VCS32 (Atari 2600 Emu) Released!

[Flack]

Reprinted from AtariAge.com:

Fabrizio Zavagli has released the first public version of his new GP32 Atari 2600 emulator, called VCS32. Fabrizio's emulator is a port of Dan Boris' Virtual VCS with a few updates to further improve the emulation.

Binary and source code available here:

http://www.atariage.com/2600/emulation/GP32/

Flack

 

[Rainman]

Alright! Good to hear.

 

[angrypants]

I have only had a chance to test a few games but so far it seems to be a bit more compatible than the other 2600 emulator. The speed and sound are very nice in this release. However many of the games suffer from some graphics problems. For a first release its acctually pretty nice and shows potential to become a really exellent emulator. It is really nice to see a release of a second 2600 emulator for the gp32. Both are only in their first public release and both could shape up to be really nice in time. I love the atari 2600 and still have it set up in my living room so its nice to finally get a portable version.

 

[Nutzo]

Please tell me if these games work OK:

Adventure
Superman
Missile Command

Thanks! I don't have a GP32 to test it myself yet.

 

[The Wub]

Adventure runs OK, except that you can walk through walls.
On Superman the screen is a bit twisted.

Missile Command is the most playable of the three you mention but still has a few graphical bugs.

Don't be put off though...
It's still a very impressive first release, certainly more compatible than the one released earlier this week.

DigDug seems to work well and so does Pitfall and Death Star Battle, so I'll be happy for a few days at least

All in all,

 

[Flack]

MikeDX, while hanging out in #gp, explained to me some of the problems with the Atari 2600. He said that the Atari used "layers". Each layer could contain one good guy, one bad guy, and one bullet, layered on top of the background. If you think about Pong, or Combat, those games use pretty much one layer. The later Atari games, to get more things moving on the screen at once, flipped through those layers. The more stuff moving, the more layers needed, the more flipping went on. That kind of explains why the ghosts in Pac-Man flickered so much, because it was flipping through so many layers.

So that's one of the problems right now with both of the Atari emulators, they're not showing all the layers. VCS32 seems to play more games, but still has problems with the same games that GP2600 had problems with. Like in Laser Blast, you cannot see your own shots but you can see the enemy's -- that's because neither emu are displaying the "friendly laser layer", if that makes sense. Same thing with Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man, and Missile Command I'm guessing.

Of course, knowing what the problem is is half the battle, and I'll bet both emulators are able to overcome this in the future!

Flack

 

[MrT]

I can't wait to download and give this one a little play

Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MrT

 

[Belgarath]

I was just wondering if there is a compatibility list for this emu, or does anyone know if there is one being made?
reason i ask is cos i've just started making one myself

 

[Belgarath]

i'll take that as a no then?

ok here's another question, does anyone want me to carry on doing this compatibility list for vcs32?

 

[Flack]

I was just wondering if there is a compatibility list for this emu, or does anyone know if there is one being made?
reason i ask is cos i've just started making one myself

As far as I know, there is no list currently. It is nice to see other people offer to do work and help out others instead of sitting around crying about stuff.

 

[Belgarath]

well thanks for replying, but i don't want to spend time on something which no one will be interested in, and no one seemed interested, i also emailed the emulator author asking the same question and i've had no reply yet (although i'm not sure if it's still his email address)

 

[kitsune]

Why 2600? :huh: Why won't someone try to emulate the Atari 5200 or the Atari 7800? They had MUCH better grafx and mostly the same games. The Atari 2600 barely even had sprite animations.

 

[trooper]

Why 2600? :huh: Why won't someone try to emulate the Atari 5200 or the Atari 7800? They had MUCH better grafx and mostly the same games. The Atari 2600 barely even had sprite animations.

NON CODER ALERT!!!!

As mention above, Non coder in the house. :rolleyes:

But this is just my assumption.

There is probably more Atari 2600 emulators available.

This one was probably ported, And so using the above made it easier.

Probably what more people wanted, As this system sold more than the other two.

It was probably what the author wanted.

After all that, I am probably wrong :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: