PicoDrive for PSP v1.50 - Genesis/Sega CD Emulator for the PSP

[notaz]

Finally PicoDrive 1.50 for PSP is ready.

This version should improve performance quite nicely for most games (even CD ones), thanks to ideas from Lordus (jEnesisDS author) and Exophase, and my own work, of course. This version also adds some support for Sega Pico (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Pico), a toy based on Genesis/MegaDrive. Another feature is cue/bin support (finally) and improved Sega CD load times.

wraggster already posted the log, but I'll paste it again:

Added some basic support for Sega Pico, a MegaDrive-based toy.
Added proper support for cue/bin images, including cdda playback.
.cue sheets with iso/cso/mp3/wav files listed in them are now supported too (but 44kHz restriction still applies).
Added bin_to_cso_mp3 tool, based on Exophase's bin_to_iso_ogg. The tool can convert .cue/.bin Sega CD images to .cso/.mp3.
Greatly improved Sega CD load times.
Changed how scheduling between 68k and z80 is handled. Improves performance for some games. Credits to Lordus for the idea.
YM2612 state was not 100% saved, this should be better now.
Improved renderer performance for shadow/hilight mode.
Added a hack for YM2612 frequency overflow issue (bleep noises in Shaq Fu, Spider-Man - The Animated Series (intro music), etc.). Credits to Nemesis @ spritesmind forum. Works only if sound rate is set to 44kHz.
Implemented some sprite rendering improvements, as suggested by Exophase. Games with lots of sprites now perform better.
Added better idle loop detection, based on Lordus' idea again.
"accurate timing" option removed, as disabling it no longer improves performance.
"accurate sprites" was removed too, the new sprite code can properly handle sprite priorities in all cases.
Timers adjusted again.
Improved .smd detection code.
Minor general optimizations and menu improvements.
Fixed a bug in Sega CD savestate loader, where the game would sometimes crash after load.
Fixed a crash of games using eeprom (introduced in 1.40b).
fixed suspend/resume (hopefully for real).


July 17 update: 1.51 bugfix release:

Improved bin_to_cso_mp3 tool, it should no longer complain about missing lame.exe even if it's in working dir.
Fixed a regression from 1.50, which caused slowdowns in Final Fight.
Fixed some regressions from 1.50 related to sprite limit and palette handling (caused graphical glitches in some games).
Added ABC turbo actions to key config.
Some other minor adjustments.

normal version (http://notaz.gp2x.de/releases/PicoDrive/PicoDrive_psp_151.zip)
kxploit'ed version (http://notaz.gp2x.de/releases/PicoDrive/PicoDrive_psp_151_kxploit.zip)
Enjoy!

Download and Give Feedback & Compatibility Reports Via Comments

[jurkevicz]

awsome update! Thanks a lot.

[wraggster]

thanks for an awesome release :)

[Zack]

Thank you so much Notaz :)

Keep up your amazing work :D

EDIT :

WOW! You fixed the sound bug on the title screen in "Streets Of Rage" . This is the only emulator I know that doesn't have this problem now!!

Thanks so much!

[kz_se7en]

this is awesome, i love it
thanks alot

[juiceface]

thank you sir, excellent work.

[kyus]

AH FARTZ.

I sold my white slim to get one of the silver ones. I want it back now :(

Does rolo to the rescue work? PLEAAAAASE let it work :(

Oh. and are cheats difficult to input?

[PoorKingz]

Will this work on the Slim? I though kxploit was only for the 1.5 kernal.

[havoc_012]

Great release. Thanks.

[walliester]

thanks a lot bro been waiting all night for this. major props for having the time to do it again on the psp...:D

[turnerl]

Thankyou very very much!

[wolfpack]

Thank you so much Notaz :)

Keep up your amazing work :D

EDIT :

WOW! You fixed the sound bug on the title screen in "Streets Of Rage" . This is the only emulator I know that doesn't have this problem now!!

Thanks so much!

Streets of Rage FTW :D

[Tets]

The accurate renderer hardly impacts performance at all now! It's not quite full framerate at stock PSP speed, but I can get Sonic 2 running at a solid 60 fps at 266 MHz. It's about a 20-25 fps gain from 1.40b.

