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Emulation Issue 04
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<============================================================================>
| The ALL Format Newsletter Issue #4 - 28/08/96 |
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
-=[Introduction]=-
Welcome! I've returned from my holidays and conjured up another beating of
EMULATION. Thanks for all your mail, and I'm glad you're all enjoying the mag.
As I'll be returning to college soon, I won't have quite as much time on my
hands. However, you can rest assured that EMULATION will still be continuing,
in its usual infrequent manner.
I welcome any submissions for EMULATION. Please mail them to me in plain ASCII
text, using no high-ASCII, and formatted to *79* columns. I reserve the right
to edit whatever you send me and all the rest of that stuff. :) I also welcome
your comments good and bad, and any suggestions. I received no submissions
whilst I was away, you lazy bunch! Well, I suppose you were on holiday too.
PoiNT BLaNK
(Editor of EMULATION)
point.blank@ukimage.demon.co.uk
-=[Contents]=-----------------------------------------------------------------
<-News->
1. Megadrive/Genesis Emulators
2. Snes Overload!
3. UAE DOS 0.63
4. TOS2Win (TOS Replacement)
5. Caught in a Typhoon
<-Articles->
4. Windows as an emulation platform
5. Emulation... The Playstation?
6. Programmer's Profiles
=----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-=[News]=- [PoiNT BLaNK]
.,/\ 1. Megadrive/Genesis Emulators ./\,.
In true MasterSystem style, there are reportedly "several" emulators in the
works. I have only seen two at this stage. Sega's "Genesis" was renamed the
"Megadrive" for us European suckers. Hence, one emulator claims to be a
Genesis emulator, and the other, a Megadrive emulator.
The first, called Megadrive, runs under DOS. There is no official homepage
yet, but it may be downloaded from:
http://www.nfinity.com/~swhalen/genesis.htm
It currently only runs simple demos, much like VSMC. This is only version
0.3b, and things are expected to improve rapidly. It is being written by
Berzerker, Baalzaman, and Staag from the popular IRC channel, #snesemu.
The emulator has no documentation, and comes with an example file, which I
could not get to work. Games must be converted to .BIN format before they
will run, using a conversion utility.
The second emulator, GenEm, is being written by XL-It hero, Markus Gietzen.
The emulator runs under DOS, but he has plans to port it to Win95 (ugg), Sun
and Linux.
His webpage shows the emulator running Sonic, with no sprites, Hard-Driving,
perfectly, and a selection of other games. He isn't releasing a beta, yet, due
to the criticisms of XL-It betas. However, he has promised EMULATION a sneak
preview. So, look out for that, next issue. The webpage is located at:
http://stud.uni-sb.de/~magi/genem.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.,/\ 2. Snes Overload! ./\,.
It seems everyone's in for a slice of the action these days. Will there be
more Snes emulators than Spectrum emulators? It appears to be that way. Here
is a look at the latest emulators, in the works.
* SNES 96 (Windows 95 / Direct-X)
http://www.euronet.nl/users/jkoot/Download.htm
Another Windows-based emulator. It currently runs less than VSMC, but it's
early days yet. The downside is that you must install Direct-X to use the
emulator. Whilst this provides the obvious speed advantages, it seems
pointless when the shareware version of this emulator is limited to a tiny
window. Direct-X is a 3MB download, so I'd leave this one to develop for a
while.
* Paradox Team's SNES Emulation (DOS)
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/jwilkins/Emulator.htm
I have not seen this emulator, yet. I managed to download 8k of it in 20
minutes, due to the slow connection. It is written in Turbo Pascal and is
currently in a beta/preview stage. It is written for DOS, so I am sure to like
it. Installing Direct-X, for SNES 96 was not a user-friendly experience!
* Virtual Super Wild Card (PowerPC)
http://aoife.indigo.ie/~titan/snes.html
Out of all the new emulators, this looks the best. It is Shareware and will
cost a measly $25 to register. There is no version available for downloading,
yet, but the screenshots show it running many commercial games. This looks
likely to be a winner.
* Revenge of Super Pasofami? (Windows 95)
SPW 1.4a has been released, and reportedly deleted some people's Windows
directories. Whether this is a revenge plot by the author, or just some dodgy
programming, remains to be seen. For this reason, most webpages do not carry
1.4a.
