Emulation News 042: Updates for 5-5-11

Happy Cinco de Mayo! It's time for some updates! Be sure to check them out as there are many revisions available.

Test7 v20110503

"Test7 is a multi emulator frontend.
Instead of a list of game names, it displays a tiled view of thumbnails (one for each game).

It's based on the library "Slick" (http://slick.cokeandcode.com)
and use the Apache Batik SVG Toolkit (http://xmlgraphics.apache.org/batik/).

The config file is in JSON format (http://www.json.org)

To start the front-end (requires Java version 6 at least):
java -jar test7.jar

At launch, Test7 unzips the necessary natives libraries in the current directory.
Linux:
You must include this directory in the environment variable LD_LIBRARY_PATH.

Windows:
The current directory is normaly automatically added to the PATH.

If it doesn't exist, Test7 creates a template config file test7.json

The config files is divided in three parts:
- display
- emulators
- games

Summary of the display configuration:
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
- screenWidth and screenHeight : sizes in pixels of the screen.
- fullscreen : true/false.
- keyDelay (optional 500ms by default): time in ms for key repetition.
- nbColumns and nbRows : number of thumbnails displayed on a page.
- percentRowSpacing and percentColumnSpacing (optional 1% by default): blank space between rows and columns
in percent of the screen size.
- pageScrollTime (optional 300ms by default): time in ms of the page-scrolling effect.
- cursorMoveTime (optional 100ms by default): time in ms for the cursor to move from one thumbnail to another.
- rotate (optional no rotation by default): rotate the display. -1 = -90°; 1 = +90°; 0 = no rotation.
- multiThread (optional true by default): true/false; By default Test7 load the thumbnails in a separate thread.
So you can start your navigation through the games while the thumbnails are loaded.
But it seems there's a bug which sometimes freezes the application (occures in fullscreen with Vista)
- svgMaskFilename (optional test7/mask.svg by default) : filename of the svg file used as a mask on each thumbnail.

Emulators:
""""""""""
- id : reference used in the game part.
- command : command used to start the emulator (with options if needed).
Exemple: "c:/temp/znes/zsnesw.exe -m" to start the ZNES emulator in command line mode.
- romsDirectory : directory containing the roms of this emulator.
- picturesDirectory : directory containing the pictures used to create the thumbnails.

Games:
""""""
- file : name of the file. Exemple : "superGame.zip"
The directory is the one associated with the emulator (see above).
- name : displayed name of the game.
- picture (optional): By default Test7 uses the filename of the game with one these suffixes : "bmp,jpg,jpeg,png,gif"
to construct the filename of the game.
Exemple: "superGame.zip" becomes "superGame.png"
This parameter permit to use a totally different filename for the picture.
The directory is the one associated with the emulator (see above).
- emulatorOption (optional): add some options to the command line of the emulator.
- emulatorId : Identifiant of the emulator used to launch this game.

Exemple of a configuration:
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""
{
"screenWidth":1680,
"screenHeight":1050,
"fullScreen":true,
"nbColumns":6,
"nbRows":4,
"emulators": [
{"id":"znes", "command":"c:/temp/znes/zsnesw.exe -m", "romsDirectory":"c:/temp/znes", "picturesDirectory":"c:/temp/znes"},
{"id":"mame", "command":"c:/temp/mame/mame.exe", "romsDirectory":"c:/temp/mame/roms", "picturesDirectory":"c:/temp/mame/snap"}
],
"games": [
{"name":"Super Ghost'n Trolls ", "file":"Super Ghost'n Trolls (Europe).zip", "emulatorId":"znes"},
{"name":"Super Subway", "file":"Super Subway (Europe) (En,Fr,De).zip", "emulatorId":"znes"},
{"name":"Year of Kung-Fu", "file":"yearkf.zip", "emulatorId":"mame"}
]
}

Usage:
""""""
Use arrow keys or joystick to move the cursor.
Use space or a joystick button to select a game. A full-size picture of the selected game is displayed.
Confirm your choice with space or a button again or use arrow key or joystick to cancel.
Type 'Q' to quit Test7."

