base_readme.txt 34 KB

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  1. #ifdef GP2X
  2. For help / comments / questions visit GP32X boards at:
  3. http://www.gp32x.com/board/
  4. #endif
  5. About
  6. -----
  7. This is yet another Megadrive / Genesis / Sega CD / Mega CD emulator, which
  8. was written having ARM-based handheld devices in mind (such as PDAs,
  9. smartphones and handheld consoles like GP2X and Gizmondo of course).
  10. The critical parts (renderer, 68K and Z80 cpu interpreters) and some other
  11. random code is written in ARM asm, other code is C. The base code originates
  12. from Dave's (fdave, finalburn) PicoDrive 0.30 for Pocket PC. The Sega/Mega CD
  13. code is roughly based on Stephane Dallongeville's Gens.
  14. How to make it run
  15. ------------------
  16. #ifdef GP2X
  17. Copy PicoDrive.gpe, pico940.bin and mmuhack.o to any place in your filesystem
  18. (all 3 files must be in the same directory) and run PicoDrive.gpe.
  19. Then load a ROM and enjoy! ROMs can be in .smd or .bin format and can be zipped.
  20. #endif
  21. #ifdef GIZ
  22. First make sure you have homebrew-enabled Service Pack installed. Then copy
  23. PicoDrive.exe and KGSDK.dll to any place in your filesystem (both files must
  24. be in the same directory) and run PicoDrive.exe using the launcher of your choice
  25. (some of them might require renaming PicoDrive.exe to Autorun.exe, placing it in
  26. the root of SD, etc). Then load a ROM and enjoy! ROMs can be placed anywhere, can
  27. be in .smd or .bin format and can be zipped (one ROM per zip).
  28. #endif
  29. If you have any problems (game does not boot, sound is glitchy, broken graphics),
  30. make sure you enable "Accurate timing", "Emulate Z80" and use "16bit accurate
  31. renderer". This way you will get the best compatibility this emulator can
  32. provide.
  33. For possible Sega/Mega CD problems, see "Other important stuff" section below.
  34. How to run Sega/Mega CD games
  35. -----------------------------
  36. To play any game, you need BIOS files. These files must be copied to the same
  37. directory as mentioned PicoDrive files. Files can be named as follows:
  38. US: us_scd1_9210.bin us_scd2_9306.bin SegaCDBIOS9303.bin
  39. EU: eu_mcd1_9210.bin eu_mcd2_9303.bin eu_mcd2_9306.bin
  40. JP: jp_mcd1_9112.bin jp_mcd1_9111.bin
  41. these files can also be zipped.
  42. The game must be dumped to ISO format, but BIN can be used too. If you want
  43. CD music, you must use ISO+mp3 files. Audio from BIN files won't be read at
  44. all. Also BIN files are usually larger, so it's better to use ISO. ISO+mp3
  45. files can be named similarly as for other emus.
  46. Here are some examples:
  47. SonicCD.iso data track
  48. SonicCD_02.mp3 audio track 1 (CD track 2)
  49. SonicCD_03.mp3
  50. ...
  51. Sonic the Hedgehog CD (US) - Track 01.iso
  52. Sonic the Hedgehog CD (US) - Track 02.mp3
  53. Sonic the Hedgehog CD (US) - Track 03.mp3
  54. ...
  55. ISO files can also be zipped (but not mp3 files, as they are already
  56. compressed). Note that this can cause very long loading times, which may
  57. take up to several minutes. File naming is similar as with uncompressed ISOs.
  58. Example:
  59. SonicCD.zip data track
  60. SonicCD_02.mp3 audio track 1 (CD track 2)
  61. SonicCD_03.mp3
  62. ...
  63. Other important stuff
  64. ---------------------
  65. * If your Genesis/MD game hangs or has glitches, this is most likely because
  66. "Accurate timing" option is not enabled, or 8bit fast renderer is used
  67. (try the 16 bit one), or Z80 is disabled in "advanced options".
  68. * Sega/Mega CD: If the game hangs after Sega logo, you may need to enable
  69. "better sync" and/or "Scale/Rot. fx" options, found in "Sega/Mega CD options"
  70. submenu, and then reset the game. Some other games may also require
  71. "CDDA audio" and "PCM audio" to work.
  72. #ifdef GP2X
  73. * Sega/Mega CD: if FMV game performance is poor, try adjusting
  74. "ReadAhead buffer" to something like 2048K.
  75. * When you use both GP2X CPUs, keep in mind that you can't overclock as high as
  76. when using ARM920 only. For example my GP2X when run singlecore can reach
  77. 280MHz, but with both cores it's about 250MHz. When overclocked too much,
  78. it may start hanging and producing random noise, or causing ARM940 crashes
  79. ("940 crashed" message displayed).
