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Thanks to all of you who responded to the Commodore message; I’ve tried to read responses on this weblog, as well as those at dcemu. My original question was regarding the C64 and VIC-20 systems, but it seems like most of you would rather see an Amiga emulator than a C64/VIC-20 emulator.

I’ve also noticed interest in the Spectrum series (ZX-81 certainly hasn’t missed any opportunities to remind me of the need for such an emulator ), so I’ll keep both of these in mind.

I am interested in finding out why those of you interested in these systems don’t use PSPUAE and PSPectrum, however.

A while back, a few of you expressed interest in a Commodore emulator. I’m curious to know if there’s still interest, and if there is, can you suggest a fast, open-source emulator to port?

No promises are made yet, but…

This is mostly a bugfix release. Here’s what’s new:

• Bugfix - many games, especially MegaROM games did not load correctly in the previous version (thanks Victor)
• Added Fast Forward button mapping - while disabled by default, you can map any button to fast-forward emulation in the Controls menu
• Custom mapper types can now be embedded in source code. This version includes built-in support for Zanac Ex and Mon Mon Monster. Contact me if you’d like to add additional mappings

This version no longer includes a version compiled for firmware 1.50.

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The recent issue with fMSX 3.5.3 (fw 1.50 version) prompted me to rethink future support for 1.50/kxploit executables. One option was to regress to an earlier version of the library, dropping any of the adhoc functionality; another was to simply stop working on versions for 1.50.

I (grudgingly) decided to stop providing support for fw 1.50 - reasons for this being threefold - a) the ps2dev community recommends moving away from this firmware, as continuing support for it is getting more challenging (flash0 memory being one reason); b) running simple applications in kernel mode seems counter-intuitive, and c) it’s becoming exceedingly more difficult to cope with two distinct programming models.

The emulators that are currently up will probably be the last ones with support for firmware 1.50; all future emulators are likely to only run on firmware 2.00 and greater.

UPDATE Wow, what a coincidence

New features in this version:

• Games/applications that require MSX Audio/MSX Music will no longer crash the emulator if either is disabled in System settings - there will simply be no Y2413/YM8950 audio
• ROM type settings are now saved between sessions - up to 500 different ROM’s can be tracked by CRC32 value

The second feature requires some experimentation, and I welcome any feedback you may have. As mentioned, the limit is 500 ROM’s - this is not counting the “auto-detect” ROM’s, for obvious reasons. The list is updated when ROM type is changed via the System menu - to remove an entry from the list, simply set ROM type to “auto-detect”.

Searching through the CRC values is done in linear time, when a ROM is actually loaded, but for 500 entries, this is not likely to take long (I’m not sure how long reading/writing these entries will take to memory stick, however).

The list is loaded from stick when the emulator starts up, stored in memory while the emulator runs, and saved back to stick when emulator is exited.

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If you find this feature helpful and are willing to help, please see the previous post

UPDATE Version compiled for firmware 1.50 does not work. Please use the 2.00 version

One feature that both fMSX and Atari800 could use is auto ROM type selection, as I’m sure I’m not the only person who finds selecting correct type of ROM an annoyance. I’d like to ask those of you who are dedicated fans of fMSX or Atari800 for help.

The method I have planned involves mapping a ROM CRC32 value to specific cart type, maintaining the settings in a growing list. Bunch of these lists would eventually be consolidated into a larger “super list” that would be included with the emulators, effectively eliminating the process of cart type selection (for vast majority of carts, anyway).

If anyone is interested in working to create such lists, please let me know by leaving a comment. Alternatively, if you’re aware of an existing list (perhaps for a different port), it would be great if you could point out the location. Thanks

This is just a small note to let you folks know that work on wifi netplay is continuing as before.

For fans of fMSX, look forward to an update that will fix the crashing of the emulator when MSX Music/MSX Audio are accessed while disabled in System settings. Because this is a small fix, this release is not planned for the immediate future, but if enough people show interest, a bugfix release will follow. Those who know how to, or don’t want to wait can compile from svn.

If you’re a PSP developer and/or considering developing wifi-enabled applications for the PSP, you might find this Adhoc Matching Diagram helpful. While it doesn’t explain everything in detail, it provides general idea on the steps that the generic PSP wi-fi enabled application takes, when setting up matching.

Ad-hoc matching is the initial step of setting up communication between PSP units - selecting which machines are going to participate in a communication session. It generally entails sending connection requests, and simultaneously listening for connection-related events (such as incoming connection requests). Because communication is peer-to-peer, the notion of host/client is implied - usually the machine requesting a connection is considered the client, while the machine receiving the connection request is the host.

Mislabeled settings are the reason why FMPAC games failed to run even with MSX Music enabled. Versions up to (but not including) 3.5.2 incorrectly labeled the MSX Audio engine as MSX Music and vice versa.

Version 3.5.2 fixes this issue and is now available for download. Note that if you don’t want to download it (it adds nothing but a correction to the typo), simply reverse your settings for MSX Audio and MSX Music and try running your favorite FMPAC-based games again. Note also that running FMPAC-based games with MSX Music disabled will hang the emulator.

The FMPAC diagnostic cartridge, Aleste 1 and 2 have all been tested and run fine and with sound. Please note, however, that the MSX Music engine requires more CPU power, so you will need to increase the CPU frequency (and disable vertical blanking/vsync) if you want full-framerate MSX goodness.

Special thanks to Victor Sartori for his help in tracking down the issue.

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In open defiance of all that is sane, I actually got a chance to lay some significant groundwork towards ad-hoc networking. The recent addition is pretty significant, and if all goes well, an ad-hoc capable emulator should not be too far off. (And yes, that is ridiculously vague, but my work and family obligations make precise estimations all but impossible. And let’s not forget about the greatest game ever made being out.)

It has also been brought to my attention that FMPAC still doesn’t function correctly in fMSX PSP, so look forward to a fix of that as well.