3do Emulator Maybe?...

[Jaguarandine]

I've recently had an email conversation with the developer of FreeDO, the 3DO emulator. He sounded intrigued with the idea of bringing it to the GP2X, but doesn't own the system himself. He also commented that it would take some time to bring out a usable release in his spare time.

What's a 3DO, you ask? Well, it's a 32-bit system that came out between SNES and PSX in the mid '90s. 3DO was an excellent "bridge system", so to speak. It had a nice collection of games for its time, mostly consisting of PC ports, console ports, and original games. Some noteworthy examples inlcude: Road Rash, Need for Speed, Wing Commander, Gex, D, Blade Force, Dragon's Lair, and many others. Check Wikipedia and Google for more details.

I think this would make a great addition to GP2X's list of emulators, because its extremely likely that a 100% port could be done. Not only would this mean some really good original games get released. FreeDO could bring many of the titles we loved for different systems onto one emulator.

So I'm thinking about donating money to get the developers a GP2X. I can only spare $25 this month (I am a poor college student ), but will continue to donate for this project to happen. Any other takers?

 

[tshroom]

Prove the worth of the 3DO with screen caps and then beg at the virtual feet of all the members in this scene.

 

[Hooka]

3DO is an alright system... I like stuff like Trip'd, weird, simple game but addictive.

 

[QuasaR]

anybody tried the Win-version of Freedo? Is it working 100% already? Love the 3DO, my first 3D console ever... Since it has a ARM-processor it should be that hard to make a emulator at a quite good speed. Maybe Craigx could make us a special price?

 

[icurafu]

I'd donate a chunck if I knew he was seriuos. As in ASM.

 

[iggywig]

I just had a go with the latest Freedo.. It works very nicely with Star Fighter but I don't have anymore ISOs to test and I can't be bothered with a 39gig torrent!

cheers

 

[Epicenter]

This might be a real challenge to get working at acceptable speeds on the GP2X-- a 12.5 MHz 32-bit processor is a bit beefy. It IS an ARM microarchitecture though-- if either of the ARM9s could be made to interpret this old instruction set, you might be able to dodge emulating it entirely and free up enough processing time for the complex-looking video subsystem (*2* rather beefy VDPs) plus the high-end audio subsystem. That's along the lines of the methodology behind a quick GBA emulator, though, so it may be a while unless the author doesn't mind putting in a lot of work for a pretty revolutionary setup as far as '2x emulators go.

 

[Nickmon]

This might be a real challenge to get working at acceptable speeds on the GP2X-- a 12.5 MHz 32-bit processor is a bit beefy. It IS an ARM microarchitecture though-- if either of the ARM9s could be made to interpret this old instruction set, you might be able to dodge emulating it entirely and free up enough processing time for the complex-looking video subsystem (*2* rather beefy VDPs) plus the high-end audio subsystem. That's along the lines of the methodology behind a quick GBA emulator, though, so it may be a while unless the author doesn't mind putting in a lot of work for a pretty revolutionary setup as far as '2x emulators go.

I other words, dont hold the breath !?!?
:rolleyes:

 

[Jaguarandine]

I may have been a little overzealous with my first post, but surely GP2X could get good emulation going for a system that is around 1-2 steps below the PSX in power (and not much more complex).

Assuming once again, I would think the developer would have ARM assembly experience because they created the emulator from the ground up. So they must also know pretty well how the 3DO's ARM60 processor works. Would they be able to translate that knowledge to the increased instruction set of an ARM9? Hopefully.

Here's an excerpt of their response:
"I've seen huge homebrew support for GP2X. But unfortunately porting
to this wonderfull console will require some initial investment of both
money (as I don't have the console at the time, so I would need to buy
one) and time -- rough estimation -- couple of months (if I will work
over weekends). I see no possibility right now to invest into purchasing
the console."

He threw out the timeframe of "a couple months", assuming he put forth a good solid effort. This might be an estimate from just looking at the specs of the machine without examining closely any bottlenecks the GP2X may have. I dunno.

 

[jbrodack]

not really worth it as far as I'm concerned. a fair amount of good 3do games are available for psx anyway. there is not much exclusive to 3do that would justify the effort in making a gp2x emu for it.

 

[jmetal88]

Hey, we tried a Jaguar emulator, why not try the 3DO?

 

[gaterooze]

not really worth it as far as I'm concerned. a fair amount of good 3do games are available for psx anyway. there is not much exclusive to 3do that would justify the effort in making a gp2x emu for it.

They will probably run faster if the 3DO emu reaches its potential.

I'm not too fussed either way, but it would certainly be a unique emulator for handheld!

 

[rabbits with hats]

NEED FOR SPEED
STREET FIGHTER
ROAD RASH
MYST

 

[Loubear]

NEED FOR SPEED
STREET FIGHTER
ROAD RASH
MYST

AMEN BROTHA!

 

[tshroom]

What is the deal with all the rabbits?

 

[DaveC]

I may have been a little overzealous with my first post, but surely GP2X could get good emulation going for a system that is around 1-2 steps below the PSX in power (and not much more complex).

It is not a matter of "power" as much as it is custom hardware that is poorly documented. The SNES is weaker than the 3DO and look at the trouble the GP2X has with that. Those twin cel engines in the 3DO would be a bitch to emulate at any decent speed.

 

[tshroom]

Careful.. people around here get mad when you donate a system to someone just for the sole purpose of getting them to dev for it. I'm afraid!

 

[Ze_ro]

By far the best 3DO game was Star Control II, which can already be played on the GP2X anyways

But hey, the more the merrier!

--Zero

 

[daclassicgamingmaster]

I would definitly donate for a nicely running 3do emulator. Sounds really good

 

[Winterkid]

I think logically we need to ask a couple questions and get a couple yes answers to a couple of things.

1> Can the ARM9 handle all the instruction sets of the ARM60, with little to no conversion/emulation.

2> Will the extra CPU power gained from the processor similarity help with emulating the video system? (2 sub-processors, I think I'm reading here. Am I wrong?)

3> Could Squidge's MMU hack be implimented to gain a sizable speed boost?

4> Is there a complete list of 3D0 games for those not very familiar with the system to peruse?

5> When the second CPU in the 2x is more understood, could it be used to handle some of the load of the CPU in emulating the system?