  80. #endif
  81. * PicoDrive is not a mp3 player, so all mp3s MUST be encoded at 44.1kHz stereo.
  82. Badly encoded mp3s can cause various kind of problems, like noises, incorrect
  83. playback speeds, not repeating music or even prevent game from starting.
  84. * Use lower bitrate for better performance (96 or 128kbps CBRs recommended).
  85. #ifdef GP2X
  86. * Due to internal implementation mp3s must not be larger that 12MB
  87. (12582912 bytes). Larger mp3s will not be fully loaded.
  88. * RAM timings option is good for dualcore operation (it is disabled by
  89. default because it doesn't work on every GP2X, so enable it in advanced
  90. options).
  91. #endif
  92. Configuration
  93. -------------
  94. @@0. "Renderer"
  95. #ifdef GP2X
  96. 8bit fast:
  97. This enables alternative heavily optimized tile-based renderer, which renders
  98. pixels not line-by-line (this is what accurate renderers do), but in 8x8 tiles,
  99. which is much faster. But because of the way it works it can't render any
  100. mid-frame image changes (raster effects), so it is useful only with some games.
  101. Other two are accurate line-based renderers. The 8bit is faster but does not
  102. run well with some games like Street Racer.
  103. #endif
  104. #ifdef GIZ
  105. This option allows to switch between 16bit and 8bit renderers. The 8bit one is
  106. a bit faster for some games, but not much, because colors still need to be
  107. converted to 16bit, as this is what Gizmondo requires. It also introduces
  108. graphics problems for some games, so it's best to use 16bit one.
  109. #endif
  110. #ifdef GIZ
  111. @@0. "Scanline mode"
  112. This option was designed to work around slow framebuffer access (the Gizmondo's
  113. main bottleneck) by drawing every other line (even nummbered lines only).
  114. This improves performance greatly, but looses detail.
  115. #endif
  116. #ifdef GP2X
  117. @@0. "Scaling"
  118. "hw" means GP2X hardware scaler, which causes no performance loss, but scaled
  119. image looks a bit blocky. "sw" means software scaling, which uses pixel
  120. averaging and may look a bit nicer, but blurry. Horizontal scaling is only for
  121. games which use so called "32 column mode" (256x224 or 256x240), and scales
  122. image width to 320 pixels. Vertical scales height to 240 for games which use
  123. height 224 (most of them).
  124. #endif
  125. #ifdef GIZ
  126. @@0. "Scale low res mode"
  127. The Genesis/Megadrive had several graphics modes, some of which were only 256
  128. pixels wide. This option scales their width to 320 by using simple
  129. pixel averaging scaling. Works only when 16bit renderer is enabled.
  130. #endif
  131. @@0. "Accurate timing"
  132. This adds some more emulation precision, but slows the emulation down. Without
  133. this option some games do not boot (Red Zone for example), others have sound
  134. problems. This options has no effect for Sega/Mega CD emulation.
  135. @@0. "Accurate sprites"
  136. This option improves emulation of sprite priorities, it also enables emulation
  137. of sprite collision bit. If you see one sprite being drawn incorrectly above
  138. the other (often seen in Sonic 3D Blast), you can enable this to fix the problem.
  139. This only works with the accurate renderers (see first option).
  140. @@0. "Show FPS"
  141. Self-explanatory. Format is XX/YY, where XX is the number of rendered frames and
  142. YY is the number of emulated frames per second.
  143. @@0. "Frameskip"
  144. How many frames to skip rendering before displaying another.
  145. "Auto" is recommended.
  146. @@0. "Enable sound"
  147. Does what it says. You must enable at least YM2612 or SN76496 (in advanced options,
  148. see below) for this to make sense (already done by default).
  149. @@0. "Sound Quality"
  150. Sound rate and stereo mode. Mono is not available in Sega/Mega CD mode.
  151. #ifdef GP2X
  152. If you want 44100Hz sound, it is recommended to enable the second core (next option).
  153. @@0. "Use ARM940 core for sound"
  154. This option causes PicoDrive to use ARM940T core (GP2X's second CPU) for sound
  155. (i.e. to generate YM2612 samples) to improve performance noticeably.
  156. #endif
  157. @@0. "6 button pad"
  158. If you enable this, games will think that 6 button gamepad is connected. If you
  159. go and reconfigure your keys, you will be able to bind X,Y,Z and mode actions.
  160. @@0. "Region"
  161. This option lets you force the game to think it is running on machine from the
  162. specified region, or just to set autodetection order. Also affects Sega/Mega CD.