Source

MESS SVN r11431

"r11431
fix for WINUI compile (no whatsnew)"

Source


OpenEmulator SVN r633

"r633
Finished OpenGL paper canvas, fixed video update when shaders are off, fixed resize flickering when using didVSync for drawing
r632
Fixed bezel drawing, fixed window resizing methods, fixed display canvas updates so persistency is correctly updated after a new frame, started implementation of OpenGL paper canvas, added paper canvas to CanvasWindowController and CanvasWindow Yesterday
r631
Fixed bezel drawing, fixed window resizing methods, fixed display canvas updates so persistency is correctly updated after a new frame, started implementation of OpenGL paper canvas, added paper canvas to CanvasWindowController and CanvasWindow Yesterday
r630
Refactored canvas API, fixed bezel 180 degree rotation, fixed persistance, fixed OpenGLCanvas update parameters and canvas API
r629
Fixed OpenGL context loss when closing a canvas
r628
Fixed GUI-Emulation-Canvas thread synchronization
r627
Improved the default emulation fallback, the template chooser is now displayed, fixed audio playback play position, fixed canvas window orderOut, fixed frame size initialization
r626
Fixed OpenGL thread sync/system events in canvas and emulation windows"

Source

Jpcsp SVN r2110

"r2109
Improved support for DebuggerMemory: it was sometimes missing breakpoints on memory reads/writes. This should now be fixed.
r2110
sceMpeg: trying to fix the ending of the Mpeg movie when the audio ends before the video."

Source

DaedalusX64 SVN r698

"r695
[=>] Merged from Dev branch:

Rev 233 - Salvy
[+] Added cheat menu (WIP, only disable and enable cheats option work atm)
Rev 234 - Salvy
[+] More WIP towards the GUI for cheats (everything is half or barely working atm)
[+] Added cheat codes for SSV
Rev 235 - Salvy
Disable temporally a couple of flags to enable or disable cheats (they don't work yet, due the UI part not working properly)
Rev 236 - Salvy
[!] Fixed bug that caused cheats to be displayed after loading a game with no cheats
[!] Fixed enable cheats option not working
[+] Implemented activation of cheat codes
[+] Show a msg if user opens the cheat menu with no cheats etc
[!] Fixed left and right pad not working in cheat menu
r696
[=>] Merged from Dev branch:

Rev 237 - Salvy
[+] Implemented cheat list generator for GUI (yay)
[~] Removed several hacks etc I had for it (when I was attempting to get it working)
[!] Fixed bug that caused last cheat entry to always be enabled
Note - frontend for cheats work perfectly now
Rev 238 - Salvy
[+] check if country id of cheat codes match to the selected ROM, if not they'll be skipped
Rev 239 - Salvy
[+] Compensate empty entries of cheat codes in UI
Rev 240 - Corn
r697
[=>] Merged from Dev branch:

Rev 241 - Salvy
[+] Restore value if XXX cheatcode is no longer active, makes it possible to disable cheats instantly (hackish as hell atm though)
[~] Minor clean up in cheat UI
Rev 242 - Salvy
[!] Fixed was enable flag and made it safe (fixes certain cheats to be disabled by error)
Rev 243 - Salvy
[!] Fixed bug that caused certain cheats not be disabled correctly (Corn)
[+] Store original value before writing cheat codes to memory (allows us to undo cheats when disabled, thnx Corn and Kreationz for suggestions)
Rev 244 - Corn
r698
Note : This the last merge to B3 Update, Dev rev 249 is Beta 3 Update

[=>] Merged from Dev branch:

Rev 245 - Salvy
[!] Simplified cheat store/restore routine (now isn't hacky anymore \o/)
[!] Make sure to store even cheats that write multiple times (Thnx Corn for suggesting)
Rev 246 - Salvy
[!] Tagging as Beta 3 Update
[+] Added more cheats to the database
[-] Removed debug code from Cheat routines
[!] Killed a warning in R4300.cpp
Rev 247 - Salvy
[!] Bump up OSHLE version number
[!] Fixed assert in OSHLE
Rev 248 - Salvy
[~] Added more info for a cheat
Rev 249 - Salvy"

Source

PCSX2 SVN r4622

"r4622
microVU: Fix for Red Faction 2"

Source

Altirra 1.9 Test 37

"- Debugger: Added .sdx_loadsyms command."

