Squidgesnes 0.395b1

[___]

okay... either i am an idiot or something is weird. I cannot load any of my old roms anymore. the emu just goes back to the menu. can somebody help me out?

 

[naples39]

The new GUI will be very different and basically a rewrite, which will include a different "in-game" menu, and hotkeys for common functions such as renderer change, quick save/load, etc.

Wow, sounds awesome.

okay... either i am an idiot or something is weird. I cannot load any of my old roms anymore. the emu just goes back to the menu. can somebody help me out?

Try installing the new gpe into a fresh squidgesnes folder. Make sure you carry over the skin folder too. Lastly, if you're launching games directly from gmenu, run the gpe separately first and save a new config file.

 

[DaveC]

"Performance" is indeed the original SS rendering engine.

and yes, the "Accuracy" mode is about 99% the same as DrPocketSNES (basically the graphics routines in the original Snes9X before the modifications by Yoyofr). However, the SS routines don't currently have the transparency support that DPS has.

The new GUI will be very different and basically a rewrite, which will include a different "in-game" menu, and hotkeys for common functions such as renderer change, quick save/load, etc.

Do you have any idea how DPS does the raster code? I tried a test game that usually shows speed problems. I use Addams family II, go up the stairs to the first door on left (lab). The game uses rasters and transparencies.

In SS (240 MHz) the framerate is very choppy looks like FS5 or so, and the sound stutters severely with rasters full. I turn the rasters off and it is smooth (but still lacks transparency).

In DPS it has full rasters and full transparency and is MUCH smoother than SS with rasters. Why are rasters so much smoother in DPS? couldn't the same thing be used in SS? Or maybe DPS could just be optimised a bit instead?

Framerate comparison looks like this:

SS: Full raster, no transparency<DPS: full raster full transparency<SS no raster no transparency

So it seems that if you want full effects including rasters and transparencies DPS is smoothest. If you want best speed but missing raster, transparency effects SS is smoothest.

 

[Squidge]

Basically, DPS draws a line at a time, so when raster or transparency effects are used, it's easy to just change things for the next line.

SS draws a tile at a time, which results in a large speedup, but when rasters are involved, this means redrawing stuff that has already been drawn.

So the end result is that SS will be slower at rasters as it attempts to optimise and then finds out about the rasters "too late" and has to go back and redraw things it's already drawn and cached.

 

[PokeParadox]

Can you implement some sort of raster detection? So it could draw tiles and then as soon as it goes "Oh oh need to redraw that bit" it could toggle a variable to draw in line mode.

Then you can do a check "Right... I'm not needing to redraw anything" and return to drawing in tiles.

You might have a couple of frames with redraws/incorrect rasters as it adapts but wouldn't it compromise for performance/visual quality?

 

[Squidge]

The best thing would be an automatic toggle between the two renderers. If too many redraws are done in performance mode, then automatically switch to accuracy mode. Creating another mode for performance but with 1 pixel stripes would take a lot of work and not be much faster.

 

[___]

that automatic switch thing sounds like a good idea. squidge, do you think you will achieve fullspeed (maybe oc'd) in accurate mode at some point or are you not actually aiming for that?

 

[Squidge]

I'll certainly optimise the Accuracy mode a bit more, but I'm not aiming for full speed using it, as that would require changes that would destroy the "Accuracy" part (which is basically what the "Performance" renderer is)

 

[deepmenace]

it hurts cause i feel strangely shallow when i say it but....the menu was the main reason i didnt use squidgesnes that much.

i really dont know why, the quality of the emulator should really be the absolute factor but back when DrMD and squidgesnes first came out i found myself playing with DrMD more even though i generally prefer Snes games.

cant wait to see the new stuff.

cheers.

 

[DaveC]

it hurts cause i feel strangely shallow when i say it but....the menu was the main reason i didnt use squidgesnes that much.

i really dont know why, the quality of the emulator should really be the absolute factor but back when DrMD and squidgesnes first came out i found myself playing with DrMD more even though i generally prefer Snes games.

cant wait to see the new stuff.

cheers.

Yeah the menu could be better but as of late I use Pocket SNES mostly. The main reason is that is handles rasters much better and it has transparencies. It is a bit slower yes but having all of the SNES effects is worth alot to me. Many games just don't look good, some even unplayable, stripped of most cool effects. I hope Reesy will still consider optimising PocketSNES still as that one will still have the advantage of faster rasters, better menu, and transparency effects.

