- 20/01/2007 : v0.2 beta
= corrected the bug with the animation of some monsters
= corrected a bug which may occurs when selling a tower
= adjusted the pathfinder’s memory allocation: big maps should now work
= adjusted detection zone for build/cancel buttons
+ increased values range some parameters (life of the dragon in Spiral TD should now be correct)
+ spawn and end points are now displayed on the minimap
+ added preliminary Fatlib support
+ new map: Save The Snowman !
+ added some 3rd many maps to the package, thanks to their authors !
+ now the PAFS version can run on the DeSmuME emulator ! it’s now easier to test your maps created with the editor

fix halt on exit problem.

add external input device on/off option.

add cache dir option. game(rom) dir is extract from rom name.

if not found cache file in cache dir, try to search game dir.

After quite a bit of time another peace of code reached usable state. This time it is Sega CD support (well, sort of).

Currently only Sonic CD seems to work. But even that is missing some stuff, like PCM sound and mode7-style graphics emulation in bonus stages. Why would I release this in such unfinished state? I saw the "is Sega CD possible" question too many times, so this is something for you to evaluate and decide for your self. I'm also not sure if there is enough demand for this thing (for me it is good enough, I only need to increase compatibility for all those RPGs to work).

So what is emulated?
another 68k @ 12.5MHz: yes, Cyclone core
gfx chip, custom ASIC: not yet (faked only)
PCM sound source: not yet
CD-ROM controller: yes (mostly)
bram (internal backup RAM): yes

Not much? It might look like, but it took quite a bit of time to even make the BIOS boot. The work was mostly to read Gens' asm and recode that stuff in C. This is not a direct port, this is a rewrite, that's why it is in such unfinished state.

some warnings before you run it:
sound MUST be set to 44100 stereo, or else cdda music will be played at wrong speeds.
mp3 decoding is done by ARM940 core, so you must enable "use ARM940 for sound" to get cdda music
Sonic CD will first complain about unformatted BRAM, you need to press A on BIOS title screen when it says "press start button", format BRAM and then boot.
reset option doesn't work, you must reload ISO to restart
this version is slightly slower for normal Genesis emulation due to some optimizations temporarily disabled (use 0.964 for Genesis stuff)
read included readme for more info

For many, Nintendo is a mystical place out of which fun games and interesting ideas come from time to time. Some people are die-hard fans of the company, following its every move and setting up little shrines to its corporate celebrities, whether virtual (on Geocities) or corporeal (in their bedrooms). Others despise them, usually out of a deep-seated disagreement with their products and advertising, which to many gamers represent much more than mere financial decisions. Either way, Nintendo is a company in which people in this forum have invested a lot of emotions, and I count myself among you in this.

I just spent a year and a half inside the marble edifice that is Nintendo of America, as a programmer and full employee- not a tester, holed up within a partitioned prison, excluded from the company culture- and now that I am leaving the job for other (possibly greener?) pastures, I come to you with the modest gift of the stories I can tell.

I'll try to stay away from anything confidential in this thread, as I still respect Nintendo's privacy quite a bit. I think the company is a great place to work and I have very few, if any, negative things to say about them. But I'll share some interesting things:

---

(This one's probably obvious, but...)

The majority of people at Nintendo who are directly involved with games actually follow gaming news, websites, and forums very closely. (They're gaming geeks too!) They know when people are pissed off by new console colors, or when forums make fun of crappy 3rd-party releases, or when fans make petitions for games they want to get translated. It's not like all of the letters sent to Consumer Service are translated and mailed in a manila envelope to Mr. Iwata, but the company generally recognizes the fans' opinions. Unfortunately for some hardcore fans, most decisions are made for sound, researched financial reasons, and while fans can sway corporate opinions through buying products or by inspiring extensive media coverage, "we loved Kid Icarus make anooooother"-type pathos isn't really an effective arguing tactic, at least in the short term.

---

Pretty much everyone at NOA I talked to about this thinks "Ninty" is the stupidest nickname ever.

---

You know how Reggie Fils-Aimé, Miyamoto-san, and Iwata-san are sort of seen as dynamic, almost fictional characters in the amount of hype and respect they get in Nintendo fan communities? Yeah, well, it's like that for most of the employees too, only we have more stories to tell about them.

---

You'd know this if you've ever been to Redmond, but Nintendo is completely and utterly surrounded by Microsoft. There are Microsoft buildings less than a quarter mile to the north, south, east, and west of the company's HQ. There's just one single, vacant lot to the north of NOA that Nintendo owns and Microsoft's constantly trying to buy, but Nintendo won't budge. I'm convinced it's a secret NOA command outpost.

