Castaway/PSP Version 002 Released (Atari ST Emulator)

[wraggster]

Skeezix (http://www.codejedi.com/shadowplan/castaway.html) has updated his Atari ST emulator for the PSP, heres what he posted:


CaSTaway/PSP - version 002

Crappy second alpha (for PSP). Don't expect much yet, except for updates
to come quite quickly over the next little while.

Assuming this second alpha works for you at all (it should!), I think you'll
enjoy it; full sound and joystick and mouse support, can pick from a small
number of disks so you don't need to rename all the time now, and shes full
screen. For games with a loader menu or that need text entry, an onscreen
keyboard is supported with most (but not yet all) ST keyboard keys.

I'll be fleshing out the GUI with more options, a scrolling disk list and
disk->database lookup very soon; expect savestates and all the usual emu
goodness soon!

- Get yourself a TOS.ROM before running the emu
- Get yourself a few .ST disk images too!

Alpha 002

NEW: Basic disk picker (it works, but not fancy yet)
o Lists .ST and .MSA files in the /PSP/GAME/ATARI_ST directory
o Don't use MSA's yet.. they're screwy
o Press 'X' to run the emulation
o Press '()' (circle) to select a disk; you should always select a
disk at this point, since if it runs without any disks it gets confused
for now
o Only put in 5 or less disks for now; lame, but I ran out of time and
wanted you to have something to play with for the weekend :) (Spent days
tracking down an obscure bug :/)
CHG: Mouse speed increased a bit; double-click and such should work
REM: TOS has to be called TOS.ROM (TOS.IMG seems not to work.. not sure why :/)
o You need a TOS.ROM file; don't ask me where to get it.. ask Google or
suck it from your Atari ST machine.
NEW: Full screen scaling with smoothing by default
NEW: Onscreen virtual ST keyboard
o Use [SELECT] to toggle keyboard on or off
o While present, left d-pad controls keyboard selection point and
right d-pad X will push the selected key
o Adjusted key hold duration and repeat duration to avoid million-presses


http://psp-news.dcemu.co.uk/files/castpsp-003.jpg

Download Here --> http://psp-news.dcemu.co.uk/castawaypsp.shtml

[melime]

how about 1.0 eboot files .... only can see releases for 1.5 fw users. and sei psp tool does not work on this one . please help

[Amiga]

melime use psp brew to convert them

This emulator is fantastic just needs the colours brightness increased only looks a bit dark,and a option to get back to the floppies and a reset button :)

[Mr.Modem]

This is very good news. I've been waiting for the next version since the first version was released (It wasn't so many days ago). The fisk selector is very welcome. Thanks!

[parabolee]

Still very excited about this. I'm gonna hang on untill the third release when it's a little more polished with the options but I'm already stocking up on AtariST games :)

[skeezix]

I'll investigate how to make a PSP 1.0 version; didn't know they were different :)

002 is pretty slick overall.. lacks fancy stuff, but quite playable I think. I'll do some good menu integration for 003, and see if I can get savestates and such in there. I also noticed the brightness was down a touch, so I'll fiddle with the colour saturation.

I'd like to add some configuration stuff, so you can rebind your own keys by game since for games like Dungeon Master (3d RPG) you'd want shoulders to perform 'rotate party' type operations and such.

Lots to do, but I think shes doing well already :)

jeff

[wraggster]

updated the zip with a V1.0 eboot ;)

[Mr.Modem]

The virtual keyboard doesn't seem to work all the time, for example I can't get past the crack screen in Lotus Turbo Challange 2. I did it in the previous version so I supspect it's the keyboard emulation that's failing and not something else. I'm really looking forward to get some more configuration stuff and a way to reset the emulator and change disks while playing.

[wraggster]

Ill also add a big thanks to SKeezix for this release :)

[skeezix]

Some games will always be 'screwy' with the CaSTaway core (I'll also be adding Hatari and others in ;), but it coudl well just be a timing issue.. ie: key release is a little screw I suspect, so you press a key and it does down, but may come up too fast or not at all perhaps. So I'll make keys come up whenever you press another key, or after half a second say.. that should be long enough for the game to detect the keypress.

ie: right now you can press 3 or 4 or more keys, and it'll keep them all down until after a bit. That might be confusing things..

