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Sunday, January 31, 1999

Nintendo
(posted by Zoop - 20:53)
 
About one month about it's previous release, uNESsential was updated to 0.20. This version introduces scrolling and palette emulation, and also the much-needed frameskipping feature (uNESsential is a Quick Basic program, remember :-). The updated source code will be available before the end of the week.

Also, if you were wondering why NESem 0.1 didn't ran on your machine, it was because of the missing FONT.DAT file (also shipped with uNESsential). New packages with the missing file are now available.

Links: NESem Homepage - NESem 0.1 [56 kb] - Source Code [23 kb]

Various
(posted by Zoop - 01:05)
 
Some good news from the RockNES front: work on the emulator has been resumed. On the same time's, Nincest 64's authors announced the cancelling of the project. To quote Zophar's Domain : This is another casualty in what will no doubt be coined as "The UltraHLE effect".

Saturday, January 30, 1999

Nintendo
(posted by Zoop - 12:19)
 
New Nintendo emulator debuts ! Akilla (also author of NES4PC) has released a brand new Nintendo emulator for DOS, made in Quick Basic and called NESem. It's pretty fast (for a Basic program, heh) and features full palette and joypad emulation. So far Ballon Force should be perfectly working. Another good thing is that the sources are freely available (which is definitively a good idea).

Links: NESem Homepage - NESem 0.1 [56 kb] - Source Code [23 kb]

Nintendo
(posted by Zoop - 12:01)
 
RockNES to be dropped ? After recent Nyef departure and the release of UltraHLE two days ago, Fx3 (the main guy behind RockNES) has posted a statement about the future of his emulator. Yet it's undecided if the project with continue or not, but we'll post more informations as they are available. Thanks to Adrox for the e-mail.

Nintendo 64
(posted by Shion - 2:41)
 
At the author's request, we've removed Ultra HLE 1.0.0 from the site. Please do not bug any of us for the file. Try visiting the homepage instead.

Friday, January 29, 1999

Gameboy
(posted by lilac - 20:05)
 
BouKiChi has updated his Gameboy emulator, DBoy, to version 0.40a, which I beleive is a bugfix to improve game compatibility that dropped after the introduction of Super Gameboy emulation in version 0.40.

Links: DBoy Homepage - DBoy 0.40a [68 kb]

Thursday, January 28, 1999

Master System
(posted by Zoop - 22:55)
 
Ricardo Bittencourt, author of BrSMS has recently posted on his website some screenshots about the next version of his emulator. It will features an homemade filter called Parrot, highly improving the graphical aspect of the games. While we are on a bad day, this is the way I used to like emulation: replaying and improving old games. Not playing the ones that were released two weeks ago (yes, I'm talking of Zelda 64). Check our messageboard if you are interested in debating about this subject.

Nintendo 64
(posted by lilac - 22:37)
 
True Nintendo 64 emulation is now possible with the mysterious Next generation emulator just released. The system specs are listed below and yes it does run several games, however there is more pertinent things to discuss. All of us in the emulation world are shooting ourselves in the feet with these next-gen emulators and dumping ROMs that companies still make most of thier money off of. Not only is this wrong in the spirit of emulation but it attracts negative attention from Sony, Nintendo, and the IDSA. Whenever a serious threat to a video game manufactuer's source of income is created, that company does its best to erradicate it. I can garuntee Nintendo will fight this emulator until it can no longer be distributed and then they will turn thier eyes toward thier older systems: Super Nintendo, Gameboy, Nintendo, etc. Zoop and I both agree this emulators release is BAD for emulation. We have putit on our webpage so that you will not bug us for it, however we condemn it and any site that beleives this is a good thing. Retrogames, Emulators Unlimited, and others should be aware of the future implications this emulator may bring.

Links: UltraHLE Homepage - UltraHLE 1.0.0 [176 kb]

Next Generation
(posted by Zoop - 18:40)
 
Since a few days ago everyone is speculating about a new "Next Generation" emulator to be released soon. From what we know, it will emulates one of these three systems: Saturn, Playstation or Nintendo 64. I cannot tell much myself, but the Fox of Emulation Unlimited (which you should check, by the way) has posted a message on Retrogames about it:

"
1. No its not Sardu's (ie Nesticle64)
2. No its not slow as hell.
3. You'll need a 3dfx card for first release. Sorry :(
4. It will be released at http://www.emuunlim.com
5. Release date : ??/01/99 :)
Emulation will never be the same heh.
"

Three days left.. too bad I don't like Nintendo 64. Although this kind of emulator is quite a good (technical) performance, I don't see a point in playing recent games using emulators. They should better release it as a Class product.

Emulation in the Media
(posted by Roni - 00:30)
 
I was notified by JagXLEMU today that there was an article in Electronic Gaming Monthly (February Issue) regarding the incident at Dave's Classics. The article, entitled "Putting the Brakes on Emulation", goes into a brief detail about ROMs, the IDSA, and classic gaming. A quote from Kathlene Karg of the IDSA states: "The IDSA is not trying to get rid of classic gaming, what we're trying to do is protect the rights and investments that people have in these games." My question is, What is classic gaming without the games?