  163. @@0. "Use SRAM/BRAM savestates"
  164. This will automatically read/write SRAM (or BRAM for Sega/Mega CD) savestates for
  165. games which are using them. SRAM is saved whenever you pause your game or exit the
  166. emulator.
  167. @@0. "Confirm savestate"
  168. Allows to enable confirmation on savestate saving (to prevent savestate overwrites),
  169. on loading (to prevent destroying current game progress), and on both or none, when
  170. using shortcut buttons (not menu) for saving/loading.
  171. @@0. "Save slot"
  172. This is a slot number to use for savestates. This can also be configured to be
  173. changed with a button (see "key configuration").
  174. #ifdef GP2X
  175. @@0. "GP2X CPU clocks"
  176. Here you can change clocks of both GP2X's CPUs. Larger values increase performance.
  177. There is no separate option for the second CPU because both CPUs use the same clock
  178. source. Setting this option to 200 will cause PicoDrive NOT to change GP2X's clocks
  179. at all (this is if you use external program to set clock).
  180. #endif
  181. @@0. "[Sega/Mega CD options]"
  182. Enters Sega/Mega CD options menu (see below).
  183. @@0. "[advanced options]"
  184. Enters advanced options menu (see below).
  185. @@0. "Save cfg as default"
  186. If you save your config here it will be loaded on next ROM load, but only if there
  187. is no game specific config saved (which will be loaded in that case).
  188. You can press left/right to switch to a different config profile.
  189. @@0. "Save cfg for current game only"
  190. Whenever you load current ROM again these settings will be loaded
  191. #ifdef GP2X
  192. (squidgehack and RAM settings will not take effect until emulator is restarted).
  193. #endif
  194. Advanced configuration
  195. ----------------------
  196. Enter [advanced options] in config menu to see these options.
  197. #ifdef GP2X
  198. @@1. "Gamma correction"
  199. Alters image gamma through GP2X hardware. Larger values make image to look brighter,
  200. lower - darker (default is 1.0).
  201. @@1. "A_SN's gamma curve"
  202. If this is enabled, different gamma adjustment method will be used (suggested by A_SN
  203. from gp32x boards). Basically it makes difference for dark and bright colors.
  204. @@1. "Perfect vsync"
  205. This one adjusts the LCD refresh rate to better match game's refresh rate and starts
  206. synchronizing rendering with it. Should make scrolling smoother and eliminate tearing.
  207. #endif
  208. @@1. "Emulate Z80"
  209. Enables emulation of Z80 chip, which was mostly used to drive the other sound chips.
  210. Some games do complex sync with it, so you must enable it even if you don't use
  211. sound to be able to play them.
  212. @@1. "Emulate YM2612 (FM)"
  213. This enables emulation of six-channel FM sound synthesizer chip, which was used to
  214. produce sound effects and music.
  215. @@1. "Emulate SN76496 (PSG)"
  216. This enables emulation of additional sound chip for additional effects.
  217. Note: if you change sound settings AFTER loading a ROM, you may need to reset
  218. game to get sound. This is because most games initialize sound chips on
  219. startup, and this data is lost when sound chips are being enabled/disabled.
  220. #ifdef GIZ
  221. @@1. "Double buffering"
  222. Draws the display to offscreen buffer, and flips it with visible one when done.
  223. Unfortunately this causes serious tearing, unless v-sync is used (next option).
  224. @@1. "Wait for V-sync"
  225. Waits for vertical sync before drawing (or flipping buffers, if previous option
  226. is enabled). Emulation is stopped while waiting, so this causes large performance
  227. hit.
  228. #endif
  229. @@1. "gzip savestates"
  230. This will always apply gzip compression on your savestates, allowing you to
  231. save some space and load/save time.
  232. @@1. "Don't save last used ROM"
  233. This will disable writing last used ROM to config on exit (what might cause SD
  234. card corruption according to DaveC).
  235. #ifdef GP2X
  236. @@1. "craigix's RAM timings"
  237. This overclocks the GP2X RAM chips, but may cause instability. Recommended if you
  238. use the second core for sound. Needs emulator restart to take effect.
  239. See this thread:
  240. http://www.gp32x.com/board/index.php?showtopic=32319
  241. @@1. "squidgehack"
  242. Well known way to improve the GP2X performance. You must restart the emulator
  243. for the change of this option to take effect.
  244. #endif
  245. Sega/Mega CD options
  246. --------------------
  247. @@2,@@2,@@2. "USA/EUR/JAP BIOS"
  248. These options just show if your BIOS files were correctly detected by the
  249. emulator (it shows the filename it is using). If so, you can press Start to
  250. test your BIOS.
  251. @@2. "CD LEDs"
  252. The Sega/Mega CD unit had two blinking LEDs (red and green) on it. This option
  253. will display them on top-left corner of the screen.
  254. @@2. "CDDA audio (using mp3s)"
  255. This option enables CD audio playback.
  256. @@2. "PCM audio"
  257. This enables 8 channel PCM sound source. It is required for some games to run,
  258. because they monitor state of this audio chip.
  259. @@2. "ReadAhead buffer"
  260. #ifdef GP2X
  261. This option is for dealing with slow SD card access in GP2X, which makes FMV
  262. games unplayable. It will allow emulator not to access SD card for longer periods
  263. of time, but it will take more time to fill the buffer.
  264. #endif
  265. #ifdef GIZ
  266. This option can prefetch more data from the CD then read by the game - not really
  267. useful for Gizmondo (this is a workaround for SD access problems on GP2X port).
  268. #endif
  269. @@2. "Save RAM cart"
  270. Here you can enable 64K RAM cart. Format it in BIOS if you do.
  271. @@2. "Scale/Rot. fx"
  272. The Sega/Mega CD had scaling/rotation chip, which allows effects similar to
  273. "Mode 7" effects in SNES. Unfortunately emulating it is slow, and very few games
  274. used it, so it's better to disable this option, unless game really needs it.
  275. @@2. "Better sync"
  276. This option is similar to "Perfect synchro" in Gens. Some games require it to run,
  277. for example most (all?) Wolfteam games, and some other ones. Don't use it for
  278. games which don't need it, it will just slow them down.
  279. Key configuration
  280. -----------------
  281. Select "Configure controls" from the main menu. Then select "Player 1" and you will
  282. see two columns. The left column lists names of Genesis/MD controller buttons, and
  283. #ifdef GP2X
  284. the right GP2X ones, which are assigned to them. If you bind 2 different GP2X buttons
  285. #endif
  286. #ifdef GIZ
  287. the right Giz ones, which are assigned to them. If you bind 2 different Giz buttons
  288. #endif
  289. to the same action, you will get a combo (which means that you will have to press
  290. both buttons for that action to happen.
  291. Cheat support
  292. -------------
  293. To use GG/patch codes, you must type them into your favorite text editor, one
  294. per line. Comments may follow code after a whitespace. Only GameGenie and
  295. Genecyst patch formats are supported.
  296. Examples:
  297. Genecyst patch (this example is for Sonic):
  298. 00334A:0005 Start with five lives
  299. 012D24:0001 Keep invincibility until end of stage
  300. 009C76:5478 each ring worth 2
  301. 009C76:5678 each ring worth 3
  302. ...
  303. Game Genie patch (for Sonic 2):
  304. ACLA-ATD4 Hidden palace instead of death egg in level select
  305. ...
  306. Both GG and patch codes can be mixed in one file.
  307. When the file is ready, name it just like your ROM file, but with additional
  308. .pat extension, making sure that case matches.
  309. Examples:
  310. ROM: Sonic.zip
  311. PATCH FILE: Sonic.zip.pat
  312. ROM: Sonic 2.bin
  313. PATCH FILE: Sonic 2.bin.pat
  314. Put the file into your ROMs directory. Then load the .pat file as you would
  315. a ROM. Then Cheat Menu Option should appear in main menu.
  316. What is emulated?
  317. -----------------
  318. Genesis/MegaDrive:
  319. main 68k @ 7.6MHz: yes, Cyclone core
  320. z80 @ 3.6MHz: yes, DrZ80 core
  321. VDP: yes, except some quirks not used by games
  322. YM2612 FM: yes, optimized MAME core
  323. SN76489 PSG: yes, MAME core
  324. Sega/Mega CD:
  325. another 68k @ 12.5MHz: yes, Cyclone too
  326. gfx scaling/rotation chip (custom ASIC): yes
  327. PCM sound source: yes
  328. CD-ROM controller: yes (mostly)
  329. bram (internal backup RAM): yes
  330. Problems / limitations
  331. ----------------------
  332. * 32x and SVP are not emulated.
  333. * Various VDP quirks (window bug, scroll size 2, etc.) are not emulated,
  334. as very few games use this (if any at all).
  335. * Some games don't work or have glitches because of inaccurate timing and sync
  336. between the emulated chips.
  337. Credits
  338. -------
  339. This emulator uses code from these people/projects:
  340. notaz
  341. GP2X, UIQ, Gizmondo ports, Cyclone 68000 hacks,
  342. lots of additional coding (see changelog).
