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    by Published on January 1st, 2008 16:10

    DKnute has posted a test version of his Dreamcast Emulator for Windows called Makaron:

    First I'd like to dedicate these two picture to people who claim that so-called 2D games should run better and require less resources to emulate than 3D ones. This is Bangai-O:

    As you can see, if there is a 3D hardware then 2D games will use it. Why? Because it's faster to have another processor (GPU in that case) rasterize things for you - with alpha blending and transparency, and even filtering if needed. This is full-blown 3D, just that the third dimension is used for composing multiple layers, including background and text messages.
    Many such games not only use 3D - they abuse it. Use thousands of small triangles with most of those having individual, unique textures (which are probably not only palletized, but also compressed in some way). And change that a lot every frame - that is 50/60 times per second. Now try to keep up with that!
    This is not an 8-bit console calculating and writing every pixel to VRAM (although it does happen, true 2D is still used from time to time; SEGA logo is one example). I may not need to keep things cycle-correct here, but I've my own problems handling graphics.

    Okay, now some more fog (you'll find it's used in quite many places actually):

    Ah, but that's not all. Here are some more interesting uses of fogging:

    Case 1 - fog used as a special effect to light up parts of objects that are being hit by player. And yes, that could've been done in several other (easier?) ways...

    Case 2 - now this is grand, Bangai-O uses fogging to show selected buttons

    There's a special today - a frontend to Makaron donated by slrhui - you can get it here. Please contact the author about it should you need any changes done. And be sure to thank him if you find it usefull.

    Here's Makaron Test 9/1. The main purpose of this release it to fix some issues T9 had, but there are other changes as well.
    Firstly there's the new AEG code in AICA - not entierly correct mind you, but it will get better in time. I belive I've explained it enough before but just to be sure: It makes AICA module somewhat slower. Nothing is free you know. It should be offset by ARM7 code being recompiled this time.
    Second major change is the addition of fog processing. You will need at least Pixel Shader 2.0 for this to work, and it better be fast (worst case scenario, that is palletized & filtered texture with fog and color clamping, is 9 textures lookups + some 50 other instructions per pixel).
    This also causes Makaron to lag a bit at startup now, as it has to recreate some 200 PS programs to cover all possible cases.

    I tried not to touch SH4 code much, but I did change how HOLLY handles DMA transfers. This might break quite a number of things but was necessary to fix couple of games. Mostly CAPCOM ones, go figure. Some people out there should really learn how to use DMA... There are games that start the DMA and assume it's going to finish before the program advances to the point where it has to use the transferred data - without actually checking that. The easiest way around this problem is to complete the transfers the moment they are started - but of course there are other games that get confused by immediate end-of-transfer interrupt, or miss it, and hang. Yet other games require that the transfer at least advances a bit once started, or the unchaged counter will make them think it's already done. All this is also very timing-related, might work or not depending how fast the emulator goes and when the interrupts actually arrive. Not funny.
    I solved this by forcing DMA transfers to take time to finish - just like on the real hardware. The difference is a DMA in progress will slow SH4 (because it's blocking memory bus or HOLLY) and Makaron doesn't account for that. Not to mention I can't exactly check for interrupts every instruction, like SH4, as this would kill performance. I came up with timings that should work well on both slow and fast systems - but it might still need some tweaking.

    As a side effect you now get to experience loading times. Just like on your good old Dreamcast. Yay! So be patient when staring at blank or "Please wait" / "Now loading" screens. I know this feature will not get good press but I like it. So it stays
    By the way, fixes to DMA engine (although not timing-related) made "Soul Calibur" and "Dead or Alive 2" dialogs re-appear.

    Emulation speed/statistics information is no longer displayed. If you want it, re-enable it in F12 menu.

    On a special request from Yuki I've looked into MakaronPAD plugin. It is now possible to assign normal digital buttons to POV directional pad. The plugin version has been bumped up - not a big deal, but it won't work in T8/T9 unless you hex-edit it. You shouldn't be using those anymore

    Enough Makaron for this year. Silmeria still needs to be rescued and I want some strong monsters to test out triple Nibelung Valesti combo (Hrist->Lenneth->Alicia)
    ...
    by Published on January 1st, 2008 16:05

    Considering it's due on the Mac in early 2008, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the on-again, off-again Xbox 360 port of Epic's Unreal Tournament III isn't "on hold" any longer, and may even be as far along as 90% complete – if we're to believe a scanned image from a German gaming magazine. Our German is a bit rusty (read: nonexistent) but the folks from ********** are saying the release is expected sometime around April of next year.

    If accurate, that means the PS3 enjoys a four-or-so-month timed exclusivity, including the lucrative holiday season. Now, if only those pesky sales would pick up ...

    http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/31/ru...0-90-complete/ ...
    by Published on January 1st, 2008 16:04

    We know we don't need to tell you guys this, but Metal Gear Solid 4 coming to the Xbox 360 is still a rumor despite gaming site Xbox Family saying, rather unequivocally, "Metal Gear Solid 4 is coming to the Xbox 360. This is not a rumor." Well, duh ... it's a rumorang.

