

added freeze recent list option
added 800x600 support
support to export GamesharkAdvance save games
fixed bug when changing directories in the Directories... dialog

Just get it..

Engulf the latest version of VisualBoyAdvance from the GameBoy Section!

VisualBoyAdvance goes Open Source

October 22, 2002 - 10:47PM EST

Interesting bit of news on the Gameboy (Advance) emulation scene.. Forgotten announced that his wonderful emulator VisualBoyAdvance is now an open source project. This may or may not lead to some interesting developments but it should do wonders for the GBA emulation scene.

Gens 2.11 released!

October 9, 2002 - 2:04PM EST

Well.. even Ninja make mistakes. :) Stef released an update to Gens 2.10 today. Apparently he broke something with CD emulation and command line loading. I didn't even notice.

Changes to 2.11:

[Sega CD]

Fixed a CDD bug added in Gens 2.10

[General]

Fixed the command line loading

Retrieve the latest version from the Sega Genesis section.

Gens 2.10 released!

October 8, 2002 - 1:26PM EST

Stef, being the mad coding ninja he is, released the latest version of his all encompassing Sega Genesis emulator Gens. No major changes, just some rewriting done for speed and compatability. Looks like some changes have been made to the sound core, hopefully fixing those rare instances where you just get NASTY noises coming from one sound channel or another, I'll have to check out Streets of Rage 3 and see if it's any better.

Changes to 2.10:

[32X]

Save state support added (buggy though).
SH-2 signed division overflow fixed.
SH-2 core tweaked up a bit.
Netplay is now working with 32X games.
Some other minors fix.

[Sega CD]

CD swap is now supported. (read the "Multi CD game" section for more infos) Actually a lot of stuff has been rewritten, resulting in a possible compatibility decreasement.

[Genesis]

New Z80 core written from scratch (faster than old core).
Synchronisation between 68000 and Z80 is now almost perfect (it wasn't possible with the old Z80 core).
YM2612 timers fixed, i finally found the correct way :)
Fixed a minor bug in the VDP render engine (added in Gens 2.00)
Fixed a minor bug in the PSG (added in Gens 2.00)

[GENERAL]

Fixed the weird "restart Gens after 32X bios configuration" bug.
Complete debugger available, can be usefull for developers.

Imbibe the latest version in the Sega Genesis (or 32-X, or Sega-CD) section.

VisualBoyAdvance 1.1.... Long ago...

September 30, 2002 - 10:01AM EST

I guess it's pretty apparent that I just don't keep up with the Gameboy emulation scene much. Forgotten released a new version of VisualBoyAdvance like a month ago and I'm just getting around to posting it. Oh well. Few core changes here, couple bug fixes there. If you haven't already gotten Version 1.1 from someplace else. Download it here. :P

Changes in 1.1:

added DMA logging
added GBA intro remover
fixed an ARM bug for opcodes like OP Rd,Rb,Rm ROR Rs where Rs > 0 and Rs % 32 == 0
fixed some minor inconsistencies on the THUMB core (no actual bug reported)
fixed bug with windows and alpha-bleding the wrong layer
fixed sound channel 3 volume
fixed the EEPROM battery save bug
added reset buttons to the directories dialog
added Logging console (for internal GBA logging and console output)
enhanced Map Viewer with more information about map and clicked spot
enhanced Tile Viewer with more information about tiles and clicked spot
added speed up toggle
fixed a bug configuring hotkeys for some menu options
fixed a bug where the joypad configuration dialog had strange colors
fixed a crash when opening the Disassemble window when emulating a GB program

Engulf the latest version of VisualBoyAdvance from the GameBoy Section!

FCE Ultra .81 Released!

August 19, 2002 - 6:22PM EST

The FCE Ultra Team dropped a new release today bringing the version number up to .81. Dispite the small increase in version number they assure everyone that there are a lot of under the hood changes. Looks like quite a few mapper issues have been addressed. Transtlated, that means that more games work with fewer errors, which is always a good thing.

Changes in .81:

Screen snapshots can now be taken while playing an NSF.
Saving screen snapshots will no longer corrupt the frame buffer.
Added many more games to the list of games that usually are found with bad iNES headers.
Fixed more network play bugs. It should now work correctly(how many times have I said or implied that...).
The NSF player will now disable the FDS sound channel on song initialization(fixes a problem with the Zelda no Densetsu rip).
Reads from $4090 and $4092 while emulating the FDS will now return the current envelope settings. Affects "Ai Senshi Nicole" and "Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa", at least.
Merged a lot of pirate MMC3 multicart emulation code with the main MMC3 emulation code.
Added support for the MMC5's split-screen mode. This fixes the introduction in "Uchuu Keibitai SDF".
Writes to $8000-$FFFF with D7 set during MMC1 emulation will cause the MMC1 mode register to be OR'd with $C. This fixes "Robocop 3".
Replaced an MMC1 hack that I used to get "Bill and Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure" to work with something more accurate.
Fixed the MMC5 read handler to return the data last on the data bus instead of $FF when a read occured to an unmapped address. This fixes the lockup problem in "Bandit Kings of Ancient China" and possibly other games.
Added support for the game "Ishin no Arashi" in the iNES format (I added an entry with its CRC32 value and the number of 8KB WRAM banks it needs into the MMC5 WRAM size table).
Added support for MMC1 games in the iNES format with 16KB of RAM via CRC32 comparisons(currently only Genghis Khan(USA), Romance of the 3 Kingdoms(USA), and Nobunaga's Ambition(USA and Japan) are recognized).
iNES mapper 1 now supports pageable CHR RAM if CHR ROM is not present. Fixes "Family School".
Added support for iNES mappers 51 and 52. Thanks to Kevin Horton for the information.
Modified MMC3(iNES mapper 4/118/119) IRQ counter emulation. Fixes problems in "MegaMan 3", "Gun Nac", and the Japanese version of "Klax", but it *might* cause problems with other games.
Fixed an iNES mapper 32 emulation bug. "Ai Sensei no Oshiete" works now.
Fixed iNES mapper 33/48 IRQ emulation.
Fixed iNES mapper 16 IRQ emulation.
Added support for "Famicom Jump 2" as iNES mapper 153. If a good(as far as I can tell) dump is loaded, FCE Ultra will automatically fix the mapper number.
The VS Unisystem bit in iNES headers is no longer recognized. Too many games have this bit set when it shouldn't be set. Now VS Unisystem games are recognized by CRC32 value.
Reads from $4015 no longer reset DMC IRQ. This fixes the title screen of "Romancia".
PPU NMI now occurs a few cycles later. Fixes the "BattleToads" lockup problem.
BRK emulation now sets the I flag.
Changed a few zero-page address mode functions to read directly from emulated RAM.

Consume the latest version of FCE Ultra from the NES Section!

Change in 32-X Emulators

July 11, 2002 - 7:37PM EST

Well.. I guess this shouldn't come as too much of a suprise. Stef once again proves his Sega Superiority. Gens has now earned the top stop in 32-X Emulation as well as Sega Genesis and Sega-CD. If this keeps up I'm just going to join those sections into one. Gens has finally made 32-X emulation playable and enjoyable. Kolibri, Virtua Racing, Star Wars Arcade, Space Harrier, and most other I tried all ran at full speed (In 2xSAI mode no less), and didn't sound half bad either. Be sure to check this out. It's amazing.

Ingest the latest version of Gens from the 32-X section.

VisualBoyAdvance up to 1.0a

July 11, 2002 - 2:22PM EST

Forgotten fixed the bugs that were introduced in v1.0 of his wonderful GameBoy Color/Advance emulator VisualBoyAdvance. I know, I didn't post anything about 1.0 on here. But, I was waiting for the battery file fix that's in this version before I put it up. Not a big deal.

Version 1.0a:

corrected sound mixing to be more like in version 0.9.1
fixed battery file load/save when directory not set
fixed crashes when directories not set
fixed crash when passing image from command line in same directory
updated company list for rom information dialogs

Version 1.0:

semi-transparent objects are now processed correctly when windows enabled
battery files now written even after resetting
16-bit sound rendering
fixed some LDM/STM instructions when running in user/system mode
added missing LDM/STM instruction formats
Div/DivARM BIOS calls work correctly when dividing by 0
added sound echo effect
added sound low pass filter
added reverse stereo support
can now edit palette for mono Gameboy games
added option for not stretching viewing data
added automatic update option for all viewers (every frame)
added tile viewer
added disassembler
added accelerator editor: user can configure almost all menu items hotkeys
added GDB support (will be improved in the next version)
memory viewer can now edit memory
fixed autofire for L/R buttons which was inverted
fixed dialog keyboard navigation
fixed bug in map viewer when viewing mode 2 map
files should now be saved to the correct directory when directories not set

Eat the latest version from the GameBoy section.

Gens 2.00 blows me away!

July 11, 2002 - 1:46PM EST

So I'm sitting here thinking how odd it is that after being so active for months, the Genesis emulation scene just kinda stopped.. Well.. This is what I get for thinking.. Stef hit me in the face with a hammer, and released Gens 2.00 now with 32-X emulation!! I have a feeling that this site will slowly become the Gens Fan Club site. If his 32-X emulation hits the same level as his Genesis and Sega-CD emulation, then it could edge retroDrive right out of here. I'm chomping at the bit to get out of work and try this bad boy out.. Grr.. damn job..