  343. Homepage: http://notaz.gp2x.de/
  344. Dave
  345. Cyclone 68000 core, Pico emulation library
  346. Homepage: http://www.finalburn.com/
  347. Reesy & FluBBa
  348. DrZ80, the Z80 emulator written in ARM assembly.
  349. Homepage: http://reesy.gp32x.de/
  350. Tatsuyuki Satoh, Jarek Burczynski, MultiArcadeMachineEmulator development
  351. software implementation of Yamaha FM sound generator
  352. MultiArcadeMachineEmulator (MAME) development
  353. Texas Instruments SN76489 / SN76496 programmable tone /noise generator
  354. Homepage: http://www.mame.net/
  355. Stephane Dallongeville
  356. Gens, MD/Mega CD/32X emulator. Most Sega CD code is based on this emu.
  357. Helix community
  358. Helix mp3 decoder
  359. Additional thanks
  360. -----------------
  361. * Charles MacDonald (http://cgfm2.emuviews.com/) for old but still very useful
  362. info about genesis hardware.
  363. * Steve Snake for all that he has done for Genesis emulation scene.
  364. * Bart Trzynadlowski for his SSFII and 68000 docs.
  365. * Haze for his research (http://haze.mameworld.info).
  366. * Mark and Jean-loup for zlib library.
  367. * ketchupgun for the skin.
  368. #ifdef GP2X
  369. * rlyeh and all the other people behind the minimal library.
  370. * Squidge for his famous squidgehack(tm).
  371. * Dzz for his ARM940 sample code.
  372. * GnoStiC & Puck2099 for USB joystick support.
  373. * Hermes PS2R, god_at_hell for the CpuCtrl library.
  374. * A_SN for his gamma code.
  375. * craigix for supplying the GP2X hardware and making this port possible.
  376. * Alex for the icon.
  377. * All the people from gp32x boards for their support.
  378. #endif
  379. #ifdef GIZ
  380. * Kingcdr's for the SDK and Reesy for the DLL and sound code.
  381. * jens.l for supplying the Gizmondo hardware and making this port possible.
  382. #endif
  383. #ifdef UIQ
  384. * Peter van Sebille for his various open-source Symbian projects to learn from.
  385. * Steve Fischer for his open-source Motorola projects.
  386. * The development team behind "Symbian GCC Improvement Project"
  387. (http://www.inf.u-szeged.hu/symbian-gcc/) for their updated pre-SymbianOS9
  388. compile tools.
  389. * AnotherGuest for all his Symbian stuff and support.
  390. * Inder for the icons.
  391. #endif
  392. * Anyone else I forgot. You know who you are.
  393. Changelog
  394. ---------
  395. 1.34
  396. + Gizmondo port added.
  397. + Some new optimizations in memory handlers, and for shadow/hilight mode.
  398. + Added some hacks to make more games work without enabling "accurate timing".
  399. * Adjusted timing for "accurate timing" mode and added preliminary VDP FIFO
  400. emulation. Fixes Double Dragon 2, tearing in Chaos Engine and some other games.
  401. * Fixed a few games not having sound at startup.
  402. * Updated serial EEPROM code to support more games. Thanks to EkeEke for
  403. providing info about additional EEPROM types and game mappers.
  404. * The above change fixed hang of NBA Jam.
  405. * Minor adjustments to control configurator.
  406. 1.33
  407. * Updated Cyclone core to 0.0088.
  408. + Added A r k's usbjoy fix.
  409. + Added "perfect vsync" option, which adjusts GP2X LCD refresh rate and syncs
  410. emulation to it to eliminate tearing and ensure smoothest scrolling possible.
  411. + Added an option to use A_SN's camma curve for gamma correction (improves dark
  412. and bright color display for mk2s).
  413. * Sometimes stray sounds were played after loading a savestate. Fixed.
  414. * Fixed a problem where >6MB mp3s were corrupted in memory (sound glitches in
  415. Snatcher).
  416. * PD no longer overwrites video player code in memory, video player now can be
  417. used after exiting PicoDrive.
  418. * Fixed a bug which was causing Sonic 3 code to deadlock in some rare conditions
  419. if "accurate timing" was not enabled.
  420. * Fixed support for large hacked ROMs like "Ultimate Mortal Kombat Trilogy".
  421. Upto 10MB hacked ROMs are supported now.
  422. + Config profiles added (press left/right when saving config).
  423. * Changed key configuration behavior to the one from gpfce (should be more
  424. intuitive).
  425. + Added some skinning capabilities to the menu system with default skin by
  426. ketchupgun. Delete skin directory if you want old behaviour.
  427. * Some other little tweaks I forgot about.
  428. 1.32
  429. + Added some new scaling options.
  430. + Added ability to reload CD images while game is running (needed for games
  431. with multiple CDs, like Night Trap).
  432. + Added RAM cart emulation.
  433. * Fixed DMA timing emulation (caused lock-ups for some genesis games).
  434. * Idle loop detection was picking up wrong code and causing glitches, fixed.