Wednesday, January 27, 1999

Site
(posted by Roni - 08:40)
 
Hello, I'm going to be helping out with current emulator releases for awhile here. In case you don't know yet, I do most of my emu related work for Archaic Ruins, where I am a maintainer also. I'm new to the way things work here so it may take me a day or two to finally figure out what I'm doing. But, I told Zoop I would help out if he needed it, so here I am! Glad to be aboard and I hope I can be of some use.

Various
(posted by Puyolin - 03:34)
 
I was on #retrogamers last night and we were talking about a new emulation magazine coming soon. You might have already seen the news posted at Retrogames but if you haven't, here's the scoop: The new magazine, <TITLE HERE> will feature several things like reviews of games, editorials, emulator reviews, support, etc. The only problem is is that there is no title selected yet for this magazine (hence the "TITLE HERE"), which is where you might come in handy. There is a contest being held, hosted by Emulation World to decide a name for the magazine. The only drawback is that the title can't have the word EMU in it. Plus, it must have some sort of subtitle like "EMUMAG: Bringing back the oldies". The winner will recieve a free magazine subscription and a free game of your choice (up to $100)! E-mail your entries to contest@emulationworld.com. Good luck! Sources: Retrogames and #retrogamers

Tuesday, January 26, 1999

Neo Geo
(posted by Gav - 01:55)
 
Danji has made another welcome update, now including Sidewinder and Snespad support, be sure to update your copy now.

Links: Danji Homepage - Danji [246 kb]

Monday, January 25, 1999

SMS / NES / PCE
(posted by Zoop - 21:29)
 
Nyef has updated his page with the usual new version of DarcNES, a multi console emulator for Linux and DOS. The latest sources fixes the status bar bug in Super Mario 3 (Nintendo) and a scrolling bug in Master System & Game Gear emulation. As for PC Engine emulation, it's still being worked so don't expect to see games running (yet).

Nintendo
(posted by Puyolin - 05:25)
 
A new shareware version of Pasofami '99 was released. This emulator uses DirectX. The text files included are in Japanese so I can't really say what's new ;)

Sunday, January 24, 1999

Arcade
(posted by Zoop - 21:51)
 
MAME 0.35 beta 2 released ! Unlike most previous versions, this one is a major update, as about fifteen new games were added (a bunch of clones, too), and as usual, even more games have better graphics and/or sound. Here is a quick list of changes:

New games:
  • Radical Radial [Nicola Salmoria]
  • Cosmic Guerilla [Mike Coates]
  • Pig Newton [Mike Balfour]
  • Head On 2 [Nicola Salmoria]
  • Canyon Bomber [Brad Oliver]
  • Sky Diver [Brad Oliver]
  • Gals Panic [Nicola Salmoria]
  • Super Real Darwin (not working) [Bryan McPhail]
  • Lode Runner II (also renamed ldrun2p -> ldrun4) [Nicola Salmoria]
  • Lode Runner III [Nicola Salmoria]
  • Aero Fighters [Nicola Salmoria]
  • Three Wonders (preliminary) [Paul Leaman]
  • Street Fighter II' Champion Edition [Paul Leaman]
  • Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting [Paul Leaman]
  • Lot Lot [Nicola Salmoria]
  • Atari Baseball [Brad Oliver]
  • Ikari Warriors [Jarek Parchanski]
  • Victory Road [Jarek Parchanski]
Improved graphics:
  • Fixed priorities in Bad Dudes / Dragon Ninja, and Sly Spy
  • Title screen in P.O.W.
  • Fixed gaps in the start/finish line in Neo Drift Out.
  • Preliminary support for raster effects in Neo Geo games (line-per-line scrolling, as used in Super Sidekicks games)
  • More accurate colors in Galivan
  • Improved row scrolling in Street Fighter 2
  • Fixed sprites disappearing abruptly in TMNT end of game credits.
  • Fixed the green and white flags in Championship Sprint / Super Sprint, and maybe other Atari System 2 sprites as well.
  • Fixed sprite flipping in Jack the Giant Killer end sequence.
  • Fixed (?) the title in Galaxian Part X
  • Accurate colors in Mariner.
Improved sound:
  • Added support for the 7751 sound chip in Monster Bash. Two samples are still needed (discrete circuits).
  • Good progress in sound emulation of the Exidy games (Venture, Pepper 2, etc.)
  • Fixed the YM2203 in Ghost Busters.
  • Speech in TMNT. Sound should now be 100% complete.
  • uPD7759 support in Golden Axe, Shinobi, Passshtb, Alien Syndrome, Altered Beast.
  • Emulated speech in Sinistar. Samples are no longer used.
  • Sound in The Main Event.
  • Sound fade timer ports in the CPS1 games (see Willow's Test mode for an example).
Fixes:
  • Emulated the protection in Seicross, Radical Radial, Frisky Tom. However Frisky Tom is still not playable (hangs when you fall).
  • The hang in Tapper should REALLY be fixed this time.
  • Emulated the protection in Knights of the Round and Carrier Air Wing.
And last but not least, a brand new 68000 CPU core was included in this version, so you can expect a visible speed increase in most recent games. Enjoy ! :-)

Links: MAME Homepage - MAME 0.35b2 for DOS [1259 kb]

Turbo-Grafx 16 / PC Engine
(posted by Puyolin - 01:05)
 
Yet another new version of this excellent Turbo-Grafx 16 / PC Engine emulator has been released today. Hu6280 updates to version 1.89, which fixes a bug in video_status emulation and fixed a bug in DMA emulation, among other things. Again, this included the freeware ROM, Jamanoid!