[32X]

SH2 CPU emulation (custom ASM core) :
- 100% instruction set implemented.
- Full support of DMAC/DREQ.
- Full support of external division unit.
- Full support of watchdog timer.
Full support of FIFO registers and DMA.
32X VDP emulation :
- Support of fill function.
- Full support of direct color mode.
- Full support of packed pixel mode.
- Support of run lenght mode without Genesis VDP and priority stuff.
PWM sound emulation (DREQ1 DMA not yet supported).

[Sega CD]

Minors bugs fixed.

[Genesis]

IPS patch support added.
Save state compatibility (Kega, Genecyst ...) improved.
Fixed a minor bug with Z80.
YM2612 :
- Fixed a bug with frequency modulation LFO.
- Fixed independent slot frequency calculation in special mode (channel 3).
PSG :
- Noise channel fixed.
VDP rendering engine improved :
- Better colors rendering.
- Faster.
Fixed a minor bug in country detection code.

[General]

Added some color adjustments feature :
- Brightness adjustement.
- Contrast adjustement.
- Greyscale mode.
- Invert mode.
  - Note that contrast and brightness are not calculated correctly yet.
Rewritten Gens.txt by Red5 of the Genesis Project. This is intended to be an updated/improved version of the old Gens.txt, it is not a "Gens Manual Lite" however and you will still need to download that for instructions on some of the more advanced features like Game Genie support.
Debug removed.
Screens saver is disable when Gens is running.
Modified the tiny application icon, the guy which sent me it will probably recognize it ;)

Ingest the latest version from the Sega Genesis section.

Little bit o' retroDrive news

July 10, 2002 - 5:09PM EST

Just went and checked out the home page of Tim Meekin's Sega Genesis/32-X emulator,retroDrive and damn near wet myself when I saw that he actually updated it yesterday. Well, after being silent for about 4 months, Tim let us know that his work on NFL2K3 is just about wrapped up which will leave him some free time to work on retroDrive. Bonus! Looks like he could be working on "something really cool".

UltraHLE Source Code Leaked!

July 10, 2002 - 1:33PM EST

Yup, I've been bouncing around emulation message boards all morning keeping up with the news on this. Looks like someone calling themselves FreeFlow decided to distribute the source code for the first and fastest Nintendo-64 emulator ever, UltraHLE

There is a lot of moral issues with downloading the source and modifying it. This is Leaked information, as far as anyone knows RealiyMan or Epsilon have nothing to do with the release. However, Considering that no one has touched the source in 2 years, and no one has heard anything from the 2 original authors I'm going to chalk this one up to "Distribution in the name of Science" and I'm going to make it available on my Nintendo-64 page.

Hopefully we'll see a few new version of UltraHLE popping up, I've read that over 57 bugs have been fixed within hours after it was released. Including the name-spaces bug that is so annoying. Most of all I am looking forward to seeing what the author of the hacked UltraHLE, SupraHLE, will be able to do with the source, seeing that he was able to do pretty impressive things to UltraHLE with out it.

Only time will tell.....

FCE Ultra up to .80

July 3, 2002 - 1:29PM EST

The FCE Ultra project is steadily moving along with quite a significant release today. That they warn *might* be buggier than the last release because a large amount of code has changed in this release. Still no 2xSAI mode though.. Oh well.. Maybe next time.

Changes in .80:

Fixed a bug affecting loading of UNIF files from zip files.
Replaced Marat's 6502 emulator with my own.
Removed Game Genie ROM image from the source code. It is now loaded from the FCE Ultra base directory from the file "gg.rom".
Rewrote many pieces of code.
Fixed a major iNES mapper 64 emulation bug introduced in 0.76.
Added support for iNES mapper 152. This should be used by any games previously assigned to mapper 70 that depend on one-screen mirroring(such as "Arkanoid 2" and "Saint Seiya Ougon Densetsu").
Added settings for the first and last scanline to be rendered while in PAL emulation mode.
Fixed a bug in the color deemphasis emulation code and made better use of the limited palette entry space available.
Undid some FDS sound emulation code changes introduced in 0.76 that totally messed up FDS sound emulation.
Minor bug fix to the Power Pad emulation code so that the official test program works correctly now.
Added support for the Famicom Expansion port and removed the option to select between the four-score and the Famicom 4-player adapter(this option is no longer required).
Added an option to disable four-score emulation.
Added emulation of the Arkanoid paddle controller(both NES and Famicom style) via the mouse.
Improved Zapper emulation, though it still needs improvement.
Added emulation of the Family BASIC keyboard.
Added (partial) emulation of the Hyper Shot gun.
Added code to override the user's input port/expansion port settings when certain games are loaded.
Added code to fix a few problems that I commonly see with a few games' iNES headers and to inform the user of the problems.
Increased the speed of the 8bpp to hi/true-color conversion code.
DirectDraw Blt()'s to the primary surface are now attempted to be done asynchronously.

Grab the latest version of FCE Ultra from the NES Section!

Tell me how much I suck! Niobium