32X Progress

[Exophase]

One other thing: SH2 code will use a lot of PC-relative constants, especially for things that are slower to emulate like branch targets. So in addition to checking for code modifications you might want to check for modifications to PC-relative data, otherwise considering it as constant. drkIIRaziel does this for nullDC and he says it's an important optimization.

 

[DaveC]

Notaz this is really cool info here. It looks like you will have the most complete handheld Genesis emu out.

Just out of curiousity how well do you think 32X will run on the Wiz? Will it be playable or is it too much for the Wiz hardware to handle at a decent speed? Maybe some games will be playable others not depending how they used the 32X hardware is my layman's guess.

I know it will be fullspeed on the Pandora due to the brute power there, I was just wondering about Wiz.

 

[notaz]

Just out of curiousity how well do you think 32X will run on the Wiz?

I wish I knew, there are too many factors to predict it accurately now. One of the reasons I'm doing this is to find out. If it's playable it'll be on the limit I guess. It will also heavily depend on the game you run.

 

[Rivroner]

Thanks for the answer Notaz.

 

[notaz]

Just a small progress report to show this is not dead (going slow due to pandora firmware work that is also going on). I've finished most opcodes in the recompiler (lots of boring coding there), even without block linking or register allocation there is ~2x improvement already:

Sound test in Chaotix reaches fullspeed in PAL mode with 32x layer disabled (still testing on GP2X@250Mhz due to convenience):

One of SH2s is used to play some instruments here.

Better improvement should still be ahead (after block linking and register allocation works), but we'll see how that works out.

 

[slaanesh]

Thanks for the update!

A very exciting project. Hope it pans out okay and is playable on the GP2X.

 

[sbock]

Very promising progress indeed.

 

[Tag5]

Thanks for the update Notaz. Can't wait for it's release on the GP2X!

 

[sbock]

Any chance of a Star Wars screen shot?

Unfortunately only from the intro. All shots from the GP2x.
With the Wiz I managed once to go in game with quite nice framerates but without enemies.
At the selection screen you get steady 60 fps and brilliant John Willams sound with the Wiz overclocked to 600MHz ...
More to come...

 

[Iorgy77]

Admiral Ackbar knows when its a trap.

Great work notaz.

 

[slaanesh]

Wow - nice Star Wars shots. My favorite game on the 32X.

 

[zektor]

WOW. Been away for quite some time. 32X support is very very welcome Great job!

 

[Farox]

Great shots...thanks Notaz & sbock

 

[sbock]

Some more impressions: (Notaz asked me to make some videos, but my equipment here is not the best. I'm working on it...)

The 32x support is in a preliminary state. Not much playable yet except some levels of Chaotix. PicoDrive often stalls and crashes when going in-game.
But a lot of intros and options screens a already fullspeed with 22KHz PWM sound on a Wiz at 600 MHz.
Sega Master System support is another new feature. I only tested Choplifter (US) which run great at 150 MHz, 44KHz sound and anti tearing fullspeed with sound.

 

[Amon_Re]

Slightly off topic, but do you think it would be feasable to get Picodrive to give warnings when the battery level is getting rather low?

 

[Farox]

But a lot of intros and options screens a already fullspeed with 22KHz PWM sound on a Wiz at 600 MHz.

uhmmm ....Hoping GP2X F200/F100 could also do this hard job.... h34r:

 

[Amon_Re]

Sega Master System support is another new feature. I only tested Choplifter (US) which run great at 150 MHz, 44KHz sound and anti tearing fullspeed with sound.

This is probably the feature i'm looking forward to the most, great news!
All Hail Notaz & co!

 

[sbock]

OK, here's the rest:

Stellar Assault runs fluid at the intro and in the options screen, showing some 3D objects. Very promising...

 

[notaz]

uhmmm ....Hoping GP2X F200/F100 could also do this hard job.... h34r:

Right now it looks unlikely I can squeeze it enough to get it playable on F200/F100. However it might be playable after disabling PWM sounds on games that dedicate one of SH2s for PWM (like Chaotix), disabling PWM IRQs basically stops one SH2 and at least halves SH2 emulation workload.

The Wiz will also have hard time doing it (with everything on), but a few games are pretty close to playable already (with overclock), so I still expect something out of it.

Slightly off topic, but do you think it would be feasable to get Picodrive to give warnings when the battery level is getting rather low?

Maybe.. Reading battery used to be slow on F100, might check how it goes on Wiz (added to low-priority TODO list).

 

[Amon_Re]

Maybe.. Reading battery used to be slow on F100, might check how it goes on Wiz (added to low-priority TODO list).

Yaaay! You rock Notaz