Source

Spud v0.210

"ADDED: Spud can now query WoS Infoseek and download game and associated files.
ADDED: Spud can now SAVE snapshots in all supported formats.
ADDED: Soft reset menu option.
ADDED: ULAplus palette editor.
ADDED: PC logging.
ADDED: PC logging for one frame.
ADDED: Ability to control emulation speed (10% - 1000%).
ADDED: Colour palette options available.
ADDED: Tape wobble.
ADDED: Tape autoload.
ADDED: Standalone register view dialog box.
ADDED: Debugger. Breakpoints (No conditional yet).
ADDED: Debugger. Various Single Step options.
ADDED: Debugger. Various RUN options.

FIXED: Due to DirectSound, Spud would crash when loading a game after have changed rendering method.
FIXED: Border drawing routines were being called more often than required.
FIXED: More obscure bugs in the Z80 core.
FIXED Lots of little bugs than I can't remember."

Source

StepMania SSC v1.2.5

"20110329
--------
* [ScreenEdit] Changed sample playback button to L. [AJ]
* [ScreenGameplay] Announcers say combo messages again. [AJ]

20110402
--------
* Fix a crash (issue 247) when exiting Practice mode from dance-solo, dance-threepanel, and popn-nine (all of which can only have one player). If you find any other modes this crashes on, let us know. [AJ]

20110405
--------
* [ScreenEdit] Allow modifying the #DISPLAYBPM traits in the editor. Look in Edit Song Info to find it. [Wolfman2000]

20110413
--------
* [ScreenSelectMusic] Made score frame into an AutoActor, changed the filename from "score frame p1" to "ScoreFrame P1" for consistency with other elements. [AJ]

20110416
--------
* [PlayerOptions] Added UsingReverse() Lua binding (automatically tests GetReverse() == 1) [AJ]
* [PlayerState] Added GetCurrentPlayerOptions() Lua binding [AJ]

20110420
--------
* [CourseContentsList] Fix a crash. [AJ]

20110421
--------
* [ScreenSelectMusic] Changed "Percent Frame p1" to "PercentFrame P1" for consistency. [AJ]
* [LifeMeterBattery] Convert Frame to an AutoActor. [AJ]
* [ScreenEvaluation] Added RollingNumbersClass metric, allowing for the ability to change which RollingNumbers class is loaded. [AJ]
* [ScreenGameplay] Added SongNumberFormat metric. [AJ]

20110422
--------
* [Banner] Added ScrollSpeedDivisor metric; controls the scroll speed of Random/Roulette banners. [AJ]
* [FadingBanner] Added BannerRoulette, BannerRandom, and Banner(Custom Item Name) commands. [AJ]

20110423
--------
* [CourseLoaderCRS] Fixed loading of Player's Best/Most Played courses, probably others too. [AJ]
* [ScreenGameplaySyncMachine] Fixed a crash when entering ScreenGameplaySyncMachine as Player 2. (Fixes issue 127) [AJ]
* [ScreenOptionsEditCourse] Fixed a crash when going to the first row. (Fixes issue 235) [AJ]
* [SongManager] Added GetCourseGroupNames Lua binding. [AJ]

20110428
--------
* [BeginnerHelper] Various changes: [AJ]
* Changed Player_#X/Y metrics to Player#X/Y metrics for consistency.
* Converted the background to an AutoActor.
* [BPMDisplay] Added SetFromSong Lua binding. [AJ]

