I Got Gpsp (gba) Running With Sound!

[linoleum13]

Indeed it would be a real pity if something as useful as that were to ever be created.

 

[cowai]

How about a mmu-hack? Would that work?

 

[DaveC]

As for fullscreen support, it was left out of this update until I decide whether to use hardware scaling or not. Either way it will look somewhat odd fullscreen, since it won't be the same ratio width/height. But it could be scaled up a bit more and keep the ratio correct. Any thoughts on this?

Scaling support would be OK just to keep people from bitching about it. To me scaling looks AWFUL with the blocky distorted pixels. If you add it you should definetly keep an option to run it at 1:1 (no stretching). I also think that stretching is not a priority and hopefully other things like getting it running faster would be considered way before time is spent to add stretching. Also as was said a surround image to fill in the border area would be cool if it was user skinnable. You could just load a .PNG image for it.

 

[Moonchild]

I tried out three games:

The Legend of Zelda Minish Cap: Works great.
Tales of Symphonia: Slow and choppy after opening.
Silent Hill: Play Novel: Doesn't get passed Namco logo.

 

[Faugh2]

It seems to freeze my GP2X randomly when entering the menu, otherwise seems good.

Same here.

 

[zodttd]

Ok, a bunch more fixes and an extra bonus in Release 3. Yeah I'm updating quickly.

gpSP for GP2X can be found temporarily here:
http://www.friggingames.com/gpsp08_gp2x_3.zip

From the readme_gp2x.txt:
Change Log:
- Release 3:
- Fixed a bug having to do with a fix for the menu system made in release 2.
- Fixed a few GP2X specific bugs. gpSP should now exit cleanly on the GP2X and be able to be loaded again.
- Cleaned up some of the source.
- Added an optimized "fast" version of gpSP which plays games much faster but at the cost of compatibility.
IF A GAME DOESN'T RUN CORRECTLY WITH THE OPTIMIZED VERSION, USE THE NORMAL VERSION BEFORE REPORTING A BUG!



What does all this mean? It means the GP2X won't crash after exiting gpSP and running something like gpSP again. It also means gpSP won't crash when using some menu options.

The big bonus is the "gpsp_fast_3.gpe" included. It's the optimized version of gpsp_3.gpe. It's a simple change of the cycle increment, and it will make many more games playable, and just faster overall. The downside is that some games like Mario Kart will be missing graphics and such, so compatibility for games will go down especially when it comes to graphical errors.

So try gpsp_fast_3.gpe if gpsp_3.gpe isn't fast enough for a game. If the "fast" version isn't working right, but the "normal" version is, please don't report it as a bug.

Thanks for the support everyone.

 

[jpic3yk]

Menus freezing a lot for me too, using firmware 2.00

(Ignore that) wow that was a fsat update

 

[fluffyhamster]

i didn't even know there was a first release. . .

 

[iignotus]

Amazing! And happy 1-year anniversary here ZodGod!!

 

[Zeladin]

Yeah definitely getting a crash on doing anything in the menu in release 2, including return to game.

Hey spyro is much easier to play with a backlit screen btw. It is so amazingly playable I still can't get over it. one just doesn't expect this kind of thing on a first release. Thanks mostly due to the source material from Exophase no doubt.

Edit; Ooops didn't see version 3 old news I guess.

 

[bomb_dog]

Its damn clever, and the compatibility in terms of loading games is very good at this early stage.

Running at 270hz...
Chu Chu Rocket - works nicely
Colin McRae Rally - intro starts, can get through select screen then 'whites out'
Gradius Advance - goes into game, but very very slow
Mr Driller 2 - menus perfect, game works, but slightly too slowly. FS1 is better, but not quite there yet!
Need For Speed Underground - Hangs at EA logo
PacMan Collection - playable at 270
Rampage Puzzle Attack - Distorted sound, very noisy, but game playable
Spyro Season of Ice - Works, but very noisy!
Max Payne - slow, but works
Kuru Kuru Kururin - very slow, but works
Super Bust a Move - works fine, choppy sound
Super Mario Advance - works, but very slow
Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 - slow, but works
Wario Ware - very very slow

I still can't seem to turn off the sound with the new version, I get -FF- when pressing Vol+, but nothing for Vol-....

EDIT - This is with version 2, I'll give the same games a go with v3 now!

 

[zodttd]

Yeah, I keep finding more stuff to do. Most of the work is due to lack of testing on my part.

About the MMU stuff: It won't help this release as much, but when Exophase takes control of the dynarec work, it will probably come in handy one way or another. Even if it's just for faster access of the upper 32MB of RAM.

About scaling: I'm not a big fan of screen scaling, but it will get put in eventually. I'll have to figure out what to do about the empty space on the screen. While skins might be fun, it doesn't really have a use on the PSP side of the project imho.

I am interested if people found some new games to play due to the "fast" version.

Also, anyone know if they can tell a performance difference with gpSP between firmware 2.00 and firmware 2.11? The SD card performance increase might help this emulator as well.

 

[Godmil]

Wow, version 3 is out before I've even had time to try version 2
Nice one Zotddt!

Thanks for posting Exophase, good to know you're around too, and thanks for all your work on this emu. It's fantastic!

Wee question, what currency do you guys preffer for donations: US dollars, Euros...?

 

[Burbruee]

Great, 3 releases in one day!
But I don't notice any graphical errors in Mario Kart when using the optimized version.

 

[shinneri]

Mmm... Sonic Advance runs much better with the fast version. Still not "Blast processing" fast, but I was able to finish the first level in about a minute.

Didn't notice too major a difference in Lunar with fast version.. probably a little bump, but I can't really see/hear it.

I can confirm diagonals work.

Is the border actually dark blue? It's definitely not black on my GP2x...

 

[zodttd]

Godmil: American dollar please ;P

The border on gpSP is a dark blue. And speaking of dark blue, glad to hear Sonic Advance got a boost in speed, though it shows "blast processing" was the future of gaming.
Weird how Mario Kart isn't giving a graphical error for you. If you go in a gp 50 race on the U.S. version, do you see the karts/characters flash in and out after a few seconds of racing?

bombdog: Thanks for the compatibility report!
Anyone think a wiki entry/forum thread/gamecompat-site would be useful for Release 3? I can't think of anything needed right away for a Release 4. What I'd like for the list is games that currently are playable with what settings, and a list of games that aren't playable. They should be sorted by Release Number and Version (such as Normal/Fast) and the playable should be seperate from unplayable for easy access. Just an idea.

 

[Faugh2]

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is not only playable, but very playable with the "fast" - damn near full speed, I'd say! Wow!

There doesn't seem to be any missing graphics, but we'll see.

EDIT: Oh wait, slows down a bit when there are enemies on screen.

Frameskip helps, but the speed's inconsistent when you go from a screen with enemies and one without.

EDIT 2: Got a LOT slower on the second part (catacombs).

 

[Damien]

Could it be possible that some Games run SLOWER with the fast Version? It seems to me that Aria Of Sorrow runs better with the normal Version?

 

[DaveC]

While skins might be fun, it doesn't really have a use on the PSP side of the project imho.

Why does it have to be usefull on the PSP side? Can there be no hardware specific features?

Also would it be possible to allow roms to be placed in a directory like: .roms (one sub-dir under where the .gpe is located)

So for example: /mnt/sd/emulators/gba/roms

Also what zip utility works? When I try to run a zipped file the emu locks up.

Thanks again for the great work.

 

[Godmil]

I forgot to mention, you know the quick frameskip menu you get when you press A, is there a way of quickly getting out of it, cause I currently have to then go into the bigger menu then select 'return to current game'.