Jeff

[Amiga]

The virtual keyboard doesn't seem to work all the time, for example I can't get past the crack screen in Lotus Turbo Challange 2. I did it in the previous version so I supspect it's the keyboard emulation that's failing and not something else. I'm really looking forward to get some more configuration stuff and a way to reset the emulator and change disks while playing.

I agree ,the keyboard no longers seems to work atall for me now :(

[Mr.Modem]

The keyboard works in some games, and doesn't work in others. It's very sad cause I can't play Lotus Turbo Challange 2 anymore.

[skeezix]

'anymore'? Did it work in alpha 001, with the triangle or right-trigger buttons? If so, should be fixable. Thats why I release alphas as fast as I can :)

jeff

[parabolee]

THANKS for this great work Skeezix. I only wish the Amiga EMU was as good as this (still runs at 8 frameskip :( ).

Atari ST has so many great games I look forward to playing, I'm going to hold on till V.3 though because I have lot's of games to play so far.

Do you have a paypal to donate to? THANKS!!!!

[skeezix]

You can donate at my webstore; its run by someone else, but they get me the funds without raping them too much.. and I've not had a lot of trust for paypal :(

http://store.esellerate.net/store/catalog.aspx?s=STR866524809

Theres a donate option there somewhere :)

jeff

[Mr.Modem]

'anymore'? Did it work in alpha 001, with the triangle or right-trigger buttons? If so, should be fixable. Thats why I release alphas as fast as I can :)

jeff

Yeah I used the Triangle button in alpha 001 and it worked perfectly.

[skeezix]

Alright; I'll be retouching the key timings for 003 so hopefully we can sort it out. Exactly which games have problems? (which disk number and group?) -- email me if you want to go back and forth a bit to try it out before release..

jeff

Anyone got a nice piece of loader artwork in the ST-style for me? :)

[watoto]

i can load games but when i get to the green desktop the cursor won't move,so i can't do anything from there,is anyone else having this problem?

[ultros]

hi,

i don't know, how to press a key at the keyboard at all.
i have an automation disk and just have to press "1" (for example).
i see the virtual keyboard and i can move the cursor on it by pressing the d-pad.
but how can i press a key?
the readme says: "While present, left d-pad controls keyboard selection point and right d-pad X will push the selected key"

what is the left and what is the right d-pad? my psp has one d-pad and one analog-pad.
if i press left or right on the d-pad, the cursor moves, so that makes no sense...
i tried to press the x-button with almost every combinition with the other buttons, but nothing is happening.

[skeezix]

i can load games but when i get to the green desktop the cursor won't move,so i can't do anything from there,is anyone else having this problem?

Sounds like you didn't 'insert' the disk; In the picker, hit circle on the disk, and then cross to continue, and it should boot up fine.

I'll be fixing that all up to be more obvious soon.

jeff

[skeezix]

hi,

i don't know, how to press a key at the keyboard at all.
i have an automation disk and just have to press "1" (for example).
i see the virtual keyboard and i can move the cursor on it by pressing the d-pad.
but how can i press a key?
the readme says: "While present, left d-pad controls keyboard selection point and right d-pad X will push the selected key"

what is the left and what is the right d-pad? my psp has one d-pad and one analog-pad.
if i press left or right on the d-pad, the cursor moves, so that makes no sense...
i tried to press the x-button with almost every combinition with the other buttons, but nothing is happening.

The 'left d-pad' is the left buttons, while the 'right d-pad' is the circle, cross, etc. So use the 'd-pad' (the left one) and select a key, then press 'x' (on the right d-pad, but you know its just X) to press the key on the ST keyboard.

I'll write some good docs soon, when the UI settles down.

jeff

[ultros]

hm, after the cursor is above the "1" or "2", i can press X or any other button, but the games won't boot.
normally the automation menus are very easy to use and i know that this one works at least with the gp32 version.

but maybe this is one of the above mentioned problems with the keyboard.

[skeezix]

Try a different game; I'm still working with the timings.. ie: It might not be holding the key down long enough for that menu/game to catch it. Timing is one of those things that changes each port, so need to get it right again.

jeff

[vidgrip]

Great job, I'm loving this emu.
Just a thought, is it possible to not have the keys repeat at all.

[skeezix]

yeah, don't worry, some fixes to automatic key-release in 003 :)

jeff

Edit: Brightening up the colours, adding more GUI goodness for startup options and during-runtime options, better mouse and keyboard handling.. lots coming.