Links: Hu6280 Homepage - Hu6280 1.89 [332 kb]

Site
(posted by Puyolin - 01:00)
 
Hi, I'm another new addition to the Emulation Camp staff :) I'm Puyolin and I'll be handling news updates and such. Below you can find a link to my homepage, Chris' Underworld.

Saturday, January 23, 1999

Master System
(posted by Zoop - 22:55)
 
As usual, Ricardo Bittencourt has released the weekly update to BrSMS, his Sega 8-Bits emulator for DOS. This version fixes SRAM emulation (Phantasy Star and Y's are now playable), improves the interrupt code (Fantasy Zone now runs), and introduces various other fixes (Primal Rage GG is now playable). The other good news is that version 1.16 is available for both registered and non-registered users at the same time.

Links: BrSMS Homepage - BrSMS 1.16r [95 kb]

Site
(posted by PiR2 - 22:01)
 
I'd like to introduce a new member, myself: PiR2. I'll keep (at least try ;-) to keep the translations section updated, which used to be Spinner 8's job, but he "retired". I'll also post news on this section as often as I can, but lilac was right, we don't have much time for the site, so... Anyway, I also have a weird homepage, not really about emulation (except an early stage FF3 translation), but you can drop on it anytime. Feel free to keep me informed on the progress of active translations, and see you soon...

Gameboy
(posted by lilac - 03:03)
 
Another DOS Boycott update by Gollum. New in 0.45 is support for controllers MBC3 and MBC5. Pokémon Blue now works as well as Color Gameboy ROMs, however without color as if you were playing the color enhanced games on a normal Gameboy.

Friday, January 22, 1999

Site
(posted by Zoop - 22:56)
 
Some informations about the status of the site.. well, it's not dead (yet ;-) but it seems like we are all too busy to update it. To make things worse, our mailing list suddently stopped working a few days ago. If you can help providing a new one, please contact me. Until then, we'll do our best to update the site - and we are still looking for news mainteners, too.

Nintendo
(posted by Zoop - 22:49)
 
After a long wait, Akilla has finally released NES4PC 0.30, a new version of his Nintendo emulator for Windows. This version introduces many changes/fixes (read the full changelog here), and adds support for a few new mappers (now you can play some of the pirates combo cartridges, 100-in-1, etc..). Go get it while it's hot :-)

Links: NES4PC Homepage - NES4PC 0.30 [234 kb]

Thursday, January 21, 1999

Neo Geo
(posted by Zoop - 12:49)
 
Another updated to NeoDanji was just released. As usual, we'll have to wait for someone to translate the news to know what was changed. The text mentions something about the F9 and F10 keys. Good luck finding their uses ;-)

Links: NeoDanji Homepage - NeoDanji "SW" [245 kb]

Arcade
(posted by Zoop - 12:48)
 
The next version of the System16 multi arcade emulator will features emulated sounds in most System 16 games (Shinobi, Altered Beast, Wrestle War and some other..). Finally! I was waiting for it two years ago. Body Slam (a fighting game?) was also added and will be playable in next version.

Arcade
(posted by Scifi - 04:30)
 
In the Raine webpage more entries for the logo competition are now online. There is also a mention of two more games playable, one is from Jaleco and it's the US verion of P-47, the other is from Taito Cadash in it's Italian language version. Both have full sound and are expected to be in Raine V.018.

Site
(posted by lilac - 01:40)
 
Gollum, maintainer of Emu5Ever and programmer of Boycott, Nescott, Mascott, and PCott, has moved all his pages over to a new server. If you are a fan of his site or his emulators, please remember to update your bookmarks with the link below.

Link: Emu5Ever

Tuesday, January 19, 1999

PC Engine
(posted by Zoop - 23:22)
 
Reaching perfection ? An ever newer version of Hu6280, the only good competitor to Magic Engine (which is shareware), has been released. More graphics bugs were fixed in this version, and Final Match Tennis (one of my favourites on this system) is now working, as well as some others.

Links: Hu6280 Homepage - Hu6280 1.87 [332 kb]

Arcade
(posted by Scifi - 04:30)
 
More Raine news, the logo competition is going very well and it was announced that the competition will close next Friday January 22. Also there are two new Jaleco games announced that will be fully playable with sound in the next Raine v.018. The games are Hachoo a action game and Earth Defense Force a shoot-em-up game.

Neo Geo
(posted by Shion - 02:36)
 
NeoDanji, the Korean Neo Geo emulator, has been updated. Because it's in the afore-mentioned language, I don't know what's new, but here it is if you want to find out for yourself.

Links: Homepage - NeoDanji 0.484 [244 kb]

Monday, January 18, 1999

Super Nintendo
(posted by Gav - 22:30)
 
Snes 9X for DOS (GUI) has been updated to version 1.16a, featuring a variety of fixes to the emulation, as well as modifications after research on a Super Nintendo Unit. Good stuff!

