Welcome to Niobium's Arcade Zone...

Emulation News Page
July - December 2003

December 18, 2003 - 10:05PM EST

Up to the minute news here.. Ipher just released another work-in-progress build of ZSNES. Just a short list of changes this time. But it still might be worth a download.

Changes as of December 18th:

Fixed unzipping ROMs that are 6MB with a header. [Nach]
Fixed interleave detection and possibly a few other things. [Nach]

Plunder the latest version of ZSNES WIP from the Super Nintendo Section!

More ZSNES WIP releases

December 16, 2003 - 12:14PM EST

Ipher released 2 more work-in-progress builds of ZSNES since the November 30th release. Just a few changes, nothing that looks too interesting. Might be kinda cool to see how HQ4X looks though.

Changes since November 30th:

SDD-1 timing crap [pagefault]
Fixed GZip for Windows, thanks Kode54, and no thanks M$ [Nach]
Add HQ2X and HQ4X, also add HQxX support to SDL port [MaxSt]
Disabled netplay temporarily [pagefault]

Plunder the latest version of ZSNES WIP from the Super Nintendo Section!

VisualBoyAdvance 1.7 finally released

December 16, 2003 - 11:18AM EST

Forgotten has actually gotten around to taking version 1.7 of VisualBoyAdvance out of Beta. From the looks of things it was well worth the wait. The list of changes is absolutely HUGE. Definately worth checking out.

Core changes:

added fixes to video filters done by Flea for Mac OS X
added/fixed ArcTan/ArcTan2 emulation
added sound volume .25 and.50
added hq2x/lq2x filters
aded global cheat disable
some code clean up
fixed some CBA cheat support
fixed ARM/Thumb instruction timing, including memory access
fixed minor bugs in STMDx ARM instructions
fixed ARM LDRx instructions when base equals dest

Gameboy:

added support for 8M roms
(re)added support for 2-4 playes in SGB mode
added sprite limit emulation (thanks Ricky of KiGB)
cancel pending EI when imediately followed by DI
implemented DI/HALT bug
implemented STAT write bug during VBLANK or HBLANK when in GB mode
implemented GDMA delay in GBC mode (thanks TM of GEST)
fixed priority between OBJ and Window
fixed some SGB border problems
fixed window rendering problems in some cases
fixed CGB initial background palette to white
fixed initial save memory value to 0xFF instead of 0x00 (thanks TM of GEST)
fixed LCD interrupts to only occur once per line
fixed incorrect display when BG is off
modified interrut delay to 6 clock ticks instead of 2
moved scanline update to beginning of HBLANK

Windows:

added predefined Gameboy palettes (thanks Kojote)
added GBA IO Viewer to view/modify GBA hardware registers
added menu entry to load most recent save state
added menu entry to save state into oldest slot
added option to auto load the most recent save state upon loading
added fullscreen max scale option
chnaged the bug report option to be a little more friendly
enhanced save state submenus to show date/time of when save was made
enhanced logging window to capture data even if not being displayed
fixed Direct3D/OpenGL "green" bug with Motion Blur Interframe Blending
fixed Direct3D full screen with Gameboy roms
fixed minor bugs when saving images in the different viewers
fixed power management disabling: should avoid monitor turning off now
improved cheat input to be more flexible and easy to enter
migrated whole GUI code to MFC

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

New ZSNES WIP Released

December 1, 2003 - 3:07PM EST

Ipher has dropped 2 work in progress builds of ZSNES since the November 9th release I had here last.

Changes since Nov. 9th:

New loading code. [Nach]
New NSS loading code. [Nach]
Removed empty news.txt from source [ipher]
Removed a useless include from initc.c [ipher]
Fixed VC Workspace so it'll compile [ipher]
Port % of execution code to C [pagefault]
Move KitchenSync option to command line, use -K to enable (case senstive) [pagefault]
Some small GUI cleanup [pagefault]
Move KitchenSync declaration into winlink.cpp [pagefault]
Remove sample compression option [pagefault]
Clean up code and prepare for updated SuperFX core [pagefault]
Removed a really really old SPC hack that doesn't even do anything anymore [pagefault]
Dirt Trax FX 95% working, at least we don't have all that graphics corruption now [pagefault]

Chow down the latest version of ZSNES WIP in the Super Nintendo Section!

Another FCE Ultra release .97.5

November 14, 2003 - 11:07AM EST

Xodnizel is hard to keep up with these days, I don't know what bit him in the ass. After announcing that his emulator days were pretty much over, we see 5 or so releases of FCE Ultra in a week. I'm impressed.

