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olaf

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Posts posted by olaf

  1. vbSMS+, my Sega Mark III/Master System/Game Gear emulator for Microsoft Windows, gets another bug fix release today. Below are the changes in this release (version 2.2)...

     

    - added in missing/fixed code for saving/loading of the pause button mapping on pc gamepads [olaf]

    - added in blitting (back in?) while paused [olaf]

    - changed the program-wide font back to simple windows' default (ms sans serif) [olaf]

     

    it is recommended you reconfigure your inputs before playing, shared mapping may have occured with pc gamepads (the start and pause buttons)

    You can visit the official homepage of vbSMS+ here, or simply download it here.

  2. Two days ago I released a version of vbSMS+, my Sega Mark III/Master System/Game Gear emulator, prematurely. This version (2.1) is just a simple bug fix and clean up of me being lazy. Below are the release notes...

     

    - added a fix for the 'close rom' error [olaf]

    - changed and cleaned some of the z80 core source code a bit [olaf]

     

    the needed.zip file on the vbsms+ homepage now includes unzip32.dll

    You can visit the official homepage of vbSMS+ here, or simply download it here.

  3. After a little bit of work between brom and I on vbSMS+, I've decided we've done enough work for another release. Now that brom is back working on his/this project, changes made by him/I will be marked as appropriate. Below are the changes in version 2.0 of my Sega Mark III/Master System/Game Gear emulator.

     

    - added in sprite collision detection (uncommented portions of vbsms source code) [brom]

    - added in sprite limit toggling (uncommented portions of vbsms source code) [brom/olaf]

    - added missing z80 i/o port mirrors for all supported z80 i/o ports [olaf]

    - added header awareness, it will skip and load roms correctly now (recheck roms previously not working) [brom/olaf]

    - added a vdp interrupt hack to get "spider-man - return of the sinister six" working [brom]

    - added in crc32 checking of files for game specific "patches" (10 total -- as done with meka.pat) [olaf]

    - added a memory editor with search/state functionality [olaf]

    - added in support for the sega master system's pause button [olaf]

    - added a fix for timing via an initialization routine [brom]

    - added support for zip compressed rom files [olaf]

    - changed the "configure input" window a little [olaf]

    - changed game gear input detection a little, put it into the case (where it belongs) [olaf]

    - changed input detection again [olaf]

    - changed the version scheme x.x versus x.x.x (version 0.1.1's successor is 2.0) [olaf]

    - removed the grayscale palette/palette switching [olaf]

    It is recommended you reconfigure your inputs before playing, shared mapping may have occurred with the addition of support for the Sega Master System's Pause button. It is also recommended that you audit your ROMs with Maxim's SMS Checker.

     

    You can visit the official homepage of vbSMS+ here, or simply download the latest version here.

  4. Thanks for the compliment on the memory editor, I worked very hard on it. Today, brom ironed out a timing bug that was causing speed ups and (more than likely) causing slow downs for people. Tomorrow (or in a few minutes), I'll be working on adding in Zip compression support for ROM files.

  5. I've been hard at work -- working on vbSMS+, my continuation of John "brom" Casey's Sega Master System emulator written in Microsoft Visual Basic. I'm happy to announce that brom is now helping me work on vbSMS+. The main focus at the moment has been getting rid of compatibility issues (I know most of you would rather we work on sound, but at the moment, it doesn't strike me as more important). This was done by introducing support for header recognition and general per-game "hacks". brom has wanted to fix a problem with Spider-Man - Return of the Sinister Six for quite some time, and he's achieved that goal as of, the yet released, version 2.0 of vbSMS+. You may be asking: why did you go from 0.1.1 to 2.0? I think vbSMS+ deserves a larger version number -- mostly because of it's vast improvements over the original vbSMS and because of the addition of more of the features I'm about disclose. Among our "hacks" we introduced (a VDP interrupt "hack") to fix Spider-Man - Return of the Sinister Six, we've also fixed a few other games by use of MEKA's patches (it only applies patches to about 10 more games, but hey, that's a few more games that are playable or prevents problems in the future). In the release of version 2.0, users will be able to enjoy a very snazzy new memory editor. Below is a screen capture of it in action.

     

    memoryeditor.PNG

     

    The memory editor includes bookmarking, searching, and save state abilities. Users will be able to sort through the Sega Master System's RAM with ease. Double click a bookmark or search result will automatically take you to the address in the memory editor's viewer to avoid having to manually search for it. Right clicking in the bookmarks or search results will also allow you to use the address in question in the "edit (value)" text box to avoid having to copying/pasting or typing. Bookmarks will automatically be loaded/saved for each game.

     

    The grayscale palette was put into question for relevance... and I never used it, so, I removed it and palette switching. I also added support for the missing Z80 I/O port mirrors. Input detection (and Game Gear input detection) has been improved -- and I added support for the Sega Master System's Pause button... finally. Sprite collision detection and sprite limit toggling has also been introduced.

     

    That's all for now, I'll post more as I continue working! :thumbsup1:

  6. Today sees the second release of my new Sega Mark III/Master System/Game Gear emulator vbSMS+ (based off vbSMS by John "brom" Casey). Below are the changes in this version 0.1.1.

     

    - added background color changing (for layer disabling)

    - added back in support for input mirroring (with support for input #2 now)

    - added missing code for $bd vdp control (read) mirror (thanks to charles macdonald for the reminder)

    - added support for rom loading via the command line

    - added toggling of the sega game gear border masking

    - changed input detection in the z80 core a little

    - changed full screen scaling (it will now use maximum possible resolution)

    - changed the rom loading routine around

     

    the new official homepage of vbsms+ is http://olaf.panicus.org

    You can visit the official homepage of vbSMS+ here or simply download it here.

