From the creators of Gens and Neo4All comes... Gens4All!!

[fox68k]

I am proud to announce the first release of the excellent Gens emulator to the Dreamcast. Chui, Stef and I have been working on this port about a year and a lot of assembly code had been translated into C. It is been a great effort but i really think it is worth it. At last, you can see all our finest in one shot.

The project is intented to bring high quality genesis emulation to the DC, not to mention game compatibility.


At the moment, this alpha version features the following:

- Two SH4 assembly engines especially design for the DC.
* FAME: Very fast M68000 emulation core written 100% in SH-4 assembly code.
* FAZE: Z80 emulation core written 100% in SH-4 assembly code.

- Accurate Genesis VDP emulation:
* DMA transfers with accurates timings
* Window plane
* Sprite plane
* Vertical Interrupt
* Horizontal Interrupt
* All rasters effects
* Highlight/Shadow effects
* Interlaced mode

- Raw binary (.bin) and interleaved (.smd) ROM format support.
- GZip, Zip and 7-Zip compressed file format support.
- YM2612 emulation core by Stef.
- PSG emulation.
- SDL Dreamcast implementation by Chui.
- The sound is being emulated but not output yet, though.
- On-screen menu.


Finally, I would like to thank Chui and Stef for everything they have accomplished to make this a reality.


The sources and binary for the DC can be found here:

http://chui.dcemu.co.uk/releases/gens4all-alpha-preview-src.tar.bz2
http://chui.dcemu.co.uk/releases/gens4all-alpha-preview.rar (unscrambled, for DemoMenu, dchakker)
http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=2147504428&d=1205164538 (scrambled for selfbooting, with /data/ folder)

Cheers.

[Guaripolo]

YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH SEEMS THAT YOU HAVE KEEP IT IN SECRET (but i have heard about it somewhere...)

CONGRATS, I WILL TRY IT TODAY, HOPE THAT BE SO GOOD LIKE THE NEO4ALL!!!

[Basile]

It`s great. Wow!
Waiting for beta release.
May be you make video player for DC ,eh ?

[wraggster]

awesome release for the Dreamcast Scene :)

[Christuserloeser]

Woohoo, my head's spinning! Great, great work! :)


At first I couldn't get it to work though, until I checked the source for the /data/ folder that's missing in your plain files upload. I attached a complete archive to this post (and linked to it in your post). :)



I got a few technical questions: Do you have plans on porting the FM emulation to SH4 or do you think there is a way of using the AICA ?

In GenesisPlusDC, the main problem speed-wise seems to be FM emulation, and I noticed that this is a huge problem with Gens4All too.



Oh, and what do you think of a close collaboration ?

One option could be to merge Gens4All and GenesisPlusDC into 1 emulator ( "GensPlusDC4All" :D ) . An other option could be to continue both, the port of GenesisPlus and Gens4All, but with helping each other on slowest parts. :)

[gxb]

Just as I guessed, your secret project is GEN4ALL! GOOD JOB,GUYS!

[Maturion]

Wow, awesome release!

[vbt]

Impressive work :thumbup::thumbup:

[fox68k]

I got a few technical questions: Do you have plans on porting the FM emulation to SH4 or do you think there is a way of using the AICA ?


At the moment, I am not thinking about that. As far as we know, in terms of speed the major issue is the VDP rendering code. So the next step is an assembly core, which hopefully will boost the emulator dramatically.



In GenesisPlusDC, the main problem speed-wise seems to be FM emulation, and I noticed that this is a huge problem with Gens4All too.

I do not think so. The sound is being fully rendered but we did not enable the output for synchronisation issues. But just in case it will be, you can be sure it will be sorted out.


Oh, and what do you think of a close collaboration ?

One option could be to merge Gens4All and GenesisPlusDC into 1 emulator ( "GensPlusDC4All" :D ) . An other option could be to continue both, the port of GenesisPlus and Gens4All, but with helping each other on slowest parts. :)

To be honest, i do not want to compromise accuracy for speed. I want Gens for Dreamcast as accurate as it is under Windows. GenesisPlusDC is all about shortcuts and trickeries to avoid get our hands dirty. I bet Gens will on DC. This does not mean we can take advantage of each other sources and experience when it pops up.

[Christuserloeser]

At the moment, I am not thinking about that. As far as we know, in terms of speed the major issue is the VDP rendering code. So the next step is an assembly core, which hopefully will boost the emulator dramatically.

Sounds like a plan. :)


The sound is being fully rendered but we did not enable the output for synchronisation issues. But just in case it will be, you can be sure it will be sorted out.

