Further dynarec optimisation

I've spent the last couple of evenings working on adding support for additional instructions to the dynamic recompiler. With every instruction I add, the generated code becomes a bit more efficient as I can avoid various bookeeping work (such as flushing all the cached registers out to memory.)

I've added code to handle the following ops:

* MULT, MULTU (multiply, multiply unsigned)

* DIV, DIVU (divide, divide unsigned)

* MFLO, MFHI (move from lo/hi)

* MTLO, MTHI (move to lo/hi)

* LB, LBU (load byte, load byte unsigned)

* LH, LHU (load halfword, load halfword unsigned)

So far I'm seeing around a 5-6% speedup with these changes (on top of the 10-12% speedup I talked about on Sunday). I am generating slightly more code as a result of this work, but given the large savings I made over the weekend this isn't much of an issue.

My next job is to look at optimising the remaining load/store instructions - I just have LWU/SB/SH to do (ignoring the 64 bit instructions for now). Once that's done I'm going to have a look at optimising sequences of load/store operations by caching the base address between uses. I think that should give a significant speed up for memory intensive chunks of code.

-StrmnNrmn

Call me a liar if you may it has been around a week since i said i would release the newest version of PHC. Well here it is the much anticipated PHC v1.5(LOL anticipated).

Most of the time no one even bothers to read a file in all capital letters. This file is know as the README. I decided to just copy it all here so there is no confusion

First off a few people seemed to get confused from the last release. They though this would automatically make the links go into your bookmarks. All this does is make a custom page with custom links that you have to assign as your home page. To assign it as your home page navigate your browser to file:/home.html
then go into tools>Settings>Home Page Settings>Use Current Page.


Whats everything means.
--Linking Text and Links--
Linking text is the text that you click on to take you to the site you entered in the "Link" box.

--Background Color--
Background color is pretty much self explanatory. You can put color codes, RGB, or just the name of the color.
Example if wanted to display the background as red i would type "Red", "#FF0000", or "RGB(255,0,0)"
Sites for RGB colors can be found here http://www.pitt.edu/~nisg/cis/web/cgi/rgb.html
Sites for Color Codes can be found here http://webmonkey.com/webmonkey/reference/color_codes/

++New features.++
MANY Bug fixes
Ability to add a background color
No more easter egg
Solves world hunger
Or...wait maybe the last one isn't included in this version

++Upcoming Features++
Colored text links (most likely next version).
Ability to have a background picture.
Will detect links from last input and not delete them every time program is used
Solving world hunger.

It looks like Sony has is finally starting to wake up to the massive potential of LocationFree TV on the Playstation Portable. Last night the company sent out a poll to members of the Playstation Underground asking for impressions on the service which can transmit live television to a Playstation Portable via WiFi and an overpriced gadget.

The poll, which is on the jump, specifically asks if Underground members haven't purchased the device necessary to watch television on their PSP because they are waiting to see if it will be built into the Playstation 3. As you've probably noticed, if you're a regular reader of Kotaku, this is one of my favorite pet theories.

The poll also asks how much a gamer would be willing to pay for an add-on that would let you watch television or a DVD player wirelessly on your PSP and about the viability of the TiVoGo Service which the PSP can make use of.

It certainly looks like Sony is finally pulling their heads out of the hole and starting to think about ways to make the Playstation Portable a more viable multimedia platform.

I'm not worried about the games for the PSP, I know they will come and have been coming, but multimedia is really going to take some work.

Hit the jump for all of the poll questions. Brian Crecente

Dear PlayStation® Underground™ member,

Have you heard about Sony's LocationFree™ wireless service or TiVo's TiVoToGo™ service? Do you know that you can watch regular television, DVDs and the Internet on your PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system? We're wondering what PSP system owners know about this new technology, and whether or not you think it's a cool idea. Tell us your thoughts. Simply take our short survey.

Sincerely,
The PlayStation Underground

How long have you owned your PSP®(PlayStation®Portable) system?
Less than 6 months
6 months to 1 year
Over 1 year

Prior to our email, did you know that you can stream TV programs from your home to anywhere you have access to the Internet on your PSP system using LocationFree™ from Sony?
Yes
No

Which do you view as the biggest benefit of using LocationFree TV?
Access to live TV content
Ease of use
Access to DVDs while traveling
Cost of system
Access to DVR programs
Other

Do you use LocationFree to watch TV content on your PSP system?
Yes
No

What is your primary reason for not purchasing LocationFree?
Need more information
Too expensive
Waiting to see if the PLAYSTATION®3 will act as a LocationFree device
No ability to access a wireless hotspot
Not aware of the LocationFree wireless service
Not interested
Other

How much would you expect to pay for the LocationFree device?

$100 - $150
$151 - $200
$201 - $250
$251 - $300
$301 - $350
$351 - $400
$400+

Prior to our email, did you know that you can view saved TV programs on your PSP system using TiVo's TiVoToGo™ service?

Yes
No

Which do you view as the biggest benefit of using TiVoToGo for the PSP system?

Access to my TiVo content
Ability to watch TV when and where I want
Ease of use
Using the latest portable technology
Viewing TiVo content on the PSP system screen
Other

Do you use the TiVoToGo service for your PSP system?

Yes
No

What flat fee would you expect to pay for the TiVoToGo service?

$0
$1 - $10
$11 - $20
$21 - $30
$31 - $40
$40+

What is your primary reason for not using the TiVoToGo service for your PSP system?
Don't know enough about it/need more information
I don't have a TiVo DVR that supports TiVoToGo
Ease of use/no wireless router setup
Waiting to see if the PS3 will be able to transfer saved video to my PSP system
Use a different service/method to watch video on my PSP system
Lack of hard drive on PSP system
Not aware of the TiVoToGo service
Not interested
Don't own a TiVo

Kinda got it to do what I wanted, but not really.

On a different note; I think I understand a lot of the theory behind the 2D core at this point. There are some questions that I have though, just looking for general procedures.

When you have one tileset and one map, how can you create a second, different map with the same tileset? How do you ensure that the tiles match up correctly on both maps? Re: gfx2gba and gimp efficiency.
How do you organize your image data in memory?
How do you maintain multiple sprites in memory?
What’s the deal with transparency and tiled bgs?
You don’t really need |BIT(15) color data in palette data do you?
Peaz!

The game come in two parts. A regular DS game cartridge and a GBA game cartridge. Because of the size difference between the DS and the DS Lite, Nintendo has put out two separate boxes for this game with two separate sized GBA packs. As you can see my DS Lite GBA pack is clear and funky looking. I guess your meant to keep the GBA pack in at all times. Whatever Nintendo.

The Opera browser asks you a bunch of question the first time you put it in, most of which I didn't understand because I suck at Japanese. If you already have configured wireless spots on your DS the game will see these settings and try to connect to one of these spots. If not, configuration is quite easy.

So overall the browser works. You can view webpage and do e-mail, though the lack of flash, sounds, and Messager services combined with its horrible slowness makes the browser a real disapointment. For 4,000¥ its not really worth it unless you're going to be around a lot of wi-fi spots and don't have a computer near you.