New GBA Emulator gpSP (gameplaySP) v0.5 BETA - Many Games at Full SPeed-

**BelmontSlayer** · August 20th, 2006, 08:12

Exophase has just released his GBA emulator for the PSP, heres what he says:

gameplaySP (gpSP for short) is a GBA emulator written completely from scratch. It is still pretty young (only having started a 3 months ago)
and thus rather immature, but it does a decent job of playing a number of games. It is currently very minimalistic, in the sourcecode, presentation, and features. Its number one focus is to deliver a GBA
gaming experience in the most playable way that PSP can manage, with frills being secondary.

Having said that, optimization was the important way in achieving this goal, with overall compatability being a near second. Because of this
some games may not run at the favor of running more games significantly better. Of course, the compatability will improve with time.

Many games will run at their best out of the box, but some games will run very slowly unless idle loops are taken care of. There is a supplied
ROM database, game_config.txt, that gives idle loop targets and other settings that may help a game to run better (or at all) on a per-game basis. Currently (as of the first release) only a very small number of
games are entered. This number should improve dramatically over time.

gpSP currently requires an authentic GBA BIOS image file to run. It will make no effort to run without one present; this file is 16kb and should
be called gba_bios.bin and present in the same location as the EBOOT.PBP file. Please do not ask me where to obtain this, you'll have to look
online or grab it from a GBA. Note that it is not legal to have this file unless you own a GBA, and even then it's rather gray area.

-- Features --

gpSP mostly emulates the core Gameboy Advance system. As of right now it does not emulate any special hardware present on various GBA cartridges.

What it emulates:

GBA CPU: All ARM7TDMI ARM and Thumb mode opcodes except block memory w/ s-bit (probably aren't used in GBA games) Video: Modes 0, 1, 2 almost completely, basic 3-5 support, sprites,
windows/OBJ windows Interrupts: HBlank, VBlank, all timers, all DMA channels, keypad DMA: Immediate, HBlank, VBlank, sound timer triggered
Sound: Both DirectSound channels and all 4 GBC audio channels Input: Basic GBA input delivered through PSP controls Cartridges: Currently supports up to 16MB large ROMs (32MB will not load)
Backup: 32/64kb SRAM, 64kb flash, 512bit/8kb EEPROM

What it lacks:

Video: No mosaic, bitmap modes lack color effects (alpha, fades), there might be some minor inaccuracies in blending...Cycle accuracy: Very cycle innacurate; CPU is effectively very overclocked, meaning games with rampant idle loops will probably run very poorly. DMA transfers effectively happen for free (0 cycle). Please do NOT use gpSP as a first source for developing GBA homebrew,
try No$GBA instead.Backup: 128kb flash is not currently supported.

-- Controls --

The control scheme is very simple and currently can not be changed.

At the ROM selection screen:

Up/down: navigate current selection window.
Left/right: switch between file window and directory window. Circle/start: select current entry.
Square: go one directory up.

digg it

gpSP Compatibility list (add your findings)

Download and Give Feedback/Compatibility Reports Via Comments

Many games including Mario are running at Full Speed and with sound, try your favourites out and report back as soon as possible

UPDATE: I've added a version for PSP v1.50 since some people were having trouble making their own

via exophase

**oblivioner** · August 20th, 2006, 08:36

Whoa got to check this!

**Mourningstar** · August 20th, 2006, 08:40

gpSP GBA EMU Compatability List....

2261 2 Games in 1 Dr Mario & Puzzle League(U)
works great...

2275 Final Fantasy IV Advance(U)
seems to be working good, but has sound problems...

The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap
100% playable with a bit of some sound issues

Final Fantasy 1 and 2 Dawn of Souls
100% playable with sound issues during the battles (horrible sounds!)

Pirates of the Carribean
works great except for the sound which sucks, but oh well the action is nice.

1005 Wario Ware Inc.(U)(precision)
also works great, but the sound is a little messed up...

Super mario world advance
runnin pretty smooth

Super mario kart
has flawless graphics and near flawless play.

