NDS - SNEmulDS v0.4 Beta released [Archive] - DCEmu Network: The Homebrew, Hacking & Gaming Network

DanTheManMS

February 25th, 2007, 23:52

New release from Archeide (http://snemul.free.fr/ds/):

SNEmulDS 0.4 alpha contained a lot of stupid bugs that i fixed in this beta release. There are still bugs, but i think it worth a try for most users, because a lot of games were broken. I also added a manual background layers selector.

Here is the complete list of changes:

* Fixed the broken BREAK and COP instructions
* Fixed the ROM write protection by using the protection unit of the ARM9 (thanks to bubble2k for pointing me that)
* Fixed the Emulation flag at startup (problem with DKC3)
* Stupid again, SNES’s RAM was not in the cached memory, speed up games (10-20%)
* Reduced memory consumption, now ROM memory is static (no more malloced), should remove ROM overflow and RAM overwriten problems
* Added an experimental “line by line” engine (buggy, slow, unstable, uncomplete… maybe useful for a few games)
* Added a manual background priority selector (can be choosen in options or with START+LEFT+RIGHT+UP or START+LEFT+RIGHT+DOWN for automatic)
* Added another speed hack option : “Interrupt speed hacks” that should be better than “Full speed hacks” for some games. “Middle speed hacks” is now “Cycles speed hacks”

As usual you may have to patch it with DLDI drivers, for more information see here : http://chishm.drunkencoders.com/DLDI/

Download and Give Feedback Via Comments

crookedmouth

February 26th, 2007, 00:03

Thanks for the info Dan :)

And many thanks to Archeide for working on this awesome emulator! Can't wait to fire it up.

Buddy4point0

February 26th, 2007, 00:06

cool ill give it a try

DanTheManMS

February 26th, 2007, 02:17

Alright, some minor testing on a few games shows that though DKC2 boots now, it's got some serious gameplay errors. In separate instances, I've been returned to the level select map, prevented from moving further to the right in a level, and even been warped around the level, usually to my death. DKC3 on the other hand seems nearly perfect aside from slow speed in a few levels. Sim City and other games that didn't boot in v0.4 Alpha now boot. Things are looking good for this emulator.

Also note that when he says the shortcut keys are "Start+Left+Right+Down" he means to use Start+L+R+down. I find it easier just to enter the menu and tap the text, but it's nice that the button combo exists anyway.

talesyuan

February 26th, 2007, 03:21

cool~
i'll try it~
thanks~

danmiracle

February 26th, 2007, 11:27

Wow, that's a huge speed increase (to the point that games like Super Aleste run a bit too fast now)

Even the music seems fast! (I guess it makes the game more of a challenge :-P)

Everything in that game is running smoothly though (other than the intro screens); even the complex mode 7 zooming spaceship on the 2nd level now works so that's me happy :thumbup:

Super Mario World is running much better too. Few glitches here and there (mainly the top bar with the points/cars and being visible when teleporting down a pipe) but the sound is pretty much perfect and it's playable (again if a little faster than it should be!)

Tried DKC and it now seems really corrupt at the menu stages compared to the previous release (as well as being fast). The background glitch still remains.

Looking forward to future updates!

Mikaa

February 26th, 2007, 15:24

Just downloaded, going to go patch it and try it out.

Mikaa

Klaus2

February 26th, 2007, 16:04

Nice update,thanks u.

Jimmi Connors is 100% speed ingame but the ball physics complete broken all serves r out ^^

And when u got time somewhen please could u fix the scoll down button in roms menu or make it bigger,i hit it in 30% of the trys.

Greets
Klaus

iceman100

February 26th, 2007, 17:22

Hello there i can't seem to get this thing to work for nothing if just keeps saying error no rom folder when it's plainly there.

souLLy

February 26th, 2007, 18:43

Hello there i can't seem to get this thing to work for nothing if just keeps saying error no rom folder when it's plainly there.

did you dldi patch the nds file?

CrossZX

February 26th, 2007, 20:23

The best release so far. Keep up the good work.