[emu-fan]

thanks

[downloaddownload]

aw yeah this is the best genesis emulator out there!

[Iceman^2]

Such an awesome emulator. Many thanks!

[CaptainMorgan4]

I still use DGEN 1.70 because I don't really see the point to switch because all the games I run, even the Sonics seem full speed to me. Sure I have it clocked at 333 but seems to work just fine for me, and the adhoc multiplayer on DGEN is the only emulator I've successfully been able to use for 2player adhoc. Last I checked this one doesn't have multiplayer yet, has that changed? So basically what I'm saying is, why should I use this emulator for anyone trying to convince me, I only want it for Genesis.

[Tets]

If you feel that your games are running fine, then there's very little reason to switch to Picodrive. And if you use ad-hoc, then there's even less reason.

On the other hand, I use my PSP extensively throughout the day, so a more efficient emulator that will let me keep the megahertz down is invaluable. That, and I don't know anybody else in town who owns a PSP, so if I want to play two player Genesis games, I'll have to go to my friend's place and play the real thing. 8)

[juiceface]

i had problems loading mortal kombat games and some if the nhl games with dgen, picodrive has better compatability AFAIK

[odino]

Good Thx Notaz!:thumbup:

[pspvik]

nice release guys =]

have ya ever thought of
maybe working on the n64 emulator.

i would say that its about the only
thing that is missing on psp today

[humbird0]

You mean besides Daedalus?
There's already a port of it for the PSP.

[humbird0]

The emulator seems to work.

But I can't get bin_to_cso_mp3 to work.
After following all of the instructions in the readme, it can't find lame.exe even though that's in the same folder as bin_to_cso_mp3.

[Aryn]

I just tried playing AH3 Thunderstrike using this version of Picodrive and it actually worked better than I expected.

The game maintains a frame rate of 60 during the videos, which I consider to be amazing.

The frame rate during actual game play ranges between 13 and 31 so far, this is far from perfect but the game almost plays exactly like it should. The frame rate stays above 20 almost all the time and the average gamer probably would not notice when it drops.

I tested this game with better sync disabled, sound quality set to max, and readahead buffer set as high as possible.

[notaz]

[...]
So basically what I'm saying is, why should I use this emulator for anyone trying to convince me, I only want it for Genesis.
You don't have use this, if you like dgen, just use dgen, you are free to ignore what others say.



After following all of the instructions in the readme, it can't find lame.exe even though that's in the same folder as bin_to_cso_mp3.
If it doesn't work from the currect dir, try copying lame.exe and ciso.exe to the windows dir.

[bah]

This is fantastic notaz, huge thanks for your hard work. :)

Big thanks to Exophase and Lordus for their assistance also.

[Sharpy]

this is excellent, thanks Notaz, Lordus and Exophase.

[sm1988]

just wiped my bum with my genesis collection umd and flush it . thanks notaz guys like you lordus and exophase make the scene great.

[Tets]

It's great that Lordus was able to help out, he's done some impressive things with Genesis emulation on the DS despite its relative lack of power.

[philage]

Awsome work, thanks for the release. Every game i have tried has been flawless. Please keep up the good work. :thumbup:

[limmk]

loading times on the Sega CD is amazing fast! yippeee

[that1guywiththeface]

1.) What are some good Sega CD games (other than Snatcher, which I highly recommend)?

2.) How well does shadowrun (Genesis) run?

3.) What are some good genesis games (I love shoot-em-ups) that are not Sonic games?

[Baboon]

1.) What are some good Sega CD games (other than Snatcher, which I highly recommend)?

2.) How well does shadowrun (Genesis) run?

3.) What are some good genesis games (I love shoot-em-ups) that are not Sonic games?

1) Final Fight CD, Sonic CD, Android Assault, Flashback, Spiderman vs. The Kingpin...

2) No Idea as I havent tried this new build yet.

3) Toe Jam & Earl, Shinobi 3, Eco, Jungel Strike, Gunstar Heroes, Contra HC, Vectorman, Streets of Rage series, Golden Axe, Strider, Comix Zone, TMNT...

[acidspunk]

1.) What are some good Sega CD games (other than Snatcher, which I highly recommend)?

2.) How well does shadowrun (Genesis) run?

