Archive for the ‘Caprice32’ Category

The news and the old..s

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

Looks like the PS3 will finally be getting a much-needed price cut (not to mention a slimmer model) very soon. Will I finally have an alternative to my 360? We’ll see…

While I don’t plan on porting anything new anytime soon (although release of VICE PSP has flooded me with requests for an Atari ST emulator :) ), I do plan to release sporadic updates for the emulators I currently have out. Software development as a hobby is a double-edged sword – not being compelled to program tends to be a good motivator to program anyway, but when the learning ends, so does the desire to program for a particular platform/purpose. Go figure…

fMSX PSP is probably next in line for a revamp – some of you may be aware that it is my personal favorite emulator (as is the system itself). The usual update to psplib is planned, but two things I feel have been long overdue are improved MegaROM autoselection, and even more importantly, a better saved state format. Because of the unpredictability of save states, I lost my SD Snatcher progress mid-way. Grrr…

At some point, Caprice32 will be updated, but no idea when – the emulator hasn’t been updated for years, and my port doesn’t seem to be popular enough to warrant a rewrite.

Since the release of RACE! PSP, I consider NeoPop dead, so it will not receive rewrites unless something magical happens.

This is a little late, but a fellow named Daniele Fiorentini posted an interview with me on maxconsole.net. It’s from 2007, but most of what it contains is still relevant. I came across it again while I was digging through my list of emails.

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Posted in Caprice32, NeoPop, News, RACE!, fMSX | 8 Comments »

Caprice32 PSP updated

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007

Version 4.2.0.2 of Caprice32 has been released. New in this version:

  • ZIP file support for disk and tape images
  • Disk images can be saved, ejected and loaded without resetting the system (System tab)
  • Save state autoloading – any save state slot can be designated as the autoload slot (Options tab, disabled by default). Saved games in the autoload slot are loaded any time a game is loaded from the Game tab
  • CPC model is now correctly reset when modified via the System menu

For more information, please see the documentation

Download

Posted in Caprice32, Release | 6 Comments »

SNA support

Monday, November 26th, 2007

While there will be no support for SNA files, as mentioned in an earlier post, there will be a more sensible way to quickly load and run disk and tape images in the next version of Caprice32 PSP.

For those who are interested in why exactly SNA will not be supported, here are the reasons:

  1. SNA files are model-dependent. Once a snapshot is created for a 464, for example, it can no longer be used for another model, since the file itself captures the system’s identity
  2. SNA files are emulator-dependent. They are of little use to anyone using another emulator
  3. For the above two reasons, I do not want to contribute to saturation of SNA files on the web, when much better alternatives (ROM, tape and disk images) are readily available
  4. Treating SNA files as regular image files means supporting save states for the SNA file. This just seems recursively silly

This decision is final (sorry); however, if you absolutely insist on loading SNA files, feel free to add such functionality by downloading and compiling your own copy (ah, the beauty of open source software).

I am aware of CPC’s inflexibility with regard to disk loading, however, and as mentioned before, there will be a more sensible way to load, say, Gryzor, and instantly see the title screen, instead of having to cat and run your way through BASIC. So pull up a chair and stick around, this should be interesting, if not fun and (gasp!) useful :)

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Posted in Caprice32, Update | 4 Comments »

Future of Caprice32

Friday, November 23rd, 2007

Thanks to those who submitted feedback about Caprice32, ZIP and multi-disk support will be added in the next release.

SNA files, on the other hand, will not be supported, and here’s why. SNA files are not proper cartridges or disk images – they’re save state files containing a “snapshot” of memory and CPU registers. The Save State tab provides the same functionality (except as an added bonus, it GZip’s the save states, making them a lot smaller).

If you want to convert an existing SNA file to Caprice32 PSP’s save state format, here’s how to do it:

  • Compress the SNA file with GZip
  • Pick some PNG image (any in-game screenshot made with Caprice32 PSP will do)
  • Concatenate the PNG image with the GZipped SNA file in the following order: PNG image, SNA file
  • Rename the resulting file so that it’s composed of the full name of the disk image (including the extension), plus ‘.sXX’ as an extension, where XX is an integer between 00 to 10. Example: 1943.dsk.s00
  • Place the file in the SAVEDATA directory, and it will be available when the DSK file is loaded.

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Posted in Caprice32, Update | 3 Comments »

Caprice32 PSP

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007

Caprice32 4.2.0.0 is the latest addition to the collection of emulators. It’s an Amstrad CPC emulator, and is my second choice for a port. My initial attempt was to port Arnold, which is a (arguably) more accurate emulator, but due to its poor performance on the PSP (~15 fps), the idea was scrapped.

Caprice32 is a lot faster, though the rendering subsystem used in the current version is from version 4.1.0, for performance reasons. If/when the renderer is optimized, the PSP port will be updated to reflect the change.

Current version is also missing ZIP file support – this will be implemented if enough people express interest.

Download

Posted in Caprice32, Release | 24 Comments »