Hehe, great to hear :)



This does not mean we can take advantage of each other sources and experience when it pops up.

Hm, do you mean "This does not mean we can't take advantage" ?

- English is pretty crazy with these double negative no/no things ^ ^



Anyway, so your plan is to rewrite Gens entirely in SH4 ? - That's insane ! ;)

[dcdood]

wow! so you ported m86k instructions to sh4? (now all we need is a bios hack and Sega CD and we can add Backwards compatabilty (though it should be with saturn)

-Dreamcast is like wine, the older, the better!-

[benoitlol]

This is the secret project you mentionned last december... great!!!
i'm gonna test it, thank u so much for your work!!

[Black_Phantom]

Hi,


Let me first say, I have looked around on this site for absolute ages but I don't believe I have ever posted here before. I am Link from the old DC emulation forums. It has been a looooooong time since I have posted on any DC emu related forums. During my extended time of silence I have seen some pretty impressive stuff. In the last few months it seemed to slump a little......but now this. I have great respect for those working hard on Genesis Plus and I do believe it can go much further then it has. But hearing Gens has now been ported and being the prude that I am having already partially tested it.....I am nearly moved to tears. Since 2000 (I think that was the year) I have been the proud owner of a Black Sports Edition DC. I have breathed life back into that little box for many years. I have also had more fun out of it then any of my 30 or 40 other consoles. With all this said I need to say thank you for porting this. The compatibility of Genesis Plus is pretty high if you know how to work the options. However, right off the bat I tried one of my fave Genesis games, Landstalker. All I can say is.......my eyes danced with delight over a fully error free screen. To think my fave game of all time (Phantasy Star 4) will soon see perfect emulation on Dreamcast just does this old DC vet's heart too much good to put into words. I want to also thank all other homebrew authors out there......guys.......you have truly extended the life of our beloved DC, Thank you! I have to say from what I can see I am amazed at the compatibility.....blows me away totally. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


Old DC vet,
Link aka Black Phantom

[Guaripolo]

i´ve tried mortal kombat 3 and it works fine. It seems that has very good compatibility. Also the menu is nice, it has some errors (i know...it´s an alpha) but looks very "proffesional".
Again: congratulations for porting one of the best genesis emulators to the DC!!!

[law56ker]

Amazing work! What a great gift.

[Cast128dreams]

You guys never STOP.
Once again you did one step further.
JUST one word.PERFECT.

[Bobablob]

Wow, thanks a lot you guys! Great to see that the best homebrew scene in history is still alive and well!

[turnerl]

OMG!!! I have been waiting for this day for years! check my previous posts THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU

[geise69]

This is freaking amazing! Thank you so much guys for all your hard work on porting this amazing emulator over to the DC. Also I don't know if it would be of any help but Notaz ported Dave's Picodrive to GP2X and has some nice options to speed up certain games without compramizing compatibility, such as 8-bit accurate 16-bit accurate and 8-bit fast render options. There's also an accurate timing option to keep everything in sync. Not sure what can or can't be added though since I am not really a programmer. I want to say thanks again. This project is crazy awesome! :thumbup:

[Rifter01]

Is it just me, or does the selfbooting link for Gens4All produce a download with an error? This is the error I get in WinRAR:

! E:\Games\Dreamcast\gens4all-preview-selfboot.rar: Unexpected end of archive

Dunno why.. any help appreciated, thanks.
Rifter

[chui]

Is it just me, or does the selfbooting link for Gens4All produce a download with an error? This is the error I get in WinRAR:

! E:\Games\Dreamcast\gens4all-preview-selfboot.rar: Unexpected end of archive

Dunno why.. any help appreciated, thanks.
Rifter

This link is selfbooting:
http://chui.dcemu.co.uk/releases/gens4all-alpha-preview.rar

[Cast128dreams]

Hmmm
a few questions
Does suport full sound?
Full compability?

[ripfire]

Gens4all Is Fack? Or Is Real ?
Where Is Chui? Gens4all Is The Chui Proyect?

[Guaripolo]

Hmmm
a few questions
Does suport full sound?
Full compability?

Don´t expect too much because it´s an pre-alpha. The compatibility is good, games that doesn´t work in others free-gen-for-dc emus works here (like Mortal Kombat 3), but the controls doesn´t work right, it has a lot of debug features (if you press twice the right trigger the machine resets) and the menu isn´t complete. Also fox says that the sound is being rendered but there´s no output (in a few words: no, there´s NO sound).