Pasofami 2.6b and 2.7a have been released. Whilst I did not have much luck
getting the latter working, I'm sure people are pleased to see Nobuaki Andou
has stopped crying, and is pumping out new versions.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.,/\ 3. UAE DOS 0.63 /\,.
http://tinos.pucrs.br/~ggoedert/dosuae.html
The Ultimate Amiga Emulator, has been updated. The latest version offers an
improved interface and re-written soundcode. There are two versions, one which
emulates the 68000 processor found in the A500, and another slower version
which emulates the 68020 processor found in the A1200. The serial port is also
emulated, so that you can print directly from Workbench.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.,/\ 4. TOS2Win (Windows 95/NT) ./\,.
http://www.aixit.com/tos2win/info.htm
After MagiCPC (EMULATION #1), another TOS emulator has appeared. This one
is also German, and has a 5 minute crippleware timelimit. The demoversion
emulates upto 2MB of RAM. The interface is better, allowing you to run Atari
programs directly off your harddisk by double clicking on the .PRG/,TOS file.
I was unable to run any of the games on it, that MagiCPC ran. There is no
documentation with the emulator, but the webpage provides some German
information and benchmarks.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.,/\ 5. Caught in a Typhoon ./\,.
Myself, and TyphoonZ, have been discussing the possibility of teaming up to
produce EMULATION. At this stage, we are hoping to design an interface for
EMULATION, ultimately releasing two copies. One will have the interface,
perhaps utilising screenshots and graphics. The other will be in the current
plain text format. This won't happen for a while yet, due to the fact that we
are both caught up in work, but I would be interested to hear you views.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-=[Articles]=- [PoiNT BLaNK]
.,/\ 6. Windows as an emulation platform. /\,.
There are mixed views over developing applications for the Windows and DOS
environments. Certainly, there are many advantages working with both systems,
but which is the right one to choose?
Emulators are one of the few programs that rely on raw CPU power, rather than
RAM and lots of harddisk space. Therefore, we want to remove any overhang,
when writing an emulator that will hamper its performance.
Certainly, Windows eats a lot of CPU time, and consumes a lot of RAM. Windows
95 really needs a minimum of 16MB if you want to do any serious work. On my
Pentium 90, I can run the Z80 Spectrum emulator at 1750% speed in DOS. The
Windows Spectrum emulator will run at just over 100%, full-screen, at a
resolution of 640X480.
Ah! The clever people at the front cry, Windows eliminates the need for the
programmer to write his own interface, printer drivers, screen and
sound drivers for various cards etc. I would reply, that many have problems
with the Windows Snes emulator, SPW, which uses these features. Why isn't that
compatible with all the Windows 95 machines?
Certainly, having an interface to work around makes life easier. Look at how
many times The Brain has redesigned VSMC's interface. Look at Marat's DOS
emulators with no interface. A Windows shell is usually made.
With, Direct-X, things will surely improve. But will it give us faster
applications than DOS? Direct-X introduces a whole new set of drivers, which
you must install. I found that their was no compatible driver for my video
card. What now? Can I run no Direct-X applications, due to this? I think
Direct-X will probably introduce more conflicts and disappointments. It adds
another layer of things to go wrong, onto the Windows mess.
I see Windows 3.1 as a huge billboard with some flowers on it, hiding the
mess(?) they called DOS behind it. Windows 95, certainly hides the mess
better, (it puts a nice logo up whilst your computer boots, covering the
AUTOEXEC.BAT running behind), but at a price of slowing down your computer to
a standstill. Try running the emulator, Massage, under Windows 95, then in
pure DOS, to see what I mean.
It is definitely cool to hate Windows and Bill Gates these days. Many, myself
included, only use Windows for word processing and running Internet
applications through. I have had more trouble with user-friendly Windows, than
I ever had with DOS. Installing a DOS application never made my system
unbootable. Installing a DOS application never threw files into unknown
directories on my harddisk. Removing a DOS application generally takes a few
seconds, a Windows one can take ages, without an uninstall program.
I could rant on for ages, but I won't. What I want to show you, is the fact
that Windows is not the super platform it is cranked up to be. Multitasking
has been done for ages in DOS with Desqview. 4DOS gave us long filenames using
the superior DESCRIPT.ION system.
To create the emulators of the future we must use the O.S. of the past. :)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.,/\ 5. Emulation... The Playstation? /\,. [Posted by SLY!!]
(Saturn / 3DO / N64 / M2 included)
First of all, let me flat out say it: There is no such thing as a PSX,
Saturn, N64, Jaguar, 3DO, etc.. etc.. emulator, nor are there plans for any
emulators for these machines either. The most advanced emulators out there
are for simple 16-bit CISC platforms. Emulation of an advanced 32-bit
system would require far too powerful of a processor to be even remotely
feasible.
