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+-- gameplaySP2X  Gameboy Advance emulator for GP2X --

+

+gpSP2X is a version of my (Exophase)'s emulator originally for Sony PSP.

+A large amount of effort has been done to make it more optimized for the

+ARM CPU present in the GP2X, however it is still very much a work in

+progress.

+

+See readme.txt for the PSP version readme, which contains a lot of

+information relevant to the GP2X version (note that some of it does

+not apply however).

+

+

+Changelog:

+

+0.9-2xb: 

+-- IMPORTANT-- If you're overwriting an old version, be sure to delete the

+   gpsp.cfg file first, or be prepared to have a bunch of weird button

+   settings that would require fixing.

+

+- Fixed some bugs stunting compatability.

+- Optimized alpha blends in renderer.

+- Some more optimizations to dynarec output.

+- Savestates should work better now.

+- Cheat/misc menu won't crash the emulator.

+- Main button config window works (not all buttons are in yet)

+

+0.9-2Xa: (Exophase release)

+- Redid autoframeskip. Should work more reliably.

+- Rewrote dynamic recompiler from x86 source (arm_emit.h, arm_stub.S).

+  Has some more sophisticated behavior than the last version, more is

+  still to come... Should notice a slight speed improvement over the

+  last version.

+- Tweaked GUI to be a little more useable. Buttons are now mirroring the

+  PSP version's.

+- Code unification + cleanup amongst versions.

+

+

+v9008: (zodttd release)

+- Updated the way autoframeskip works. Should be better now. Still has a max

+  frameskip value.

+- Added a slight performance increase to the dynarec.

+- Added sync() to make sure files such as savestates and in-game saves are

+  saved properly to the GP2X.

+

+v9006: (zodttd release)

+- Initial public release

+

+

+Installation:

+

+1. Place the "gpsp.gpe" and "game_config.txt" file in a directory on your SD

+   card used with the GP2X.

+

+2. Place your GBA BIOS in the directory from step 1. This file must be named

+   "gba_bios.bin" in all lowercase as shown, so rename it if needed.

+

+   -- NOTE --

+

+   There are two commonly available BIOSes - one is the correct one used in

+   production GBA's worldwide and the other is a prototype BIOS. The latter

+   will not cause some games to not work correctly or crash. If you attempt

+   to use this BIOS you will be presented with a warning before being

+   allowed to continue. This screen will give you a checksum of the real

+   BIOS image (see readme.txt for further information).

+

+3. Place your GBA games in the directory from step 1. These files should have

+   a ".gba" or ".bin" file extension. Zip compressed games should be supported

+   and are recognized with the ".zip" file extension. Note that 32MB ROMs will

+   probably not run if zipped. 16MB and smaller should be OK.

+

+4. Done. Run gpsp.gpe.

+

+

+Controls:

+

+How to use gpSP on the GP2X:

+Buttons are mapped as follows (GBA/ingame buttons can be changed in the menu):

+

+GP2X--------------------GBA

+X           ->          A

+B           ->          B

+L TRIG      ->          L TRIG

+R TRIG      ->          R TRIG

+START       ->          START

+SELECT      ->          SELECT

+

+GP2X--------------------------------gpSP

+

+-- IN-GAME --

+

+VOL MIDDLE (UP + DOWN)    ->        menu

+PUSH STICK                ->        fps display toggle (second number is

+                                     frames actually drawn)

+

+-- IN-MENU --

+B                         ->        select option

+X                         ->        cancel/exit menu

+A                         ->        escape (up one director level in the

+                                     file selector)

+

+When gpSP is started, you are presented with the option to overclock your

+GP2X. Use the L/R TRIG to change the CPU clockspeed and press START to

+continue. You may also change RAM timings here - experiment with what

+works well. Note that going too high on overclocking or low on RAM

+timings can cause the game to crash or the GP2X to outright freeze up.

+

+If you do not want to overclock, press START without using L/R.

+You will now be presented with a menu to choose a game. Press the IN-MENU

+"SELECT" button shown above to pick a game to load.

+

+If you would like to test gpSP for the GP2X with a homebrew (free public

+domain) game, a game by Russ Prince works very well with gpSP. It is called

+Bust-A-Move and is a remake of the classic game it's named after.

+

+

+How to build from source:

+

+The makefile included in the source is geared towards the Open2x toolchain.

+If you use Open2x and installed it in the way recommended then it should

+work okay, assuming you also have up to date HW-SDL (and have

+arm-linux-sdl-config installed in the right place). The makefile is in the

+gp2x directory, so go there first then just type make to build gpsp.gpe.

+Might need a little tweaking if your setup is different. If you need help

+you can ask me, but I'll probably nag you about why you want to build it in

+the first place.

+

+

+GP2X version FAQ:

+

+Q) Help! This game doesn't work. Am I using a bad version of the ROM?

+

+A) First, make sure you're using the correct BIOS version. If you aren't

+   gpSP should tell you. Other than that, there are some games that are

+   known to not work now (and will probably work later), and perhaps

+   many more games that I don't know about that don't work. I haven't

+   launched a full scale compatability test at this version, so it might

+   take a while before the compatability levels are high.

+

+

+Q) Why is this version slower than the PSP version?