  435. * The ym2612 code on 940 now can handle multiple updates per frame
  436. (fixes Thunger Force III "seiren" level drums for example).
  437. * Memory handlers were ignoring some writes to PSG chip, fixed (missing sounds in
  438. Popful Mail, Silpheed).
  439. * Improved z80 timing, should fix some sound problems.
  440. * Fixed a bug with sram register (fixes Phantasy Star 4).
  441. * ROM loader was incorrectly identifying some ROMs as invalid. Fixed.
  442. * Added code for PRG ram write protection register (Dungeon Explorer).
  443. * The memory mode register change in 1.31 was unsafe and caused some glitches in
  444. AH-3 Thunderstrike. Fixed.
  445. * Fixed a file descriptor leak.
  446. * Updated documentation, added Gmenu2x manual.
  447. 1.31
  448. * Changed the way memory mode register is read (fixes Lunar 2, broken in 1.30).
  449. * Fixed TAS opcode on sub-68k side (fixes Batman games).
  450. * File browser now filters out mp3s, saves and some other files, which are not ROMS.
  451. 1.30
  452. + ISO files now can be zipped. Note that this causes VERY long loading times.
  453. + Added data pre-buffering support, this allows to reduce frequency of short pauses
  454. in FMV games (caused by SD access), but makes those pauses longer.
  455. * Fixed PCM DMA transfers (intro FMV in Popful Mail).
  456. + Properly implemented "decode" data transformation (Jaguar XJ220).
  457. * Integrated "better sync" code into cyclone code, what made this mode much faster.
  458. * Fixed a bug related to game specific config saving.
  459. * Frameskipper was skipping sound processing, what caused some audio desyncs. Fixed.
  460. * Fixed reset not working for some games.
  461. + New assembly optimized memory handlers for CD (gives at least a few fps).
  462. Also re-enabled all optimizations from 0.964 release.
  463. + New idle-loop detection code for sub-68k. Speeds up at least a few games.
  464. 1.201
  465. + Added basic cheat support (GameGenie and Genecyst patches).
  466. 1.20
  467. * Fixed a long-standing problem in audio mixing code which caused slight distortions
  468. at lower sample rates.
  469. * Changed the way 920 and 940 communicates (again), should be more reliable and give
  470. slight performance increase.
  471. * Some optimizations in audio mixing code.
  472. * Some menu changes (background added, smaller font in ROM browser, savestate loader
  473. now can select slots).
  474. + 1M mode DMA transfers implemented (used by FMV games like Night Trap and Sewer Shark).
  475. + Games now can run code from WORD RAM in 1M mode (fixes Adventures of Willy Beamish).
  476. + "Cell arrange" address mapping is now emulated (Heart of the alien).
  477. + "Color numeric operation" is now emulated (text in Lunar 2, Silpheed intro graphics).
  478. + "Better sync" option added (prevents some games from hanging).
  479. 1.14
  480. + Region autodetection now can be customized.
  481. * When CDDA music tracks changed, old buffer contents were incorrectly played. Fixed.
  482. * BRAM is now automatically formatted (no need to enter BIOS menu and format any more).
  483. * Games now can be reset, CDDA music no longer breaks after loading another ISO.
  484. * Fixed a race condition between 920 and 940 which sometimes caused CDDA music not to play.
  485. + Savestates implemented for Sega/Mega CD.
  486. + PCM sound added.
  487. * Some mixer code rewritten in asm. 22kHz and 11kHz sound rates are now supported in
  488. Mega CD mode (but mp3s must still be 44kHz stereo).
  489. + Timer emulation added.
  490. * CDC DMA tansfers fixed. Snatcher and probably some more games now boot.
  491. * 2M word RAM -> VDP transfers fixed, no more corruption in Ecco and some other games.
  492. 1.10
  493. + GP2X: Added experimental Sega CD support.
  494. + GP2X: Added partial gmv movie playback support.
  495. 0.964
  496. * GP2X: Fixed a sound buffer underflow issue on lower sample rate modes, which was
  497. happening for NTSC games and causing sound clicks.
  498. * GP2X: Redone key config to better support USB joysticks (now multiple joysticks
  499. should be useable and configurable).
  500. + GP2X: Added save confirmation option.
  501. + GP2X: Added 940 CPU crash detection.
  502. + ALL: UIQ3 port added.
  503. 0.963
  504. * GP2X: Gamma-reset-on-entering-menu bug fixed.
  505. * GP2X: Recompiled PicoDrive with gcc profiling option set as described here:
  506. http://www.gp32x.com/board/index.php?showtopic=28490
  507. 0.962
  508. * GP2X: Fixed an issue with incorrect sounds in some games when dualcore operation
  509. was enabled (for example punch sound in SOR).
