Picodrive For Gp2x

[K-teto]

Hey notaz!
Nice to see you joining the gp2x scene after your results with the Symbian UIQ version.
I've always been thinking that you should do a gp2x version of picodrive after using it in my P800, and here it is
Do you have any plans for your snes9x port?

Nice work and good luck in the future, thank you.

 

[Alex.]

I have just one question, does this version use Squidge's Miracle Hack?

- Alex

 

[sbock]

@Alex

Just one answer: Yes !

Regards,
Stephan

 

[DaveC]

Cool emu.

A few things though. It is VERY dark, you should add a brightness option. Be careful though don't increase the brightness of pure black (0,0,0, should remain at 0 regardless of brightness) otherwise it makes it look hazy and washed out.

Maybe if you could make save states compatible with DrMD. This way I can play stuff on DrMD to take advantage of the better speed, but use this emu to get past levels that glitch out on DrMD. I think Castlevania has graphics glitches on a certain level making it impossible to get past. If saves were compatible I could load the same save into Picodrive, get past the glitched level, then continue with DrMD. This would allow both emus to be interchangeable.

Thanks for the great work.

 

[winapa]

Very impressive stuff!

Okay, it needs overclocking but lets face it most emus do. Compatibility is very impressive, the sound is crisper than DrMD IMO.

It won't kick DrMD off my GP2x, but Picodrive is far more than just a backup to it.

 

[Alvin]

Altered Beast works fantasticly! Best emulator so far. Brighness is fine, by the way. Also, don't you dare change the menu, it's perfect!

 

[DaveC]

Altered Beast works fantasticly! Best emulator so far. Brighness is fine, by the way.

It depends on which model you are using. If using a M1 it is fine if you are using a GP2X M2 it is WAY too dark causing darker colors to not even be visible.

 

[darkman]

Altered Beast works fantasticly! Best emulator so far. Brighness is fine, by the way.

It depends on which model you are using. If using a M1 it is fine if you are using a GP2X M2 it is WAY too dark causing darker colors to not even be visible.

Your right DaveC. I have a M2 and was thinking the same thing today as I was going through a few games. Even looked in the configuration to see if there was any way of adjusting.

 

[notaz]

can someone explain why do people use other modes instead of "auto", which just tries to stick as close to 50/60fps as it can?

I remember that some emulators on the GP32 worked faster with a manual FS setting rather than the Auto one. Also, I occasionally set FS 1 or 2 in order to underclock the 2X and save loads of battery life.

- Alex

I see your point. So I implemented framelimiter just to see how it goes, and it seems to run nicely on FS1 and no overclock, that is it does constant 25/30fps and there are no slowdonwns/speedups when scenes change, which is nice. Although I do development, some things are still new to me in this GP* scene

Cool emu.

A few things though. It is VERY dark, you should add a brightness option. Be careful though don't increase the brightness of pure black (0,0,0, should remain at 0 regardless of brightness) otherwise it makes it look hazy and washed out.

Maybe if you could make save states compatible with DrMD.
...

You are right about the brightness, I also noticed it was too dark during the development but later just got used to it and forgot about that. Made it brighter now by making use of unused bits in the pixel data.
Sorry but DrMD savestates and gamma setting are not a priority and may be done some time later when (if) I finish my other stuff.

I have just one question, does this version use Squidge's Miracle Hack?

- Alex

Well it appears that I was not using it correctly (I was allocating framebuffers after applying the hack which is wrong because those buffers were left unhacked). Now this is fixed, but it does not give much improvement here, because of the way my renderers work.

Download the updated executable
and sources

 

[PokeParadox]

Altered Beast works fantasticly! Best emulator so far. Brighness is fine, by the way.

It depends on which model you are using. If using a M1 it is fine if you are using a GP2X M2 it is WAY too dark causing darker colors to not even be visible.

Your right DaveC. I have a M2 and was thinking the same thing today as I was going through a few games. Even looked in the configuration to see if there was any way of adjusting.

I also find it a bit dark on my 1st Edition...

 

[Alex.]

Thanks for the update Notaz! I'll give it a go this afternoon, it's quite impressive

- Alex

 

[DaveC]

I have noticed that the sound syncronizing is off on some games such as the water level in Thunderforce 3. It is fine in DrMD as long as you set to accuracy 1 otherwise it is the same as this emu, the timing between the drums is not right.

Could you put in an option to shut of the autowrite feature to reduce the chances of card corruption.

Also Frogger doesn't work (just gives red screen)but works in DrMD.

 

[notaz]

I have noticed that the sound syncronizing is off on some games such as the water level in Thunderforce 3. It is fine in DrMD as long as you set to accuracy 1 otherwise it is the same as this emu, the timing between the drums is not right.

Have you tried the "accurate timing" option? But yes, I admit it has timing problems.

Could you put in an option to shut of the autowrite feature to reduce the chances of card corruption.

Just disable "Use SRAM savestates".

Also Frogger doesn't work (just gives red screen)but works in DrMD.

Works for me. Are you sure you used the right ROM?

 

[DaveC]

Could you put in an option to shut of the autowrite feature to reduce the chances of card corruption.

Just disable "Use SRAM savestates".

Also Frogger doesn't work (just gives red screen)but works in DrMD.

Works for me. Are you sure you used the right ROM?

Sound: I didn't try accurate timing, I will play with that, thanks.

For the autowrite feature I was referring to how it writes to the card remembering which ROM you selected last. Is there a way to turn that off?

The right ROM? I just use the same one that I know worked in DrMD. I tried that game because it had windowing problems in DrMD and wanted to see how it worked in this emu. I will try others.

Thanks for everything.

 

[notaz]

For the autowrite feature I was referring to how it writes to the card remembering which ROM you selected last. Is there a way to turn that off?

No. May add that to the next version. It only writes on exit so you can just turn off your GP2X instead of exitting if you fear for corruption.

The right ROM? I just use the same one that I know worked in DrMD. I tried that game because it had windowing problems in DrMD and wanted to see how it worked in this emu. I will try others.

If it's zip it might be using some method this emu does not support or something. There is nothing special about that ROM and it should work.

 

[DaveC]

For the autowrite feature I was referring to how it writes to the card remembering which ROM you selected last. Is there a way to turn that off?

No. May add that to the next version. It only writes on exit so you can just turn off your GP2X instead of exitting if you fear for corruption.

The right ROM? I just use the same one that I know worked in DrMD. I tried that game because it had windowing problems in DrMD and wanted to see how it worked in this emu. I will try others.

If it's zip it might be using some method this emu does not support or something. There is nothing special about that ROM and it should work.

I am a believer in disabling autowrites in an option at least as it can be trouble if the power goes out. The Gp2X has a tendancy to work fine and then without notice freeze up with dead batteries.

Yeah the Frogger thing has me baffled. Works great in DrMD, This emu gives a bright red screen. Maybe I should try un-zipping then?

I also tried the accuracy thing for the sound. It still seems out of sync with the drums in the water level in Thunderforce III. Try DrMD for comparison. If you try it on just "sound on" it sounds like Picodrive. If you put on "accuracy 1" in DrMD it fixes it. I think Reesy said it had to do with the FM timer updating or something like that.

 

[bacteria]

Played Psycho Pinball on it today - plays great, full speed. Noticed sound is a bit choppy at 22050 or 44100 - stereo or mono. Found this in a couple of other games I tried.

Very good emulator, looking forward to your next version!!