The Affinity Typhoon Z Interview
Alan Dykes - October 1997
I understand that you are a fairly big person in the console scene, what exactly do you do?
I am a member of a group named Damaged Cybernetics. Damaged Cybernetics are a major part of the console and emulation scene as many people have noticed. MindRape, EFX, NamkraD, myself, and many others comprise the group. Our goal is to provide grey area information on certain topics. My area is in emulation. As you can see, my site 'Archaic Ruins', Damaged Cybernetics' Emulation Site strives to be the most complete source on emulationI also do a few insignificant things here and there =)... I translated a Japanese SNES Emulator during an earlier release, and the same for a Japanese NES Emulator. Also, I made a simple Final Fantasy Adventure Save Game Editor. All of which are available at my site =)...
What is covered as far as Emulation goes in 'Archaic Ruins'?
Archaic Ruins, though only having been up for three months, is trying to cover as many different types of emulation as possible. From providing the emulators themselves, to providing utilities, Save RAM, helpful little add ons, and frontends, Archaic Ruins is one large archive. Also, Archaic Ruins has a collection of featuers including a page centered on comparing certain Emuations to each other....
What kind of emulation is your favorite?
(grin)... I'm quite partial to Coleco Emulation due to the fact that it is one of the few (ColEm) emulators that is targeted at a color system, is made for DOS, and has full features =)... hell, you can't beat the Smurfs Game. However, I am very active in other systems. The NES Emulators are improving, which I am most pleased with. If you haven't noticed, I do not really take Windows-Based Emulators seriously =)
Yes, I have noticed that many people like the Coleco Emulators :) Back to your site, what kind of emulation does it cover exactly (just system names)
Hrmmm.... okay, lets start from the top =)... Arcade (Vintage), ColecoVision, Gameboy, Game Gear, Genesis, MSX, Nintendo, P2000, Sinclair, Sega Master System, Super Nintendo, and Vectrex. However, I hope to expand as much as possible in the future. I believe that more concentration on each area is more profitable than to expand as much as possible in as little time as possible which is common among Emulation Sites.
Yes, now, many people will be interested in the SNES and Genesis EMUs. In your opinion, what is the best SNES and Genesis EMU and which of each system has the most potential?
To begin with, the Sega Genesis (MegaDrive) is a much simpler system to emulate than a Super Nintendo. GenEm, the most respected Genesis emulator is quite slow and has no audio, but runs 90% of Sega Genesis ROMs. Concerning Super Nintendo, emulation for the 65815 processor is quite difficult when compared to the Genesis. VSMC has always been my favorite, although never completely running commercial games. As of September 22nd, this has changed...The reason I prefer VSMC to other SNES Emulators although many others are more powerful, is that VSMC is the only SNES Emulator for the IBM-PC to have a full screen display.
VSMC is made by a DC member, The_Brain. I thought I saw that another DC member (or someone working for DC) is making another. Was I seeing things or is DC planning to release two SNES emus?
This is true! MindRape (our founder) recruited The_Brain into Damaged Cybernetics quite a while before I became a member. After The_Brain's progress slumped into a coma, a new emulator named SNES '96 was released for Direct-X (A Windows 95 Graphics Library) that quite impressed me. As a result, I invited Jeremy Koots to join Damaged Cybernetics! As long as we don't release two emulators of the same system for the same platform, we feel that we...By the way, If you keep dissing VSWC in the channel, this interview is over =)
ok, sorry, I will stop =)
=)
Jeeze, and I am going to post this uncut :) Let me resay that, VSWC = Another SNES EMU for the MAC with good potential
That will do it =)
oh great :) anyways, you were saying?
Lets continue with this interview =).. I believe that VSWC is not Damaged Cybernetics memorabelia, and I cannot comment on its performance anyway...
Sorry, What are some possative things about VSMC while we were around the subject?
VSMC is an MS-DOS based SNES Emulator written by The_Brain as already stated. In 1992, The_Brain created an extremely simple SNES Emulator that in the eyes of everyone except serious hackers, had no purpose. It wasn't until this month (September '96) that VSMC has begun to actually run games. The_Brain has not been working on this emulator since 1992 may I clarify =).VSMC's pros include that it will run on 600k of Conventional memory and can even run off a 386 (although slowly). The_Brain promises that in its current form, it is without optimizations, and laughs at the inquiry of possible optimzations which makes the majority of us excited =)
Alright, well, that about covers anything I had to ask, do you have anything you want to add?
No.
You sure?
Now, can I finish reading Pride and Prejudice? =)
Yes, thank you for your time!