3.) What are some good genesis games (I love shoot-em-ups) that are not Sonic games?

1 - Road Avenger, Silpheed, Sonic CD, Eternal Champions - Challenge from the Dark Side, Final Fight CD

2 - Runs perfectly

3 - Turrican, Golden Axe 1 & 2, Contra, Thunderforce IV, Earthworm Jim 1 & 2, Castle of Illusion, Comix Zone, Alladdin, Dragon's Fury, Flashback, Another World, Gunstar Heroes, Robocop vs Terminator, Mega Bomberman, Rocket Knight Adventures, Shinobi III, Splatterhouse 2, Ristar, Kid Chameleon, James Pond 2 - Robocod, Strider, Vectorman 1 & 2, Story of Thor/Beyond Oasis , Landstalker and Strider to name a few.

I'm sure there are some more great ones that I can't remember right now. The genesis has no lack of great games :P

[NOCHUCK]

captainmorgan4
"I still use DGEN 1.70 because I don't really see the point to switch because all the games I run, even the Sonics seem full speed to me. Sure I have it clocked at 333 but seems to work just fine for me, and the adhoc multiplayer on DGEN is the only emulator I've successfully been able to use for 2player adhoc. Last I checked this one doesn't have multiplayer yet, has that changed? So basically what I'm saying is, why should I use this emulator for anyone trying to convince me, I only want it for Genesis."

Why not put on picodrive also and just have a shared rom folder for both your pico and dgen(picodrive isn't a huge space consumer)that way if something isn't running perfet on dgen you can try it trough pico and there are some really cool sega cd games you might like. For the ad-hoc deffinatly d-gen though(i use both)

Thanks for the update Notaz, they're always more then welcome

great sega-cd game I don't think anybody mentioned yet is Willy Beamish(it's the only way I can get it to work, anybody every got the pc or amiga version workin through like a Dosbox or something?)

[firemaster#1]

Man I have to give you major props for the emulator, I can play genesis games full speed at 266mhz. This is probaly one of the best emulators out there, right now I'm playing ultimate mortal kombat trilogy. Out of curiousity why can the gp2x get games at full speed at 200mhz?

[Panini]

My final fight cd no longer works??

Ive not changed nothing since the last picodrive release and on the previous one it worked fine. Now i load the game up and its ok but when it gets to the capcom text it goes really slow and also the the music is choppy. My sonic cd and snatcher still play fine but final fight cd is to choppy and slow to play now?

Why it this not work when it did on the last one? Help!

[V3N0M]

I still use DGEN 1.70 because I don't really see the point to switch because all the games I run, even the Sonics seem full speed to me. Sure I have it clocked at 333 but seems to work just fine for me, and the adhoc multiplayer on DGEN is the only emulator I've successfully been able to use for 2player adhoc. Last I checked this one doesn't have multiplayer yet, has that changed? So basically what I'm saying is, why should I use this emulator for anyone trying to convince me, I only want it for Genesis.

uh.. you could always just put both on lol. Plus I don't think Dgen can play Sega CD where PicoDrive can and in my opinion besides the ad hoc support beats Dgen hands down in everyother area. But whatever floats your boat :p

[Baboon]

My final fight cd no longer works??

Ive not changed nothing since the last picodrive release and on the previous one it worked fine. Now i load the game up and its ok but when it gets to the capcom text it goes really slow and also the the music is choppy. My sonic cd and snatcher still play fine but final fight cd is to choppy and slow to play now?

Why it this not work when it did on the last one? Help!


I've just tried this and its also not working properly on this 1.50 version for me (the sound is stuttering and the fmv is very slow)?

Will try re-ripping my cd again I guess to see if that works?

Weird that it worked fine before though?

[CaptainMorgan4]

Thanks for all the responses guys, yeah I know I could use both emulators but I'm just anal about shit like this, I like to have one emulator for each system I play. I don't know like you people said if there aren't any reasons to switch then why do it, the games I run work full speed so. I never played Sega CD back in the day, never knew anybody with the system either. So now my new question is what cool games are there for Sega CD that you guys could reccomend. I love all my genesis games, Streets of Rage and old Tiny Toon games and such so there's an idea of what I would like. So yeah I'm going to go lookup some Sega CD games and I'll come back here and check back with you.