    With that caveat out of the way (and stowed safely in a locker somewhere), we'll proceed to relay the rumorang your way: An unnamed Konami rep apparently dropped some knowledge on Xbox Family, whispering that MGS4 would sneak onto the Xbox 360 12 to 14 months after the PS3 version is released (whenever that is). The site also published a lengthy email from Microsoft's John Porcaro basically saying "no comment" which they also suspect may be further proof of the rumor. (Why did he write so much? He's very polite, you know.)

    With Konami execs straight up saying that Metal Gear Solid 4 may go to other consoles, and MGS4 producer Ryan Payton saying the game needs to sell a million copies on day one to make the pricey production profitable, it's not like Konami's showing their best poker face either. But that doesn't mean it's not still a rumor which, of course, we don't need to tell you guys.

    http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/01/ru...4-months-late/ ...
    by Published on January 1st, 2008 15:56

    Ah, how we do love a good root-hacking resulting in the ability to run homebrew code. And being that we also have a soft spot in our heart for Archos's 605 and 705 series players, ARCwelder ought to do our kind and yours quite nicely. If yours is running firmware 1.7.13, check it out, it should get you root access to the device's Linux shell, enabling you to do all kinds of fun things, like develop and run your own apps, or see how long it'll take to break the DRM on downloaded media. Did we say that?

    http://code.google.com/p/arcwelder/ ...
    by Published on January 1st, 2008 15:54

    via engadget



    Got an iPod touch? And some audio input hardware? Want to make some VoIP calls? If you answered yes to all of the above, you'll want to check out the Touchmods site later tonight, when they'll supposedly be releasing their full-on SIP client for the touch. Hopefully by now it's a little more prettied up than the last time we saw the thing above. If those last videos are anything to go by, though, it looks like it will be.

    http://touchmods.wordpress.com/ ...
    by Published on January 1st, 2008 11:57

    GP2x Store have let me know they only have a few flash carts left, heres the listing of price changes:

    DS-X 4Gb Flash Cart
    Offering a SINGLE unified solution which allows you to do the unthinkable and...
    $94.99 Sale Price: $74.99

    Supercard Lite Micro SD
    Supercard Lite is a miniature mobile NDSL file Manager and Bakup device. To...
    $54.99 Sale Price: $34.99

    SuperCard DS One
    As the first extra flash memory game cartridge, SuperCard team has been...
    $54.99 Sale Price: $32.99

    SuperCard SD Slot 2
    SuperCard SD is a miniature mobile GBA(SP)/NDS/NDSL file Manager and Bakup...
    $44.99 Sale Price: $24.99

    Supercard Lite Rumble Micro SD
    The Supercard Rumble uses a Micro SD and features a rumble system which can...
    $34.99 Sale Price: $23.99

    Get them while they are hot because once they are gone they are GONE, GP2x Store come very highly recommended not only by DCEmu but by many other big emu/homebrew sites. ...
    by Published on January 1st, 2008 11:29



    First of all,

    I WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

    Here is a new release of Portable VNC for Custom FW 3.x and FW 1.5.

    For those for haven't seen previous versions, VNC let you access
    to your PC desktop from anywhere using a wifi connection.

    What's new in version 1.2.7 :

    + Fix issue with fw3x (not enough heap memory)
    + Fix issue with irkeyboard (linked with latest version)

    The IR keyboard support is based on the work of Harald Fielker (author of the PSP IR Keyboard Library),
    and the Virtual keyboard is based on the Danzel code.

    PSPVNC has been written by NHD from TeamXos, and it's based on the PalmOS VNC client.

    It is distributed under GNU licence, and sources are provided. You can download it on my blog : http://zx81.zx81.free.fr/


    Enjoy,

    Zx.

    Download and Give Feedback Via Comments ...
    by Published on January 1st, 2008 09:39

    New version of the Dreamcast emulator for PC.

    The next information about this release is from the official site:

    Here's Makaron Test 9/1. The main purpose of this release it to fix some issues T9 had, but there are other changes as well.
    Firstly there's the new AEG code in AICA - not entierly correct mind you, but it will get better in time. I belive I've explained it enough before but just to be sure: It makes AICA module somewhat slower. Nothing is free you know. It should be offset by ARM7 code being recompiled this time.
    Second major change is the addition of fog processing. You will need at least Pixel Shader 2.0 for this to work, and it better be fast (worst case scenario, that is palletized & filtered texture with fog and color clamping, is 9 textures lookups + some 50 other instructions per pixel).
    This also causes Makaron to lag a bit at startup now, as it has to recreate some 200 PS programs to cover all possible cases.