Take the following into consideration: SPW requires a Pentium
90 mhz CPU or better to really look good. SPW is emulating a 16-bit
3.58mhz 68516 CISC processor, the graphics blitter, and ROM/RAM etc that
is in the Super NES, which is really not an overly difficult thing to do
on today's machines. However, emulating a Playstation would be considerably
more difficult. It uses a 32-bit 33mhz R3000a RISC CPU coupled with a high
speed graphics card, geometric accelerator, polygon rendering DSP, and
24 channel proprietary sound chip. The CPU alone of this machine compared
to the Super NES is roughly 40 times the speed of the SNES's CPU. This
along with emulating a 360,000 polygon per second DSP, and you already
have a monster of a job ahead of you. Even a Pentium Pro would have
problems handling that many polygons in native code!
Simply put, the hardware for the next-generation consoles is too
advanced to be emulated on today's machines. Even if the processor was
quick enough, someone would still have to write the thing. And were
someone to write the thing in the future, most of the high quality games
will already be written for the PC in the first place. The PC is finally
surpassing the quality and performance of the console systems, and
game developers are all beginning to write their games for Windows 95
using the new Direct-X graphics libraries. In a couple of years, about
90% of all games made on the Playstation and N64 will have PC counterparts.
My point being: There will be no NEED for an emulator. It would be like
emulating DOS 2.1 on Windows 95, or Mac OS v1.0 on System 7.5. What would
be the POINT?
Below are the technical specifications on the Playstation. I rounded
these up just to give you an idea of the amount of work it would take to
emulate a Playstation. You'd need to emulate all of the following:
***************************************************************************
CPU
---
R3000A
32 bit RISC processor
Clock- 33.8688MHz
Operating performance - 30 MIPS
Instruction Cache - 4 KB
Data Cache - 1 KB
BUS - 132 MB/sec.
GRAPHICAL CAPABILITY
--------------------
NTSC Display Resolution
-----------------------
(non interlaced)
MODE RESOLUTION (H x V)
0 256x480
1 320x480
2 384x480
3 512x480
4 640x480
(interlaced)
5 256x480
6 320x480
7 384x480
8 512x480
9 640x480
Color Depth
-----------
MODE COLORS
4 16
8 256
15 32,768
24 16,777,216
All calculations are performed to 24 bit accuracy
Texture mapping color mode
4 bit CLUT (16 Colors)
8 bit CLUT (256 Colors)
15 bit direct (32768 Colors)
2D GRAPHICAL CAPABILITY
-----------------------
Sprite display capability
-------------------------
Size:1X1 pixels to 256X256 pixels
BIT DEPTH
| | |
SPRITE SIZE | 4 bit | 8 bit | 16 bit
----------------------------------------
8X8 | 280k | 280k | 160k
16X16 | 110k | 70k | 40k
Rectangles per second
GEOMETRY ENGINE(GTE)
--------------------
*Operating performance: 66 MIPS
*3D polygon transformation:
Type Per Second
---- ----------
Flat shaded 1.5 M
Gouraud, textured 500k
and light sourced
GTE performs high speed matrix multiplies
DATA DECOMPRESSION ENGINE(MDEC)
-------------------------------
*Operating performance - 80 MIPS
*Directly connected to CPU bus
*Motion JPEG-like Hardware Decompression Engine
HARDWARE RENDERED POLYGONS(GPU)
-------------------------------
*Rendered in hardware
*Up to 360K polygon/sec.
*Texture mapping
*Flat or Gouraud shading
MEMORY CONFIGURATION
--------------------
*Main RAM: 2 Megabytes
*Video RAM: 1 Megabyte
*Sound RAM: 512 Kilobytes
*CD ROM buffer: 32 Kilobytes
*OS ROM: 512 Kilobytes
SOUND PROCESSOR
---------------
*24 Channels
*44.1KHz sample rate
*PCM audio source
*Digital effects include:
*Envelope
*Looping
*Digital Reverb
*Load up to 512K of sampled waveforms
*Supports MIDI Instruments
SPRITE AND BACKGROUND GRAPHICS
------------------------------
Virtually Unlimited:
*size (up to 256 x 256)
*number of sprites on a line
*number of sprite images
*number of CLUTs
Sprite Special Effects:
*Rotation
*Scaling up/down
*Warping
*Transparency
*Fading
*Priority
*Vertical and horizontal line scroll
***************************************************************************
OK. Compare these specs with those of a Super NES. You already know how
much overhead it takes to emulate one of these relatively simple machines.
Now, consider the processor it would take to emulate a Playstation. You get
the point.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.,/\ 6. Programmer's Profile /\,.
Well, despite not having any articles, Patrik Alexandersson's profile idea has
gone down well. Here are all the profiles that I have received. Thankyou to
everyone who took the time to fill one in.