Links: Snes9x Homepage - Snes9x 1.16a [348 kb]

Gameboy
(posted by lilac - 03:53)
 
Yet another update to BouKiChi's Gameboy emulator, DBoy. This new update adds the much desired Super Gameboy emulation! Also, and don't quote me on this, but the homepage uses the letters '2p' - does this mean multi-player game-link emulation has been added?

Links: DBoy Homepage - DBoy 0.40 [68 kb]

Site
(posted by Shion - 00:52)
 
We've been receiving plenty of e-mails from people reporting 404 errors. Some parts of this site are still in the works, including our search engine, voting booth, and tips and tricks among others. These sections will be put back up eventually, so please be patient.

Sunday, January 17, 1999

Virtual Boy
(posted by Zoop - 15:40)
 
The long awaited update to VB'98, the one and only Virtual Boy emulator by David Tucker, was finally released. Version 0.6 includes tons of fixes, and a major speed-up was made since previous beta (released about a month ago). Last but not least, you are now able to see the two differents screens on your computer and various way to show the 3D effect are supported (from the interlaced view to the usual red-blue screen). Even people who don't own 3D Glasses should be happy with it, since the two screens can be displayed without any weird effects (it is faster, too).

Links: VB'98 Homepage - VB'98 0.6 [313 kb]

Site
(posted by Zoop - 15:39)
 
I have just added a preliminary Amiga Emulators page to Emulation Camp, and also uploaded a (modified) mirror for the "Regulars at #Retrogamers" page, since the one at Emu X-Press is always flooded on requests.

Saturday, January 16, 1999

Arcade
(posted by Zoop - 18:40)
 
Some news from the Retrocade front, about what is coming for the next release (no dates announced, but don't expect to get it for a few weeks, if not months). First, Mario Bros and Toobin' were added. The second one, which is known to play at ten frames per second on MAME ;-) should be runnable at full speed on a p166. As for Mario Bros, it will profit from emulated sound thanks to the recent 8039 processor emulation. Same thing for Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. As usual, even more games will have hi-score saving and dipswitches settings available (these includes Galaga, Pacman and Dig Dug) and good samples for Space Invaders were finally done. They should be available in the next version of the waves package. Last but not least, 34010 emulation has been started, so hopefully some Midway games (who said Smash TV ? :-) will appear in a future version. Stay tuned for even more information later!

On a not-so unrelated topic, we are looking for someone really interested in arcade emulation (including, but not limited to MAME and Retrocade) who would like to join Emulation Camp and be the main arcade emulators maintainer here. Basically, the job consists in maintaining the various arcade sections (separate pages will be made for the leading emulators, but "smaller" ones will be featured, too) and adding news regularly (mainly for new releases, but you are always encouraged to do more ;-). If you are interested in applying, contact us at emucamp@citeweb.net.

Neo Geo
(posted by Zoop - 18:39)
 
NeoDanji has been updated to version 0.48, adding King of Fighters 97 and 98 support and support for second player's inputs. Sound emulation was not yet re-added, though. NeoDanji is fast (and Korean) Neo Geo emulator for Windows, using Direct X.

Links: NeoDanji Homepage - NeoDanji 0.48 [244 kb]

Music
(posted by Zoop - 18:38)
 
Jon Silvera has contacted us about a dance music he made, based on samples from arcade games. It is called "Syntax Terror : the Arcade Mix", and a two megabyte MP3 file is available at the following address. If you were wondering what kind of music you can made from Pacman samples, then give it a try ;-)

Friday, January 15, 1999

Master System
(posted by Zoop - 22:19)
 
Ricardo Bittencourt has just released a new version of BrSMS to registered users. This one introduces a new color engine, which fixes a few games (California Games, Space Harrier) that uses palette raster effects. The interrupt code was also improved. Last but not least, the previous released version (1.14) is now available for non-registered users.

Links: BrSMS Homepage - BrSMS 1.14r [91 kb]

Translation
(posted by Spinner 8 - 15:30)
 
Neil_ of Partial Translations has released his first patch for BS Dragon Quest (SNES). Version 0.05 translates most menus and a few items. The patch was unofficially released yesterday on the Dragon Quest News Network in a cheap publicity stunt :P so take a look over there if you want. While I don't think the game's multiplayer capabilities can be used on any emulator, who knows what the future may hold...

Arcade
(posted by Scifi - 01:45)
 
The official Raine webpage has been updated with news about a Raine logo competition and also to announce that two more Taito games are playable with sound. The games are Maze of Flott a puzzle/action game and Asuka & Asuka a shoot-em-up game where you travel several time periods.

Turbo-Grafx 16 / PC Engine
(posted by lilac - 01:23)
 
Jamsponge and Mr. Kipling have once again updated thier leading edge TG16 and PCE emulator, HU6280. Once again emulation core bug fixes were the highest priority for version 1.86. Also the archive now comes with the latest version of Jamanoid, the HU6280 team's "Arkanoid" clone demo!

Links: HU6280 Homepage - HU6280 1.86 [331 kb]

Thursday, January 14, 1999

Site
(posted by Spinner 8 - 18:36)
 
I am very sorry to say that as of around Sunday, I shall no longer be working for Emucamp. If anyone wants to continue work on the translation pages and also on general news, please email me to apply.