  510. * GP2X: Limited max volume to 90, because higher values often cause distortions.
  511. * GP2X: Fixed a bug with lower res scaling.
  512. * GP2X: Gamma is now reset on exit.
  513. 0.96
  514. * ALL: Severely optimized MAME's YM2612 core, part of it is now rewritten in asm.
  515. + GP2X: The YM2612's code now can be run in GP2X's ARM940T CPU, what causes large
  516. performance increase.
  517. * ALL: Accurate renderers are slightly faster now.
  518. + GP2X: Using quadruple buffering instead of doublebuffer now, also updated
  519. framelimitter, this should eliminate some scrolling and tearing problems.
  520. * GP2X: Fixed some flickering issues of 8bit accurate renderer.
  521. + GP2X: craigix's RAM timings now can be enabled in the menu (see advanced options).
  522. + GP2X: Added ability to save config for specific games only.
  523. + GP2X: Gamma control added (using GP2X's hardware capabilities for this).
  524. * GP2X: Volume keys are now configurable.
  525. + GP2X: GnoStiC added USB joystick support, I made it possible to use it for
  526. player 2 control (currently untested).
  527. * GP2X: squidgehack is now applied through kernel module (cleaner way).
  528. 0.95
  529. * ALL: Fixed a bug in sprite renderer which was causing slowdowns for some games.
  530. + GP2X: Added command line support
  531. + GP2X: Added optional hardware scaling for lower-res games like Shining Force.
  532. * ALL: Sound chips are now sampled 2 times per frame. This fixed some games which
  533. had missing sounds (Vectorman 2 1st level, Thunder Force 3 water level,
  534. etc.).
  535. + ALL: Added another accurate 8-bit renderer which is slightly faster and made it
  536. default.
  537. 0.945
  538. + GP2X: Added frame limiter for frameskipped modes.
  539. * GP2X: Increased brightness a bit (unused pixel bits now also contain data).
  540. * GP2X: Suidgehack was not applied correctly (was applied before allocating some
  541. high memory and had no effect).
  542. 0.94
  543. + Added GP2X port.
  544. * Improved interrupt timing, Mazin Saga and Burning Force now works.
  545. * Rewritten renderer code to better suit GP2X, should be faster on other
  546. ports too.
  547. + Added support for banking used by 12-in-1 and 4-in-1 ROMs (thanks Haze).
  548. + Added some protection device faking, used by some unlicensed games like
  549. Super Bubble Bobble, King of Fighters, Elf Wor, ... (thanks to Haze again)
  550. + Added primitive Virtua Racing SVP faking, so menus can be seen now.
  551. 0.93
  552. * Fixed a problem with P900/P910 key configuration in FC mode.
  553. * Improved shadow/hilight mode emulation. Still not perfect, but should be
  554. enough for most games.
  555. + Save state slots added.
  556. + Region selector added.
  557. 0.92
  558. VDP changes:
  559. * VDP emulation is now more accurate (fixes flickering in Chase HQ II,
  560. Super Hang-On and some other problems in other games).
  561. * HV counter emulation is now much more accurate. Fixes the Asterix games,
  562. line in Road Rash 3, etc.
  563. * Minor sprite and layer scroll masking bugs fixed.
  564. + Added partial interlace mode renderer (Sonic 2 vs mode)
  565. * Fixed a crash in both renderers when certain size window layers were used.
  566. + Added emulation of shadow/hilight operator sprites. Other shadow/hilight
  567. effects are still unemulated.
  568. + Sprite emulation is more accurate, sprite limit is emulated.
  569. + Added "accurate sprites" option, which always draws sprites in correct
  570. order and emulates sprite collision bit, but is significantly slower.
  571. Emulation changes:
  572. * Improved interrupt handling, added deferred interrupt emulation
  573. (Lemmings, etc).
  574. + Added serial EEPROM SRAM support (Wonder Boy in Monster World,
  575. Megaman - The Wily Wars and many EA sports games like NBA Jam).
  576. + Implemented ROM banking for Super Street Fighter II - The New Challengers
  577. * Updated to the latest version of DrZ80 core, integrated memory handlers
  578. in it for better performance. A noticeable performance increase, but save
  579. states may not work from the previous version (you can only use them with
  580. sound disabled in that case).
  581. + SRAM word read handler was using incorrect byte order, fixed.
  582. Changes in Cyclone 0.0086:
  583. + Added missing CHK opcode handler (used by SeaQuest DSV).
  584. + Added missing TAS opcode handler (Gargoyles,Bubba N Stix,...). As in real genesis,
  585. memory write-back phase is ignored (but can be enabled in config.h if needed).
  586. + Added missing NBCD and TRAPV opcode handlers.