[Zack]

Thanks for all the responses guys, yeah I know I could use both emulators but I'm just anal about shit like this, I like to have one emulator for each system I play. I don't know like you people said if there aren't any reasons to switch then why do it, the games I run work full speed so. I never played Sega CD back in the day, never knew anybody with the system either. So now my new question is what cool games are there for Sega CD that you guys could reccomend. I love all my genesis games, Streets of Rage and old Tiny Toon games and such so there's an idea of what I would like. So yeah I'm going to go lookup some Sega CD games and I'll come back here and check back with you.

Sonic CD is a classic, Snatcher is also supposed to be great, although I never really played it. Lunar star is a great RPG too.

[Baboon]

Can anyone please confirm if they've got Final Fight CD working on this new version? I just tried another copy I had and its still not working right and is chugging a long very, very slowly?

I tried my Sonic CD and put the fps on and its running perfect at 60/60 ... but just tried Final Fight CD and its running at 02/19?

[that1guywiththeface]

BTW, Snatcher running almost perfect except for when *SPOILERS* (highlight to see them) when you enter Gibson's house, and your apartment while Katrina is there, there are some huge graphical glitches with Katrina *END SPOILERS*

[notaz]

My final fight cd no longer works??


Can anyone please confirm if they've got Final Fight CD working on this new version? I just tried another copy I had and its still not working right and is chugging a long very, very slowly?
I've just checked it, it's some new bug. I'll put up a bugfix release over the weekend which corrects this.


BTW, Snatcher running almost perfect except for when *SPOILERS* (highlight to see them) when you enter Gibson's house, and your apartment while Katrina is there, there are some huge graphical glitches with Katrina *END SPOILERS*
Strange, was the accurate renderer enabled?

[brummy76]

Thanks Notaz for another quality release!!

I tested a few games out and the sound is much better.
There is still a weird transparency bug on ISS and batman returns (CD) is still slow.
Over all though this is the best megadrive emulator i have ever used on a handheld!
Keep up the good work.:thumbup:

[Baboon]

I've just checked it, it's some new bug. I'll put up a bugfix release over the weekend which corrects this.


Strange, was the accurate renderer enabled?

Ah cool thanks for confirming that. I thought I was going mad as all my other CD games worked. lol

I look forward to the next release. :thumbup:

[Skaterben55]

Can I just drag all the files into my picodrive folder on my psp and replace all the files on there.

[NOCHUCK]

Not gonna lie I used the wikipedia list to get a refresher but every game I listed I played and stand by. Still have my sega cdx hooked to the flat screen(one of the coolest systems ever but a battery monster if you used it as a walkman) I left out a few games because they just arent fun without the light gun.
*Adventures of Willy Beamish(possibly my favorite pc game when i was a kid, point and click boy)
*Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm
*Corpse Killer
*Dragon's Lair
*Dune
*Earthworm Jim: Special Edition(great if your a ewj fan on the genesis)
*Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side(i think this game got a bad rap, if you like eternal champions for the genesis you'll digg this)
*Final Fight CD
*Flashback: The Quest for Identity
*Heart of the Alien
*NBA Jam
*Night Trap(it's just a fmv game but for it's time it was pretty racey and pretty fun your first play through, dunno but it could been the first non-pc 2 cd game as well(once again just a guess)
*OutRunners
*Powermonger
*Rise of the Dragon(once agin kinda racey, cool story and it's the old school point and click adventure(like broken sword kinda))
*Road Rash
*The Secret of Monkey Island(once agin classic point and click, can get the pc version of all three monkey islands to run on scummvm btw)
Sewer Shark(came with the sega cd, fmv game, fun your first play through but that could be because i was foced to play it since i couldn't affored games for it at first)
Sonic the Hedgehog CD(execellent game if your a sonic fan)
Theme Park(there's also a PSX version)

[odino]

Out of curiousity why can the gp2x get games at full speed at 200mhz?

Because the gp2x use an asm core(cyclone?), anyway the C core of psp pico is very very good!:)

[firemaster#1]

Thanks for the info

[NovaKane]

Great update.

I still need to try the Sega CD version of Eternal Champions.

