Archive for April, 2009

Corrections, clarifications

Friday, April 24th, 2009

I realized my description from the last post wasn’t entirely correct, the emulator isn’t actually new per se, it’s just new vis-a-vis those that I’ve already released. Most everyone guessed correctly that it was a Commodore 64 emulator – it’s VICE, to be exact. I realize a port of VICE already exists (called PSPVICE), but as I mentioned before, I port software because I enjoy doing it, not necessarily because it’s needed :)

To answer some of the questions that are already coming in, yes it will have a virtual keyboard (it’d be pretty stupid to have a computer emulator without some form of one), and yes, it does support CRT files. VICE PSP is based on the latest version of VICE, 2.1.

The amusing part of this is that VICE PSP would have probably been released half a year ago, if it wasn’t for a misinterpretation of its performance, on my part. Due to a variety of factors, I was getting what seemed like surprisingly poor performance from the emulator; work on it was shelved for months, until I decided to take another look.

I still don’t have a definite release date, but work is progressing well, and a release shouldn’t be that far off.

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Posted in Update, VICE | 4 Comments »

Site updated

Friday, April 17th, 2009

I recently got a chance to make some changes to the site, adding some features that I’ve been wanting to add for a while now. psp.akop.org now includes an additional statistic – average downloads per day (Caprice32 lags behind with 3, fMSX leads with 15). Listing page also includes a few screenshots, some sorting options, and a new navigational system (too many emulators to list on one line now).

Unfortunately, the number of downloads is not completely correct – nor can it be. I’ve only been tracking downloads since Nov. 2007, which is a good 7 months after the first emulator was released (and shortly after sixth was released). It also doesn’t count  (what I’m assuming is) the larger number of downloads from other sites that host my binaries, such as dcemu and qj.net.

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Posted in Update | No Comments »

New emulator currently being ported

Monday, April 13th, 2009

I’m currently working on porting another emulator to the PSP. For the curious, the image below contains a(n all-too-obvious) hint about the system that this emulator emulates.

I don’t know when the work will be completed, but the largest challenges have been overcome, and it’s all a matter of time now.

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Posted in Emulators, News | 3 Comments »

Atari800 updated, apparently

Monday, April 13th, 2009

While I wasn’t looking, the Atari800 emulator was updated to version 2.1 (current PSP version is at 2.0.3). Here’s what’s new (and not everything may be relevant to the PSP release):

New features

  • added Axlon and Mosaic RAM expansions for Atari 400/800
  • added emulation of 1400XL, 1450XLD, MIO and Black Box
  • added support of .PRO copy-protected disk images
  • implemented tape loading with variable bitrates
  • implemented cassette writing via hardware registers
  • added switching between NTSC and PAL color palettes
  • added emulation of XEP80 and a prototype 80 column card for the Atari 1090 (SDL only currently)
  • added emulation of CX85 numeric keyboard (Java and SDL only)
  • NTSC Filter option added to UI
  • monitor supports arrow keys – e.g. up-arrow for history
  • R: device can be serial-only, network-only or both (selectable)
  • R: device now supported on MS Windows and Dreamcast as well
  • Falcon/TT: removed Devpac dependency in asm files (now gcc friendly)

Fixes

  • fix for “Ilusia” demo
  • better GTIA bug mode emulation
  • POKEY sound: nonlinear mixing (not enabled by default), two-tone filter
  • fixed POKEY registers: ALLPOT, IRQEN and STIMER
  • various Atari5200 fixes
  • fixed Atrax cartridge bank switching
  • major source code cleanup, compiles with -pedantic etc.
  • Save State: added support for Axlon and Mosaic (version increased to 5), fixed PBIM12 restoring, fixed PAGED_MEM error with POKEY, color palette restoring fixed

The lately-neglected PSP version should be updated within a few weeks.

Posted in Atari800, News | 2 Comments »

Fuse PSP version 0.10.0.21 released

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

New in this version:

  • Bugfix: Tape/disk status icons should no longer clear when switching between emulator and menu
  • Added tape browser: can now reposition tape location from the System tab (if a tape is loaded)
  • Added tape rewinding, playback (System tab)
  • Added an option to enable/disable tape traps (fixes games like splATTR)
  • Added program counter (PC) display – enable/disable in the Options tab

There is a pattern here – a lot of tape-related updates in this release. Enjoy!

Download

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Posted in Fuse, Release | 13 Comments »

Fuse PSP version 0.10.0.2 released

Sunday, April 5th, 2009

A new version of Fuse PSP is now out. Changes include:

  • On-screen indicators for floppy and tape drives – enable in the Options tab
  • Fuse updated to 0.10.0.2; libspectrum updated to 0.5.0.1
  • Source: ‘aux’ directory has been renamed, and source code can now be checked out under Windows
  • Bugfix: held keys will be automatically released when the virtual keyboard is displayed
  • Bugfix: Older (pre-0.10) button configuration files will now load
  • Bugfix: Multiple simultaneous L+[button] and R+[button] combination presses will now register correctly

What’s new in Fuse 0.10.0.2 and libspectrum 0.5.0.1 (as relevant to the PSP port):

  • Make loader acceleration work on all compilers (Philip Kendall; thanks, Carlos Almeida, Alberto Garcia and Alexander Yurchenko)
  • Allow both +3 disk drives to be used at once (Gergely Szasz)
  • Allow both +D disk drives to be used at once (Gergely Szasz)
  • Make .dsk code handle missing newline on “Track-Info” header (Gergely Szasz; thanks, Simon Owen)
  • Looser signature checks for .dsk files to allow files not strictly compliant with the specification to work (Gergely Szasz; thanks, zx81 and Simon Owen)

Two issues require further discussion: bugs were reported related to a) absence of a “Gluk” boot menu when loading certain files (the menu does appear in pre-0.10 Fuse PSP), and b) intermittent, but common issues when loading consecutive disk images (the disk image will load the first time, not load the second time, may load the third time – or not). Both issues seem to be related to Fuse 0.10, and not just the PSP port, as I get the same behavior in the Linux (Ubuntu) version of the emulator. The issue may be related to configuration, in which case, if you know a workaround/fix, please notify me.

UPDATE Many thanks to Carl Murray and Fred of worldofspectrum forums for the following clarifications: the “Gluk” boot menu has been removed from Pentagon 128K, and moved into Pentagon 512K and 1024K. To use the menu, switch the machine type to either of the two systems mentioned.

Download

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Posted in Fuse, Release | 3 Comments »

RACE! PSP version 2.16 released

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

New in this version:

  • Time Rewind feature: map ‘Special: Rewind’ to any PSP button in the Controls menu to enable
  • Save state format has changed: RACE! PSP will still read the older save state format, but loading will be slightly slower
  • Not a new feature, but the documentation now includes a section on how to have RACE! PSP load a BIOS ROM file (instead of using the customized hardcoded version)

Time rewind works for approximately 18 seconds of gameplay, and is disabled by default. See documentation for more information.

I’m noting the BIOS support feature (it’s actually been there all along), because I’ve seen folks actually request it. Note, however, that I don’t recommend you make use of it, unless you have good reason to – emulation with the “real” BIOS is largely untested, thus unreliable.

Download

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Posted in RACE!, Release | 3 Comments »