Wednesday, January 13, 1999

Nintendo
(posted by Zoop - 18:18)
 
A new Nintendo emulator, called DRR-NES, was recently released! Made in Quick Basic, don't expect this emulator to be lightning fast, but a debugger is included and it should be useful for some people (as not many Nintendo emulators includes a debugger). Yet, DRR-NES 0.2 only runs a few demos and homemade roms, but you can expect a better compatibility in following releases. uNESsential has finally found a competitor ;-)

Neo Geo
(posted by Zoop - 18:17)
 
After a few months of non-activity, RomList is finally back with a new Neo Geo release: Super Sidekicks 4 (a recent game - sic). For those who are new into emulation (but I doubt there is many newbies reading Emucamp), RomList guys are dumping roms since more than one year, and many arcade emulators are the roms they dumped.

Link: RomList

SMS / NES
(posted by Zoop - 18:16)
 
Nyef has posted the latest sources for DarcNES today. The Game Gear Start button is now emulated (although Game Gear support is still not finished) and a few CPU cores bugs were fixed.

Interviews
(posted by Zoop - 18:15)
 
Vipor has recently interviewed two emulator authors: David Tucker of VBemu98 and John Saeger of Z26. You can read the full interviews by clicking on the link below.

Tuesday, January 12, 1999

IRC
(posted by Zoop - 21:34)
 
From today on, there's a new channel on EFnet IRC, #retrogamers ! This channel has been set up mainly for emulator users, but feel free to hop in if you're not one, we don't talk about emulators all day long in there ;) #retrogamers is also a channel where emu developers will hang out (we have a few already ;), so feel free to ask them and us (the ops) anything you like. #retrogamers will be a channel unlike most other emulation based channels, it will actually be a friendly place =) There are NO power hungry ops in #retrogamers so don't think you will get kicked if you ask a "dumb" question :) So get an IRC client (mIRC, Pirch or vIRC), join one of the EFnet IRC servers and join #retrogamers. Be sure to choose a server closest to your geographical location !

SMS / NES
(posted by Zoop - 08:07)
 
Another new version of DarcNES released today. New blitting routines were implemented so Master System games should run at full speed on a P133, and an IRQ bug in Nintento's Mapper 4 was fixed.

The homepage for RockNES was revamped, as well.

Monday, January 11, 1999

Master System
(posted by Zoop - 08:01)
 
Charles Mac Donald has released SMSPlus 0.68, a new version of his Sega Master System and Game Gear emulator for DOS. Unlike some other sites may say, this is not a new emulator as it is available from our Master System Emulators section since a few months. Many changes were introduced in this release: the emulator now supports Game Gear, and tons of bug were fixed so that most games should be playable with it (although not perfectly).

Links: SMSPlus Homepage - SMSPlus 0.68 [143 kb]

Someone screwed the news..

Friday, January 8, 1999

Gameboy
(posted by lilac - 23:57)
 
Gollum has updated his own Gameboy emulator, Boycott, to version 0.44. (Only the DOS version has been updated so far.)
  • Full Game Genie support (either 6-digit or 9-digit codes)
  • Faster display when both frameskip and vsync are enabled
  • Speed up joystick detection (200%)
  • Two parameters added for CGB/SGB future support
  • Use 320x200 mode by default even without VESA 2.0
  • ROM analysis improved with MBC3/MBC5/GBCamera/HuC1/HuC3 autodetect
  • Autodetect Color Gameboy roms
  • Fixes ROM banks count
  • Bug fixes in RLCA/RRA/RLA instructions (may fix some games)
  • Bug fixes while debugging CB instructions
  • Fix english help messages ("or")
  • English or French messages (choose by a parameter)
  • Reset FPS when enter debug mode (FPS is more accurate now in debug mode)
  • Presentation improved
  • No video initialization until ROM not loaded (better now :)
  • Works either in debug mode or emulator mode (same executable with Debug parameter)

Links: Homepage - Boycott 0.44 for DOS [267k]

Master System
(posted by Shion - 20:01)
 
Woo hoo, another new Master System rom! Aren't we good to you? :-) With help from our good friend Yakmo, we've released the rom of Columns, Sega's classic Tetris-style arcade puzzler. Click the screenshot below to read our review and download it. Be warned: this game can be very addictive ;-)

Saturn
(posted by Zoop - 18:41)
 
Azuko is working on a new Saturn emulator for Win9x called A-Saturn ! Although I doubt it runs games yet, most parts of the hardware were already implemented, and the program is making great progresses. This is the first promising Saturn emulator ever released, and you should definitively give it a try. Thanks goes to the author for posting on our messageboard ;-)

Links: Homepage - A-Saturn 0.13 C Version [129 kb] - ASM Version [132 kb]

Thursday, January 7, 1999

Master System
(posted by Zoop - 23:54)
 
A new version of DarcNES, Nyef's Nintendo and Master System (!) emulator, was just released. This update improves Master System VDP emulation, so some games should runs (but are not playable yet). Nintendo emulation has not changed in this version.

Commodore 64
(posted by Zoop - 23:53)
 
Lemon, a kick ass Commodore 64 site featuring tons of games (with screenshots) and SIDs musics, has recently moved to Emulation Camp. As if it was not enough, all C64 entrys to The Party 8, a famous demoparty held in Denmark, are now available. As usual ;) Smash Design won the competition with their latest production, called Triage. I also suggest checking the C64 version of Second Reality they released last year.