    I tried not to touch SH4 code much, but I did change how HOLLY handles DMA transfers. This might break quite a number of things but was necessary to fix couple of games. Mostly CAPCOM ones, go figure. Some people out there should really learn how to use DMA... There are games that start the DMA and assume it's going to finish before the program advances to the point where it has to use the transferred data - without actually checking that. The easiest way around this problem is to complete the transfers the moment they are started - but of course there are other games that get confused by immediate end-of-transfer interrupt, or miss it, and hang. Yet other games require that the transfer at least advances a bit once started, or the unchaged counter will make them think it's already done. All this is also very timing-related, might work or not depending how fast the emulator goes and when the interrupts actually arrive. Not funny.
    I solved this by forcing DMA transfers to take time to finish - just like on the real hardware. The difference is a DMA in progress will slow SH4 (because it's blocking memory bus or HOLLY) and Makaron doesn't account for that. Not to mention I can't exactly check for interrupts every instruction, like SH4, as this would kill performance. I came up with timings that should work well on both slow and fast systems - but it might still need some tweaking.

    As a side effect you now get to experience loading times. Just like on your good old Dreamcast. Yay! So be patient when staring at blank or "Please wait" / "Now loading" screens. I know this feature will not get good press but I like it. So it stays.

    By the way, fixes to DMA engine (although not timing-related) made "Soul Calibur" and "Dead or Alive 2" dialogs re-appear.

    Emulation speed/statistics information is no longer displayed. If you want it, re-enable it in F12 menu.

    On a special request from Yuki I've looked into MakaronPAD plugin. It is now possible to assign normal digital buttons to POV directional pad. The plugin version has been bumped up - not a big deal, but it won't work in T8/T9 unless you hex-edit it. You shouldn't be using those anymore. ...
    by Published on January 1st, 2008 01:14

    News from Neoflash:

    MK5 8G/16G GIGA cart upgrade core V1.45 + 2.54 XMenu [01-01-2008]
    * fixed FF4 bug
    * fixed some DLDI bugs

    download: MK5 8G/16G GIGA cart upgrade core V1.45 + 2.54 XMenu [01-01-2008] ...
    by Published on January 1st, 2008 01:10

    News/release from Abcd1234:

    Welcome to the home page for my port of NetHack to the Nintendo DS. The goal of this project is to create a port of NetHack for the DS utilizing the unique features of the DS to create an easy-to-use NetHacking experience. I think I've succeeded in that goal. I'm probably wrong.

    Features
    An unscaled, scrolling map view on the lower screen, which can be interacted with using the touchscreen.
    Minimap, message, and status information rendered to the top screen.
    Support for 16- and 256-color BMP tilesets, including non-rectangular tiles (tiles must have dimensions which are a multiple of 8, e.g. 8x8, 8x16, etc).
    Support for text mode, with optional full color and IBM graphics.
    Popup command window for easy access to the full command set.
    On-screen keyboard for text input and extended commands.
    Keys are almost completely configurable.
    Support for both left- and right-handed modes.
    Save and restore.
    Sleep mode.
    News

    December 31, 2007
    Version 1.15a Released.

    Yes, already. Fixed a map rendering bug in graphics mode caused by wall tile substitution in the NetHack core (this was evident when going from the regular dungeons to Sokoban, where the wall colours are supposed to change, but didn't).

    Version 1.15 Released.

    Added the CHORDKEYS configuration option, which allows the user to define which keys may be used in combination of others for the purpose of key binding.
    Removed triggermode (yes, after just two versions), in lieu of CHORDKEYS.
    Display help for key bindings if a chord key is pressed.
    Changed extended command input to use a menu, rather than the virtual keyboard.
    Added the ability to bind keys for toggling boolean options (eg, holdmode, hpmon, etc).
    Added "Show Keys" command, which pops up a window listing the current key bindings.
    Added hilite_pet support.
    Added new option "keyrepeat", which controls whether or not keys repeat in the game (default on). Doesn't affect menus, command window, etc.
    Now, you may ask, "why did you remove triggermode?!?". Well the answer is simple: CHORDKEYS allows the same functionality, only moar betar! Specifically, if you set CHORDKEYS as follows:

    CHORDKEYS=up,down,left,right,rYou can then bind Up+B to Up, Up+Right+B to Up-Right, Right+B to Right, and so on. And this happens to be identical to triggermode. BUT, it also allows one to bind Up+X, Up+Y, and so forth, which is basically triggermode on steriods (and allows one to duplicate other key arrangements, such as that found in DSCrawl).

    But note! If you change CHORDKEYS, your keybindings are reset! This is necessary, as there's no clean way to migrate an old keyset forward if the CHORDKEYS setting changes.

    And yes, this modification is backward compatible with the old keybinding file, so your settings won't be lost (again, unless you change CHORDKEYS).

    Lastly, in CHORDKEYS, the free shoulder button is always "r", whether or not lefthanded mode is enabled. Call me lazy...

    Download and Give Feedback Via Comments ...
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