[B2K24]

Thank you Notaz for your work. I LOVE PicoDrive

[kharaboudjan]

the picodrive is really one of the best emulators for the psp. its fantastic to play this perfect emu.

thanx a lot :D

[dcdood]

Looking good, Better framerate then some other emu i had a while back! Great Job :)

[acidspunk]

Great update.

I still need to try the Sega CD version of Eternal Champions.

I have it. It works perfectly. Awesome game too. :P

[carpy]

This emu is awesome -

one thing taht bugs me though -

In Dungeons & Dragons - Warriors of the Eternal Sun, when you walk into the cemetary just outside the castle and look at any of the headstones inscriptions, the game gets stuck and you can't move. Teh music continues to play, but you cannot walk away.

In the real game, all you have to do is push one of the buttons (A B C) and you can then walk away.

This works fine in KEGA Fusion for the PC, but doesn't work properly on Picodrive, or in DGEN.

[jonny157]

Hi all

I'm new to all this, I've dragged the picodrive onto psp/game - now where can I get some genesis/megadrive downloads from?

Will the games just need dropping in the picodrive folder on my card? I'm running 3.80 m33

Thanks

[ricky006]

How duz Virtua Racing run on this new version of picodrive ????? Coz it runs superb on the gp2x version

[acidspunk]

How duz Virtua Racing run on this new version of picodrive ????? Coz it runs superb on the gp2x version

It runs pretty crappy. Like 3 fps...

[marzsyndrome]

I should warn everyone to be aware when extracting this directly to their PSP (or even just copying it manually onto there) - you need to make sure the "Archive" flag isn't enabled for the directory, particularly if you store your roms in the same place as the emulator.

If it's enabled, then PicoDrive will assume that its own folder is an archive and report an Invalid Archive error if you try to look into it (the rom browser starts off outside of the directory and in the area where your other game folders are). I'm not too sure whether the flag is a problem with zipping it up in the first place, but it is very easy to not notice it until you attempt to use it. This problem has existed in all versions of the program to date.

[notaz]

one thing taht bugs me though -

In Dungeons & Dragons - Warriors of the Eternal Sun, when you walk into the cemetary just outside the castle and look at any of the headstones inscriptions, the game gets stuck and you can't move. Teh music continues to play, but you cannot walk away.
Just fixed it, thanks for the report.


How duz Virtua Racing run on this new version of picodrive ????? Coz it runs superb on the gp2x version
It needs a dynarec (special version for PSP), and that is difficult to make.


I should warn everyone to be aware when extracting this directly to their PSP (or even just copying it manually onto there) - you need to make sure the "Archive" flag isn't enabled for the directory, particularly if you store your roms in the same place as the emulator.

If it's enabled, then PicoDrive will assume that its own folder is an archive and report an Invalid Archive error if you try to look into it (the rom browser starts off outside of the directory and in the area where your other game folders are). I'm not too sure whether the flag is a problem with zipping it up in the first place, but it is very easy to not notice it until you attempt to use it. This problem has existed in all versions of the program to date.
Strange, will try to check what's going on.


I'll probably won't make it with the bugfix release I promised earlier, so it's pushed to the next week.

[carpy]

Just fixed it, thanks for the report.

Dude!

Awesome.

[eke-eke]

Originally Posted by carpy View Post
one thing taht bugs me though -

In Dungeons & Dragons - Warriors of the Eternal Sun, when you walk into the cemetary just outside the castle and look at any of the headstones inscriptions, the game gets stuck and you can't move. Teh music continues to play, but you cannot walk away.


Just fixed it, thanks for the report.


argh, I read that post and noticed the same bug happen in genplus

I tried to debug and track it down but failed, could you give me some hint ? Vint timing ?

thanks ;)

[notaz]

argh, I read that post and noticed the same bug happen in genplus

I tried to debug and track it down but failed, could you give me some hint ? Vint timing ?

thanks ;)
No, it's only badly coded game. It has an input read routine, which only checks which buttons (of SABC) were just pressed (it ignores buttons held or released). So only first call will 'see' that something was pressed. The routine is called several times per frame, first (if counting from active display start) to check for d-pad buttons, then SABC, so that first call 'eats' SABC, while the game doesn't check for them at that time, it uses later calls for that.