Links: Lemon - The Party 8 C64 Entrys [1522 kb]

Site
(posted by Staff - 23:52)
 
We should reach 100000 visitors in a few hours. Be sure to e-mail us a (zipped) screenshot if you hit this value. A Dreamcast and a few hundred games for it will be awarded to the winner :-)

Arcade
(posted by Scifi - 04:55)
 
Raine keeps adding more games every day...now it's 64th Street a beat-em-up type of game from Jaleco and Pipi & Bibi's a game...er...better see the pics. Both are playable with full sound.

Link: Homepage

Playstation
(posted by Zoop - 04:13)
 
A first beta version of Bleem, the long awaited Playstation emulator, was finally released! Although this version is not supported by it's authors, the distribution of the file was allowed. Now, what about the features? This version is supposed to be the very first beta sent to testers (a while ago) and many things that will be present in the commercial version are missing, such as sound emulation and 3D cards support. If you didn't believed it, then it's time to try it by yourself. Thanks to everybody who sent us an e-mail, including Adrox for is interesting theory:

"The bleem beta last night that was "leaked" is mighty suspicious. I noticed that about an hour before the beta was leaked on IRC the bleem page was updated saying the beta was moved to 6c1. However bleem.com was also changed slightly, instead of the usual disbelievers quote at the top it was changed to "do you believe NOW?" (this morning it was changed to 'belive in the impossible'). Also the part about the fake bleem beta's was taken out. Keep in mind this was done about an hour before the beta was leaked (I was on IRC when it was leaked). Therefore it is fairly obvious that the beta was leaked by the authors to show people that bleem is real indeed. I remember a little article a few months back on emuviews mocking it, that is was supposedly written in binary code etc. most other sites took the same attitude, I'm sure the author just got fed up about this and just wanted to show everyone that it's true. Well I just thought I'd let you know my theory."

Links: Bleem Homepage - Bleem Beta [114 kb]

Almost on the same time as Bleem's release, another commercial Playstation emulator was announced, but for Macintosh. Virtual Game Station is supposed to be good enough to run most games on a G3 Macintosh (such as iMacs). VGS is sold for about 50$, and I far as I know, no demo version is available yet.

Wednesday, January 6, 1999

Gameboy
(posted by lilac - 22:56)
 
BouKiChi has updated DBoy to version 0.38. I don't know what is new in this particular version, although from the looks of the homepage a future version will add Super Gameboy support!

Links: Homepage - DBoy 0.38 [90k]

Master System
(posted by Zoop - 03:03)
 
Ricardo Bittencourt has just released a new version of BrSMS to registered users. This one introduces a new line-per-line engine, fixing some games (Cool Spot, Quartet, Xenon 2..) and a few other improvments. Also, the previous released version (1.13) is now available for non-registered users.

Gameboy
(posted by lilac - 02:08)
 