---

Nintendo is a big company, and while there are lots of people who deal directly with games everyday, such as testers, translators, writers, programmers, and artists, there are plenty of people there who don't work with games, and don't even play games. I met lots of people who didn't know anything about games, and they didn't care: they were there to research patents, or monitor credit accounts for retailers, or think of good benefits for employees, or find cheap flights for business trips. Tons of people don't give a poop about games, and just happen to work for a game company.

However, the Wii's launch changed this, and it was startling. The employee store was swamped with orders from people who never, EVER play games, and I saw people who were obviously getting their feet wet for the very first time diving into gameplaying and talking about how they never knew video games could be fun and easy to play. It was astounding- my first hint, personally, that the Wii might actually hit its marketing demographic.

-----

There are a few stories I would be more than happy to tell if there's any interest, though you'll have to forgive me if I like to tell them in a long-winded fashion and don't type them up immediately, as I like to sleep a lot. Some possible stories might be:

-Nintendo Power's 200th issue anniversary party and the epic trivia contest
-Nintendo company picnics and other amazing things that employees do
-Getting drunk and meeting Mr. Miyamoto, and other E3 2006 debauchery
-The day the Wii name was announced to employees

For many, Nintendo is a mystical place out of which fun games and interesting ideas come from time to time. Some people are die-hard fans of the company, following its every move and setting up little shrines to its corporate celebrities, whether virtual (on Geocities) or corporeal (in their bedrooms). Others despise them, usually out of a deep-seated disagreement with their products and advertising, which to many gamers represent much more than mere financial decisions. Either way, Nintendo is a company in which people in this forum have invested a lot of emotions, and I count myself among you in this.

I just spent a year and a half inside the marble edifice that is Nintendo of America, as a programmer and full employee- not a tester, holed up within a partitioned prison, excluded from the company culture- and now that I am leaving the job for other (possibly greener?) pastures, I come to you with the modest gift of the stories I can tell.

I'll try to stay away from anything confidential in this thread, as I still respect Nintendo's privacy quite a bit. I think the company is a great place to work and I have very few, if any, negative things to say about them. But I'll share some interesting things:

---

(This one's probably obvious, but...)

The majority of people at Nintendo who are directly involved with games actually follow gaming news, websites, and forums very closely. (They're gaming geeks too!) They know when people are pissed off by new console colors, or when forums make fun of crappy 3rd-party releases, or when fans make petitions for games they want to get translated. It's not like all of the letters sent to Consumer Service are translated and mailed in a manila envelope to Mr. Iwata, but the company generally recognizes the fans' opinions. Unfortunately for some hardcore fans, most decisions are made for sound, researched financial reasons, and while fans can sway corporate opinions through buying products or by inspiring extensive media coverage, "we loved Kid Icarus make anooooother"-type pathos isn't really an effective arguing tactic, at least in the short term.

---

Pretty much everyone at NOA I talked to about this thinks "Ninty" is the stupidest nickname ever.

---

You know how Reggie Fils-Aimé, Miyamoto-san, and Iwata-san are sort of seen as dynamic, almost fictional characters in the amount of hype and respect they get in Nintendo fan communities? Yeah, well, it's like that for most of the employees too, only we have more stories to tell about them.

---

You'd know this if you've ever been to Redmond, but Nintendo is completely and utterly surrounded by Microsoft. There are Microsoft buildings less than a quarter mile to the north, south, east, and west of the company's HQ. There's just one single, vacant lot to the north of NOA that Nintendo owns and Microsoft's constantly trying to buy, but Nintendo won't budge. I'm convinced it's a secret NOA command outpost.

---

Nintendo is a big company, and while there are lots of people who deal directly with games everyday, such as testers, translators, writers, programmers, and artists, there are plenty of people there who don't work with games, and don't even play games. I met lots of people who didn't know anything about games, and they didn't care: they were there to research patents, or monitor credit accounts for retailers, or think of good benefits for employees, or find cheap flights for business trips. Tons of people don't give a poop about games, and just happen to work for a game company.

However, the Wii's launch changed this, and it was startling. The employee store was swamped with orders from people who never, EVER play games, and I saw people who were obviously getting their feet wet for the very first time diving into gameplaying and talking about how they never knew video games could be fun and easy to play. It was astounding- my first hint, personally, that the Wii might actually hit its marketing demographic.

-----

There are a few stories I would be more than happy to tell if there's any interest, though you'll have to forgive me if I like to tell them in a long-winded fashion and don't type them up immediately, as I like to sleep a lot. Some possible stories might be:

-Nintendo Power's 200th issue anniversary party and the epic trivia contest
-Nintendo company picnics and other amazing things that employees do
-Getting drunk and meeting Mr. Miyamoto, and other E3 2006 debauchery
-The day the Wii name was announced to employees