Mikaa

February 26th, 2007, 21:26

Okay, tested it (MMD after patching the DLDI with MMD patch) with Mega Man X1, and here are the general results:

1) Sound is HORRIBLE; I ended up turning it off
2) I don't know if I accidentally caused this by fiddling with the filters option or if this is a general fix, but this version update allows me to actually play MMX without appearing behind the cars and objects in the background. If someone can figure out if this was me or the program, it would be appreciated.
3) The game ran so fast I was not sure if it was running TOO fast or at the right speed.
4) The title screen, like the last version release, is VERY glitchy, and looks quite odd.
5) I tried Save States, and it worked! ^_^ Very appreciated!

Finally, I must say that this is a VAST improvement over the earlier releases, and outside of obvious code fixing (ie - sound, graphics, etc), there are only a few things that would be nice to see improved:

1) ROM scroll buttons - a general scroll bar would be nice, or larger buttons. I seem to have the hang of it now, but there are times when I will hit a rom by accident.

2) WinZip support for compression

3) Readme in .txt format - when I download the file, I would like to be able to read the Readme to see what changes were made, and what certain menu options do (since I am still learning some of the things).

Otherwise, a very great release, and I am looking forward to seeing what other improvements you make!

[Is anyone willing to begin to compile a compatibility list, listing what plays right and with/out sound? ^_^]

Edit - Chrono Trigger runs VERY buggy on this release, and SimCity is somehow buggy this time around (the latter ran rather well on one of the v.0.3 releases). Also, I forgot to mention that the text dialog for MMX is buggy.

souLLy

February 26th, 2007, 22:04

For those struggling to DLDI patch, I've written a tutorial that can be found here:
http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=54281

If you're finding some games are running too fast, you can turn on wait vblank in the options menu and it can get things down to the correct speed.

Carn

February 26th, 2007, 22:05

I've been reading and downloading from this site for a few weeks now and just wanted to finally reply to something. This was a very nice update and even let me play Umihara Kawase on my DS finally (look it up there's an English patch somewhere and the games is very very good). The backgrounds are still messed up horribly and I'd like to see a way to fix that but besides that little problem this was very nice...

Keep up the good work.:)

toymin80r

February 26th, 2007, 22:13

Hello there i can't seem to get this thing to work for nothing if just keeps saying error no rom folder when it's plainly there.

It's easy to fix. Just place the roms in a folder called "SNES" in the root folder and then they'll work. I found this out long ago when i had the same problem as you.

DanTheManMS

February 26th, 2007, 23:53

Like souLLy said, switch it to Wait Vblank and it will be limited to 100%. Then if that makes it too slow, fiddle with the speedhacks. This also fixes flickering graphics usually, though sometimes you need to have it flicker when something doesn't show up when it does. In this case, since No Vblank will make it go too fast, switch to the line-by-line engine instead of the tile engine to slow it back down. I know it's crazy, speeding it up with No Vblank and then slowing it down again, but like I said, sometimes you have to have it set to No Vblank for graphical reasons.

Mikaa said Sim City wasn't working right? What's wrong with it? Looks fine on my end aside from the dialogs it gives you. To make it go 100% speed instead of 150% speed, once again use Wait Vblank.

Zip support is unlikely. DSLinux has unzip support, and it takes a while to unzip things. It also requires a lot of memory to do, something SNEmulDS is already struggling to work with.

To read the ReadMe file, just rename it and add the .txt extension to it. You can then open it with Notepad by double-clicking it.

For the background thing - that appears to have been fixed in other games too. In DKC, you now appear in the foreground for the boss fights, and same thing with The Lion King.

Mikaa

February 27th, 2007, 00:48

Mikaa said Sim City wasn't working right? What's wrong with it? Looks fine on my end aside from the dialogs it gives you. To make it go 100% speed instead of 150% speed, once again use Wait Vblank.

To read the ReadMe file, just rename it and add the .txt extension to it. You can then open it with Notepad by double-clicking it.

For the background thing - that appears to have been fixed in other games too. In DKC, you now appear in the foreground for the boss fights, and same thing with The Lion King.

The issues with Sim City are that the sound is now goofy, the menu bars leave behind "shadows" when you "close" them, and on one occasion shutting off the music resulted in some wierd beeping from my DS. Oddly enough, I really had no issues with speed.