Changes in .97.5:

Windows: Added limited support for arguments that change configuration to be passed to FCE Ultra. Example: fceu -pal 1 c:\streetgangs.nes It may be useful in frontends.
Fixed filename generation for automatic IPS patching when a file with no extension is loaded. Before this change, FCEU would look for "game..ips" with a file named "game".
Converted and updated the cheat guide in(to) HTML.
Added support for iNES mappers 202,203,231 from info from cah4e3.
Fixed support for mappers 60, 200.
Fixed various major bugs in the breakpoint deletion code.
UN*X: Added support for OSS(/dev/dsp) devices that don't support mono sound.
Increased PPU startup idle time to 2 frames. Fixes that unlicensed "Earthworm Jim 3" game. Does it break anything?

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

FCE Ultra .97.4 Official Release

November 11, 2003 - 9:52PM EST

Xodnizel seems to be back in full force. He's released another update to his wonderful FCE Ultra. Looks like there are a few fixes in this release as well as the newly improved cheat window, which now supports Game Genie codes in thier original form.

Changes in .97.4:

Fixed another obscure PPU emulation screen corruption bug.
Added support for Game Genie cheats in the cheat interface.
Windows: Reworked the cheat interface, merging the cheat search and cheat list windows into one.
Windows: Greatly improved the CPU debugger. The code still needs a lot of cleaning, though.
Readjusted VRC6 IRQ emulation timing.
Added support for the UNIF MMC3 board TEROM. The maximum PRG/CHR sizes may not be correct in this implementation, though.

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

FCE Ultra .97.3 Official Release

November 9, 2003 - 12:33AM EST

Turn your back on Xodnizel for a minute and he goes out and revieves his interest in updating his amazing FCE Ultra. Looks like he's come back to release 4 new source versions and 1 new compiles versions in 3 days. The change log since the last released version is so long I'm not even going to begin to put it on here.

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

Yet another ZSNES WIP Release

November 6, 2003 - 11:49PM EST

Looks as if another WIP build of ZSNES has appeared on Ipher site. Couple fixes including one that seems ot have been a problem with save states.

Changes as of November 5th:

Add -lm to acinclude.m4 so AC_TRY_RUN doesn't return negative on some systems looking for libpng. (Linux) [theoddone33]
Fix annoying savestate bug [pagefault]
Fix for stupid bug (Thanks MKendora!) [pagefault]
Expand GUI video dialog [pagefault]
Netplay bug fix P [pagefault]
Fix auto frameskip issue (Thanks MKendora) [pagefault]
Timing updates [pagefault]

Consume the latest version of ZSNES WIP in the Super Nintendo Section!

Neo-Geo Section Launched

November 4, 2003 - 2:48AM EST

Well, I talked about it half way through last year, and everytime I see my friend Adam, he gives me shit about it. So here it is.. The Neo-Geo section has finally gone live with the wonderful Neo-Geo emulator Nebula showcased as the best there is. So check it out, if you're into that SNK way of life.

Enter the Neo-Geo section.

The Latest Ipher's ZSNES WIP Release

November 2, 2003 - 12:25AM EST

Ipher released the latest WIP build of ZSNES, this one it dated November 1st. I haven't checked out a WIP build since September 6th, and apparently a lot has changed. Looks like a lot of the code is moving from Assembly to C for some reason though. Definatley worth a look see...

Changes since Sept 6th:

Better memory init, another hack removed [Nach]
Source Cleanup and Compiler Fixes. [Nach]
Up libpng version checking [theoddone33]
Fix install target, -D should not be used. [theoddone33]
Begin porting ui.asm to C [pagefault]
Memory init code ported to C (thanks kode54) [Nach]
SPC RAM hopefully should now be initilized correctly (thanks Overload). [Nach]
Remove support for a hacked rom [pagefault]
Remove unneeded asm code [pagefault]
Removed many hacks [pagefault, Nach]
Compatibility update to PPU, passes one more electronics test (Thanks MKendora!) [pagefault]
Rollback of gfx code to fix nasty colour problems [pagefault]
Latest DSP-1 team updates (almost completed now) [Nach]
Partial C portage of initialization code [MKendora]
Fixed problem with man page (when man1 directory doesn't exist) [hpsolo]
Update to authors [pagefault]
Removed DALNet channel from support.txt [pagefault]
Removed sample compression option [pagefault]
Made ZSNES more HTPC friendly [pagefault]
Remove FPU copy from list of options [pagefault]
Add Scale2X to GUI [pagefault]
Save config files on close [pagefault]
Initalization code for racing game that sucks because it doesn't have a gun on the roof [pagefault]
Fixed newline issue (mostly for my own sanity) [Nach]
DSP-2 code, this a placeholder only at the moment[pagefault]
CC client updates [pagefault]
unicode support partially supported, will complete later [pagefault]
SA-1 fixes for SRAM issues [pagefault]
Digital Devil Story (or whatever the heck you call it) hack not needed anymore [pagefault]
S-DD1 realtime decompression stuff [pagefault]
BS memory map adjustments for accuracy [pagefault]
About box update, woo for updates [pagefault]
Fix broken Linux version. Who broke the Linux version is not yet known. [theoddone33]
Fixed warning about a C++ feature when compiling C in DJGPP [Nach]
Made Soft IPS patching follow old patch offsetting method [Nach]

Consume the latest version of ZSNES WIP in the Super Nintendo Section!

Unsupported FCE Ultra .97 updated

November 2, 2003 - 12:17AM EST

StainlessKnight updated his build of the dominant NES emulator FCE Ultra a while ago. I've been having trouble getting to his site lately to get the newest release, but here it is. Looks like there are a couple mappers added and fixed, and some new sound modes that are, but aren't available.

Changes are as follows:

Fixed support for mapper 245(for nonencrypted/non-smynes-screwed up ROM images only. Fixes "Yong Zhe Dou E Long [...] Dragon Quest 7".
Added support for mappers 60, 62, 230, 244 from submitted code.
Modified mapper 90 emulation to allow game-select on reset for "Final Fight 3".
Modified mapper 45 emulation to allow "Super 8-in-1" to work.
Added a low-pass filter, and an option to enable it(CLI ports).
0x00 is now written to $4011 in the NSF player code instead of 0x40.
Fixed some other similar sound register init problems that I had fixed in Festalon but forgot to fix in FCEU. Grrr.
Removed some unnecessary 64-bit integer usage from FIR sound filtering code.
Added a new sound quality mode. Higher than high, it's highest(in FCE Ultra, for now). Still need to fix the interface to allow enabling it in the Windows port.
Added a low-pass filter, and an option to enable it(CLI ports).
Added some code for lower-level MMC3 IRQ emulation. It isn't completed, and will not work properly as-is. I'm still playing around with it occasionally.
Fixed the sprite overflow flag(I think I fixed it), that was broken in an earlier pre-0.97 release.
Fixed support for iNES mapper 193.
Command line arguments "-pal" and "-gg" now take extra arguments(1/0) and are remembered in the configuration file.

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

I think I missed something..

September 23, 2003 - 2:23PM EST

Well, I saw it when it happened.. I updated the respective pages.. I just never posted anything on the main page about it. What am I talking about? Well, in case you hadn't heard, VisualBoy Advance is now at 1.6a, actually there is a 1.7 beta on Forgotten's site, but I haven't used it yet. Also ePSXe is now up to 1.6.0. Both of which are avaiable for download from here.. So, if you hadn't already picked them up elsewhere..

Jump over to the Playstation section for ePSXe.
Then, Hop on by the Gameboy section for VisualBoy Advance.

Another Ipher's ZSNES WIP Releases

September 8, 2003 - 5:44PM EST

Here comes another of Ipher's WIP releases of ZSNES, this one it dated September 6th. These things seem to come out ever week or so, and there really isn't a good way to list what's different in them since the last one, so if you really need to know what changed, head over to Ipher's webpage.

Consume the latest version of ZSNES WIP in the Super Nintendo Section!

FCE Ultra .97 Unsupported Release!

September 8, 2003 - 5:18PM EST

Well, catching up.. Xod wasn't kidding, he's done distributing his wonderous NES emulator FCE Ultra. Thankfully, it's not exactly dead. Small changes may be made here and there by Xod or others, and the source code will continue to be modified. Xod will not be doing any builds and won't be offering new binary (exe) files of the emulator. However, a kind soul named stainlessKnight in the FCE Ultra forums says he'll be compiling the latest sources into tidy executables for you and I to enjoy. Keep in mind that these may not be the most stable or frequent releases, but at least it's something.

I'll keep the latest stable release of FCE Ultra(.96) up on the NES page, and add the newest Unsupported releases up there with it.

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

Tell me how much I suck! Niobium