Martin Korth has updated NO$GMB to the long-awaited version 2.0! Here is the HUGE list of what all is new:
  • SGB/CGB: preset gameboy type set to CGB+initialSGB (best compatible setting)
  • SGB+CGB+initialSGBborder option (wario2 doesn't support SGB in CGB mode)
  • SGB+CGB option (tetris dx, dqm) (but NOT wario2)
  • SGB: bugtrick for messed up SGB border transfer (Detective Conan 2)
  • CGB: completely locked TRACE and BREAKS for unregistered users in CGB mode
  • CGB-detail: new DMA transfer register improved (a bugs life)
  • CGB: fixed color fadein/out bug (still occured in old video mode + frameskip)
  • CGB: fine accurate CGB-style RGB color translation (infgmb,wario2,diag,etc)
  • CGB: initialized CGB/VGA colors as free (ffff) on emu start (infgmb/minizork)
  • CGB: executes corrupted stops without warning by default (xdebug/bomberman)
  • CGB: startup initializes true CGB-LY,STAT,DIV states and OBP0/1 contents
  • CGB: fixed too-early de-alloctation of colors (fade in/out caused flicker)
  • CGB: reduced amount of allocated colors (ignores transparent OBJ colors)
  • CGB display: BG priority attribute emulated
  • CGB: fine-adjusted vertical position of palette changes
  • CGB: initialized 'clean' wave pattern on startup (instead old gameboy dirt)
  • CGB: updates new DMA source/dest addresses at end of transfer
  • CGB: initialized startup CPU register contents, unused IO bits, startup colors
  • timingfix: HIRES redisp/vblank timing (dkl2 with inavailable vram option,diag)
  • memfix: removing multiple machines with more than 8K external cart ram
  • display: fixed lcdc.0 emulation, it's TRICKY in BOTH cgb and gameboy modes :-)
  • display: each-line redraw (instead whole-screen redraw) it's slower than the old code, but it removes all graphix problems in games like: DKL1,2,3,Prince of Persia,Lucky Luke,V-Rally, etc. etc. the old (faster) code is still available optionally in emulation setup
  • 100% cheat-free emu: removed SFII cheat (the game didn't need it since v1.8)
  • emudetail: filled non-existing external ram areas by FFs (thunderbirds bug)
  • emudetail: white screen during hidden display disable
  • emufix: discovered CPU quirks and fully emulated it (smurfs, thunderbirds)
  • emufix: interprets hidden 'signed' double speed clks as positives (wario2cgb)
  • emufix: finetuning hidden double speed mode (previous Xreload -> clks_xx)
  • emufix: stupid hidden palette bug on flipped sprites (wario2cgb cloud)
  • emufix: mbc5 ram banking without (6XXX) being set (wario2cgb)
  • emufix: hidden [memseg] banking resolution incresed from 16Kto 4K (wario2cgb)
  • emufix: hidden oldstyle background priority (tetris dx)
  • emufix: SGB border color 0 override fix (pokemon blue) (and this is the funny thing: I am sure that hundreds of people used the old version for pokemon, but none of them seems to have noticed the bad colors) (hehe, probably none of them actually came into the game, not knowing how to install emm386)
  • digital sound: fixed division overflow in new frequency code (@@quite)
  • digital sound: optimized ch3 frequency maker
  • digital sound: fixed small bug in new 'deltaf' frequency code
  • digital sound: 256 times higher frequency resolution for channel 1-2 (and 3)
  • digital sound: gravis ultrasound support (including 16bit dma channels)
  • digital sound: variable sample rate (speedup through optional reduced quality)
  • sound BLASTER environment string: ignores wrong values for 8bit dma channel
  • sound blaster: recognizes lowercase set BLASTER string (if ever used)
  • sound setup: removed automatic switch to adlib sounds if no SB detected
  • sound: removed stupid allocation of sample buffer in adlib- and no-sound mode
  • sound: re-fixed adlib mode (played digital noise along with adlib sounds)
  • sound blaster: fixed dma channel 3 bug (did it worked in older versions ???)
  • sound: added some test options (ACDC)
  • xdebugfix: corrupted stops really fixed now (pocket bomberman cgb,bugs life)
  • debugfix: cleaned VRAM except's at emu-stop, too (not only at trace rereadio)
  • debugger: optional emulator identification (hl=0ca5h on startup)
  • debugger: warning if rombank changed while program counter is in that rombank
  • debugger: very basic support for watchpoints (memory inspections)
  • debugger: added fix for "jr $" in online assembler (push ds at far_disline)
  • debugger: direct "switch_to" buttons for lower window (instead toggle_next)
  • debugger: membreaks can refer to banked memory (n:nnnn)?/! / (n:nnnn..nnnn)?/!
  • debugger: re-implemented DI+HALT exception to prevent unpredictable results
  • debugger: online assembler handles huge DEFS/DEFF memfill commands (00 or FF)
  • debugger: inavailable VRAM exceptions also care about CGB palette data IO
  • a22i: integrated source code assembler supports local labels (@@labelname)
  • SGB refix: monochrome display emulation of SGB's gameboy window
  • console type: added hidden mode with grabbed SGB border
  • console type: pocket gameboy option (not that it would do anything useful)
  • console type: VGB-quirks option for emu based games (yar's revenge, sokoban)
  • pocket gameboy: initializes io regs and wave pattern as on pocket gameboy
  • loadsnaps: inits MBC5 bank_mode_exist flag at loadrom instead at reset only
  • loadsnaps: refix initializes remaining unused external ram as 00s (zelda)
  • loadsnaps: initilizes undefined clks_xxx variables (backwards compatibility)
  • setup: fix for CGB+initialSGB option used with non-SGB (CGB-only) cartridge
  • setup: moved joystick enable to joyb setup (as well as mouse mode option)
  • setup: removed full-tseng option (automatically on chipset detection instead)
  • slowdown option: improved SB/GUS digital sound in slowdown modes
  • online F11/F12 setup/files: clears nintendo logo when starting over (zork2)
  • filemenu: cursor re-adjust past dir changes
  • config file: fixed internal IIsnd range bug (slowed down during startup)
  • cheats: increased number of gameshark cheats to up to 15 (pokemon, warioland)
  • security: intruder alert gives separate virus infection warning
  • tracefix: removed unwanted palette-vram exceptions at trace / re_read_io
  • internal: added /u switch for unregistered pentium testings
  • internal: changed built-in 3some background from binary string macro to binary words - frees up around 90K tasm memory ;-)
  • internal: used new neoseg in cpu-core, reduced exefile size, some speedup
  • 2player-emuspeed-refix: machine switch only a serial int (not at sinline)
  • speedup: used 'and bp' in hidden pixline colorization code, too
  • speedup: removed extremely stupid dec dx from SGB pixline colorization
  • keyboard control: added left/right ALT as default keys (pinball,snake wars)
  • int09: removed 32bit push, removed oldint9 for f11/f12 (new xkey compatibilty)
  • cartheader: added non-hex new licesee codes to disassembled cartheader
Also, NO$GMB now has a time limit for unregistered users. Registering still costs $2 (US).

Tuesday, January 5, 1999

Intellivision
(posted by Zoop - 21:44)
 
A few weeks ago, the Blue Sky Rangers released an official CD containing most of the Intellivision products and their own emulator. Check the provided link if you are interested in buying it. Also, they plan to post "full technical and programming documentations of the system, along with development software" on their web site in a few weeks/months. Programmers will be able to develop then own product, then :)

ROMs
(posted by Zoop - 21:43)
 
I received a few reactions about yesterday's post. Well, it seems that too brazilian groups are in war (hahaha) and that each are trying to discredit the other one everytime it is possible. And I admit I made a mistake allowing this kind of post on Emulation Camp. Now go check the two sites, make your own opinion and try to remember that emulation is *not* war. Try to forget it. Period.