All you have to do is rename the Readme file? Then why is it not like that to begin with? Just what type of file is it by default, and what generates this?

DKC (I assume you mean 1) apparently works, as does Lion King. Any other games that work/don't work?

DanTheManMS

February 27th, 2007, 01:20

Ah, I see. I hadn't spent much time with Sim City so after making sure I could add a few houses at 100% speed I turned it off for dinner.

The Readme file is just "readme" with no extension. It's still a valid text file, but Windows doesn't recognize it as one because it doesn't end in .txt.

I've started a new chart at http://wiki.pocketheaven.com/SNEmulDS_Compatibility_List and added a couple of entries, though it needs a lot more updating. I've got several recommendations for games that work, but I'll probably just wait for now and update the chart when I get the time.

Mikaa

February 27th, 2007, 01:34

Testing more ROMs on MMD with DLDI Patch...

Tried DKC1:
1 - Wait Vblank makes it run normal, but a horrid "scratch" runs through the entire middle of the screen. Cause is unknown, only happens in level...
2 - Works fine otherwise

Tried DKC2...
- Music is scratchy, minor skipping, othewise runs without issues (^o^)

- [Edit] - Rambi box will not open (?)

Tried Lufia and the Fortress of Doom...
- dots litter the screen, though have no notable effect on game play
- Enemies appear glitched

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
- Did not load

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - Fighting Edition
- Until you try to fight, it ran perfectly - even the music! Fighting glitches due to the cut scenes. Do note that it ran at full speed WITHOUT the Wait Vblank in effect... o.o

Mortal Kombat
- Wierdness abounds, but it seems to run fair, assuming you can stand the wierd flashing graphics of the crowd on the first stage... >_>

Mortal Kombat II
- Would not go past the license screen...

Super Mario Kart
- Wouldn't load

Super Mario All-Stars
- Mario 1 ran fine without Wait Vblank, but had to adjust the screen to avoid pits...
- Mario 2 JPN ran fine...
- Didn't try Mario 2; select screen for games goofy
- Mario 3 - couldn't play due to clouds blocking screen...

Kirby's Dream Land 3
- Apparently it was too big...

DanTheManMS

February 27th, 2007, 02:28

Have you tested anything other than the first level of DKC2? I've found it to be severely screwed up, returning me to the map screen and warping me around the levels whenever it didn't completely freeze.

Super Mario Kart has a special chip, so even if it did load, it wouldn't work. SnezziDS for instance can load it, but you can't race.

And yeah, Kirby's Dream Land 3 is apparently a large LoROM which it doesn't support.

For Mario 3, did you try changing the background settings? It's in the options menu.

If the game doesn't go past a certain screen, try disabling sound. This works for Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, though it still runs incredibly slowly regardless of the other settings.

Mikaa

February 27th, 2007, 03:35

You have a point on DKC2... I'll remember that.

And on the subject of changing the background settings, just what do all the different settings acomplish? There is at least six or so of them...

...Ultimate MK3 runs? O_o Hadn't tried that...

Thanks for the info!

Mikaa

DanTheManMS

February 27th, 2007, 03:57

The different settings change the background priorities. You see, the SNES has more possible layers than the DS 2D hardware allows, so a couple of the layers must be combined or rearranged to make them fit. Changing the background settings will usually make objects appear correctly.

Pause the game, then enter the options menu. Tap the settings once to change them, then hit Back. If it worked, great. If it didn't work, press Options and tap the settings and go back and see if it works. Continue as needed.

Mikaa

February 27th, 2007, 04:02

Aight. I'll give it a shot tomorrow. ^^;

Mikaa

tomqman

February 27th, 2007, 10:54

this is my ratings on how well these games ran with sound

mario world 95% (a few graphical glicthes)
zelda link to the past 85%(sound is horribal)
lion king 95% (runs fine almost perfect) (with wait vblank setting)
incredible crash dummies 80%(runs a bit fast and sound is a bit crap at time)
earthworm jim 90% (background has some errors and sound has a few bugs)
pac-attack 90% (works good)
Zombies Ate My Neighbors 95% (works fine a apart from a few menu glitches)(with wait vblank setting)

games that dont work

gundam wing endless duel 0%(doesnt show menu or anything after intro)
coolspot 0%(doesnt show menu or anything after intro)
mic and mac 0%(doesnt show menu or anything after intro)
toy story 0% (cant see or do anything)
Putty squad 0% (doesnt load)

i will keep updating the post

Mikaa

February 27th, 2007, 13:14

O_o Putty Squad? I'll have to look that one up... ^^;

Nice to know some of those work... Wonder what else does...

