The Affinity EFX Interview
Alan Dykes - October 1996
First off, I would like to know what exactly you do in the console scene?
Well I started out on #gbinfow on undernet as a simple USER with a interest in Emulation on the PC of some of the more classical Console systems. As I progressed with my collection of each different emulator, I became a OP on that channel and began a file server. Several months into my service on #gbinfow I came onto EFNET and joined on what I heard to be the hottest EMU channel around (where all the authors of the emu's hung out), #snesemu.Again I went through a period where I was a looker and learned even more about the scene and became quite interested in the devoloping NES emulators.
That's when I was hearing from people that MINDRAPE had NES images he wasn't releasing. I began to start communicating with MINDRAPE on and off.. and was really nice about everything and he started up a little testers team to make games work on pasofami .. including Myself, Weirdman, and Baked.
As that progressed, Weirdman violated the one thing mindrape asked of us .. not to release the images, so he was removed from the testing group.
I was the only one left that was showing any results of progress in understanding the game formats and really tweaking them and getting them to actually do something on the emulator...
I was given a new supply of games .. (and baked was never on so he didnt recieve them), and I got all those working .. and figured out 1mbit games and 2mbit games and we started releasing packs for PASOFAMI .. HENSE .. MINDRAPE and EFX.
This continued on for pack after pack till about pack 17 now is the latest one. Alot of work goes into making those packs more then people may realize. First you have to convert the game from .RAW format Add various different headers to it and sometimes you have to UNINTERLEAVE the data BYTE by BYTE for each image to get it to run correctly on any emu .. that was a pain in the ASS. :)
Anyway that was the most complicated thing in the field for me to do and I am just currently looking for newer and greater emulators to run more of the games we have. That's all I got ta day bout that :)
ok :) So you release games for the NES. About how many do you think you have released so far? And do you plan on releasing any for other systems?
Hmm... It's not really a question of releasing games for other systems.The nintendo games required HEX EDITING and LOTS of serious work to get them work correctly .. especially from all the different backup methods.With PASOFAMI you can mess with the settings and make some games work more then others.I dont have any games for other systems.. and other systems games work as soon as you copy them .. not much you can do to them that they dont do for themselves.
What is your favorite gaming system that is being emulated (or attempted to be emulated)?
EFX - I would have to say NES. I have hopes in THE_BRAIN to get his NES emulation on the road :)
Yes, we all do :). Do you have a WWW page or anything?
I was offered to do the EMULATION page at DC at one time .. but lacking the HTML skills.. I passed on the opportunity to TYPHOON_Z hense..the new archaic ruins was born
Ok, anything else you would like to add about emulation or the #emu channel? (now is your time to speak your mind)
Well I get tired of all the various Registration Stuff and the Talk of Beta testing to a certain extent.. It just seems to poke fun at the unworthy.
Yes, it does, and it is a pain to register things. Anything else?
No, I think that about covers it :) .. .. and I love the emulation world and SARAH GROSS
Ok, thanks for your time EFX!
Ok :)