  7. I once heard about a fan e-mailing Matt Stone and Trey Parker about Kenny's mumblings. He/she asked what Kenny was singing in the original theme song. Apparently, what he's singing in the theme song is: I like p*ssy and big fat titties.

     

    Had to edit my reply, got censored.

  8. Even my crappy emulators are open source. The emulation scene should be used to share as much information as possible. The best emulation scene to date is the NES emulation one, everything is open source. Everyone tries to share as much information as possible. Wikis, open source emulators, documentation, there's crazy amounts of NES developing information available. I just don't see why the rest of the emulation world doesn't follow the great example that the NES emulation world is.

  9. The emulator is UPX compressed. The blinking every 5 seconds or so is not my doing (and it's later than that on my PC). I removed drag and dropping of ROM files. Using over 2x zoom size on my PC causes slowness (1.9ghz/1gig RAM) -- I just use full screen at 320x240 or 640x480. I'll see what's going on with the 4x zoom. The overall slowness is because of video stretching. I'll make sure to put an OCX/DLL package up on the site or include them.

  10. In related news, I finally heard from the original author of vbSMS today...

     

    It's nice to see someone carrying on my/our work... The reason I didnt develop it anymore was because I got obsessed with making the emulator run 100% of the roms (try Spider-Man - Return of the Sinister Six) - before I advanced with any further development (such as sound, directx) etc.

     

    I'm very interested to see how far you can take this project, I was hoping someone would pick it up; I don't currently have the time to pogram as I work away from home and have no computer access.

     

    I'll keep note of your website, and when I do manage to buy myself a laptop :thumbsup1: - I'll carry on with it.

     

    If you'd like to ask me anything I can be contacted at j.casey (at) msn.com

  11. I've officially released the first public version of vbSMS+ (it was named "olafsms", but some people had some problems with that, which is okay). Here's a little about vbSMS+ (taken from its new homepage)...

     

    vbsms+ is an enhanced unofficial continuation of the vbsms project (as of version 0.2) by john casey (which emulates the sega mark iii, master system, and game gear). the majority of source code in vbsms+ was not written by me, therefore, i take no credit for the appropriate portions. however, all additions/alterations to the source code of vbsms are entirely by me (unless stated otherwise) in vbsms+.

    Below are the changes done to the original vbSMS project.

     

    - added a menu system

    - added a "load rom" dialog

    - added closing of ROM/stopping execution

    - added pausing w/blitting while paused

    - added resetting

    - added a program icon (schamp.ico from mamu_'s mameicons)

    - added support for the sega game gear's start button

    - added an "about" dialog

    - added display size changing/blitter stretching

    - added border masking for sega game gear mode

    - added support for player #2 controller

    - added full screen support (with resolution changing/enable on rom load)

    - added state saving/loading

    - added movie recording/playing

    - added layer disabling

    - added saving of screenshots

    - added support for pc gamepad input

    - changed palettes to be hardcoded/switchable

    - changed the black and white palette to be more accurate

    - changed keyboard input to be configurable and added a configuration window

    - removed drag and drop support

    - removed error dialogs (allows more games to be played)

    You can visit the official vbSMS+ homepage here or download it here (version 0.1.0).

  12. Had to rename "olafsms" (even though it wasn't the final name anyway) to vbSMS+. A lot of people in the SMS emulation/gaming scene didn't like that I completely renamed the project and put my name in the emulator title. I can see where they wouldn't like that, and I don't want to make anyone mad at me. vbSMS+ makes a good mid-point in between renaming and not using the original name.

  13. Actually, the full screen toggling is done with the Esc key (like Project64, an emulator I use very often). Also, I just fixed background layer disabling (the column on the left won't show anymore when that layer is disabled. The difference can be seen below when compared to older screenshots.

     

    olafsms14.PNG

  14. I broke my Neo Geo Pocket Color at the end of last year, I miss it dearly. I played the flock out of Cardfighters Clash: SNK Vs. Capcom (SNK Edition) -- had well over 90% of the cards collected. Also, my original Sega Genesis finally broke about 2 years ago -- had it since I got it for Christmas when I was a kid. I got it in the Sonic 2 bundle, and also got X-Men and Bart's Nightmare. :P

  15. Well, I was unhappy with the way full screen mode looked (stretched graphics causing ugliness), so I fixed it. Now, when switched into full screen mode, olafsms will scale the screen properly in relation to the Sega Master System's original resolution (which most emulators do anyway, but I was having trouble with). I have also added in saving of screenshots and the option to switch into full screen mode when you load a ROM.

     

    Last, but certainly not least, I've done some rather extensive work on how input is handled. I made it completely configurable (vbSMS was not configurable at all) and added a configuration window for it. In related news... I've added support for PC gamepad input! What's great about my method for this is, the buttons/directions are technically mapped to your keyboard configuration, and it also detects PC gamepads "on-the-fly". If for some reason you decide you don't want to play with the keyboard anymore (or some other off-the-wall situation), just plug in your PC gamepad without closing/restarting the emulator! Below are screenshots of the newly updated configuration windows.

     

    olafsms-wfs.PNG

     

    olafsms-wi.PNG

     

    Also, Mooney, I'm thinking about making a release pretty soon.

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