+

+A) gpSP is still a work in progress. It might be possible to obtain more

+   speed from both this version and the PSP one too (and others in the

+   future). With that in mind, know that even a very agressively overclocked

+   GP2X is still less powerful than a PSP, generally speaking. Still, I

+   have a lot of ideas. It's unlikely that the GP2X version will ever be as

+   fast/faster than the PSP version for anyone but anything's possible.

+

+

+Q) How high does my GP2X have to overclock to enjoy gpSP?

+

+A) That depends on you. Higher overclocking will mean less frames skipped

+   on autoframeskip, or less frameskip needed if on manual. Or it can

+   make the difference between whether or not virtual 60fps can be reached.

+   For some games no GP2X in the world will be able to run them fullspeed,

+   with any amount of frameskip. A few might run well with no overclocking

+   and a generous level of frameskip (probably manual). If you don't care

+   about battery life (or you're plugged into an outlet) you should push

+   it as high as you can while still maintaining stability, because

+   chances are high that whatever you play will benefit from it. Right now

+   you'll probably want 260MHz if you can achieve it, but with a lot of

+   luck this number will lower slightly in the future (and is just a vague

+   ballpark figure anyway). I don't want to scare anyone off from using the

+   emulator, you should give it a try and see how it plays for you

+   regardless of how high you can overclock. Just note that this is far

+   from a locked smooth experience for everyone on every game.

+

+

+Q) GBA has an ARM processor, GP2X has an ARM processor. GP2X is more

+   powerful than GBA. This emulator should run great without overclocking,

+   so therefore you're doing it wrong.

+

+A) That's not a question, but I'll field it anyway. Two things: first,

+   "virtualization", or running the GBA code "natively" on the GP2X is

+   probably not possible, at least not with the way I want to do things.

+   For reasons why go read my blog (see below). So yes, you actually

+   do need more than 16.7MHz of ARM9 power to emulate the GBA's CPU.

+   Second: there is a whole lot of work behind emulating the pretty 2D

+   graphics on the GBA, something it can do in hardware a lot better than

+   this platform can.

+   End result: GBA emulation on GP2X isn't as easy as you think it is.

+

+

+Q) What are you working on now? When will you release the next version?

+

+A) See the gpSP development blog:

+

+   http://gpsp-dev.blogspot.com/

+

+   Note that I don't give release dates, ever, unless I'm right on the verge

+   of releasing. Be grateful that I've decided to be much more open about

+   the development of the emulator now.

+

+

+Q) Thanks to your blog I heard that you made some improvement. Can I have

+   a copy of the new code?

+

+A) No. Builds in transition often have a lot of problems, and I like for

+   releases to be relatively substantial. I can probably be bribed out of

+   them with donations though. :P

+

+

+Q) Why do the menu suck so much? Why do half the options not work or not

+   make any sense?

+

+A) Sorry, the menu still hasn't been modified very much to fit the GP2X

+   version instead of the PSP version.. hopefully this will improve in the

+   future.

+

+

+Q) Who's in charge of the GP2X version anyway?

+

+A) Originally, zodttd was. I, Exophase, have basically usurped control of it

+   now to encourage zodttd to work more on his PS1 emulator (that and I'm

+   possessive of gpSP and get nervous when people work on it too heavily).

+   zodttd will most likely still be around to work on things though.

+

+

+Q) I'm a super nice person and would like to donate some of my hard earned

+   money to this one-off GBA emulator. Where do I send my money to?

+

+A) Exophase: exophase@gmail.com on PayPal

+   zodttd: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&business=heirloomer

+    %40pobox%2ecom&item_number=1&no_shipping=1&no_note=1&tax=0&cy_code=USD&bn=

+    PP%2dDonationsBF&charset=UTF%2d8

+    ^ Click there for donating on PayPal (remove whitespace/linebreaks).

+

+   GP2X people have already donated a lot more to me than PSP people have,

+   even though there's an order of magnitude or two less users. And they've

+   donated far more to zodttd than they have to me. So I'm not going to ask

+   people to donate..

+

+   However I won't lie: donating ups the chances of me actually working on the

+   next version (for which I have a lot of ideas, but not necessarily time to

+   dedicate to.. that time might need more incentive to be allotted from other

+   things). This could change depending on my employment situation, but right

+   now I feel guilty doing anything that doesn't help guarantee that I'll be

+   able to buy food a year from now.

+

+

+Q) Tell me all of your personal information.

+

+A) Again not a question, but why not. I'm Exophase, real name: Gilead Kutnick,

+   male, 23 years old, current residence Bloomington, IN; straight/single/not

+   actively looking, almost have an MS in Computer Science (do have a BS

+   underneath it), likes PSP more than GP2X, will not write a Nintendo DS

+   emulator for either, am currently looking for a job for after I graduate.

+

+

+Q) You said you're looking for a job.

+

+A) Yes. If you have one or know someone who needs a low level oriented

+   programmer then I'm up for grabs. And this is my resume:

+   http://exophase.devzero.co.uk/resume.pdf

+

+

+Credits:

+

+Original codebase: Exophase (exophase@gmail.com)

+Foundation gp2x code: zodttd

+GP2X dynarec/stubs + current code maintainance: Exophase

+