  587. + Added missing addressing mode for CMP/EOR.
  588. + Added some minor optimizations.
  589. - Removed 216 handlers for 2927 opcodes which were generated for invalid addressing modes.
  590. + Fixed flags for ASL, NEG, NEGX, DIVU, ADDX, SUBX, ROXR.
  591. + Bugs fixed in MOVEP, LINK, ADDQ, DIVS handlers.
  592. * Undocumented flags for CHK, ABCD, SBCD and NBCD are now emulated the same way as in Musashi.
  593. + Added Uninitialized Interrupt emulation.
  594. + Altered timing for about half of opcodes to match Musashi's.
  595. 0.80
  596. * Nearly all VDP code was rewritten in ARM asm. Gives ~10-25% performance
  597. increase (depends on game).
  598. * Optimized 32-column renderer not to render tiles offscreen, games which
  599. use 32-column display (like Shining Force) run ~50% faster.
  600. + Added new "Alternative renderer", which gives another ~30-45% performance
  601. increase (in addition to mentioned above), but works only with some games,
  602. because it is missing some features (it uses tile-based renderering
  603. instead of default line-based and disables H-ints).
  604. + Added "fit2" display mode for all FC gamers. It always uses 208x146 for
  605. P800 and 208x208 for all other phones.
  606. + Added volume control for Motorolas (experimental).
  607. VDP changes:
  608. + Added support for vertical window (used by Vapor Trail, Mercs, GRIND
  609. Stormer and others).
  610. + Added sprite masking (hiding), adds some speed.
  611. + Added preliminary H counter emulation. Comix Zone and Sonic 3D Blast
  612. special stage are now playable.
  613. + Added column based vertical scrolling (Gunstar Heroes battleship level,
  614. Sonic and Knuckles lava boss, etc).
  615. Emulation changes:
  616. + Re-added and improved Z80 faking when Z80 is disabled. Many games now can
  617. be played without enabling Z80 (Lost Vikings, Syndicate, etc), but some
  618. still need it (International Superstar Soccer Deluxe).
  619. * Improved ym2612 timers, Outrun music plays at correct speed, voices in
  620. Earthworm Jim play better, more games play sound.
  621. * I/O registers now remember their values (needed for Pirates! Gold)
  622. + Added support for 6 button pad.
  623. Changes in Cyclone 0.0083wip:
  624. + Added missing CHK opcode (used by SeaQuest DSV).
  625. + Added missing TAS opcode (Gargoyles). As in real genesis, write-back phase
  626. is ignored (but is enabled for other systems).
  627. Backported stuff from Snes9x:
  628. * Fixed Pxxx jog up/down which were not working in game.
  629. + Added an option to gzip save states to save space.
  630. + The emulator now pauses whenever it is loosing focus, so it will now pause
  631. when alarm/ponecall/battery low/... windows come up.
  632. - Removed 'pause on phonecall' feature, as it is no longer needed.
  633. + Video fix for asian A1000s.
  634. 0.70
  635. * Started using tools from "Symbian GCC Improvement Project", which give
  636. considerable speed increase (~4fps in "center 90" mode).
  637. * Rewrote some drawing routines in ARM assembly (gives ~6 more fps in
  638. "center 90" mode).
  639. * Minor improvement to 0 and 180 "fit" modes. Now they look slightly better
  640. and are faster.
  641. * Minor stability improvements (emulator is less likely to crash).
  642. + Added some background for OSD text for better readability.
  643. + Added Pal/NTSC detection. This is needed for proper sound speed.
  644. + Implemented Reesy's DrZ80 Z80 emu. Made some changes to it with hope to make
  645. it faster.
  646. + Implemented ym2612 emu from the MAME project. Runs well but sometimes sounds
  647. a bit weird. Could be a little faster, so made some changes too.
  648. + Implemented SN76489 emu from the MAME project.
  649. + Added two separate sound output methods (mediaserver and cmaudiofb) with
  650. autodetection (needs testing).
  651. * Fixed VDP DMA fill emulation (as described in Charles MacDonald's docs),
  652. fixes Contra and some other games.
  653. 0.301
  654. Launcher:
  655. * Launcher now starts emulation process from current directory,
  656. not from hardcoded paths.
  657. * Improved 'pause on call' feature, should hopefully work with Motorola phones.
  658. 0.30
  659. Initial release.
  660. Disclaimer
  661. ----------
  662. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
  663. AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
  664. IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
  665. ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE
  666. LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
  667. CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
  668. SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
  669. INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
  670. CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
  671. ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
  672. POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
  673. SEGA/Genesis/MegaDrive/SEGA-CD/Mega-CD/32X are trademarks of
  674. Sega Enterprises Ltd.