20110430
--------
* [ScreenOptions] Renamed "ScreenOptions LineHighlight" to "ScreenOptions LineHighlight P#", making it load per-player. [AJ]
* [OptionRow] Added Text param to RefreshMessageCommand. [AJ]
* [ScreenOptions] Added SelectMultipleMessageCommand, ChangeValueMessageCommand. [AJ]
* [UnlockEntry] Added GetCourse, GetCode Lua bindings. [AJ]
* [UnlockManager] Added UnlockRequirement_NumUnlocked enum. [AJ]
* [Song] Added Origin (#ORIGIN tag in .ssc) [AJ]
* [UnlockManager] Added GetPoints(UnlockRequirement), GetPointsForProfile(Profile,UnlockRequirement) Lua bindings. [AJ]
* [Course] Added #SCRIPTER tag and GetScripter Lua binding. [AJ]"

Source

Vba-ReRecording v24 (r367)

"r367
Fixed the problem that fast-forward didn't work introduced on rev362.

Notes:
* The timing of GBx games in this version is different from that in the 23.x series.
* There are known emulation bugs in some games.
* Savestates are incompatible with, but cannot be distinguished fom those made with previous versions. Avoid confusion on your own."

Source

Cinoth Ciano's iDeaS Plugin

"Welcome in my home page. Im developer and I like the emu as iDeaS. Im working on Microphone and on WiFi Plugins.
Below you can find the Microphone Plugin is the first release but it works well. Sometimes you need enable it by the checkbox in the properties page, example when you load a savestate.

Finally Lino release me the Audio's Plugin source, here's my first version."

Source

Dolphin texcache-rewrite SVN r7509

"r7509
texcache-rewrite: DX9 support.

Please test DX9 and give feedback about the performance. For me, it's faster in most cases, but slower in some situations involving paletted textures. Every time the palette changes, it has to re-decode the texture to graphics memory. The DX11 backend has a shader in place to handle palettes on the GPU, but the other backends still de-palettize on the CPU.

EFB RAM copies are...still somewhat broken. You'll see if you try it.

Still to come: fix EFB RAM copies; virtual EFB copies for OGL and DX9."

Source

VisualBoyAdvance-M SVN r1014

"r1014
should fix GS codes that don't work on games which use lcd interrupts instead of vblank

thanks unmacaque"

Source

DOSBox SVN r3707

"r3707
less is more"

Source


Dolphin SVN r7511

"r7510
UpdateAudioDMA() fix/revert -> fixes Rayman 3/Smugglers Run with LLE, + small optimization for lleint/llejit32
r7511
Trying to fix mixer problem when AIsrc is @48kHz, should fix games like All Star Baseball 2004/
XGRA Extreme-G Racing Association/Conduit 2... Enabled 48kHz output for LLE (before it was just 32kHz). I hope it works, if there are serious problems, it will be reverted."

Source

Ootake v2.52

"- The volume setting processing of the wave memory sound chip was brought
close to the movement of a real machine. In "Hanii in the Sky", when the
game was paused, the problem that the noise rings was solved.
- "Caputure" menu was added. Input-Recording function, Screenshot function
and WAV-Sound Output function was moved from "File" menu to this menu. I
think "AVI-Movie Output function" will be added here in the near future.
- The speed and timing were brought close to the movement of a real machine.
In the opening demo of "Wrestle Angels", the problem that the screen
disappeared (generated by a recent version) was solved. In the Quest
mode of "Fainal Lap Twin", when the hero enters the house in continent,
the problem that the screen has fallen into disorder by one frame was
solved.
- Additionally, a detailed part has been improved and corrected.
+ In East Japan, many people died by the earthquake and the tsunami. May
they rest in peace. We Japanese have expressed gratitude for help of the
all over the world. We revive without fail. Thanks.
+ I began Twitter. (Japanese language)
http://twitter.com/kitao_n

* The happiness of the game is the world human race commonness. It longs for
peace.
* I think that it cannot do improvement & correction of the above-mentioned
if there are many neither operation report nor defect report. Thank you
really for you who reported."

Source