 

[Reesy]

I hope Reesy will still consider optimising PocketSNES still as that one will still have the advantage of faster rasters, better menu, and transparency effects.

Work has begun, but there is a lot to do so I wouldn't expect a release from me for sometime.

 

[TelcoLou]

I hope Reesy will still consider optimising PocketSNES still as that one will still have the advantage of faster rasters, better menu, and transparency effects.

Work has begun, but there is a lot to do so I wouldn't expect a release from me for sometime.

... just wanted to say thanks for all the work you've done and that I for one, don't expect anything. Your contributions to the scene are greatly appreciated in our household

 

[halo9]

... just wanted to say thanks for all the work you've done and that I for one, don't expect anything. Your contributions to the scene are greatly appreciated in our household

I'll second that. For me SNES and MD emulation get by far the most use. Cheers guys, much appreciated. Thanks also for taking the time to explain decisions and methods, very interesting to the layman like me...

 

[DaveC]

I hope Reesy will still consider optimising PocketSNES still as that one will still have the advantage of faster rasters, better menu, and transparency effects.

Work has begun, but there is a lot to do so I wouldn't expect a release from me for sometime.

I don't expect anything. I hope, but not expect

Glad to see that you intend to continue it though. I use your SNES emu alot now that it has the effects. I never really played SNES on the GP2X much before. I do now, thanks for the great work

 

[Huxley]

Just want to add my 2p's worth and say that I actually quite like the SS menu. Maybe the functionality could do with improving, but I liked the skins and general feel of the emulator.

It's also got quite a few FPS on some games compared to DPS, so for now I'll be using both emulators. Excellent work Squidge!

 

[stormyandcold]

Yeah, I use both too atm.

Great work btw as always!

Would love to see perfect graphics in sfx chip games, even if slow

I'm swaying more towards snes and cps2 games atm, havent touched md for ages apart from sonic cd

 

[Tobriand]

Brilliant work - I'll probably try this one out en route to France next week. Looking forward to it

Out of interest, I remember you mentioning rather a long time ago that you had a very very incomplete version of Squidgesnes 2.0 (effectively) that before graphics drawing had been implemented, seemed to output 100s of fps (albeit pointless without the extra bits). Have the codebases merged at this stage, or were you finding that once everything was put in it dropped to about the same speed (and therefore stuck with the current job). Or do we have something even bigger to look forward to still in SNES emulation? As and when it's ready, of course...

 

[pupnik]

Basically, DPS draws a line at a time, so when raster or transparency effects are used, it's easy to just change things for the next line.

SS draws a tile at a time, which results in a large speedup, but when rasters are involved, this means redrawing stuff that has already been drawn.

Hi, i've been following the SquidgeSNES and DrPocketSNES threads for a couple of months now and I've spent a couple of weeks wandering through the code. I tried to port DrPocketSnes to nokia 770, using SDL on the backend and dropping-in Snes9X components to replace the Gp2x-specific stuff, but the project kind of blew up in my face, and i'm looking for some advice.

The Nokia 770s are linux-based 'Internet Tablets' (High-res PDAs) with SDL capability (SWSURFACE only) Here's the specs on the CPU.

Processor : ARM926EJ-Sid(wb) rev 3 (v5l)
BogoMIPS : 125.76
Frequency : 250 Mhz

Getting Snes9x running was a piece of cake and it runs the Pac Man public domain game quite fast (20+ fps) but things like chrono trigger dive down to 5-6 fps. So I'm trying to solicit some help in porting the gp2x emus and I'm curious about where the major speedups in Squidge and DrPocketSNES are over the stock Snes9x. I'd be very grateful for some informed comment or speculation on these open questions

1) Has anyone compiled the straight Snes9x (SDL) for the gp2x and what kind of fps does it get on Chrono Trigger?

2) How much faster is Squidge/DrPocket vs Snes9x on raster+transparency games like CT? Is most of the gain in the PPU emulation?

3) How much of a speedup is due to rendering direct to framebuffer, vs SDL software surfaces?

4) Have you or Reesy built any unofficial versions (or partial ports) of DrPocketsnes or Squidgesnes for the PC? If i could get my hands on something that used SDL and regular linux libs for the I/O, i'd have a much greater chance at making a working port.

It would be a day of great rejoicing and frolicing if we could get 10-12+ FPS with sound for RPGs on the Nokia 770. If you're curious about them, the 770 is now discontinued and getting sold at blowout prices around $140 in the USA.

My site with works-in-progress is http://www.pupnik.de

Cheers!