Mikaa

henchturk

February 27th, 2007, 17:12

Mikaa

February 27th, 2007, 18:54

In theory, assuming you use the right DLDI patch, this should be accurate with most cards...

In theory...

Mikaa

tomqman

February 27th, 2007, 20:24

hi soz forgot to say that im using my r4ds slot-1

henchturk

February 27th, 2007, 22:42

Thanks :D I'll try it out as soon as I get my card reader fixed

metroplex2k7

February 28th, 2007, 13:03

Well, i think this is good, and i'm looking forward to future releases. However, i'm a huge RPG buff, I tested FF4&6, and DQ1-6, the main problem is the text boxes flicker rapidly. Hopefully that can be fixed in a future release.

Mikaa

February 28th, 2007, 14:10

Agreed. Any game where there is text tends to have issues (such as Mega Man X).

Oddly enough, Lufia and the Fortress of Doom had no notable flaws in presenting the text, outside of numerous dots all over the screen... O_o

metroplex2k7

March 3rd, 2007, 21:01

Ok. I tested about 110 Roms, the following worked.
Note: I'm using Max Media Dock with 2GB CF, and yes the emu has been DLDI patched.

7th Saga, Alcahest, Arcana, Arkanoid, Breath of Fire, Breath of Fire 2, Castlevania X, Clue, Contra 3, DQ 1 & 2 (flicker problems), DQ 5 (flicker), Drakkhen, Dual Orb 2, Earthbound, FF2-6 (flicker), Hal's Hole in One, Lagoon (flicker), Zelda 3, Lufia 2, Might&Magic 2-3 (flicker), Monopoly (superfast), NBA Jam TE, Paladins Quest, Qbert 3, Robotrek, Secret of Evermore, Secret of the Stars, Simcity, Soulblazer, Star Trek DS9, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, Super Bomberman 2-3, Super Castlevania 4, Super Mario Allstars + World, Super R-Type, TMNT 4, Ultima: Runes of Virtue, Ultima 6-7, Wheel of Fortune, WWF Royal Rumble, WWF Super Wrestlemania, Xardion, Wanderers from Ys 3-4 (flicker).

Alot of the games run WAY too fast! Hope he figures out a way to slow em down some. Try monopoly!

DanTheManMS

March 3rd, 2007, 21:16

It's been stated several times already - to limit the game to 100%, change it from No Vblank to Wait Vblank. Then modify the speedhacks to bring it back up to 100% if necessary.

Mikaa

March 5th, 2007, 15:52

Nice list of games. Though I haven't tried it yet, did Super Metroid get tested? Just curious...>_>

Mikaa

DanTheManMS

March 5th, 2007, 23:17

Yeah, one guy even completely finished Super Metroid in this release. I think you have to disable a few areas to unfreeze the game, but other than that he said it was fairly playable.

Tripsk8er333

March 7th, 2007, 01:37

GREAT WORK!!!:thumbup: Can't Wait for the next update. I hope to see better compatiablity and better graphical fixes.

Sigma83

March 7th, 2007, 05:01

One day mortal kombat 3 will have sound.......and when that day comes....I will be ready.

Svein_Jarle

March 9th, 2007, 01:18

Tried four games just now. F-Zero, super mario allstars, Chrono Trigger and Street Fighter II. None worked smoothly. Actuallu, Street Fighter wouldn't even start...

F-Zero just looped the tracks, meaning I didn't get to see the turns and so on.

Tried to tweak the settings, but to no use. Everything is choppy. Even the sounds and music.

But I dig the project - if only it would have worked seamlessly with my ds...