Name/Handle :Per Olofsson / MagerValp
Age :22
Birthplace :Gothenburg, Sweden
Hobbies/Interests :computers, music, rpg
Dislikes :"This page requires Netscape 3.0b5 or higher"
First Computer :C64
Favourite Computer :Amiga
Favourite Game :Ultima 4
Favourite Emulator :ShapeShifter
Preferred OS :AmigaOS/UNIX
Preferred Programming:E
Language
Current Project(s) :simple C64 emu that i use to debug the OS i'm writing
Previous Project(s) :none
Name/Handle : Rui Ribeiro [Star Man]
Age : 25
Birthplace : Porto, Portugal
Hobbies/Interests : Swimming, running, sex, sci-fi, viruses, assembly
Dislikes : low paid work
First Computer : Spectrum 48K
Favourite Computer : DEC workstation
Favourite Game : A Civilization like game, with wizards ....
can't remember the name
Favourite Emulator : Z80
Preferred OS : UNIX (386 BSD)
Preferred Programming: assembly
Language
Current Project(s) : Windows' 48K Spectrum emulator (finished but
ongoing)
Previous Project(s) : Diskette RAM emulator, a virus, catching
NOVELL passwords... many more
Name/Handle : Hans Guijt
Age : 25
Birthplace : Katwijk, Holland
Hobbies/Interests : fantasybooks, pianoplaying
Dislikes : Uninformed people who don't know they are
First Computer : Philips VG8235 MSX2
Favourite Computer : Amiga a4000
Favourite Game : Transplant
Favourite Emulator : ZXAM (spectrum emulator for Amiga)
Preferred OS : Amiga OS 3.x
Preferred Programming: depends on task at hand. For database interfacing,
Language Powerbuilder. For generic stuff, C.
Current Project(s) : fMSX Amiga
Previous Project(s) : Photobase, MSXResourcer, Desktop Golf, Spynews
Name/Handle : Laurent Desnogues
Age : 28
Birthplace : Sale (Morocco)
Hobbies/Interests : Ski, video games, wargames
Dislikes : Microsoft, PCs, French public research
First Computer : Canon XO7
Favourite Computer : Any RISC workstation or perhaps that Atari ST...
Favourite Game : Mad Planets, Gaplus, any shoot'em up
Favourite Emulator : STonX (the only one I used...)
Preferred OS : any flavor of Unix or nothing ;)
Preferred Programming: C and any assembly language except x86
Language
Current Project(s) : Arcade emulation under X Window
Previous Project(s) : Too many uncompleted...
Name/Handle : Noel Llopis
Age : 23
Birthplace : Spain
Hobbies/Interests : Bike racing, computers, sci-fi, Magic the Gathering
Dislikes : Smoking, censorship, working on a company
First Computer : Amstrad CPC 6128
Favourite Computer : Amstrad CPC 6128 (need you ask? :)
Favourite Game : Sorcery
Favourite Emulator : CPCEMU
Preferred OS : Linux
Preferred Programming: Straight ol' C or assembly.
Language
Current Project(s) : ACE (Amstrad CPC Emulator). A cross platform CPC
emulator.
Previous Project(s) : Many, but no emulators before.
Hopefully, there will be more profiles next issue. The form is in the Shutdown
section.
=----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-=[Shutdown]=-
:-<*> Programmer's Profile: <*>-:
If you program emulators, please answer the following questions and E-Mail
them to PoiNT BLaNK at the address below.
Name/Handle :
Age :
Birthplace :
Hobbies/Interests :
Dislikes :
First Computer :
Favourite Computer :
Favourite Game :
Favourite Emulator : (Not one of your own!)
Preferred OS :
Preferred Programming:
Language
Current Project(s) :
Previous Project(s) :
:-<*> Emulation can be obtained from the following places: <*>-:
Newsgroups: comp.emulators.misc
comp.emulators.game-consoles
alt.binaries.emulators.cbm
alt.binaries.emulators.gameboy
alt.binaries.emulators.nintendo
(Any other suggestions?)
WWW Pages: http://members.iglou.com/spamboy/emulation.htm
http://www.ntplx.net/~aeo/emu.htm
Offical: http://members.aol.com/cajungold/index.htm
FTP Sites: ftp://x2ftp.oulu.fi/pub/msdos/programming/reviews/
ftp://ftp.komkon.org/pub/emul8/magazines/
If anyone has an FTP site or Webpage, please consider making space for copies
of Emulation.
IRC Info: If you are a programmer, then I want to interview YOU!
The usual meeting place is EFNet: #emumag
Best times for me, are Saturdays and Sundays.
If you want to arrange a time, E-Mail me or simply drop in.
You never know, I could be there.
Editor: PoiNT BLaNK.................point.blank@ukimage.demon.co.uk
Staff: COULD BE YOU!........ASCII artists, writers, programmers etc
Emulation (c) 1996 - PoiNT BLaNK Publishing, All Rights Reserved.
<=--------------------------------------------------------------------------=>