Spongebob Supersponge
(Absolutely perfectly)

Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo Revival
(really slow),

Star Wars Episode III
(Slow but still somewhat enjoyable)

Sonic Advance
(perfect)

Sonic Advance2
(Not as perfect but still really good)

dragon ballz adventure
works

summon night
works

1636 Pokemon Fire Red(U)(squirrels)
works pretty good also

Castlevania Aria of Sorrow
100% Perfect!

Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance
100% Perfect!

Castlevania Circle of the Moon
a little slow and bad sound.

Lord of the Rings The Two Towers(U)
gameplay is really good, but sound is a little bad.

2298 2Games in 1 Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance & Aria of Sorrow(U)
perfect gameplay and sound.

F-Zero Maximum Velocity
a little slow with few graphic glithes and bad sound

Gradius Galaxies
very slow

0753 Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance
a little slow and sound is bad but playable

Golden Sun The Lost Age(U)(Megaroms)
crashes

Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga(E)(Menace)
crashes

Iridion II
good gameplay/sound at frameskip 2, but screen turns black about halfway through first stage(bad rom?)

Need for Speed Porsche Unleashed(U)
very slow

Big Mutha Truckers(U)
crashes at title screen

Iridion 3D
plays/sounds good with frameskip at 1

Dark Arena(U)(Eurasia)
freezes at copyright screen

0793 Turok Evolution(U)(Dumper)
Perfect!

1900 Astro boy Omega Factor(E)
Perfect!

Zelda - Four Swords
Crashes immediately

Metroid Fusion
Working

Spyro - Attack Of The Rhynocs
Working

Simpsons Road Rage (E)
Works Slow Sound Problems

Stuntman (E)
Works Slow Sound Problems

Spyro Orange - The Cortex Conspiracy (U)
Works, Slow Sound Problems

Spyro Fusion
Crashes immediately

Smugglers Run
Working Slow Sound Problems

Spongebob Squarepants the Movie
Crashes immediately

Yoshis Island/ Super Mario Bros 3
Crashes at intro

Tomb Raider The Prophecy
Crashes immediately

Spongebob Squarepants Bikini Bottom
Working

Spyro 2 - Season Of The Flame
Working

Spongebob Squarepants - Flying Dutchman
Crashes at start screens

Spongebob Squarepants - Super Sponge
Working

1275 007 Everything or Nothing(U)(Venom)
Works good with Frameskip 2

1661 F-Zero GP Legend(U)(Rising Sun)
Plays good with Frameskip 2, but onscreen map glitches and sound a little bad

1681 Kill.Switch(U)(Venom)
Works good, but sound is bad

2210 Driv3r(U)
Works good, bad sound

2205 The Sims 2(UE)(M6)
Fails to load

2233 King Kong The Official Game of the Movie(E)(M6)
With Frameskip 2 its playable, but is a little slow

2234 Ford Racing 3(U)
Plays good, but sound is bad/choppy

2240 Mario Tennis Advance Power Tour(E)(M5)
Blue Screen of Death/crashes

2222 Gunstar Future Heros(E)(M6)
Plays great with Frameskip 2, but crashes during 1st level. Maybe a different version would work.

Updated 8/20/06

**ninja9393** · August 20th, 2006, 08:40

that is kinda crazy

**mameuser** · August 20th, 2006, 08:44

Indeed, it a break through in speed.....

I just can't believe.

Wonderful Job

**BelmontSlayer** · August 20th, 2006, 08:46

Well seeing as how I posted it, I've tried it... :P

Anyways, the speed is extreme and the sound is almost perfect. I'm playing Pokemon Ruby with full speed and great sound.

**modcase** · August 20th, 2006, 08:47

Very nice release indeed.

**V3N0M** · August 20th, 2006, 08:49

Crazy how a great emu can be released at any moment without warning lol. Well anyways great job and it seems that full speed GBA emulation is possible as long as it was made from scratch for psp. I hope something like this happens for a ps1 emu. Great job. Just curious, is there a limit on the size of the rom?