[eke-eke]

this is indeed a timing issue: updating inputs at the start of vblank (instead start of frame) solved it

thanks a lot

[carpy]

any idea when the patched one will be out notaz?

Thanks!

[notaz]

right about now, see the first post.

[Zack]

Thank you for the update Notaz :)

[caffeinekid]

Fantastic. Many thanks, Notaz! :)

[SmashinGit]

Thanks for all your hard work notaz, it really is appreciated.

[bah]

Thanks Notaz, your porting to the PSP (and updating) of such a fine emu is greatly appreciated. :)

[Baboon]

Fixed a regression from 1.50, which caused slowdowns in Final Fight.



Ideal thanks for fixing this. It was one of the few CD games I play so its nice its working again. :thumbup:

I'll try this bugfix release after work. :D

[odino]

Thanks!!!!!!!!;)

[acidspunk]

hmmmm.... this one stopped loading mega cd savestates... Tried previous version's savestates with eternal champions cd... it crashes. 0_o

[Veskgar]

Thank you so much for continuing this great emulator on the PSP as well Notaz!

The bin_to_cso_mp3 converter is amazing. Actually, a lifesaver. Its very fast and convenient and the file sizes for Sega CD games gets reduced considerably. So I must also give thanks to Exophase for the original bin_to_iso_ogg converter.

This is such an efficient, smooth, and convenient emulator for the PSP. I really can't say enough good things about it.

[rageteam1000]

Good work, notaz.

[Keitaro Urashima]

Thanks for releasing it.:D

[TheKingRZ]

thank you very much.
YOU ARE THE MAN.

[darkhadden]

Hey Notaz - I am a virgin to the whole PSP process. I have an old gen PSP. I have never modded or hacked on it in any way. Okay, I have a little prOn on there... LOL.

Anyhow, I am dying to find a way to play SHADOWRUN from Genesis on my PSP.

I have the most recently released version of the firmware update. I am at work, but my PSP is in my car, I could check for version info - but it is the most recent official update.

I have read about 'bricking' issues, and aside from not even knowing how to add this program to my PSP, I'm afraid if I do I could 'brick' it.

ANY advice you can share would be so awesome - I want to play SHADOWRUN again I have the fondest memories of the bar in Seattle (shotten-LOUF!)...

Please help me?

-Nate J, Indianapolis

[darkhadden]

Anybody a reply? Please??

I need my Shadowrun...

[andwhyisit]

Hey Notaz - I am a virgin to the whole PSP process. I have an old gen PSP. I have never modded or hacked on it in any way. Okay, I have a little prOn on there... LOL.

Anyhow, I am dying to find a way to play SHADOWRUN from Genesis on my PSP.

I have the most recently released version of the firmware update. I am at work, but my PSP is in my car, I could check for version info - but it is the most recent official update.

I have read about 'bricking' issues, and aside from not even knowing how to add this program to my PSP, I'm afraid if I do I could 'brick' it.

ANY advice you can share would be so awesome - I want to play SHADOWRUN again I have the fondest memories of the bar in Seattle (shotten-LOUF!)...

Please help me?

-Nate J, Indianapolis
You need to install CFW. You will need a pandora battery for that, look it up. The only issue that can cause bricking during installation is human error, so I would recommend that you read the instructions carefully.

[JLF65]

PicoDrive has exactly ZERO chance of bricking a PSP, so that's not a concern at all. You run this like any other homebrew. If you don't have custom firmware, go read the sticky threads on Pandora and the Magic Memstick.

[jurkevicz]

I'm still hoping for 32X suport soon!

[KnightofTruth]

Thanks for the great contribution to the community NoTaz!

Quick question, is the non-kxploit'ed version of PicoDrive compatible with CFW 5.0 m33-4 on the PsP Slim? I'm not using any kernel add-on, but so far I haven't had any problems using other apps for my legitimate roms/games. (Namely SNES)

EDIT: After dl'ing and reading the readme, it sounds like I shouldn't have any problems - so thanks again! If I do, I'll be sure to drop back here!

Thanks in advance for the tip!

[Giababas]

thank you very much my friend....!!!!Cant W8