Also: if you want to react to a post, be sure to send it to the one who wrote it, and not to me or to the whole staff list. Some of us are receiving e-mails on a subject they don't even know.

Links: Emuroms - Gamerom

Monday, January 4, 1999

ROMs
(posted by Seventh - 17:42)
 
A brazilian newbie irc/emulation group going by the name #emuroms recently was involved in endless moments of embarassment. They released two Genesis roms that were distributed on alt.binaries.emulators.sega and "forgot" to credit them to their real dumpers by just stating "we released XXXX rom". Now, after being denounced by a veteran group, they erased their entire portuguese page (hoping no one has read it) and started a new english-only news page. Kinda strange, isn't it ?

Also check here for more informations on this topic.

The roms were Sonic 2 Beta and Duke Nukem 3D. If you don't have access to newsgroups, we'll post them later.

Nintendo
(posted by Zoop - 17:40)
 
It seems that we missed a DarcNES release two days ago. Version 99/01/02 adds support for mappers 15, 23, and 32, fixes a bug in mapper 7 and.. introduces preliminary SMS emulation (although no games are working yet). Also, you may have heard on some other sites (Emu News Service and News-u-lator, I don't know who copied on who) that an even newer version was released. Which is false, Nyef (DarcNES' author) only added some informations about the next release of his emulator. The program is being completly rewrote, so don't expect another release soon.

Nintendo
(posted by Zoop - 03:13)
 
Zaik has released a new version of FCE Ultra, his Nintendo emulator for DOS, based on Bero's FCE source code. Beta 3 includes support for new mappers (and fixes some existing one), improves PPU emulation and introduces synthetized sound through Sound Blaster cards.

Sunday, January 3, 1999

Arcade
(posted by Scifi - 12:30)
 
More news from the Raine emulator webpage. Raine keeps adding games for it's upcoming version 0.17 release, Camel Try a maze/puzzle game from Taito and Cybattler a shoot-em-up by Jaleco are now playable with full sound.

Link: Homepage

Nintendo
(posted by Zoop - 03:13)
 
The source code for uNESsential 0.14, released a few days ago, is now available on the homepage. Go and try to optimize it ;-)

Nintendo 64
(posted by Zoop - 03:01)
 
Lemmy has just released Nemu 0.007a, a new version of his Nintendo 64 emulator for Windows. As usual, many bugs were fixed in this update, and the code was slighty optimized, too. Although it won't play any commercial games (yet), most demos available here are working on it. Be sure to check it!

Saturday, January 2, 1999

Translation
(posted by Spinner 8 - 12:46)
 
OK, really quick, before I go buy a motherboard. F.H. just put up a page, with some (non) progress on Front Mission, and a new project, called Nangokusyonen Papuwa (Papuwa the Southern Boy, according to the official Enix homepage), a really kickass SNES game. The SNES trans page has been adjusted accordingly, along with EmuO's new Mystic Ark patch and Transrelic's Treasure Hunter G patch. byebye

Reviews
(posted by Shion - 06:46)
 
Feesh has written a new review. This one is of Donkey Kong for Gameboy, a game that I'm sure lots of you love :-) The rom is available for download, too.

Friday, January 1, 1999

Site
(posted by lilac - 22:39)
 
Yes we are aware our clock at the top of the page is off by several hours. We are trying to get ahold of our server admin to fix it.

Gameboy
(posted by lilac - 22:39)
 
Gameboy Emulation Heaven has moved to the link provided below. If you're a Nintendo Gameboy fan you should pay a visit to this site. However, thier new home seems to be having some server problems...

Arcade
(posted by Zoop - 20:01)
 
Nao and Thierry Lescot have finally released an update to System 16, their multi Sega arcade emulator for DOS ! This version adds support for two new games (Atomic Point and Riot City, although the first one was already playable with the GCS file released a month ago), and introduces some nice new features such as Movie Recording and Sidewinder support. Last but not least, tons of bugs were also fixed in this new version.

Almost on the same time, MAME 0.34 final was released. I don't think that any new games was added in this version, but most bugs of the last release candidate should be now fixed.

Links: MAME Homepage - MAME 0.34 Final [1245 kb]

One of the most awaited rom, Street Fighter 1, was finally dumped and is available for download ! I bet most of you never played it :-)
Please note that the game was not emulated yet, so don't download it unless you have something interesting to do with it - such as emulating it.

Link: Street Fighter 1 [1155 kb]

Happy New Year
(posted by Staff - 00:45)
 
We wish you a happy new year and hope you'll trust us for all your emulation news and goodies throughout 1999.

Articles
(posted by lilac - 00:45)
 
All the Great Eight of '98 articles have been completed. If you haven't seen these in the last few days move your tail and click the link below.

ROMs
(posted by lilac - 00:45)
 
As an added New Year's treat I've been working on the ROM section, adding 3 SNES demos, and readding the NES and Genesis sections. More to come in the next few days. Choose Files & Goodies from the menu to check them out.

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