It will be a great emu, but this is just a test release, just wait...

[Cast128dreams]

Chui do your best!!

[Christuserloeser]

Gens4all Is Fack? Or Is Real ?
Where Is Chui? Gens4all Is The Chui Proyect?

??? - Gens4All was released by Fox68k, so it is not a "Fack" (fake).

It is Fox68k's project - as he is the author of FAME and FAZE SH4 cores. Stef D and Chui support him.



Is it just me, or does the selfbooting link for Gens4All produce a download with an error? This is the error I get in WinRAR:

! E:\Games\Dreamcast\gens4all-preview-selfboot.rar: Unexpected end of archive

Dunno why.. any help appreciated, thanks.
Rifter


The attachment works for me:

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/1264/gens4alltestqc2.png






Does suport full sound?
Full compability?

Like Guaripolo wrote, this is an alpha / test / preview release. There is no sound output yet and it does not run full speed yet.

It is a port of original Gens (written in x86 assembler) to C. The goal is to rewrite Gens in SH4 assembler for best performance + high compatibility on Dreamcast. This will be a lot of work and will take time.


Chui, Stef and I have been working on this port about a year and a lot of assembly code had been translated into C. It is been a great effort but i really think it is worth it. At last, you can see all our finest in one shot.

The project is intented to bring high quality genesis emulation to the DC, not to mention game compatibility.

[GenesisPlusDCWT]

I think a good brief insight on Gens4all is in Need... so here it is...
--Gens4all runs damn-near full speed with sound disabled.
--Gens4all runs Very Slow with sound enabled in wich case you can't hear the sound anyways because the authors disabled the output... LoL

Yes that means GenesisPlusDC is still the undisputable king.... for now.

Now whatever happened to SuperFamicast and SNES4ALL :( If Bleemcast! can run PSX titles the Possibilities are endless with DC... keep them comin' !!!!!!!!!!!

[Christuserloeser]

What have we here ? Someone signing up under a second nick because he doesn't have the guts to post under his real nick ? Saweet.

- Please explain yourself.



I think a good brief insight on Gens4all is in Need...

No, it is not. Not from someone posting under a wrong nick.




--Gens4all runs damn-near full speed with sound disabled.


That's because FAME and FAZE are incredibly fast.




--Gens4all runs Very Slow with sound enabled in wich case you can't hear the sound anyways because the authors disabled the output... LoL

Because it doesn't work fast enough with the current software renderer yet ?




Yes that means GenesisPlusDC is still the undisputable king.... for now.


This is not about being "king" - This is about bringing Mega Drive / Genesis emulation to Dreamcast.

Read what fox68k wrote again:

The project is intented to bring high quality genesis emulation to the DC, not to mention game compatibility.

If you really want to compare GenesisPlusDC with this preview of Gens4All, you will have to choose FAME as CPU in GPDC and disable the HW renderer. In Gens4All you'll need to turn "Sonido On".

Now run them side by side.


Gens was written in x86 ASM. What we have here is a port of Gens to C! Porting it from C to SH4 will be hard work and will take time.



Now whatever happened to SuperFamicast and SNES4ALL :(

SNES4All is discontinued, since Chui and Fox68k are working on porting ZSNES to SH4:
http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=80614



If Bleemcast! can run PSX titles the Possibilities are endless with DC...

You do realize that Bleem!cast was a commercial project ? and that there probably were internal preview / test versions that not as fast as the final version ?

Working on something like this takes a lot of time and is really hard work. Posts like yours do not help at all and achieve nothing but pissing off people that dedicate their time to allow people like you to play free games.

[Starscream]

If it's in C, that means Gens will be much more portable to other platforms as well, which is nice.

[ShinAkuma]

hi there! wow

Great news! always happy to see things like this!

It's like the Gen Plus... but for a alpha version is amazing!! it have more wings to move forward!
I hope you guys can easily correct it and make it really better than GENESISPLUS

BRAVO!!

[law56ker]

A couple things I noticed. For some reason the sound actually works in alien soldier...I thought it wasn't supposed to? Another thing I noticed is there a problem with rom selection. I have about 600 roms and I am only able to see about the first 30.

[Dream Project]

How many games are compatible?

I bet all the Sonic games work perfectly.....

[chefdecuisin]

i have hughe problems to get any genesis emu running on my dc. I have never done this and i need some help with this. may someone can give me a "how to" manual?
thank you

[NeverGoingBack]

VMU support please. Genplus does not have good VMU support last time i seen it, and theres alot of good gen games that need it to be worth while